First car build

As the title says, this is the first car I will be building and chances are it will end up being the only one I get to build. For that reason, I want to make sure I do everything right and being that I’ve never done this before I’m totally lost as to what I should do. For basic info that I can give, I have an old IROC-Z that will serve as the car I’m going to build up to be my little toy for as long as I will be allowed to have it. For what I want to do, I want it to make 600-650 horsepower and torque somewhere around that too with a new LS engine (whichever you believe would be best for me) Being that it’s just a car for me to have fun with, I’m not taking it to a local strip or track racing so quarter mile times aren’t something I’m super concerned with. I want the car to still be comfortable and sound mean, if that’s possible. Given this, can anyone with experience in car building give me a detailed list of things I should do? Or really the basics, but what I really want/need to know is what else other than the engine should I be changing in this car? Also, will $45000-$50000 (excluding paint job and interior for the car) be enough money for it all? I’ve read that building gets expensive so I tried to save up a large amount to make sure I didn’t take short cuts. Any help is appreciated because I truly am at a loss for where to even start lol.

Wow that's an intro there. Are you building it or planning on paying someone to build it?  What are your skills?  Work area? General location because it can make a difference in deals. 

I live in South Michigan, really a few minutes from Indiana. Since a kid I’ve worked on cars but it was just simple things since all the work we do is done in my dads garage. I can do just about anything so long as it doesn’t require an experienced welder, machining, a scissor lift, or special tools. Sorry if that doesn’t help much. Overall, I intend on building as much of it as possible myself but for things like the engine, or transmission and other possibly other things I don’t know how to do I would leave to someone who actually knows what they’re doing.

Hang out some and dive in head first. There's a good group here that'll give you all the advice you can take. Biggest thing I've learned here is that I'm capable of a lot more than I thought I was. As far as your build cost I think you're way high. I was doing a mental build similar to yours for the $20xx Challenge recently. 

Thanks! Overall that helps let me know I don’t need to spend quite as much. But are their important things I should know before getting started? 

You already have the IROC-Z?  What kind of shape is it in?  Rust?  Other damage?

In reply to YoungFanatic48 :

Mind if I ask how old you are?

Yes, I do have it. There’s not rust, anymore. The minor stuff my dad and I took out and fixed ourselves, the couple bigger spots were done professionally and what little dings their were, were fixed when I had the rust removed. I’d say overall it’s condition isn’t bad but it’s got a little over 100,000 miles on the body itself.

I myself am 20. Mainly the reason I have the large sum of money is because I’m not the only one who is working on the car. My dad who has loved cars his entire life has come up with most of it, but he didn’t build one until now because we can now do it together 

It's a great project. 

If you cut your budget by 80%, you will probably find it much more satisfying.

It will increase your creativity, increase your hands-on, and increase what you will learn in the process. And yes, you can build that car well for $10K. 

If you wanna spend $50K on an IROC-Z, you really don't need this website. Just pay someone to build it for you. 

If that's really your budget, I'm 1000% positive someone has already built one just like it for sale, you just need to find it. LOL

Probably can find what you want for 1/3-1/2 of your budget. 

Leaves you plenty of money left over for 2-3 more projects. 

Nice to know we can get away with much less. Using that much money (between the 10k and 25k specified by the last two replies) what would you do as far as new parts and the engine? Part of my problem is I don’t know what all I’m really gonna need to put into the car.

I think you'd be better off going in stages. A stock 6.0 LS with tuning should get you in the 400 range easily.   My local you pull it just so happens to have one for $200 no discounts. If you don't want to do the fab work you can buy a swap kit and bolt it in. That gets you a running car with enough hp to scare the poop out of you on the street. How did you come up with you 600hp goal?

with 50k ready to go and the car already owned i'd probably go with a crate LSA and T56 from Jegs. It comes with basically everything you need to get it running minus mounts, headers, driveshaft, and whatever gauges you want, you'd also probably need a different pan but all these things are easy to find. It's 580 hp as it sits, with a pulley swap and tune you can easily be in your 600+ hp goal. With all that i'd imagine you'd still have enough money left over to pay a shop to install it i would imagine since it's a pretty simple swap.

 You can Have a Whole lot of FUN with 400 Real Horse Power, There are Great Parts out there for Every Gen. Of the F bodies. Look At what a Factory 1LE  of your year model has on it and replicate that.  you are likely not ready to build one like Gimp and 81CP have done , that take's years and most of the Larger Budget. And it's easy to spend on Paint what the rest of the car cost to build. Have Fun, Make it run, try to alway's keep it running

  I have an old IROC-Z that  I’m going to build up to be my  toy.  I want it to make 600-650 horsepower and torque  with a new LS engine.   I’m not  racing.

I want the car to  be comfortable and sound mean. what I  want/need to know is what else other than the engine should I be changing in this car? Also, will $45,000-$50,000 (excluding paint job and interior for the car) be enough money for it all? Any help is appreciated because I truly am at a loss for where to even start lol.

I love spending other peoples money. So let me get started.

Guessing this is what you have to work with? Guessing you and the Dad are going to be turning the wrenches on this one? Assuming that any bodywork/paint will be farmed out?

Your budget is adequate for the project if you dial down the 600 hp engine. How much of it you need to spend depends on a few things.

First and foremost, is the body-shell worthy of what you want to do/spend? You mention body and paint, but don't say anything about rust holes. Fixing a rusty car can easily consume 10k of that budget and years of time. Starting with a good car saves a lot of that. If your car is rusty I would go looking for a different rust free specimen.

Assuming the tub is good, do you have a running car now?

My fist call would be to Detroit speed. https://www.detroitspeed.com/ 

Detroit speed does suspension systems for classic muscle cars. I would ask for as complete a suspension/steering/brakes as they can give you. Guessing this will eat about 10k of your budget.

Second call would be to whoever you buy your crate engines from.  One option would be http://www.chevrolet.com/performance/crate-engines   

 I am guessing you could leave 10k at their place for a turnkey engine plus another 5k ( assuming 6 speed box) for a gearbox and bits to tie it to the engine. Add 5k more for cooling and driveline bits and accessories/AC so 30k total for the bumper-to-bumper mechanical hardware to give you a running car with over 400 hp. Leaves you 15k in the budget. ( The GM LSA is the only engine that I know will hit your hp torque requirement, but I think the $12k price will break the bank) Thinking more an LS3

4k for the interior should get you a good start including some tunes

7k for a really nice paint job if you don't need a lot of tin-work, 10k if you need a bit of love put into the metal.

2k wheels and tires.

Should have enough change for a case of beer or two.

If you can put in 8 hours of work on it every week, you should have it done in 2.5 years time.

Good luck.

My $.02 worth. I agree with the above about 400 hp, I had a 96 formula with the lt1. It had enough get up and move I could light up the tires easily. Get all the mechanicals done first, get running and driving well before doing any finish paint or interior. Sub frame connectors and the WS6 sway bars and braces are a must with even just 400 hp. This will get you a nice well mannered car with enough get up and move to get to experience the pucker of sphincters.  

I agree with Stampie. I am curious how you came up with the 600 hp goal. 

That's a lot for a street driven car, and requires a more careful balance of the tuning, components, etc to achieve. It's a high bar for a first project car. 

You could find yourself with an expensive overpriced engine with a car that just wasn't much joy to drive. 

Okay thank you guys for giving me an idea about stuff. I get dialing it down and I will say that I appreciate the help on setting me in a more realistic route because I really didn’t have a good idea as to what I should do. The 600 horsepower came from my dad, who had a 2nd gen when he was in high school that he had making 526 horsepower and wanted to push one up to 600. To NOHOME, as of right now we don’t plan on painting it really just because the car looks nice with the paint job it got from the previous owner, where we got the car from and it’s been collecting dust since. Could you guys give me an idea of what the difference would likely be between 400 and 600 horsepower? If you guys say I would really only need 25k depending on what I do, then I may do a build later on that has more power since then I’d have some knowledge as to what I’m doing and is more for numbers and not just sounding mean, being fast, and feeling great to drive.

I'll give you two cases.

Junkyard 6.0 LS with bolt ons and tuning 400 hp $1000 add turbo with tuning for $1000 extra to get 600hp.

Crate LS3 430hp $7000.  Move up to crate LS9 for 638hp and $22,000.

In reply to YoungFanatic48 :

Well, that only raises more questions. 

Did your Dad build that car?  Does he have the knowledge and capability to build a car like that?

That would change things. 

Is the car manual or automatic?

If automatic, get a Junkyard 6.0 LQ4/9 out of any Escalade/Denali/2500, with wiring harness and ecu, Fbody oil pan, intake and accessories, a 4L80E, shift kit, a swap kit, headers and a mild cam (~230 duration at .050") and party on with well over 400hp.  If manual, i'd suggest buying a complete/wrecked 6 speed Camaro/Firebird/GTO and parting out the stuff you don't need.  Actually, with your budget, that might be a good idea anyway.  

you'll also need to think about a driveshaft, a rear end/limited slip, fuel system, brakes and suspension

400hp is kind of stretching the limit for a street car. You will roast about any kind of tire you can fit under it reasonably. Shifting too hard could easily make you swap ends. 

600hp IMO is pretty dangerous territory for a street car. At least for anyone without a lot of HPDE anyway. 

You'll never use 600hp on the street to it's full potential without ending up in jail. Even then, you'll probably never really use all 600hp. 

just to be sure you are not saying  BUT a Hell Cat has over 600 HP. there is a site for new wrecked hellcat's, a high milage one has 70 miles they Avg about 20 miles before being totaled. Lt or LS you can make 400 hp that will live all day for 5 to 6 grand and a lot less if shopping wisely.

Dont forget a rear axle.

IIRC this is the way to go https://www.spohn.net/shop/1982-1992-GM-F-Body/Drivetrain/Moser-Ford-9-Rear/Moser-Engineering-Ford-9-Housing-Only.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkZ2_tICQ2wIVGrjACh1W3QxrEAQYAiABEgKi0fD_BwE

The 10 bolt wouldnt live long on 400hp if driven aggressively, Ford 9" is probably the best solution.