Frequently
Asked Questions
Does Smothers
Tuned Supercars ONLY work on Mopars???
That's a big, fat, NO!!! We'll work on any carburetad, performance car.......from Chevy's, to Ford's,
to Pontiac's, to Buick's, to AMC's, and even Oldsmobiles!!! (YES, they can be made to run good too!!!)
Why should I take my car to Smothers
Tuned Supercars instead of some other musclecar restoration shop?
Well, I guess it all boils down to what you want……..If you want a car
to parade around on a show field after it‘s coughed and sputtered it’s
way off your car hauler, then we’re not the guys for you……..If you want
a car that’s show worthy, AND will still hook up and haul ass like it‘s
supposed to, then we’re the place that can make that happen…….
Why are you so anti-pump gas
and anti-hydraulic cam?
Basically, it comes down to what I believe these cars are all about,
which is to have fun with them and make them at least run respectably
(there are way too many that don‘t run respectable)………and to do that,
high compression and a custom ground solid flat tappet or roller cam
really makes it a lot easier to make great power AND still have a car
that’s considered drivable………….If you can’t afford to buy good fuel for
your Musclecar, then you can’t afford the car in the first place……….The
ONLY reasons to even think about building a pump gas motor are if
you’re planning on driving the car more than 1.5 hours in any one
direction and/or you’re planning on selling your car in the near
future…….otherwise, you’re just giving up power……..Most people are hard
pressed to put more than 2,000 miles per year on their Musclecar, so
why bother making it run on pump gas? You don’t see people complain
that their jet runs on jet fuel….You don’t see truck drivers
complaining that their trucks run on diesel……So then why cut the sack
off your prized bull by cutting the compression out of your big block
Musclecar??? When you go up with compression, all it does is make your
motor more efficient AND it allows you to run more camshaft………..It all
comes down to running cylinder pressure and vacuum……..The bigger the
motor, the more compression you have, and the nicer the machine work,
the more camshaft you can run and still have the same low RPM running
cylinder pressure as a small cubic inch, low compression, small cam’d,
crappy machined motor. Most everyone is under the misconception that if
you have a high
compression motor, it will be unreliable……The fact is, it won’t be any
more unreliable than it was with low compression……
Most
everyone is under the misconception that if you have a solid cam,
you’re going to have to be adjusting the valves all the time……..The
fact is, if your valve job is right, there’s no reason to run the
valves more than once per year just to make sure there isn’t anything
funny going on…………Slant 6’s and Cummins turbo diesels have solid cams,
why are you afraid to have one in your MUSCLEcar???
Having rambled on and on about that, I do have what it takes to make
the car run very well on pump gas…….Check out the cars in Previous
Projects section to see what some of my pump gas combo’s are running in
the ¼………….
What’s
it cost for
a ground up RESTIFICATION???
That all depends on how nice and fast you want your car, how rough it
is and how much is missing…….Now, the only reason for me to list what
it would cost to do a car would be if I was trying to be the cheapest
guy around……..I’m not trying to be the cheapest……If you want cheap, I’m
the wrong guy…….If you want a nice, right, car that will make the
passenger riding with you crap their pants and scream like a little
girl when you hammer on it, I’m the guy to get it there.
How
long does a restification
take?
That depends on your pocket book…….
Typically, it can be done in as short as 6 months.
What
makes you so good lookin?
I guess I’ve got genetics and my parents to thank for that!!! Thanks,
Mom and Dad!!!
What’s
a Super Tune cost?
Depending how messed up your carburetor and distributor already are and
how long it takes, you can spend anywhere from $200 to $1,000, plus
parts.
When the car is finished,
will you race it for me and get a time slip for it that I can be proud
of?
Sure thang……That’s what I’m all about………..If you don’t want me
hammering on the car, just let me know………I really like to drive them
fairly hard just so I can get ALL the bugs worked out before you get
it………That way, if there are any problems, they’re found and fixed
before you get the car……..I’ve even had guys bring me cars that were
fresh out of another restoration shop to have me go over their cars to
make sure they run to their fullest potential……..
What kind of cars do you
prefer to work on?
Well, if I could, I’d like to specialize in ‘62 to ‘65 B-body Mopars
and ‘68 Hemi A-body street/race cars……….Basically, A990 and factory
race cars and replicas……….BUT, I’m not too picky…….I’ll work on just
about any performance oriented ‘62 to early 70’s Musclecar…….
What
are you all about?
My passion is about building really nice cars that run great……..It
really disappoints me to see a nicely restored car and whoever restored
it spent as little as possible on the drive train so the owner can make
as much money on the car as possible when it’s auctioned off……..The
cars are basically large model cars that aren’t even road
worthy…….They’re just an investment like a Stock……..Just a number with
a value……. If you haven’t ever power shifted a high
compression big block Musclecar, you haven’t lived……….You’re missing
out on what these cars were built to do…………
What do you think
about
people that have cars that are too nice to drive or race?
Well, I hope they didn’t marry a Playmate then………… it would be a shame
to
let her go to waste. ………Having a Musclecar and not racing it
is like
having a beautiful wife and only cuddling with her……..What’s the
point???
Can I help, or
watch, you put my motor together?
I hate to say it, but, no, you can’t.
……Honestly, I don’t have the time
for that and my insurance company would crap their pants if they knew
that you were hanging out in my shop..........and even if I did, it
would cost you double what it normally would have cost……
What’s
it cost to have a motor
built by you?
Here again, it’s all about what you want and how fast you want to go……I
get a flat fee to assemble your motor, run it on my test stand, set
the idle mixture, curve the distributor, re-torque the heads, and run
the valves again, plus all parts and machine work……....When
assembling a motor, I clean everything, file fit the rings, degree the
cam, order custom length pushrods, and have the intake cut to match the
ports in the heads……..then I spend a day dinking around with it on the
test stand………making sure there aren’t any leaks or other issues…….
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