Innholdsfortegnelse for Volume 2, Issue 15 - March 2022 i All Chevy Performance

DURALAST FEATURE OF THE MONTH There seems to be a bit of a resurgence in what is commonly referred to as the “gasser style”—cars built with a straight-axle or dropped-axle frontend, aiming the nose sky high to replicate the look of the AF/X and Gasser drag racing class cars of the ’60s, and we absolutely dig it. The look is totally old school and cars built with this personality are rewarded with tons of attention wherever they are spotted. Al Verschave’s ’66 Nova is all done up in this style, but it didn’t start out that way when he scooped it up at the Pomona Swap Meet back in 2003. It was a rust-free California gem—a perfect starting point for he and his dad, Dave. They built a mild 355ci…

If you have been following along, in last month’s issue we gave you the rundown on how we assembled the bottom end in our little homebuilt small-block Chevy. Now comes the fun part—heads, valvetrain, and the finishing touches. Working with a basically stock rotating assembly, it’s still very feasible to squeeze out some extra power. The next big priority was bolting on a great set of heads. It’s a practice hot rodders have played with for over a century, and the concept is simple: higher compression plus better airflow equal more power. But we also wanted to be careful not to sacrifice reliability and driveability. The horsepower per dollar scale is always tough when you’re on a budget. You want that best-bang-for-your-buck type of thing. Reliability and longevity are worth…

Oh Canada! How we love your majestic mountains, ice-cold brewskis, and gooey maple syrup. Your polite citizens make us feel right at home when we cross the border, and the country’s spotless cities and raucous hockey arenas make us want to go through customs time and time again. Though Canada is clearly a worldwide leader in many of the things stated above, we can still find most of them (to some extent) right here in the good ol’ USA. However, there are a few things that rarely cross the Canadian border into the lower 48. And I’m not talkin’ Wayne Gretsky or even Tim Hortons badass cup o’ joe. I’m speaking automobiles—the special models built by GM Canada back in the heyday of muscle rides—the sporty Acadian, and the car…

It’s an unavoidable fact of life. The object of our ’60s and ’70s Bowtie muscle car affections are well past long in the tooth. They are well past silver anniversaries and are sneaking up on 60 years of extended service. Time tends to take its toll on items that we often take for granted—like the electrical system. Another fact of muscle car life is that electrical systems also suffer some of the greatest abuses. Electrical hacks, botched wiring attempts, cheesy add-on mistreatment, and a host of other sticky black electrical tape exploitation over decades of modifications have left these machines often in need of attention. In our case, it was the same ’67 Chevelle that we just finished enhancing with a 5.7L LS engine and 4L60E swap. The mechanical conversion…

1. LT VALVE ’N COIL COVERS There’s no better way to dress up your LT engine than with a set of custom valve covers, but those stock coils are an eyesore. Scott’s Hotrods ’N Customs’ new billet CNC-machined LT Valve ’n Coil Covers solve that problem with its stunning two-piece design. These covers are precision CNC machined in-house out of solid 6061 billet aluminum for top-quality fit and finish and are designed to work with the stock GM coils. The covers hide all of the stock wiring and have ports for the plug wires to exit. Custom machining is available for an additional charge. For more information, contact Scotts Hotrods ’N Customs by calling (865) 951-2081 or visit scottshotrods.com. 2. PERFECT PRESSURE Wilwood’s Compact Tandem Master Cylinders have been re-engineered,…

A few years ago, a colleague of ours spent more than a few bucks to elevate the performance of his LS1-powered fourthgen Camaro SS. It was a bolt-on extravaganza, with longtube headers, a snazzy-looking intake manifold upgrade, and a larger throttle body, along with a cold-air intake and more. The engine looked great under the hood and sounded even better through the headers. On the chassis dyno and with proper tuning, power to the tires definitely increased, but the gain wasn’t dramatic. Worse, the car’s crisp street performance was dulled like your mom’s old caravan down a cylinder or two. To put it nicely, it was a dog, particularly at low rpm, where what little torque the LS1 made down there all but evaporated. It’s all because our buddy took…

Drag racing has changed a lot since the gasser wars of the ’60s. The basic principles are still the same, but the manner in which they’re accomplished is wildly different. This is the case at the majority of dragstrips across the country, where modern marvels impress the masses with seemingly effortless quarter-mile passes. Meanwhile, Terry Housley, a 45-year drag racing veteran from Lenoir City, Tennessee, took a few steps back from the modern approach of drag racing, having spent a couple decades behind the wheel of various drag cars. Terry strapped himself into a car that requires max effort and commands the attention of everyone in the stands when he pulls to the line. This ’55 Chevrolet is purpose-built to replicate a car that would’ve competed in NHRA’s Gas Coupe…

Since its completion, our ’82 Malibu Wagon hasn’t experienced a significant breakdown … yet. A fun, reliable street cruiser, it wasn’t until our first autocross at UMI Motorsports Park that we discovered its performance shortcomings. We spun out in clouds of smoke, murdered some cones, and went home with a lackluster finish. The combination of the wagon’s parts—750-rwhp LS1, built 4L80E, Strange Engineering 9-inch, and UMI Stage 3.5 tubular suspension—is unrealized. Our wagon has untapped potential. Luckily, that’s what an East Coast winter is for: more projects. The wagon is a family hauler, burnout monster, and great street car, but we want to turn up the heat: A T56 six-speed manual swap so we’re always in the right gear, a Holley Terminator X for better tuning, and Aldan coilovers for…

The year 1929 was a big one for Chevrolet. That’s when the 194ci overhead valve (OHV) six-cylinder engine arrived as standard equipment in all Chevrolet passenger cars. This new six was just about as big a piece of news for Chevrolet–and its customers—as the small-block V-8 of 1955. Chevrolet marketed the new engine as “a Six at the price of a Four,” instantly rendering Ford’s existing flathead four obsolete. Better still, even though the 194-cube Chevy OHV six was 6 ci smaller than Ford’s 200-cube four-banger, it was 6hp stronger (46 hp versus Ford’s 40 hp). Oddly, Chevrolet didn’t assign a spiffy, whizbang marketing name to the 194 six until 1934 when a revised cylinder head with canted exhaust valves and modified burn characteristics earned it the official title: Blue…

@TavisHighlander TavisHighlander.com In 2003, Chris McClintock started this Nova project with the intention of using it as a rolling business card to promote his new upholstery shop Bux Customs. Like many projects, elements were finished as time was available and the car ended up at the 90 percent mark years later. With the upholstery business flourishing, the little Nova was sidelined, but its time has come for a thorough refresh. A 6.0L backed by a T56 had been installed early on and remained while many other pieces were updated. A new Scott’s Hotrods frontend, Schott wheels, and Clayton pedals are some of the upgraded parts that are now being installed on the wagon. Some metal and mechanical work is being performed by Steel Town Garage in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, for extra…

GM’s first outing with the stylized and sporty F-body was just the beginning of what was to become arguably the most popular muscle car of all time: the ’69 Camaro. Not to take away from the ’67 though, which has a strong following of windwing fanatics who praise this incarnation of the first-gen Camaro. There’s no doubt GM came out swinging into the ponycar wars, as it was an absolute hit with young drivers of the late ’60s. The marketing worked and the car worked even better. In no way could the designers of this car imagine it would remain so popular well over 50 years later, but here we are. Jim Vogel had always had a hankerin’ for a first-gen Camaro, but never pulled the trigger. That was until…

Building an engine from scratch isn’t a relatively difficult thing to do so long as one is fastidious and pays attention to all the details. It’s also very rewarding (albeit stressful) when that handbuilt engine is fired for the first time and put through its paces on the engine dyno. There’s a bit of a pucker factor to be sure, but the satisfaction of a job well done is much more gratifying than dropping that credit card on a crate engine. Building an engine from the ground up also gives one a better idea of what’s going on inside the engine, making diagnosis and repair easier. And for some of us, just getting our hands dirty and spending the time in the shop building something is better therapy than any…

Starting a vintage muscle car build from the ground up is a tall order—doing it for a second time is a next-level time suck that no one cares to deal with, but Lou Baltrusaitis did just that. With his ’69 Camaro ready to hit the body shop for final sanding and paint, Hurricane Sandy hit Lou’s place and filled the car with water. “Sadly, we had to take the car apart and completely redo it,” Lou states. “There was water throughout the whole house and unfortunately the car got it, too.” But let’s back up a bit for a little history on how Lou’s build initially started. “My son, Hunter, was 15 at the time and wanted to build a muscle car together and he suggested a ’69 Camaro. Needless…