HOWZ this sound- Please READ

I say "go for it" based on the fact that you already have experience. I live near Ft. Lauderdale. There are lots of car folks building cars in FL and at some point they will need engine work. Might be a good idea to check with car clubs to get a feel to see if there is a market. Set up a little booth at car shows just to put out feelers. Visit various car car resto. shops to see if they would become customers. I am going to send you a PM.

 

I'm looking around the house now for the hidden cameras . Exactly what is in the works. I have a shop, almost a 2 hour drive, but a very well equipped machine shop. He has been doing machine work for me now for a few years since I closed my race shop. I check his work and he knows it, and he often allows me use of the equipment. Without going into my total business plan, I would still have my smaller machine shop on site, do all the ***embly work, and possibly a small Stuska Dyno for the tuning and R&d. A bench top flow bench, lathe, and mill, etc., in the new smaller shop. I'm almost at that level now. The only thing I would prefer in the near future would be the cylinder hone, as I like to and prefer to do my own cylinders. I will of course have the ability to do valve work and porting. I literally still have everything else necessary for soup to nuts, engine builds of the highest caliber. Thanks so much for the input, currently I would just see myself specializing in the Buick nailhead. Thank you Homespun91, TR

 

Thanks Jim, PM returned!!

 

No hidden cameras. By the way, you need to stop chewing on the end of the pencil when you're thinking...it's bad for the teeth.

A couple of other thoughts. Limiting yourself to just Nailheads might be a bit too restrictive- maybe you could consider early Olds/Pontiac/Cadillac as well so you are known as an early GM spe******t (I can understand leaving the SBC behind); or, you might look at picking up a couple of the orphans like Studebakers, Packards, etc.

If I had to pick the most popular vintage engines right now, excluding SBC, I'd say flatheads, Hemis, Y blocks, and early Olds...at least that's what the most threads seem to be about. Sometimes the bandwagon is the place to be....sometimes it pays to grab all the stuff that's unpopular and build your own.

Another way to look at this is to find a niche for producing parts. It seems like every vintage engine has a main parts guru/source that everybody knows about. Y blocks have John Mummert, Nailheads have Carmen Faso, and so on. Perhaps you could produce some of the one-off parts that aren't out there. One example I can think of is the Packard V8 oil pump...a weak spot, and there are fixes, but there's a lot of conflicting info about them.

Improving the flow capabilities of early aftermarket intake manifolds, most of which are, frankly, ****, might be another area, since you have the bench. I'm not thinking of $1000 porting jobs, just simple improvements that you could do to at least improve distribution....most early Offy V8 intakes I've tested are appalling.

 

Do it and peddle only US made vintage speed shop parts. Sponsor weekly cruise in hot rod events. Sounds like a plan to me!

 

There are a few that specialize in Nailheads already that have a lot of history with the Nailhead community. Might not be as much there as one might think.

That sounds like a better idea, though if you're going to do it I don't see why you would leave some of the others out. Y blocks, hemis, etc.

 

How far are people willing to travel. Location. Reputation. Shop rates charged. Good employees.