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CONTENTS 46 36 16 MARCH 2020 ➔UP FRONT

04 BANGIN’ GEARS Johnny visits the cast and cars of Fastest Cars in the Dirty South.

08 HORSEPOWER! Anthony Antinucci’s ’10 Camaro SS takes street horsepower to the next level with 1,135 hp at the crank.

10 SPEED PARTS New parts for your ride.

➔HANDS ON

12 SLAM-DUNK TRUNK, PART 2 Replacing the floor and installing mini-tubs in a ’69 Camaro.

16 THE SHROUD OF TOURIN’ Count your blessings! Opening the LS combustion chambers translates into free, easy power.

➔ON THE COVER

The year’s coolest new reality TV show debuted on the MotorTrend channel on December 4, and if you haven’t seen Fastest Cars In The Dirty South, you’ll want to point your TV clicker in that direction. Eric Malone and the rest of the grudge racers of Team 256 hail from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and they’re ready to take on all comers. Their proposition is risky but simple: Team 256 will build up your team’s slowest car and beat your fastest car with it—or you can have it back! The action starts on p.36. Photo by Jesse Kiser.

20 CHUMP CHANGE Hunk-O-Junk big-block, part 5: The eBay turbo test!

➔PROJECT CAR

26 THIS GUY’S GARAGE Welcome to Matt Picaro’s ultimate toy garage, with racing parts from glory days gone by.

28 DUSTBIN DUSTER: HOLLEY PRO DASH We install the nerve center of our Mopar A-Body and get closer to startup.

32 PROJECT MUSTANG PART 5 The Father and son Mustang gets much-needed “releaf” with a rear suspension from Summit.

➔FEATURES

36 DISCOVERING THE FASTEST CARS IN THE DIRTY SOUTH We head to Alabama to get under the hood of the season’s coolest reality show.

46 GIFT HORSE Byron Tudor surely made the most of what started out as a freebie.

52 CHANNELING “DYNO DON” Once owned by “Dyno Don” Nicholson, this ’62 Chevrolet Bel Air has been given an LS swap by its current owner.

58 MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SPEED Young and old alike freak out when they lay eyes on this Nebraska hideaway.

62 HOLIDAY ON ICE Drag racers are a hearty breed in Wisconsin.

➔BACK OF BOOK

66 KRASS & BERNIE Krass and Bernie give a little back to the community, and have some fun in the process.

68 JUNKYARD CRAWL Two-door Ford police interceptors found in Idaho.

70 WHERE’S THE FUN? Readers weigh in.

74 REAR VIEW Byron Tudor’s ’67 Mustang.

CAR CRAFT (ISSN 0008-6010); March 2020, Vol. 68, No. 3. Copyright 2019 by TEN: Publishing Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Published monthly by TEN: Publishing Media, LLC, 275 Madison Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 707.4.12.5); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Car Craft, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235.

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MARCH 2020 CARCRAFT.COM 3

BANGIN’ GEARS SWEET HOME ALABAMA!

U

nless you’re piloting a riverboat, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, isn’t a town you’ll find yourself in while traveling to someplace else. You have to want to be there. There’s no interstate highway, no international jetport—just a lazy ribbon of two-lane asphalt that wends its way through bucolic village after village, then spills out into the lush plain of the Tennessee River. It’s one of those dots you might’ve glanced at on a map—back when we used maps—and rightfully wondered why anybody would live there.

Now I know.

In a bit of irony, the front office of Eric Malone’s shop faces the Muscle Shoals Police Department. Later that day, we would set up Malcolm Storey’s Pontiac in the wide, quiet street in front of MSPD to bask in the late-day sun, but right now it’s lunchtime, and we dig into the amazing spread from the OK Corral, a little barbecue joint on the south side of town. Pulled pork, short ribs, beef brisket, smoked chicken, coleslaw, and potato salad await on the counter, its tempting aroma mixing with the pungent odor of oil and shop solvents.

We dig into the hastily assembled feast and all talk stops. After a few bites, the banter settles into the grudge racer kind. In the room is Team 256 leader Eric Malone, photog and author Jesse Kiser, grip (and rock legend) Jarrod England, Team 256 driver Deda Minor, Performance Torque Converters founder (and Minor’s dad) Kenny Ford, Lagail Ford (Minor’s mom), and Team 256 drivers Malcolm Storey and Mikie Smith. From behind a mouthful of ribs, Malone mutters something about Storey’s Pontiac and everybody laughs.

Today, the plans have changed.

With the death of Minor’s aunt, Team 256 has gone into support mode.

“Deda’s like our little sister,” Malone says. There’s a memorial service later on, and we’ve got to shoot Minor and her Dodge post haste so she and her folks can arrive at the church on time.

4 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

She’s a mess—her make-up fighting a losing battle with tears and the hot Alabama sun—but the show goes on.

This week, the death of Minor’s aunt has provided the unintended effect of drawing the team together, as I suspect it has for all of them at different times for different reasons.

As we photograph each of the eight cars for our cover story (nine, if you count Mikie Smith’s second Datsun

1200) and interview characters from MotorTrend’s new reality show Fastest Cars in the Dirty South, it becomes apparent that the talent pool here is as wide and deep as the Tennessee River itself. Everybody has a different skillset and personality, which brings a rare form of dynamism to the set of FCIDS. It’s a reality show producer’s wet dream, and we can see the allure of this unique set of cats (or dogs, in the case of Malcolm Storey!).

And while FCIDS has a close affiliation with Performance Torque

Converters (the “PTC” you’ll see everywhere), it’s hardly a show about PTC. Kenny Ford, the mastermind behind PTC, is fairly well behind the scenes and seems to understand quite well that PTC is not the show but rather the umbrella under which it operates. It’s a nice arrangement that allows the cars, characters, and plot to dominate rather than messaging about the product.

(Honestly, I’d kind of like to hear a tad more tech talk in the show, but that is what our cover story is for.)

The plot engine for FCIDS flirts on the border of esoteric; Team 256—a group of Muscle Shoals no-time grudge racers with mostly street-type cars—goads teams from elsewhere into a race, but not just any race. Although Team 256 has its own fast cars (which they use throughout the show to great effect) they want to show you what really matters: how fast they can build a winning car, and how well they can drive. To that end, they throw down the challenge: we’ll kick your team’s ass, and we will do it with your team’s slowest car. If Team 256 beats you with it, they keep it. If they don’t, they lose all the hard work they put into it. (Hint: It’s a crazy mix of both.)

I hate the sales pitch as much as you, but you’ll want to see FCIDS, trust me. You can binge-watch the entire season by signing up for MotorTrend On Demand (get a free 14-day trial, then pay just $4.95 a month), or tune into the MotorTrend Channel for weekly episodes. But read this issue of Car Craft first! The story starts on page 36.

—Johnny Hunkins CarCraft@CarCraft.com Facebook.com/carcraftmag CarCraft.com Car Craft Mag 831 S. Douglas St. El Segundo, CA 90245

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EDITORIAL Network Content Director Douglas R. Glad Editor Johnny Hunkins Senior Managing Editor Sarah Gonzales Hot Rod Network Executive Editor Phil McRae Production Editor Jordon Scott Director, Social Media Brandon Scarpelli Contributors JoAnn Bortles, Jefferson Bryant, Eric English, Andy Finkbeiner, Richard Holdener, Jesse Kiser, Scotty Lachenauer, Steve Magnante, John Machaqueiro, James Rotella, Kendra Sommer & George Trosley ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Art Director Roberta Conroy Creative Director Alan Muir ON THE WEB CarCraft.com HotRod.com MoparMuscle.com

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HORSEPOWER! BLOCK & ROTATING ASSEMBLY

1,135HP 427 LS7 2010 CAMARO Anthony Antinucci / Blue Bell, Pennsylvania After an eight-year hiatus, Chevrolet started selling the fifth-generation Camaro as a ’10 model with three trim levels on tap. You could order an LS-, LT-, or SS-trimmed vehicle with the first two options wearing a 3.6L V-6, while the SS came equipped with the 6.2L LS3 V-8. Rated at 426 horses, the LS3 laid down the Camaro baseline for performance moving forward.

The appeal of the SS-trimmed Camaro and its performance numbers are what prompted Anthony Antinucci to place an order for one in 2010. As a lifelong Bowtie fanatic, the search for more power out of the LS3 started as soon as the car was driven off the dealer’s showroom floor. His quest for some additional horses led him to Dale Cherry and the crew at Injection Connection in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Initially the focus was to up the numbers on the LS3 with headers and a cold-air intake. The desire for more power eventually led to the installation of an Edelbrock supercharger and a hotter cam.

By that point GM had also started selling the COPO Camaro, which caught Anthony’s eye and became an acquisition goal. A phone call to a friend who owned a Chevy dealership quickly threw a bucket of cold water on that desire as all were already sold.

Since he couldn’t get a COPO, he asked Cherry to build him something that rivaled it in terms of performance. Using an LS7 as the foundation, the power adder progression he took with the LS3 was replicated with the 427, which is currently in excess of 1,100 horses at the rear wheels.

By John Machaquerio / Photo: John Machaquerio

8 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

The centerpiece of Anthony’s COPOinspired Camaro is bare LS7 block, to which Cherry added a Callies forged crank, Callies H-beam connecting rods, Mahle 9.5:1 forged aluminum pistons, and a custom Comp bumpstick. On the top end, after some careful numbers crunching, he decided that the set of Mast Motorsports Black Label LS7 305 aluminum heads fitted with 2.250 intake and 1.60 exhaust valves would work well with the fuel system and blower combination.

FUEL SYSTEM In order to extract the right amount of power, a proper balance of fuel was needed throughout the powerband. For that part of the build, Cherry chose a Holley Sniper High-Ram intake, 102mm Holley throttle body, and 85 lb/hr Delphi injectors. The management side of that combination comes via a factory E38 control module with a custom tune.

BLOWER Prior to the LS7, the LS3 was running an Edelbrock blower, which initially migrated over to the LS7. “We were running that blower at about 10 percent over what Edelbrock recommended on the LS3,” Cherry says. “On the LS7 we pushed it to its limits for the horsepower we wanted.” With that plateau reached, moving forward meant the installation of a ProCharger F-1X.

DRIVETRAIN Power is useless unless it can be properly delivered—and stopped. Anthony wanted to continue manually shifting the Camaro, so the TREMEC TR 6060 six-speed was left in place and a McLeod RXT twin-disc clutch installed, while the Driveshaft Shop contributed with a custom carbon-fiber driveshaft. At the rear, Cherry installed a set of Spohn Engineering Extreme Duty rear axles and CV joints, Spohn Engineering tubular trailing arms, and Spohn Engineering 32mm sway bars. All the factory mounts were also replaced with stiffer polyurethane bushings. An Auburn Gear posi unit fitted with a set of street-friendly 3.45:1 gears was also dropped in. Stopping was the other key component to the build, with the stock hardware giving way to a front and rear set of Baer 15-inch Extreme brake systems. These kits consist of 15-inch rotors and six-piston calipers. Perhaps the weak link in the current equation, the TREMEC is destined for a swap in the near future.

MARCH 2020 CARCRAFT.COM 9

SPEED PARTS FULLSIZE FORDS

What it is: 1964 Galaxie trunk sheetmetal Why you care: Galaxie owners rejoice!

OE-style replacement sheetmetal is now available from Auto Metal Direct.

The newest release from the folks at AMD comes in the form of a complete trunk floorpan for the ’64 Galaxie. The trunk floor braces and rear crossbrace is already welded on and the trunk floor arrives EDP coated to help protect against rust and corrosion. This panel is a direct replacement for Ford PN C4AZ-6211215-A. AMD continues to support Ford enthusiasts and restoration professionals in a growth of Ford product offerings. These OE-quality

components from AMD are the perfect touch to your restoration.

How much: $599.99 Learn more: Auto Metal Direct; 877/575-3586; AutoMetalDirect.com

BETTER HANDLING

THERMAL & SOUND MANAGEMENT What it is: Headliner soundproofing Why you care: The roof on most vehicles is metal. As the sun heats it, that heat is transferred into the vehicle’s interior. This is one of the reasons why a parked car in the sun turns into an oven during the day, and opening the door is like opening the hatch on a blast furnace. The db Headliner kit comes with thermal and acoustic barriers, including Heatshield Products db Skin, which is a lightweight, liquid acoustic-barrier material to dampen the resonance of the roof for a quieter ride. Stealth Shield is a thermal-barrier material that blocks the transfer of heat from the roof to the interior, and together with db Skin is said to be easier to install than the stick-on sheets, which can be difficult to cut and to fit to the shape and structure of the roof. The easy-to-install db Headliner kit requires only a basic paint brush or roller and a high-quality spray adhesive.

How much: Starting at $45.95 (db Skin, 1⁄2 gallon), $68.62 (Stealth Shield, 24x53) Learn more: Heatshield Products; 844/723-2665; HeatshieldProducts.com

10 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

What it is: Pro Touring sway bar Why you care: Classic Performance Products’ new adjustable rear sway bar kits feature billet ends welded to the center portion of the sway bar to allow for more clearance around the shock mounts. With some applications, the shocks would interfere with CPP’s rear protouring sway bar kits. This new, fully adjustable design will give you the benefits of CPP’s rear pro-touring sway bar kits without needing more space or more roll resistance. These sway bars will fit both stock and aftermarket rearends with a 3-inch axle tube dimension. Kits come complete with gloss black frame-mount brackets and all the necessary hardware for an easy installation. Available for most popular applications.

How much: $199 Learn more: Classic Performance Products; 714/522-2000; ClassicPerform.com

G-BODY MAFIA What it is: Factory-style dash Why you care: Before Dixie introduced complete dashes, General Motors G-body owners settled for caps that were troublesome to fit and looked like a covered-up factory dash.

Dixie Restoration Depot recently added a factory-style option that differs from others in that it features a perforated top plate to cover four 4-inch speakers, allowing G-body owners to improve their sound quality while maintaining a stock appearance.

The dash fits ’78-’88 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Malibu, El Camino, Oldsmobile Cutlass, Buick Regal, and Pontiac Grand Prix (if changing to the Monte Carlo– style gauges). Each dash is made from UV-resistant ABS plastic and features a scratch-resistant coating with a soft finish that mimics the feel of vinyl.

Mounting brackets are included, and each dash can be customized with a variety of different colors, faceplates, and gauge clusters.

How much: Starting at $1,224.95 Learn more: Dixie Restoration Depot; 877/243-4943; DixieRestorationDepot.com

MANUAL TRANS What it is: Updated F-body–specific six-speed Why you care: TREMEC’s new Magnum six-speed is designed to replace T56 transmissions in ’98-’02 GM F-bodies, and addresses several other applications that use a similar shifter position, including third-generation F-bodies, LT1-powered fourth-gens, and LS-swapped late-models of all varieties. Compared with the T56, the Magnum-F boasts increased face width on all gears, a robust combination of double- and triple-cone synchronizers, enhanced webbing in the main case, and provisions for a cooling circuit. TREMEC also took the opportunity to upgrade the shifter to an isolator-type unit, like that found on its Magnum XL. This reduces incabin noise and vibrations while providing a precise shift feel that Magnums are known for.

How much: $3,395 (PN TUET16362) Learn more: TREMEC; 800/401-9866; Tremec.com

BIG-BLOCK CHEVY What it is: Mid-mount accessory drive Why you care: Accessory drive brackets can be a nightmare, especially on a big-block Chevy. Holley’s mid-mount accessory drive is now available for big-block Chevrolet engines and does what no other accessory bracket system has done: gets rid of the brackets!

The mid-mount system has all accessories pulled in tighter than other accessory drives with a “bracketless” design, where the accessories bolt

directly to the water pump for a clean, integrated form. The design offers superb engine visibility to show off your horsepower, not your accessories.

The Holley-designed alternator is just as innovative, with six-phase technology as found on the C7 Corvette. The water pump also shares its design efficiencies with that of the C7 Corvette.

The compact and reliable SD7 A/C compressor and Type II P/S pump with baffled reservoir are also integrated.

The mid-mount system comes with everything you need (water pump, A/C compressor, alternator, P/S pump, reservoir, pulleys, belt, A/C line adapter, heater hose adapters, power steering to -6 AN hardline, and alternator plug/ harness).

How much: Starting at $1,599.95 (PN 20-242BK) Learn more: Holley; 888/759-3461; Holley.com

➔HANDS ON

SLAM-DUNK TRUNK PART 2 Replacing the Trunk Floor and Installing Mini-Tubs in a ’69 Camaro

By JoAnn Bortles / Photos: JoAnn Bortles

I

n Part 1, we removed the old rusty trunk floor, trunk floor extensions, and wheelhouses from this ’69 Camaro. Now we get to the fun part— installing the new trunk floor for minitubs, trunk floor extensions, and extended wheelhouses (aka mini-tubs).

It will be a great feeling to open up that trunk and see all that new metal in there, plus, there is the added bonus of having another 2.25 inches for a fatter tire. Once the tubs are installed, the owner of the Camaro will have the task of relocating the shock mounts and (possibly) leaf springs to accommodate the larger tires.

The most time-consuming step of this install is fitting the trunk floor and the mini-tubs. Every Camaro and GM F-body is a little different than all the others. Years of torque and gravity have caused the bodies of these cars to shift and twist. Be prepared to massage the new parts to fit, doing whatever it takes to make that floor sit flat on the framerails, and for the tubs to fit

12 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

snugly between the floor and the quarter-panels. The tub must not push the quarter-panel outward.

There are only two ways to fit a full trunk floor into a GM F-body; it can be done when replacing the taillight panel or a quarter-panel. Later in the project, we’ll be replacing the right-side quarter-panel. We’ll cut an access hole in that existing quarter and slide the trunk floor into place. Because we want to retain the structural integrity of the Camaro’s body we’ll leave most of the quarter-panel on the car. Our access hole will be cut 20 inches up from the bottom of the quarter-panel, 16 inches back from the doorjamb, and 1 ⁄4 inch from the seam along the taillight panel.

In order to fit the mini-tubs, the framerails will need to be narrowed.

There’s no set measurement for this.

Each car will be different. Because we’re using a trunk floor designed for use with mini-tubs, the wheelhouse recesses in the trunk floor will be used

to determine the amount of material removed from the rails.

If you’re installing mini-tubs and not using a trunk floor or floorpan designed for use with them you’ll have to cut and adapt the floors to fit the tubs. Use the tubs to create cardboard templates that duplicate the curve of the tubs.

Lay these on the floorpan and trunk floor and trace around them. Then remove the material. Fitting mini-tubs is an exercise in patience. When doing the rough cut, leave a little extra. Then do a test-fit with the tubs. Fine-tune the cuts with a grinder so that the new tubs fit snug against the trunk and floorpan.

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed during this install, step back and take a break. Figuring it out is mostly common sense, the rest is slightly advanced panel replacement.

And if a part goes on crooked, simply cut the tacks and start over. Get everything lined up and secured with screws and clamps. Double-check the

2 3 1 measurements and how the parts are aligning together. In some cases, you’ll need to find a happy medium of alignment.

Once the trunk floor, extensions, and mini-tubs are welded into place there are still a few tasks that will be done to wrap up this double install. We’ll relocate and weld on trunklid hinge brackets and the package tray reinforcement end pieces.

Then we’ll install the spare tire holder, the trunklid latch bracket, and the trunk drain covers. We’ll also plug-weld the trunk floor to the floorpan and reattach and weld the bottom of the rear seat back supports.

Last on the list, the driveshaft bumpstop that sits under the seam of the trunk and floorpan will be reinstalled.

1. Create an access hole in the quarter-panel for the trunk pan. Carefully plot the cut lines.

Don’t cut into anything beneath the panel, like the B-pillar. We used a Powermax45 XP plasma system with a straightedge. A cut-off wheel will also give a nice, clean cut.

2. The trunk is slid into place through the access hole in the quarter-panel. The flange along the rear of the trunk floor fits flush against the taillight panel. Line up the holes in the flange with the holes in the taillight panel.

The tabs on the top of the inner trunk braces fit into notches in the taillight housings.

4

3. Once the trunk floor is in place, we see how much of the framerail needs to be cut. Draw lines front and rear where the trunk floor overlaps the framerail. We measured 15 inches from the front of the shackle mount to where the trunk first crosses the framerail. Several inches of the top edge will also need to be trimmed.

4. Cut along the lines, then cut across from line to line along the bottom edge, removing a rectangle of material.

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Mustang GT 4.6L ’05-’10 918039 918042 918018 918019

6.78” - 6 rib 5.5” - 6 rib (15% UD) 7.4” - 8 rib (12% OD) 8.0” - 8 rib (20% OD)

Corvette 917315 LT5 ZR1 ’19 ZR1 Dry Sump 917315 LT1,LT4 ’14 Stingray Dry Sump 917314 LT1,LT4 ’14 Stingray Wet Sump 917246 LS1,2,3,6 7.5" Steel 918620 LS7 7.5" Alum Cobra Jet 5.0L ’14 918634 LS9 ZR1 7.5” Alum 918066 7.88” (20% OD) 918624 LS9 ZR1 8.3” AL (14% OD) 918066N 7.88” (20% OD) No A/C Camaro, Firebird & GTO GT500 & Cobra Jet 5.4L ’07-’12 918856 LT1,LT4 7.5” SS & ZL1 Wet Sump GT500 5.8L ’13-’14 918621 LS7 7.5” Aluminum 918045 7.5” 918628 LS3 7.4" ’10 Camaro 918049 7.81” (10% OD) 917242 LS1,LS2 7.5" Steel 918046 8.12” (15% OD) GM Truck Ford GT Supercar 5.4L 917286 LS1,LS2,Vortec 7.4” SSR, T-blazer 918043 7.5” - 10 rib 918645 L86,L83,LV3 - 7.5” 918036 918037 918038 918041

6.75” - 6 rib 6.37” - 8 rib 7.5” - 8 rib (12% OD) 5.5” - 6 rib (15% UD)

See our website for even more Super Damper® applications!

SFI 18.1 Certified

ATITransmissions.net // 866-204-2506 © 2019 ATI

HANDS ON

MATERIALS SOURCE:

PN:

DESCRIPTION:

COST:

Golden Star Golden Star Golden Star Golden Star Golden Star Harbor Freight Harbor Freight U-Pol POR 15

TF01-691 TF01-69DL TF01-69DR WH01-69CL WH01-69CR n/a n/a n/a n/a

Trunk floor for extended wheelhouses Trunk floor extension, left Trunk floor extension, right Extended wheelhouse, left Extended wheelhouse, right 3-inch 40-grit Twist-Lock abrasive discs Self-tapping #10 x 5⁄8” hex head screws, box of 100 #2 weld-through primer Rust preventative paint, 1 qt

$385.95 $33.95 $33.95 $135.95 $135.95 $5.99 $7.53 $29.99 $49.89

5

5. Now the trunk floor sits flat on the rails!

To plot out the cut line for the radius cut on the bottom of the framerail, create a template of the wheelhouse recess. Line the template up on the bottom of the rail, trace along the edge, and cut it out.

6. Create cardboard templates for the

6

framerail closeout plates. Use them to fabricate the plates out of 1⁄8 -inch steel plate. A couple of 18-inch Harbor Freight clamps hold the floor flush against the framerails. ’69 Camaro framerails are different from each other; the left side has a knuckle plate that will need be trimmed down to fit the new trunk floor.

7. Position the plates with magnets and weld them in. Grind the welds and clean up the rails with a wire wheel.

The mounting surfaces are painted with U-Pol Weld Through Primer. POR15 rust preventative paint is applied to the outer surface of the rails.

9 10

8. Plot out the plug welds. With the trunk in the car, trace around the framerails then flip the floor over. Drill and deburr the 5⁄16-inch-diameter plug weld holes.

The holes will also be drilled along the rear and sides of the trunk. Plug weld holes for the triple-layer section will be drilled along the framerail flanges and welded from below.

9. The trunk floor is put into place for the last time. Manipulate the trunk until it sits flush on the rails. Make sure the back is firmly against the taillight panel and the tabs and holes on it are lined up. Secure it with clamps and 5⁄8-inch self-tapping screws. Double-check the positioning and make any final adjustments.

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place. Due to a previous panel replacement, the opening for the left mini-tub was 1 ⁄8 inch too tight. The tub must fit snug against the quarter-panel without pushing it outward. Rather than slice through three layers of new trunk floor, we cut the tub along the flattest area on the inner half.

Once reassembled, there’ll be an 1⁄8 -inch overlap.

11. Plug weld holes are drilled on the mini-tubs. We clamp and screw the outer half in place and temporarily mock up the inner half. The outer half contains the flange. The flange lines up inboard along the top mounting points and along the inner framework of the car. The back of the tub lines up along the front of the trunk extension.

11

14 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

10. Not every part slips effortlessly into

12

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12. Make sure the mini-tub wheelwell opening snugs securely into the lip of the quarter-panel.

Attach it with small welding clamps but don’t over tighten and distort the quarter-panel lip.

The trunk floor and trunk floor extensions are also secured. We use a Miller 211 MIG welder to weld up the holes.

13. With the trunk floor and the outer half of the mini-tub welded in, we align and install the inner half. The 1⁄8-inch overlap is secured with screws. We tack a few welds with the MIG, move to a different area, and weld more tacks.

Welding the seam with tack welds instead of stitch welds will result in minimal metal distortion.

➔SOURCES

Golden Star Classic Auto Parts; 972/315-3758; GoldenStarAuto.com Harbor Freight; 800/444-3353; 14 HarborFreight.com Summit Racing; 800/230-3030; 14. The trunk floor, extensions, and the left mini-tub are welded, and the earlier measurements SummitRacing.com have not changed. Once we replace the right-side quarter-panel, we can install the right tub.

Miller Electric Manufacturing Company; When that’s finished, we’ll reinstall the trunk lid hinge brackets, the package tray reinforcements, and weld up the rear seatback supports.

920/734-9821; MillerWelds.com

➔HANDS ON

THE SHROUD OF TOURIN’ Count Your Blessings! Opening the LS Combustion Chambers Translates Into Free, Easy Power

By Richard Holdener / Photos: Richard Holdener

L

et’s examine the LS motor. Long ago, it became the darling of the performance world, with everyone jumping on the bandwagon. Not that the LS engine family doesn’t deserve the attention. They do, after all, have a lot going for them, including impressive head flow, a decent intake, and ample compression. The only thing missing for hero status on an LS is a reasonable camshaft. Add the right cam to almost any LS, and, boom, you immediately look like a hero. Such is the benefit of LS ownership, but as good as they are, there is always room for improvement, even beyond the usual cam swap.

The next place to look for extra power is the cylinder heads, especially when running the cathedral-port examples. The factory cathedral-port heads

used on the Gen 3 motors (LS1, 2, and 6, along with multiple truck variants) might not flow as well as their rec-port counterparts, but we went looking for something other than peak flow in this test. You see, we were looking to install a set of small-chamber, cathedral-port, 706-casting heads on a big-bore 6.0L motor for some much-needed compression. Along the way, we also hoped to improve low-speed torque production with the small valves and increased port velocity, but that is where we ran into a problem.

The 706 heads will certainly bolt onto the larger 6.0L, but since the 5.3L LM7 heads were originally designed for a 3.78-inch bore, there was some overhang on the 4.0-inch bore. Not only was the outside diameter of the combustion chamber on the 706 heads

Though this process works on a number of different LS (and other) heads, we opted to try our hand on a set of 706-casting 5.3L heads. Used extensively on both 4.8- and 5.3L combinations, the 706 is one of the most common LS heads available.

considerably smaller than the bore size, but even the small valves in the 706 heads were further shrouded by equally the small combustion chamber. Don’t get us wrong, the head swap is a common one, mostly for the increased compression, but we wanted to see if we could make things even better.

Now, porting the 706 heads will definitely help power. We have seen ported versions of these heads from sources like Total Engine Airflow unearth flow

Is there really flow to be gained in the chamber?!

16 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

The 706 heads featured cathedral-shaped intake ports. There is definitely flow to be gained in the bowl and port, but we wanted to see what we could get just from chamber work.

We measured the distance between the edge of the intake valve and the chamber wall on our 706 heads. The valve was only 0.110 from the wall.

This well-used set of 706 heads featured 61cc combustion chambers and a 1.89/1.55-inch valve combination.

numbers that exceed 300 cfm, so flow potential was not a problem. What we wanted to know now was not what a professional can do to these used junkyard heads but what a DIY guy can do with them. In fact, we further limited the project by eliminating porting altogether, concentrating on what the average Joe can do with just changes to the combustion chamber.

Having never yielded a grinder in anger on the 706 chambers, the author took it upon himself to be the guinea pig. Basically, if that below-average Holdener guy can do this, the average guy can do even better! Not one to jump blindly into shark-infested water

(OK, I might do that), we did have a secret weapon and his name was Brian Tooley. Having Mr. BTR on speed dial (much to his wife’s dismay, I might add) provided all the right answers, assuming we were indeed asking the right questions. After a quick tutorial, we started by flow testing the stock 706 heads on the flow bench at Westech Performance. The flow numbers were generated using a radiused clay entry on the intake and a 17⠄8-inch flow tube on the exhaust.

Though everyone immediately jumps to the peak numbers, pay close attention to the mid-lift flow, as these are what we looked to change. The reason

CYLINDER HEAD FLOW: STOCK vs. CHAMBER WORK (CFM)

Despite the use of the smaller intake valve (compared to the 241-, 243-/799-, and 317-casting heads), the intake valve was still in close proximity to the chamber wall on the 706 (and 862) heads.

LIFT:

STOCK STOCK INT: EXH:

WORKED WORKED INT: EXH:

GAIN, INT:

GAIN, EXH:

0.050 0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600

28.3 57.3 124 175 205 221 230

30.9 60.7 139 189 215 223 231

2.6 cfm 3.4 cfm 15 cfm 14 cfm 10 cfm 2 cfm 1 cfm

1.4 cfm 2 cfm 10 cfm 17 cfm 18 cfm 9 cfm 5 cfm

22.3 48 89 120 148 174 188

23.7 50 99.5 137 166 183 193

Right: Before making changes to the chamber, we flow tested the stock 706 heads. The peak flow checked in at 230 cfm, but we were much more interested in the mid-lift flow numbers, as these are what we hoped to improve with the chamber work.

This alternate view shows just how close the intake valve gets to the chamber wall.

Naturally, this reduces the total flow rate of the valve. This is especially important on applications where you might be running this small-chamber head (for extra compression) on a larger-bore motor, like a 3.89-inch 5.7L or 4.0-inch 6.0L.

Below: The stock exhaust valve was in the same position, as it was extremely close to the chamber wall on the 706 heads.

MARCH 2020 CARCRAFT.COM 17

HANDS ON We planned on putting these heads on a 4.0inch bore 6.0L, but we had no 4.0-inch gasket.

Instead, we scribed a smaller 3.945 bore Fel-Pro gasket and then a larger 4.10-inch gasket. We opened the chamber up past the 3.945 line, but nowhere near the larger 4.10 line.

To get things started, we took a gasket and scribed the bore diameter on our heads.

for the interest in the mid-lift numbers is that this is where the valve-to-chamber wall interference was most prevalent. At high lift, the valve is far enough away from the wall for it not to hinder flow. Run at very low lifts, the wall has not yet come into play, so we knew if any gains were to come our way, they would come in the middle part of the lift curve. Check out the supplied flow data to see how the stock 706 head flowed, but the peaks were 230 cfm on the intake and 188 cfm on the exhaust.

To make the head ready for our chamber work, we started by scribing the intended bore size on the head using a gasket as a template. The normal procedure involves using the gasket for the intended bore size, but we only had a 3.945 gasket and 4.10-inch gasket. Unfortunately, neither of these was ideal for our intended 4.0-inch bore 6.0L application, so we simply used both, scribed a pair of lines, and used the border between them as our guide. With instructions from Mr. Tooley, we started with a rounded (fine) cutter and used it to bring the chamber wall out to the area between the scribed lines. Do not simply lay the chamber wall back at an angle, from the valve to the deck surface. Instead, hold the cutter nearly perpendicular to the chamber floor and cut all of the wall. You want to unshroud the area adjacent to the valve right after it comes off the seat, and all the

These porting bits came in handy. Note we used the finer bits generally reserved for steel. Being our first time, these gave us better control, since they removed less material than a coarse, aluminum bit.

Using a rounded bit, we started removing material and laying back the chamber wall.

Make sure to remove material from the wall through the entire lift range of the valve. Don’t just widen the chamber at the deck surface.

way up through max lift past the deck surface. When we started, the valve was a mere 0.110 away from the chamber wall.

When we were finished, it was 0.180 away, an amount you want to keep relatively consistent through the lift range.

After performing the rough work to the chamber wall nearest the intake, we

We then used a cartridge roll to smooth out the course finish and make final adjustments to our chamber work.

The exhaust valve received the same process, with material removal following the arc of the valve head and adjacent chamber wall.

As you can see, there was not a significant amount of material removal, just enough to unshroud the valve in the shrouded area. There was no need to remove material near the quench pad or too far into the chamber toward the spark plug. Concentrate on the ported area shown.

The extra (flow) area around the valves can be seen in this photo. If you compare this to the original (stock) chamber photo, the difference is dramatic, yet we only removed 2 ccs from the chamber.

finished things up with a fine sanding roll.

After the beautification of the intake, we turned our attention to the exhaust. Like the intake, the exhaust valve was also shrouded by the adjacent chamber wall.

We performed the same process with the exhaust, first scribing an arc with our Sharpie to indicate the area we wanted to

open. You don’t need to go up into the quench area, nor do you need to go too far around and into the chamber toward the spark plug. You only need to remove material where the valve is close to the wall, then fade the rest back into the original chamber line. Once completed, we took the modified 706 heads back to the flow

Back up on the flow bench, the chamber work really paid off, especially in the mid-lift. As expected, the peak flow numbers were nearly the same, as the valves flowed fine once at max lift past the shrouded portion of the chamber.

The big gains came where the chamber wall was most restrictive, between 0.200- to 0.400-inch lift. The greatest gain was 18 cfm on the exhaust at 0.400 lift (nearly a 9 percent increase), but the chamber work also improved intake flow by as much as 15 cfm (a 12 percent increase).

bench to see if all the hard work paid any dividends. I guess that Brian Tooley guy knows a thing or two about LS cylinder heads, and (more amazingly) was able to convey that info to yours truly. According to the trusty flow bench, the chamber work did indeed improve the flow rate of our 706 heads, with the largest gains coming at 0.200 lift for the intake and 0.400 lift for the exhaust. Just as Brian told us it would, the chamber work improved the mid-lift flow numbers, with peak gains of 15 cfm on the intake and 18 cfm on the exhaust. We can hardly wait to get these on a motor to see if the extra mid-lift flow translates to more torque!

➔HANDS ON

CHUMP CHANGE Hunk-O-Junk Big-Block, Part 5: The eBay Turbo Test!

1 1. Loyal Car Craft readers will remember this test motor started out life as a junkyard, Gen 6 454 from a fullsize Suburban.

By Richard Holdener / Photos: Richard Holdener

I

t seemed like a match made in heaven. Take one modified, junkyard 454 and add some cheap boost from a $163 eBay turbo. Did it work?

Sure. Did it work perfectly? Let’s take a look! The project actually started quite some time ago after we pulled a Gen 6 454 from the engine bay of a 1-ton Suburban. The Pick-a-Part special was then prepped for dyno use by replacing the factory EFI with a carbureted, dual-plane intake and non-computercontrolled distributor. Back in Part 1, the carbureted (but otherwise stock) 454 produced 378 hp at 4,700 rpm and thumped out 482 lb-ft of torque at 3,500 rpm. Our shortcut to power came in Part 2, with the installation of a Holley Sniper nitrous system. Nothing adds an extra 125 hp quicker (or easier) than a nitrous kit, and run with 125hp jetting, the 454 thumped out 519 hp and 646 lb-ft of torque.

The next step was to perform a cam and valvespring swap. Installation of the Comp XR276HR cam and 26120 springs resulted in a jump in power from 378 hp and 482 lb-ft to 427 hp and 504 lb-ft. The final upgrade came in Part 4 where we added a set of Dart Pro 1 275 (oval-port) heads and a

20 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

custom Comp cam, which pushed the peak power numbers up to 503 hp and 492 lb-ft of torque.

After upgrading the 454 with the Dart heads and custom Comp cam (0.561 lift, a 233/239-degree duration and 118-degree LSA), the 454 still suffered slightly from low compression.

The added chamber volume of the Dart Pro 1 heads reduced the static compression below 8.0:1. While not ideal for naturally aspirated power, it was just begging for boost. Knowing this, we decided it was high time the 454 received some positive pressure.

In keeping with the junkyard “Hunko-Junk” theme, we decided to employ the $163 GT45 turbo run recently on a 5.3L LM7 (LS). The eBay special had two major things going for it: price and performance. We know from testing that the turbo was capable of supporting 800 hp on the right application (remember the word “right” here) and, heck, it only cost $163! To prep the Hunk-o-Junk big-block for turbo use, we decided to pull the Gen 6 motor apart and add some much-needed ring gap. Extra ring gap is critical on boosted application, since the extra heat causes ring expansion. This

growth causes a reduction in the gap.

If the heat is either too much or too long, the ring ends will eventually touch, seize momentarily in the bore, and break the ring lands on the piston.

Remember, it’s not a piston failure under boost, it’s almost always a ring gap problem.

While we had the motor apart, we also took the liberty of surfacing the deck to receive a set of MLS head gaskets. The (smooth) surface finish is specific for MLS gaskets, so make sure if you plan to use them to have your machine shop put the right finish on the decks. The other change we made was to replace the carbureted 454R (Edelbrock) intake with a version designed for fuel injection. While a blow-through carb works fine, we wanted to dial in the individual cylinders if necessary to ensure the stock, cast internals were not subjected to undue stress.

Luckily, Edelbrock had a 454R intake designed for EFI use, but the rec-port intake was obviously not an ideal match for our oval-port heads.

Undaunted, we carried on and ignored the mismatch. While the Dart heads were off, we also decided to mill them 0.030 to help bring up the static compression. They were also given a little porting love to improve the flow rate, though the stock heads would easily support the current power level. The EFI 454R intake was fed fuel through a set of ACCEL 80-pound injectors and

2

3

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2. Because boost, we pulled the motor apart and tossed a little extra gap in those rings! The gap was taken to 0.032 to allow plenty of expansion under boost.

3. Back in Part 4, the Gen 6 was treated to a custom Comp cam. The hydraulic roller profile featured a 0.561inch lift (both intake and exhaust), a 233/239-degree duration split, and (wide) 118-degree LSA.

4. The cam was installed with the wellused factory timing chain.

5. Because boost was in the cards, we decided to also surface the block to allow installation of a set of MLS head gaskets. The gaskets were secured using a set of ARP head studs.

HANDS ON

6

10

6. The upgrade back in Part 4 also included

7

a set of cylinder heads. The Dart BBC heads featured 275cc (oval) intake ports that flowed over 350 cfm. While they were off, they were treated to some minor porting and a little surfacing (0.030) to help bring the static compression up over 8.0:1.

11

7. Back in Part 4, we ran the 454 with a carbureted Victor Jr. intake from Edelbrock.

For this adventure we decided to shake things up with an injected version of the 454R manifold. Yep! We mixed the rec-port intake with the oval-port heads because we’re crazy like that.

8. To ensure plenty of fuel for our boosted combination, we installed these 80-pound ACCEL injectors.

8

12

9. Naturally, we needed a throttle body so we called the boys at Holley to supply this four-hole, 4150 throttle body. With 1,000 cfm, the throttle body flowed more than enough air for our mild 454.

9

10. Run on the dyno in naturally aspirated trim, the injected 454 produced 510 hp at 5,800 rpm and 488 lb-ft of torque at 5,200 rpm.

11. To add a little boost to the equation, we decided to try our trusty $163 DNA turbo from eBay. Capable of supporting 800 hp on the right application, we wondered if it was a tad on the small side for our big-block?

12. Truth be told, we were more concerned about the hot side, as the T4 DNA turbo featured a 1.05 A/R, 88mm inducer, and 77.5-mm exducer. The low-buck turbo was set up to accept a 3.5-inch exhaust using the cast V-band flange. air through a four-hole, 4150 throttle body from Holley.

With everything ready, we installed the fuel-injected 454 up on the dyno.

Run in naturally aspirated trim, the 454 produced 510 hp at 5,800 rpm and 488 lb-ft of torque at 5,200 rpm. Run with the Holley HP management system, the injected 454 was now ready for some eBay boost. We configured the 454 with our DIY turbo kit, which consisted of a set of tubular turbo manifolds feeding a custom Y-pipe designed to accept the turbo and dual wastegates. The Y-pipe featured a 3-inch V-band fitting, which allowed us to install any size turbo (T3-T6) using custom adapters. The eBay turbo was

22 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

installed using a V-band T4 adapter.

The $163 turbo was equipped with a 3.5-inch exhaust, while all the boost was channeled through an air-to-water intercooler from Procharger. It was necessary to both provide a dedicated oil feed and drill a hole in the oil pan to mount an oil-return fitting. Boost was controlled by a combination of dual Turbo Smart wastegates run by a TC-1 electronic boost controller from Daytona Sensors. Run with 8.6 psi showing at the power peak, the eBay-turboed 454 produced 707 hp and 756 lb-ft of torque. The $163 turbo improved the power output by nearly 200 hp, so why our long faces?

The low-buck turbo worked well, but it was not without its limitations. The problem was that along with that 8.6 psi of boost the little turbo also produced 22.5 psi of back pressure. The hot side of the turbo was simply not sized to support the exhaust flow of the boosted 454. Judging by the previous results of the turbo on the 5.3L LS, it is much better suited to a smaller displacement, especially if you are

looking to max out the flow limit of the compressor. The elevated back pressure caused two problems, one being reduced power for a lack of exhaust flow, the other being reduced boost control. Even with the electronic controller run to both the top and bottom of the wastegates, the combination of spring (7 psi) and boost pressure (8.6 psi) couldn’t overcome the 22.5 psi of back pressure. The result was a decreasing boost curve from the gate slowly opening under the rising back pressure. Run at lower boost pressures, or on a milder 454, the eBay turbo might do well, but know that back pressure will be high with this turbo on this type of application.

Naturally, we couldn’t just leave the turbo 454 without installation of a proper turbo. Looking around the shop, we selected a billet-wheel, S480 BorgWarner turbo from LJMS. Overkill for this application, the 1,200-plus horsepower was more than adequate to allow us to demonstrate what happens when you run the right turbo sizing on your big-block. Run with this LJMS

18 13. The eBay turbo was installed onto our DIY BBC turbo system that featured dedicated, tubular manifolds feeding a custom Y-pipe.

13

14

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turbo, the back pressure ratio dropped from 2.62:1 (22.5/8.6 psi) to just 1.5:1 (13.0/8.6 psi). This resulted in not just more power at the same boost (over 37 hp), but the complete control over the boost curve.

Using the TC-1 controller, we eventually cranked up the boost to 12.6 psi where the turbo 454 produced 914 hp and 910 lb-ft of torque. All of the turbo testing was run on 100-octane fuel, meaning it could easily be duplicated on pump E85 (with even more power).

Even run at 12.6 psi and over 900 hp, the back pressure offered by the S480 checked in at just 18.6 psi. This test illustrates two important points: it is certainly possible to buy BBC boost for what amounts to chump change. The second is that you can also improve upon that boost because sometimes you actually do get what you pay for!

14. All the boost was channeled through this air-to-water intercooler from Procharger.

15. We installed this fitting in the Y-pipe to monitor the back pressure before the turbo.

16. Rather than rely on the manual controller, we hooked up a three-port, TC-1 electronic boost controller from Daytona Sensors.

17. Run with the eBay turbo pushing out 8.6 psi at the power peak, the turbo BBC produced 707 hp and 756 lb-ft of torque.

Despite the electronic controller, the boost curve dropped from 9.9 down to 8.6 psi. The culprit was 22.5 psi of back pressure!

18. Though over 700 hp is nothing to sneeze at, we decided to upgrade the turbo to see what this big-block had to offer with a little more boost. Luckily, we had a billetwheel, S480 turbo from LJMS on loan from David Freiburger. Capable of supporting over 1,200 hp, it was more than enough turbo to provide a few extra psi of boost to our junkyard BBC.

16 17

19 19. Equipped with the LJMS S480, the turbo BBC produced a peak of 914 hp and 910 lb-ft of torque at 12.6 psi. Thanks to a dramatic reduction in back pressure, the electronic controller provided a perfectly flat boost curve with this turbo.

➔SOURCES

ACCEL; Holley.com/brands/ACCEL/ Comp Cams; 901/795-2400; CompCams.com Daytona Sensors; 386/322-7390; Daytona-Sensors.com Dart Machinery; 248/362-1188; DartHeads.com Edelbrock; 310/781-2222; Edelbrock.com

Holley/Hooker; 270/782-2900; Holley.com Lil John’s Motorsport Solutions; 888/583-4408; LilJohnsMotorsports.com Procharger; 913/338-2886; Procharger.com Turbo Smart; 909/476-2570; TurboSmartUSA.com

MARCH 2020 CARCRAFT.COM 23

We are all getting spoiled! There was a time when adding an extra 200 hp to your big-block would have been a big deal. Now we just sit and wonder where the rest of the power is. After running the fuel-injected 454 in naturally aspirated trim, it produced 510 hp and 488 lb-ft of torque. Once we installed the eBay turbo on our DIY turbo kit, the power output jumped to 707 hp and 756 lb-ft of torque. Despite the use of an electronic wastegate controller, the boost curve dropped from 9.9 psi to 8.6 psi. Cranking up the boost could produce slightly more peak power, but that came with a dramatic increase in boost at lower engine speeds. Check out the boost versus back pressure curves in the next graph to see why.

Naturally Aspirated vs. eBay Turbo

eBay Turbo with 9.9 psi

700 650 600 550 500 450 400 350 300 3500

4000

BOOST & BACK PRESSURE

4500

5000

5500

6000

Boost vs. Back Pressure Boost Pressure

Backpressure

22.5 20.0

Pressure (psi)

This graph clearly shows why the little eBay GT45 was struggling to keep up on the 454 Chevy. The turbo was capable of supporting 800 hp—we know this from previous testing on a smaller 5.3L. Run on this larger 454, the hot side of the turbo was the limiting factor. Despite our use of an electronic boost controller routed to the top and bottom of the wastegate, the boost pressure supplied by the GT45 turbo dropped from 9.9 to 8.6 psi (lower line trace). The back pressure curve (upward trace) shows the reason why, as the back pressure reached a peak of 22.5 psi with just 8.6 psi of boost. The restriction in exhaust naturally hurt power, but it also limited wastegate control, as combination of wastegate spring and boost pressure wasn’t enough to overcome the elevated back pressure. What this motor needed was a bigger turbo.

Naturally Aspirated

750

Power and Torque

HANDS ON

NATURALLY ASPIRATED vs. TURBO

17.5 15.0 12.5 10.0

3750

4000

4250

4500

4750

5000

5250

5500

SMALL VS. LARGE TURBO

24 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

Small vs. Large Turbo S480 Turbo

eBay Turbo

900 850

Power and Torque

This was less of a turbo comparison as it was an illustration of what happens when you select the right turbo size for your application. Truth be told, a standard S475 would work equally well at this power level, but the billet-wheel S480 from LJMS allowed us to add a few extra pounds of boost to the 454 and properly control the boost curve. Because of the dramatic drop in back pressure offered by the larger S480 (1.5:1 ratio versus 2.62:1 ratio for the eBay turbo), the electronic controller was able to keep the boost curve perfectly flat. This allowed us to dial up the boost without having a falling boost curve. The result of the drop in back pressure was an increase in power at every boost level. Measured at 8.6 psi, the S480 was up by 37 hp. Once we ran the boost up to 12.6 psi, the turbo BBC thumped out 914 hp and 910 lb-ft of torque. Remember, this was with the stock short-block and extra ring gap.

800 750 700 650 600 550 500 3500

3750

4000

4250

4500

4750

5000

5250

5500

5700

NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP

TICKETS AT 800.884.NHRA OR

TUNE IN AT

THIS GUY’S GARAGE “It’s a pump-gas engine built with lots of tricky stuff,” Matt says. It has gasported JE pistons, Dart heads, an external belt-drive cam, Jessel shaft rockers, and is shifted by a Turbo 400 with a trans brake. A 1,150-cfm Dominator reworked by Nickerson Performance feeds this beast.

This black ’71 R/S Z28 is a work in progress, and Matt has been burning the midnight oil to see it finished. “It’s the car I’ve owned the longest. I knew about it in the ’80s and was able to buy it in the late ’90s. It had an aluminum-headed 427 and Doug Nash five-speed when I got it, and I swapped a Henry Jackson 454ci into it.

Matt Picaro; Cream Ridge, New Jersey Come on in—no need to wipe your feet! Just watch your step, as you might plant yourself on some rare racing parts from glory days gone by. Over the years Matt Picaro has been an eclectic collector of hot rodding relics and man cave attractions, curating the good stuff ever since he was old enough to hitch a ride to the nearby auctions, car shows, and local flea markets. Young Matt quickly perfected his craft of petrol-picking and soon amassed a collection of some of the best cars and parts this side of the mighty Delaware River. And it doesn’t stop there. This seasoned veteran has been tinkering on big boy toys since he was a pre-teen, learning how to get motorized marvels of all persuasions to stand up and be accounted for. Matt started his path to mechanical mayhem with go-karts and continued with motorcycles, then moved into the world of muscle cars and other four-wheeled rides. After owning several muscle Chevys, Matt reached back in time and started collecting vintage steel, mostly ’20s and ’30s period hot rods, adding vintage speed parts he sourced at swap meets to his rodder’s recipes for both power upgrades and period looks on his rides. Today, Matt’s taste runs the gamut of motorsports. On any given day he’ll be out in one of his vintage hot rods or motorbikes, while the next he’ll be wrenching on his big-block Z28 street/’strip car.

He has favorites: “Right now the ’40 Ford drop-top and ’50 Jaguar are getting a lot of playtime, as they are favorites of both myself and my girlfriend, Nancy. But that will probably change soon as I’m always adding to the collection,” Matt says.

Nevertheless, there’s one thing that won’t change: Matt’s insatiable desire to procure top-notch rides for his ample garage.

By Scotty Lachenauer / Photos: Scotty Lachenauer

26 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

This ’50 Jaguar Mark V Drophead Coupe is one of Matt’s favorites at the moment. “I had a Porsche 930 turbo that was the Euro car I needed in my life. Once I sold it this beautiful ride filled that hole … and does it quite well,” Matt says. The stunning ride was found on a sheep farm in Southern Jersey and good friends Rob Ida and Frank Stein helped him dig it out. It’s 1 of 577 Euro-spec cars with lefthand drive.

The ’58 Corvette outside is a recent find. It had a ’68 Z/28 302, which ran well, but with urging from master builder Rob Ida, Matt sold that to an acquaintance who had a ’68 in need of a correct engine. He now plans to build a stroked 348 for it.

The ’55 Chevy Nomad is a totally different beast. “It’s a mess; a lot of rot and was built into a race car. Not sure what I’m going to do with it,” Matt admits.

This ’40 Ford DeLuxe convertible is getting plenty of road time from Matt, especially since he had to go to extremes to get it. “I had to buy three cars and two four-post lifts to get the title. Buy it all or none they said; so I bought it all,” Matt says. It’s bone stock with its original Flathead V-8, three-onthe-tree trans, and a power top—a rarity in 1940. “It’s a really great car that had a high-quality restoration in the late ’80s.”

MARCH 2020 CARCRAFT.COM 27

➔PROJECT CAR

DUSTBIN DUSTER:

HOLLEY PRO DASH We Install the Nerve Center of Our Mopar A-Body and Get Closer to Startup

By Andy Finkbeiner / Photos: Andy Finkbeiner

T

he engine in our Duster project has been equipped with a premium EFI system from Holley, including port injection and coil-nearplug ignition. To continue with that state-of-the-art Holley theme, we decided to use the new 12.8-inch Holley Pro Dash as our instrument panel.

The Pro Dash is a large, customizable touch-screen display that will replace all the traditional gauges in the car. The Pro Dash also gave us the ability to tune the fuel injection system and run data logs. Given all that capability, we might even be able to ditch our laptop, but we’ll need to spend more time using the Pro Dash before we make that decision.

Of course, blowing away the factory gauge cluster on most cars would create a big ripple effect since the dash is heavily connected to the main wiring harness. Yanking out the factory wiring harness can be a project killer if you don’t have the time and tools to put it all back together. But the wiring requirements for the Dustbin Duster

project aren’t that complex since we don’t have any accessories. The heater and radio have been stripped out of our car, and it never had fancy stuff like power seats or power windows. When finished, the Duster will have functional lights and turn signals, but we aren’t planning on adding any other accessories. Given our minimalist direction, it seemed best to just yank out the factory instrument panel and wiring harness and start over.

We did decide to keep the factory steering column and ignition key since we had those parts on hand and they were in working order. The rest of the original wiring was removed so the harness from the ignition switch needed to be connected directly to the Holley EFI system and the Holley Pro Dash. To make that happen, we wired in a small fuse panel from Auto Rod Controls plus a solid-state relay module from MSD. A circuit breaker was installed for short-circuit protection.

Many car builders put the battery in the trunk on performance cars to clean up the engine compartment, however,

The Holley Pro Dash was too big to fit our Duster instrument panel, so we had to make some modifications. We ended up in a place that most people won’t go, but, hey, it’s the Dustbin Duster.

We fabricated an aluminum panel to hold the Pro Dash screen. The Pro Dash has mounting holes drilled and tapped in the back, but you’ll need to make your own clips.

We benchtested the Pro Dash before installation just to verify that everything was working properly. Our EFI system had been updated to V5 software so the dash also had to be updated too before it would read properly.

28 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

The Pro Dash comes pre-configured with 10 different display options. The configuration shown is fairly traditional with round analog-type gauges; other choices have different gauge shapes and colors.

PROJECT VEHICLE DETAILS putting the battery in the trunk makes the wiring harness more complex since connections need to run from the front to the back of the car for the starter and alternator. A main disconnect switch adds another layer of complexity, especially for an EFI car, which uses an alternator. We’ve been down that road before so for the Duster project we decided to keep the battery under the hood. Nevertheless, we did go with a small, 18-pound battery from Braille to save weight and space. By keeping the battery under the hood, we simplified the wiring and eliminated the need for a master cutoff switch. A smaller battery tray was fabricated to hold the half-size Braille battery.

The Holley EFI system has its own main wiring harness that connects the ECU to the engine as well as all the sensors. Both the Holley ECU and the Pro Dash require direct connection to the battery. It is important that the power comes directly from the battery and is not turned off by a master switch. If the power is turned off to the ECU, then the internal clock will shut off and the ECU loses track of what time it is. We’ve avoided that problem with the Duster by keeping the battery up front and connected to the ECU. Now that the Pro Dash is installed and working, the car is very close to running. We need to hook up a few more items and then the engine will be ready to fire. Once the car is moving under its own power, we’ll finish installing the interior and get it out for a testdrive. This project ended up taking twice as long as we anticipated but it does look like we’re getting close to the end. As soon as the car is running, we’ll be able to report back on our experiences with the Pro Dash and the EFI system.

Above: The interior isn’t finished yet, but the Pro Dash is installed and working.

• 1972 Duster • Mopar 512-inch big-block • 727 transmission • Strange S60 rear axle • Viper brakes • Holley Dominator EFI (sequential, coil-near-plug)

The Pro Dash can be used for tuning the EFI system. The tune tables can be retrieved from the ECU and then edited on the screen. Data logs can also be run from the dash and then reviewed.

We’ve seen some demonstrations of this but haven’t done it yet ourselves.

The EFI learn table can be pulled up with a few taps on the touch-screen.

The learn table shows the adjustments that the EFI system is making to keep the air/fuel ratio correct.

The original wiring for our Duster project came in a box with the car. The factory harness was in poor shape, so we salvaged a few connectors and then tossed it.

Since our original fuse panel was toast, we built a new sub-panel using a fuse module from Auto Rod Controls along with an MSD solid-state relay and a 100-amp circuit breaker.

MARCH 2020 CARCRAFT.COM 29

PROJECT CAR

A Holley universal main wiring harness connects the ECU to the throttle body, coils, and sensors.

It is a big, complex harness that takes up a bunch of space, but we didn’t want to tackle the difficult chore of building a custom EFI harness from scratch.

A Braille 2618 battery was installed in the stock location on a custom-built battery tray. Keeping the battery in the stock location simplifies the wiring while the small footprint saves space and weight.

➔SOURCES

Auto Rod Controls; 508/384-1524; AutoRod.net Holley EFI; 866/464-6553; Holley.com MSD; 866/464-6553; Holley.com

Reproduction front and rear light harnesses were purchased for the project. These reproduction harnesses will connect the headlights, taillights, and turn signals to our factory steering column.

Right: Our wiring job was complicated by the fact that the Duster came with original Packardtype connectors while the Holley EFI system uses a mixture of Metri-Pack and GT connectors.

We bought an assortment of connectors and crimping tools to hook everything together.

30 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

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➔PROJECT CAR

PROJECT MUSTANG PART 5 The Father & Son Mustang Gets Much-Needed “Releaf” With a Rear Suspension From Summit

By Jefferson Bryant / Photos: Jefferson Bryant

F

ifty years is a long time, especially for a vehicle’s suspension components. While the shocks get replaced regularly, leaf springs are rarely given much thought unless you want to lower the vehicle or increase the stock handling performance. In reality, 50-year-old leaf springs are a bigger issue than you might realize.

Even if the car sat for 10 years, those leaf springs are what have held the body off the ground for the entire life of the vehicle. Over time, the steel leaves weaken and fatigue, leaving you with an uneven stance and, more importantly, uneven handling.

In the case of vehicles that sit unused for years and years, the effects can be even more drastic. No matter how well you took care of the bushings (does anybody take care of bushings on a car that is sitting idle?), putting a vehicle that has been sitting unused for

32 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

decades is a surefire way to shred whatever is left of the old rubber bushings. No amount of lubricant can keep dry-rotted bushings from falling apart after a few weeks of being put back into service, and any car that sits that long should be evaluated for bushing replacement.

Our father/son ’69 Mustang project has been sitting for more than two decades, so it’s a foregone conclusion that the leaf springs, bushings, and shocks need replacing. To that end, we sourced some Summit Racing 1.5-inch drop leaf springs, Hotchkis-tuned 1.5inch lower shocks, and a set of Scott Drake shackles, all from Summit Racing. This will not only significantly improve the ride and handling of the Mustang, but give it a more aggressive look with a lower profile, matching the adjustable front suspension we installed a few months ago.

Once we got into the meat of the installation, the reasons for replacing the entire spring became obvious. The passenger-side spring pack came out quite easily (much to our surprise) but the driver-side was not going to play nice, not even a little. The issue is the front bushing and bolt. The bolt is secured through the subframe, into the bushing, and then to the other side of the torque box. Because the mounting point is tucked under the rocker panel, you can’t easily access the end of the bolt to drive it out. Over time, the bolt rusts to the steel inner sleeve in the bushing. No amount of penetrant or heat will break the bolt free—the only option is pressure or cutting. The passenger-side bolt tapped out with a few knocks from the side of the hammer, but the driver side was fully rusted. We used an old tool trick, which you can make with a 3⁄8-inch bolt and long

PARTS LIST DESCRIPTION:

PART NUMBER: SOURCE:

COST:

Rear springs Shocks Shackles Lubricant Total:

SUM-6973M-2K HSS-71020016 SDK-C6ZZ-5776-K JB80

$95.99 (x2) $129.99 (x2) $17.06 (x2) $10.00 $496.08

Summit Racing Hotchkis/Summit Racing Scott Drake/Summit Racing Justice Bros.

With the Mustang safely supported by jackstands, we removed the plastic body plugs that cover the bolt heads for the front leaf eye. Use a pick or flat-blade screwdriver so you don’t bleed before getting started.

coupler nut that is used to push the bolt out—but it didn’t work, either.

In the end, we had to use a Sawzall to cut the bolt in two places (on either side of the leaf spring bushing) so that we could get the spring out. We burned up three blades in the process.

A plasma torch or oxy-acetylene torch would be the next step if you can’t get it with a Sawzall. This was the most difficult part of the process as everything else is relatively simple. The main concern is that the vehicle is properly secured while suspended in the air.

Always use jackstands to support the vehicle and use a jack to raise and lower the rearend as needed. Make

Jason worked under the car to remove the front bolt. He used a ratchet and 3⁄4-inch socket on the head and a ratcheting 3⁄4-inch box wrench on the nut. In most cases, the bolt will be rusted solid, but the passenger side was loose enough to require the backup socket. There is no room for power tools here.

With the front mount loose, Jason dropped the spring plate from the housing. We used a liberal amount of penetrating oil to save the U-bolts, which can be reused if they are in good condition.

sure that the housing is supported when removing the spring packs.

The entire process of this project was about one day, with the bulk of the work spent on the one seized bolt that took two hours to get through. The rest of the job took about three hours in total. The result is a more aggressive stance with premium handling via the Hotchkis-tuned shocks, and of course some much-needed father and son bonding time!

The last step in removing the leaf pack is the rear shackle. These can be tricky to get out, as sometimes they are installed from the outside in, as shown here. There is just enough room to get them out.

Using two wrenches, the tool is unthreaded, pushing against the interior side of the rocker panel. You can distort the rocker if the bolt does not give and you don’t pay attention, so be careful. This did not work for us, and we had to cut the bolt.

Using a pick, we stabbed each bushing section on the subframe and used leverage to pry them out.

On the driver side, we tried this oldschool trick, which is a 3⁄8-inch bolt and long coupler nut to press the rusted bolt out of the spring eye.

The lower shock mounts were removed from the spring plate. Note how splintered the bushing are; these shocks are 30 years newer than the leaf spring bushings, so you can imagine how bad those are.

Our new shackles came with new bushings, which are to be installed into the subframe channel and the rear spring eye. We used a little blast of JB80 lubricant to make this go much easier.

MARCH 2020 CARCRAFT.COM 33

PROJECT CAR Congratulations to Leah Pritchett and the whole Don Schumacher Racing Factory Stock team on their 2018 NHRA Factory Stock Showdown Championship.

Leah runs E3… what are YOU running?

The bushing then just slides right in.

Inside the car, Jason installed the new shocks. Don’t overtighten the bushing, as this will lead to premature wear and the rubber will split.

Jason squeezed the bushing into the spring eye until they were properly seated. The front eye bushing is factory installed.

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To facilitate an easier installation, we installed the shackles from the inside out, so the nuts face the outside of the car. This is much easier to do, especially with new bushings that are much stiffer than the old, sloppy ones.

Do not fully tighten these fasteners until the weight of the vehicle is on the springs. If you torque them now, your vehicle will sit too high.

We reused the original U-bolts for the rear housing. We had planned on replacing them, but the ones we ordered were the wrong size and the originals are in good shape. We did clean them up with a wire wheel. They will eventually be replaced when we can source the correct size.

Under the car, we installed the lower shock mount to the spring plate. These are non-adjustable shocks, so nothing else is required.

➔SOURCES

Summit Racing; 800/230-3030; SummitRacing.com Justice Brothers; 626/359-9174; JusticeBrothers.com Once the Mustang was set down on the ground, we bounced the car a few times and then torqued the six spring fasteners (one front bolt and two rear shackle nuts per side). It will take a few weeks for the springs to settle into their final height; typically this take 300-500 miles.

ARE YOU BETWEEN 14 AND 24 YEARS OLD AND LIKE TO RACE? THEN JOIN THE YOUNG RACERS’ CLUB DEDICATED TO SUPPORTING YOUTH IN RACING

March Sunoco Young Racers’ Club Winner:

Chris Dahncke!

Congratulations to Chris Dahncke, our Sunoco Race Fuels Young Racers’ Club winner for the month of March!

Chris Dahncke will receive 55 gallons of fuel and a 5-gallon utility jug from Sunoco. He will also appear in the March 2020 issue of Car Craft. Take a few moments to read about his journey below: My name is Chris Dahncke, and I am 24 years old. I have owned my 1974 Dodge Charger SE since I was 16. What started out as a daily driver project car soon turned into a ’70s street machine, which could be found cruising Van Nuys Blvd at night and racing the strip in the morning. I first started drag racing at age 18, in 2013. My inspiration was my mom, who raced her 1969 Cougar (which she still has!) at OCIR back in the mid 1980s. I spent a lot of time watching old Pro-Stock and Stock/Super Stock racing film, which gave me the desire to want to race the Charger in NHRA in the Super Stock class. After talking to a well-known local NHRA drag car builder, I discovered my car would be severely handicapped by NHRA’s allotted horsepower and modifications for a vehicle produced in 1974, so I decided to build my own bracket car.

I started racing with my dad as my crew chief at Irwindale Speedway, where the car completed four races its first season out of a total of 12 before succumbing to drivetrain problems. In the six years I have been racing the car, the 2019 season was my first full 12-race racing series the Charger and I have completed without having to drop out due to mechanical breakdowns.

The Young Racers’ Club Is Presented Each Month by

The Charger held First place for about a quarter of the season, while being within the top 5 the rest of the season, and I even made it into the finals round for the Wally race, where I lost by red-lighting an embarrassing amount. The Charger consistently runs 13.10s, which for a land-yacht of a car, isn’t horrible.

I drive the car roughly 50 miles to get to the track, and it is driven both ways on a set of M&H Racemaster drag radial tires!

Racers between the ages of 14 and 24 can sign up to win, just like Chris Dahncke, by sending an email to John Viscardo at john_viscardo@motortrend.com. Please include a brief description and 2-3 photos. Please also provide a phone number and address so we can contact you if you are selected as a winner. Drivers who have already signed up do not need to reenter.

For more information on Sunoco Race Fuels, visit www.sunocoracefuels.com.

r the e d n U t e g to a am b la A to ad e H e W w o h S y it al e R st le o o C ’s n o as e S e Hood of th with fabricated drama and show comes from hammers and 2x4s. eality shows are layered scle Shoals, made-up deadlines. Not here. Set in Mu Fastest Cars in Alabama, MotorTrend On-Demand’s nt Arnold, and Team the Dirty South follows Eric Malone, Bra theast. It’s a real256 as they grudge race across the Sou of champagne with ity show that replaces thrown glasses only fabrication in the bottles of nitrous … lots of nitrous. The

R

36 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

ital of the South.

The locals call Muscle Shoals the cap ckets a car crafter can This is where Team 256 builds rust-bu and F-bodies—boostafford, from Datsuns and Darts to Ghands. They leave the fed big-blocks assembled with bare cities, along with autosix-figure MotorTrend cars for the big t serve kale. tune, skyscrapers, and restaurants tha

By Jesse Kiser / Photos: Jesse Kiser

Muscle Shoals’ history is an adumbration of the South’s own story—an archetype of the South’s struggle to find itself through the 1900s. They’re a part of a victorious country, yet they know defeat and disappointment.

During World War I, President Wilson issued the construction of a $48 million dam as a war effort, however, it wasn’t completed on time. In 1922, Henry Ford attempted to buy it and the country flocked to Muscle Shoals with the promise of thousands of jobs. He, along with Thomas Edison, envisioned a worker’s utopia that would lengthen Muscle Shoals into a 75-mile riverfront town, opposing the traditional city layout. The government refused, and the city was left without an industry.

In the ’60s, two recording studios appeared, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and FAME Studios, creating the “Muscle Shoals Sound.” It was a blend of soul, southern rock, blues, and country. Muscle Shoals became an important player as the nation evolved through segregation and Civil Rights, and the music coming out of Muscle Shoals—artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Cher, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Rolling Stones, and Rival Sons—produced albums in the hope of capturing something magical.

Now, it’s a dynamic town, inherently Southern, with vinegar-based barbecue and friendly waves through truck windshields. The town found its pure soul and rich culture in music—and now cars. Really fast cars.

MARCH 2020 CARCRAFT.COM 37

THE FASTEST CARS IN THE DIRTY SOUTH

Team 256 consists of a diverse group of locals. They find rotting cars scattered in fields and barns and bring them back to life on eighth-mile tracks. Like any family, they have fights, rivalries, and a deep love for one another. The show follows the team as they make each race, helping each other along the way. There’s little track prep or time wasted.

After consistently beating up the local competition, group gearhead Eric Malone had an entertaining idea to challenge other teams. They’d take the competitor’s slowest car and race them with it. “It shows everyone who the best builders are in the dirty South,” Eric says. The first episode opens on a rough and rusted Vega from a group in Tennessee. Eric and

TECH NOTES Who: Malcolm Storey, 49 What: 1984 Pontiac Grand Prix Brougham Where: Tuscaloosa, Alabama Occupation: Equipment operator FCIDS Episodes: Pilot, 1, 3 Engine: 440ci small-block Chevy built

by Malcolm Rotating Assembly: Lunati crankshaft and rods with JE Pistons Block: Dart Little M Compression: 13.5:1 Cam: Custom-grind from Crower; don’t ask specs Top End: Brodix 11X Power Adder: Pro Nitrous Cold Fusion Fogger with 500 shot; NOS Launcher Power: 625 hp; 987 hp on nitrous Suspension: Stock-style four-link, Viking double-adjustable shocks, BMR antiroll bar, Edelbrock adjustable rear control arms, and QA1 adjustable front shocks Rear Axle: Narrowed GM 12-bolt with 4:10 gears and Moser spool Drivetrain: PTC Powerglide with 1.80 planetary gear Weight: 3,501 pounds, with driver Front Wheels: 15x4 Weld Rodlite Wheels Rear Wheels: 15x11 Weld Rodlite Wheels Front Tires: 26-15 Mickey Thompson ET Front Rear Tires: 275/60R15 Mickey Thompson Pro Bracket Radial Best Time: 5.18 at 143 mph Special Thanks: Crower Camshafts

Malcolm Storey’s ultraclean Pontiac took over a decade to build and features the only small-block Chevy in the group of cars we featured from FCIDS. Although he grew up in the area, Malcolm didn’t become friends with the Team 256 crew until they raced in the pilot episode. “You know what they say, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” Team 256 leader Eric Malone says. “Although we beat Malcolm in that race, we liked him, so we asked him to join our team.”

38 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

1984 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX

Typically, the Pontiac leaves the line with 20 percent nitrous and reaches 100 percent 1.5 seconds into the run. He’ll bump that up to 25 percent and 1 second if the track is good.

Next year, they’re moving to a PTC Powerglide with a 1:80 First gear.

Malcolm’s first drag racing win was in a ’70 AMC Gremlin. “I grew up racing anything that had wheels,” Malcolm says. “If there was a one-wheeled tractor outside, I’d race it right now.”

In 2001, Malcolm lost his grandmother, Lillie Mae Storey. Before she died, he made two promises to her: to take care of his children and take care of that “raggedy ol’ car and make it the best it can be,” Malcolm says. She gave him the Pontiac in her will, although it was a rust bucket at the time.

Malcolm spent the last decade restoring the car, retaining the full interior with the factory dash, carpet, and door panels. He even recessed the gauges into the factory dash for an OEM look. “I’m a race car guy, but I don’t like race cars. I like a street car with a race car attitude,” Malcolm says.

Malcolm’s car is the most streetable of the bunch, and one of only two

small-blocks. His trick is the time invested in researching the powerplant.

He spent two weeks developing the perfect cam profile and then built the engine himself. With 13.5:1 compression, he drives around town on pump gas, but runs VP Racing C23 when racing.

Spoiler alert: The Black Mamba Malibu was Malcolm’s slower car. Eric bet that with a couple of weeks of work he could race Black Mamba against Malcolm’s Pontiac and win. He did, and now Black Mamba belongs to Eric. “Everyone wants to know if it’s true about the race,” Malcolm says. “It’s all true.”

Malcolm built the 440ci small-block himself starting with a standard-deck Little M block from Dart. APD custom-built the 1,000-cfm carburetor for the car. Next year Malcolm plans to have a bigger, badder motor, as well as another project. He finished with, “You’ll see the little brother to this one.

That’s all I’ll say.”

the team rebuild the car through the first season and then race that team with their own car. Whoever wins, gets the car and cash.

It’s taking Southern ingenuity, hard work, experience, and late nights to win with someone else’s junk. We ventured to Muscle Shoals to see it all firsthand, uncovering the secrets they don’t even share at the racetrack.

Welcome to Alabama, and the Fastest Cars in the Dirty South (FCIDS).

The engine was initially built to be run naturally aspirated without nitrous. Dale Meers Racing Engines assumes most of the engines in Alabama will get nitrous eventually, so they gap the piston rings accordingly.

TECH NOTES Who: Deda Ford Minor, 39 What: 1971 Dodge Dart Swinger “Dirty Dart” Where: Muscle Shoals, Alabama Occupation: PTC/registered nurse FCIDS Episodes: 4 Engine: 572ci Dale Meers Racing Engines Rotating Assembly: Ohio crank, R&R rods, and Diamond Pistons Block: Chrysler 440 Compression: 13:1 Cam: Bullet solid-roller camshaft and T&D rockers Top End: Indy Cylinder Heads, race port 440-1 Power Adder: Nitrous Express Fogger 300-shot; NOS Launcher Power: 800 hp; 1,100 hp on nitrous Suspension: R&R Racing custom frontend with Viking double-adjustable shocks, ladder bar with Viking doubleadjustable shocks Rear Axle: Dana 60 spool with 40-spline axles Drivetrain: PTC Powerglide with 1.58 planetary gears and PTC Pro Tree trans brake Weight: 3,000 pounds, with driver Front Wheels: 15x3.5 Billet Specialties Rear Wheels: 15x11 Billet Specialties Front Tires: 26/4.5-15 Mickey Thompson ET Front Rear Tires: 275/60R15 Mickey Thompson Pro Bracket Radial Best Time: 5.09 at 137 mph Special Thanks: Viking Performance, PTC, King Bearings, Total Seal Rings, Nitrous Express, Cometic Gaskets, NGK

In hot rodding, we’ve all experienced a problematic car—and if you haven’t yet, just stick with it, you will. A cursed ride that haunts us even after it’s gone—this is not one of those. On this Dodge Dart’s first outing—one of the more interesting cars you’ll find on FCIDS—it was the number-one qualifier. That same pass was driver Deda Minor’s first time behind the wheel, and her quickest e.t. ever. Right out of the gate, the ’71 Dodge Dart Swinger— nicknamed “The Dirty Dart”—found success.

The Dart was picked up as a project

by Kenny Ford, the owner of PTC Torque Converters (and also Deda’s dad!) They’re both members of Team 256. Kenny is like Charlie from Charlie’s Angels—he’s not always on camera, but he’s the one behind many of Team 256’s projects and schemes.

The Dart sat dormant for two years until Team 256 leader Eric Malone convinced Kenny to build an index car to run the Mean Street class. At the same time, Deda was displaying interest in campaigning for a faster car. She had been running a naturally aspirated

598ci big-block ’69 Camaro, dipping into the 6s. Eric told Kenny he would build the car so long as he got to pick the driver—Deda.

Deda’s first pass was a 5.91 followed by a 5.11 at 136 mph—when they added nitrous. “Everyone else was more scared than I was,” Deda says. “I screamed out loud when I got my time slip. It was smooth, but I didn’t think I had gone that fast.” That same weekend she qualified number one in the Mean Street class and took home $2,000 from a side grudge race.

The car is an exercise in the team’s talents, although Eric credits a lot to Deda’s driving: “She’s a real driver,” Eric says, eluding to the time he found the hood lying on the windshield after the momentous run. The hood pins came loose, and the hood flipped back through the lights. “She’s our secret weapon,” Eric says.

1971 DODGE DART SWINGER

The ’71 Dodge Dart Swinger was picked up as someone else’s unfinished project.

Kenny Ford is a Mopar man and bought it with no real plan. The car sat dormant for two years before Eric convinced him to build it.

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THE FASTEST CARS IN THE DIRTY SOUTH

2000 CHEVY CAMARO

This Camaro is one of the lightest and quickest of Team 256 of FCIDS. It’s the only Pro-Mod–style car too. The Camaro has a 120-inch wheelbase, which helps keep it in a straight line. They’re hoping for 0.90 60-foot times next year, and Brant’s is the only car of the bunch with wheelie bars.

The bull-headed—his words, not ours—driver of the show is Brant Arnold. He’s the guy with the large blower sticking over the other car’s roofline. You may recognize Brant from the Discovery channel program Rebel Gold, which follows war antique collectors in the South.

This year, Brant is going all-out with significant upgrades. Starting with the elephant over the hood—pun intended—in the form of a Whipple R980 supercharger, once outlawed by the NHRA. It’s a massive blower, which, at 60 percent, does the work his previous model did at 90 percent. When the pulley is spinning at 19,000 rpm, the blower screw is turning 598 mph. “It’s supersonic without the boom,” Brant says. “If you get the boom, you’ve done something wrong.” That said, they can’t spin the blower as fast as they’d like to per pulley-size rules.

A year ago, Kenny Ford bought the Camaro after the previous builder wrecked it. While it was down for You may notice something missing; the blower was added right before our photo shoot as the team is cramming to make the last two races of the season. An Enderle 110 cam-driven fuel pump supplies alcohol through port injection and hat injection, which keeps the blower cool. Brant burns through 4 gallons in a single pass.

40 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

TECH NOTES

repairs, Brant bought it from Kenny.

Throughout Season 1 of FCIDS, Brant rebuilt it with as many lightweight components as possible, including carbon-fiber floors and wheel tubes.

Brant is the only blown car in Team 256, so his track-day setup changes are different. Rather than a progressive controller, he uses an MSD Power Grid system, which can kill timing to a preset distance. “That’s the big thing with blower cars, it’s all or nothing,” Brant says. “Some of the bigger guys have progressive electronics, but I can’t invest $50,000 in this car. Instead, it’s for fun. The ultimate rush.”

At the track, Bob’s Pro-Fab helps him dial in the suspension. They’ll do a halftrack pass, then tighten up the shocks and change tire pressure. “It’s all a big mathematical equation,” Brant says.

They’re aiming for 3.70 e.t.’s, “but with baby steps. I don’t want to jump to that point.

“A lot of times, I’m bull-headed; I’ll just fight it down the track. One of these days that’s going to bite me in the butt,” Brant says. “Unless I’m sideways looking at the wall, I’m staying in the gas.”

Who: Brant Arnold, 41 What: “Braveheart” 2000 Chevy Camaro Where: Michie, Tennessee Occupation: Construction worker/ owner of Corinth Civil War Relics FCIDS Episodes: 7 Engine: 540ci alcohol-injected bigblock Chevy; Phillips Engines Rotating Assembly: Callies crank and rods with Ross pistons Block: World Products Merlin cast-iron Compression: 10:1 Cam: Comp Cams custom grind Top End: ProMaxx heads Power Adder: R980 Whipple Power: 1,200 hp to the tire, estimated Suspension: Custom four-link rear suspension, Strange front struts/spindle with double-adjustable shocks and QA1 rear coilovers Rear Axle: Chassisworks FAB9 with 4:86 gears (moving to 4:11 next year) Drivetrain: PTC Powerglide with Reid Racing case and 1:80 straight-cut gears; TCI Outlaw shifter Weight: 2,300 pounds, with driver Front Wheels: 15x4 Weld Pro Star Rear Wheels: 14x32 Weld Pro Star Front Tires: 4.5x15 Mickey Thompson ET Front Rear Tires: 32x15 Mickey Thompson ET Drag Slick Best Time: 4.60 at 160 mph Special Thanks: PTC, NGK, Bob’s Pro Fab

TECH NOTES Who: Dayne Hearn, 45 What: “Burford Pusser” 1970 Chevy Camaro Location: Florence, Alabama Occupation: Owner of HVAC company FCIDS Episodes: Pilot, 8 Engine: 638 big-block Chevy; Butler Performance Rotating Assembly: Ohio Crank, Manley Performance rods, and Diamond Pistons Block: World Products Merlin iron Compression: 15:1 compression Cam: Crane custom grind Top End: Big Duke heads, 18-degree Power Adder: 500- to 600-shot Nitrous Express Fogger; NOS Launcher Power: 1,400 hp, estimated Suspension: Custom ladder bar rear suspension with adjustable Afco Big Dog BDXs; Viking double-adjustable front coilovers with TRZ tubular control arms Rear Axle: FAB9 with 3:90 gears, 40-spline axles, and a Strange Engineering centersection Drivetrain: PTC Powerglide with a 1:69 planetary gear Weight: 2,850 pounds, with driver Front Wheels: 15x4 Weld Wheels Magnum Rear Wheels: 15x10 Billet Specialties Front Tires: Mickey Thompson front runners Rear Tires: 275 ET Street Drag Radials Best Time: 4.72 e.t. at 153 mph Special Thanks: Viking Performance, PTC, King Bearings, Total Seal Rings, Nitrous Express, Afco Racing, Butler Performance

1970 CHEVY CAMARO

At the end of the show’s first season, a setscrew in Dayne Hearn’s steering came loose, leaving him with the steering wheel in his lap at 120 mph. “It happened once I went through the lights, then I was just waiting for it. It was like slow motion,” Dayne says. He thrashed to rebuild his ’70 Camaro for our photoshoot: “I was buffing the clearcoat at about 2 o’clock this morning.”

The show centers around Team 256, and Dayne is the rookie among them.

“I’m the one coming up to whoop all of them,” Dayne says with a laugh. “You can tell them I said that.” Dayne originally built an ’01 Camaro with a 408ci stroker based on a 6.0L iron block.

With a big shot of nitrous he maxedout that setup’s potential with low 5-second e.t.’s. He wanted to go faster, so he started looking for a project when Team 256 leader Eric Malone called him to make a deal on a car. That deal fell through, but they quickly became friends as Dayne picked up this Camaro.

The wife of the car’s former owner didn’t want him racing anymore so Dayne traded him his Camaro, which despite the stroker motor, was a street car. The new-to-Dayne split-bumper was a dedicated race car with a Butler Performance–built 638ci big-block.

“It’s just disgusting,” Dayne laughs, about driving the car. Dayne’s big winter plans are to put the Camaro on a diet, with a tubular front clip and fiberglass body panels. The car currently weighs 2,850 pounds with a driver, but he’s aiming for 2,650 pounds. “No one will beat this car next year!” Dayne says.

The Camaro leaves the line with 35 percent nitrous and gets all 100 percent within 1 to 1.4 seconds, depending on track conditions.

Dayne says the engine has tons of low-end torque, which makes it hard to get all the power to the ground quickly.

Dayne grew up idolizing Tennessee sheriff, Buford Pusser.

Walking Tall was a Hollywood movie about Buford’s strict methods of fighting crime and was filmed in Dayne’s hometown, featuring many of his family. His Camaro and its unfortunate wreck are highlighted in episode 8. He has big plans to cut weight and e.t. next year.

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THE FASTEST CARS IN THE DIRTY SOUTH

1979 CHEVY MALIBU

TECH NOTES

Eric has made “Black Mamba” his own. The previous owner, Malcolm Storey, says, “They’re a great group [Team 256], and we all offer something different to the race game. I like to be wild and try new stuff, but Eric is the leader type and gets it all together.” Jamie Wayne of Rod Shop (Loretto, TN) painted the Malibu before the showdown race in episode 1.

FCIDS shows Team 256 as they grudge race across the Southeast. The team got bored with winning, so they created a unique challenge: beat another team with that team’s slowest car. Team 256 takes the other team’s car home and rebuilds it, and when they meet again they race for keeps.

Either Team 256 wins a new car, or the competition drives away in a better machine than before. This car was Team 256’s first exercise in the crazy experiment. Spoiler alert: they won.

Team captain Eric Malone now owns this 1,200hp G-body named “Black Mamba.”

The previous owner, Malcolm Storey, originally wanted to build a dedicated race car, not to be confused with the street car he races. During a visit to the local junkyard he spotted this Malibu on a trailer with no title, engine, or drivetrain, and a $300 price tag. It was the perfect candidate for a track-only race car. He installed a used Mark IV 454ci Chevy big-block punched to 468 ci. Backed by a stock-case Powerglide

and 8.5-inch GM rearend, the Malibu was a simple performer.

After Malcolm accepted Eric and Team 256’s wager, Team 256 rebuilt the car. “We brought it from a slow piece of crap to what it is today,” Eric says. The suspension has remained stock but the car received new paint and a 540ci big-block with a 400-shot of nitrous. “Now, it’s a wheelie king.

We have a hard time keeping it out of the air.”

Despite Malcolm losing the car, the result has been positive. “Honestly, that whole experience wasn’t bad because it forced my brother and I to build the other Grand Prix I wanted to build,” Malcolm says. Now the brothers have matching Grand Prixs, both with mean small-blocks and pearl paint.

Also, and more importantly, Malcolm joined Team 256. “At the end of the pilot episode, they saw me at the track needing some help,” Malcolm says. “They stepped in and helped, and I’ve been welcomed ever since.”

The 540ci big-block Chevy starts with a Dart Big M block and a 14:1 compression ratio. The Bullet Cam has a custom grind for nitrous. “It’s a [slow] dog without the nitrous,” Eric says.

The carburetor is a Gary Williams 1250 Dominator.

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Who: Eric Malone, 46 What: “Black Mamba” 1979 Chevy Malibu Location: Muscle Shoals, Alabama Occupation: Technical supervisor at PTC FCIDS Episodes: Pilot, 1 Engine: 540ci big-block Chevy; Johnson’s Engines; Alan Branch, MS Rotating Assembly: Eagle rods and crank, JE Pistons Block: Dart Big M Compression: 14:1 Cam: Bullet, custom solid-roller Top End: Dart 360 by Butler Performance Power Adder: Nitrous Express fogger 400 shot; NOS Launcher Power: 1,200 hp on nitrous (estimated) Suspension: Stock-style with replacement springs, Viking adjustable shocks, BMR antiroll bar Rear Axle: Quick Performance Ford 9-inch for G-body; 4:10 gears Drivetrain: PTC Powerglide Weight: 3,400 pounds, with driver Front Wheels: 15x4 Larry Hodge Racing Rear Wheels: 15x8 Larry Hodge Racing – race star Front Tires: 26-15 Mickey Thompson ET Front Rear Tires: 275/60R15 Mickey Thompson Pro Bracket Radial Best Time: Low 5s Special Thanks: Nitrous Express, Weldon Racing Fuel Pumps, Johnson Farms (local cotton farmers), Racepak, Audio Sound Addiction

1972 DATSUN 1200 DELUXE Mikie Smith has the perfect Yin and Yang Datsuns: The red is a dedicated race car and the white “Ratsun” is the street car with a working radio, insurance, and tags. Mikie drives it to work often. Mikie keeps the front end down by reducing power on the low end: “Get it moving, and then put it all back in as quickly as possible,” Mikie says.

TECH NOTES Who: Mikie Smith, 39 What: 1972 Datun 1200 Deluxe “Mighty Mouse” Location: Tuscumbia, Alabama Occupation: Maintenance tech at a paper manufacturing plant FCIDS Episodes: 1, 6 Engine: 428ci Ford small-block Windsor Rotating Assembly: Eagle 4340 crankshaft, GRP aluminum rods and Wiseco pistons Block: Dart Iron Eagle 9.5-inch deck Compression: 14.5:1 Cam: Comp Cams solid-roller for nitrous Top End: Edelbrock Victor Jr. Power Adder: Nitrous Express NX fogger 450 shot; NOS Launcher Power: 1,200 hp, estimated Suspension: Four-link with Strange double-adjustable rear shocks; front Datsun factory struts with custom rack-and-pinion, and frontend limiters Rear Axle: 9-inch factory Ford, narrowed and braced, 4:10 gear Strange centersection Drivetrain: PTC Powerglide with 1:69 planetary; PTC 10-inch converter Weight: 2,538 pounds, with driver Front Wheels: 15x4 Weld Racing Alumastar spindle-mount Rear Wheels: 15x12 Hole Shots with single bead lock Front Tires: 4x15 M&H Front Runner Rear Tires: 28-inch Mickey Thompson Pro Bracket Radial Best Time: High 4-second Special Thanks: Nitrous Express, PTC, Weldon Fuel Pumps

Mikie Smith loves Datsuns, but maybe that’s obvious. Seven years ago he set out to build something different. He searched Craigslist for a Toyota or RX3 but stumbled across a white ’71 Datsun 1200 Deluxe (current best: 6.23 / 115 mph). A collector had purchased it as a parts car but only used a bumper.

The original plan was swapping in a Ford 2300cc/2.3L turbo from an SVO Mustang or Thunderbird Turbo coupe, but that engine is too tall and too long.

He looked toward Australia for inspiration where the Buick Series II 3800cc FWD V-6 is a common swap.

The 3800 V-6 was turned forward and bolted to a Turbo 350 transmission with an adapter plate and custom PTC torque converter. A Race Engineering Master Power 70mm turbo sits in place of the factory supercharger. To that Mikie added a small 30hp wet shot of nitrous, E85, and an aftermarket cam.

Mikie quickly outgrew his “Ratsun” and wanted something nicer and faster. After over a year of asking he bought the red “Mighty Mouse” Datsun from a local racer. It was a finished project with a late-’90s paintjob, cage,

9-inch rear, custom four-link suspension, and turbocharged Nissan engine.

Mikie added bigger wheeltubs and installed a leftover Ford 428ci smallblock Ford he had built years prior for a Fox-body Mustang.

Mikie is a staple on FCIDS. “I do a little bit of everything,” Mikie says. Team 256 often tasks him with test driving the group’s many project cars. “I’m the guinea pig,” Mikie says, whose car is arguably the most difficult to drive.

“When you go from a 90-inch to 109inch wheelbase, you don’t have that potential to wheelie. If it wheelies, that’s nothing to me.”

The small-block Ford is a Windsor-based Iron Eagle block with a 4-inch stroke and 4.130-inch bore. The Wiseco pistons are spec’d for nitrous, and the intake is an Edelbrock Victor Jr. built by Total Engine Airflow.

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THE FASTEST CARS IN THE DIRTY SOUTH

1969 Z/28 CAMARO

Yes, it’s an X77-code Z/28 Camaro. “I’m that guy,” Jamie laughs, who said he stopped taking the Camaro to car shows to avoid hatred from purists. The wing was built by Cage Rage Chassis in Burns, TN, and said to be a significant help over 140 mph, especially when running the smaller 8.5inch tire.

TECH NOTES Who: Jamie Wayne, 46 What: 1969 Chevy Camaro Z/28 “Freight Train” Location: Loretto, Tennessee Occupation: Owner; Rod Shop Paint and Performance FCIDS Episodes: 5, 7 Engine: 632 ci by Butler Performance Rotating Assembly: Callies crank, R&R Racing rods, JE Pistons Block: Brodix aluminum Compression: 12.7:1 Cam: Custom-grind from BES Racing Engines; don’t ask specs Top End: Brodix Headhunter 24-degree heads, custom ported and matched by BES Racing Power Adder: Fast Lane Nitrous Fogger X275 with 600 shot; NOS Launcher Power: 1,150 hp on motor; 1,700 hp on nitrous Suspension: Calvert Racing CalTracs (leaf springs); TRZ Motorsports rear control arms, Menscer Motorsports adjustable shocks Rear Axle: Moser M9 chrome moly housing; Strange Ultra-Light centersection Drivetrain: PTC Powerglide with 1.58 planetary gear and TCI Pro Tree trans brake Weight: 3,150 pounds, with driver Front Wheels: 15x3.5 Weld Racing Alumastar Rear Wheels: 15x11 Billet Specialties Front Tires: 26/4.5-15 Mickey Thompson ET Rear Tires: 28/10.5R15 Mickey Thompson Pro Bracket Radial Best Time: Mid 4 seconds Special Thanks: Bishop Engine Service, Butler, Robert Lane (Fast Lane Nitrous), PTC, Brent Daniels, Chris Chapman, David Key

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When Jamie Wayne isn’t thrashing in the paint booth, he’s racing his ’69 Z/28 Camaro. Jamie is Team 256’s resident bodyman, painting most of the projects on FCIDS. It’s evident in his Camaro, as it’s the nicest paint of the bunch. “It was given to me by another shop that started the project but needed to make room. I picked it up as a parts car,” Jamie says, whose brother talked him into building it as a race car.

Don’t hate Jamie, but this is a realdeal Z/28. The car came without a cowl tag; only later did he find the tag in a pile of junk in the previous owner’s storage container. “By that point, I already had the cage and tubes,” Jamie says. “I just went on with it.”

Jamie started out racing a ’68 Camaro but in fear of wrecking a desirable car he switched to a ’78 Malibu “… and I did wreck that one,” Jamie laughs.

“I quickly figured out I could find more replacement parts for the Camaro than the Malibu.”

In the show, you’ll see him thrash to replace a broken engine to make a race. He also gets called in as a driver.

In episode 5, he drives “Copperhead,” a G-body Malibu with big-block nitrous power against Eric’s “Black Mamba,” also a Malibu. He’s won a few races, but his proudest accomplishment is building the Vega, featured throughout the first season.

“We hand deliver the cars to every racetrack. The team often doesn’t see one until it’s at the track,” Jamie says.

“It was a long process, but the result was definitely worth it.” It’s raced for keeps in the finale episode, and you’ll have to watch to see who takes it home!

The 632ci Butler-built big-block is a jump up from the original DZ 302ci small-block. This one features a 12.7:1 compression and 600hp shot of nitrous. The exhaust consists of 23⁄8inch to 21⁄2-inch step headers dumping into 5-inch collectors with a front exit.

1998 CHEVY CAMARO SS

TECH NOTES Who: Eric Malone, 46 What: 1998 Chevrolet Camaro SS Location: Muscle Shoals, Alabama Occupation: Technical supervisor at PTC FCIDS Episodes: Pilot, 7 Engine: 638ci big-block Chevy 14-degree, Butler Performance Rotating Assembly: Crower crankshaft, R&R rods, JE Pistons Block: Dart Big M Compression: 14:1 Cam: Bullet Cams custom grind Top End: Used 14-degree DRCE Pro-Stock-style Power Adder: Nitrous Express Fogger 600 shot; NOS Launcher Power: 1,600 hp on motor (estimated) Suspension: Stock-style torque arm and Menscer Motorsports adjustable coilovers in stock location Rear Axle: Quick Performance 9-inch for F-bodies, with 9.5-inch big pinion and 4:10 gears Drivetrain: PTC Powerglide 1:58 First gear; with TCI Pro-X shifter Weight: 3,300 pounds, with driver Front Wheels: 15x4 Champion Billet Black Cap5 Rear Wheels: 15x11 Champion Billet Black Cap5 with Mac Fab bead-locks Front Tires: 26x4.5R15 Hoosier Front Runners Rear Tires: 275/60R15 Hoosier Bracket Radial ET Best Time: 5.0 e.t. at 150 mph Special Thanks: NGK, Nitrous Express, PTC, Quick Performance, Butler Performance, Racepak, Audio Sound Addiction

The ’98 SS Camaro is on the verge of being a full race car but still retains some street manners. Just throw an alternator on it and a bigger gas tank and it can drive around town.

The interior still retains door panels and carpet with the addition of a Kirkey racing seat and mini-tubs. The rollcage is certified for 7.50 quarter-mile e.t.’s.

As the leader, it’s only natural that Eric Malone has the baddest car of the bunch. Nicknamed “The Prosecutor,” Eric’s ’98 Camaro SS is a street-legal, big-block–powered, 275-radial Chevy capable of low 5-second e.t.’s.

This Camaro went through a lot in the first season of FCIDS. In an early episode, Eric made a terrible blunder and left the fuel tank empty before a race. The engine leaned out and grenaded on the starting line, sending chunks of metal and exhaust valves onto the pavement. “A bunch of dollars flushed out of those headers and onto the track,” Eric says, who can now laugh about it. “It was quite the sight, seeing valves and sparks splashing on the track.”

Butler Performance thrashed to get the engine rebuilt for the next race, a

three-week turnaround. The first night the Camaro returned, Eric took home the win in a small-tire shootout. So far, his victories have won him back half of the money he lost.

Chevy fans will be happy to learn Eric traded a Fox-body Mustang for the Camaro eight years ago. Even though the Mustang was faster, he wanted something different, as Mustangs were the most popular at the dragstrip.

“Mustangs are great, but once they step out, they’re hard to control,” Eric says. The longer and wider wheelbase makes the Camaro a little easier to handle in rough situations, however, they are heavier. “I don’t have to fight it; I can concentrate on winning.”

“Right now, I’m really confident about how it’s running,” Eric says. He accomplished his goal of making the fastest Camaro around, but that won’t last long. “Now, it’s getting time to turn it up some more.”

Eric Malone’s ’98 Camaro doesn’t have an LS1 or an LT1, instead, it’s a nitrous-fueled big-block. The body is stock except for the VFM 6-inch cowl fiberglass hood.

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By Eric English / Photos: Eric English

Byron Tudor Surely Made the Most of What Started Out as a Freebie

T

o hear owner Byron Tudor tell it, he hasn’t traditionally been a Mustang sort of guy. In that regard he resembles a multitude of car enthusiasts who, whether they love it or hate it, have simply never owned an example of Ford’s legendary Ponycar. Nevertheless, credit Byron with capitalizing on a good thing when it came his way.

The good thing we speak of is the ’67 coupe that was given to Byron by his girlfriend’s sister, Holly. Holly had driven the plain white coupe for a number of years before parking it in the late ’90s due to its declining condition and concerns regarding reliability. After having it sit in her garage for nearly 20 years and concluding she was unlikely to get it back on the road, Holly offered it to Byron—free of charge. It was

46 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

important to Holly that her Mustang go to a good home.

Obviously Byron was happy to have the super-solid but tired ’67 dropped in his lap, but what to do with it? Coincidentally, Byron had known Craig Wick for a few years; the two actually being involved in go-kart racing in the Pacific Northwest. Byron also knew Wick to be the owner of Wicked Fabrication in Auburn, Washington, one of the area’s premier builders of custom and modified cars. Before long, Byron had turned his Mustang over to Wick for a full-tilt build for the Mustang of his dreams.

Car Craft is primarily oriented to the hands-on crowd, but before you throw stones at a “checkbook car” such as Byron’s, know that Byron is a hardworking blue-collar guy in

the latter part of his career as an electrician at a large aircraft manufacturer. His vision for his dream car was well beyond his personal abilities, but with business booming in the aircraft industry, he did have the opportunity to work massive amounts of overtime in order to fund a professional build.

Over a couple of years that’s exactly what Byron did, and we consider his hard work no less exemplary than if he’d built the car himself. Another fact is that relatively few examples of functioning Coyote swaps exist, and upon seeing Byron’s example, we dove at the opportunity to discover more about how it came to be—our own two Coyote projects currently a technical focus for Car Craft’s Ford

gearheads, so pay attention, folks! To feature a top-quality vintage ride with Coyote power brings the theme full circle, for this is an engine too good to leave to the “late models.”

Wick and company ordered a new 5.0L from Ford Performance, its 435 hp being plenty for Byron’s desire for a fun street machine. A Coyote swap in any intermediate Ford from the ’60s requires removal of the imposing factory shock towers where the coil spring and shock ride above the stock upper control arms. This in turn dictates an aftermarket suspension system, which in this instance is Detroit Speed’s Aluma-Frame front cradle/suspension. (It can be ordered to accept a Coyote, or a variety of other powerplants.) Once the shock towers were removed and the

MARCH 2020 CARCRAFT.COM 47

GIFT HORSE Aluma-Frame setup in place, Detroit Speed shock tower delete panels were welded in place for a near-factory appearance.

Fitting a T56 six-speed from an ’08 G.T. 500 required reshaping the transmission tunnel for clearance, with the finished product looking seamless with help from a custom-fabbed console.

Likewise, more transparent metalwork comes in the form of Detroit Speed’s Mustang mini-tubs, which will pass for stock to the casual observer, and yet allows for some serious rubber, thanks to 21⁄2 inches of extra clearance.

We asked Wick what he felt was the most difficult part of the Coyote swap, which he described as a “piece of cake.” That’s what you get from a shop that’s done nearly a dozen Coyote and Ford Modular V-8 swaps into vintage chassis, but it’s also the state of the aftermarket support for such a swap.

While it’s not at LS proportions, virtually everything you need to swap the most modern 5.0L into a vintage Ford intermediate chassis is available for order. Little to no custom work is really necessary at this point, however it all comes at a price. (See “Six Tricks For Coyote Swaps” on page 49.) If you’re looking to shave some dollars from the cost of the prebuilt items, you’ll need

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to be resourceful and particularly skilled. One possibility is an F-150– sourced Coyote, which is significantly less money than its Mustang or crate counterparts. It’s even possible to bolt up this engine to some vintage transmissions, such as a C4 automatic or T5 five-speed, economizing the operation if you’ve already got yourself a solid trans or waiting for your budget to catch up.

In the end, though, you could say that Byron’s ’67 coupe does it right in virtually every aspect of a Coyote swap. It’s got quality components, exemplary craftsmanship, no shortcuts, and has benefitted from a sharp eye for form and function. Better still, Byron is the kind of guy who isn’t content to let his dream car collect dust in a hermetically sealed display. On the contrary, he’s driven it extensively, the longest excursion being a 600-mile roundtrip to Spokane. Byron looks forward to other road trips and is planning to test the car’s mettle in some autocross events as well. “Driving this car regularly is the culmination of why I did what I did. The Coyote is so powerful and yet so smooth and comfortable to drive, I think it’s the perfect blend of vintage and modern.” We find it hard to argue with the sentiment!

SIX TIPS FOR COYOTE SWAPS 11.. OPEN YOUR WALLET No way around this one, says Wick.

Running a Coyote 5.0L is going to cost you more than 430-460 horses of almost anything else. It’s not the cost of the engine per se, with a brand-new crate engine ringing in at $8,500. The bill only starts to balloon with the necessary modifications to fit and run the contemporary 5.0, whether you do the work yourself or pay for some professional help.

Install mods include removal of the shock towers and installation of an aftermarket suspension, the necessary computer controls, fuel system, and exhaust. Whether you do it yourself or not these mods will cost thousands.

22.. EXHAUST Wick offered that the specific vintage chassis you’re installing a Coyote into will dictate your options.

What is clear is that stock 5.0 Mustang factory tubular manifolds aren’t friendly to a vintage Mustang chassis. Ford Performance sells cast-iron manifolds (M-9430-SR50A) from the F-150 truck application, which they say will work on certain street rods, but we know most builders will opt for aftermarket headers. With many different suspension choices to choose from, no header will be guaranteed to fit every one, however, we noted Doug’s Headers sells a vintage Mustang Coyote swap header advertised to fit some of the popular Mustang II architecture swap suspensions. Detroit Speed also sells Coyote swap headers specifically designed to clear their own AlumaFrame front suspension.

33.. COMPUTER/ECU You do have a few choices here to include products from Ford Performance, ACCEL/DFI, FAST, and others, however, in a stock-ish Coyote swap, Ford Performance’s Control Pack makes a lot of sense, and Wick has used it successfully on several occasions. The virtually turnkey system works very well and incorporates the factory’s variable valve timing, however it doesn’t have the tuning capacity of some of the other aftermarket systems—likely a concern on heavily modified 5.0s like Car Craft’s Gen 3 dyno mule.

44.. POWER STEERING PUMP BRACKET Factory applications of the 5.0 Coyote use electric power steering, but a number of companies offer a bracket that allows the use of a conventional hydraulic pump.

Wick used Vintage Air’s Front Runner drive system with a Detroit Speed alternator relocation bracket for the ’67 Mustang featured here.

55.. OIL PAN, AGAIN Wick explained that the oil pan arrangement

will be dictated by the chassis and suspension used for the swap, but expect to have to use something other than the factory Coyote rear sump pan. Canton and Moroso both offer pans for various Coyote swaps.

66.. COOLING SYSTEM For vintage Coyote swaps, Wick likes the slick radiator and fan combo from C&R Racing, which also includes a built-in engine oil cooler that goes one better than a factory Boss 302 heat exchanger.

GIFT HORSE TECH NOTES Who: Byron Tudor What: 1967 Mustang Where: Federal Way, Washington Engine: The Gen II 5.0 Coyote crate engine is PN M-6007-M50A from Ford Performance, sporting 11:1 compression, 435 hp, and 400 lb-ft of torque. This kind of normally aspirated power with a butter-smooth idle and 7K rev-ability continues to amaze. The task of physically fitting the Coyote into a Ponycar engine compartment is only part of the battle however, with the electronics and ancillaries at least as challenging.

Wicked Fabrication handled the first part by using a Detroit Speed front suspension, thereby eliminating the Mustang’s imposing shock towers. The electronics are handled by a Ford Performance Control Pack, but that’s glossing over plenty of other vexing issues.

For example, Coyotes come from the factory with electric power steering, so Wick used a Vintage Air Front Runner drive system that mounts a suitable hydraulic pump. The front dress change also includes an alternator relocation bracket from Detroit Speed.

Fuel: Detroit Speed stainless tank, Aeromotive pump, custom supply, and return lines.

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Exhaust: Detroit Speed 17⁄8-inch stainless headers, custom Wicked Fab sideexit exhaust with QTP electric cutouts and Hooker Aerochamber muffs.

Transmission: TREMEC T56 sixspeed, Centerforce 11-inch clutch and pressure plate, hydraulic T/O bearing, Ford Performance shifter.

Rearend: Detroit Speed 9-inch housing with a Strange nodular carrier, 3.70:1 gears, Wavetrac Posi, and 31-spline Strange axles.

Chassis/Suspension: Wicked Fab is a fan of Detroit Speed products in both their GM and Ford builds. In this application the company’s front AlumaFrame allows for removal of the stock shock towers, allowing almost any engine imaginable. The front suspension incorporates a sophisticated design featuring forged spindles, tubular control arms, splined sway bar, and rack-and-pinion steering. Byron’s Mustang also sports JRi adjustable coilovers front and rear. Detroit Speed was also tapped for their Quadra-Link rear suspension, mini-tubs, and subframe connectors.

Brakes: The stock four-drum binders were among the first items to hit the trash, replaced by a manual 4WDB

system sourced from Wilwood. Sixpiston calipers and 13-inch rotors were fitted at all corners, and work in conjunction with a Wilwood 7⁄8-inch bore master cylinder and proportioning valve.

Wheels/Tires: The E-T AC-IIIs measure 18x9 in front and 18x11 in back.

They’re wrapped in Toyo Proxes rubber, 275/35R18 and 315/35R18.

Interior: Byron didn’t want to reinvent the wheel when it came to his Mustang’s interior, as he generally liked the factory design and layout. To that end, the gauges were updated with Dakota Digital units, the stock seats were covered in TMI upholstery with front Sport bolsters, Wicked whipped out a custom console, and a Vintage Air A/C system keeps things cool. Entry and egress to the driver seat is made easier thanks to an ididit tilt steering column, replete with a repop ’67 Shelby wood-rimmed wheel.

Exterior: Few pro builds leave the exterior as simplistic as this one, and frankly few come off any better. Such was the nature of many of the factory designs of the ’60s—they’re difficult to improve upon. What appears to be a minimalist approach, however, has far more work in it than you’d think. Byers Customs started with a super-straight coupe, but sweated details such as body gaps, fender extension fit, and narrowed bumpers. After stripping the body to bare metal and the requisite panel massage, the original Wimbledon White hue was reapplied using twostage PPG products. The rear cove was painted black, something that should’ve been an option on ’67/’68 Mustangs but wasn’t. Rocker stripes have roots in the factory GT stripes, but are a subtle update.

T Once Owned by “Dyno Don” Nicholson, This ’62 Chevrolet Bel Air Has Been Given an LS Swap by its Current Owner, Frankie Trutanic

By John Machaqueiro / Photos: John Machaqueiro

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here is always an eclectic mix at the Holley LS Fest events with Chevy’s LS workhorse as the glue that ties it all together. Naturally, when you spot a car at one of these gatherings the assumption is that it’s LS motivated.

When we spotted Frankie Trutanic’s ’62 Chevrolet Bel Air Bubbletop sitting there with a wicked stance, we figured that it had been the recipient of, what else, an LS swap. We were on the mark with our assumption, but what pulled us in even further was how deceptively dressed it was underhood. The part that really put it over the top was his assertion that it was once owned by “Dyno Don” Nicholson. That affirmation prompted a completely different set of questions, with the most obvious being, why do an LS swap on a car with that provenance?

Frankie was very straightforward in explaining that: “I have always been a big fan of LS swaps, and I like to drive my cars.”

He is no stranger to dropping an LS into what he owns, with a number of swaps under his belt, and a 1,200-horse LS-powered ’86 Buick T-Type as his most radical to date.

The acquisition of the ’62 Bubbletop was a bucket list item that Frankie wanted to check off at some point. When his

search commenced, he quickly realized that they were not the easiest to find—and the few that did emerge in decent condition were fetching a premium. One eventually popped up fairly local to him at a consignment shop that looked like it was in decent condition—with a hefty price tag. In the listing it was advertised as having been owned by “Dyno Don” Nicholson. It also provided additional information stating that he had sold it in 1999, and the second owner had, at some point, performed a full restoration with a fresh coat of Ermine White paint over the original sheetmetal. Part of that refurbishment also included a completely redone red interior, a rebuild of the 409ci mill that had been stroked to 472 ci, and a swap of the Powerglide in favor of a Turbo 350. It also noted that after the restoration, “Dyno Don” signed his name underneath the hood of the car, and a photo of him signing the car would be part of the package that included all the documentation on the car. After doing a bit of detective work, he found out who the seller was and contacted him.

“The guy who was selling the car was the owner’s son,” he explains. “His dad was fanatical about ‘Dyno Don’ and

actually owned a few cars from his estate.” The biggest obstacle that Frankie was facing at that point in getting the Bel Air was the hefty price. He was prepared to pay a realistic amount, but there was a disparity between what was being asked and what he was willing to pay. It was suggested to him that he get a cashier’s check for the amount he wanted to offer, take a photo of it and send it to the consignment place, and see where it went from there. After some back and forth bartering, all the people who had some skin in the game came together and a deal was cut for the car.

After the Bel Air was in his possession, he did an assessment of the car’s condition, and what he wanted to do with it. He also invested some time to educate himself on the “Dyno Don” connection. It was a bit of a mystery because he wasn’t familiar with his legacy, but he notes that, “I educated myself on him and had no idea how legendary he was.” That awareness gave him a different perspective on how he wanted to move forward with the car, and the extent that it would be modified. The LS swap was etched in stone,

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CHANNELING “DYNO DON”

however, he didn’t want to just drop one in and call it a day. Having seen some of the work done by Delmo’s Speed & Kustom in Burbank, California, on a number of trucks, he felt that their LS dress-up parts would look right at home between the Bel Air’s fenders. As that plan moved forward, a new LS 376/480 Hot Cam crate engine was ordered and shipped to Delmo’s for their retro treatment, which included the installation of a Holley single-plane intake, Holley EFI, and stock throttle body with Delmo’s LS3

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adapter. Included were also their LS3 valve cover adapters for use with Chevy’s small-block valve covers, coil relocation brackets, and retro plug wires. Once completed it was given a bath of Chevy Orange paint.

While that was taking place at Delmo’s, Frankie was busy at his shop, P2 Fabrication, working on everything else to accommodate the engine swap.

Beyond the LS installation, a 4L70-E transmission was also ordered, and the Classic Performance Products (CPP) catalog cracked open for all the

suspension and brake parts. At the rear, the stock housing was removed and a narrowed 9-inch unit from Currie Enterprises installed, while rolling stock came together from a combination of custom Stockton Wheel Service wheels and BFGoodrich Comp T/A tires. His plan was to do the entire installation without having to cut up anything on the car, and take all the removed parts and place them in storage. “I wanted to make sure that there was no permanent thing that was done to the car,” he points out. “My plan was to do a pure bolt-on installation so that everything could go back to stock.” When the completed engine was delivered from Delmo’s, it was mated to the 4L70-E and the entire assembly dropped into the engine bay.

From there, Hooker cast-iron manifolds were installed, and a 2.5-inch stainless steel exhaust with Stainless Works mufflers fabricated.

Since the car was in exceptionally good condition when purchased and the interior was not in need of any work; the only significant addition was the installation of a Vintage Air system.

Frankie explains, “We spent about two days smoothing the textured ABS plastic vents down and then painted them red to match the dash, and we also hid the A/C controls in the glovebox.” The only other items he added were a period-correct Mooneyes tach, and a Marshall Bluetooth speaker.

The entire transformation only took three months to pull off. For Frankie, the driving experience and the reliability have been the biggest factors that were improved on the Bel Air. From a more introspective point-of-view, he states, “I don’t know what ‘Dyno Don’ was like, but he had a large amount of cars, and I think he would have appreciated that it is being used—and I use it! I have fun with it, and I pay homage to the history in my own way.”

TECH NOTES Who: Frankie Trutanic What: 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air Bubbletop Where: Pacific Palisades, California Engine: When Frankie purchased the Bel Air it was equipped with a dual-quad 409 that had been stroked to 472 ci. His plan to do an LS swap involved the installation of a stock crate LS 376/480 Hot Cam engine with a retrofit done by Delmo’s Speed & Kustom in Burbank, California, which would involve the installation of their custom-machined LS3 valve cover adapters for use with Chevy’s small-block valve covers, coil relocation brackets, and retro plug wires. Their conversions have been primarily done on trucks that have been LS swapped, but Frankie felt their treatment would work well with the Bel Air. Induction/Exhaust: Part of the installation done at Delmo’s involves the installation of a Holley single-plane, midrise aluminum intake that is capped off with an LS3 throttle body adapter and a stock LS3 throttle body. On the fuel delivery side, a Holley EFI system is used for that task. On the exhaust end, Frankie installed a set of Hooker HKR cast-iron exhaust manifolds mated to 2.5inch stainless steel pipes and Stainless Works mufflers that end in front of the rear wheels.

Electronics: Part of the package that Delmo’s put together with his retro conversion included a

CHANNELING “DYNO DON”

wiring harness and fuse block designed to mate with the existing wiring on the car. Also included are relocation brackets that place the coil packs behind the engine, and a set of retro plug wires.

The ECU used is from a ’16 Corvette and was given a custom tune by Daniel Butler Tuning.

Transmission: With the addition of the LS3, the existing Turbo 350 was set aside and a 4L70-E transmission purchased. As a result of this conversion, a custom driveshaft from Inland Empire Driveline in Ontario, California, was also installed, while Delmo’s supplied the custom-made 3,000-rpm stall speed converter.

Rearend: The stock rearend was removed and a narrowed 9-inch assembly was ordered from Currie Enterprises, which included 3.55:1 gears and was set up for 35-spline axles.

Chassis/Suspension/Brakes: The Bel Air still rides on its original frame but has been infused with a full menu of parts from CPP. From their catalog, Frankie installed a full front suspension that consisted of 2-inch drop front springs, shocks, sway bar, bushings, and steering box. At the rear, 2-inch drop springs, shocks, and sway bar

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were also installed. CPP big single-piston calipers and 12-inch rotors were used at all four corners, along with a Wilwood master cylinder.

Wheels/Tires: The wheels on the Bel Air were custom-made for Frankie at Stockton Wheel Service. They measure 15x7 at the front and are wrapped in 235/60R15 BFGoodrich Comp T/As, while the rear set are 15x9 and wear 275/60R15 BFGoodrich Comp T/As. Paint/Body: The Bel Air still wears all its original sheetmetal. When Frankie purchased the car it had been the recipient of an Ermine White basecoat/ clearcoat paintjob that was in excellent

condition. The only deviation from the stock body was the addition of louvers on the hood that was done prior to Frankie’s ownership.

Interior: The interior was in excellent condition without any need for repairs when he purchased the car. A Vintage Air unit was the only significant addition that Frankie made. The stock ducts that came with the system were sanded and painted to match the existing red on the dash. The controls for the A/C unit were also installed in the glovebox. A period-correct Mooneyes tach and a Marshall Bluetooth speaker were also installed.

Young and Old Alike Freak Out When They Lay Eyes on This Nebraska Hideaway

D

espite loads of anticipation and the long hours of thrashing, Week To Wicked projects are fun. We didn’t expect anything less going into this year’s Nova gasser build. Once we stepped onto Speedway Motors’ expansive campus in Lincoln, Nebraska, to begin our coverage with the buildup of a tunnel-ram big-block Chevy (Jan. ’20 “Throwback Tunnel Rat”), we quickly learned the company was much more than just a speed equipment retailer. The most fascinating building within the complex wasn’t the one packed with new parts, but the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed.

Renowned Midwest racer “Speedy” Bill Smith opened Speedway Motors in 1952 to sell speed equipment. As Smith’s racing career and business success grew in the decades that followed, so did his collection of vintage race cars and engines, go-fast goodies, automotive toys, and general memorabilia. In 1992 Smith opened the Museum of American Speed. Today it encompasses three floors in a 150,000-square-foot building. It contains some of the most interesting artifacts and exhibits we’ve ever seen and covers the history of racing all the way to its inception.

The Museum of American Speed welcomes large groups, car clubs, and the general public alike for a nominal entry fee with guided tours available. The museum even boasts a large event space that can accommodate up to a few hundred people for private gatherings. Whether as part of a group or individually, the Museum of American Speed is a spectacle that no automotive enthusiast should go without seeing at least once.

Harry Miller was so influential in the early days of racing that Museum of American Speed dedicated an entire room to showcase his engineering marvels.

Included among them are his high-performance Miller Marine engines as well as those produced by Fred Offenhauser, who carried onward with Miller’s designs when he declared bankruptcy in 1933.

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By Rocky Rotella / Photos: Rocky Rotella

Louis Chevrolet raced this #27 Cornelian in the 1915 Indianapolis 500. Weighing less than 1,000 pounds, and the first vehicle with independent rear suspension, Chevrolet qualified at 81 mph but only completed 76 laps before a mechanical failure cut short its charge.

The No. 57 STP IndyCar was built by Fred Gerhardt in 1969 and sold to Granatelli Motorsports. As Chrysler diverted its race engine program from NASCAR to IndyCar, No. 57 was fitted with Plymouth’s newly developed 318ci V-8. The car claimed the division’s only IndyCar win, which occurred at Dover Downs Speedway in August 1969.

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MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SPEED

The Mickey Thompson display includes lightweight block castings and various other components, but the main feature is his Pumpkin Seed land speed racer.

Originally built by Bill Burke and raced with Thompson-built engines, Pumpkin Seed ran as fast as 232 mph before Mickey purchased it in the early ’60s.

Mickey’s son, Danny, restored Pumpkin Seed in the late ’90s and had reached 286 mph before he officially retired it in 2007.

The Bonneville Land Speed Racing display is astonishing. Named “Flat Fire,” this orange streamliner was built by Ron Main and powered by a Ford flathead V-8.

Despite the engine’s aged architecture, Main collaborated with the top talent in the industry to push the antiquated V-8’s output to 700 hp. In 2002, he achieved a top speed of 315.2 mph, making it the fastest Ford flathead-powered racer on record.

As rudimentary as it may appear, this full-scale replica of Karl Benz’s original Motorwagen from the mid-1880s accurately depicts the world’s very first gas-powered automobile, albeit on three wheels. A few fully operational reproductions were assembled during the 1980s to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Benz’s original vehicle.

The Museum of American Speed includes a number of large tributes to dedicated speed industry pioneers. According to Speedway Motors, this cylindrical grinding machine was purchased by Ed Iskenderian in 1946 as World War II surplus. (Isky tells us it used to grind cams for tank engines.)

He fabricated a camshaft lobe grinding fixture and began producing his first camshafts. Isky went on to become one of the most popular names in the aftermarket camshaft business.

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The Museum of American Speed has its own fully equipped engine restoration shop that’s used to restore and preserve engines as they are accessioned into the collection. A staff of five full-time workers research and prepare engines for display.

Equipment includes typical lathes and mills but the team also has the ability to scan, machine, and 3-D print items when impossible-to-find parts are needed.

When Henry Ford’s Model T reached production in 1908, it revolutionized the world. By May 1921, Ford Motor Company had produced 5 million vehicles and this very car celebrated that feat. After pulling it from the assembly line and placing it into storage, Ford lost track of the celebratory Model T and it eventually fell into private hands. It became part of Smith’s collection in 2007.

During the late ’50s, a group of determined Chrysler employees who called themselves the Ramchargers privately entered their products into speed contests. This Dodge Demon Funny Car is an astounding testament to their passion and success. The Hemi-powered dragster was campaigned in IHRA during 1972 and 1973 and was the first Funny Car to break 230 mph with an elapsed time of 6.39 seconds.

In 1936, Art Garrick began building this high-speed roadster for dry lake competition. Using his fabricating skills and about anything he could find, the race car is attractive and functional, and quite technologically advanced for its time.

Garrick’s creation was featured in the May ’51 issue of Hot Rod magazine.

Nowhere in America is the development of Ford’s flathead V-8 summed up better than this unique display.

From left, it includes the 1928 prototype, an experimental allaluminum engine from 1938, an experimental engine from 1934, an experimental aircooled version from the early ’30s, and two more ’30s prototypes.

Incredible!

A.J. Watson was an Indianapolis 500 racing pioneer. His vehicle designs dominated the Brickyard and to his credit are five consecutive wins. In tribute to his accomplishments, the Museum of American Speed relocated a portion of Watson’s shop to Lincoln for this display that replicates his garage as it appeared upon his death in 2014. The No. 5 Watson Roadster is on loan from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

➔SOURCE

Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed; 402/323-3166; MuseumOfAmericanSpeed.com How heavily did the aftermarket support Ford’s flathead V-8 over the years? A secondfloor wall decorated with 352 intake manifolds adorns the area dedicated to America’s original hot rod mill.

Drag Racers are a Hearty Breed in Wisconsin

A

t just about any dragstrip across the nation, if the weather called for sub-zero temperatures, like a low of -18 and a high of 26, that would pretty much guarantee there would be no racing action that day. Well, unless that track is made of pure Midwest ice and sits on frozen Lake Alexander in Northern Wisconsin. Welcome to the Merrill Ice Drags, also known as the fastest eighth-mile on ice!

Brutal Badger State winters were the actual inspiration for the unique eighth-mile dragstrip, and Wisconsin’s hearty drivers did not want to give up their need for speed just because the frigid winter months were upon them.

The sub-zero race got its start over 50 years ago. This snow-white track has unique guard walls that are actually frozen snow banks, but feature a fully modern timing system, a two-story race control tower, and the now-obvious irony of a starting line “Christmas tree” that is stuck in the lane divider made of frozen snow. Competition includes more than 15 car and truck categories with an average of 50 racers competing for cash, prizes, and trophies. Drivers come from as far away as Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa to race.

One of the Merrill Ice Drags cofounders, Gary Schwartz,

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was hands-on at the event and told us how this event was started: “Well, it was four, five, six guys talking and each of us raced in the summertime and we had drag-racing experience. Why can’t we do it in the wintertime? What do we have to put the machines away for? From there it just turned into a conversation, and back in 1965 this group got together and formalized it.”

This event has been held at on the same slab of ice for over 50 years, but Schwartz says the way it’s plowed has definitely changed. “This piece of ice used to be plowed with an old-fashioned Ford Bronco with a 6-foot plow on it. Of course, it just had up and down on it. You had to get out and change the plowing angles.”

Back in 1965, to tackle the frozen tundra and slippery track terrain, racers would attach roofing nails to their race car tires. I’m proud to say this practice on Lake Alexander has evolved since then to dry wall screws in the tires. Called “nailies,” they have between 3,000 and 5,000 screws or other types of nails driven right through the rubber. When the ’tree goes green and the clutch drops, these scary looking slicks spray ice like a Sno-Cone machine. At this track,

By Kendra Sommer / Photos: Bo Vanlanen & Kendra Sommer

the well-worn phrase “burning rubber” is actually hard to do, but it’s not slowing any of these winter warriors down.

Husband and wife racing team Perry and Ruthie Redeker are proud to bring their record-setting Nitemare II ’65 Ford Mustang Fastback to the ice. Their Pro-Mod–styled race car was actually custom-built for eighth-mile drag racing on ice.

Its 950-plus horsepower comes courtesy of a 460-style Ford big-block built by Redeker Performance Motor. It has carried the front end past the Christmas tree and pushed the 2,500pound tube chassis, steel-bodied car to a best run of 134 mph on the ice. That was worth a world record in the doorslammer class.

“We are the only one in the world we know as far as having a series like this. Other events have one day, and we have a series. People all over the world know about us,” Merrill Ice Drags board of director member Ruth Redeker says.

On the day we attended, Eugene Finck from Athens, Wisconsin, walked away from the event a happy man. Finck clenched two of the three classes he and his ’87 Buick Regal competed in. Finck came out victorious in both the 9.0 class and the Easy Street Class, and says his involvement with the

Ice Drags in Merrill began when he was shopping for snow tires. “I ran into a Merrill Ice Drags board member when I was shopping for some new snow tires and I wasn’t sure how they would handle. They suggested that I come out and give them a try in their rubber tires class.” We asked Eugene his thoughts on driving those snow tires on the ice track: “Totally different than going down the street!”

Travis Arndt is familiar with knocking down the Christmas tree, whether it’s in his ’72 Jaguar Green Chevelle SS on the track, or at the family’s Christmas Tree Farm in Wisconsin Rapids. Race veteran Arndt had his Chevelle restored over a year ago and it’s packing a Chevy 400 that feeds 535 hp through a Turbo 350. Arndt tells us that making “nailies” is a labor of love. He spends over 12 hours every three years installing all of the screws per tire.

Maintaining this winter wonderland of racing are more than 30 volunteer members who help construct the track and coordinate the races. Building the track consists of having poles drilled into the ice to support snow fences along the track. Then, the frozen lake is plowed to clear out four 660-foot lanes on the ice. At the end of racing, the two lanes

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HOLIDAY ON ICE

Driver Perry Redeker chews out snow and ice in his Nitemare II Pro Mod ’65 Ford Mustang, Saturday Feb. 16, 2019, at the Merrill Ice Drags.

used that day are swept and flooded. All four lanes are used on a rotating basis, which allows the unused lanes time to refreeze, that way Mother Nature herself can repair the damage from the nailies. As a safety precaution, the ice on Lake Alexander must be 18 inches thick for spectators, and for running the races.

With a current e.t. record of 5.43 and a speed record of 141.60 mph, this form of drag racing is certainly something to see, and spectators come from as far away as Germany, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, and even South Africa to watch the ice fly.

Find out more on the Merrill Ice Drags at the club’s website: MerrillIceDrags.com.

Race veteran Travis Arndt of Wisconsin Rapids cranks out the horsepower in his ’72 Jaguar Green Chevelle.

Race-ready tires are affectionately called “nailies.” These tires have over 3,000 drywall screws to provide traction in an otherwise slick environment.

A race team member helps stage this Hemi Charger in the starting beams. Racing on ice provides challenges for finding the best racing line, just like on dry pavement. The Walleye and Smallmouth Bass 2 feet below the surface of Lake Alexander seem to dig it, too.

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Eugene Finck and his ’87 Buick Regal get ready to hit the track. Finck took home the win with the help of some American muscle underhood. His 355 Chevy spins a 3,800-stall converter in a Turbo 350 transmission.

The Merrill Ice Drags in Merrill, WI, is the only ice drag racing series in America that has a regular running schedule, and they even have a dedicated two-story timing tower. It must be brought out to the ice and removed from the ice each winter.

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JUNKYARD CRAWL Two-Door Ford Police Interceptors Found in Idaho

By Steve Magnante / Photos: Steve Magnante

When Ford launched the Mustang Special Service Package (SSP) in 1982 (also known as Special Service Vehicle, SSV), the proud automaker ran national magazine ads that read “This Ford chases Porsches for a living.” This ’86 SSV 5.0 LX sedan is one of 22 built for the Iowa Sheriff’s Department that year. The Iowa fleet was built in Dearborn and carried VIN sequences running from 251955 to 251976. This is number 251964.

F

or the average motorist, police cars evoke mixed feelings of intimidation, awe, respect, and maybe a little repressed guilt. But if you can look beyond the cops and robbers element, it’s a fact that police cars are essentially muscle cars in uniform, and that’s why we should care when we find them in the junkyard.

For practicality, most police cars are based on four-door bodies. All the better to haul away the bad guys, right?

But on the open road, things can be a lot different. Millions of vehicles roll down the interstate every year. And if some of their drivers are speeding, somebody has to slow them down.

That’s where traffic enforcement officers come into play. They’re not looking for Bonnie and Clyde, they just want drivers to be safe and obey the law. To help make it happen, they roll in two-door police cars. This month we bring you a pair of two-door Ford Police Interceptors recently discovered

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at L&L Classic Auto in Wendell, Idaho (208/536-6607).

Regular Car Craft readers will recognize the L&L name from previous Junkyard Crawl visits. Thanks to the dry climate and the fact that Idaho doesn’t salt the roads during the winter months, rust and corrosion are minor factors. Better yet, L&L proprietor Larry Harms is a car nut.

Ever since he opened the doors in 1967, he’s kept an eye out for special cars and sets them aside. He says: “Cars that arrive here after a crash and with major damage are considered parts cars. We’ll sell any part a customer wants. On the other hand, cars that are in better condition deserve to be kept intact and sold to people for restoration. I call them project cars; our website has a constantly growing selection.”

We agree with Larry and hope the two extra-special Ford two-door police interceptors discovered here wind up in

caring hands. It’d be great to see them on the road once again … as long as they’re not in our rearview mirrors with lights flashing!

Though blown out for lack of a proper camera lens filter, the ’86 HO 5.0 debuted SEFI, and while it was rated 200 hp—15 less than 1985’s Holley four-barrel–equipped HO—torque was up 15 clicks to 285 lb-ft.

SSP engines got light blue silicon coolant hoses, sandwich-style engine oil coolers, and 130-amp Lestek alternators, but were otherwise the same as non-police powerplants.

This SSP has the T-5 five-speed manual transmission but many were also sold with the AOD automatic overdrive. It all depended on the jurisdiction’s philosophy regarding the use of the driver/officer’s right hand. Kansas, North Carolina, and others believed it was more important for the driver to hold the radio microphone and remain in communication and ordered their SSPs with the AOD automatic. Other states—California, Oregon, Alabama, and Iowa—felt that manual transmissions required less service and maintenance.

Catching speeders was all in a day’s work for highway officers. Though Ford didn’t offer rollbars from the factory, many jurisdictions added them for extra occupant safety. In Idaho, records show that a company named Satina installed these simple two-point rollbars before the cars entered service. Note the foam padding placed around the steel tubing.

Far more scarce than any SSP Mustang, this ’74 Torino packs Ford’s most powerful V-8 that year, the Q-code 351 Cleveland.

Still referred to as the 351 Cobra Jet and 351 HO in some factory marketing and service documents, at 255 hp the 351 CJ outgunned the base 351 Cleveland (162 hp), 400 two-barrel (170 hp), and even the huge 460 four-barrel (195 hp, 220 in police and Thunderbird).

A descendant of the mighty ’71 Boss 351, by 1974 the Q-code 351 CJ may have lost the Boss’ solid cam, 11.7:1 pistons, and 2.19/1.71-inch valves, but it still had four-bolt main caps, generous 2.04-/1.67-inch valves, and radical (for the time) 0.480-/0.488-inch lift hydraulic cam. Here, the big 750-cfm Motorcraft 4300 series spread-bore fourbarrel carb and intake have been scavenged.

Below: Inside, base Torino vinyl surfaces replace the plush velour found in more common Gran Torinos, Broughams, and Elites. The most shocking detail is the rubber floormat in place of carpeting.

Surprisingly, Ford fleet engineers deemed the Pinto-based four-lug hubs adequate for the extreme rigors of police duty. Their four-lug design forced Ford to come up with these unique 15x7 vented steel wheels (PN M-1007-D157). They were used on ’85-’86 SSPs and had a center cap (missing) similar to, but deeper than, a Ford Escort. These chrome acorn nuts are original equipment.

The door certification label reads: VIN, 4=1974, H=Loraine, OH, 25=Torino two-door hardtop, Q=351 HO, 182842=sequence number. Elsewhere on the label, Body 65B=two-door hardtop, Trim AB=medium blue vinyl, Trans U=C6 automatic, Axle 9=3.25:1 gear ratio, open differential. The DSO code (210542) is strange. This tells what part of the country the car was originally delivered to and is typically a twodigit code. This six-digit code is a mystery.

Also, note that the color box is blank, not uncommon on special-order paintjobs like this two-tone police unit.

GROOVY FACTOIDS • The 2004 Warner Brothers feature film spoofing the original Starsky & Hutch TV show used up twelve ’74’76 Gran Torinos doing stunts and crashes. Beyond that, two virtually identical “Zebra Three” hero cars were built for WB by Premiere Studio Rentals for closeups and post-filming promotion work. I had the honor of posing with one of them for the Mar. ’04 cover of Hot Rod magazine.

Well actually, my right arm got all the glory. For the cover shot, the arm placing the iconic S&H flashing red emergency lamp on the roof is mine.

• Capitalizing on the success of the original ABC TV show, in 1976 Ford built 1,001 red-with-white-stripe Starsky & Hutch Specials. All were built at Ford’s Chicago assembly plant where the white “zebra stripes” caused huge headaches. Because early testing showed that applying the white paint stripe over the red body tinted the stripes pink, the process was reversed. Instead, each car was given two coats of oven-baked white, then the shape of the “Z” was marked off with special 3M masking paper. Then the cars were sent back into the paint booth for a final application of 2B Bright Red paint. Any legitimate Starsky & Hutch Special Torino VIN must show a “G” in the second spot (Chicago plant) and DSO code 0022.

Left: Look closely at the police-spec gear selector display. Notice there’s no “L” (Low gear/First gear) displayed at the far end of the “PRNDS” readout. Known as “Low gear lock out,” the heavy-duty police-spec C6 has a valvebody that’s been programmed to use Low gear in the normal way at any time while restricting the driver access. Data showed that certain gung-ho drivers had a habit of hammering the shift lever down into Low when chasing after speeders.

MARCH 2020 CARCRAFT.COM 69

WTF?

(Where’s The Fun?)

Photo by Steve Magnante

➔SRT8 CHARGER

Looks like a Hemi “rat” motor!!!

—Bennie Jackson Somewhere in Texas

➔JUNKYARD CRAWL

The Junkyard Crawl column is sometimes the best part of Car Craft. I grew up with cars in the mid-to-late ’60s and Steve Magnante’s find of the ’64 Falcon K-car was powerful to me because it was a realistic slice of life that ultimately can’t be effaced by bondo and N.O.S. replacement parts. Recognizing the vanishing of the past and the fact that everyone lives in the present is a type of equalizing justice for each of the living. But because I grew up with cars like the K-car Fairlane, the article is more powerful, as I realize the audience for these kinds of car is dying off. My kids can’t appreciate these kinds of cars the way I do, but it’s natural because they don’t have the shared past I do.

—Rex O’Steen, Greenville, SC

Photo by Mark Ehlen

➔’36 FORD COUPE

➔OLDS

➔SEND STUFF TO CAR CRAFT!

Great November issue! A couple of observations: the ’68 W30 442 featured for the Quadrajet versus Sniper comparison would be a 400ci displacement, not a 455.

The Junkyard Crawl Rallye 350 would have the type-O rearend, that while having 12 bolts in the rear cover has a 10-bolt, 8.5-inch ring gear. Very good axle but limited parts availability. Really enjoy the magazine and recently renewed for three more years. Keep up the good work.

—Ross “Doc” Frahm Via the Internet

Over thirtysome years, I built my ’36 Ford three-window coupe. It isn’t a show winner or a drag queen; I built it for me to run around in. It has a 454 Chevy big-block with the 3-2s setup off of an older Corvette. There’s modern electronic ignition, a three-speed GM auto transmission, 3.50:1 posi in a 9-inch Ford, and P235/75R15 tires. The carbs are Holley.

—Jim Meyer, State College, PA

Pick up a crayon or iPad, scrawl your best version of English, and send it to Car Craft. Here’s how: email: CarCraft@carcraft.com online: HotRod.com mail: 831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245 disclaimer: If you can’t write a complete sentence, don’t worry, we will make your work comprehensible. That includes making up stuff we thought you meant.

70 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

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WTF?

BURNOUT!!

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I bought this ’86 Monte Carlo SS July 7, 2000, shortly after graduating high school, as a completely stock car. It’s a father/son project, complete with a naturally aspirated 434ci small-block,

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T56 six-speed, and 8.5-inch rearend. It has RideTech goodies, Wilwood brakes, a custom cage, and House of Kolor paint. It ran in Optima’s Search for the Ultimate Streetcar Challenge, and it has also been on the Hot Rod Power Tour.

—Mark “Kurly” Kissinger Jackson, WI

➔ICE ATTACKS GOAT!

Here’s a shot of my year-round daily driver ’04 GTO 40th anniversary in the grocery store parking lot last winter. It’s a factory 118K-mile, 5.7/six-speed with an as-born lower end but a ton of head/intake work.

For winter use, I run a full set of top-tier Goodyear snow tires. The factory traction control and about 4,000 pounds of road-hugging weight make this surprisingly doable, coupled with experience and common sense. At 20 or 30 degrees F below 0 you really hear that LS1 piston slap until you reach operating temp, and yonder TREMEC with the aftermarket Ripshifter is, um, stiff. Yeah, I catch shade for ruining a collector’s item; I just say I bought it to drive. If I wanted to look at one, a 1:18 scale model would have been much cheaper. Save the sticks, and keep ’em off the trailer!

—Ryan Corman, Fargo, ND

➔NEIGHBORHOOD BUILDS

Here’s a picture of three cars built in our neighborhood during recent years.

The blue ’32 Ford roadster is owned by Mike Hansen. The ’33 Ford three-window coupe belongs to Glenn Purdy, and he and Mike recently finished it after a two-year build. The ’68 Camaro convertible belongs to my wife and I, and I built it with a bunch of help from Mike and Jay Jensen in his shop called Paint Booth in Cedar Falls, Iowa. All three cars have small-block Chevy engines and many other goodies. We all enjoy Car Craft magazine and would love to see the cars in WTF! —Dave & Lori Spencer Waterloo, IA

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74 CAR CRAFT MARCH 2020

Byron Tudor’s ’67 Mustang with a Gen II 5.0 Coyote engine lurking inside. / Photo: Eric English

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