Innholdsfortegnelse for Volume 2, Issue 16 - April 2022 i All Chevy Performance

Sometimes the overall appearance of a custom build is determined by one decision. In this case, a customer had settled on an LT5 crate engine as his powerplant of choice. To create room for the supercharger, and to also look really cool, the plan was hatched to create a C7 ZR1-style engine cover that worked with the C2. A new hood has been designed to bridge the gap between the Vette body and the custom carbon-fiber engine cover. Keeping with the C7 ZR1 theme, the signature orange paint will be similar to the Sebring Orange of the C7. Other than the flashy paint, the body will stay fairly stock. Polished accents will nod to the past while the hood, wheels, and stance are a bit more modern. An Art Morrison…

Web-based auction sites and social media swap ’n’ shops continue to be the driving force in the everyday vintage car marketplace. It seems that the quickest way to post, locate, and purchase affordable classic cars and their corresponding parts is on the sites that get the most traffic. They have proven to be the ideal places to grab a part, chat about tech, or, better yet, score a ride that will make your buds green with envy. Case in point is this bitchin Camaro right here on these pages. Rob Feasel of New Egypt, New Jersey, knows the power of such sites; not only to score cars and pertinent parts, but also to get leads on cars that you might not even be looking for. Feasel is a connoisseur of…

When it comes to rewiring a classic Chevy, oftentimes other items need to be rehab’d, restored, or otherwise modified to make the restoration job complete. These can include new bulbs, headlights, lenses, gauges, or even entire climate-control systems. Recently, we were plugging along on a rewire job on a '55 Chevy Bel Air when it was decided that our heater system as well as the gauge cluster could use a little love. Simple enough. With a Danchuk catalog in hand, we ordered up the appropriate parts from their website, and in short order had what we needed to complete the job. Restoring our gauge cluster turned out to be a pretty simple affair as all it needed were some new lenses and light tubes. Once that was complete, we buttoned…

New Yorker Ben Carenza is no stranger to vintage tin and has owned a wide berth of different cars over the decades. While several Fords, including a ’69 Ranchero and ’73 Mustang, were in the mix, Ben has demonstrated a clear preference for Bowtie-branded machinery. “I’ve had several ’66 and ’67 Novas,” he recalls with a broad smile, “a ’57 Chevy, a ’40 Chevy pickup, a ’63 Chevy pickup, a ’62 Biscayne, and an ’81 Malibu.” Several years ago Ben was in the mood for a new project and started looking around for a good, clean Chevy II. “I love the early box Novas to begin with,” he explains, “and wanted to build one that looks like a plain-Jane, nothing-special kind of a car but with loads of performance underneath…

There are those who acquire the bug for all things mechanical as they navigate through life, while others seem to be born with the gene. Eric Fernandez is of the latter and performed his first engine swap at age 13. It was in his go-kart that he felt needed more horsepower, so he swapped out the old Briggs & Stratton for the more powerful Honda engine from his dad’s roto tiler. “Initially my dad was upset when he saw what I had done, but after calming down, he asked me if it worked,” Eric fondly remembers. “I started it for him and did a couple laps and remember seeing the smile on his face and him being surprisingly proud. I’ve been wrenching on engines ever since.” In high school Eric…

Chevrolet had a good thing going when it spruced up the Chevy II platform in 1966. Even though the early cars were stylish and cool, the two-year run in 1966 and 1967 had one of Chevrolet’s finest body styles. However, there were quite a few carryover items from those earlier designs that made it into the redesigned platform. One of the major items is the front suspension, which features a coil spring that rides on top of the upper control arm. The real drawback to this design was the lower control arm, which was a very small unit with only one mounting point on the chassis. It was braced by a strut rod, which ran at an angle to add strength to the otherwise-flimsy control arm. 1962-67 Chevy IIs have…

It’s no secret the ’69 Camaro is considered the most popular of all vintage muscle cars. With the massive appeal and huge success of the ’67 and ’68 models, GM designers knew they were onto something. But even so, they couldn’t help but tweak the bodylines of the ’69 with molded swoops along the front fender that continue to the door where it gradually fades, only to reestablish itself on the rear quarter-panel, giving the car an illusion of motion while sitting still. Genius! But they didn’t stop there–adding in the non-functioning “gills” in front of the rear tire creates a performance trait that adds to already-excellent styling. It’s those characteristics that have always piqued the interest of Chad Turner, owner of this totally slick ’69. Chad found the F-body…

There are certain skills that every car guy worth his 9/16-inch end wrench should know how to perform. Drilling holes in the proper place, cutting threads, and general fabrication skills are not difficult. High schools used to teach these lessons in metal shop, but not anymore. So this new generation of car guys will have to learn it on their own. The skill we will concentrate on today is creating a leak-free tubing flare. There are actually several different angles that are used as well as metric bubble flares used on import cars. We’ll maintain our focus on the two most popular standards, the 45-degree flare and the AN 37-degree flare. These will require different tools, and we’ll cover that as well. Making tubing flares requires a specific tool, so…

1. DIRECT-FIT TRUCK CLUSTER Classic Instruments debuts its all-new ’60-63 Chevy truck direct-fit cluster. The cluster is completely electric and designed for a seamless installation into the stock dash of ’60-63 Chevy trucks. It also uses the existing factory bezel to maintain the stock look. The package includes a snap-in wire harness, scratch-resistant acrylic lens, and all necessary sending units. The cluster features a fuel sending unit selector switch to pair the cluster with the existing/factory fuel sending unit. For more information, contact Classic Instruments by calling (800) 575-0461 or visit classicinstruments.com. 2. CHASSIS INDEPENDENCE Schwartz Performance now offers an independent rear suspension option for their entire line of G-Machine chassis. The IRS, tested by the Schwartz R&D team, is designed to provide an even higher level of performance and…

One challenge that everyone faces when making the move to an LS or LT engine is the accessory drive situation. Whether you’re installing a new-out-of-the-box engine or scoured the junkyard for a donor, the accessories will come into play soon. If your donor engine came with brackets and accessories, chances are you’ll be hard pressed to make everything fit in your classic Chevy. Depending on your project, interference from the A/C compressor or power steering pump with framerails are nearly imminent—not to mention, the stock components were never designed with aesthetics in mind. Those are just a few of the reasons we turned to Vintage Air (VA) for an all-encompassing solution to our accessory drive needs on our LS1. We were familiar with VA’s original Front Runner serpentine system that…

As ’66-67 Chevy II Novas continue to gain ground in popularity, more enthusiasts are doing their best to build one just a bit different than the masses. Rick Katz has wanted one of these box-style cars since he was 10 years old. “My older brother had one when we were teens, but he sold it—without my authorization, I might add,” Rick laughingly remembers. Rick didn’t offer up his age, but we can assess that there’s been a few trips around the sun since he has lusted after these little Chevys. The Southern California resident began a serious search for just the right example about five years ago. “A buddy of mine found this one on the Hemmings classifieds website. It was about 80 percent completed and appeared to be exactly…

If you grew up in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, or ’80s you remember how common station wagons were in everyday traffic. At every intersection, there they were. For the most part, there wasn’t much to get excited about except for the occasional 396, 427, or 454 front fender emblem. Or, when viewed from the rear, the presence of dual exhaust tips caught the eye of performance-oriented spectators–like us. Unfortunately, most wagons share front sheetmetal with two-door and convertible models. So, when values of those models took off, wagons often lost their noses then went to the junkyard–despite having solid bodies from the cowl back. But since more efficient box-like minivans took over the chore of hauling the family beginning in 1984, within a decade the great American station wagon was…