The S-15 with the LT1

 A little while ago I made a snap decision to buy an S-15 with a small block Chevy in it. I drove it and found that it had a hell of a time putting the power to the ground. Needless to say,I decided to pull the 350 out of it and through the original 305 from our Firebird project into it and fix it up a bit then give it to my mom. Now my mother is not exactly a spring chicken so the 305 with a mild work over like headers,a mild cam and a decent stereo will suit her just fine. and of course,putting the interior back together is a must. And as you can see from the pictures below it does leave a little to be desired.

When I first had a look at this truck I noticed that there was lots of things done that gave me the impression that it was slapped together,namely how the plug wires were a mix match of a few different sets and the zip tires to keep all the extra wires out of the way of moving parts. The truck has twin electric fans,one of which was hooked up to a switch and the other directly to ignition power as well as a flex fan attached to the water pump. I don't know about you but,I am not a fan of flex fans because when they grenade they have a habit of chewing up vital hoses and wires. Anyway, it was a simple fix to get the twin electric fans on the same ignition power with a slightly larger fuse and some heavier wire. The brake lights didn't work when I pulled it into the garage and a quick look at the brake light switch told me why. After replacing that and changing the rear tail light bulbs to the correct ones all the lights worked and no warning lights were on.

 Now,this truck was on Kijiji for about 3 months,it's easy to see why. The owner that had it before the guy I got it from decided that having the truck in primer was going to help sell it. Including the mirrors and bumpers,and the rubber window seals,the grill,headlight bezels...pretty much the entire truck was done in rattle can primer. The body work was a mix of bondo and fiberglass. About the only thing that was done right on this truck was the exhaust system,everything else was basically slapped together with the expectation that some young kid that doesn't know better would shell out a few grand to buy it. Needless to say,when it sees the road again it will actually resemble something that had some time spent on it and it will be ready for a half decent paint job with the body work done right.

 Judging by the amount of extra wire,it seams like the stereo that was in it may have been bigger than what was under the hood. Then there was all the sawdust and little flakes of hay. There was no rear seats so I'm thinking that someone used the back seat for a hay wagon.

As it turns out there was just going to be too much work to go into this truck to have it ready for my mother. So I stroked a deal with a neighbour for a truck he was selling for my mom. I decided to refresh the 350 a bit and stuff it back in and ggive it to my daughter for her first vehicle. While the engine was out I did a pretty decent port matching job and smoothed out the area behind where the valve sticks into the chamber. Other than that,simply put new moder gaskets through out the engine and cleaned it up. A little tuning and this truck lit up the tires extremely easy. It still needs some body work and some more work into the interior but,it's well on it's way to being a nice little street truck for my little girl.

Wicked 59 Thunderbird

This interesting T-Bird came to us to get all the wiring redone. With the exception of some very minor work done previously it's all original!

 The original 352 V-8 purred like a kitten when we started it up. It sounds like it may have some power. It does need a bit of a tune up so we'll see what it's like once all the wiring harnesses have been replaced and we have everything working.

 With the exception of a couple minor things,the body is completely original and 100% straight!

Finally got the new Third Gen Firebird project

It took a while but,we finally found a new project. The original car is starting out as a 1989 Firebird. And as you can see,it needs lots of work.

The whole idea is to build a high winding small block and back it up with a 6-speed. More on that in the future. For now I'm just going to stick to the here and now. You"ll notice a bare bones stock 190 HP Throttle Bodied 305. I actually drove it home once I got it to stay running. This motor has seen better days and would probably serve me best as a boat anchor. One little suprise I got when I was driving this car was when I hammered on it the tranny would rise right up. So obviously the mount was busted but,for $600 I can't complain especially when I got new studded winter rubber that will fit another vehicle.

 You can't see it from the pics but,there are holes around the shock towers on both sides and extensive road rash on the underside of both front quater panels as well as the rear. No wonder the cars was so cheap.

 Both rear quarter panels are toast in this car,the good thing is that the rust on the inside does not go up to the sail panels so partial rear quarters it is. Someone also had the rear trunk lid off and didn't line it up properly. This car came from the factory with the trunk motor that cinches done the lid. That will need to be replaced due to someone slaming the trunk down on the catch and screwing the motor up. Here's a tip, before purchasing a car to rebuild...research it! Know it,all those little things the aren't obvious just cause you can't see them can cause grief if you don't know about them.

 For some unknown reason the previous owner was pulling the dash apart so there are trim parts all over the place. Another bonus was the 300 watt amp and 12 inch speaker that went nicely into my brother's WRX.
For those of you that spotted it,the rear lights are not from an 89 Firebird,I do have both light assemblies but,not the center panel so if one of you out there has one,please let me know.

57 Shoebox. The Chevy's a hot ride!

Check out some of the specs that go with this car.

• 1957 Chevy Custom, ZZ572 Crate Motor
• 620HP, 6 speed trans, Hydraulic Clutch Ram Kit 
• Custom hooker Headers 3 inch Flowmaster exhaust, 4-inch side chrome outlets.  
• March Serpentine pulley system.
• Billet Specialty Wheels 18-inch front 20-inch rear.  
• 13 inches Wilwood brakes all four corners.  
• Ford 9 inch rear-end 4:30 gears

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  Air Ride Shockwave all 4 corners help to stabilize cornering. The Tan custom leather seats provide the comfort and power everything give it a custom feel.

502 in a 71 Chevelle

The guy that built this car sure did a damn good job! A 700R puts the power of a 502 to the ground through 3:55 gears. Take a look at the interior of this car:

Ever wonder what a 502 would look like under the hood of a Chevelle? Pretty sharp I'm thinkin! It's obvious that there was a lot of time and effort into this car. It's totally straight and with the power it has it'll help you put your head to the seat when the hammer gets laid down.

96 Chevy Pick Up.

So after numerous attempts at finding an issue that came about after installing aluminum heads on the small block Chevy that's in my 96 Chevy Pick up,the cause of it was found out the hard way. See,what was happening was the truck would start to idle irratically. What it started doing this at hi-way speeds it would backfire through the exhaust and generally run like crap. This problem did not register a trouble code with the ECM nor was it an easy thing to track down. After talking to a lot of gearheads and mechanics and swappin out damn near every sensor on the truck it boiled down to the gear at the bottom of the ignition shaft.

 This is my take on it,the cam sensor and the crank sensor were giving two different readings to the ecm telling it that the timing was out,therefore the ecm was attempting to correct the issue. While this was going on,the truck ran like it have water in the fuel at hi-way speeds and stalled when it was at idle. Unfortunately if not figured out and caught in time,it will leave you stranded on the side of the road. Like what it did to me. I ended up going from the truck running well to running like there was water in the gas to running well...all while I was attempting 120 KPH down the hi-way. Not good! The flex plate came out in two pieces and the engine started running well again I had had my foot in it due to being pissed off about this issue that in my mind didn't need to exist in the first place. So the engine went right up to 7000 rpm and low and behold,took out my bottom end.

 So,that leads us to swapping out the engine,and I finally got it done yesterday,it went from this:

To this:

In the course of just a few hours with very little swearing and a few beers.

After finding a donner truck off the reserve...yes,I said the reserve...lol. I knew I had a decent running engine. We stripped the truck we bought,it was a 96 Yukon. Took all the inner door handles,speakers,drivers and passenger front door panels,side mirrors...etc. Of course I left this engine basically stock due to it being passed down to my daughter when she gets her license after all,she didn't learn to drive with an old hay truck feeding horse when she was 10 like me. I re-installed the headers and spacer plate for a little added power however. It's running great so I'm gonna leave it alone for now. Let's hope that I can make it last a while.

Very Nice 1970 SS Chevelle Convertible

This Chevelle is definately in a class of it's own. The .030 350 horsepower 396 is rebuilt to factory specs and drives power through a stage 2 700R4 Transmission and the 17 inch Foose wheels help put the power to the ground.

 The interior is one of a kind,obviously completely re-done. Full 6 way powered buckets up front and a completely custom made console featuring the Horseshoe shifter.



Hell of a job on my Flexplate

Thursday morning. Heading to work I pull out into the hammer lane to pass a car that has no idea what a gas pedal is and all of a sudden my engine tachs right out to 6000 rpm and the truck is slowing down. I pull over to the side of the road,finish smoking my cigar and ponder the next couple minutes. I shut the truck down and let it cool down abit. When I go to fire it up again, the starter spins like no tomorrow and the engine won't turn over.. After calling a tow truck and getting it back to the house and up on ramps I pull the inspection plate off the transmission and low and behold my ring gear is spinning freely. It turns out that I cratered my flexplate.

Of course after getting a new one I decide it's time to figure out once and for all why the hell my truck seams to have an intermitten problem with mis fires. I yank out my distributor and inspect the gear at the bottom end and wouldn't you know it,it looks like it's been through the meat grinder. Calling up a local parts supplier I find out the that little gear is $78. The first thing out of my mouth at that was "Are you kidding me?" Pull it off and compare it to the gear I have on the bottom of an HEI distributor that I have kickin around the garage. They seam identical,so I install it in place of the worn out one. I find TDC (top dead center) drop it in hook everything up and the truck ran like a dream....with a knock coming from the bottom end of the engine when I put it in gear. NOT a good thing to hear. Spun bearing maybe or a collapsed piston. We're gonna find out when I yank the engine out and have a look.

  I will say this though. In my own mind,the eletronic stuff that governs the operation of the new vehicles does have it's advantages. YOu just can't beat fuel injection for smooth operation and performance It is also very time consuming and exspensive to track down any issues with sensors,ecms,eproms and the like. The very same efficiency can be pulled out of a properly tuned after market fuel injection system for half the price and a lot less heartache and grief. When this truck goes back together it will be without the factory programming. There are a number of fuel injection systems that will give me more performance and greater efficiency than the stock set up ever will. I won't even bother to ask why auto-manufacturers create these systems when I know the answer is money. However,if the wanted a repeat customer that would go and buy a new truck every few years then they shouldn't have created a system that would have eventually pushes me to consider using old technology just because I can tune it properly and know when a problem arises,I can fix the damn thing on the side of the road without it taking the food out of my kids mouths.

A cool 62 Impala SS.

Rememeber back when you were a kid and you saw one of these cruising down main street? The sound of a hot rod was enought to make you want one!

This restored Impala features a 383 Stroker with a 5 speed that get this thing going very nicely. Interior is completely new. Some of the updating stuff include 4 wheel disc,Coy's 20's" wheels on the rear and 18's" on the front.

70 C-10 Chevy Pick Up

A 395 Horsepower small block powers this short box that was built from the frame up. How would you like to cruise around in this?

Sexy as hell 66 Nova

Cruising around the web today and I came across this 66 Nova. It stopped me dead in my tracks. This has got to be on of the hottest Chevy II's I've ever seen.

 

Narrowed,tubed,stretched,chopped and pinched. This car is a result of some seriously high quality work that has earned it first in the Grand National Roadster Show.

This big block Chevy is a 427 with right around 700 horsepower. Now knowing how light these cars are,I'm betting that this car goes as good as it shows.

Hot Rodding from the Couch

 Sitting with my brother at his house talking about whatever came up and his room mate comes in. Travis is a gearhead and he also tinkers with a 68 Ford half ton he got from his uncle a bunch or years ago. He's telling me that he has a line on a 429 Super Cobra Jet that he's thinking of putting in this truck. Now,this old pick up has seen a lot and has had it's share of work done on it. The only issue that Travis has is why of the Big Three,Chevy small blocks are so cheap to build. Well,that's because Chevrolet engineers got it right when they developed the 265 small block Chevy,After all almost every other type of car in North America had a V-8 when Chevrolet decided it was time to build one. It required less castings,9 major and 3 minor to manufacture while another manufacturer required 22. And weighed in 41 pounds lighter than the 235 inch inline 6. Now,I'm not saying that the first small block Chevy was just slammed together just to get it out and into production. It took 3 long years or designing and testing before it was in production. Ok,enough of the history lesson. What it boils down to is that no other engine has the ability to be modified and hot rodded like the small block Chevy. The Small block Chevy has gone into more vehicles than any other engine ever built.

 The Second Generation LT1 was the pinnacle of small block Chevy development. With 300 net hp at 5000 rpm and 330 lb/ft of torque at 4000 rpm. As a result the V-8 powered 92 Corvette was the fastest production Chevy to come of the assembly line at that time.

After convincing Travis of other benefits of the Small block Chevy I could actually see the gears turning in his head. He was considering scrapping the big block Ford idea and thinking about putting his money into a 350 Chevy. After all,he could build a much more streetable engine,with decent power for less money and get better fuel economy to boot! Nobody can argue that the original 283 Chevy was better on fuel than the 289 Ford. Same with the 305 Chevy compared to the 302 Ford and the 350 Chevy compared to the 351. I have yet to see or hear of a 96 Ford regular cab pick up getting the same or better mileage as a 96 Chevy regular cab pick up with all things being equal. Of course that brings up another very viable point,if your building an engine for horsepower,who cares about gas mileage!

Smokin 57 Corvette

It's not every day you get to see a 1957 Vette that looks this good! A complete restoration right down to the numbers matching 283! This car came out of the factory with 4 speed.

 1957 was the debut of the 283 cubic inch small block Chevy. The idea came about when engineers at Chevrolet took the 265 block from the previous two years and bored it .125 to 3.875 and the 283 was born. Little did they know at the time they were building the base of the most popular small block ever built.

 The engine in this Vette is the Turbo-Fire 283. Factory rated at 220 HP @ 4800 rpm with 9.5:1 compression. There were two other options for that year, one was a dual carb set up that produced 270 hp and the other was the Ramjet Fuel Injection that produced 283 hp. At the time,it was the pinnacle of factory engine development when they reached 1 hp per cubic inch. In 1957 1040 of the 6338 Corvettes built that year got the Ramjet set up.

an 86 SS Monte Carlo

Getting a call from my brother yesterday suprised me. He asked if I had an oil drain pan. "Yup,I do" I said and then he was on his way. My brother baught an 86 SS Monte Carlo a couple years ago. He kind of suprised me when I showed up at his place and this car was there. I thought that there was hope for him after all. He had always been one of those guys that said he missed the cheap gas and cheap insurance era. And the result was that someone was always his taxi. So you can imagine what was going through my mind when I found out about his car. First things first, the general look see told me a few things. It was obvious that the guy that he got it from did some quick work to get it running,I later found out the seller had a couple habits. Well,so much the better. I was at first suprised at the purchase price,then I started to have a decent look at the car. It had lots of chrome goodies under that hood,it seemed to run not too bad. However for those of you that know,the 86 SS Monte's came out with a 305 so they were not really anything special in the haul ass dept.

While not Jessie's car,this is what it looks like

   The car was in not bad shape overall so the main recommondations were to check all the seals, a compression test,all the belts and hoses and so on and so forth. Now being a 305 I had the gears rolling in my head with an idea about a 350 that's sitting on a stand in my garage. Since my brother was really amazed at how well his car went after both myself and our eldest brother started tweaking things,it seams to me that breaking him into real horsepower slowly might be the order of the day. More on the power later though.

  Jessie shows up and his plan is to change some fluids and some filters. He is already on board with synthetic oil so that was a given. I order the transmission filter and gasket so that was going to get done the next day. Now,he was having some issues with his carburetor and I was thinking it might have been a lot worse than it actually was due to the age of the carb. While I was changing the oil and filter he had taken out the fuel filter. It was about a quarter chrushed and that was towards the end where the fuel goes into the inlet inside that carb. He asked me if that may have been the problem with the carb...lol. It was.
Next,I decide to have a look at the breaks. They were fine,the wheel beings were not however. The rotors on both sides of the car had about an 1/8 " deflection or movement. I quickly removed the break calipers,pulled the cotter pin out and removed the rotors. A quick inspection showed that they were just improperly installed. I was amazed that the beings were in as good a shape due to the year and a half that Jessie had the car on the road.

  The wheel beings retorqued,the oil changed,the fuel filter changed and the carb slightly adjusted it was time to go for a drive. And the Monte left rubber and accelerated very nicely down the road.My brother was amazed that the car was running so good...and so was I! Once I take the casting numbers off the engine and heads I will know more but,it's possible that it may not be a 305 in that car. The only car I knew about that went half decent with a 305 was the 90 Camaro with the 5 speed transmission. Anyway,I'll keep you posted on the progress we have with the SS as time goes by.

Going for a ride in a Tuner

I had the pleasure of going for a ride in a Nissan Skyline after a new bigger turbo was installed. The car was built for drifting and let me tell you I had a blast! This little car was going around corners sideways on low boast! I for one never did see what all the hype was about imports or "Tuners". I figure good old fashion muscle got the job done just nicely,and for me it did. Don't get me wrong,I'm not gonna run out and start look for one of these ricers to build and pour a bunch of money into. I am however still one the lookout for a nice Third Generation Camaro. I'm thinking that I can build a car that will drift as good as the Nissan Skyline I was in yesterday,



  The plan for the Third Gen Camaro will include a short stroke small block Chevy. That would mean a 302, this gives the motor the ability to rev high. And with a 4 in bore,you still get some decent power out of it. When coupled with a Vortech,this little 302 is going to pump out some serious power and still run around 25-26 mpg. Backing this would be a new 6 speed transmission. From the outside,this car will look like your average 80's Camaro that's been brough back to life with some TLC. A set of 18" of 19" rims with the suspension built to accommodate the tires. A Eaton rear end from a 96 chevy pick up and a set of 2.73 gears in it would assure that the car moves along just nicely. After all, we couldn't have someone that bought one of those new Mercedes ML 6.3 to be able to leave me in the dust now could we? I have a deep respect for people that build their horsepower or buying it.

Have a look at this guy's idea of turbo charging! There is a big block Chevy under there somewhere.

 In this day and age,it's almost like gear heads are stuck working on older cars. Doing anything to a new muscle car like the Camaro or even the Challenger would void anything you may have for a warranty,not to mention that computers in these cars have more signals and processes running than it took to put the space shuttle into orbit. However,I do respect bought horsepower just not as much as built horsepower.

64 GTO,the first of the Muscle Cars

This 64 GTO is the product of a frame off (Done Right!) Restoration. Everything has been done to this car when they had it on the rotisserie. While the 389 is new it does sport period correct numbers,the 4 speed comes from a 64 donor. The whole cars looks like it just came off the showroom floor.Take a good look,this is the car that started the horsepower wars.