One of Chevrolet’s famous ad jingles began with “See the USA in Your Chevrolet.” That tune was sung by a number of performers, including Dinah Shore and Pat Boone on Chevrolet-sponsored TV programs through the ’60s, and all these years later we’re taking the lyrics to heart. We’re going to see the USA in our Chevrolet, a new Golden Star Auto Parts reproduction 1957 convertible built by Woody’s Hot Rodz. Riding on one of the Roadster Shop’s new SPEC Tri-Five chassis, power for our repop ragtop will be provided by a crate ZZ6 from the Road Tour’s presenting sponsor, Chevrolet Performance, and ARP fasteners will be used to hold it all together.

Unlike some of the Road Tour cars of the past, conventional body repair won’t be needed in this case, but some assembly will required. That’s because Chris Sondles’s team at Woody’s will be putting together the new body stampings from Golden Star. Known for quality reproduction body and trim parts for GM, Ford, and Mopar cars and trucks, the Texas-based firm went all-in and began producing complete Chevrolet bodies and trim components for 1955 two-door sedans, hardtops, and convertibles; 1956 convertibles; 1957 two-door sedans, hardtops, and convertibles. No matter what’s needed for a Tri-Five Chevy, from bumper brackets to everything in-between, Golden Star makes it and Woody’s Hot Rodz retail (855-567-1957) can supply it.

To see how one of Golden Star’s bodies is assembled we went to Woody’s new facility in Bright, Indiana. They have a considerable amount of know-how, building all the variations, in fact their experience and expertise are two of the reasons Woody’s is officially licensed by Chevrolet Performance, which we can tell you is no small accomplishment.

During our stay at Woody’s, the hardest thing we had to do was to get Jerry Taylor to hold still long enough for Robert McGaffin to take photos. Taylor knows better than anyone how to put one of these bodies together and we watched in awe as he turned boxes of sheetmetal into a new 1957 Chevy convertible. Starting from the floorpan and then working to the rear from the cowl, each new panel made the structure more rigid and more closely resemble a car. Finally, after countless dimensional checks and miles of Miller Electric Manufacturing Company welding wire, Taylor stepped back and there was a complete body.

With the body assembled there were seams to fill, minor alignment issues to address, and there were test-fits of the top assembly and windshield. Once all the inspections were conducted and passed, our 1957 was off to the paint shop to be covered in PPG epoxy primer, after which the body will be mounted on the Roadster Shop SPEC Tri-Five chassis. We’re getting ready to go on the 2017ARP/STREET RODDER Road Tour. This year is the biggest yet with 10 individual tour routes. Join us for one or all; check streetrodder.com for more information.

The post Woody’s Hot Rodz builds a new 1957 Chevy appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

When Stephen Gaal became enamored of 1970 GTOs as a teenager in 1978 he probably could not have imagined one that looked quite like the Judge he currently owns. All those years ago the car that sparked his interest was a classic Polar White 1970 Judge that belonged to a friend’s brother. Someday, thought Stephen, though he undoubtedly imagined a quicker timeframe than the 32 years that passed before he finally bought the unique Judge you see here.

We mention that the young Stephen could have hardly imagined a Judge that looks like his current ride, because according to 1970 GTO ordering information it wasn’t supposed to happen. Better said, Pontiac didn’t officially offer the color combination of Mint Turquoise paint in conjunction with a red interior. The Mint hue is plenty unusual on its own, but according to printed literature the interior color pairing would have been limited to either black or sandalwood. Conversely, red interiors were only supposed to be had with Polar White, Starlight Black, and Cardinal Red. So how and why did any GTO, much less a Judge, end up with the supposedly unavailable color combination that’s documented on the VIN tag of this car? Well, only part of the story is known.

This GTO was originally purchased from Mayhew Motors in Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada, by a local physician. The story goes that the doctor ordered the car but apparently not in the color combo it arrived in. When he saw it, he was less than pleased and refused payment. The Judge thus sat on the lot unsold for several weeks before the doctor eventually returned, this time looking for a deal. We can only surmise that the dealer softened on the price, because the doctor got his new GTO Judge. He drove it for several years before passing it along to his son. A cousin and at least one more owner ensued before it was purchased by Carmine Golemme, but the car never strayed far from its original Alberta home.

Carmine is an avid GTO enthusiast and owner of a restoration and hot rod shop in Calgary called Classic Performance. He discovered the GTO being offered by a private party in Edmonton in 2008. While the car was painted black at the time, the seller had noted the original Mint Turquoise–over-red color scheme.

Carmine says, “I realized this was a super unusual color combination, and it appealed to me because of that, and because it looked to be a Judge in good condition. It was built at the Oshawa, Ontario, assembly plant, which was known to turn out some ‘unavailable’ color combos from time to time. I am personally aware of two black 1970 GTOs built at Oshawa, one with a green interior, the other with blue, neither of which was supposed to be available with black cars. We think these anomalies were likely due to some kind of supply issues, though there isn’t any real proof of that.”

Once the GTO was back at his Classic Performance digs, Carmine and his crew soon had it stripped for a full restoration. Other than the black color and what appears to be a service replacement block for the original RA III 400, the car was remarkably original. The drivetrain components were rebuilt to original spec in-house, to include the 366-horse engine, TH400 trans, and 3.55 geared 10-bolt posi rearend. Painter Tim Brown gets credit for the gorgeous Mint Turquoise topcoat, done using two-stage DuPont products.

It was at this stage of the restoration, in 2012, that Stephen first spied the Judge during a local GTO club meeting at Classic Performance. He says, “The first time I saw it, it had just come out of the paint shop, and I was really struck by the color. The interior had yet to be reinstalled, so I had no idea that it would have red guts.”

The club met again at Carmine’s shop the following month, and this time the interior had been installed in all its fresh and unusual glory. Says Stephen, “I was totally surprised to see the interior color, and talked with Carmine a bit about it after the meeting. He explained about how the color combination ‘should not have been,’ and it left quite an impression on me.”

A chance meeting between Carmine and Stephen at a World of Wheels show a couple of months later resulted in the Judge somewhat unexpectedly trading hands. “In 2001, I’d purchased the car of my dreams,” says Stephen, “a black-on-black 2001 WS6 Trans Am with an LS1 and six-speed, T-tops, and the SLP package. It was a great car, and just an occasional driver that by 2012 had just 13,000 miles on it. Carmine had always liked the car and would periodically ask when I was going to sell it to him. He asked the same thing at the show, and I responded with a query about when he was going to sell me his Judge, and the rest is history.”

By now the Judge was in the final throes of assembly. Stephen directed the Classic Performance crew to install several items to make driving the car more enjoyable. To that end, 15×7 Rally II wheels take the place of the original 14s, a Custom Autosound stereo was fitted, as was an optional Formula steering wheel, and a Gear Vendors overdrive unit was hung from the rear of the Turbo 400 automatic.

“I knew I wanted to enjoy this car by driving it, and the overdrive makes a tremendous difference,” states Stephen. He reports a drop in freeway engine speeds of roughly 800 rpm, but that’s just part of the appeal of the Gear Vendors. The OD can be used in any forward gear, meaning the factory three-speed automatic can now be used as a six-speed, enabling the stout RA III to be kept in the meat of its powerband for much longer.

We came across Stephen and his minty-cool Judge at the 2016 GTOAA Nationals, where it would take First Place in the 1969-1971 Judge category. Even before learning of its likely one-of-a-kind status, we were drawn to the color combination that was once rejected by the original owner. It flat-out works in our mind, maybe because of the splashes of complementary color that come from the exterior Judge striping. It would be interesting to know what the good doctor eventually thought of the color combination in the end, but regardless, the psychedelic anomaly now makes this GTO stand tall in any crowd!

At a Glance

1970 GTO Judge
Owned by: Stephen Gaal
Restored by: Classic Performance, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Engine: 400ci/366hp Ram Air III
Transmission: TH400 3-speed automatic
Rearend: 10-bolt with 3.55 gears and Safe-T-Track
Interior: Red vinyl bucket seat
Wheels: 15×7-inch Rally II
Tires: 245/60R15 Goodyear
Special Parts: Gear Vendors overdrive

The post Color Combo on Psychedelic 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge Never Meant to Be appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Imagine growing up during the hottest time for drag racing in history where Gassers, Funny Cars, and ’rails ruled the quarter-mile as they launched from the lights in a haze of tire smoke and nitromethane. For a young Terry McMillen of Elkhart, Indiana, it was as easy as coming home from school to see his dad, Warner, wrenching on the full-house Flathead V-8 between the framerails of the family’s 1953 Mercury.

Growing up in Chicago while surrounded by high performance took control of his everyday life, to the point where he would always have a racing magazine open between the pages of his books in school. Thanks to the keen eye of his English teacher, Mrs. Smith, she recognized his interests and engaged his passion of working on cars to also include knowledge in many of life’s much-needed disciplines.

While learning the inner workings of performance engines from a very early age, he spent plenty of time helping older teenage racers in the neighborhood while also earning cash from his paper routes. One particular customer on his route owned a wicked 1932 Ford with a modified 392ci Hemi V-8 that was always parked in his yard. Terry gained a total fascination with the car and always expressed an interest in it, talking with the owner for hours on end. Eventually the owner worked out a monthly payment plan for him to become the new owner, making it a life-changing event and steering him fully down the right path. Add this to the regular trips to watch his older brother, Wayne, race at US-30 Dragstrip as well as seeing the hottest muscle cars he test-drove for GM on a regular basis.

On the day that he got his driver’s license he also made his first pass at US-30 Dragstrip, sealing a fate that would bring him to a future with a career in drag racing. Starting with nitro-powered Funny Cars with the IHRA, he eventually moved onto the NHRA as driver/owner of the Amalie Motor Oil Top Fuel Dragster. Somehow a long passion for vintage drag racing and Gassers gave him the urge to look for one of his favorites, a 1941 Willys coupe. After scouring the Web he located a perfect car to start with that was originally built by John Lovings of Nebraska. Without wasting any time, a deal was made and the car was transported to his home shop for evaluation. Once received, Terry started to outline the updates to infuse his personal needs and make it a contender on the street and ’strip, working along with his lovely wife, Cori, son, Cameron, and good friends Scott Walstrom and Gary Lambuth.

The car already had a rock-solid spine crafted from 1-1/2×3-inch rectangular tube, complete with custom crossmembers tying it all together. Out back a Ford 9-inch rear packed with 4.30:1 gears spins 31-spline Strange Engineering axles and is suspended in place by custom ladder bars combined with PRO Shocks coilovers. To get the right Gasser stance up front an early Ford axle and spindles was deftly matched to parallel leaf springs combined with tube shocks from PRO Shocks. To cut the speed, a dual master from Wilwood Engineering pushes fluid though stainless lines to 10-inch rear and 11-inch front Ford vented discs with four-piston calipers. Linking it all to the asphalt, a set of classic 15-inch Cragar S/S wheels capped with legendary Mickey Thompson rubber gets the message across.

If you’ve made your career in drag racing and building competitive engines, the mill for your own Gasser had better make an impact. Starting with a 400ci base, Terry upped the displacement to 421 ci with a bore of 4.155 and stroke of 3.875. He then packed the block with a Scat 4340 forged crank linked to Oliver H-beam rods wearing Keith Black 8.3:1 pistons with a heavy beat from a COMP Cams stick. A set of warmed-over Air Flow Research aluminum heads make plenty of power, while a Weiand intake is capped by a matching 6-71 blower topped with a pair of Holley 750-cfm carbs to deliver the goods. An MSD ignition lights the fire while spent gases push thorough custom headers to a 2-1/2-inch steel exhaust via Flowmaster mufflers. Power moves rearward through a hopped-up TH400 trans equipped with a Coan Racing 3,000-rpm converter linked to a custom driveshaft.

Starting with a clean, fresh body made sure the build would go smoothly when it came to bodywork and paint. The Willys body from Outlaw Performance was fitted to the chassis, massaged, and gapped to prepare it for paint. To bring it to life a coating of PPG vibrant red was applied and finished off with custom lettering to give the coupe an aggressive, traditional look. Inside, it’s all business, starting with an eight-point rollcage installed by Allen McMillan. The dash was filled with dials from Auto Meter to monitor all the vitals while a Grant steering wheel perched on a custom column carves the course and shifts move through a Hurst Quarter Stick. A set of comfortable buckets in black vinyl wear RJS Racing Equipment belts with accent from matching side panels and carpet in black to complete the look. This is one wicked Willys that shakes the streets with Terry at the wheel, and to us that’s just plain cool.

The post 1941 Willys Coupe Relives the Past with Plenty of Attitude appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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Finding a junkyard that still has old cars in it is getting harder and harder. I know of a handful that have disappeared within the past few years. That doesn’t mean they’re all gone, though. I was fortunate enough that a gentleman gave me a tip about a yard in Michigan that still had a ton of cool muscle cars, even though I didn’t realize it at the time.

I was in Detroit for a week doing some work, and I had a day free to do anything I wanted. I did what I always do: I looked to The Map. If you haven’t seen or heard of The Map before, it is a web-based map that allows me to pin items onto it. Every lead, story, and tip I get goes on The Map for a future adventure. Some call it a treasure map; I just call it The Map. I looked over The Map to see what I had not hit yet. I saw a variety of interesting leads north of Detroit, so that’s where I headed.

Sadly, most of the spots were either closed, full of newer cars, or had cars that were crushed. But there was one more spot to visit, a place I had heard was “worth the trip.” Pulling up to the yard, I could see a bunch of cars at first, but mostly newer cars, nothing really that old. There was also a collection of other nonautomotive vehicles and projects easily viewable.

After pulling in and being greeted by a gentleman, the first thing I spotted walking into the yard was a 1967 Camaro SS convertible nearly buried in spare wood and other pieces of miscellaneous stuff. This piqued my interest and made me think that this place would be much more interesting than I first thought!

Walking the short road to the main yard, we passed a variety of mini-bikes, motorcycles, and other small motorized vehicles on one side; on the other was a pond with a bit of land between the road and the pond. Between were more random vehicles, but one stuck out above all else, a 1967 Mustang GT fastback with the rear end hanging out over the pond. That did not do the poor car any favors. The owner was kind enough to point out that if I did any funny business I would end up at the bottom of that pond, and we kept walking.

Just off to our right entering the yard was a 1967 GTO and a 1970 Corvette. I popped the hood on the GTO, and there staring back at me were two four-barrel carburetors. This had been someone’s hot rod at some point. And it was complete as well.

Walking into the yard, I saw all sorts of cool cars scattered about. A 1970 Chevelle up on top of a bus. A four-door Pontiac Catalina. A 1970 Mustang SportsRoof just sitting in the weeds. Then I spied something special, but it was not easy to get to. On top of a group of buses was a 1969 Mach 1 Mustang. One of my all-time favorite cars, this was even in the right color. But how to get a closer look at it? I found a tow truck that I was able to shimmy my way up in to get a good view of the car. From afar it was a good-looking car, but up close it was bad, very bad. Even though it had been sitting on top of a bus, it was completely rusted out. The door had been open so long that a tree had grown from the ground, between two buses, and in between the Mustang’s body and door, so it could never close. I got down from the tow truck and just shook my head.

We kept on walking, passing a Cougar and another GTO. This one had a small-block Chevrolet engine under the hood, but with headers and aftermarket intake and carb, it was someone’s fun car at one point. Another rare car near there was a 1970 Chevelle SS396. This one had not had an easy life. It was pretty much a complete wreck but still wore the SS396 badges on the fenders with honor. You could still make out the SS stripes on the decklid.

Just across from there was a 1970 Malibu sitting next to a 1969 Mach 1. The Malibu was a two-door, and the owner pointed out something interesting about the car once you looked closer. Someone had bolted on an original 1970 cowl induction hood, and it was still on the car, in the open position. Blew my mind that it was still sitting there to this day.

For the next hour or so we wandered through the yard, with the man sharing stories about nearly every car we saw. A 1970 GTO over here, a bunch of Camaros over there. It amazed me what the guy remembered. The 1965 Coronet 500 that the driver had wrapped around a tree trying to kill his girlfriend; he later went to jail. The 5.0 Mustang that was the best drag race car that he ever had. It was quite a trip back in time with him.

We made our way to the last main section of the yard, where the really good cars were, starting with a pair of 1966 Mustang fastbacks. They weren’t GT cars or anything super rare, but they were nearly complete fastbacks sitting next to each other. How often does that happen? On the other side of the section was the top car by his reckoning, a basically untouched 1970 1/2 Camaro Z28. A peek under the hood showed the original engine with nearly all the original components.

That was really cool, but my eye was on a car we had walked past just before it. It was rough, but I was so taken aback by it because of where it came from: Berger Chevrolet, the famous Grand Rapids, Michigan, supercar dealership. Looking over this one, a 1967 Camaro SS convertible, I saw it came with a 396 with an automatic on the floor. Red car and red interior, it still has the By Berger emblem on the tail panel. This dropped my jaw. Sadly, the car was nothing but a rusted-out shell. If it had been a special car by Berger, I could see restoring it, but it didn’t even have the high-horsepower 396. The tach was the smaller 5,500/7,000-rpm tach. And it didn’t help that the engine and transmission were missing.

Every time I hear about places like this not existing anymore, I just look at The Map, hope it’s not true, and plot my next adventure.

Editor’s note: You can follow Ryan Brutt on a multitude of social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. He says, “If you know of any cool cars, let me know. I’ll add a pin to my map!”

The post Michigan Junkyard Turns Up Some Buried Muscle Car Treasure appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Situated in Columbia Station, about 20 miles southeast of Cleveland, Ohio, a local salvage yard is making a worldwide reputation for itself as a one-stop shop for late-model engine and drivetrain swaps. We first became aware of Cleveland Power & Performance when we saw their ad for C6 Z06 rolling chassis. It was a running, driving shell, just missing the exterior body panels. Interesting concept: they call these rolling donor shells “go karts”. Their palletized drivetrain swap videos are even more compelling. Everything you need to install a current model LT1, Coyote, or Hemi engine into your older car are included: gauges, steering column, gas tank, pedals, wiring harnesses, and of course, the engine and transmission are mounted on a pallet. In the videos, they start the engines and walk around the pallet, so you can hear the engine run and see everything included in the sale. They were the first to offer a complete Hellcat drivetrain swap, which came out of a car that was totaled after only seven miles!

Sales manager Tim Mulcahy gave us a tour of the facility, which is located on 40 acres of land. Formerly Cleveland Pick-A-Part, a successful and long-running local business, they changed the name of the company a couple of years ago to reflect their emphasis on specializing in newer muscle and sports cars, and the response has been tremendous. Tim tells us that most of the palletized drivetrain swaps are sold before the components have been completely removed from the car, and they are shipping parts all over the world.

In addition to the dismantling and inventory work, they staff several mechanics and fabricators. If you want an engine built, a salvage car repaired, or a complete build of an older car, these guys can handle it. They are currently building a 1983 Firebird with the drivetrain and interior from a 2002 Firebird, and a 1969 Charger body swap onto a 2016 Challenger Hellcat, and we will be following both of those builds as they come together.

In the meantime, visit their website and Facebook pages for more information and scroll through our photo gallery of the builds and of some of their parts inventory. There’s a lot of cool stuff happening there.

The post Shop Visit: Cleveland Power & Performance appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

What’s in the Works at Some of the Country’s Top Shops

Each year we anxiously await the biggest shows of the year—especially the SEMA Show—because they tend to be the places where shops both big and small will pull the wraps off their latest and most ambitious builds. We picked up the phone and called some of the regulars to see what they have in store for SEMA 2017 and beyond. Granted, our sampling is a bit biased, but it looks muscle cars and 1930s hot rods will dominate—as usual. If you need some inspiration to get your project off the ground or if it just needs some direction, let these trendsetters be an inspiration. Without any further ado, here’s what we uncovered, or at least what the shops were willing to share!

1929 Ford Tudor Sedan

Rad Rides by Troy

Owner: Mark and Dennis Mariani

Powertrain: Bob Panella Motorsports 377 Dart/Chevy small-block and a five-speed from Bowler Transmissions.

Chassis: Rad Rides 1932 American Stamping rails with 10-inch kick up for Halibrand quick-change rear, with dropped I-beam front end.

The changes to the 1929 Model A body are substantial, besides the chopped top and raised rear fenderwells. The cowl has been heavily reworked and the windshield was laid back, incorporating a unique visor much better integrated than Ford’s original attempt. The cowl steering features a unique reverse-link arrangement with billet-aluminum arms helping to correct the traditionally bad geometry of cowl steering in these early cars. There are lots of billet bits scattered throughout the build and a ton of unique sheetmetal surgery. This should be one stunning and totally new take on Ford’s Model A.

1949 Cadillac Sedanette

Roy Brizio Street Rods

Powertrain: LS3 engine and 4L65E automatic transmission.

Chassis: Art Morrison independent front and rear.

Though Brizio is known primarily for its 1932 Ford buildups, the shop has also been getting more and more into these later (by Brizio standards) restomods. Basically, they look fairly stock on the outside, but are completely modern underneath. This one is running an Art Morrison completely independent suspension chassis, with an LS3 and 4L65E automatic transmission for go. Color is undecided at this time, but we know the interior will be some sort of leather by Sid Chavers. Sitting lower than stock, Brizios is having wheels that mimic the Caddy “Sombrero” hubcaps done in 17-inch for a better stance. You know this Cad will get driven.

1932 Ford Coupe

Roy Brizio Street Rods

Powertrain: Edelbrock crate small-block Chevy and Tremec five-speed transmission.

Chassis: Brizio with Kugel independent front and rear suspension.

A very similar build to one done for Eric Clapton a couple of years ago, this is a fairly typical build for Brizios, with its chassis featuring Kugel independent front and rear suspension. A reproduction steel Brookville three-window body was chopped 2-1/2 inches and the roof was filled. The 350 Edelbrock Chevy crate motor is hooked to a Tremec five-speed. While painted identically to the Clapton coupe in Ferrari Titanium, this car’s interior will run oxblood leather rather than the Ferrari-beige of the Clapton car. Craftsmanship and detail are show-car quality, but this little coupe will see plenty of highway miles.

Third-Gen Camaro

Rad Rides By Troy

Owner: Joe Lendway

Powertrain: 1,000hp twin-turbo 409 Chevy small-block and 4L80E automatic transmission.

Chassis: Fabricated in-house with independent front and Mark Williams Pro-9 four-link rear.

We always expect the unexpected from Rad Rides, and this third-gen is no exception. The design is an in-house collaboration influenced by IMSA-style road racers of the 1980s—taken a couple notches further. Owner Joe Lendway is a robotics engineer for GM and was able to snag a GM-built, 409-inch, twin-turbo small-block for his Camaro. The plastic front end has been replaced with a fabricated aluminum copy modified extensively from stock. One of the most unique features is found inside with the chrome-moly sheetmetal cage forming a more organic assembly than traditional chrome-moly tubing. Billet-aluminum bits include hood louvers and the fuel-cell cover. Rad Rides will be whittling unique wheels by SEMA time, with those shown being rollers.

1935 Chevrolet Standard Coupe

Ironworks Speed & Kustom

Owner: Greg Heinrich

Chassis: Ironworks Speed & Kustom.

Powertrain: Stack-injected small-block Chevrolet with five-speed trans.

Built on an Ironworks custom chassis with suspension parts from Perfection Hot Rod parts, the body is wedge-sectioned, chopped, lengthened in the rear and will feature a machined aluminum firewall. Newly cast Indy-style magnesium wheels are mounted to a quick-change rear end with custom split wishbones front and rear. Sid Chavers is on deck for the upholstery, and the project’s completion date is set for 2018.

1969 Chevrolet Chevelle

Ironworks Speed & Kustom

Owner: Andrew Lezotte

Powertrain: 700hp LSA with a T56 Magnum.

Chassis: Speedtech chassis with Ridetech coilovers.

A subtle 1-inch widebody and minitubs will hide 335 rear rubber and widened front inner fenders will house 305s front tire. Expect an Ironworks signature interior with custom-machined aluminum bits. Rodger Lee tells us, “This is the modern version of the badass Chevelle Chevrolet never made.”

1967 Chevrolet Camaro

Ironworks Speed & Kustom

Owner: Greg Heinrich

Powertrain: Dry-sump LT4/T56 Magnum.

Chassis: Speedtech front subframe and rear torque arm.

Riding on 11-inch- and 12-inch-wide 19-inch Forgeline wheels and painted PPG Corvette white, this Bow Tie will feature Ironworks custom billet parts, including the rear spoiler and gauge cluster. A complete stainless exhaust uses Flowmaster mufflers with quarter-panel exit exhaust tips.

1967 Buick Skylark

Pure Vision

Owner: Steve Strope

Powertrain: 6-71 blown 426 Hemi with 727 transmission.

Chassis: Fabricated front clip using a highly modified Pete & Jake’s four-bar/dropped-axle front suspension.

For Steve Strope, owner of Pure Vision, this car is just perfect. The front wheels are pushed forward 4 inches with the wheel openings moved 3 inches to match. The rear factory framerails have been moved inboard, and the early 1960s Pontiac Super Duty rear axle uses leaf springs instead of the factory A-body coils. Inside is a custom quilted-stainless dash insert and a driver seat moved back to the rear-seat floorboard area in front of a custom Flaming River column. The custom tach uses a Porsche 356 tach body, a Mercedes chrome bezel, and a custom SW-styled face by Redline Gauge Works. On the outside, a custom Moon tank was countersunk into the license-plate area of the front bumper. As Steve says, “Its got M&H slicks, a blown Hemi, and zoomie headers—what more do you want?”

1969 Chevy Nova

Pure Vision

Owner: Joe Rogan

Powertrain: Chevrolet Performance LT4/T56 six-speed, bellhousing, accessory drive, and ECU.

Chassis: Art Morrison front clip and Art Morrison IRS.

Featuring a custom chassis using Art Morrison components and subframes that will be integrated into the floorpan, this Nova will use Camaro cues, including a 1970 Z-28–styled rear spoiler and 1969 Camaro wheelwell openings.

1972 AMC Javelin

Ringbrothers

Owner: Prestone

Powertrain: Whipple-supercharged 6.2L Hemi Hellcat/Bowler 4L80E

Chassis: Detroit Speed & Engineering front subframe and rear four-link.

This Javelin is a hometown favorite for the Rings; they recently purchased it knowing it would make a great project. Stored in a basement for decades, the car was last registered in the 1970s and its vintage custom paint was checked but remarkably intact prior to restoration. Prestone will use the Javelin to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

1967 Chevrolet Nova

Alloy Motors

Owner: Geoff Gates

Powertrain: Chevrolet Performance LSA/five-speed manual, Moser 9-inch with nodular third member.

Chassis: Schwartz Engineering chassis with Alloy’s own aluminum tub/monocoque and rollcage.

For clearance, the side-character line and wheelwells will be raised to fit a modern wheel and tire package without tucking the wheels inboard, and there’s extensive front and rear sheetmetal work. Alloy Motors from Oakland, California, is returning to SEMA with an LSA-powered Nova build for 2017. The Schwartz chassis will tie into a stressed-aluminum tub and makes up the exterior rocker box seen below the riveted bodyline.

1969 Chevrolet Camaro

Big Red Camaro

Owner: RJ Gottlieb

Powertrain: 555ci Chevrolet big-block, five-speed, and 9-inch.

Chassis: Bill Osborne stock-car chassis.

Reconfigurable between land-speed and road-race engine, transmission, and suspension combinations, Big Red will be back and better than ever as it sets its sights on Pikes Peak this year. The Camaro has been rebuilt and rethought (even before the fire in 2016) with a three-link/four-link rear suspension that can be swapped, depending on what RJ intends to race.

1967 Chevrolet Camaro

GAP Racing

Owner: David Snell

Chassis: Roadster Shop.

Powertrain: Chevrolet Performance LT4/Bowler T56 transmission.

This drop-top will ride on a Roadster Shop Spec chassis with HRE wheels and 15-inch Baer brakes. For the hot Houston summers, with the top up, Vintage Air and Thermo-Tec insulation will keep cruising cool. Speak Easy Speed is the paint shop of choice for this build.

1955 Ford T-Bird Roadster

Squeek’s Metal Works

Owner: Dave Kipp

Powertrain: 427ci Ford SOHC Cammer with six-speed Tremec transmission.

Chassis: Art Morrison reconfigured by Mike Chrisman at CARS, Kugel independent suspension front and rear.

Long in the works, Kipp’s T-bird has so many subtle mods you’ll never catch them all. The eyebrows were fabricated by Squeek and tied into the front fenders, eliminating the cast pieces, and the windshield posts and door tops have been modified for what is now a roadster. The area behind the seat has been moved back into the trunk area and the seat was moved back for more interior space, the design line running into the front fender is now functional, and the rear wheel openings now mimic the fronts. The car will be House of Kolor red with a pewter interior. Jim Green in Seattle gets the credit for building the rare Cammer engine.

1933 Hot Rod Pickup

Factory Five

Chassis: Tubular steel space frame with IFS.

Showcasing Factory Five’s latest in its product line, the pickup uses the race-proven 1933 Hot Rod frame and a new steel bed. Factory Five’s 1933 Hot Rod truck will debut at SEMA 2017, and it will be in production by January 2018.

1970 Ford Mustang

Timeless Kustoms

Powertrain: Supercharged 5.0L Coyote with six-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Chassis: Custom-built by Timeless Kustoms to incorporate Nissan GT-R AWD drivetrain.

“Sabotage” will debut at SEMA 2017 and features a 2013 Nissan GT-R’s AWD drivetrain underneath a widened 1970 Mustang body.

1968 Chevy Caprice

Weaver Customs

Owner: Keith Echols

Powertrain: LSA supercharged 6.2L V8/4L85E four-speed automatic.

Chassis: RideTech tubular upper and lower arms/Ford 9-inch with four-link.

The big cruiser will feature subtly restyled sheetmetal and bumpers front and rear, a custom dash, hand-fabricated console, and one-off gauges.

1941 Dodge Power Wagon

Weaver Customs

Randy & Sydney Weaver

Powertrain: 4bt Cummins with HX-35 turbo and GM TH350 automatic.

Chassis: Custom four-link with Fox 2.0 shocks, Danas axles, and Detroit lockers front and rear.

Like Weaver Customs’ unibody Ford HOT ROD featured in 2016, this truck will sport a full custom interior featuring WWII-appropriate Colt 1911 pistols in leather floorboards, a smoothed body, and a custom bed.

1969 Camaro

Weaver Customs

Owner: Brian & Michelle Klein

Engine: Stroked and supercharged small-block Chevy with a TKO 600.

Chassis: Custom frame with four-link and FAB 9 rear axle with 4.30 gears.

Among its many modifications, this subtle custom will have narrowed and tucked bumpers and a one-off grille.

1965 Pontiac LeMans

Coybilt Inc

Powertrain: 489ci Pontiac.

Chassis: Roadster Shop Fast Track chassis with IRS.

Instead of doing the usual GTO clone route, this Pontiac will honor its namesake and be focused on road racing with a fire-suppression system, 16-point cage, custom-built floors, mini-tubs, rear diffuser, aero work, belly pans, channeled body, and custom 19-inch, FIA-style, true knock-off wheels. The engine is the current focus and is at DCI motorsports being built to produce in excess of 1,800 hp by way of DCI Ram Air 5 heads with twin Paxton superchargers, dual four barrels, and an air-to-water intercooler in the intake.

1971 Chevrolet Camaro

Roadster Shop

Powertrain: 1,300hp, NRE-built, twin-turbo small-block Chevy.

Chassis: Roadster Shop Fast Track.

With 1,300 hp under the long-and-low hood, you can understand why Roadster Shop added some extra grille acreage to the Camaro to ensure the twin-turbo small-block can get all the air it needs. A Roadster Shop chassis has a low, 4-inch ride height, with the bulged fenders tucking massive meats.

1969 Dodge Charger

Roadster Shop

Powertrain: 6.4L Hemi.

Chassis: Roadster Shop Fast Track IRS.

Ever since Roadster Shop built “Slicer”—a radical, twin-turbo Viper V10-powered Charger—we haven’t been able to look at a ’68 the same way. While this newly built 1968 is toned down, it still carries the obsessive attention to detail that Roadster Shop is known for. A 6.4L Hemi will churn an independent rear Roadster Shop Fast Track chassis, and the body will be equally impressive. An all-new nose has been fabricated, including bumper, valance, spoiler, grille and surround, as well as the tail of the car that has a fabricated rear valance, diffuser, and spoiler.

1969 Chevrolet Camaro

Roadster Shop

Powertrain: Chevrolet Performance LT4 and six-speed manual.

Chassis: Roadster Shop Fast Track.

This 1969 Camaro features Roadster Shop’s Fast Track chassis, which provides the foundation for a healthy, supercharged LT4 crate engine with a six-speed manual. The Camaro has extensive sheetmetal work on the rockers, valences, and side scoops, while several pieces will be machined from billet aluminum, including the grille, headlight doors, taillights, and interior knobs/switches.

1968 Chevrolet Camaro

Roadster Shop

Powertrain: Aluminum ZL1 big-block Chevy.

Chassis: Roadster Shop Fast Track IRS chassis with machined billet control arms and spindles.

We can’t get ourselves to pull our eyes from this subtly old-school build from RS, complete with an all-aluminum ZL1 427 big-block fed by eight individual throttle-bodies and Stinger hood! To go with the road-race look, an independent-rear RS Fast Track chassis was utilized.

The Magic Bus

Randy Grubb

Powetrain: Oldsmobile 455.

Chassis: FWD GMC motorhome.

Like his amazing Decoliner, Randy Grubb’s latest project—started on January 1, 2017—will be a double-decker cabover. While his previous RV project used a White cabover, an iconic Divco delivery truck was selected for the fascia of “The Magic Bus.” For the upper deck, VW Type II Samba serves as an airy cupola, with lots of window glass, skylights, and sunroof. We expect even more windows by the time he’s done transitioning the VW body to the rest of the cab. If it were any taller, it wouldn’t be able to roll out of Randy’s garage!

1932 Ford Roadster Pickup

Goolsby Customs

Owner: Matthew Gordon

Powertrain: Olds Rocket 88 and Bowler T-5 trans.

Chassis: Goolsby Customs with RideTech shocks and Currie rear axle.

All but wrapped up, this classic beauty wears a custom mix BASF paint and brightwork by Advanced Plating. The vintage-styled interior uses a one-off Olds gauge cluster by Classic Intruments, Goolsby Edition by Lokar shifter and pedals, and upholstery by M&M Hotrod Interiors.

1940 Ford Convertible

Goolsby Customs

Owner: Debbie Walls

Powertrain: Borla induction small-block and Bowler automatic.

Chassis: Roadster Shop Chassis with Currie rear end.

Mixing and matching trim, this 1940 Ford will use a 1948 Ford top and 1946 Chevy bumpers chromed by Advanced Plating. Painted with a custom BASF paint, this Goolsby creation will also use Lokar custom trim, shifter, and pedals.

1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda

CAL Creations

Owner: Kent Matranga

Powertrain: Hellcat 6.2L V8/Tremec 6-speed

Chassis: CAL Creations custom

This ‘Cuda has plenty of custom sheetmetal work including shaved door handles, tucked bumpers, and a one-off spoiler. Inside is a custom interior and a rollcage.

1953 Chevrolet Pickup

CAL Creations

Owner: John Harman

Powertrain: Chevrolet LS3

Chassis: Stock rails with Art Morrison crossmember

Vintage trucks are always in style, and this CAL Creations built keeps it clean and simple with the dropped Advanced Design truck

1968 Chevrolet Camaro

East Bay Muscle Cars

Powertrain: Chevrolet LT4

Chassis: Chris Alston G-Street with cantilevered IRS

Set to debut at the Chris Alston Chassisworks booth, this Camaro has custom rockers and lower facia, and a new Rally Sport-style grille.

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle

East Bay Muscle Cars

Powertrain: Chevrolet Performance LSA

Chassis: Art Morrison

This drop-top Chevelle features a two-seat custom interior with modern style inspired by C7 Corvette.

The post Sneak Peek at 27 Project Cars for 2017 appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Richard Petty celebrated his 80th birthday in the company of fellow NASCAR titans, friends, and family while accepting the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award.

Richard Petty, better known as “The King” to his generations of followers, celebrated his 80th birthday in the company of fellow NASCAR titans, friends, and family. Jeff Gordon, Kyle Petty, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, and NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton were also present at Los Angeles’ iconic red-and-chrome Petersen Automotive Museum to see Richard accept the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award.

With 7 NASCAR championships, 200 race wins (7 of which came from the Daytona 500), and countless on-track achievements, it’s no surprise how The King got his crown – but Richard’s throne isn’t built on checkered flags, unmatched career records, and winner’s circle photos alone.  “For me to stand up here, 99-point-9 percent of you people out here made Richard Petty,” he said to the crowd. Y’all was behind me, whether you know it or not. You were able to push me, I tell ya, to the front. And to you all, thank you for doing it.”

The Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award has celebrated Dan Gurney, Art Chrisman, Carroll Shelby, George Barris, Andy Granatelli, The Ford Family, Vic Edelbrock, Jack Roush, Ed “Isky” Iskenderian, “Speedy” Bill Smith, Alex Xydias, Wally Parks, and Ed Pink in the past.

“I’m just getting old. But, Petersen has been in publishing of all kinds of racing magazines. Being they cover all types of racing, to be selected in something like this is really a big thing. I guess it winds up showing we had a lot of good people working for us to be able to put us in this position,” The King said. “It wasn’t a one-man show. What can you do by yourself? I’ve accomplished nothing by myself. With the crowd around me we’ve accomplished a lot. I just happen to be the guy out front. I’m not pulling them, they are pushing me.”

The evening flowed with the class of the man himself, though the acres of aluminum, steel, and carbon-fiber interspersed throughout the crowd didn’t hurt either.

It goes without saying that Richard is earning of an achievement that shares our founder’s namesake.  Never leaving his hometown of Level Cross, North Carolina, he’s not only won over 16-dozen races, but several of them are keystones of NASCAR history: his dramatic win during the first-ever flag-to-flag live-airing of the Daytona in 500  in 1979 (then-leader Donnie Allison and second-place Cale Yarborough crashed on the last lap, leaving Richard to fend off Darrel Waltrip for the checkered flag); not only was he the first driver to win the Daytona 500 twice, but in his record-breaking third win in 1971 came the year after the infamous Wing Cars were banned; after Petty formed the Professional Driver’s Association, a driver’s union, negotiations turned violent when LeeRoy Yarbrough punched NASCAR founder Bill France in the mug – Petty, LeeRoy, and some three-dozen other drivers boycotted the 1969 Talladega race over safety concerns; his 200th victory – a clincher between him and Yarborough at the 1984 Firecracker 400 – was witnessed and celebrated with then-President Ronald Reagan (earning his title, The King); his last race, an unfortunate crash-out at the 1992 Hooters 500,  was also Jeff Gordon’s rookie race; and while his Oldsmobile suffered a mechanical failure eight laps into the inaugural Dayona 500, Richard hopped into the pits for his father’s Olds Super 88.

Lee Petty was no. 42, Richard became no. 43, his son, Kyle Petty, continued as no. 44, and the late-Adam Petty lives on as no. 45. Richard has taken the seed his father planted in NASCAR’s earliest days and cultivated it into the one of the sport’s most iconic racing families – all with a smile from under the shadow of that big Charlie Horse 1 cowboy hat.

Richard continues his work at the Petty Family Foundation, which supports veterans, children, and communities while also campaigning Aric Almirola’s NASCAR Cup Car (at the Mooresville, NC-based Richard Petty Motorsports) and churning high-powered customer builds from the same plot of land where his dad began building stock cars more than half-a-century ago.

The post Video: Celebrating Richard Petty’s 80th Birthday appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Still a few years shy of legal driving age, and being unable to accelerate the calendar one whit, my automotive outlets were car magazines, doodling, slot cars, and scale model kits. Laboring at my basement workbench to bring forth my next great scale masterpiece, I learned the box contained more than a bunch of plastic parts, an instruction sheet, and some decals. It held some important life lessons that still apply today.

Some Assembly Required

The picture they put on the box looks great, but the cold fact is that the picture is a pipe dream. You don’t just open the box and there it is. You have to build it, one piece at a time, one assembly at a time, not, as I would later find out, unlike a diploma, career, or family.

Following Instructions Is a Good Idea

It’s tempting to bypass the mundane steps and skip ahead to the more fun parts, but there’s probably a reason that they tell you to do stuff like scrape the chrome off the grille before you glue it to the body; put the “glass” in before interior; and put the wheels and axles through the chassis before gluing it to the body. Instructions were written by people who have already been down this path and determined the correct steps for success. Freestyling is risky.

Patience Pays Big Dividends

It’s a fruit of the Spirit, and you can’t be an artisan without it. Take the time to prep the parts. Test fit them to make sure they’re the right parts and not a mismatch. If they’re the right parts, trim off the flash, sprue, and waste that might prevent a good fit. Only then is it time for glue. This alone would have saved me a divorce.

Complexity Is Its Own Downfall

Opening doors, steerable wheels, operating trunk lid—the extra features are all cool, but they add to the build time, often don’t fit right, are pretty fragile, and are known to up and fall apart. I guess that shouldn’t really be a surprise. These are models made of plastic and built by 11-year-olds, not jeweled eggs by Faberge. Features are alluring, but simplicity gets you farther down the road and keeps you out of trouble. Just ask the subprime lenders.

Paint’s Tricky

It’s the make-or-break step and you can’t unpaint the car, so pay attention to the dos and don’ts. Do make sure you like the color. Do shake that can, even if it’s not fun. Don’t put it on too thick or you’ll get a run. Don’t touch wet paint. Yes, it’s still wet; no, it didn’t somehow dry in half the usual time. Some people are naturally good at some things, and some people are good at others. If paint is not your strong suit, and it wasn’t mine, get help.

Mistakes

They’re inevitable, but take every effort to keep them to the absolute minimum. Glue the wrong parts together and you’ll need to cut them apart with a saw or an X-Acto knife. It’s messy and dangerous, and you’ll have to handle tools that can cause pain and bleeding. Trust me. I still have numbness in one fingertip. With swords in the hands of the untrained it’s likely that the wrong thing will get cut. An apology is noble, but not as noble as needing no apology.

Decals Are Like Kids

Soak ’em in warm water. They need that. Slide them carefully off the backing, then you’ve got a limited time to get them placed where they’re supposed to be before their adhesive sets up and they get hard to move. Sometimes they stick to your finger and you have to peel ’em off. You know what I’m saying, right?

The Work Reflects the Builder

Once the job is done and it takes its place on your bookshelf or dresser, every time you look at it, it will remind you either of excellence and the discipline you exercised during its creation, or of corner-cutting and compromise and things that could have been done better. It will trigger either satisfaction in a job well done, or regret. It’s said that first we make our habits, then our habits make us. Even as a kid building models, it’s not too early to learn this. — Originally published Dec. 2010

The post Everything I Needed to Know About Life I Learned Building Car Models appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Chuck Fisher has always had a thing for muscle cars built with a bed out back. Ever since he can remember, at least one has been sitting in his driveway. His mom, Barb, was a muscle car lover and a gearhead when Chuck was growing up, and was smitten with these sporty, utilitarian rides from the get-go. She was especially fond of 396-motivated El Caminos, as they made great family trucksters during Chuck’s early years.

When Chuck was 5 years old, his mom met his future stepdad. This guy was a true biker in every sense of the word and had plenty of iron horses and Harley hardware to prove it. Back then, Chevy El Caminos and Ford Rancheros were very popular with the two-wheeler guys, not only because they were muscle cars but also because they were good for transporting bikes if needed. So it wasn’t surprising that when his stepdad joined the family, a bad-to-the-bone Ford Ranchero also came as part of the parental package.

Initially, Barb wasn’t thrilled with the Blue Oval truck. She was still hooked on the “bedded” Chevy toys that she had relied on over the years. But that sleek, black 1968 Ranchy soon became her main car, and she quickly realized that this Ford was one sweet ride. To Chuck, that car not only symbolized the love that he developed at a young age for American muscle cars but also the beginning of the first stable family life he had ever known. When his stepdad passed away only a decade later, the Ranchero in the driveway was a constant reminder of the man’s strong presence and the positive influence he had on their lives.

Over the years that followed, Chuck’s mom customized that rowdy Ranchero, adding pinstripes, a set of Cragars, and custom artwork (roses and Harley-Davidson “wings” for her late husband) on the back window. But one day the Ranchero was gone, and in its place in the driveway sat a beautiful big-block Chevelle convertible. The loss of that Ranchero didn’t sit well with Chuck. It was like he lost a part of the family, and it definitely took time for the youngster to adjust.

Soon afterwards, his mom bought a fairly new 1979 El Camino, which teenage Chuck immediately took to. It got the same treatment as the Ford that came before it, as a set of Cragars and side pipes were quickly installed. To the young hot rodder, the Camino looked pretty killer with its black and gold paint scheme. That particular Chevy would serve Chuck throughout his teen years, and from that point on he would never have less than one hopped-up EC in his garage at any one time.

Ranchero in Hand

Over the years Chuck never stopped thinking about that Ranchero. One day he scratched that itch by buying a completely restored 1968 Sunlit Gold Poly specimen that came up for sale locally. He thought he had finally filled that hole that Mom’s ride once occupied, but this Ford just didn’t feel right. He knew he needed a bit more; more of the things that really made his adrenalin pump. Things like a true performance powerplant between the rails, some muscle car options, and a four-speed stick in his hands.

He mentally drew up his dream Ranchero. First off, he really wanted the 1970-1971 body style, as its muscular shape just oozed aggression and power. He also knew the truck needed to be glazed in deep black paint and it had to be built with a manual transmission attached to a healthy performance V-8. Chuck realized that he would probably never see this vision in person, or at least anything like it. It would be one rare ride for sure. But Chuck looked . . . and looked.

He scanned the local want ads and hit local shows. He jumped to the internet, where he scoured online auctions and ads, looking for the elusive utility. For years he drew a blank. It just wasn’t something you could come upon often, or ever. “I thought I’d have a better chance at winning the Powerball than finding this dream car,” says Chuck. And most guys would be right. But not Chuck. He just has a knack for finding things.

Chuck’s Luck

In March 2014 a listing came up online for an estate auction featuring a low-mileage 1969 Shelby Mustang. Intrigued, Chuck read down the list of other items being offered, and his eyes nearly flew out of his head when he read of a very original 1971 Ranchero among the lots. It was a four-speed, 351 Cleveland-motivated Ranchero with a shaker hood, and all dressed in black.

Not only was it a 50,000-original-mile car, but it had 90 percent of its original paint, the balance being a touch-up after a fender bender. The original M-code 351 Cleveland was a healthy specimen, and it was hooked to a four-speed Top Loader transmission. Out back, a Traction Lok rear was stuffed with 3.50 gears. With disc brakes, power steering, a Rim Blow wheel, a console, and the original shaker hood, the Ranchero was everything Chuck wanted.

Unfortunately, things at the auction didn’t go as he hoped. The Ranchero fetched way more than the sum he had in his pocket, and he sadly backed away from the car and even gave up on his search—for a while.
A few years later Chuck decided to look for a Ranchero again. One night on an auction website the first Ranchero to pop up was none other than that particular dream truck. It seems that the owner who took her home from the estate auction was now putting her up for sale. This time Chuck was not going to let her go.

He met with the owner and made his best pitch for the car, but the owner balked. So Chuck went out to eat and cleared his head at a local diner. He then called the owner again and gave him a final cash deal over the phone. Amazingly enough, his last-chance, desperate shot paid off and the offer was accepted. Chuck came back and claimed his prize, threw on a set of tags, and proceeded to drive the truck the 200-plus miles back home to Connecticut.

The Ranchero now sits in a collection of several original muscle rides that Chuck has discovered over the years. His mom fell in love with his new ride immediately, and his wife Karen . . . well, she took a while to come around but now loves the sporty Blue Oval. As with all his four-wheeled possessions, this car will not be a trailer queen. Chuck’s not afraid to take them out and use them for what they were intended. This ride is no exception, because Chuck’s Ranchero has all the dressings he ever wanted in a muscle car, plus a bed to boot.

At a Glance

1971 Ranchero GT
Owned by: Chuck Fisher
Restored by: Unrestored original
Engine: 1971 351ci/285hp M-code Cleveland V-8
Transmission: Top Loader 4-speed manual
Rearend: 9-inch with 3.50 gears and Traction Lok
Interior: Black vinyl bucket seat
Wheels: 15×7 Magnum 500
Tires: F60-15 Firestone Wide Oval
Special parts: Disc brakes, sport stripe, Rim-Blow steering wheel, console, AM/FM stereo, power steering

The post Took Years to Find the 1971 Ford Ranchero GT of His Dreams appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Short of pulling the cylinder head and checking top-dead-center (TDC), a piston stop is the quickest and most accurate way to find TDC with an assembled engine. The problem is that piston stops, while cheap, are increasingly hard to find in-stock at a local parts store. Thankfully, piston stops are incredibly simple to make for just a few bucks.

What you need:

-5/16 drill bit

-3/8″-16 bolt (3- to 4-inch)

-Doorman 14mm spark plug anti-fouler P/N: 42008 (A hollowed out spark plug body will also suffice)

–How to Find Top Dead Center (This story only delves into building the tool, learn how to find TDC here)

Wrenchin’ Wednesday is a weekly garage-hackamajig, wrenching smarter-not-harder with small tips that make working on your project easier, cheaper, and maybe even a bit faster. We’re probably not the first with any of these ideas, but you won’t be the last to know every Wednesday!

Last week, we talked about how to use rubber gloves to protect hardline fittings during install!

The post Wrenchin’ Wednesday: How to Build a DIY Piston Stop for Setting TDC appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Kenny Youngblood is a complicated guy. He’s most recognizable as the premiere motorsports artist. You’ve seen his work even if you’re not into art, because he’s done race-car graphics for more than 50 years, including a lot of early Funny Cars needing an artist’s touch to mimic headlights and grilles on flopper bodies. His art, posters, and prints have been around for decades, and you probably have some framed in your house. He also drove A/Fuel dragsters in the 1960s. He has managed numerous racing teams, including a couple of Top Fuel efforts. He started a Christian counseling ministry called Always An Answer. He says, “I love the Lord, but you’d have to knock me out and drag me to get me into a church.” See what we mean? He’s represented major companies with his hand-drawn, personalized, giveaway drawings at many races and events. He most recently put his online Fuel Coupe Magazine on hiatus, a project he churned out monthly for two years. And he’s an author. He’s finishing up his first book on relationships and has more on his list. He’s got lots of stories from the golden age of drag racing, too, so we’ve included a few along with how he ended up being the Michelangelo of Motorsports.

HRM] Let’s start by asking about your first dragster in the mid-1960s, an A/Gas dragster…

KY] A/Fuel! A/Fuel, please! When I started building my first dragster, I thought it would take a while, so I thought I’d start with A/Gas. It took a year or so to finish, so in my mind I’m going faster and faster, so by the time I finished it had to be with nitro.

HRM] Were you any good?

KY] I believe I was great at driving, but not so good as a mechanic. Deep down I knew it wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing. I felt like the kid with his hand in the cookie jar, but there was nobody else to drive the thing and it was like being in the Army—I did it, but I wouldn’t do it again.

HRM] But you love drag racing—isn’t driving the ultimate?

KY] Yeah, but that’s not what the good Lord wanted me to do. I got out of it in 1969. But I had another opportunity; with my partner from the 1960s, we built a beautiful nostalgia dragster in 2002. I was fitted for the car and it was tempting, but all along I knew I shouldn’t do this and Tom Poindexter drove instead. There’s nothing like stepping on that tire, putting my legs down into a slingshot, and sliding down into that seat with my legs over the rear end—it’s a real sensual experience.

HRM] That sounds like you feel you should have stuck with it?

KY] To me, there’s three kinds of drivers: there’s guys like me having fun and doing a good job. I really didn’t care who won or lost, and if they beat me it didn’t bother me; then there’s guys that want to win but don’t have the talent or the money; and then there’s what I call killer-instinct drivers, the Parnelli Jones, Shirley Muldowney, Don Garlits of this world that have to win. Second Place means nothing. They have a need for speed and an intense desire to beat the other guy, and that certainly wasn’t me.

HRM] What was your first dragster like—maybe a little crude?

KY] I found a used, sturdy Pete Ogden chassis with an Eddie Potter aluminum-tailpiece body, 150-inch. It didn’t have a motor plate, it just had a piece of body aluminum, which I thought was unusual at the time, but I left it that way. I’d go to Blair’s Speed Shop and buy parts and pieces. My technical knowledge came from advertising and articles I read in HOT ROD. If a product had a name I recognized, I’d buy it, but my enthusiasm far exceeded my knowledge. Unbeknownst to me, I was buying either the wrong parts or junk parts for the engine I was putting together.

HRM] Were you and the car any good?

KY] With the help of my partner, Fred Smith, we got the car running pretty good. One day we go to Irwindale and Fred had her tuned even better, and I knew we were going to go 180 mph. But not only did I not have a motor plate and had junk parts in my motor, back then fire boots weren’t mandatory—you had to have aluminized fire suits like a cooking bag, but I had on street shoes. I got to half-track pulling hard and I’m thinking about 180 mph and—wham!—the rods come out of the block, cut the pan in half, and I’m engulfed in flames. When it blew up, it was like, “What do I do now?” I waited until I got to the finish line and hit the parachute and it burned off. Then I hit the brakes and they’re hot Olds’ drum brakes and they didn’t work. Fortunately, I wasn’t going that fast. When you’re in a fire, it burns and stings like hell at first and then goes away because it burns the nerves. So with no motor plate, the fire is coming right at me like a chimney blowing up my pants leg. I get the thing stopped and skin is hanging from my sleeves and hands. The safety guy runs up and tries to unzip my fire suit and the zipper is hot and burns his fingers. Anyway, my ankles are cooked with third-degree burns. Steve Gibbs was the track manager at Irwindale and he came over to see me in the hospital and visited a couple of other times the week I was there. Back then, unlike today, your pit pass was your insurance policy, and it paid for any medical bills you incurred. About six months later, I’m healed up, but God works in miraculous ways because I got drafted to go to Vietnam in 1967. I had scars on various parts of my body, but the bad ones were right around both ankles, and they told me I couldn’t wear boots, so they wouldn’t take me. I believe the good Lord made that happen to keep me from going to Vietnam. If I had a motor plate, boots, or good parts, nothing would have happened—all three of those things had to be in place. But we weren’t done.

HRM] You didn’t stop after that?

KY] No. I think I hold the record for the longest start-to-finish run without crashing with no steering. While I was in the hospital, I designed another car. I couldn’t afford a Woody Gilmore car because that was top of the line, but a friend had a Woody chassis. I measured every tube and angle and did a blueprint drawing. I had Fred Crowe’s fabricator build the car from my drawings. It handled like a dream and we started racing again, although this time I got the best fire suit and boots, and if anything went wrong on a run, I’d shut it off faster than anybody because I didn’t want to have problems again. My inexperience almost got me again, but I dodged another bullet. This time I bought all the nice stuff, but I’m a bit of a fabricator myself. I needed a steering arm to go on top of the spindle to connect the draglink, so I made one out of 1/4-inch T6 aluminum to save some weight. But because the axle is laid back so far, if you turn hard left or right it slowly twisted the little steering arm I made. I didn’t know until I made the turn around to stage at Irwindale—the arm cracked and fell off. The draglink was laying on the tie rod. I dumped the clutch and, man, it took off, but started wandering around. I’m correcting and correcting and it’s not responding. I get to half-track and it starts taking a move to the guardrail. I’m correcting to the right and nothing is happening, so it was either get out of it or hit the fence. I lifted and it corrected back to the right, because we had the torsion bar tweaked to the right to compensate for the engine torque. Letting go of the steering wheel would slowly make it turn to the right by itself. I think I’m correcting it, so I hit the hammer again and go through the lights at more than 180 mph. I’m wandering through the lights going side to side wondering what is wrong. I hit the parachute, kill the motor, yank the steering to the right, and it just spins in my gloves. I got out of the car and my partner comes down and yells at me, “Why did you lift, you’re always lifting.” I pointed at the tie rod sitting on the ground and said, “Because of that!” He looks at it and says, “Well, Prudhomme wouldn’t have lifted.”

HRM] That was finally it for your racing career?

KY] Well, those incidents and a few others led to me thinking Fred wasn’t a good tuner and he thinking I wasn’t a good driver, so we split up. In the meantime, my buddy, Greg Messenger, had a B/Fuel Desoto dragster that belonged to Bob Brooks and he asked me to do the lettering after Dick Olson painted it. I painted a little hippie on the cowl because it was the late-1960s and dope smoking was cool. When he took it back to Dick for the clearcoat, Dick told me he was tired of waiting in line at Tom Kelly’s for lettering; at the time, Kelly was the man—still is, in my opinion. He asked me to do lettering there. That started everything for me. They did fiberglass repair and regular repairs, but did race cars, too. They built the “Beach City Corvette” and other cars right there.

HRM] Had you done lettering on the side before?

KY] I hadn’t taken any sign-painting classes, so I’m learning the hard way, watching guys like Jack Burr at Blair’s and Steve Fineberg, but things went well. One day there’s a call and the guy says, “Hey, it’s ‘Jungle.’” So it’s Jungle Jim and he wants me to letter his car, but I had to do it at his shop. In those days, lots of racers match-raced and then came out to the West Coast for the winter and worked on their cars over by Disneyland. They were building Liberman’s car at Jack “Bear” Green’s shop, and those two were both shaky characters. At Bear’s shop is Jungle’s old, beat-up Nova body and next to it the new one. He tells me he wants it done exactly like the old one with the big Jungle Jim in gold leaf. Tim Beebe and Tom McEwen show up—their shop was right across the street, they called it the “cave.” That day a bunch of drag racers were playing cards at the cave. They’d got paid in cash for match racing and they had wads of cash. So Jungle started playing cards and every 20 minutes or so he’d check in to see how I was doing. I got done and it came out beautiful—Jungle walks in and says, “You’re going to have to take that off.” I ask, “How come?” He says, “I told you I wanted it to be just like the other car.” I said, “It is.” He says, “No, it’s a quarter-inch too low.” On the side of the body, there was a break line in the door and the bottom of the “J” on the “Jim” on the old car was right to that break. Sure enough, on mine it was a quarter-inch below that line. Technically, he was right, so I say, “OK, you’re right, I’ll take it off.” I get out the paint thinner and start taking it off and he whips out this giant wad of cash and says, “Here’s for your gold leaf that you’ll need” and hands me more than I was going to charge for the whole job. I tell him I’ll get more gold leaf and come back Monday and redo it. So Monday I go back to the shop and walk into the office. He’s leaning back in a chair with his hands against his head and sees me and just about falls backward. I say, “Hey, Jungle,” and he says, “I didn’t think you’d come back.” I don’t know whether he was testing me or what, but if he was I must have passed because he became my new best friend. He’d call me all of the time and in the middle of the night.

HRM] You did a lot of lettering and airbrush work at different shops, then what?

KY] About 1970 Don Kirby, another painter I did work for, wanted me to meet Bob Casner. Bob was a marketing genius and had a great idea. He wanted to put a creative group together under one roof to service motorsports. A racer could get a proposal, photography, press kit, rendering, all of that. He rented a place in Long Beach and I was his artist. It was called Racing Graphis—Bob was German and graphics in German is “graphis.” Everybody always corrected us telling us graphics was spelled wrong. Bob knew everybody, Mickey Thompson, Parnelli, all of the big racers. He was my mentor and taught me how to collect on bad checks and important things like that. I had two jobs for a long time; I’d get up early and go to Racing Graphis, then go to Kirby’s race shop and letter cars in the evenings. In the morning, I’d do the same thing. I knew at some point I’d have to make a choice, and as much as I liked painting cars—and I still love the smell of a paint shop in the morning—my artistic talents would be better spent on the drawing board, so I told Don and soon he brought Nat Quick in to take over for me. I moved into my own studio in Santa Ana and there have never been enough hours in the day to do what I like doing. I guess I was the first fulltime artist doing art and graphics for motorsports.

HRM] When did you start doing the limited prints and posters?

KY] In 1978 I started doing the paintings. I had done some paintings in the 1960s and never had a problem selling them. I thought there was this popularity of motorsports and drag racing that if someone had a choice of what they could hang on their wall it would be a race car instead of a flowerpot or landscape. I started making prints of some of the paintings of cars I lettered. I had done the art-gallery thing and thought it sucked, so I started a mail-order deal selling direct to the customer. It was great and the more time I gave to it the better it did. Finally, when it started to trend off a bit and the economy changed, I sold the print inventory I had in the late-1980s and moved to Vegas.

HRM] That’s when you started the personalized art for corporations?

KY] I came up with the idea to get corporate sponsors to use my art as giveaways. John Ewald was working for Firestone at the time, and they were doing 18 to 20 shows a year. I showed him my idea for doing four or five prints with Firestone on the tires, and then go to shows with markers, personalize it for each person, and give it to them. I started doing that and people lined up out the door waiting to get my drawings. Everyone liked that I was giving somebody something personal. I call it the “ultimate marketing tool” because people take them home and frame them with the client’s logo on them. It appeals to all ages, and even though people don’t know me, they watch me do it for them and it’s personal. So far I’ve worked for three of the top companies in America: Toyota, Firestone/Bridgestone, and PPG Paint. I still do paintings for affluent clients, what I call “Monuments on Canvas” (MonumentsOnCanvas.com). They’re expensive, and it’s tough finding customers for expensive stuff—you’ve got to find the guy that can afford it, but also likes art, and they’re becoming few and far between.

HRM] And you have a counseling ministry?

KY] Yes, I’m a drag-racing Jesus freak. It’s called Always An Answer (AlwaysAnAnswer.org). I’ve been counseling for 40 years. That’s the one thing on my bucket list, to get the good information out there. In this computer age, you can reach the world, so I want to take advantage of that.

HRM] You’ve been involved in drag racing for decades, so what would you do to make drag racing better?

HRM] It’s a simple answer and it amazes me that this is the last thing they’ll do, but the first rule of business is the law of supply and demand. When you give people what they want, the business thrives. It’s the same thing for racing: Give people what they want. Unfortunately, it seems like the last person racing organizations think about is the person who paid the money to sit his butt in the stands, so that’s the general problem. This is why we’re seeing the tremendous resurgence of nostalgia drag racing, because it’s what people liked in the beginning that is lost—Cacklefest, push starts, cars that look like real cars, Fuel Altereds, Gassers. It’s giving people more of what they want. When you look at drag racing now, they have taken away so much of the things that made it so great. A few months ago, we did an interview with Don Prudhomme in Fuel Coupe magazine, and I asked him what he thought about modern-day nostalgia Funny Cars. He said, “Yeah, it’s good, but they need to be putting on more of a show like we used to do, like doing dry hops.” Back in the day, there were no rules about how many burnouts you could do, so Funny Cars came up and did a long, smoky burnout and they backed up and did a dry hop. You had two cars doing a dance, and that was part of the entertainment. Then it went away. Did it go away because NHRA got letters from fans complaining? No, they did it because they wanted to get home sooner. Same with Fuel Altereds. Were fans sick of them? No, they took them away because they said they were unsafe. Well, everything out there is unsafe.

HRM] Can it go back?

KY] Sure! Will it? Doubtful.

HRM] Why did you stop doing your online magazine, Fuel Coupe?

KY] Fuel Coupe was a labor of love. I did it for two years and loved it. It was paying for itself and making some money, but the reason I stopped was because it took a week out of my month to put together, and also because I hate deadlines. I put myself under a deadline every month, and that pressure for me is just no fun, so I did it for two years and that’s that.

HRM] Is there a certain team or driver you like today?

KY] I’m a huge Don Schumacher fan, and I know he’s hard to love. I tell people I’m his only fan, but I love and respect the guy because he’s a great white shark, he’s a total business man. He wants to win and dominate. When I was crew chief for Gillman, I realized there was a higher goal than winning. If you go to a race, everybody out there wants to win. But there’s a higher goal, and that’s total domination. That means not only winning today but winning every race forever—you win everything. That’s total domination. You can say, “Well, that’s not going to happen,” which is true, but I believe if your goal is total domination you’re going to win more than the guy whose goal is just to win. The first person I heard use that total domination phrase was Austin Coil. I believe when the dust settles, if he lives long enough, Don Schumacher will be the last man standing. Nobody wants it more than John Force, but Force is too emotional, whereas Schumacher is strictly a business machine. Force is an amazing guy and I have great respect for him and nobody wants it more than he does, but my money is on Schumacher.

HRM] Finally, what words of encouragement do you have for young artists interested in drawing or painting cars?

KY] First thing I tell budding artists is there will always be a place for hand-done, traditional artwork, and if that’s what you want to do, keep doing that. Today almost 100 percent of everything is digital, so you’ve got to know Photoshop and other digital software because that’s how things are done today. For a guy that has a good eye, even if he’s not great at art, the computer becomes your tool. Just because you can’t draw doesn’t mean you don’t have an eye for it—a lot of people that can’t draw a straight line know good art. That’s why I always listen if somebody has a critique about something I’ve done because they might see something I missed. I also tell them the creative process is fixing what’s wrong. When you start a painting, it’s completely blank, so you start drawing things onto it. I believe the good Lord tells us to darken this or highlight that, so we start fixing what’s wrong, and when we can’t see anything else wrong, we say it’s done. So the bottom line is the artist must always look at his work critically because if they don’t they won’t see what’s wrong and can’t get better. I look at my work critically and know the parts I don’t like. Practice makes perfect and every time you do a drawing it’s an aggregate of everything you’ve learned. People tell me they want to get into doing art and I’ll ask to see something they’ve done, and they’ll say, “Oh, I don’t want to show you, it’s not very good.” I’ll look at it and sometimes it is good, and they have talent and they’ve been looking at their work critically, which they should. You need to keep things in perspective—you’re always going to find people that can do things better than you, but there’s more that can’t do it as well as you, so you need to remember that.

The post Artist Kenny Youngblood, the Michelangelo of Motorsports appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Buy it for the hood, keep it for the 485hp HEMI. If you’re sitting low in the seat and flooring it, those are the two things you notice anyway. Outside, your street cred with ratchet up when the locals get a load of the body’s two-tone paint with heavy-metal metallic glam and Mopar badging. Go ahead, give them a burnout and a nice second-gear power shift. We did, and both impressed the yoga pants at the local Trader Joe’s and the moody Mopar cognoscente after FCA loaned us a Challenger Mopar ’17, a car designed as a nod to the 80^th anniversary of Mopar.

If you don’t know, Mopar started in 1937 as Motor Parts, selling antifreeze in the Midwest. In the 1960s, the brand evolved into performance marketing and sold speed parts under the name Mopar Performance Parts. Today, Mopar is a global brand selling everything from Fiat radiators to Hemi spark plugs. Part of that evolution is the Mopar Custom Shop program that provides a network of facilities located near Chrysler Group assembly plants to add appearance parts to the car before it is delivered to the dealership, allowing buyers to order a custom, one-off vehicle with factory support and a warranty.

As part of Mopar’s 80^th, 160 Challenger Mopar ’17 vehicles will be available specially modified by the Mopar Custom Shop. Eighty will be offered in hand-painted two-tone Pitch Black over Contusion Blue and another 80 will be Pitch Black over Billet Silver. The package also includes a Pitch Black treatment to the Mopar Design badge, Shaker Hood, and the rear decklid spoiler with a custom hand-painted Mopar 392 logo on the fenders. The wheels are 20×9-inch aluminum alloy with semi-gloss black accents and Dodge logo center caps. The standard exhaust tips were replaced with chrome versions from the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat.

Inside, Tungsten Mopar logos adorn the seatbacks with stitching that follows through to the rest of the interior. Under the hood, a special badge indicates where in the series of 80 the car was built. Each Mopar ’17 comes with an owner’s kit featuring a welcome letter, a birth certificate with the vehicle specs, date of manufacture, proprietary vehicle number, and some collectible tchotchkes like Mopar valve stem caps and a Mopar ’17 keychain.

The Mopar ’17 has the 6.4L 392 Hemi that makes 485 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque with the Shaker package and the headlight air-catcher from the SRT Hellcat feeding the cold air system. Also under the hood is a Mopar Shaker strut tower brace powder-coated silver. The transmission is the six-speed manual.

The Mopar ’17 Challenger follows a tradition of limited edition vehicles modified by Mopar. Starting in 2010 with the ’10 Challenger, Mopar has created eight limited production vehicles: the Mopar ’11 Charger, the Mopar ’12 300, Mopar ’13 Dart, Mopar ’14 Challenger, Mopar ’15 Dodge Charger R/T, and Mopar ’16 Ram Rebel. The Mopar ’17 will be available in both the U.S. and Canada with a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $55,790.

The post Dodge has a New Mopar-Badged Challenger for 2017 appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Mike Svagera’s mild restomod 1966 Charger proves you can do a reliable driver on the cheap.

If we had a nickel for every time we heard the phrase, “I just want to build a good, reliable, fun, and drive-it-anywhere car,” or some variation thereof, we’d have enough money to build a classic Mopar that fit that description. We hear guys say it, but rarely do they do it. Let us explain what we mean, taking our 1966 Charger feature car for example.

Back in the 1960s when these cars were built, the automotive world wasn’t all that different than it is today. The clear majority of them spent their lives commuting to and from work, running errands, taking kids to and from school and extracurricular activities, and taking road trips. The freeways and interstate system were already established and speeds averaged in the 55 to 75 mph range. Sure, a 1966 Charger as produced braked a bit slower and the handling was floatier than modern cars, but it’s not like they can’t keep pace with modern life. And yet, that’s how many guys tend to treat them when planning a build—like every single thing needs to be upgraded just to cruise it on the occasional weekend. We’re here to tell you, that’s not the case. You can keep it simple and spend money in the right places, and have a fantastic car too.

That’s not to say that you don’t have some work cut out for you to get there. One has to keep in mind that 1966 was 51 years ago. That’s a half century for a car to accumulate hundreds of thousands of miles and deteriorate all around due to weather and chemical exposure. Sure, you can still slap something together by cutting a bunch of corners and making piles of compromises, but if you really want it to be pleasant to drive, it takes going through it from end to end.

Mike Svagera of Fremont, CA knows this well, thanks to years of experience on two opposing sides of the automotive spectrum. As of one of the founders of Helcam Vintage Motors, a private restoration and modification shop for vintage cars, Mike knows how to put together all manner of street machines. What you wouldn’t suspect is that his other passion of building dirt late-models and dirt modifieds has led to many of his philosophies about building good street cars and how much you don’t need to change.

In the world of racing, there’s asphalt racing and off-road racing at the far ends, and dirt tracks land somewhere in the middle with chassis that appear to be road-course oriented, but are specifically constructed to handle the rigors of racing on rutted, bumpy patches of dirt. To say that’s rough on a vehicle’s suspension is putting it mildly. You think you treat your car rougher? Unlikely. Mike has built a range of dirt competition vehicles, from high-dollar Super Late Models, to old-school Stock and Modified Stock classes. Some of those stock classes are very production based and limit what can be swapped on the car, so you must figure out how to work with what you have, and what works.

Mike has brought that attitude with him to Helcam, and fortunately his partner Chris Helling shares the same philosophy since they spend upwards of 70 hours a week in the shop, working on, debating about, and discussing builds. Many of their customers come in with a long list of high-dollar exotic parts that they think they need, but Mike and Chris often talk them back down a bit after discussing what they realistically are going to do with the car. Most of the time it boils down to something along the lines of, “I want a really nice driving, comfortable, quick street car with handling and braking that I can take anywhere.” As a shop, it’s cool when a customer wants to spend gobs of money on cool new parts, but Mike and Chris want to make sure their customers spend money in the right place. Once that’s taken care of, the extra budget will often go to other things such as nicer paint and re-chroming. In the end, the parts list may not sound quite as sexy, but the customer always leaves pleased with how the car turned out. And really, that’s the best-case scenario for everyone involved.

Why is “overbuilding” a potential problem? Well, other than spending more money than is necessary, you run the risk of ending up a with car that loses the “comfortable and take it anywhere” part. It’s a Helcam guiding principle, but Mike even stands by that philosophy for his own cars. With years of car-building experience, Mike can size up what level of time and money commitment he’s looking at when he checks out potential project cars. He begins with a dollar figure in his head that he’s willing to pay, and what he’s willing to put into it to get it to turnkey status.

One car Mike had been thinking about building for a long time was second-gen 1968-’70 Charger. He searched around the usual spots—Craigslist, eBay, forums, a few online “classic car for sale” sites—but he just wasn’t seeing what he wanted. Then one day a ’66 Charger popped up on his search. Mike had already decided that a second-gen Charger was what he had to have, and besides who builds first-gen Chargers anyways? Still, the price looked tempting, so he clicked on the ad to see what the deal was.

It was pretty much a basket case. There was no front clip and it was basically stripped down. Nevertheless, it didn’t appear to be a bad starting point for what Mike had in mind. It was a ’66, and he wasn’t ready to give up on his original plan yet. Over the next six months, Mike kept looking for the right second-gen Charger, but kept hitting those same roadblocks: sellers wanted too much money for cars that needed too much work.

We’ve said it several times before, and we’ll say it again: ’66 and ’67 Chargers are overlooked and undervalued. The more frustrated Mike became with his project search, the more he began to open his mind to the possibility of doing the ’66. Finally, he just had to take a look. It’s a good thing Mike did, because it actually turned out to be better than he expected. Almost everything was there and the body appeared to be very straight and undamaged. Of course, at 50 years old pretty much every soft and semi-soft part from bushings to interior plastics was fairly well shot, but that was expected. The more he looked it over, though, the more he liked what he saw, so Mike decided to redirect his plan a bit and be that guy to build a first-gen Charger.

Back at Helcam, Mike finished stripping the Charger down to a shell. Pretty much anything that was held together by bolts came apart. Believe it or not, there were no surprises at all, and not a bit of rust to be found, which certainly helped Mike continue to feel good about his project choice. It also made the build go very smoothly. After the Charger was taken to bare metal, Mike applied one of his favorite tricks learned from the dirt track racing world and welded the pinch welds and some body seams solid, as well as the front crossmember, to eliminate flex points. According to Mike, you’d be surprised how much more rigid an old unibody gets when it’s welded solid.

Speaking of adding rigidity, since the suspension plan called for retaining mostly stock parts, Mike boxed the stock upper and lower control arms to make them as strong as possible. While he saved money there, Mike wasn’t shy about spending on parts that really would make a difference, such as Hotchkis Hemi torsion bars and a hollow 1 3/8-inch sway bar paired with QA1 shocks. Good bolt-in stuff that will improve the drive overall. In the rear, he relocated the leaf spring mounts and perches inward and installed the appropriate Hotckis leaf springs to complement the torsion bars. While the trend has been towards huge diameter disc brakes at all corners, the truth is they’re not always needed. Mike went with a basic Right Stuff disc conversion up front and kept the rear drums in place. Remembering that wheels and tires make or break a car’s looks, he did shell out for a proper set of high performance Continental tires on 18-inch Boss wheels.

Helcam’s mantra of “spend the money where it makes the most impact” even extended to the final look of the Charger. While he’s not against chrome and polish, there’s a huge amount of it on a ’66 Charger, and all that gets very expensive to replate. Instead, Mike let Alloy Motors of Oakland, CA coat the bodywork with a coat of custom House of Kolor silver paint. They also saved a bit of coin by having Alloy Motors paint the brightwork rather than replate it. The finished product adds a level of aggressiveness to the first-gen Charger’s typical classy style.

So what does Mike do with the Charger now that it’s all wrapped up? He takes it to shows, on leisurely drives, out to dinner, on errands, to the grocery store—you know, just regular car stuff. “It’s literally a grocery getter some days,” Mike laughed. In fact, because he kept everything on the build reasonable and aimed at a quality driving experience, even his wife (who didn’t think she would like driving an old car) enjoys being behind the wheel. “It doesn’t feel like a big car,” she says. That’s a pretty solid endorsement.

Honestly, as things have started to settle a bit from the fever pitch that pro touring was a few years back, we kind of wonder if pro touring cars might start to tend this way in general: upgraded, but realistic in ways to complement how the car is driven. The likely result of that will be even more classic cars out on the road just being used and enjoyed, which is really why we build them at all.

FAST FACTS

1966 Dodge Charger
Mike Svagera; Fremont, CA

ENGINE:

Type: 440ci RB-Series

Block: original 1966

Rotating assembly: stock crank & rods, 9.5:1 pistons

Cylinder heads: 904 with hardened valve seats

Camshaft: Comp hydraulic roller, 286-/294-degrees duration

Valvetrain: 1.6 stainless steel adjustable rockers

Induction: Edelbrock Performer RPM

Exhaust: Hooker long-tube headers, custom 2.5-inch exhaust

Ignition: Pertronix biller distributor and Flamethrower coil

Cooling: high-efficiency four-row brass core radiator with original tanks

Oiling: high-volume oil pump

Built by: Helcam Vintage Motors

DRIVETRAIN

Transmission: 727 Torquelflite with 2,800 stall PTC Turbo Action non-locking converter

Rearend: 8.75 with Sure-Grip diff and 3.23 gears

CHASSIS

Front suspension: Right Stuff 2-inch drop spindle, boxed stock LCAs, QA1 low friction strut rods, Hotchkis Hemi torsion bars, QA1 shocks, Hotchkis 1 3/8-inch hollow sway bar

Rear suspension: Hotchkis leaf springs, QA1 shocks

Steering: Firm Feel quick ratio box, Right Stuff 2-inch drop spindles

Brakes: Right Stuff disc conversion up front, stock drums in the rear

Chassis: fully seam welded body and front crossmember, relocated leaf spring perches and mounts

WHEELS & TIRES

Wheels: 18×8 (front) & 18×10 (rear) Boss Riddler

Tires: 225/45R18 (front) & 295/35R18 (rear) Continental Extreme Contact DWS

The post Man Builds Affordable 1966 Charger Using Dirt Track Tricks! appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Hand-porting cylinder head porting is as much of an art as it is a science, but there’s aren’t many ways to find more horsepower with just sweat equity. Whether you’re hogging the heads you already have, or are fine-tuning a new set for your combo, porting is one of the most cost-effective ways to gain horsepower.

In this episode of Engine Masters, presented by AMSOIL, David Freiburger, Steve Dulcich, and Steve Brulé dyno a before-and-after porting job on our old 408ci Mopar stroker from episode 11. Dulcich has written countless pages on the subject, but we’ll demonstrate some tips and tricks while finally giving our mighty Mopar test engine the breathing capacity it deserves, netting a nearly 100hp gain!

The post Engine Masters Ep. 21 Makes Free Horsepower with DIY Porting appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Well, it has been two days since we posted comments on a couple of not so good incidences of track safety. The readers response has been huge. What we have learned is that there are strong feelings about this and mostly that there are a lot of tracks doing the right thing.

In the comments portion of the posted story we heard from racers saying things like,

“It’s a shame this happened. I have been following this and I am disappointed that the series has not provided an answer other than we are investigating it. How hard is it to ask what happened in this case? I am thinking there is more to the story.”

“It’s pretty sad this driver or when any driver, has to put his own fire out! Run over to a safety truck, grab extinguisher, and put it out while safety crew stands there and watches!”,

“The series should be responsible also. Joke.”,

“That car could have been saved!!”.

In years past we came to the conclusion that only a very small percentage of the readers who have an opinion actually responded and write to us about an article, even one that has this much passion attached to it. Based on that assumption, there has to be thousands of racers irate over this incident. On this topic, I received many emails. Here are a few of the comments to me. In keeping with my promise, I won’t reveal all of the names.

“Can’t tell you how many times I’ve screamed at my TV, live feed, and in person, at some of the near tragedies I’ve witnessed. In 2017 we have limitless research, skilled engineering, solid science, just plain old smart people, that can make facilities better. Please note I didn’t say ‘safer’, simply better.”,

“Evaluation for Flat Rock Speedway – I’m a driver in a weekly series at the track and unfortunately, I am scoring it a one (1). It is a great track, has a descent owner with ARCA backing but they have no regard for safety or the investment we have in our equipment. I’m also not sure of their training and whether or not they are prepared.”

Not all of the comments were negative. These readers wrote to praise their safety crews:

“If I would have rated them last year it would have been about a 5 at most. But this spring Kalamazoo Speedway had training classes and our safety crew attended, they learned a lot, and the plan is for them to attend every. This year I would rate them about a 7, and willing to learn more!”

“I race at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H. and they use Speedway Safety Services. These are the same crews that work the Cup races at NHMS. I feel very comfortable with safety there and would rank them at a 10. They’re all trained in motorsports emergencies and have specifically designed trucks and equipment. What Star has should be the standard for short tracks across the country.”

“I just read your article on track safety crews. I race at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, Canada. I can’t complement our guys enough. They are well trained, and we’ll equipped. They take their job seriously often getting to the crash site before the car comes to rest. A couple of years ago I barrel rolled out of turn two. There was some fluid leaking. They got me out of the car in about 20 seconds and had the car on its wheels almost immediately.”

“Maryland International Raceway. They get a 20!! Two fire trucks, two ambulances, and dedicated people to run them.”

“We run at Berlin Raceway in Marne, MI. I have to give our safety crews a 10. I have seen plenty of accidents, rollovers, and fires with my husband being involved in a couple that destroyed our car. They are always prompt and professional and always have what is needed in every situation that comes about. I thank you for wanting to improve track safety all over.”

We also got a lot of responses from promoters and safety officials at race tracks too, like these:

“Dear Sir, I am the director of Emergency Services at Raceway Park.  I read your recent online article and in some ways tend to agree with you.  Here, all my staff are certified EMT’S or Firefighters with at least Fire 1 certification.  On top of that ALL staff take the NFPA 610 Racetrack Response course. The majority of my staff have been here for more than five years, myself for 45. We do everything possible to insure our driver’s, moto riders and patrons safety.  Sadly, those few “bad apples” shine a bright negative light on us all. I hope you’ll get a few positive responses from our racers. I welcome all honest feed back. Bob Jessen, Director of Emergency Services, Old Bridge Twp Raceway Park.” 

“I have been thrust into situations in the South (Bob Bolles, you were there for some of those races) where, if I had my druthers, we would have loaded up and gone home. We raced and got lucky. I’ve been fortunate to have quality rescue and fire services at the tracks I have promoted. You get what you pay for as a rule. And if you care about your racers you will pay willingly.”

This one is a bit long, but packed with good information:

“I am the Operations Chief for Speedway Volunteer Fire Department. Speedway Fire is a State recognized volunteer Fire Department that specializes in Motorsports fire rescue. Speedway provides fire rescue services to local tracks in the inland empire and I would consider us to be one of the best in the business. Most all of our Volunteers are certified firefighter EMTs and have extensive training in motorsports fire rescue.

One of the biggest problems I see at other small tracks is a lack of training as well as proper equipment and personal protective gear. If the rescuers are not properly equipped and trained how can they do their job safely and effectively. One major issue and question to ask is whether the fire crew are properly trained for medical situations.

My Firefighters train extensively on driver assessment as soon as we get to the driver providing there are no immediate threats such as fire. First and foremost is life before property and driver safety is our #1 priority. If it means putting ourselves in harm’s way to rescue a driver from a burning car, well that’s just part of the job.

Track safety I think has gone to the wayside at the local level due to money. We get less and less respect from track officials as well as drivers. Track officials want to get the wreck cleaned up and resume racing as quickly as possible with little to no regard for drivers and allowing the driver to get checked out. I have actually had Firefighters shoved out of the way by drivers for simply trying to make sure they are ok.

We operate on a shoestring budget and all of our Firefighters are Volunteer and it makes it very hard to keep our crews motivated and willing to do the job when we don’t get the backing and respect at the tracks. I feel that most Safety crews probably feel the same and are not going to put in the effort if they don’t have the backing from the track promoters or the drivers and the teams. I feel the track promoters should take a more active role in making sure they have trained and properly equipped crews working their tracks. Thank you, Ronnie Gilman, Operations Chief, Speedway Volunteer Fire Department.”

And finally this one:

“Tracks have a responsibility to be better at hosting a dangerous sport. I’ve worked everything from Concord’s 1/5th mile to Indianapolis Speedway. They can all do better.”

Seeing all of these responses tells me something profound. If the promoters who are not doing the best job of putting together a responsible safety crew think that the racers are ignorant of your disregard for their safety, then maybe you need to take a good look around you at the next race. Talk to a few of the teams and get their opinions on how you are doing with track safety. Or, are you afraid of the answers you might get? If so, then maybe you need to find something else to do.

In the past, racers have taken it upon themselves to send a message when they think their lives and property are in danger. Some years ago, at Texas Motor Speedway, Indy car drivers decided it was way too fast and way too dangerous to race there and refused to participate that year. I’m not saying you should do that at your track necessarily, but then again, what’s more important, a race or the safety of the participants. It’s your choice by the way, nobody is forcing you to race.

I find it interesting that many promoters think that they are providing the racer with the opportunity to race and those same racers should somehow get down on their knees and thank said promoter for allowing them show up. This is not the way it is friends. Without the racer, the promoter does not have a show. So, who should be down on their knees? Just saying, you the racer can and should control the level of safety at your track.

The post “Going to Hell” Reader Responses appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

K&K Insurance Honored by Indiana Racing Memorial Association

Fort Wayne, IN- K&K Insurance Group was recognized by Indiana Racing Memorial Association during a dedication ceremony held in May of 2017. K&K Insurance was recognized as a vital component of Indiana’s motorsports industry and history. During the dedication ceremony, the Indiana General Assembly and Mayor, Tom Henry issued official proclamations making May 10 K&K Insurance Day in the state of Indiana and the city of Fort Wayne.  A permanent marker was also placed in front of the home office during the ceremony.

K&K Insurance was originally founded by Nord and Teddi Krauskopk to help provide racers with insurance products. Nord was a team owner and sponsor which gave him insider perspective for the coverage needs in the motorsports industry. K&K Insurance offers 70 specialty sports and recreation insurance. For more information visit kandkinsurance.com

Dolack Returns to WoO as Late Model Series Director

Concord, NC- The World of Outlaws has announced that Chris Dolack will return to the series as Late Model Series Director. Dolack brings years of experience with him in his new role after having served as Vice President of Media and Public Relations of the WoO and DIRTcar from 2005- 2015. Dolack started his career in dirt racing nearly 20 years ago covering Western Pennsylvania scene for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. During his previous WoO career, Dolack was on the road with the Sprint Car Series, Late Model Series, Super DIRTcar Series and the Summer Nationals.

Dolack will succeed Tim Christman who has served as series director for the past ten years but decided to step down to spend more time with his family. Christman will continue as a consultant for WoO through the end of the 2017 season.  For more information visit www.woolms.com

Speedway Motors Names New Director of Marketing

Lincon, NE- Speedway Motors has announced that Betsy Grindlay has been hired as the new Director of Marketing. Grindlay will be responsible for leading the design and execution of Speedway’s marketing strategies for direct mail, events, sponsorships, and digital marketing including email, social, website and SMS. She will also be responsible for market and competitor analysis, design and implementation of marketing plans, marketing operations, media contact negation and short and long term market and sales forecasts.

Grindlay has been with Speedway Motors since 2007 and has held many positions within the company. In her most recent role and brand manager, Grindlay has overseen marketing campaigns across print, email and digital platforms. For more information please visit www.speedwaymotors.com

The Hill Raceway Reopens

Sturgeon Bay, WI- The Hill Raceway located in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin has reopened for the 2017 racing season. The track formally known as Thunderhill Raceway had to close in June of 2016.  The 2017 season will run from Memorial Day through Labor Day with a race every other weekend. In October 2016, the track received 25 loads of dirt to resurface the track in preparations for the 2017 season. For more information on The Hill Raceway visit the tracks Facebook page (The Hill Raceway).

Dixie Motor Speedway Gets New Management and New Name

Birch Run, MI- Dixie Motor Speedway located in Birch Run has been sold to Andrew Suski. Many upgrades and changes come with the new management team. Dixie Motor Speedway is now called Birch Run Speedway and Event Center. The track will continue to race stock cars, Super Late Models and Modifieds with a few non-racing related events also scheduled. Track improvements include parking lot upgrades and improvements to the lighting fixtures. It is also in the plans to expand the grandstands in the future.

Dixie Motor Speedway was originally built in 1948 as a 1/3 mile dirt track but was paved in the 1960’s.  The Doering and Scrivo families added a figure 8 track in the infield. In 1996 the Kern Family took ownership of the track and made many changes and updates including adding a progressive banking 4/10s mile oval in 2003.

For more information on Birch Run Speedway and Event Center visit www.dixiemotorspeedway.com

Clay Hill Speedway Gets New Management

Atwood, TN- Clay Hill Speedway has announced the track is under new management and will add the NeSmith Performance Parts Street Stock Division as a part of its Friday night program in 2017. The new management team is working with local track Camden Motor Speedway to offer West Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky racers two tracks to earn NeSmith points.  Clay Hill Speedway staff and crews have made quick improvements to the facilities to get the track ready for the season opener. A notable change is the changing of the tracks name from Clay Hill Motorsports.

For more information on Clay Hill Speedway, please visit their new Facebook page (Clay Hill Speedway). For more information on NeSmith Performance Parts Street Stock Division visit www.nesmithracing.com

Badlands Motor Speedway Suspends Racing

Brandon, SD- Badlands Motor Speedway has announced that they will be suspending racing at this time following a dispute with local emergency services provider. After the Silver Shootout in May 2017, track officials decided to part ways with Med Star Dirt Track Rescue Team and provided the organization with a check to pay them their fees for the reminder of the 2017 season. Following this, an employee of Med Star expressed his opinion on social media, called and texted track employees and appeared on local news. Because of all the negativity following the report, including threats of boycotts on the track from fans, race teams, officials, vendors, sponsors and staff, officials made the decision to suspend racing until a new ownership group can take over.

The current management team and officials will keep the facility race-ready for whomever purchases Badlands Motor Speedway giving the new owners the opportunity to pick up the remaining 2017 racing season if desired. The track is for sale at a reduced price of $7,5000,000 which is approximately half of the cost current management team has put into the remodel of the facility. For more information on Badlands Motor Speedway visit www.badlandsmotorspeedway.com

The post Racing Around – News from Short Track Racing appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

When last we spoke, I was choosing tunes for a road trip. I’ve now survived that trip, the Tire Rack One Lap of America. This event was spawned from the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, an outlaw cross-country race created by Brock Yates of Car & Driver in 1971. It inspired the movies Cannonball (1976) and The Cannonball Run (1981). The event became the One Lap of America in 1984 and transmogrified into a marathon highway loop interrupted by competition at racetracks along the way. The 2017 thrash was 3,500-plus miles and 19 events at eight different locations as far south as Sebring International Raceway in Florida and as northern as Gingerman Raceway in Michigan. It stretched west to Memphis and east to Richmond, Virginia. The daily competition varied from big road courses to autocross to one day of drag racing. The 2017 running was the first without Brock Yates, who passed away in October 2016, but One Lap will continue under Brock Yates Jr.

One Lap’s concept is the one I stole to create HOT ROD Drag Week, yet I’ve never before attended. I expected a wanker-fest. You know, the kind where guys wear their racing shoes to dinner. Ferrari- or Porsche-club kinda stiff. Hi snoot. I was completely wrong. Not only are One Lap of America participants regular folks but it was the most welcoming road-race-oriented event I’ve ever attended outside of the Optima series. The staff was completely accommodating and low-pressure.

I really wanted all kinds of suffering. The long trek and hard racing has been built up as an ironman killer, but I have to say that it’s not that bad given that most of the race cars are comfy late-models. History has shown that average Power Tour cruisers dislike more than 200 miles a day, so they’d snap during One Lap’s norm of 500 to 700. But for those of us acclimated to 18-hour days, it’s not decimating. In a typical hot rod, torture. In a brand-new Challenger SRT Hellcat, no.

That’s what Elana Scherr and I were driving—a last-minute swap from the Durango SRT that was initially scheduled. In the Hellcat I was able to score fourth and fifth positions at the road courses at Memphis and Gingerman—and that with a bone-stock car on OE tires and brake pads with 25,000 miles on ’em. It was likely the only showroom-stock car in the class. Its success is a testament to 707 hp and long straights, but also an indicator that every class is not completely cutthroat, and you don’t have to be Dario Franchitti to have plenty of fun.

Disclaimer: We did take three days off in the middle of the week to help Mike Finnegan change the engine in his 1969 Firebird, so we didn’t get the pure One Lap experience every day. But I feel I got enough of a taste of it to feed you this glaring endorsement. I really dug it and hope I can do the full pull some day. Put it on your list. See OneLapOfAmerica.com.

This is the same Challenger we trashed in Roadkill episode 38 (watch it on YouTube).

The post One Lap of America appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

QUESTION

I have a Torino that my father-in-law purchased new in 1969. In it I am running the original, but freshly rebuilt, 302 bored 0.040-inch over and balanced. It has a Performer intake, a Holley 600-cfm carb, Hedman long-tube headers, and one of the worst heads Ford ever made. The other head is not much better. Port-matching didn’t help much. But it was all doing fine until I ate a cam and scoured the cylinders. Since idle quality is of utmost importance, I selected a Thumpr cam. It does have a beautiful idle, but it stinks. With all that loping, there is a bunch of half-burnt and unburnt fuel in the exhaust. Can I run a catalytic converter to clean up the stinky exhaust on an old car? They used to make oxidizing converters to get hydrocarbons and reducing converters to get NOx. Now they make oxidizing converters. I am not so concerned with NOx because the exhaust doesn’t stink until it reacts with sunlight to make smog. And with very low compression, there won’t be much NOₓ.

What do you think about running converters on an old car?

Dan Johnson
Vacaville, CA

ANSWER

You’re really asking two questions here: (1) Can one install a catalytic converter on an old car that never came with a converter; and (2), if so, will it solve your problem?

There is no reason catalytic converters can’t be run on any old car, provided that old floorpan can withstand the heat. As an extreme example, you definitely can’t run a converter safely on an old Corvette with its fiberglass floorpan.

You’re right that an oxidizing converter would be the way to go. As you say, this type of converter takes care of unburned hydrocarbons and CO (carbon monoxide) but not NOₓ. You can generally find them on “non-closed-loop” car emission systems from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, or on trucks through the mid-1980s.

That said, the converter won’t work efficiently at air/fuel (A/F) ratios richer than 13.5:1 or so, and eventually may even get plugged-up. There needs to be about a 14.5–15:1 A/F ratio going into the converter. You can induce additional air to lean out the mixture with a smog-pump (Thermactor system in Ford lingo), blowing either into the headers or directly into the converter itself.

But a smog pump is just a Band-Aid laid over a crutch. Your real issue is a poorly tuned motor. Since you weren’t specific as to carburetor list number or the specific Thumpr cam grind, I can only speak generally. First, the Thumpr series cams taken as a whole have lots of overlap and the intake centerline is ground pretty far advanced—that’s what produces what you consider a “beautiful idle.”

However, what’s more commonly described as the Thumpr’s ragged, lopey idle demands careful tuning on a street-driven car. Normally, only a Holley carb’s idle circuit is active at idle. The idle mixture adjustment screws in the primary-side metering block respond to normal adjustments so you can adjust the idle A/F mixture for best idle/highest vacuum. Not so with a long-duration, high-overlap cam, where idle vacuum is extremely low: With a big cam, the carburetor’s primary-side throttle-blades must open wider to supply sufficient idle airflow. If the curb idle screw on the throttle shaft is turned in too far in an effort to obtain a stable idle, the throttle plate may uncover too much of the idle transfer slot in the carburetor’s baseplate, activating flow through the transfer slot while deactivating flow through the idle-discharge hole. This causes the idle mixture screws to become unresponsive and creates a way over-rich idle condition. In extreme cases, the plate may open far enough that fuel starts to flow out of the main discharge nozzles. Today’s higher-end Holleys now have four-corner idle systems (a second set of idle mixture adjustment screws on the secondary metering block), and sometimes even replaceable air-bleeds so tuners can compensate for this situation, but entry-level Holleys and older midlevel Holleys do not.

Nevertheless, even if your carb is just a basic old-school entry-level unit, there’s a good chance you can tune-out this problem by playing with the ignition and spark-advance curve. As The Carb Shop’s Randy Robinson puts it, “Many apparent carburetor problems are really ignition-timing problems.” Basically, you need more base (initial) timing, but not more total timing (base timing plus the timing added by the distributor’s centrifugal advance curve). Plus, the centrifugal advance itself needs to come in pretty quick.

On a low-compression 302 Ford, Robinson says a good rule of thumb is that 32–34 degrees total advance by 3,200–3,400 rpm is enough, but 18–20 degrees of that total should be the initial advance (base timing) as read at the harmonic balancer with a traditional timing light. The centrifugal (mechanical) advance in the distributor should start “coming in” as early as 1,200 rpm. This obviously requires “soft” centrifugal-advance springs, plus some sort of distributor bushing or stop to limit the total amount of centrifugal advance. You didn’t say what kind of distributor you’re running, but with the popular MSD distributor this would usually be accomplished by running MSD’s supplied “silver” centrifugal advance springs with a “black” advance limiter bushing. With this scheme, vacuum advance should not generally be used.

With the proper timing and ignition curve, idle vacuum should increase. Idle-mixture and curb-idle screw response should return. This should pretty much eliminate the car’s excessively rich idle condition. From this point, you would then proceed to dial in the carb as needed with jets, power-valves, accelerator pump shooters and cams, and (if it’s a vacuum-secondary carb) different-tension vacuum-secondary springs.

On the other hand, if you really have two mismatched cylinder heads and scoured cylinders, all this is pretty much a waste. Just sayin’.

Contacts

Chevrolet Performance Parts; Detroit, MI; 800.577.6888 (nearest dealer); Chevrolet.com/performance

Flowmaster Mufflers; Santa Rosa, CA; 707.544.4761; FlowmasterMufflers.com

The Carb Shop; Ontario, CA; 909.947.3575; CustomCarbs.com

Ask Marlan A Tech Question: pitstop@HotRod.com

The post Pit Stop: Catalytic Converters Won’t Crutch a Badly Worn or Tired Motor appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

Monster Mill

Is the Dodge Demon’s 840hp, 6.2L Supercharged Hemi a Hellcat engine with more boost? Conclusively, no it is not. Instead, it’s a highly revamped mill with 62 percent new componentry. The engine will be produced alongside Hellcat engines in the Saltillo engine plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico– but that is where the similarities end. Dodge opened the engineering logs and gave us a real look at the guts required to make world’s quickest production car

Block

When you aim to make more horsepower than seven Ford Fiestas combined, pass emissions, and carry a full warranty, a sturdy foundation is paramount. The Demon’s engine begins with a new, beefed-up block. Although bore and stroke are identical to the Hellcat, (103.9mm bore and 90.9mm stroke), the block features substantially reinforced main caps for increased clamp load and rigidity. The deck surface gets the same treatment to increase clamp load on the cylinder heads and contain the increased horsepower. In order to keep the bores true with the extra load from the head bolts, a torque plate is used––a process not performed on the Hellcat. The plate simulates the stress of a torqued cylinder head so that the bores can be honed perfectly round. The oiling system has been revised with a high-flow gerotor pump. Additional oil flow is directed to the top end as well as to oil cooling jets that spray twice as much oil as those used in the Hellcat. Completing the oiling system are a redesigned pan and oil pickup built to cope with the demands of 1.8g launches.

Rotating Assembly

The crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons are all completely unique to the Demon. The crankshaft is a forged alloy unit that received revised balancing and induction hardened bearing journals. The connecting rods are burley powder-forged units with upgraded shanks, big ends, tapered small ends to reduce weight, and ultra-high tensile strength ARP 2000 fasteners. The pistons are also forged and feature an inclined box well design for additional wrist pin support. Piston to wall clearance was increased 30 microns to accommodate both piston alloy and the heat expansion associated with the Demons 840 horsepower power level. At peak power there is a compressive loading of 11 tons on the piston and connecting rod so all of the internal components had to be up to the monumental task at hand.

Heads and Valvetrain

In order to get more air into the engine post-supercharger and help increase durability, both cylinder heads and camshaft were optimized. The cylinder heads are cast from A356-T6 aluminum for its strength and heat-shedding properties. A new, gun-drilled, hydraulic-roller camshaft bumps the sodium-filled valves to the tune of .561-inches of lift on the intake and .551-inches on the exhaust. Lobe duration specs in at 224 degrees on the intake and 240 degrees exhaust (measured at .050-inches of lift). The new valve opening and closing points actually reduce intake and exhaust overlap from the grind used in the hellcat. A hydraulically actuated variable valve timing system is used to alter the cam’s installed centerline 17 degrees for improved power across the rev range.

Up top, 33 percent more oil is metered to the valvetrain via a larger diameter orifice in the headgasket, where oil passes from the block gallery to the cylinder head. This oil is instrumental in cooling the valvesprings, which dramatically effects their service life, and better lubricating the rocker arms.

Fuel and 100-Octane Systems

To feed the massive horsepower the Demon is capable of creating, the fuel system needed a boost. Twin, in-tank pumps feed injectors similarly sized to the Hellcat, but with an increase in overall fuel system pressure. The 100-octane mode, included with the $1 Demon Crate, allows the car to increase peak power when activated. The system needs a minimum of 100 average octane in the tank and will actively disable the mode if it detects knock. The real advantage in power and torque in this calibration is the ability to add spark advance due to the higher-octane fuel’s resistance to detonation. At peak torque in 100-octane mode, the spark is advanced 8 degrees for a 53lb-ft bump. At peak power, spark is advanced only 5 degrees for an additional 32 horsepower. Engineers were quick to point out that additional ignition timing at peak power did further amp up power production, however it eclipsed the parameters of their design window. Chris Cowland, head of Advanced and SRT Powertrain, explained that the engine is design for a max cylinder pressure of 135Bar and increased ignition timing eclipsed that threshold.

Supercharger and Intercooler

The blower atop the demon’s 6.2l Hemi isn’t a pulley’d up hellcat blower. Instead, it’s a revamped air mover with a re-profiled inlet and extra .3 liters of displacement. This comes courtesy of a 1-inch longer rotor-pack supplied by IHI. The rotors are a twin-screw design with 5 lobes on the larger, driven rotor and 3 on the smaller, faster spinning rotor. The pulley ratio is identical to the hellcat (2.36:1), though the larger blower is able to supply 14.5psi of peak boost pressure, up 2.9 psi from the Hellcat. The one-way or “overrun” clutch on the supercharger is retained and helps keep the mass of the supercharger rotors, which turn 15,340rpm at full song, from damaging the belt during rapid deceleration.

Keeping the newfound airflow cold is an industry-first refrigerant-based cooler. Dubbed the “SRT Power Chiller,” the system is one half of a dual-fold intercooling system. A conventional air-to-water intercooler with heat exchangers mounted in the intake manifold, under the blower, is fed coolant from a 45lpm electric pump and works consistently to cool the intake charge. When Drag mode is engaged, refrigerant is routed into an additional heat exchanger that uses refrigerant temporarily borrowed from the air conditioning system to further cool the intake charge. When both systems are humming simultaneously, the system can create temperature drops of almost 90-degrees Fahrenheit.

Secrets and Validation

One of the wildest accomplishments of the Demon program was keeping its ultra-high-power mill secret for such a long time. The facility it was developed in is massive and there are lots of folks from other brands shuffling around the complex. The sources for a leak are endless, but the SRT Engineering team persevered. In order to hide the 800hp-plus numbers from prying eyes during durability and development testing, engineers cleverly recalibrated the dyno cell to read lower, just in case anyone was looking that shouldn’t be. When the time came for SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) validation, the dynos––actually “dyno,” as only cell C07 was rated to handle the power the Demon was putting down––were recalibrated. To comply with SAE regulations, the engine had to be run in as-installed condition. Every accessory, intake, and exhaust restriction, including catalytic converters and mufflers were installed for the test. The engine was pulled for minutes at a time at every test RPM until power stabilized, which took an excruciating 45 minutes, to accomplish. The end result was a bonafide 808 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 717 lb-ft at 4,500 rpm with premium 91-octane fuel and 840 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 770 lb-ft at 4,500 rpm on 100-octane juice.

The post A Look Inside The Dodge Demon’s 840HP Hemi appeared first on Hot Rod Network.