Blog

(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

When it comes to making a decision on what rear end to use in your Tri-5, there really is no substitute for the Ford 9” from the 9 Inch Factory. Yes, there are a lot of them out there, but the 9 Inch Factory is by far the best quality and fit on the market– plus it’s made in the USA.(Part # 21-238-PC) Ordered with a 3.73 gear, 31 spline, in black powder coating. We are staging the location for this monster to be mounted to the chassis.

I was only 7 years old in 1975 when my uncle, Kevin Green, wheeled this car into the back corner of the garage. It wouldn’t see the light of day again until 2007. He had paid $400. I would later learn the car had been traded to the dealership where my uncle worked in exchange for a Datsun 280Z by its second owner, a friend of George Alderman (who was using the car for autocross racing). The first owner (identified by the Protect-O-Plate), Olive Hicks, has eluded us for years, despite our best efforts to find her. What we know for sure is that she purchased the car at Van’s Chevrolet in New Castle, DE, just a stone’s throw from my home today, and that the car had never really traveled more than a few miles from there.

Future Collectible: 2013 Corvette 427: The 2013 Corvette 427 Convertibles are no longer being built (since the new 2014 C7s are well into their production cycle), but these special Corvettes will become highly sought after and collectible from here on in. With a limited production run of 2552 units and the highest priced model in 2013 (at $76,900), the 427 Convertible basically has guaranteed collectability written all over it.

If you have modified your classic Chevy and are using fiberglass, you'll be interested to know that soda blasting works very well on this material- cutting paint and top coats without damage to the fiberglass. It’s ideal for small parts and spotting in small repairs.

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: July 2014 Update

Now that the body is off the frame, it’s time to strip the frame and get ready for the new suspension!

My relationship with Camaros began in November 1966. My uncle, Bob McKeown, walked into Spielman Chevrolet in Brooklyn, NY, and drove out of the showroom with a new 1967 Camaro– one of the first ones built. At the time, this car was nothing special; just an inline 250 cubic-inch six-cylinder with a 3-speed manual transmission on the column. Not long afterward, he paid me and a neighbor five dollars to wash and wax his new Camaro. We were thrilled, not just because we got $2.50 each (a lot of money for teenagers in 1967) but also because we actually got to go over, under, and around a real Camaro! It didn’t matter to us that it wasn’t an SS, it was a Camaro– and nobody else we knew even had one.

1955 Chevy: The Chameleon. One day while I was driving my ’57 Chevy, a fellow classic Chevy enthusiast driving a ’55 asked me if I would be interested in trading cars. He sweetened the deal with a Wonderbar radio and some cash, and the deal was made.

Since then, the car has gone through a number of phases. Back in 1993 at the Winter Nationals in Orlando, the car, then with candy apple red paint, gray tweed interior, and a smooth firewall, won first place and best engine in the driven modified class.

Two weeks later the car was completely dismantled. I had a lot of ideas and changes I wanted to make. So I started at Holtz Welding with the chassis and suspension. Bill at Holtz fabricated a full cage, custom headers, rear tubs, a full racing suspension, a nine inch rear with a 4:10 Posi gear, and motor plates for a supercharged small block.

An easy-drivin’, head-turnin’ ’66 Corvette turns heads and wins trophies

This ’66 “Coupester” is a complete frame-off resto-mod, powered by an LS7 engine mated to an automatic transmission. It features SSBC disc brakes all around, Bilstein shocks, single mono-leaf carbon fiber transverse springs (front and rear), complete custom interior, console with Auto Meter gauges, vintage A/C, and many more subtle mods, including charcoal graphics.