Hot rodders can be a fickle bunch. We build a car with plenty of horsepower, drive them for a while, then crave more power—a never-ending pursuit for most. Such is the case with lifelong hot rodder John Woods and his 1970 Chevelle. “I bought the car in 2000, and being it was from Arizona the sheetmetal was in good condition,” John explains. “It had a warmed-over 468ci engine, which I swapped in a 540 roller engine built by Bob Snyder. I drove it in that configuration for about 10 years. In 2013, I upgraded the suspension, did some interior work, and swapped in another engine, this time a Lingenfelter 548 big-block, because, of course, I was always chasing horsepower.”
In the summer of 2018, the engine suffered a needle bearing…