[Mark Yacavone]

Some post script observations here ...

For the most part, I wrote this story to illustrate a couple of points.

1, With most of the V8 Chevy combos, there are very little or no parts from the original engine , that would be used to build a semi-competitive car with.
All these changes have been allowed in the last 48 years, yet it's still referred to as Stock Eliminator.
I chose the 283 4 bbl. combo because I'm familiar with it and It's a good one to illustrate my point about using non-original ,or replacement parts.
I could have used the 2 bbl Ford deal instead. Some of those hp ratings are still low enough that you could use a lot of the original parts. In fact, I've advocated it many times, for those who want to build a lower class , V 8 RWD cars, as cheaply as possible. Cheap is a relative word here.
FWD cars could fall under this category also, but they are not as easy as one might think. A lot of the stuff has to be fabricated , or sourced by the builder,..and I don't mean from Jegs or Summit.
I feel that the FWD thing should be a completely different thread from this one.

2, I was in almost the exact same situation as "Joe" was, 50 years ago. Single, living with room mates, working lots of hours, and spending every penny I could make on the race car.
In today's world and economy , I don't see Joe being able to make enough money to finance this car, in less than a year's time. Let alone, putting fuel in it and travel to NHRA races, hundreds of miles away
If you look at a current Nat. entry list, you'll see that a great percentage are either sons, daughters, grand kids or wives of current racer, or people who can now afford to come back in with the factory ringer cars. (Oops..That should be a different thread too)
We're constantly asked where the beginner Stock and Super Stock racers will come from....The way the current rules are, I'll be darned if I know.

Have at it. :-)