Quote Originally Posted by adam perth View Post
It's only a days work to go from chev and T400 back to an original looking 253 , 4 speed...why not run the chev and have twice the HP ?
It is a case of each to there own of course. But you have to modify things to put the Chev and TH400 into place like harness holes in the tunnel etc. Believe me I'm not anti modified cars. I'm saying you are going to cost yourself money in the long run modifying a genuine Sandman. There are plenty of non Sandman's to play with. Chances are the original motor and gearbox will get separated from the car also.

You can cash in the Sandman and start on another car without the intrinsic value and not have a care in the world.

It's a little like having a genuine XU-1 and fitting a small block (not the ideal thing to do for originality) but yeah it's more fun and goes harder. Better to sell the XU-1 and grab a Torana S and build a mock-up tibute.

If you are going to modify and do keep the original bits around then this is likely to best secondary solution. I'd say 308 to 4 Speed if the car is factory manual. At least then there is no mods.
We don't know the car or how good or bad it is to start with or how it is planned to be used.