Blog

1964 Comet

Apr 10, 2015

In May of 1964, I was passing by a Lincoln-Mercury dealership, and noticed this beautiful black ’64 Comet sitting in the showroom. It was the Cyclone version, which had a 4-barrel 289 and a 4-speed. I had to stop and look at it - what could it hurt? To make a long story short - I left with it.

In 1966, I took it to the track to see what it would do. It was not impressive, but I had fun. I went back the following weekend and ran a little better. By this time I was getting hooked. We fitted a Hurst shifter, Hooker headers, and some cheap cheater slicks.

1959 Mercury Commuter Wagon

Apr 3, 2015

My neighbor Marie was the original owner of my wagon. Marie was a school teacher working in the China Lake, CA, area. Her parents lived two doors down from my house. They wanted her to have a heavy car for safety when she traveled home. Well, then she moved back to San Jose and the car was too big for her in town. She told me that one day she drove the car into her garage and said that she would “never drive that car again.” I believe that that was in 1969.

Boxed Rear Control Arms

Apr 3, 2015

Time: 1-2 hours

Tools: standard socket set, standard wrenches

Cost: $300 (new), $30 (conversion)

Tinware: factory style or aftermarket boxed rear control arms (new bushings included), or weld-in boxing plates (new bushings optional)

Tip: When replacing older rear control arms, use quality polyurethane bushings to help stiffen the rear end and reduce deflection.

Performance gains: positive gripping power to help eliminate wheel hop.

Posted in Camaro and Featured

Project '55 Bel Air: March 2015 Update

Mar 27, 2015

(continued from Project Car: ’55 Bel Air, 2 Door Hardtop) 
Project ’55 Bel Air: April 2014 Update
Project ’55 Bel Air: May 2014 Update
Project ’55 Bel Air: June 2014 Update 
Project ’55 Bel Air: July 2014 Update 
Project ’55 Bel Air: August 2014 Update
Project ’55 Bel Air: September 2014
Project '55 Bel Air: October 2014 Update
Project '55 Bel Air: February 2015 Update

Now we are installing the small-block side engine mounts. Part # 18-02. (We powder coated them red for appearance.)

Corvette Museum Wants Your Corvette

Mar 27, 2015

It’s always a pleasure to show off your pride and joy at a local car meet, or classic car showing. But if there’s anything better than having the general public admire your ride, it’s having the public admire it in a time-period correct display. If that piques your interest, you’re in luck. The National Corvette Museum is looking for Corvettes to fill in its various displays, and they want your help.

Installing A High Performance Front Sway Bar

Mar 20, 2015

Time: 1 hour (approximately)

Tools: standard socket set, standard wrenches

Cost: approximately $175-200

Tinware: front sway bar, new sway bar bushings, new sway bar end links (recommended), lubrication grease

Tip: Before removing anything from the car, take note of the sequence of the bushings in relation to the lower control arm and the sway bar. This will eliminate any confusion during reassembly.

Performance gains: a tighter, better-handling front end and longer lasting components

Fun 'n Speed in a '96 Camaro SS

Mar 19, 2015

Fun 'n Speed in a '96 Camaro SS. Life is a series of choices and when Kenny White decided it was time for a new car, his first choice was a Camaro. The styling and performance of Camaros always impressed him, even when his high school buddies were enthralled with Mustangs.

Posted in Camaro and Featured

Corvette Trivia

Mar 19, 2015

Corvette Triva. The C1-C3 Corvettes were very popular in the muscle car era, and still are to this day. They’re considered by many to be the most beautiful 2-seater sports car ever produced by General Motors.

The Corvette was conceived in 1951 by GM designer Harley Earl and his special projects crew to compete with the European sports cars, in hopes that this new GM sports car would win at the track.

In 1953, the Corvette debuted at the Motorama in New York City. Chevrolet quickly set up a temporary plant in Flint Michigan, where 300 Corvettes were all hand built.

Low Riding Green Machine

Mar 19, 2015

I bought my 1962 Chevy Bel Air wagon seven years ago from a friend, Randy. Now Randy is a great guy, but he had no idea how to put this station wagon together and I have to admit it was somewhat of a mystery to me, too. It was completely apart and it came with another parts car, which was also taken completely apart. So my project car was really just boxes and piles of parts.

My original plan was to do a frame-off restoration, which was not too hard since the car and frame were in two different places when I bought it. This was a rust free Arizona car so I was able to have the frame sandblasted and painted in my garage. I assembled the frame with a new 10-bolt Chevy rear end with Posi-Traction and Air Ride Technologies suspension components. The car gets real low now!

Dan’s ’56 “Sleeper”

Mar 19, 2015

In the fall of 1999, my husband Dan was looking for a 1956 Chevy to restore. The type of car he wanted to have was one that looked stock from the outside, but when the hood was opened or when you heard it running you knew it wasn’t stock. This car would definitely be a driver, but be of show quality. In short, he wanted to build a 1956 sleeper.

After months of looking on eBay and reading various magazines, he found the car he was looking for. The car was located in Sacramento, which is only 60 miles from our home. He arranged to see the car and Dan knew immediately that this was the right car for our project. The car wasn’t running, but it had straight sheet metal and no rust. In doing some research, we found that the car was originally built in Oakland, California in January, 1956 as a Bel Air two-door with a Crocus Yellow exterior and two-tone ivory and black vinyl interior.