Gearheads4Life Summer 2015 by Xceleration Media

BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT: PREMIERE ISSUE OF POPULAR WEBSITE HOT RIDES BIG PERSONALITIES MEGA EVENTS ESSENTIAL GEAR

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SOCIAL

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WORLDS COLLIDE

THE ROCKABILLY LIFESTYLE

International Model by day – gearhead by night. Emily Williams is the real deal.

LIVING THE

VOL. 1, NO. 1 • GHL2015-1

AUTOMOTIVE LIFE CARS

KEEPER OF THE KEYS

POTEET’S COLLECTION

SPIRITS SMALL TOWN

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INSIDE... Gearheads4Life.com Vol. 1, No. 1

DEPARTMENTS 03 GRINDING GEARS 05 BENCH RACING 06 GEARHEAD NEWS 08 GEARHEAD GUIDE 09 SOCIAL SHOUTOUTS 10 GEARHEAD GIRL 13 COOL VIDZ 20 TORQUE VALUES 22 THE CAR GEEK RISES 24 FOOD 4 THOUGHT Letter from the Editor

CAR FEATURES 14 HENRY NEVER ENVISIONED THIS 66 MUST BE THE WATER 26 NO AVERAGE GROCERY GETTER 74 PURPLE NURPLE 44 ALTERED PERCEPTION 80 GETTIN’ DURTY 54 BEST THANK YOU EVER 88 FINALLY FINISHED John Perry’s ’59 Edsel Ranger

Logan Davidson’s ’69 GMC C10

Troy Martin’s ’53 Ranch Wagon

Larry Krussow’s ’71 Challenger R/T

Mark Johnson’s ’65 Falcon Altered

Ron Blanchard’s ’55 Chevy Gasser

Bruce Gustafson’s ’69 Camaro

Gregg Dunkin’s ’67 Camaro

Even more features, videos, & event coverage

@ Gearheads4Life.com

Connect to all things gearhead News guys like us can use

Gearhead dedicated apps, sites, and forums Stay connected through social media Emily Williams gets under the hood Cool videos we found online

For gearheads cars are family The love of cars runs deep

Tasting the town when on the road

Staff

SPECIAL FEATURES 32 STATE OF THE ART 42 PART OF THE JOB How JEGS keeps things moving

Bub Miller was born for this career

34 HOT ROD BENEFACTOR 48 KILLING IT 38 KEEPER OF THE CAR Visit to George Poteet’s farm Hutch is Poteet’s right hand man

LIFESTYLE 62 AUTOMOTIVE AMERICANA 70 MOONSHINER’S REDEMPTION 78 CARS & SCARS The Rockabily lifestyle

Michael Ballard’s talks S’loonshine

Jeff Smith has had some wild rides

Mike Finnegan’s tales from the road

58 BLUFF CITY EMPIRE

Memphis: “Traction Capital of the South”

84 LIVED TO TELL IT

Sensory Overload recalls crazy Pro-Street days

92 POMONA IS POUNDING Event coverage from SMN

Group Publisher Shawn Brereton Editorial Director Shawn Brereton Senior Tech Editor Jeff Smith Contributors Brandon Flannery Dan Hodgdon Louis Kimery Cal Stenko Advertising Dave Ferrato 504.237.5072 Brett Underwood 704.896.1959 For advertising inquiries call 901.260.5910. Production / Circulation Hailey Douglas Art Jason Wommack Zach Tibbett Gearheads4Life is published bi-annually to promote the growth of the car culture as well as recognize the parts and services from participating manufacturers. The magazine consists of dedicated information from partner companies with the mission of disseminating unfiltered editorial on companies, products and services directly to car enthusiasts and fans. Editorial content and advertisements for each issue can originate from partner companies participating in the magazine. Gearheads4Life is a hybrid of content that was originally published at Gearheads4Life.com and original content that was created for this bi-annually print magazine. Magazine distribution occurs through direct distribution from parent company Xceleration Media, its partner companies, and marquee events throughout the year. Gearheads4Life is a property of Xceleration Media. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written consent from Xceleration Media. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

GEARHEADS4LI GRINDING GEARS

Welcome to Gearheads4Life

I am so excited that I don’t even know where to start. There are so many things I want to say I could fill this entire issue with words, but our graphic designer would kill me. I guess first off, I’d like to welcome you to the first edition of Gearheads4Life, Xceleration Media’s newest title. Why am I so excited? I have been waiting for this day my entire 44 years! I have been a car enthusiast/hobbyist since birth, literally — my baby rattle was a piston from a weed eater! If it has wheels, I can appreciate the effort that goes into preserving, restoring, or modifying it. The saying goes “find a job doing something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”. Well I can’t say that is 100 percent true — I’m working my butt off being the publisher for all of our publications, along with being the Editor for GH4L — but for the first time in my professional career I am truly enjoying the work I am doing. My second day of work had me sitting in on an interview with legendary dirt track racer Sammy Swindell about his retirement. Who else can say that? Already, I have been able to cross off some of my personal Gearhead Bucket List items within my first year such as SEMA, PRI, and the GNRS! I am one of those people who live by the motto “work to live, not live to work,” and am writing this at midnight, while trying to decide if I should replace the interior in my ’55 Chevy that will surely take up any little extra time I may have. By the time you read this, we will be knee deep into car show/ racing/cruising season and I really don’t want to miss it this year. You might be reading this at one of the Street Machine Nationals events, in which we are truly excited to be the official media partner. There is nothing I enjoy more than a big event where people come together to show the blood, sweat, and tears that show up in their cars as fabrication, ingenuity, and creativity. There is nothing that says “my car” more than being able to put your personal touch on your ride. GH4L’s slogan is “if it’s automotive and it’s considered cool ... Gearheads4Life covers it!” I think this perfectly captures what we try to achieve with this property. We will try our best to bring you everything that makes our automotive lifestyle more than

just a hobby to us. This magazine will be a little lighter than our other publications. You won’t see as many hard-core technical articles as the others, but you will see more feature vehicles, interviews, shop tours, and quirky off-the-wall type things that make automobiles such an ingrained part of our American culture. I think as far as first issues go, we have one heck of a ride for you. I write my car features from the perspective of the person behind the car — what makes that car their car. Nothing is off-limits, you will see anything from rat rods to Pro-Street cars. There are shop tours and stories on things that we just think car guys would like such as Memphis’ motor history and Full Throttle Distillery. Lastly, I would like to say a big thank you to the names you see in the masthead on the contents page. The editors of each property are the “face” of Xceleration Media, but much like a pit crew these folks are the unsung heroes — at least in my eyes — who keep this car rolling. Without their skills and expertise, my job would be impossible; so when you look at the impeccable layout, thank the graphic designer and art director; when you read an article you like, thank the reporter; when you view the beautiful pictures, thank the videographer/photographer. We love feedback — good or bad — so please let us know what you think. You can’t know what you are doing wrong or right if no one tells you. We are always looking for content as well, so please feel free to contact me, whether it is with ideas or just something you think we’d like. If it is automotive related, chances are we will! I hope you enjoy our inaugural issue. GH4L Shawn Brereton sbrereton@xcelerationmedia.com

Photo: David Brink

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BENCHRACING EVERYTHING GEARHEADS NEED TO KNOW!

06 GEARHEAD NEWS

08 DIGITAL GUIDE

VIDEO 09 SOCIAL SHOUTOUTS 13 REWIND

WHO IS THIS GEARHEAD GIRL?

GEARHEAD POWERPACK GIVEAWAY Congrats go out to Mark Johnson with his ’65 Altered Ford Falcon, and Mario DeLeon with his ’66 Ford Mustang. Mark and Mario were chosen by the editors of Gearheads4Life and Power and Performance News from a long list of entries on the Street Machine Nationals — Pomona Facebook page to receive free entry into the event as well as $750 worth of COMP Performance Group gift certificates (thanks COMP!). For anyone thinking about attending the next event in June 26–28 at Du Quoin, Illinois, go to our Facebook page, hit Like, then find the link to the contest — it’s as easy as taking a picture!

A WORK IN PROGRESS We’ve been working hard here at GH4L to get this new

property up and running. We’ve been traveling all over the nation to bring you some of the coolest car features, event coverage, and lifestyle pieces. We hope you like what we’ve done with the place! There are plenty of car guy events between now and our next print issue, so we will be burning up the highways and byways to bring the coverage of some of the best ones. But there is a lot we can’t cover in a magazine, so we invite you to make Gearheads4Life.com one of your go-to websites. We are constantly updating it with shows and events we have attended to with LOTS more pictures. We love feedback (OK, maybe not all of it), but we encourage you to go to the website and leave us comments. Tell us what you like, what you don’t like, and anything you think would be cool to tell people about.

BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO! Hey, we’re not a huge conglomerate

here (heck, this is our first issue) and our boss wouldn’t spring for a teleporter yet, so we’re looking for some help. Obviously, we can’t pay you (see previous sentence), but if you are an up and comer who would like to build your photo portfolio, drop us a line. But first, go to Gearheads4Life.com and search “Camera” to make sure you can take the kind of photos we need. We need good photos from events all over the U.S. We will credit all photos used!

Cars and cameras are the two things I let myself be materialistic about. I don't care about other stuff. — Louis C.K. Are you a gearhead?

BENCHRACING GEARHEAD NEWS

SPONSORED BY

Xceleration Media to sponsor giveaway at Street Machine National events Submit car images on Facebook for chance at for Gearhead Powerpack Giveaway Xceleration Media, parent company of Gearheads4Life, has just announced the Gearhead Powerpack Giveaway, in conjunction with the Street Machine Nationals. Contestants can submit photos of their car on the Gearheads4Life, Street Rod Life, or Power and Performance News, Facebook pages. Prior to the event the editors for each site will choose the car which they feel best represents their brand.

Eligible contestants must be able to attend the event with their car, where they will get the VIP treatment: Free registration for the vehicle and one free passenger into the Street Machine National event. Free VIP parking in a designated area within the event signifying you are the Gearhead Powerpack Giveaway Winner. The winning car will be highlighted in the Xceleration Media print magazine correlating to the website from which it was chosen.

Winners will receive:

One gift certificate for $150 from COMP Cams One gift certificate for $100 from FAST One gift certificate for $100 from TCI One gift certificate for $100 from ZEX One gift certificate for $100 from RHS One free case of Driven Hot Rod Oil

Street Machine Nationals, GH4L visit PowerNation Family Events, the promoters of the Street Machine Nationals (SMN), was recently invited to RTM Studios in Nashville to discuss their three upcoming events on PowerNation with Courtney Hansen. Lindsey Hubley, of Family Events was interviewed by Hansen during a segment that is scheduled to air in May. Hubley explained why the St. Paul show is still the granddaddy of street machine shows and will take place on its traditional dates and space at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. She also spoke of the other events that Family events hosts throughout the year. Over 7,000 high-horsepower muscle will rumble into the grounds to take part in the car show, burnout competition, autocross, dyno runs, and more. Celebrities will also be on hand signing autographs and talking to their fans, while media (like Gearheads4Life, Street Rod Life and Power and Performance News) will be on-hand to cover the event, shoot feature articles, and make Editor’s Choice picks. GH4L Editor Shawn Brereton was humbled when asked by SMN to showcase his car in the segment as an

example of the type of cars to expect at a SMN event. “I was so honored to be asked by the Hubleys to borrow my car for the shoot. I grew up going to Du Quoin and lusted after the cars I saw there, and like so many others getting in a major magazine or on TV was validation of the work you put in,” Brereton said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think my

car would be on television. I can’t wait to return to Du Quoin this year and attend my first St. Paul and Springfield shows to cover the event for Xceleration Media. It’s going to be so cool seeing it from the other side.” The dates for upcoming SMN events are: Du Quoin, Illinois, June 26–28; St. Paul, Minnesota, July 17–19; Springfield, Missouri, Sept. 26–27. Gearheads4Life.com

Bringing your gearhead fix from the garage to the living room Luken Communications, a national multicast television network provider offering a wide range of programming choices has seen the need for more gearhead content and answered the call with its newest network, Rev’n. In 2005, Luken became one of the first digital broadcast networks. Now with seven networks, they have the capacity to reach over 85 million households covering 80 percent of the country. That is the ability to reach a lot of gearheads! Rev’n TV officially launched on December 1, 2014. Currently, the channel is available through 31 affiliates in 29 markets reaching an estimated 37 million homes. Rev’n is dedicated to all things “revving” and is geared toward the performance enthusiast, featuring cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, events, auctions, and a whole lot more. Some of the shows that you will see on Rev’n include proven automotive shows any gearhead would recognize such as Two Guys Garage, Bidding Wars, Truck U, and My Classic Car. They have just announced the addition of V8TV to the lineup, which follows the V8 Speed and Resto Shop in Red Bud, Illinois, who specialize in building, restoring, and modifying American Muscle Cars.

“Rev’n is proud to continue expanding its programming by bringing yet another great series to audiences nationwide, this time focusing on muscle car restoration,” said Terri Coyle, Luken’s Director of Programming. “The addition of V8TV is another step toward making Rev’n a one-stop shop for gearheads of every kind, and we couldn’t be happier to offer viewers the opportunity to be along for the ride.” And here is the cool part about Rev’n: If you don’t get Rev’n in your area, you have many different options to get your gearhead fix. In addition to Rev’n’s over-the-air broadcast and cable carriage in specific markets, Rev’n is also available for online streaming in HD at revntv. com and through the Rev’n YouTube channel over devices such as Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Xbox, Sony PlayStation, and others.

Could your days of tinkering in the shop be over? Automakers are supporting provisions in copyright law that could prohibit home mechanics and car enthusiasts from repairing and modifying their own vehicles. In comments filed with a federal agency that will determine whether tinkering with a car constitutes a copyright violation, OEMs and their main lobbying organization say cars have become too complex and dangerous for consumers and third parties to handle. Allowing them to continue to fix their cars has become “legally problematic,” according to a written statement from the Auto Alliance, the main lobbying arm of automakers. The dispute arises from a section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that no one thought could apply to vehicles when it was signed into law in 1998. But now, in an era where cars are rolling computing platforms, the U.S. Copyright Office is examining whether provisions of the law that protect intellectual property should prohibit people from modifying and tuning their cars. Every three years, the office holds hearings on whether certain activities should be exempt from the DMCA’s section 1201, which governs technological measures that protect copyrighted work. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for individual rights in the digital world, has asked the office to ensure that enthusiasts can continue working on cars by providing exemptions that would give them the right to access necessary car components. Interested parties have until the end of the month to file comments on the proposed rulemaking, and a final decision is expected by mid-year.

See More Online!

For even more gearhead news, videos, and new products head over to Gearheads4Life.com.

YOUR ONE STOP 4 ALL THINGS GEARHEAD! Are you a gearhead?

BENCHRACING GEARHEAD GUIDE

WHAT’S APP, DOC?

Apps

Practice Tree Live The Practice Tree Live app has been designed for racers, by racers. Unlike other drag tree apps, Practice Tree Live is free and allows you to play against friends on separate devices anywhere around the world, all that is needed is access to the Internet. Its simple design makes for a short learning curve, so you can get straight to practice. This app really is a must have for any racer who wants to ignite that competitive desire while away from the track. Even if your car only sees the track a couple times a year, this app will keep your reaction times sharp. But

for the racers, you’ll definitely see the results from all your practicing. You can even use the app to keep you in the zone between your rounds of races at the track. Thanks to the customizable settings in the app, you can set your rollout adjustability, delay box, and bump down so it’s just like being behind the wheel of your dragster. Practice Tree Live is a free app and is only available in the Apple iTunes Store.

Apps

Road Trip App

Road Trip is the fastest and easiest app for tracking your car’s fuel economy, maintenance history, and expenses. This app is great for keeping everything you need all in one place. It helps you keep track of expenses, maintenance schedules, and lets you log the mileage you put on different sets of tires. The latter feature is nice to have if you have a dedicated set of tires that you use at the drag strip or for autocross events. It lets you know what kind of fuel economy you are getting, which helps with the trip cost calculator, as well as figuring distance-to-empty. The app takes all of that information and presents it to you in a comprehensive graph full of statistics — all on a single screen. Road Trip is currently only available for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and costs $6.99. They also have a free app called Road Trip Lite which doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles but it’ll give you an idea if you want to purchase the full app. Here is a list of what features come with the two versions on Road Trip. As you can see, the Lite version will be less useful but maybe all you want to do is track your fuel economy, therefore it’ll work great. But if you are like me, you’ll want the features that come with the full version of the app.

Like many gearheads, I have more than one vehicle, which means I need the ability to keep track of data for multiple vehicles. The full version of this app is very accommodating of those in a similar situation. It is very easy to switch between your vehicles, as you can see in the screenshots. Once you enter your data into Road Trip, it isn’t trapped there. Road Trip can export all of your data to your Mac or PC into programs such as Excel. This is a nice feature to have if you like to keep hard copies of all your vehicles data and history. Visit the Apple iTunes Store to learn more and download. Gearheads4Life.com

BENCHRACING #GEARHEADS4LIFE

#Gearheads4Life

Be Social! Find us on Instagram, and hashtag #Gearheads4Life on all your favorite car show photos, racing shots, and just plain ol’ cool stuff that we all dig… or even give us a shoutout @Gearheads4Life to share something and we might even repost it.

SOCIAL SHOUTOUTS

GEARHEADGIRL GEARHEAD GIRL

EMILY WILLIAMS

EMILY WILLIAMS IS MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE. Emily is an international model who has worked for Neiman Marcus, JC Penney, Mary Kay, and Belk, just to name a few. Being a tall girl growing up, she was always encouraged by people to go into modeling, and at the tender age of 14 started what would become a fantastic career that had her living in Milan, Italy, and jet-setting all over the globe. Along the way, her calm and poise in front of the camera coupled with her bubbly personality and infectious smile has led to some acting gigs. But don’t stereotype this small town girl from Mabank, Texas (pop. 3,000). We already know what your next question is going to be: Why is a car magazine interviewing a model? Well, Emily just so happens to be a car nut, having just recently completed an engine swap into her Pontiac GTO she affectionately named Roxy. Needless to say, she can handle a wrench, maybe not quite as well as a catwalk — or maybe so. Because we like to think outside the box here at Gearheads4Life, we thought it would be interesting to see how Emily became a gearhead.

You’ve been modeling since you were 14, so how did you develop a love of cars?

Falling in love with Aaron led to my falling in love with automobiles. I’ve dated Aaron since I was 14 and he was 17. We met going to church together, we just hit it off, and the rest is history — we never even broke up or anything. My dad was not even a car guy. The extent of his knowledge was popping the hood and standing there like “yeah, something’s broke under there.” So Aaron was the one who got me into cars. He was a diesel mechanic and grew up in his dad’s shop and always had projects. I realized early on that if I wanted to be around him, then I had to be in the shop. It was something he was into, and really passionate about, so I wanted to learn about it and do my

best to get into it with him. I just happened to love it. He was just so informational and a good teacher, he would make me learn saying “c’mon, do it, try it.” That sense of accomplishment of doing something mechanical was so fun to me. I was just like “I feel like a badass!” I just went with it, and loved reading and educating myself.

We understand you have a 2005 GTO named Roxy. How old were you when you got her and how did you come up with that name?

I was 18 when I got her. I’ve been modeling since I was 14, so I didn’t really need my own car. My mom and grandma would drive me into Dallas. I got my learner’s permit when I was 15, so I would drive, but I didn’t need a car until I came back from Milan and started having to drive to more shoots.

Hear it from Emily herself Scan QR Code to hear our interview with Emily!

Connect with Emily ImEmilywilliams imemilywilliams Are you a gearhead?

As far as the name Roxy, I just liked it. I thought it was just a cool chick name. I think I was like “Roxy rocks!” I like that whole vibe. I think the name Roxy to me is kind of sporty, but has like a pretty girl appeal. The car is pretty, but it’s also kind of sporty. It’s not your average cool car look, it kind of has a sleeper vibe to it. When I was looking at the GTO, I liked the fact that they are pretty rare and they don’t even offer a V6 option, so when you see one it is the real deal. Just the pictures of them being shipped over from Australia, I was like “these cars have a story and they have character.”

Your YouTube video said Roxy is getting some new “motorvation” and you say you are painting the cast iron block, but GTOs have aluminum blocks. What is up, did you blow up the original?

Yeah, we were actually running the car on the dyno and on the third baseline pull it started making noise on the downrev, and we were like, “Oh crap, shut it off.” The dyno guy said that it could be a rocker, so at lunch I took off one valve cover and Aaron took off the other. We couldn’t find anything so moved to the timing cover and everything looked alright there, so we knew it was something down lower. So we went home and returned with a trailer. We tore it down and found it was the #2 main bearing, but luckily we caught it early enough that the main

bearing was just starting to get kind of shaved. The crank was fine, the block was fine — everything was fine, but seeing we had it out I said, “Babe, I think I want to go bigger displacement. I was thinking we could save the stock block and preserve it. Let’s get a really heavy duty one.” Because I was thinking forced induction would be awesome in the future, if we built it strong we could go from there. So we found an LT9 408 stroker motor that a guy had built with a completely forged rotating assembly, everything was perfect on it. Currently we are waiting on heads to arrive from Texas Speed, and we have received a bunch of parts from COMP. I’ve got a stock T-56 in it with a LS7 clutch I put in before Christmas.

Other than your husband, who influences you the most in the automotive hobby? Who do you look up to?

That is a really hard question. Honestly, I don’t have anyone that specifically comes to mind. Magazines were a big influence. Early on, I read a ton of Hot Rod, but I would also read Car and Driver. But really as far as mechanically, really getting in there and being inspired to be active in the automotive industry, I don’t know who else. Aaron was the initial reason I got into it, but I wish I could come up with a really badass answer. Well, when I first got my car in ’05, I was always searching online and

I spent so much time on the GTO forum. Back then there were people who were acquiring these cars, but there was a network of people overseas in Australia that had them, and just ADORED the cars. I read tons of posts and threads on the forum and learned a lot.

OK, two quick final questions: 1) If money were no object, what car would you buy and why? 2) What would be your ultimate road trip?

That’s a hard one too, because there’s so many different applications. I think a really cool station wagon, like a 57 Belair – some kind of road-tripping car would be awesome. And for road trip - the Pacific Coast Highway! Aaron and I have done kind of a quickie version, but this past year, we acquired one of our dream vehicles, which is an early Bronco. I love Roxy for a lot of reasons, but of the other extreme vehicles, the early Bronco would be my next dream vehicle. We also have this other car that Aaron was driving when we met, a ’78 Datsun 280Z – super awesome car – that is very special to us. So there, we have a kind of “across the board” of off-road/terrain vehicle, American Muscle (even though it’s from Australia), and then an import that is a classic handling car. Over time we will focus on these projects and get them to where we want them, but we pretty well have our dream vehicles. GH4L Gearheads4Life.com

BENCHRACING COOL VIDZ

GOT TIME TO BURN?

Cool Vidz consists of interesting videos we found on the Internet. Whether historical, funny, dramatic, or technical, we thought they might be of interest to our gearhead community.

Scan QR Code to watch now!

The JEGS Story The Legacy of an Outlaw

Check out this cool piece of cinematic art put together by Lunati for their new series of Bootlegger camshafts. It’s a neat story of the independent, never follow the crowd spirit that is the heart & soul of the Bootlegger series. We thought it to be a cool, different way to advertise your product.

youtu.be/0mDYOqXd-gI

Gearheads Dream Home

There’s nothing better than seeing someone take something that is old and deteriorated and restore it to some of its original charm. Gas stations aren’t exactly the pick of the crop when it comes to house-hunting, but that’s what makes this gas station home so special.

This is a look at the history of JEGS. They may be a major corporation now, but they sure didn’t start out that way. This also includes some behind the scenes footage of how your order get fulfilled and makes it to your door on time. It’s kind of neat to see racers grow a company from humble beginnings.

youtu.be/_Cq254K2CxE

Lap of the Isle of Man TT

Follow Guy Martin and his Tyco Suzuki Superbike weapon for a mad dash around the famous Isle of Man TT course, as he chases Michael Dunlop on his BMW!

youtu.be/KSfv9agNDkA

SEE MORE VIDEOS @ GEARHEADS4LIFE.COM

History of Stock Car Racing, Moonshine, & Muscle Cars

This short documentary gives you a quick history lesson in moonshine running and the beginning of stock car racing. On the weekends instead of outrunning the law, bootleggers tried to outrun each other.

youtu.be/G6rhSUF_Cjo

Are you a gearhead?

Gearheads4Life.com

SHAWN BRERETON BRANDON FLANNERY

John Perry makes a true beast out of Ford’s beloved ugly duckling

John Perry’s ’59 Edsel Ranger is powered by a 557c.i. engine, topped with Kaase P51 heads and an 8-71 Dyers blower, running FAST fuel injection, and ZEX nitrous system.

hen you are gunning for the title of “world’s fastest” anything, you have my attention. I love speed, and particularly things that require horsepower to take that title. As I often do, I was visiting with the boys over at COMP Cams on a Friday afternoon a few weeks ago, when I heard a roar that shook the building. The first time I heard it, I just figured it was the train that runs directly behind their building. The second time I heard it, I knew something was being put through its paces. I asked one of the guys passing the Will Call desk what was up. He said that FAST Sales Manager, David Page, was tuning a car out back and I should go check it out. Just before I made it to the corner of the building, I could hear the car going through the shutdown. When I turned the corner I could see there were two guys standing on a trailer talking over the top of a big ole 8-71 Supercharg-

er. That wasn’t out of place at COMP, it’s not uncommon for a guy to bring his drag car by either on his way to the track, or just to show it off to one of the guys that he works closely with. What was out of place, was the grille on this car. Is … is that … a ’59 Edsel Ranger? Um, yeah it is, and not just any run of the mill Edsel — a ProStreet Edsel. I’ve seen a lot of ProStreet cars in my life, but I can honestly say, I don’t recall ever seeing an Edsel. I just had to talk to the owner! I introduced myself to the guy I didn’t recognize stepping down off the trailer. He said his name was John Perry and he lived just over the state line in Hernando, Mississippi. The first question out of my mouth is the one he probably gets a lot: Why an Edsel? So, he proceeded to give me the story. Though it starts out innocent enough, you’ll soon see why he decided on a fire-breathing Edsel. John was building a ’62 Galaxie 500 as a sort of nostalgic drag car, but after

finishing up a 557c.i. engine to drop in it, he had a change of heart. Having spent 25 years going to car shows, he wanted something he could take the family out for ice cream in, but seeing the same thing over and over, he wanted to stand out from the crowd. When he was younger, he was drawn to the horizontal spinning speedometer of the Edsel and thought that should be different enough. John found one on eBay in Portland, Oregon, that had a tree fall across the front fender and roof, but was supposed to be running so he bought it. As many have found with eBay, it wasn’t what was advertised — it wasn’t even running. So the plan changed again. John’s need for horsepower overtook his brain again and he found and contacted a guy in Oklahoma who boasted he had the world’s fastest Edsel. John explained that he was looking to hop-up the new Ranger, but instead of being Gearheads4Life.com

A FAST XFI System is fed by an Aeromotive pump. ZEX supplies the funny gas.

The interior is pretty much stock except for the roll bar, shifter, tach, and FAST control unit.

open and helpful, John received what he perceived as a rude response. That response was essentially “everyone says they are going to build an Edsel, but I have the world’s fastest Edsel!” John is the type of guy who likes different takes on different vehicles and that answer was all of the motivation he needed to go for the title. He decided to build it according to what he saw as a kid — full-on ProStreet! He already had the power plant, so the Galaxie lost its “motorvation.” After bouncing around to a few shops, John and his friends ended up having to complete the car themselves. They added the FAST dual quad fuel injection on a vintage tunnel ram setup with the ZEX nitrous system. For a transmission, the car was fitted with a PA C4 trans with reverse manual valve body and a trans brake. TJ Tracey (Motorvation) helped out with wiring the car and worked to setup the FAST XFI system to get the car runAre you a gearhead?

He wanted something he could take the family out for ice cream in, but he wanted to stand out from the crowd. ning. Unfortunately, when they went to start the car, the oil pump wouldn’t bypass and kept over-pressurizing the system. There was no choice but to pull the motor and tend to the pump. That was when John changed his mind yet again by adding a blower. After consulting Morley’s Performance in Fenton, Missouri, he found it was just easier to start from scratch. He chose an Eliminator block, John Kaase P51 heads, 8-71 blower, and a cam from COMP Cams to make the best streetable power. After a couple of months and a lot of fabrication, the guys at Morley’s made it happen and more importantly figured out how to

make all of the accessory drives work with the small amount of room available under the hood. A much stronger C6 trans from Dynamic Racing, an extra fuel pump kit from COMP, a few dozen more trips to Godman HI-Performance, and the car was a driver. All that was left was to bring the car to some old friends at Walnut Park Auto Body in St. Louis, who facilitated getting the seats put together with SMS Auto Fabric and did some of the final interior assembly. Some banging, bending, realigning, painting, wet-sanding, and buffing got the old girl presentable. She’s not perfect and probably won’t be. The real goal is to spend some time at the track trying to see what she’ll do. Hopefully, that will result in the title of World’s Fastest Edsel (for whatever that is worth). Either way, this will be the coolest Edsel at the ice cream shop … maybe even the whole planet! GH4L

Godman HI-Performance supplied all the fittings and hoses to feed the beast! John will run methanol at the track.

These Mickey Thompson’s let you know he means business.

John wanted to go original with the interior so he had SMS Auto Fabric reupholster the interior.

Love it or hate it! The grille makes the Edsel distinctive.

TECH SPECS Owner: Location: Vehicle:

John Perry Hernando, Mississippi 1958 Edsel Ranger

CHASSIS Frame: Modified stock Modifications: Tubbed, 10-point chromoly cage Rearend / Ratio: Fab 9, 4.57-geared Detroit Locker Rear Suspension: Alton's ladder bar, Aldan coilovers Rear Brakes: 12" Wilwood Pro Series Front Suspension: RCM Mustang II, Aldan Coilovers Front Brakes: 12" Wilwood discs, 6-piston calipers Steering Box: Manual Rack & Pinion Wheels: 15x7, 15x15 Centerline CS Vintage Tires: 225/75/15, LT31x18R15 M. Thompson Gas Tank: 20-gallon Broke Dick Racing

DRIVETRAIN Engine: 557c.i. BBF, Eliminator block Heads: Kaase P51 Injection / Ignition Dual-quad FAST XFI 2.0 / MSD NOS / Turbo / 8-71 Dyers blower, Supercharger: ZEX Perimiter NOS Valve Covers: Cast Aluminum Exhaust / Mufflers: Dynotech headers / Spintech mufflers

Transmission: Are you a gearhead?

C6 Warhorse from Dynamic racing

TORQUE VALUES

BY: CRAIG MEEK | Smoker of meats and tires.

Cars aren’t just transportation, they are family Over the years, classic cars become like family members as they become tied to experiences with our flesh and blood family. My dad is a lifelong gearhead and some of my earliest memories are of riding in, and watching him work on his ’32 Ford Sedan and ’57 Chevy truck, both of which he still owns today. I was 15 when I started working on a ’55 Ford Mainline Tudor post sedan he’d found in a barn in Truman, Arkansas, for $500. He bought the car. The rest of the money came from work I did with a lawn care crew during summers. It was my first experience with project creep. What started as plans for a quick engine tune up and scuff-and-shoot paint job turned into a bare body-on frame rebuild. I was a 19-year-old college freshman by the time the car became my daily driver back in 1998. It had red and yellow flames on clear-coated black primer, moon discs, four-wheel drum brakes, and a freshly overhauled 223 six cylinder backed by the factory three-speed, which had been moved to the floor with a Hurst shifter. It was an ultra-low budget build, and it wasn’t going to win a race with anything, but my dad and I had done every bit of the work ourselves, except for the upholstery and laying out and shooting the flames. And as my only car, it was a genuine driver. The summer I graduated I upgraded to a 351 Windsor backed by a Tremec five-speed. I ditched the factory rearend and front drums for disc brakes and an 8-inch from a junkyard in Granada, Mississippi. The car was still my only transportation and my dad and I were still doing all the work ourselves. That was also the period I started dating my wife and the car carried us on road trips from our hometown of Memphis to places like St. Louis, Chicago, and New Orleans before we got married. A few years later I ended up owning a small wholesale automotive parts company and thanks to having a work van, and access to my wife’s car away from work, I was able to take the car off the road for a few months to sand it down, give it a coat of John Deere black enamel and upgrade the 351 with a set of World

Products Windsor Jr. heads. Outside of work duties the ’55 was still my daily driver. In the summer of 2011, one week before I was going to make a repeat trip to the NSRA Nationals in Louisville with the ’55, an uninsured motorist pulled out in front of me from a side street a few blocks from my house. Luckily I’ve always had full, agreed-value insurance on the car. So while it was declared a total loss, I bought it back from the insurance company with plans to rebuild using a ’55 Ford Fairlane body on my old frame, which was undamaged other than a minor bend a local body shop was able to pull out. The plan was to have it back on the road in three years. Once again project creep set in. Right now I’m putting in mini-tubs for a narrowed 9-inch and a roll cage. The 351 Windsor is on an engine stand in my garage, but I have become infatuated with the idea of a 5.0 Coyote swap, since the new Mustang motor is a marvel of technology. I remember the pushrod 5.0 days, when over 400 horsepower from a naturally-aspirated engine that size meant a car was barely drivable on the street. Today it can be done with 20 mpg and a factory warranty. The ’55 turns 60 this year, so I’m itching to get it back on the road. But I’m even more concerned with doing it right. After the wreck I bought a ’69 Mustang, also powered by a 351 Windsor, so I’d still have a fun driver. And the Mustang is fun. But while it is my car, it isn’t MY car. I haven’t been over every bolt and panel on it. It isn’t modified to my exact tastes. My wife and my dad both like it, but neither sees it as part of the family. And that is what this sickness is ultimately all about. Taking a piece of history and making it completely ours. GH4L Gearheads4Life.com

THE CAR GEEK RISES

BY: ZACH TIBBETT | Snarky designer. Unabashed geek.

Love in the time of car haulers As a kid my family spent Father’s Day weekend at Petit Jean State Park in central Arkansas. The Automobile Museum there hosted an annual car show and swap meet right on the side of Petit Jean Mountain. There was always a field full of nice cars: super clean, perfect paint, all with their hoods up showing off the cleanest damn engines like an odd, sedate Mardi Gras. But even then I thought there was something missing. The really cool stuff was in the swap meet. There you could find tent after tent of wheels and bumpers and trim and AC knobs and doodads. There were also cars for sale. One year, my dad and I ogled a silver ’69 GTO, making several trips by it that afternoon. Iridescent Judge stripes swept back over fenders that shrouded Crager SS wheels. Was it a real Judge? We didn’t care. There were a lot of cool cars in the swap meet over the years. One was a bright yellow 1969 Mustang Fastback. The paint needed help but the interior was decent and it sounded good when the owner fired it up. It also had homemade “Boss 351” stripes running over the hood and down the flanks.

I’ve never been excited by a perfect 1000pt car. Some people are, and that’s OK. Far be it from me to tell someone what they can or can’t love, but this is my column so… A lot of those concourse restorations don’t have stories to tell. Everything about them is so exact and number-matching nonsense that it becomes clinical and not lived in. It’s sterilized and becomes a museum exhibit. When is the last time you had fun at a museum exhibit? On the other hand, a 1985 Trans-Am with a bent front fender and no AC tells me a story of three guys who decided to drive to the other side of the state in a fit of boredom. Winding through the Ozarks with the windows down, we were all hoarse

after shouting entire conversations over buffeting wind. But it was fun. Cars are a supporting character in every mile of your story. Bombin’ down backroads in a Jeep, hand-slicing through the wind, hair whipping in the turbulence? Tell me that story. Counting stars and learning how to kiss on the hood of a Nova? You and a bunch of friends driving cross country to see what would be the last NASCAR race Dale Earnhardt would complete? These are good stories too. Maybe you’ve piled into a ’68 VW Bus and headed to Bonnaroo. Or maybe road tripped to the coast because you got hungry for good fish tacos. Perhaps you’ve taken the long way home just so you can chase the Tail of the Dragon. These are stories and they happen in cars that aren’t always the definition of ‘perfect’. But they were perfect that day, to somebody. The automobile has been romanticized in this country for a hundred years. How many songs have been written about a car? How many pages of ink? It’s a tired analogy that the automobile represents freedom and adventure — I prefer to think of them as sidekicks. I’m not saying “nice” cars are bad, I like nice cars. But for the love of *anything* — drive them. It’s kind of the point. This magazine is full of cars and their owners and their stories. There are so many more out there to tell. Now comes the part where I toss out a cliché catchphrase and say email me. Keep trippin’, ya’ll. GH4L

Email me your stories at ztibbett@xcelerationmedia.com

Gearheads4Life.com

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FOOD 4 THOUGHT

BY: JASON WOMMACK | The hungry curmudgeon.

Helping you get a true taste of the town Despite working at a “car” company where I design and layout multiple car magazines, and being surrounded by a bunch of car people, I am not a car guy. I don’t have any great car stories and didn’t have any “cool” cars growing up, or now for that matter. There are guys here who only love Mustangs, some only love Chevys, and others who regularly wear a Ford sweatshirt that I’m pretty sure was purchased in the late 80s. They can tell you what size engine their cars have, how much horsepower it generates, the number of camshafts, and other engine statistics that make my eyes glaze over. Then there’s me. I couldn’t tell you what size engine any of my cars had, much less the horsepower. What I can tell you is where to go for a good burger, pizza, or just about anything else food related. That’s why I’m known as The Food Guy. My love of eating is something I inherited from my Pappaw. I’m often thinking about dinner before I’m done with breakfast, or where the department is going to eat for lunch on Friday, on a Tuesday. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told, “How do you not weight 300 pounds?” I guess I’ve just been blessed with good genes. When my wife and I moved to Memphis a couple of years ago, a local blog helped me make a Food Bucket List with 200 items from locally-owned restaurants. I’ve stopped counting how many places from the list I’ve visited, but rarely have I been disappointed. Even the places that looked scary or intimidating on the outside turned out to be entertaining and had delicious food. One of the first things I did at work was use Google Maps to locate as many food places within driving distance for lunch. To my dismay one of my coworkers — who has been here more than 10 years — didn’t even know there was a KFC less than five minutes away. He doesn’t like to try new things as evidenced by us eating at the same place seven times in two months. He does however know what size engine is in his Mustang. Memphis is overflowing with locally-owned businesses and it was only after living here for a year that I went to a “chain” restaurant. I wrote and took pictures of my food adventures so much during my first year in Memphis that I was asked to be a judge for Battledish: Memphis, and at Best Memphis Burger Fest — twice. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not some tree-hugging hippie who eats organic food, wears Birkenstocks, or drives an electric car.

I just find it rewarding to spend my money on food made at local businesses, even when I travel. The people behind those establishments put their heart and soul into the business — something car enthusiasts can relate with — and I would much rather reward them by eating there than at the fast food giants. I feel the best way to get a true taste of a town is by finding that hole-in-the-wall spot. It’s by eating at a place that’s been in a family for generations, who have a genuine passion for what they are making. Many of you will be heading to various car shows across the country this year and may even be participating in a cross-country tour like the Hot Rod Power Tour, the Street Rodder Road Tour, or the Goodguys Hall of Fame Road Tour. Despite not being a car guy, I’m jealous of you making those trips. Not only will you be getting to see beautiful parts of the country, but you will also have the chance to get a taste of each town along the way. Sure, there are going to be times when you’ll have to grab junk food when stopping for gas — I can’t resist those mini chocolate donuts — but it’s when you stop for the night that you’ll have opportunities to venture outside the long, comforting reach of fast food. I know for some of you that’s a scary thought, but I’m here to help. Throughout the year, I’m going to be writing about local places to eat near some of the big car events across the country and posting them at Gearheads4Life.com. Think what you will about Guy Fieri, but to me his Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives gig is right up my alley. He gets to drive across the country and eat at some of the best local establishments along the way. I’d take Fieri’s job in a heartbeat, even if it meant I had to dye my hair, wear flip-flops, and use sayings like, “that’s out of bounds,” or “this is on point.” Unfortunately, the closest thing I’ll get to that is writing about some cool, unique places for all of you to visit across the country. If you have any suggestions of places you’ve tried already and would like to let people know about, shoot me an email at jwommack@xcelerationmedia.com. If you stop at any of the places I write about, tell them you stopped by because of The Food Guy at Gearheads4Life.com. GH4L Gearheads4Life.com

- TELEVISION FOR WHAT MOVES YOU -

The Sheetmetal Canvas JEFF SMITH

ometimes a machine can transcend the whole car building experience and shift it into something even more personal and positive. We first noticed Troy Martin’s ’53 Ford Ranch Wagon parked out front of the main entrance to the 2014 SEMA Show. The little sign leaning against the front bumper just casually mentioned that the body had been widened 4 inches. That’s right widened four inches. Just let that sink in for a moment. We did, and then spent the next 20 minutes marveling over it. This subtle little scooter stood out amid the wretched excess that Las Vegas tends to attract, mainly because it wasn’t garish. This wagon would have been cool even if it wasn’t draped over a Corvette chassis. But widening everything four inches? That’s a job you don’t take on lightly because in the beginning, beyond the pen and ink drawing, there’s really nothing but lots of questions and a few fabricated answers. Once we met Troy and heard the story — the fit was even tighter. Troy had just submerged from his previous career as a boat builder to chase his dream of building hot rods by starting Full Scale Hot Rods & Customs (fullscalehotrods.com). The Ranch wagon appeared on his door step one day as a customer’s idea. The guy had a nice ’53 Ford wagon and a wrecked Corvette that he thought belonged together. But a few months down the road, the customer’s new family, a wife with a keen disinterest in the vision, and several creative differences brought the project to a halt. Troy believed in the plan, so he traded a finished hot rod for the wagon, and began his journey. This decision coincided with a series of timely disasters for Troy. The recession of 2008 nearly eliminated his entire customer base practically overnight, and his first wife decided on a revised version of happiness without him. By 2010, he was staring at a major life crossroad. “I was sitting in my empty shop one day and I thought ‘I can either fold all this up, walk away, and fail … or, I can do something positive and finish this car,’” Troy said. At that moment the car became much more than just another test of welding skills. It became a reason to get up each morning and face the metal. Every cut and weld mended the wagon, and perhaps also a little part of Troy’s soul. So if he obsesses a bit over his wagon, it’s understandable. But even with the best of fused metal intentions, this project required serious fabricator skill and more than a little positive karma. The broad brush strokes encompass a body widened four inches over a ZO6 chassis that has been stretched 11 1/2 inches. Are you a gearhead?

Then there are all the details — hundreds of them. Sure, the body was widened in the center, but then the hood and deck lid had to be sectioned with multiple cuts — requiring a second hood — because he had to work around the latch mechanisms residing along the centerline. The lower deck lid is actually six separate pieces, while the upper deck sports a convex window whittled out of a ’07 Dodge pickup windshield. The lower body at the rear wheels has been widened an additional two inches to accommodate the wider wheels. The bumpers were elongated beneath the bumperettes, while the roof was pancaked two inches, and the gutters were shorn. All the lower sheet metal was hand formed, and the front wheel openings were raised 2 1/2 inches to match the rolling stock radius. Because the car wasn’t different enough, the hood opens from the front. Then the cowl had to be reshaped in order to fit the two-piece windshield. The vent wings in the doors have disappeared and the trim in front of the rear wheel openings — lifted from a Crown Vic — are functional with stainless screens that cool the Wilwood rear disc brakes. If the wheels look one-off that’s because they are. Kompression Wheels (kompressionwheeels.com) in nearby Oxnard designed these unique 18-inch front and 19-inch rear wheels mounting Nitto Invo 255/40R18 and 285/30R19 tires. We spent additional time staring at the grille attempting to figure out how he widened it to fit the rest of the fascia. “If you count the number of black ribs there are six, but there are only four on a stock ’53 grille,” Troy said. Troy searched through 20 different colors until he found the Morocco Brown Italian leather that seemed to best fit the car. “Yeah, it took eight cows to do this interior,” Troy said. The goal was to maintain the appearance of the ’50s interior. Even with a killer Pioneer audio and video display, the goal was to minimize the high-tech aspect and hide all the speakers behind perforated leather. All the interior credit goes to Gold Coast Upholstery including covering the fabricated center console. The front seats began life in a ’94 Chrysler Concord LHS while the rear fold-downs are

from a ’02 Dodge Durango. There’s also six full boxes of Scosche Roadkill sound deadener lining the interior. As for the mechanical side of the cruiser, Troy says “The Ford guys just hate it. I was at a show, and this guy came up wearing a big Ford blue jacket, and I said ‘You’re not going to like this car — and he didn’t!” Troy wanted a car that he could use as a life-size calling card for his Full Scale business, yet be completely functional so he could drive it everywhere. The drivetrain is very nearly stock — just lengthened, which did cause some difficulties. “We had to lengthen the torque tube, and the first driveshaft was a bit too short, and it killed the T-56 transaxle,” Troy says. “That’s when the guys at RPM Transmissions really helped me out by upgrading the transaxle. Then we added a new driveshaft from The Driveshaft Shop (driveshaftshop.com).” While mostly stock, Troy did add a Magnuson supercharger to the stock LS6 along with Magnaflow mufflers and a Griffin aluminum radiator. The engine makes 447 horsepower to the rear wheels now, and Troy says it will knock down nearly 30 mpg on the freeway. Because he intended to drive this wagon with a heavy right foot, Troy also added 14-inch Wilwood brakes all the way around. As a tribute to this car’s abilities, Troy was invited in 2014 to participate in the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational in Las Vegas. This event has become the preeminent track day competition for street cars with a nod toward style combined with function. Optima sponsors several qualifying races to select most of the cars, but also chooses several to compete from the display cars at SEMA and Troy’s wagon was selected for inclusion in the Exhibition class. With that third round trip to Las Vegas, the car now has almost 10,000 miles on the clock. That’s not just an enthusiastic estimate, Troy drives this car nearly every day. To underscore that claim, we accompanied Troy to his local Ding Masters paintless dent repair shop just before the shoot. Then, while we watched, his buddy Carl Cleavenger magically erased a small dent in the leading edge of the hood. The paint will get scarred and dents will happen — but good karma — that’s forever. GH4L Gearheads4Life.com

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A day in the life of a JEGS order

t has been said that necessity drives innovation. It can also be said that ingenuity drives prosperity. A great example of both sayings can be found in one place in Delaware, Ohio, just north of Columbus. There a 250,000+-square-foot building sits silver and silent on the outside, but bright and bustling on the inside. It is a building where innovation and ingenuity are the foundations that facilitated its necessity. It started with one racer’s need to get good, quality, high performance parts for his hot rods. Limited by his location in the Midwest and unable to find the parts he wanted for his cars, Jeg Coughlin Sr. opened JEGS High Performance in a small, non-descript shop near downtown Columbus, Ohio, in 1960. Coughlin worked long and hard to find the best parts in the country for his customers and eventually became the guy to go to for high performance parts. Necessity drove innovation. What began as a small building where he worked on engines for friends, soon became a full-fledged retail business through Coughlin’s hard work and ingenuity. That same ingenuity was instilled in Jeg’s four sons and, when he eventually sold the business to them in 1988, they used it to turn JEGS High Performance into one of the largest and most successful automotive equipment suppliers in the United States. Many people know the success of the Coughlins on the drag strip, but we decided to go behind the scenes to see how the ingenuity they inherited from their father

Scan to watch a video on the history of JEGS

is used today to fulfill your order and help keep JEGS at the top of the game. It all starts with a car lover who turns the page of a JEGS High Performance catalog — or clicks on a part number at jegs.com — and ends with a speedily-shipped package received by a satisfied JEGS customer. But there is so much that happens in between to get the order to your door, so how does it work? To begin with, the JEGS High Performance Customer Care Center is open around-the-clock, 363 days of the year, with over 100 call center representatives and three distribution shifts of warehouse workers. It’s a place where real people — not recordings or robots — are involved in taking your order, answering your questions, verifying your information, and picking and packing your parts.

All orders, whether online or over the phone go through the Customer Care Center to be input into the distribution computer system. Once an order is placed its status is considered in pick, in pack, packed, manifested, or loaded. An order typically reaches the warehouse electronically well within an hour Gearheads4Life.com

High Praise

of being processed. Without that ability, JEGS couldn’t offer same-day shipping of in-stock items (when ordered by 11:00 p.m. EST). The system determines where each order is located, develops a task list, selects the appropriate pack station, and then prints an invoice. Parts are pulled by an employee or the automated system operated by employees. Who pulls the parts is determined by a part’s size and location in the warehouse. The pack station identifies the proper size box for the order while the products are being picked from one of three areas: Large and/or heavy items, like wheels and cylinder heads require human attention, whereas small bulk items, like fittings and spark plugs, can be safely picked by the automated storage retrieval system. The order’s contents are put into bins, which then travel on a maze of conveyor belts to one of about a dozAre you a gearhead?

en packing stations. The packages are weighed on a high-volume speed scale and checked to ensure order accuracy within one pound. For example, if someone ordered gaskets, replacement bulbs, and a shirt — yet the package weighs 40 pounds — they would know the order needs to be inspected. If it checks out right, then it gets a shipping label and is off to your house or business. Delivery trucks and trailers arrive and depart all times of day and night to help fulfill orders worldwide. Over the years JEGS has honed the ability to get you the part you need quickly and economically. It’s simple to understand why JEGS High Performance continues to be a success. For 55 years now, JEGS has been a family affair, and that strong foundation filters down to employees and customers alike. Of course, free shipping and handling, knowledgeable technical support, price matching, as well as no-hassle ex-

Here is just a small sampling of what some of JEGS customers say about them: “I ordered an engine stand from JEGS late last night before I went to bed. I got up today and my order was sitting on my front porch!! I’m still trying to wrap my head around all this. I’ve never experienced service like this before and because of this I am making JEGS my go-to superstore for all my performance and go fast needs.” Steve M., Ohio “I ordered these two parts yesterday at around 3 p.m. and they arrived this morning before noon. Are you kidding me? I’ve never had such fast service like this before. I have a 1969 Camaro and using my local auto parts store isn’t always the best option. I will be sure to use Jegs for future projects.” Harvey G., Indiana “Thanks for the awesome service and the fastest delivery on the planet. Not once have you let me down. What an awesome group of people you must have working for you!! Looking forward to completing my [1967 Nova] build. Without your pricing for a budget-minded racer, my car would only be a dream. Just wanted to thank each and every one of the JEGS team for making a dream come true.” Virgil S., Kansas “I just wanted to let everyone at JEGS know how much I appreciate how fast my order was processed and shipped. Ordered at 9 a.m. on Monday and received my order on Wednesday at 2 p.m.now that’s good service! Keep it up… thanks.” Robert T., Florida “Absolutely love your products! Customer service is 2nd to none. I live in Fairbanks, Alaska so getting service correctly the first time is so important…but getting parts from your company has been so easy and carefree, you have made a life time customer out of me…Thanks for being a company that truly cares.” Dan S., Alaska “Thanks again guys, your service and response times are as always excellent. Appreciate your response.” Craig D., Australia changes and returns keep customers coming back time after time. As long as there are automotive enthusiasts and manufacturers to make parts for them, you can count on JEGS to keep all gearhead garages suitably stocked. GH4L Thanks to Cal Stenko of JEGs for his help on this story.

The Car Farm W

e started in Memphis, that much I do know. We were simply told to “follow and keep up.” We soon left the four-lane and wound our way along some country roads, over a bridge or two and through what I’m sure had to have been an intentional side-trip through a small town. My sense of direction isn’t the greatest, (the wife calls me the “U-turn King”) and though I’ve been there before, I’m still not exactly sure how we got there. All I know is that we eventually passed through the gates of the legendary Poteet Farm and were surrounded by rolling hay fields and barns filled with old Fords. George Poteet has become as much of a legend as his affinity for Fords. He’s graciously allowed car builders to spread their wings and create some of the most memorable machines in hot rodding history, and one of his requirements is that whatever they build has to run and drive well. George is an enthusiastic driver not afraid of laying black marks in all forward gears and sometimes reverse. With a collection of land speed records under his belt, and a spectacular 370-mph tumble on the salt, he needs cars that run.

BRANDON FLANNERY SHAWN BRERETON

The custodian of all that is mechanical on the farm is Hutch. See the next story in this issue for the scoop on how and why he has one of the greatest jobs on earth. For now, we are going to pack these pages with as many great cars and captions as possible, and want you to know that the collection fills several large buildings and runs the spectrum from low-mileage originals to over-the-top full custom builds. The interesting thing to note is that there is always a reason why George buys or builds each car. Whether it reminds him of something his family owned, is a rare find, or is just a model that left a sentimental impression, no purchase is random or uninspired. The man’s got soul. Once again, George’s requirement for Hutch is to keep the cars ready to be driven at a moment’s notice. Each and every car seen here will start and drive with no preparation, and they all get cycled through cruise nights, car shows, and good ol’ Sunday drives. When it comes to his collection George will leave the plastic-bagged museum curios for the next guy. For him, it’s all about the driving. Enjoy the photos. GH4L Gearheads4Life.com

It was a cool/wet morning and the cars in the first garage had dew all over them.

The crew at Rad Rides by Troy built this clean little ’62 Ford Falcon with an early road racing theme.

This garage has 12 bays with lifts in every one. Two Tri-Fives are sitting patiently waiting their turn.

George just acquired this ‘58 Courier wagon for a project. Note the number of rims in the background. He really likes to change wheel/tire combos! Are you a gearhead?

The Big boy keeps an eye over the tailfin of Speed Demon, next to a wall of George’s projects and accomplishments.

George received a lifetime achievement Wally at the Hot Rod Reunion for his 30+ trips over 400 mph.

Poteet’s Bonneville Wall of Fame.

Don’t you wish you had this garage?

Starliner, starliner, star . . . oh you get it. He owns more Starliners than anyone else, period. George has owned this convertible the longest of any car he owns.

These two beauties sit in the back of Hutch’s shop.

What does a helmet look like after a crash on the flats? This one will stay just like that!

George’s latest addition is a ’56 Chevy built by Legens Hot Rods.

There is a bit more space and room to grow in the new garage.

It looks like a muffler shop, but it’s just Poteet’s garage.

Hutch wasn’t too pleased that there was a Chevy in the photo. Hey, you parked it there, we just take the pictures!

THE GREATEST JOB ON EARTH. BRANDON FLANNERY

or a Ford guy with a collection of cars, having somebody to maintain them is a necessity. For a Ford guy who loves Fords and knows his way around a shop, working for a collector like that would be an ideal job. Thankfully car buff George Poteet met Alan Hutcheson, or “Hutch” as he’s called, and now Poteet has the right guy looking over his fleet and Hutch has one of the coolest jobs in the world. It’s definitely a win-win. Hutch says his family wasn’t particularly into cars, but his earliest memories came from seeing his neighbor’s 1961 Ford Starliner when he was only 3 years old. It seared an impression that would last a lifetime, and even affect his path in life. Sparked by that lone black Ford, he grew up fascinated with cars and spent his childhood like many gearheads building model cars and tinkering with bicycles until he could drive. He inherited a ’77 Mustang II Cobra from his older brother when he was 13. A huge fan of the Sanford & Son TV show, a ’51 Ford pickup on a car lot in Paxton, Mississippi, stopped him in his tracks and he quickly traded them the Mustang. Still just 13, he ended up rebuilding the inline flat-headed six, and that motor remains in it and runs to this very day. Around that time he landed a job at the US 78 dragstrip in Myrtle, Mississippi. A neighbor took him down the strip as a passenger in his ’66 Falcon, and Hutch was hooked. It wasn’t long before he made his own first pass behind the wheel, again he was only 13. “Being the Ford guy that I am, I’m almost ashamed to admit it but it was in a ’79 Camaro… a Chevy,” Hutch says. A high school buddy owned a ’66 Mustang that caught his attention when he was 15. He says as he began looking at Mustangs, he decided he liked the style of a ’67 better and found one for himself. This car would carry him through high school and college, and he snuck around and raced it whenever his parents wouldn’t find out. Once out of college he actively drag raced the Mustang for 15 or 16 years until the engine finally blew up, and then it sat for many years. He recently pulled it out for another round, only this time it’s being built for the autocross. During and after college Hutch worked for a couple of engine shops before putting in 12 years working for Ford. He opened his own auto restoration shop in 2004 and ran it until George asked him to work full-time in 2011. Hutch says he met George in the early ’90s and their introduction was interesting. Hutch was in the market for a car, and a friend suggested he talk to George. “George gets introduced to a lot of people,” says Hutch. “My buddy introduced us, we shook hands and George was as polite as he could be, but brief, as expected when meeting someone like him. My friend then told me to tell George what kind of car I was hunting and why, and when he learned it was a ’61 Starliner — and that my neighbor’s Are you a gearhead?

Cars are cool, but people make them great. car had inspired me when I was three — he ended up pulling over a chair and we suddenly had a lot to talk about. We’ve been great friends ever since.” The two Starliner fans found a lot of common ground, and Hutch’s mechanical know-how and Ford knowledge inspired George to ask him to close his shop and go full time at the farm. Hutch finished his pending projects and closed his doors, taking up a new career as custodian to some of the coolest cars in the world. His main job is to keep every car at the farm ready to be driven in a moment’s notice, whether it be on a trip to town or across the country. Minor repairs and cleaning are done on-site, while major repairs and rebuilds are handled across town at another shop with more equipment. He also fields car leads for George and goes to inspect possible purchases. Part of his job does include driving each and every car, cycling fluids and fuel through their systems, and checking for things that need attention. He keeps a detailed logbook with car details and maintenance schedules to help him keep track of them all. When asked to name a favorite, he is hard pressed to pinpoint just one, though he admits to being accused of being a little too partial to ’61 Fords, and George currently has 19 of them. Driving rare Fords is a huge perk, especially the Torino built by Rad Rides. “I admit I am a little more careful when driving a million dollar car like that one,” Hutch says. “But they all get driven. I’m not afraid to stretch out their legs and roll some gas through the rear carb bowls and get some highway speeds on the trans and tires.” He also says that George’s latest car, a ’56 Chevy from Steve Legens (Legens Hot Rod shop) is one of the nicest-driving cars he’s ever been in. The main thing Hutch enjoys the most is the travel, especially to Bonneville, and meeting new people. “I’ve met some of the nicest people,” he says. “Getting to travel and talk with others has been the greatest aspect of working here. I’ve really enjoyed the friends I’ve made over the years, and that’s what it’s really all about anyways. Cars are cool, but people make them great.” GH4L

Hutch bought this 1951 Ford F1 when he was just 13 and rebuilt the engine himself. It’s still powered by the original inline six and is a frequent driver.

Gearheads4Life.com

You would be smiling too if you had Hutch’s job.

Who autocrosses a big black 1961 Starliner? Hutch. With the exception of some sway bars and better shocks, the suspension is stock.

This 1967 Mustang was Hutch’s first car, purchased when he was 15. It eventually evolved into a 9-grand twisting drag car and was retired. He’s recently pulled it out of its slumber for another round of fun, this time on the AutoCross. Are you a gearhead?

Pictures do not do his 1974 Ford F100 Ranger XLT justice. It is show-quality inside and out and one of the cleanest pickup trucks on the planet. Period.

GEARHEADS A BOY NAMED BUB Bub Miller is living the dream

No really, his actual name is Bub — not short for anything — just Bub. When you grow up with a name like that you just have to be in racing. His dad wouldn’t have it any other way and made sure his son had a “racecar driver” name to go along with it. Bub was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas, but he grew up on a racetrack and now drives the Aeromotive SuperComp dragster. I first met Bub at a Media Trade Conference in California and got to talking with him about an Aeromotive fuel tank for my 55 Chevy and found it interesting that his gearhead journey kind of paralleled my own. He’s not a big-time pro racer or anything, but he loves what he does and wouldn’t trade it for the world, so I thought he would be a good interview candidate to see what it is that makes him distinctly Bub.

How did you get involved in the automotive industry? From day one I have been groomed for this. From a really young age, my dad took me to every drag strip he could. Didn’t matter if it was a Saturday night bracket race or the summer nationals, he loves drag racing and infected me with the disease as well. My dad wanted us to start racing together, so we started racing radio-controlled cars when I was 10 or 11. I was racing these grown men, and I was so small that I had to stand on a milk crate to see over the railing. I was this little kid just mopping their ass up, it was great. I then raced a little in BMX until I got my learner’s permit. My first official race was in my 1972 Chevy pickup with a 258 cubic inch straight six and three-on-the-tree. That was the first motor I ever tore down and put back together with my dad. He had used it for a work truck and had bought it from my third grade English teacher. The bad part was the linkage would get hung up if you tried to bang the shift. The next weekend, I became a real badass when I moved it to the floor. I will never forget that first pass though, I swore I was going 2,000 mph, but I went 17.60. Back then we had high school drags, where the area high schools would race each other. You would have to get to the track at like 4 or 5 a.m. just to get a spot. It was back when drag racing was good. I raced that first spring event and never missed a Saturday night bracket race until the fall event. I ended up winning that!

You were really hooked! Why do you think you were so driven? You know there are families out there that have boats and jet-skis, and everything, but for me that was what we did – we went to the drag strip. My mom made dinner and we cookedout at the drag strip, that’s good stuff. It’s what we did as a family and it kept us close. When racing gets in your blood — it is literally a disease — because you work all day, you go home, and you work on the car all night. Thursday morning you would pile in the truck and drive nine hours down the road and race all weekend, then get back in time to make it to work on Monday morning. I mean, who does that?

You obviously didn’t keep racing that truck, what did you graduate up to? Over the winter, my dad and I built a ’79 AMC Spirit. We started bracket racing it every Saturday night. We would go to Cameron, Missouri, Friday night, KCIR on Saturday night, and sometimes Pittsburgh on Sunday. We’d put 200 laps on that thing in the summer. My dad wanted to race NHRA, so we made it Stock Eliminator legal in Division 5. My claim to fame is I’m the only one in NHRA history to win a national event in an AMC Spirit. It had a 304 with a 2 barrel. It would go 12.90 all day long. I won several divisionals, got to the finals a couple of times, and won a national event. I couldn’t get

any sponsorship or any kind of backing, because it was an AMC, and it was hard to get parts, so I went over to the evil side and built a ’94 LT1 Camaro. For some reason I could never win a final round in that car, I was always the bridesmaid every time! I then got with Les Swearingen and raced a Comp car for six or seven years. But really all of those classes really boiled down to taking the car and squeezing every last ounce of efficiency out of the car within the rules. That is what I really like, and think that is why this job is such a perfect fit for me. Trying to take a product and making any object just a little bit better.

Speaking of, how did you get involved with Aeromotive? Steve [Matusek, Aeromotive owner] and I had known each other through racing for a while. I was in O’ Reilly’s buying a battery and Steve asked me if I could run the car for him, because he had hurt his knee or something. I was like “well, yeah!” Things just developed over time and he asked me if I wanted a job, and again it was a no-brainer ... “um, I get to do the job that I love, yeah!”

What did you do before Steve came calling? Right out of high school, I had books and tuition offer to go to Iowa State to play ball, but drag racing was too important to me so I stayed at home. I was in the construction business with my father, but the business was basically destroying our relationship. Gearheads4Life.com

“ I love my job, I was thinking about getting an Aeromotive tramp stamp or a neck tattoo.” We were spending entirely too much time together. We were together almost 24/7 between the track and work. We’re working together, we’re working on the car together, and we’re going to the track together. I don’t care who it is – you stick two people together that long and there’s going to be fireworks. I ended up selling the whole operation — race car, truck, and trailer — to go back to school to get my electrical engineering degree, then worked for a company called AMR that was the third largest producer of garage doors in the world. We averaged 3,500 doors a day. It was amazing to me that there is that kind of need for garage doors. Shortly after that, Steve approached me.

What do you do for Aeromotive and what do you like about the job? I am the Director of Motorsports, which is really the jack of all trades. I get to go to work and I have NO idea what I am going to do. One day I might go over marketing ads, next day engineering on a new pump, next day R&D on the new pump, then once the new pump is done, I get to market it. I couldn’t ask for anything better. The best part is they pay me to do this!

What is the coolest experience you’ve had so far while working with Aeromotive? We just came out with our gear pumps and one place that we have adapted them is in the Nostalgia Are you a gearhead?

drags. Well John Hale calls me who is running Jim Dunn’s car right now and says how much he likes it, and the next thing I know, I get a call from Roland Leong, and he is being so very nice and cordial. I’m like “Roland — dude! — I had your Hot Wheels as a kid! I literally had your Hot Wheels and now you’re calling me to ask for my help — this is the greatest thing ever!” I am living the dream. Oh, on Friday during MPMC [where we first met], I got to go to Brian Deegan’s house! We are infiltrating the off-road market right now and they are a bit behind in fuel systems, like how they are plumbed. I got hooked up with a guy named Casey Curry, who is sponsored by Monster, and we designed a fuel system for his truck that worked out real well. It ends up Brian Deegan wants one, and I end up going to his house. So I got to go there and design the fuel system for him. I love my job, I was thinking about getting an Aeromotive tramp stamp or a neck tattoo, I can show it off to Deegan!

nerve-racking, but our system worked flawlessly, that was really cool to be a part of that. We just installed the same setup on Tom Bailey’s car [Sick Second 2.0], so we’ll see how that goes.

What is the coolest thing you have worked on?

Have you ever thought about any other form of racing?

Oh, by far the Pro Mod car. It is a monster!

Actually I have some guys trying to convince me to go run Baja. I am really thinking about it.

I thought you would’ve said Larry Larson’s truck. Yeah, that was pretty badass. When they built it, they were down to the wire and there was no testing. The tires didn’t hit the ground until they were on the way to the track. It was

What are you driving now? I am driving the Aeromotive/Racetech dragster — a perk of the job. We actually use it as a test tool. We learn more at the track than we do in the office. That is where we learn, take it out … break it, we make it better, then we take it out again, and keep doing it until we have a viable product. We pride ourselves on being problem solvers, we are not a “me too” company. The dragster is in Super Comp. In typical Aeromotive style, we built it with a 358 Ford Cup motor sourced from Roush Yates. It makes peak power at 9200. It screams, but it sounds like a big block, not a small block. We talked to Jamie at Yates and asked how you dyno them. He said “we rev them up to 10k and go to lunch. If they are still running when we get back, they are good.”

If you do it the same way you’ve done everything else, you‘ll do great. Thanks for Talking with us! Thank you for calling me, I enjoyed it and maybe we’ll see you somewhere along the way. GH4L

SHAWN BRERETON JEFF SMITH

he first car that Mark Johnson ever owned was a 1960 Ford Ranchero that he beat up pretty badly throughout his years at Milliken High School in Southern California. It was that very car that started his love affair with hot rodding and Fords — mainly Falcons. Although he has owned many different styles and makes, the Falcon was

always a favorite body style, and while many were driving and racing Chevy Camaros and Fords Mustangs, he stuck to the Falcon. “I think a lot of it had to do with watching Phil Bonner, and Hubert Platt race their cars at Lion’s Drag Strip, where I used to work as a kid many years back,” says Johnson. “It left an impression that I carry with me to this day.”

The Tire Fryer got its humble beginnings after he bumped into Dale Snoke many years back. At the time they both owned Chevy Novas. Snoke had a killer ’66 red coupe with a 406, while Johnson had a turquoise ’67 wagon with an LT-1. Wagons at that time were not the “cool” thing to have, but Johnson has never been one to follow the Gearheads4Life.com

Mark Johnson pays tribute to A/FX cars of the past with his ’65 Falcon. leaders, he marched to the beat of a different drum! “At the time, Dale was building cars with Steve Magnante, of Hot Rod TV fame,” states Johnson. “They had a little operation out of Steve’s house known as ‘The FunnyCar Farm’ and they were doing all sorts of crazy Match Bash altered wheelbase cars they were running around on the streets with. It was crazy.” Are you a gearhead?

It was all it took — he was HOOKED — he just had to have one. How many other people drive full blown A/FX-altered wheelbase cars on the freeway, right? Snoke was just beginning to start up his own small shop, called Snoke’s Metal Shed. Magnante was relocating to the East Coast and was spending more time doing TV shows, along with the promo-

tion of a how-to book and video on the history of these famed cars. It took them some time to coordinate Magnate’s build schedule, and also for Johnson to find a suitable candidate for altering. Think about it, you need to find a car that is undamaged, but cheap enough, because you know that you are going to ditch most of the stock parts anyway.

Mark and friend, Ron Bettis, cruised the grounds all weekend in this ’65 Falcon.

That’s a tall order, but Johnson managed to source a good candidate down in San Diego. After almost a two-year build, it was finished to the point of what the car is now. Save for the roof, there is not one panel of metal on the car that has not been cut, stretched, pounded, or ground on with a tool of some type! When one sees the car, it takes a while to really understand how much of the car has been moved around, and only then is it appreciated how much work Snoke and Johnson put into the build process. From tearing the car down, to its final assembly, Johnson tried to partake of all the aspects of the build. “Although Dale liked to give me the dirty, nasty chores, I did not mind, it was my car!” Johnson says. “But when I got to work on suspension, roll bar, and various other jobs, I learned more about this car than any others I had ever owned.” While most of the car is a throwback to the glory years of A/FX racing, there are a few items that Snoke upgraded or tweaked as Johnson requested him to try some “new” tricks to his old-style build.

He featured a new source of inspiration in the front end of the car by incorporating a multitude of parts, not from just one manufacturer. While the front end sports a Speedway straight axle assembly, it utilizes springs and perches from the late-’70s Jeep CJ-7, a plentiful part these days that is budget friendly as well. Try crawling around looking for vintage used springs from Ford Econoline and Dodge A-100 vans in local So Cal wrecking yards. A GM Saginaw 525 steering box is strong enough to turn the Firestone tires under the hefty FE 390, backed by a C-6 transmission. A cool side story is the engine combo powered a friends BAJA 1000 prerunner before it was relocated into the Falcon’s framerails, after some rework by SoCal Ford racing engine guru Ben Alameda. But it’s that blank canvas Wimbledon White coat of enamel that makes the hand-painted lettering done by Tom Clark that really makes the car standout as an original work of art. With 24 carat gold leaf, the car just sparkles when he cruises the streets or down to the beach. “It really is a street legal race car that

Tom Clark hand painted all of the lettering over the Wimbledon White enamel.

can be driven just about anywhere, and I do drive it quite a lot!! Not only locally, but on road trips, and most importantly, for what it was originally intended to do — DRAG RACE,” Johnson says. Events such as The Eagle Field Drags, NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion, The March Meet, are but a few sights that Johnson has on his radar screen for the car. Though it has recently been completed enough to enjoy (its first showing was at the Grand National Roadster Show in January), much like any gearhead’s ride, Johnson says it will never be truly “finished.” Future plans call for a stack injection as well as some lightweight components that will be slowly swapped out as time and budget will allow. An injection system will certainly take it to the next level, but we think it looks great as it sits, which is why it was chosen as the Gearhead PowerPack winner from our Facebook contest. Johnson could be seen all weekend cruising around the grounds enjoying all the smiles and thumbs-ups the car gets rumbling by. We hope he has many years of frying those tires! GH4L

Gearheads4Life.com

Tire Fryer gets up and goes with an FE 390 backed by a C-6 trans.

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GEARHEADS GET TO KNOW

As a kid growing up in Southern California, Mike Finnegan loved tinkering with things — more like taking stuff apart and putting it back together – but never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined he’d be getting paid to do that for a living. His love of road trips has taken him from coast-to-coast, while accumulating a small army of cars and water craft. Did we mention that he’s a champion drag boat racer too? As an editor for Hot Rod magazine and co-host of RoadKill, a popular YouTube show that chronicles his car adventures, Finnegan is a true gearhead.

How/why did you grow to love cars? I watched a lot of quality television as a kid — every day it was reruns of Dukes of Hazzard, The A-Team, Knight Rider, and Rockford Files. Those shows all had fast cars and were a big influence on me. Someday I’ll fab a General Lee that will actually survive the kind of thrashing that destroyed Dodge Chargers during the making of that show.

MIKE FINNEGAN

First automotive job? Worst automotive job?

In 1994, I worked at Circuit City in Laguna Hills, California, installing car stereos and the occasional car alarm. Strangely enough, I went into the place to have an alarm put in my mini-truck and walked out of there with a job — proving that place would hire anybody. I went from bagging groceries to working on cars, and I had no clue what I was doing. I worked with some great guys though, and they taught me a lot. By the time I quit, I could slam a head unit and door speakers in a Toyota truck faster than you can say “electrical fire!” During college, I went through this phase where I kept applying for jobs just so I could get the shirt. Briefly I was a cable guy and I worked at a quickie lube place — which turned out to be the most soul-crushing job I ever had. It was unbelievably monotonous and the only action that ever happened was when the bottom end guys would forget to install a new oil filter on a car before it left the shop. I lasted about a week, just long enough to see two redfaced customers earn a free engine bay detailing after their cars spewed 10W30 all over the driveway.

What vehicles are in your garage today?

I recently moved so all of the vehicles now fit inside of the garage, as opposed

to the way I’ve spent the last 15 years, which entails one in the garage and a slew of them inside a rented shop. Currently, there is a Hemi-powered ’55 Chevy Bel Air, an LS3-swapped ’69 Chevy El Camino, my wife’s Kia Sportage — let’s be clear-that is NOT my car! — a 2015 Peterson Placecraft drag boat that I’m currently building, a 1994 Yamaha Superjet stand-up jet ski, and my dad’s 1996 Laveycraft jet boat all under the house.

What’s your dream car or project build?

It’s part desert racer, part muscle car. Take a SCORE off-road Trophy Truck/ Trick Truck, lower it a couple of inches, and plop the body of a 1969 Dodge Charger on the chassis and that is my dream car. It’s the ultimate go fast, slow down for nuthin’ machine! Imagine being the Duke boys with a General Lee that will swallow 3-foot deep holes in the road at 100 mph like they were nothing. That epic canyon jump that smashed so many vintage Chargers would feel like a speed bump. I would beat on that thing in the dirt and on pavement like it owed me money, and since it’s just a dream, the body would be fiberglass — cheap and disposable.

Before I die, I want to do ________ in a car.

Drive 200 mph in the standing mile in a 1960 Cadillac.

Favorite car color? We’re guessing “Red” like your beard? Actually, it’s blue. I’ve had a lot of cars and trucks and a good portion of them have been blue. 1996 Porsche Riviera Blue is probably my favorite color of all-time, PPG L39E is the paint code, in case you were wondering. Is that weird?

Tell us about your best road trip ever?

The next one will be the best one, so how about the worst one? I moved from New York back to my home state of California after graduating college. I packed all my crap into a 1983 Suncrest Motorhome, hitched a heavy equipment trailer behind it with my bagged and body dropped minitruck on top, and drove 3,000 miles, while getting three mpg. I could write a book about all the breakdowns, arguments with my ex-girlfriend, running out of money, and epic adventures I had with friends I made during that trip. If you read Mini Truckin’ Magazine around 2000, then you might have read about those misadventures in a column I used to write back then.

One tool or piece of equipment you couldn’t live without?

My welder. It’s the tool that makes any man a builder and not just a parts replacer. The day I learned to melt metal with it opened so many new doors to creativity. It’s a skill I constantly hone, because it’s so rewarding.

Coolest automotive personality you have ever met?

Rutledge Wood is pretty rad. Only met him once and that guy was incredibly nice to me and he certainly didn’t have to be.

Who in the automotive industry do you look up to?

Anyone that welds better than I do.

Favorite episode of RoadKill?

Episode 26 is pretty awesome. It combines a few of my favorite things like welding, a Datsun 240Z, one junkyard turbocharger, an autocross course, and a lot of tire smoke.

Are you a gearhead?

Worst automotive trend ever? Whistle Tips. Google it. The only good thing to come out of that small, sad trend were all the internet mashups of Bubb Rubb and Lil Sis.

Any cool car crash or carnage stories? In high school, I totaled my Camaro during a rainstorm. It had rained for about a week straight in Temecula, California, and the buses stopped running at my little brother’s school because the roads were flooded. My mom couldn’t pick him up in her Corvette, because it sat too low to the ground, and in my warped brain it made perfect sense to air up the shocks on the back of my Second Gen and make a bonsai run to go get him. I was 16, what can I say? I was coming down a hill way too fast and the road was washed out just as it turned left. I hydroplaned, downshifted, braked, said “Oh shit” four times, then ran head-on into a concrete wall, and then the river pushed the car sideways into a phone pole. The crash blew out every window in the car, which was u-shaped, because the phone pole hit the driver door and roof. The Camaro was also about a half a foot shorter, but I didn’t get a scratch on me. I was saved by old, American iron.

Boat racers are nuts. Do you have a death wish? Nah. But I do enjoy engine building and brutally quick acceleration. Drag boat racing allows me to build engine

combos that I can’t realistically put into a car and enjoy. For instance, I’m fabbing a twin-turbo kit for a 711c.i. Sonny Leonard Hemi Chevy that will make about 2,500 horsepower on gas if I lean on it. What would I really do with that thing in a street car? But, stick that engine in a boat and I can make early morning speed runs on my local lake without going to jail and occasionally hit up a sanctioned drag boat event. The majority of what I’ve learned about building horsepower I’ve picked up through racing boats, because there were no dragstrips nearby me when I grew up.

Why do you always let Freiburger win the RoadKill driving competitions? he have dirt on you that forces you to throw the competition? He’s actually a pretty damn good driver. I won’t say I’ve taken a dive, but there have been times when I’ll “drive for the camera” even though that isn’t the quickest way around a racetrack. A good example is when we took Subaru’s money and fixed up a few Roadkill project cars and raced them against the Legacy sedan in episode 32. When we ran Freiburger’s Charger at the rally school, DirtFish, I purposely didn’t take the fast line, because I wanted to drift every inch of that place. I figured I’d never get to drive a 1968 Charger on gravel like that again, so I was gonna make the most of it. I lost and didn’t care, because I hung that car sideways the length of the course! GH4L

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Get your ’shine on Apple Pie S’loonshine, Full Throttle Distillery If you’ve heard of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, you’ve probably heard of Full Throttle Saloon. Well did you know that they have their own brand of moonshine? That’s right, in June of 2014, Michael Ballard and business partner Jessie James Dupree (lead singer of Jackyl) had the grand opening of the Full Throttle Distillery. Investing over $2 million to build the distillery and restore an old building for a diner, the effort has saved the tiny town of Trimble, Tennessee, (read about it on page 70 in this issue). Using 1900’s tradition and recipes in authentic copper stills, the distillery makes 70- and 80-proof moonshine (S’loonshine) using a wide range of natural colors and flavorings. They have recently introduced their signature drink called S.T.F.U. (we’ll let you guess what it stands for). The drink combines three S’loonshine flavors: apple, blackberry, and strawberry and is sure to pack a punch. A really cool dispenser is available to mix the drink. Also, FTS has just announced a partnership with Logan’s Roadhouse. Patrons of Logan’s will be able to purchase FTS’s new Apple Pie S’loonshine. It is as good as it sounds — we won’t tell you how we know! Look for further expansion of their product lines soon, as they will begin construction on the Jesse James Spirits Distillery right across the road in Trimble!

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Let Your HEMI Breathe Edelbrock, Dual-Quad HEMI Intake Manifold This new Dual-Quad HEMI intake manifold from Edelbrock is intended for use with Mopar Gen II (1964–71) 426–572 HEMI engines operating in the 2,500 to 6,500 rev range. These new intake manifolds are a single-plane design with a dual square-bore 4150-style carburetor pad that is designed for use with Edelbrock carburetors. Carburetor spacing and height are the same as Mopar Performance dual-quads, making it a direct bolt-on to all vehicles with a shaker hood. They also retain the same carburetor linkage location from the factory which makes it an easy install. The manifold is compatible with factory style cylinder heads, but has been optimized for use with Edelbrock Victor Jr. HEMI cylinder heads. This intake manifold requires Edelbrock’s coil brackets for use with OE style coils. It’s available for carbureted and fuel injected applications. This fuel rail kit features -8AN threads and accommodate all standard types of 60mm injectors. In testing, the intake manifold produced 656 horsepower and 618 ft.-lbs. of torque on a 528c.i.d. engine, outperforming the competition by 35 horsepower and 5 ft.-lbs. of torque.

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Performance Truck Shocks QA1, Stocker Star Shocks QA1 is expanding its line of Stocker Star shocks to include options for several 2 wheel drive GM, Ford, and Mopar trucks. These shocks are perfect for those that want a simple way to improve their truck’s performance. QA1’s Stocker Star shocks are bolt-in stock replacements that offer increased performance. With the ability to choose between double, single, Drag R-Series, or non-adjustable options, these shocks allow you to get the performance you need for any driving style. These shocks are manufactured in QA1’s Lakeville, Minnesota, facility where they are 100 percent dyno tested and serialized. If you are hard on your shocks you’ll be happy to know that they are serviceable and rebuildable by QA1 authorized service centers.

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Break It In Lunati, Break-In Engine Oil Lunati has the perfect oil for your freshly rebuilt or new engine. Their new Lunati Break-In engine oil is a conventional SAE 10W-30 blend that contains all the critical additives to prevent harmful wear and promote proper internal surface mating during engine break-in. The high-Zinc (ZDDP) formula has been engineered with the correct additives to provide maximum protection. Featuring an advanced petroleum base, this lubricant is compatible with all common fuel types. The SAE 10W-30 conventional blend protects all internal components including flat and roller camshafts, lifters, valve guides, pistons and bearings, crank journals and rod bearings. It is specifically designed for use in new or rebuilt engines that call for a 10W30 conventional during break-in or initial dyno testing.

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THE NEWEST GEAR

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Cleaner Air FAST, Aluminum Air Cleaner The perfect addition to your FAST EZ-EFI throttle body or Holley-style carburetor. The new Aluminum Air Cleaner from FAST provides a clean and classic look that will perfectly complement your throttle body or carburetor all while providing airflow of more than 1500 CFM. The cleaner comes part of a complete kit that includes a high-quality, reusable K&N air filter, gasket, hardware, and a fitting or plug for crankcase ventilation. The hidden fastener design features a single hidden bolt that is creatively covered with a magnetic FAST, COMP, or custom logo insert on top of the cleaner, as opposed to two-bolt designs that attach from underneath the unit. This means no visible bolts or cumbersome wing nuts.

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COMP Swag COMP Cams, Pin-Up T-Shirt The latest T-Shirt from COMP Cams features a retro design showcasing a classic pin-up model chilling on a camshaft. This new COMP Cams Pin-Up T-Shirt is the perfect way to show off your favorite valve train company. The all-black shirt includes a retro COMP Cams logo in white with red trim on the front, with the words “Legendary Performance” appearing just above and below the vintage insignia. The back features the same logo and is flanked by an illustration of a blonde pin-up model posing on a camshaft. The shirt is made from Gildan Ultra Cotton, so it won’t shrink, and the all-black design won’t show dirt or grease which is a plus if you’re a real gearhead. This COMP Cams T-shirt is available in sizes small–5XL, so there is an option for everyone.

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Cover Your Head Inglese, Die Cast Aluminum Valve Covers This new line of die cast aluminum valve covers brings a whole new level of style and function to your engine. They come in a black-wrinkle, powder coated finish and laser etched logos that provide that high performance look you want under the hood. These valve covers are not only about style, they are functional as well because they were designed to be tall enough to provide the necessary clearance to accommodate aftermarket valve trains. These covers have installed

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Bruce Gustafson’s ‘69 Camaro was just a dream until Alyce came along...

SHAWN BRERETON Are you a gearhead?

or a lot of young boys, a big part of the formative years is made up of playing with cars. If you were fortunate enough to be born in the 60s, that meant your formative years were in the height of the muscle car era. Growing up then meant you could have the toy version of all those great cars of the horsepower wars. Much like the late-70s put a stop to all that fun, most kids grow out of playing with cars as they mature and life gets more complicated. Bruce Gustafson was one of those children of the 70s who got to see the rise and fall of the muscle car. In 1977, at the age of 14, he bought a 1969 Pontiac LeMans. After doing some minor repairs and painting it, he sold the car hoping to be able to afford his dream car, a ’69 Camaro. Not being able to find one, he decided to bite on a 1971 Chevy Nova that caught his eye. There would be plenty of time for the Camaro. He completely restored the Nova and drove it until he was twenty, eventually selling to one of his older brothers. Adult life picked up steam quickly for Bruce with a marriage, children, and mortgages, leaving no time or money for muscle cars. Bruce went into active duty with the Air Force straight out of high school, learning to become an air traffic controller, which would lead to a career with the Mississippi Air National Guard and the FAA after active duty. With the unrest in the world, Bruce was a busy man with several deployments to various locations around the world. That ’69 Camaro was nothing but a distant dream — that is until 2009. Bruce was deployed in Kirkuk, Iraq, making sure the fly-boys made it through the skies safely, while his wife Alyce, was at home dealing with the passing of her father. Her family was working out her father’s financial affairs at the bank in the small town he had lived. Axle introduced herself to the banker, he said, “Oh, you are the one whose husband wants a ’69 Camaro.” The banker stated that he was the proud owner of one that was being restored and she should see it before she left. Alyce and her siblings stopped by the hot rod shop on the way out of town and found it was owned by a life-long family friend.

The owner was not in, but the manager showed the family the projects they were working on. Alyce spied a ’69 Camaro in the corner in rough shape waiting for its turn to be resurrected and asked the manager about it. The manager said it was the owner’s personal car, that he was just beginning the restoration, and wasn’t for sale. Shortly afterwards, the shop owner came in. Surprised to see them, he expressed his sympathies to the family and the conversation turned to why they were there. With tears in her eyes, Alyce started explaining that Bruce was deployed in Iraq and had always coveted a 69 Camaro. The shop manager told the owner she was asking about the one in the corner. The owner, seeing Alyce’s distress in that difficult time, said he wouldn’t sell it to anyone but a fam-

ily friend. So with that, Alyce hesitantly made the deal even though she was nervous about buying it without Bruce seeing it first, but she determined it was just meant to be. Borrowing a trailer from the owner, her brothers loaded up the car and delivered it to the Gustafson home. Alyce and her family were somehow able to keep the secret for five weeks while they waited for Bruce to return from his tour in Iraq. Then the time finally came! When Bruce arrived home, Alyce had several friends and family members gathered for the homecoming and the big reveal. As the group congregated outside the garage chatting, the ’69 sat inside with a big red, white, and blue bow. Alyce then went inside and hit the button on the garage door. In mid-sentence,

Bruce was stopped in his tracks as the door slowly opened with the light hitting the front bumper, then the headlights, then the hood. He was completely taken by surprise. Even though it was barely road worthy, Bruce just had to take it around the block. When he returned, it was apparent that the car would need a little work based on the pool of transmission fluid under it but Alyce says “if there was a cot in the garage, he would’ve slept in there that night!” Bruce got to work immediately with the help of his brother tearing the car apart in one weekend. He knew that would be the easy part though and sent the body off to be acid dipped. When it returned, he knew they were in for a long thrash. He also knew that he wanted the work done right and searched Gearheads4Life.com

for a reputable shop to do some of the heavy duty work. During his search, one name kept popping up for some of the most quality work in the south — Ronnie’s Hot Rods in Senatobia, Mississippi. After talking with Ronnie and checking out some of his projects, Bruce trailered the car down to his shop for some metal work in September of 2009. After Ronnie had completed some of the work, it was Alyce to the rescue again. Bruce was putting in a lot of hours at work, and Alyce knew that the Camaro would take a back seat to more pressing issues in their lives. It was then that Alyce suggested they just leave the car with Ronnie to finish so they could actually enjoy the car. Though Bruce really wanted to do the work himself, he knew that was the right decision Are you a gearhead?

and commissioned Ronnie’s to finish the job. Ronnie’s is the type of shop that is going to do the job right or not at all, so the Gustafson’s weren’t in for an Overhaulin’ one week build. What they would get in the end was exactly what Bruce envisioned — a tasteful, subtle, clean looking car that could be driven across country if they wanted or win just about any car show. The only controversy was over the color. Bruce found a Jeep metallic green that he really liked, but Ronnie thought it would look wrong on the car. After much negotiation, Ronnie relented and brilliantly sprayed the green. Ronnie will be the first to admit that it really works on the car and makes the ’69 different than most of the Camaros out there.

How does a man thank his wife for always making the right decisions? Bruce knew just what to do — the final piece on the car was the license plate which reads “Thank You A”. A fitting tribute to a lovely lady who thought of her husband even during the worst time of her life and was the voice of reason when it came to getting the car done. Bruce and Alyce have enjoyed the car since Ronnie’s Hot Rods finished the build and have taken it on many trip including Goodguys in Nashville, the Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, the Street Machine Nationals in Du Quoin, and Cruisin’ the Coast and fully intend to keep driving it for years to come. To let you know just how nice the car is, it just won the hotly contested ’69 Camaro class at the Memphis Super Chevy Show. GH4L

History Built on Horsepower

Gearheads4Life.com

BRANDON FLANNERY LOUIS KIMMERY, MARSHALL ROBILIO

ot rodding has its earliest roots on the streets and dry lake beds of California. This is a fact and undisputed. The population concentration, industry, and booming economy of pre- and post-war California combined with adrenaline-fueled youth and year-round cruise weather to spark one of the greatest adventures mankind has ever known. Businesses of all kinds sprang up on the west coast and the enthusiasm spread east. By far one of the most influential areas for racing and hot rodding east of the Rocky Mountains was cultivated along the banks of the Mississippi River. Had there been a magazine like Hot Rod located “down yonder” to publicize all that was happening, history might have been written a little differently. Once known as the “Traction Capital of the South,” Memphis stands as the largest racing-related business area outside of southern California. As World War II ended servicemen returned home, bringing with them the experiences and stories of the guys they had been exposed to. Trained in mechanical vocations and thirsty for adrenaline-filled experiences, they gravitated to their machines of freedom: cars. Hot rodding spread across the land and those in Memphis eagerly climbed aboard. The Memphis Rodders car club was founded in 1947 and quickly became a feared competition-oriented hot rod club. The surviving members host an annual reunion to this very day. Inspired by the pages of Hot Rod magazine, they began hopping up their cars and looking for places to race. They landed on an air strip of an abandoned Army air base in Halls, just north of Dyersburg. The facility had been a large one, and was the only inland B-17 bomber training facility east of the Mississippi for planes like the Memphis Belle. The landing strip became a popular place. Raymond Godman was one of the Memphis Rodders who already had taken an interest in racing stock cars. He found a new love in drag racing and organized the area’s first race at “Hall’s” as it would be called, in 1955. Following Wally Parks’ lead to get kids off the streets and onto the tracks, he quickly became an NHRA Advisor and convinced the NHRA Drag Safari to stop in Memphis. Raymond’s dragster, the first of several named “Tennessee Bo’ Weevil” was a class winner at the 1957 Nationals, and the Memphis Rodders began appearing in magazines, especially after several class wins at the State Championship Drags in 1958. Inspired, the local car culture boomed with drag racers and show cars. Godman was also inspired, and set out to build a state-of-the-art dragstrip near Memphis. After two years of construction, Lakeland Raceway opened in 1960 on July Fourth and quickly earned Memphis its “Traction Capital of the South” title. Bill Taylor assumed the lease on the 128-acre facility after the first year and operated the track for most of its life. Though he briefly partnered with Larry Coleman and Pat Collins, and his brother, Lee, who managed it towards the end, Taylor was always there and most people know the track as having been operated by him. It changed names several times over the years, with Shelby County International Raceway being the only one without Lakeland in the name, and was active for 19 years before closing in 1979. It remains abandoned and hidden behind a now also-abandoned Factory Outlet Mall in Lakeland. Movie buffs will recognize Lakeland as the dragstrip in TwoLane Blacktop where the tools were put up to race in 1971. The legendary Don Garlits also brought fame to Memphis by setting national speed records there in 1972 and 1973. Driver Larry Reyes relocated from California to drive Bill Taylor’s King Fish Cuda, setting the early funny car craze on fire. Lakeland was often home to big-money match races throughout the heyday. Speed shops sprang up and local guys became legends. Bruce Hale opened the Memphis Speed Shop in 1961. Local The Memphis Rodders Club pose at the brand new Lakeracer Joe Lunati transitioned from building engines in the land Dragstrip in 1960. Raymond Godman (seated in the early 1960s to grinding his own camshafts for racers. Lunawheelchair) spearheaded a two-year construction project ti Cams was formed and eventually progressed into crankon the new facility. After operating it for a year he would turn it over to Bill Taylor, and it stayed open until 1979. shafts, rods, pistons, and rotating assemblies. Taylor partnered with his brother-in-law Larry Coleman in 1961 to start a transmission shop that started a 50-year

Early photo of Ray Godman at Hall’s air strip. A chalkboard was used to record speeds.

Mr. 4-Speed, Herb McCandless visits with Ray Godman in the pits. growth and development period. The two eventually separated, with Taylor starting Torque Converters, Inc. (TCI) and Coleman keeping the Coleman Taylor Transmission shop. Both companies survive today, and Taylor (who eventually sold TCI) continues to serve racers needs with another company he founded called Bill Taylor Enterprises. Like many of the early pioneers, Godman founded his own company in 1977, centering around the design and development of plumbing systems for fuel and braking. Today Godman Hi-Performance endures on Elmore Road in Memphis. Another set of businesses began to thrive, with humble beginnings in a rac-

er’s garage. Ivars Smiltnek along with friends John McWhirter and Bob Woodard began hopping up Oldsmobile V8s in the early 1960s, paying special attention to the cylinder heads. This would eventually become Racing Head Service (RHS), one of the first racing-only cylinder head manufacturers. It began in the basement of Ivars’ house with one machine and lots of vision and ended up being the premier supplier of heads and engines to drag racers and oval track racers. RHS grew and found a logical need to develop its own camshafts. This led to the creation of Cam Dynamics in 1972 with the three RHS partners,

Woodward, Smiltnieks, and McWhirter, along with Mark Heffington and Tom Woietesek from Crane Cams in Florida. Cam Dynamics found its start in a tiny vacant building on the corner of Union and Marshall in Memphis and was just about all they could afford to rent. Soon the landlord refused to renew the lease so that he could “restore” the building. Not only was this building the “Birthplace of Cam Dynamics,” but also the “Birthplace of Rock & Roll” and the home to the “Million Dollar Quartet” of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. It was the original home of Sun Studios and remains a popular tourist destination today. Gearheads4Life.com

Ray Godman became an NHRA Advisor and convinced the NHRA Drag Safari to stop at Hall’s. There was a big push to get kids racing on safe tracks instead of the streets, and the Safari toured the country helping to set up consistent racing conditions at local tracks.

For a while RHS operated out of Sun Studios, this in a time when it was just another building. With the realization of its significance their lease was not renewed and the building restored.

John McWhirter

Joe Lunati found success racing his Devon in the M/P class. His Junior Stock cams were popular enough for him to strike out on his own. The owners of Cam Dynamics eventually split up, with Heffington continuing Cam Dynamics and the others forming Competition Cams in 1976. Memphis-area performance companies dominated drag racing in the late 1970s and ’80s. Envelope-pushing racers like Bob Glidden made names for themselves using Memphis-based equipment. NASCAR, too, would eventually grow to accept the superior hardware coming out of Memphis and names like Labonte, Yarborough, Wallace, Childress, and Earnhardt would become household names with their help. RHS worked closely with COMP Cams, combining forces on many projAre you a gearhead?

Ivar Smiltnek of RHS raced this Oldsmobile. RHS would later spark Competition Cams. ects and set up shop in what was supposed to be a “Gasoline Alley” for Memphis. The multi-building facility on Democrat Road is near the airport, and this location helped foster RHS’s ground-breaking foray into the fledgling mail-order parts business and later, the development of the industry’s first crate engines. The widespread popularity in all forms of racing broadened their horizons and attracted customers from all over the world. Today the Memphis heritage survives with many of these original companies, and even speed shops, still in business and doing very well. The lo-

cal industry’s commitment to ride the cutting edge of technology while providing good ol’ southern-style customer service has also spawned many new companies like FAST, makers of electronic fuel injection and Eagle, manufactures of crankshafts and rotating assemblies. Hypertech Inc. was founded in 1985 by Mark Heffington, and the company leads the way with electronic engine control systems for modern computer controlled cars. Memphis is definitely a hot spot on the map for those in the know, and an eye-opening realization for others once the companies and their accomplishments are tallied into one list. GH4L

Gearheads4Life.com

DAN HOGDON ANDREW ALMAZAN/POWER AUTOMEDIA

f you ever find yourself in a place where the sound of open headers meets the thumping echo of a upright slap bass, you just might have entered the world of kustom kulture. If your surroundings also include plenty of towering pompadours, pomade, swing dresses, and maybe even sleeves of tattoos, then you definitely have. Rockabilly music and cars that we might call customs or traditional hot rods, dependent on their style, have gone hand in hand since the 1950s and early 1960s. Back then no one really knew what to call the music and hot rodding was still in its infancy. It was rebellion at its finest, with no names or cliques to fit into. It was the epitome of cool—being deemed as such because you’re not trying to be. Tom Wolfe’s 1963 Esquire essay, “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” was one of the first works to document the hot rodding culture. It was also one of the first to introduce the masses to the practice of replacing words that start with “C” to the much cooler-looking “K,” compliments of legendary builder George Barris. There has been an underground kustom kulture scene in the years since, but over the past two decades or so it has permeated the mainstream to the extent that today there are organized shows and festivals around the world that promise endless hot rods. The accompanying music lineups are made up primarily of three- or four-member bands that include a lead guitar, stand-up bass, and stripped-down drums. Some of the sounds are derivative of early Elvis and the records he made at Sun Studios in Memphis, and others fit into the realm of psychobilly, a mash-up of country, punk, and rock and roll. The name psychobilly comes from the 1976 Johnny Cash tune “One Piece at a Time,” in which the narrator builds a Cadillac by stealing parts from General Motors over multiple decades. Low-brow art consisting of tattoos, pin-up girls, and monster movies has been embraced by this community. Famous car builders like Barris and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, and artists such as Rat Fink, are also now revered symbols of kustom kulture. Yet, while the scene has a name now, its members still consider themselves a bit removed from the mainstream. The Heavy Rebel Weekender is a good example of this world. Going into its 15th year in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the festival brings together a wide range of blue-collar looking folks from around the country, many of whom always have at least one foot in the kustom scene. “I know some of them are accountants, I know some of them work in music stores, I know that some of them are welders and machinists, and some own their own businesses,” says Are you a gearhead?

festival founder and musician, David Quick, who also builds guitar amps. The three-day party takes place each Fourth of July Weekend, and in addition to a wide range of rockabilly, honky-tonk, rock and roll, and garage bands, it also features a car show, burlesque performances, and mud-wrestling, jelly-doughnut-eating, and beer-drinking contests. “Rock and roll and cars have always gone together from the beginning,” Quick says. “It’s sort of like why did somebody decide that syrup went really well on pancakes? I don’t know why, but it does. I just enjoyed the results of what they discovered. I view my part in [the kulture] as just trying to keep it fresh. If all these things are well-known for going together, how can you have an interesting party if everyone sort of knows what to expect? So that’s the challenge for us.” Indeed, while the kulture has a look and uniform, it’s the spirit of individualism that helps it thrive. You’ll see plenty of cars built in the style of traditional pre-war hot rods, lots of lead sleds, and T-bucket Fords, but if you want to install taillights from a ’57 Buick in a ’32 Ford hi-boy, replace the shifter with a shrunken head, cover the whole thing in primer, and throw in some pink pinstriping around the rocker panels, that’s cool too. It’s called a rat rod and no one will judge you for it as they might at some stuffier car shows around the country. The same can be said for the more recent tattoo culture that exists within the scene. No two tattoos are exactly alike, making each person’s body a oneof-a-kind canvas. The fact that a person has a certain work of art on their body is a further example of artistic, individual expression. The music is no different.

It’s not really one style, but rather a sonic blend of a variety of elements to create sounds that are truly unique. Alex Idzardi, also known as a D.J. Axle, is a Riverside, California, native who was one of the originators of the kustom scene’s revival. A drummer whose father and grandfather both were musicians, Axle was also a teenage car guy with a ’66 Mustang whose life was changed by a single band. “In 1982 a three-piece band from Long Island, New York, called the Stray Cats hit the radio. I bought that album and thought, ‘this is me,’” Axle says. That record, Built for Speed, featured a cover with band members Brian Setzer, Slim Jim Phantom, and Lee Rocker dressed like 1950s greasers standing in front of Setzer’s ’56 Chevy Bel-Air and a ’56 Oldsmobile 88. Axle was hooked on the music and the scene, and soon got his hands on a canary yellow ’55 Chevy. Before long he met a group of like-minded individuals in Southern California who embraced

the ’50s lifestyle as he had, and they began building hot rods while living the vintage life. “We weren’t following any fads because there weren’t any to follow,” he says about that period of his car-building life. Much of his knowledge came from old Rod & Custom magazines and asking questions of old-time hot rodders. The projects he and his friends worked on were a far cry from the trailer queen street rods that were so prevalent in the mid- to-late 1980s. By the early ’90s, Axle and his buddies had assembled a small army of prewar hot rods. However, when they would go to shows they often would receive mixed signals and receptions from event promoters and show attendees. Their cars were either built to look and drive just like the hot rods from the ’50s (period-correct, traditional hot rods) or to be exaggerated versions of cars from that era (rat rods). The cars weren’t perfect and their owners looked different from everyone else, too, meaning they were ofGearheads4Life.com

ten written off as a novelty who liked to play dress up on the weekends. Yet slowly but surely, attitudes changed when folks began to realize that what Axle and others were doing was truly how they lived their lives. They began to be featured in car magazines, television pieces, and various other media outlets. “For us it was the real deal. We were greasers, we wore vintage clothing and it was a lifestyle,” Axle explains. “We drank lots of beer, worked in our garages, and played doo wop music out of our little cassette players. All we ate, slept, and breathed was hot rods and ’50s rock and roll.” Today Axle lives in a house decorated with only 1940s and ’50s furniture, and the only modern conveniences he owns are a cell phone and a color TV that he keeps out of sight. A professional disc jockey, show promoter, occasional band member, and full-time Goodguys employee, Axle also owns a fleet of vintage cars that includes a chopped ’38 Ford pickup, ’67 Corvette, ’54 Ford Victoria, ’32 Ford 5-window coupe, and a ’63 Pontiac Catalina wagon.

Thanks to the efforts of folks like Axle, both the Rebel Without a Cause generation that lived the original era in the 1950s and ’60s, as well a younger crop of greasers began to take notice and become involved in the scene. Today the kustom kulture world stretches from coast to coast and all points in-between. Notable events include the Viva Las Vegas Festival (of which Axle has been a major part of since its inception), the Ink ‘n Iron Festival with dates in Southern California and Nashville, and the aforementioned Heavy Rebel Weekender. Other prominent festivals include Greazefest in Australia and the Kustom Kulture Show in Finland. This lifestyle knows no geographical bounds, ironically due in no small part to the fact that many of those born on foreign soil are leaders in preserving various slices of Americana. Kennie Cuppetelli is the founder of the Lake Havasu Rockabilly Reunion, an event he likens to the Sturgis of the rockabilly world. It drew 40,000 peo-

ple to Arizona this past February and featured 895 cars, close to 900 vendors, and 18 bands. “[People] are taking those vintage cars and they’re actually making a piece of artwork,” he explains. “Not one car is the same.” Cuppetelli owns a company called Events All Around and throughout his 28-year career he has been involved with a variety of concerts and sporting events in addition to car shows. He says that each year at the Rockabilly Reunion he deals with folks that range in age from 18 to 85, and wants to put on an event where four generations of the same family can enjoy themselves. “The kustom kulture and the car scene just has a different vibe; it’s very family oriented,” Cuppetelli says. “Nobody’s tougher than anybody, they show off their artwork a little bit and everyone gets along. We’ve never had any incidents or anything. It’s just a fun-filled weekend. And every year it just keeps on getting bigger.” GH4L

SEE MORE ABOUT THIS LIFESTYLE ONLINE BY SEARCHING “KUSTOM” @ GEARHEADS4LIFE.COM

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Being a gearhead runs in the Davidson’s DNA

t first glance, Logan Davidson appears to be your average 15 year old. He knows more than his parents, Tony and Karen, when it comes to electronic devices and thinks he knows more than them about everything else. What isn’t average for Logan however, is that he isn’t really obsessed with the things most other teenagers obsess over. Sure he has a cell phone and even video games, but it is rare to see him absorbed in them like a zombie. The thing is that Logan is a product of his environment. It is really hard to be involved with your phone when you are under a car with oil running down your arm. He and his younger brother Tanner are learning an American tradition that has unfortunately dwindled

over the years – working on the car with their dad. Actually, it goes back further than that — working on the car with their granddad. It’s all Donny Davidson’s fault. The patriarch of the family worked for Firestone aligning front-ends for 48 years. He was always into cars and still owns a pristine ’72 Dodge Demon he bought new. Donny passed that love down to his son Tony from day one, driving him home from the hospital in a 1955 Chevy that he gave to Tony when he was 11. Well, now that Donny is retired and has time on his hands, he is working on the next generation — Tony’s sons, Logan and Tanner. Three years ago, Tony’s friend Murray was going through a divorce and needed some quick cash so he asked

Tony if he wanted to buy his ’69 GMC C-10 pickup. Well, it wasn’t really a pickup at that point, it was a project. Murray had blown the truck apart to restore and had even bought most of the stuff (including a front clip from a ’67) to restore it, when things took a turn for him. Tony was more than happy to get a bargain deal and paid Murray $3,750 for the pile of rubble. Originally, Tony was going to just flip the truck until he looked at how nice it really was and how many parts it came with. From that point on, he looked at it as a learning tool for Logan, who was only 12 years old at the time. Over the next two years Logan, along with help from Donny, Tony, and family friends Cody Williams and Gearheads4Life.com

SHAWN BRERETON Russell Beard would work on transforming the pile of parts into a legitimate head turner. Tony worked with Logan on c-notching the frame, welding it together, and installing an aftermarket cross-member. With the chassis sorted, Donny’s expertise was called upon to help Logan learn the ins and outs on the mechanicals — drivetrain, suspension, and brakes. They lowered the stance by installing dropped spindles and putting coil-over shocks on all four corners. Stock-style front disc brakes with rear-drum brakes would be more than adequate to stop the freshened 355 (pulled from a ’94 Silverado) mated to a Turbo350 turning a 12-bolt posi with 3.73 gears. After the mechanicals, it was time for the cosmetics. The first stop was the Are you a gearhead?

firewall. Logan learned how to delete all unnecessary holes, weld them up, and sand them smooth. After that, it was time to move to the bed where the stake holes were filled and the wheel tubs were widened five inches. A Brothers Industries fuel tank and filler door was installed in the bed. Moving to the cab, the gas filler neck was obviously no longer needed, so it was lopped off and smoothed. The vent windows were then taken out in favor of one piece windows. A Coban Classics gauge panel was installed with AutoMeter carbon-fiber gauges for the right amount of bling to offset the Billet Specialties steering wheel. To finish off the interior, a black and blue houndstooth interior from South Kentucky Classics completes the clean look.

Tony employed the help of friend Jimmy Wilcox to paint the truck Logan’s choice of PPG Marina Blue. Jimmy also expertly airbrushed the GMC on the tailgate. The final piece of the puzzle to complete the look was a set of Showwheels Streeter rims (20x10, 18x7) wrapped in BF Goodrich tires (295/50, 245/45). Logan has patiently waited two years to be able to slide into the driver’s seat on a regular basis and hopes to be hitting the shows hot and heavy in July when he gets his driver’s license. Until then, he will have to just be content working in the garage with his dad and granddad. Don’t worry, chances are that history will repeat itself — Tanner just turned 12 — Tony better get started! GH4L

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MICHAEL BALLARD OF FULL THROTTLE SALOON THINKS SO

e live in a time of change. The outsourcing of industry to competitive overseas markets has come at a price. While the economic frontier is expanding, the growth has come at the expense of many small towns that helped build America. Trimble, Tennessee, is one such town. It’s nestled in the top northwest corner of the state near Kentucky and Missouri. Like most western Tennessee towns it was a rural farming community with a few businesses and a cotton gin on the square. There was also a local watering hole called the Silver Dollar Cafe that attracted patrons from four surrounding counties. Michael Ballard grew up in Trimble. His father owned a tile business and he was cutting and laying tile as soon as he was able. He was also a rambunctious little fellow and by 12 was sneaking in the back door of the Silver Dollar Cafe to

hang with the grown folks. He would’ve been kicked out many times, but his uncle was a well-respected regular so Michael was often permitted to stay. He’d watch people’s behavior as they drank, and though they sometimes fought, they always ended up back together. “It’s all in a good time,” his uncle would say. Michael was inspired and knew one day he’d like to get into the liquor business. Throughout high school he was also into cars and bikes. His father bought him a ’64 Impala for his first car and he also had a CT70 Honda motorcycle. He picked up a Camaro in his early 20s that he still has today and is currently being restored. He raced at the local drag strips, earning trophies as he went. As he worked in the tile business, personal pagers (or beepers) emerged and he jumped on the burgeoning technology. He set up a pager business for fellow

construction workers that evolved into cell phones. Eventually he was the largest cellular carrier in the area, and was eventually bought out by Verizon as the industry boomed. With that experience under his belt he turned his attention to his two main interests: motorcycles and the liquor industry. He had already made a name for himself building award winning bikes, and was inspired by the excitement of Sturgis, the nation’s largest bike rally in North Dakota. Michael began purchasing land in 1999 with plans of building his own bar and grill on the outskirts of Sturgis. The next year he made a second purchase for a total of thirty acres. Billed as “The World’s Largest Biker Bar,” the Full Throttle Saloon was born in 2000, and has blossomed into a premiere destination for the 10 days of Sturgis, serving roughly 50,000 people Gearheads4Life.com

BRANDON FLANNERY SHAWN BRERETON each day. The sprawling indoor/outdoor bar complex now sports a campground, a burnout pit, a tattoo parlor, zip lines, a wrestling ring, restaurants, an overhead catwalk, and several large entertainment stages. It was on one of these stages Michael met his future business partner Jesse James Dupree, lead singer of the band Jackyl. Dupree would be instrumental in helping him realize another dream: Creating a reality show around the bar. “People think I get lucky and things happen overnight,” says Ballard. “The truth is I’ve had to beat everything I have into submission. The show took nearly six years of serious pitching to various networks. “The bar took several years to even start attracting people and making money. We only have ten days to promote ourselves to a crowd that already has their preferred hangouts. Are you a gearhead?

It’s been the result of nothing but years of hard work.” The show, Full Throttle Saloon, was finally picked up and ran five seasons on TruTV until the network changed its format in 2014. It’s currently in a transition stage to another network. With a “boom time” of a few short months out of the year, Michael has plenty of time to think. Most of that has been spent on ways to improve the bar or show, but he also began thinking of his hometown of Trimble, where he lives in the offseason. Once a thriving little farming town, it was in danger of becoming unincorporated and losing its charter as a town. With a population of just over 600 and no major source of revenue, it needed his help. Michael recalled his memories of the Silver Dollar Cafe and its influence on his love affair with the liquor industry.

With the recent legalization of government-authorized moonshine production, he decided to build a moonshine distillery — complete with a genuine copper still — to produce S’loonshine. After assuring the town that he was not trying to create a wild biker-party atmosphere, or even open a bar, they allowed him to proceed. Ground was broken and a distillery was erected replicating the old cotton gin building that had been razed on the site. The new building is faithful to the original structure, and even retains the original truck scale and brick shack. Beside it a “tasting room” was constructed to offer customers small samples and the ability to purchase the many flavors of S’loonshine, as well as merchandise related to the liquor and TV show. He also established Miss Vicki’s Cafe on Main Street — in honor of his late sister — and hopes to expand the street into a

row of craft-style distilleries as a weekend destination for tourists. Plans are in the works for Dupree’s whiskey distillery and a vodka facility. Full Throttle S’loonshine also sponsors two local dragsters, driven by the young husband and wife team of Cody and Leann Tosh. Cody’s proud mother runs the register of the tasting room. Michael organizes several car and bike shows at the distillery throughout the year and tries to attend and sponsor many area events as well. In the off-filming/Sturgis season he can frequently be found at the distillery, always taking a moment to pose for pictures and sign autographs for fans. Many people have to leave small towns like Trimble to find their fortunes, and all too often they fail to return. Michael could’ve easily let fame and fortune sweep him away to some other state to live. Instead of complaining about the little town’s decline, he decided to reach back to try and help — to be a proactive part of the solution. More people who find success should remember their roots and put a little money and resources back into their hometowns and help build America back from the inside. Michael Ballard goes all out when it comes to making sure people have a good time! Full Throttle’s 2nd Annual Car Show on June 5–6 also celebrates the one-year anniversary of the distillery. Tiny Trimble will be trembling when legendary rock group Bad Company rolls into town to provide free entertainment. It is sure to provide a much needed injection of money to the town. GH4L

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Larry Krussow ’71 Challenger was built by trial and error

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SHAWN BRERETON JEFF SMITH

hether it was inherited or a product of his environment, Loren Krussow is a gearhead. When your father and grandfather owned a body shop, chances are there is a gene. But when you’re a kindergartener in the 60’s, and your older brother sits you down in the bleachers of San Fernando, California, dragstrip, you are pretty much guaranteed to be a car guy. If he possessed the gene, it was that moment that woke it up. He knew he was hooked. As he grew, he developed a serious car-magazine habit in grade-school, and collected buddies with the same addiction. The same brother later started him on mechanics and design, while his father and grandfather showed him basic metal work on his first car (a pretty beat-up Nova). His next few cars in the late-’70s/early-’80s tended to be canyon-racer Chevy Vegas which were cheap fun, but in 1989 when he noticed this ‘71 Challenger with a near-perfect body and an old “for-sale” sign hiding out in a yard near his work. He was ready to try building a drivable Pro-Street car — and a Mopar at that. Once located, the owner wanted just $300! Krussow stammered out, “Well it has some leaks and stuff, but OK.” He knew it was meant to be, and paid him an extra $100 to store it for a day just to help clear his conscience over the price.

“There’s nothing quite like the feeling of accelerating through the gears and hitting speed in something you’ve built yourself.” — Larry Krussow After deciding he’d like to build a full frame and design his own suspension, he built a wooden body jig to cut out the floors and firewall in his girlfriend’s mom’s backyard. After job experience as a mechanic, machinist, and body/paint guy, he took a job working as a metal fabricator where his employer, Mel Stahler, allowed him to use the tools during off-time. He was able to build an entire custom 2 x 3 steel tube frame there, but installed it, hated it, and pulled it all out for scrap. Mandrel-formed rails from Alston Race Cars became the basis of the next more-permanent attempt. From there he went to work on the suspension system using the original torsion bars, with fabricated control arms up front, and a transverse leaf spring over ladder bars in the rear — all adjustable for ride height. He used

stock-type components wherever possible to save money as long they were up to the task such as Camaro disc brakes. There was a lot of trial and error. Many more parts would be designed, built, thrown-out, and done over again as he tried to figure out the process. The catalog-sourced roll cage tubes fit poorly and were re-done with help from a local chassis shop. He built a narrowing jig for the rear housing and it took two tries to get that part right. The wheels he wanted were available only to 10-inch width for the rears, so he bought two more and with some cutting and welding (he was a competent aluminum welder by that point) made a single pair of 14s. All interior panels were re-done using aluminum sheetmetal, with the welded hammer-formed wheel tubs. Working nights, his good friend Rob Woods

would follow him around the shop helping out. He built a custom dash, using a junkyard GM steering column. When a rotary-table attachment for the milling machine came along, he spent two days learning to machine a custom horn button from aluminum bar stock. As time went by his girlfriend became his wife and they moved to a new town. Krussow started a fabrication shop of his own, building prototype stamped-metal components for large automotive parts companies to use in development. His backyard-project Challenger finally got a little inside time out of the weather, but often languished on the back burner for long periods. Krussow had been planning to use a wedge-head 440 engine from the beginning, but when friends Ray and Ron Weaver and Willie Boelke, who had been using Stage V Hemi conversion heads Gearheads4Life.com

on their 426 Dodge land-speed-racer offered up a pile of “previously used” aftermarket Hemi parts for a good price, he couldn’t say no. These particular heads were one of two sets built that required a specially-modified block for lifter-valley stud provisions and a unique “shuttle” pushrod system for clearance around huge ports. There had been cylinder-wall durability problems under that setup, but luckily Mopar Performance had gotten back into the Hemi business. Suddenly everything needed was available, including a tough new Siamese-bore engine block. Larry Holt of Speed Specialties in San Diego cut the block to an even 4.5-inches for a custom set of JE pistons. Krussow did other machining and built a 10-quart aluminum oil pan with a swinging-pickup external-feed oil system. Holt, local A/FD racer Ches Bushey, and cylinder-head manufacturer Eric Hansen, all offered good advice to this former Chrysler newbie. A nearby transmission shop built the GM TH400, which Krussow adapted to the Mopar block with a safety-rated JW bellhousing. After looking at available ratchet-shifter units, he thought, “I could do that...”, and, well, you get the idea. Inland Driveshaft built the chrom moly prop shaft, while Curry Enterprises assembled a 35-spline Detroit Locker

with 3.90 gears for street and occasional track use. As the Challenger poked along either waiting for resources or just inspiration, Krussow concentrated on a rebuild of his wife’s Mustang, his SS El Camino, restored their ’59 Chevy, and built two lowered-dually trucks. Finally, after many hours of fabrication, phone calls to Summit, and working the body over, it was time to roll the shell into the paint booth at Prestige II Body and Paint where his friend Carlos Villelobos Sr. (master of the spray gun) laid on the purple, white and clear R/T scheme while Larry masked up the stripes. After all was re-assembled for the last time and the paint buffed, it was time to dial-in the drivetrain and Krussow says “it has been a relatively easy ride ever since.” Well, after going through all that, we can see why everything else is easy. “There’s nothing quite like the feeling of accelerating through the gears and hitting speed in something you’ve built yourself. I did over-rev it once and had a handful of lifter needle bearings to pick out. There is a rev-limiter now!” says Krussow. He also says the external electric fuel pump doesn’t like sitting in traffic between those full-exhaust pipes so may switch to an in-tank pump, but otherwise it starts right up, stays cool, and answers when he steps on it. He actual-

ly says it handles like a go-kart, which is saying a lot for a Pro-Street style build. Krussow hopes to get it on the dyno in the near future, but says Willy Boelke and the Weavers were making 750 horsepower with their setup. It has been toned down for street driving, but should probably be good for 600–650. The nitrous system is mild but won’t get used until the dyno work is done. “At our local 1/8-mile track, it spins off the line and crosses the finish line just shy of 100 mph. There are stickier tires at-least, in its’ future,” Krussow says. Regardless, it always draws people, and Krussow and his wife have fun meeting other car enthusiasts when they take it out. There are two questions he gets asked the most: First, did he really cut up an actual R/T? Second, how much did it cost to build? Though he was looking at an actual R/T at the same time, he knew this barebones coupe fit better with his plans. As far as his answer to how much, Krussow says “not that much, it’s possible to be creative if you do it yourself.” Lastly, Krussow thanks all his friends and especially his patient and helpful wife Gail. “There are lots of guys who have a tough time seeing their nutty ideas come to fruition because there is no support at home ... that is not a problem here.” GH4L

SEE MORE OF LARRY’S CHALLENGER ONLINE BY SEARCHING “KRUSSOW” @ GEARHEADS4LIFE.COM Are you a gearhead?

ROADSTORIES with JEFF SMITH

We’ve heard that you have some great stories from all your years of working on cars and hanging out with some real greats in the industry. Do you have a couple you could share with us?

That’s just it, there are so many it’s difficult to just pull one out of the hat. But one of my favorites was with the late John Lingenfelter. I was blessed to get to know him and together we did a lot of stories together. I have to admit I was a hard core Lingenfelter follower from way back in his Super Stock days, so to get a chance to hang with him was a real treat. He also put me to work more times than not!

Is there one particular story that stands out?

Yeah. The Silver State Classic had just started in Nevada. The year before, R.J. Gottlieb had driven that ’69 Camaro, Big Red, and went almost 200 mph [1989 – Ed.] John thought he could run that fast with a small-block, so he put a cage in this ’86 Corvette and bolted in a 406 small-block with a 700-R4 and a Gear Vendor’s overdrive behind it. He only wanted to spin that small-block to just over 5,000 rpm. I think the double overdrive ratio was something like 2.1:1. Anyway he calls me one day and said “Hey, you want to do a story?” I said sure and then he said “Good, you ride shotgun.” I asked him how fast he thought we would run and he said “Over 200.” The closest I had been to that was in that same car earlier when he had driven it to 186 mph at the Transportation Research Center in Ohio for a story. In that story, the car didn’t even have a roll bar! Come race day, my only real job was to start the stopwatch, but there were delays because of rain. The fast cars went first so it was dicey. With all the drama of getting belted in and the start, I forgot to start the watch. John didn’t learn that until later. He wasn’t happy because he had to wait for our official time. When they told us what

it was, he wanted my time to dispute it. He thought we were a lot faster than the time they gave us. But the best part was the run. The race is 90 miles, all of it on a basic two-lane highway in Northern Nevada. Highway 318. There’s a big downhill section across the valley and then it kicks into a tight left-hand turn. John had figured out that 5,000 rpm was close to 200 mph, so I was watching the tach and calling out rpm. I saw the tach hit 5,100 which we later figured out was 206 mph. That’s over a football field every second. It was cool. Sometime during the high speed portion, the tops of the windows popped out so it was pretty noisy inside the car. All of a sudden, the whole inside of car fills with smoke. You know how tight a Corvette is inside. I couldn’t see anything for all the white smoke. In a second or two, it started to clear and he’s off the throttle. He turned his head and looked at me and said… “Do you think we’re on fire?” What struck me was not that we might be on fire, because I said “No.” It was more the way he said it — as if he was ordering lunch or something. It was really an incredible moment. After a few seconds we both figured out that the smoke was white because the trans was probably overheating and pushing ATF out on the exhaust. That’s exactly what happened. He got right back on the throttle and I think we averaged like 156 mph for the entire 90 miles. I’ll never forget that moment, because John was incredibly calm about the whole thing. I loved that guy. Not only was he incredibly sharp with engines, but he really cared about you, too. And he loved to eat! If you ever ate dinner with John, anything on your plate was fair game. He’d say — “You gonna eat that?”

He sounds like a great guy.

Yeah, I think about him just about every day. Something will remind me about him.

Didn’t you also get a chance to ride in an F-16?

Yeah, I’ve been really lucky. I have friends who remind me all the time that I don’t have a real job. And they’re right. This was again when I was editor of Hot Rod. It was around 1990 I think. The magazine was selling so well that the Navy and the Air Force both were buying advertising. They were going to increase their buy if we did some kind of a story, so my publisher, Harry Hibler, set up this deal where I got a ride with the Air Force Thunderbirds. A story on the ultimate hot rod ride. My pilot’s name was Captain Chris Chambliss. At that time I think they were flying F-16Cs or maybe Ds. I recently looked him up on the Internet; he’s a Colonel and a squadron commander now. Great guy — I told him my dad was a retired Marine aviator and he told me he wouldn’t hold that against me! We were at Nellis Air Force base in Las Vegas — right near the Speedway on the north side of town. We were supposed to go up on this one afternoon but right about flight time, this big storm boiled up and there was a tornado warning! They pulled all the birds into the hanger and canceled flight ops for the day. Right there, I thought I’d lost my chance. Captain Chambliss came back and said “be here tomorrow morning at 8 sharp — I’ll take you up, but I have to be wheels up by 9:30.” So the next morning we go up. The first thing they always do is get airborne, pull up the gear and flaps, and then before the end of the runway pull straight up in full afterburner. We pulled five and a half g’s right then — and we hadn’t even left the base airspace! That was cool. We went out over a nearby gunnery range and did all kinds of maneuvers — aileron rolls, split S’s, an inside loop. He would do the maneuver first to show me and then let me try it from the back seat. Gearheads4Life.com

Rather hear it?

Scan the QR to listen to our interview with Jeff Smith It was the coolest thing I’ve ever done. But the best part was the final deal. He said, “You ready to pull some g’s?” I said “Sure!” He put the plane into a hard left hand turn with me pulling on the stick. The F-16 is fly-by-wire so the stick is on your right side with your forearm on a pad. I pulled as hard as I could and at about 5 g’s my head flopped forward but I kept pulling. We only made it to 8.9 g’s when he told me to lift off the pull. He said “You OK back there?” I said “Yeah, I’m fine but my chin was in my chest most of the time!” I couldn’t see anything, but I kept pulling anyway. He said “You’ll feel that tomorrow. If you’re OK, we only got to 8.9 — I’d really like you to get to 9 — you want to try it again? I said “Sure” I wasn’t really sure why, but I figured I only had one chance at this and I wasn’t going to give up. Besides, I wanted to set the Smith family Are you a gearhead?

record for pulling g’s. The most my dad had pulled flying the A-4 Skyhawk back in the ’60s was a little over 6 g’s. So Captain Chambliss said, “Great, now pull with everything you got. Here we go…” We put it back into an afterburner hard left turn. I kept my head back against the headrest and felt the g-force squeeze all the air out of my lungs. My facemask was slipping off my face and the helmet was drilling a hole in the top of my head, but we got to 9 g’s. At that time I weight about 185 pounds — at 9 g’s your body weighs something like 1,500 pound — it’s like having a Volkswagen on your chest. All that force was pushing the air out of my lungs. It was amazing. We did some other stuff, but I’ll save that for another story. Pretty soon we had to return as we had burned through almost an entire load of fuel. Later, my on-base staff sergeant escort told me that the Captain must have really like me, because we stayed out

much longer than they expected. But they had one last little gift for me when we got back on the ground. The reason Captain Chambliss wanted me to hit 9 g’s was so they could give me a 9 g pin that General Dynamics gives out to anybody who has pulled the maximum g’s in their airplane. It’s a small little pin — but it means a lot! How many civilians you think own a General Dynamics 9 g pin? It’s probably a very small club.

That kinda makes cars not very scary.

Maybe, but one of the times I was most scared — besides my preemie daughter being born — was driving my Chevelle at 160 mph. That was spooky scary. We’ll save that for another story. But like I said, I’ve been very lucky. Hey, we should do this again and I’ll tell you about the time Harry Hibler and I went for a ride in a nuclear attack submarine. No kiddin’ — we really did. GH4L

Ron Blanchard started this car from a set of headers

here is a bit of romanticized folklore in hot rodding about cars built around a single part like a shift knob or set of wheels. Unlike the urban legends, Ron Blanchard’s straight-axled ’55 Chevy from Ontario, California, is one of those cars. It really was built from a set of fenderwell headers. Ron grew up immersed in cars, drawing wild ’55 Chevys and building models. He progressed through bicycles and motorcycles to cars, never leaving anything in stock form. He wound his way through a laundry list of Camaros, Chevelles, Falcons, and Roadrunners and

opened his own shop, Performance Carb, in the late ’90s. Over the years he’s became good friends with many of his customers. Owning a wild ’55 Chevy has always been at the top of his bucket list, but every time he went looking for one he stumbled across something else that turned into a full-blown project. After finishing a ’55 Chevy for a customer, the two were out eating lunch and Ron said one day he was going to build a ’55 like the gasser on his Holley poster. The customer asked him if he was serious. After hearing yes, the customer said he was

BRANDON FLANNERY SHAWN BRERETON going to give him the fenderwell headers that he had previously purchased from Ron. His project had changed from a gasser chassis to an Art Morrison setup. Stunned, Ron asked, “Why?” “Because this will motivate you to go out and finally get one,” came the reply. With that, the course was set, and from a pair of headers sprang this ’55. Ron and his son began an epic scouring of all of southern California and parts of Arizona for a suitable ’55 shell they could make their own, finally finding a very rusty one at the Pomona swap meet. Deciding that this was his chance, he beGearheads4Life.com

gan negotiations. The seller inquired about his plans, and then suggested Ron call another guy who might have something more suitable. Ron says the guy looked familiar when he arrived, but he didn’t recognize him until he followed him back to his shop to check out a car. The guy turned out to be a former customer, who had a stash of old cars and was supposed to return with pictures of a ’55 for sale, over two years prior! Ron Are you a gearhead?

finally laid eyes on the car he had heard about so long ago. It was rough, and had been a race car with center steer and a 10 percent engine setback, deep into the firewall. The car had been stripped to bare metal and cut at the A-pillars. A repair firewall section had been tacked into place but the project stalled and sat outdoors for many years. The rear floors and package tray had been cut out, and the rear quarters had badly flared wheel wells and dam-

age. The unboxed frame was also in bad shape, but complete with the vintage straight-axle setup and a Mopar 8 3/4 out back. A final count revealed nine bullet holes. In short, it was perfect. It was brought home, stripped back down and repaired with new rear quarters, rockers, and floors. The fiberglass trunk and front end was replaced with steel parts, and the hood trimmed out “bikini style” to show off the engine while maintaining a finished look. Plans called for a quick and dirty “flat-paint style” car with a nicely painted roof, and the name “Filthy-Five” seemed like a good fit. However the quality level began to rise as the car was prepped for paint. Floco’s Customs does outstanding work, and is known for their lowrider paint jobs. They sprayed the flanks in Clearwater Blue and covered the top in Pearl White followed by a panel-painted design featuring flames, scallops, and endless lines.

The suspension was removed from the original frame and reinstalled on another. A friend happened to have a boxed “California” frame from his dad’s Bel Air that had been swapped in a previous project and offered it up at a very fair price. Ron fabricated the front stub, stretching the wheelbase out a little more and adding 10-degrees to the front axle and reworking rear shackles to suit. He also re-hung the 3.55-geared Mopar axle out back and made his own Ansen-style traction bars. Skinny vintage Fenton wheels roll on M&H Front Runners up front while the rear American Racing slots are wrapped in new cheater slicks from Towel City, recapped on new tire casings using their original molds. An engine for a car like this needs to be old school to complete the package. Once again another friend donated a vital piece. He had pulled the 396 from his ’67 Chevelle years ago and progress was halted after the machine work. It retains the stock bore and closed chamber oval-port heads. Compression was kept at 10:1 and a solid lifter cam package from COMP Cams was added. A vintage TR2-X Edelbrock tunnel ram was sourced from a swap meet and topped with a pair of 390cfm Mustang carbs that Ron converted to mechanical secondaries. A 3000-stall converter bridges the gap to the TH400 trans, and a clean outline remains on a friend’s dusty shop wall where the vintage Offenhauser valve covers were removed and donated. Inside, custom mounts were made for the Speedway bucket seats and shifter. Ron made his own engine-turned

panels for the dash and drilled the modified pedal arms. Sew Cal Upholstery trimmed the interior in a competition-style biscuit tuck using blue and white vinyl and laid blue carpet selected from the ’66 Chevelle pallette. Ron says despite the car’s radical look, the engine and suspension are set up correctly and it runs and drives great. A re-

cent trip through the So-Cal freeway system was uneventful save for the legions of gawkers with their camera phones that followed like those fish that shadow sharks. Not one to leave anything alone, Ron already has plans for a blown and injected engine that will run on E-85. Like any true hot rodder, he knows too much horsepower is never enough. GH4L Gearheads4Life.com

TECH SPECS Owner: Location: Vehicle:

Ron Blanchard Ontario, California 1955 Chevy 210

CHASSIS Two-piece California frame Frame: Rearend / Ratio: Mopar 8/34 3/55 gears Rear Suspension: Leaf springs, Ansen-style traction bars Front Suspension: Old straight axle, leaf springs ’70 Camaro disc on ’48 Chevy spindles Front Brakes: Vega Steering Box: Fenton 3.5x15 Front Wheels: M&H Front Tires: US Mags Rear Wheels: Towel City cheater slicks Rear Tires:

DRIVETRAIN Engine: Carb : Valve Covers: Manifold: Ignition:

1967 396 Dual 1965 Holley 390s Vintage Offenhauser Edelbrock TR2X MSD Pro Billet

Exhaust / Mufflers: Hooker / Black Widow stainless

Transmission: Shifter: Misc:

TH400, 3000-stall T.Q. B&M Pro Rachet Old school solid lifter flat tappet cam

! EDEWation T c VOST NPubli BEt Rod

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Celebrating The Rodding Lifestyle • Car Builds & Profiles • Event Coverage • Interviews & Tours

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* And Much More

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BOOKREVIEW BOOK REVIEW

JEFF SMITH

The Way It Was

Sensory Overload By Toby Brooks 268 pages Published by Chaplain Publishing ISBN: 978-0-9883532-2-0 $22.00 at streetmachinereunion.com/sensory-overload/ 84

The line is always the same when trying to describe something that words, photos, and even video can’t capture — “You had to be there.” But for those of you who’ve never been to “The Nats,” Toby Brooks’ book Sensory Overload is a shot at transporting you back to the big hair days of the 1980s when Pro Street cars were king, blowers burst through the hood, huge rear tires were never big enough, and retina-wrenching paint jobs were all part of the entry fee. Many who were there have likened the Du Quoin, Illinois, Street Machine Nationals to a car guy’s equivalent of Woodstock and that may say it best. Except that this Woodstock happened annually for 13 amazing years — longer if you count the earlier Street Machine Nationals that trace all the way back to Indianapolis in 1977. Until now, no one has ever attempted to capture that tsunami of Pro Street history into a single collection of stories. That’s what Toby Brooks has done with Sensory Overload. If you dig up those old, dusty issues of Car Craft, Hot Rod, and Popular Hot Rodding, the focus was always placed squarely on the cars. While the machines were wild, it was really the people behind those machines where the real stories were just waiting to be told. Brooks has done his homework, interviewing at length the men and women who were there at Pro Street’s peak. You might expect them to be all cut from the same cloth — wild and crazy rebels bent on changing the world with their amazing creations. But the real story is far more interesting. The main actors on this Pro Street stage could not be more different in their personal lives away from the media attention. Brooks personalizes all these people, brings you into their lives, and what motivated them to sacrifice so much in order to build machines that continually escalated the theme. There is one, over-riding commonality that makes all these people special and the book so worthwhile. People on the outside and even many otherwise knowledgeable enthusiasts assume that these builders were all somehow affluent and that the Gearheads4Life.com

money came easy. Yet for all of these people, the sacrifice was immense both in time, effort, and money. Many of the people in Brooks’ book have sacrificed years in search of notoriety, acclaim, acknowledgment, and perhaps a magazine cover or two. Yet, knowing all of these people, the sense is that their payoff has really been the personal friendships that have resulted from all this. If you survived the Pro Street movement, then names like Scott Sullivan, Rick Dobbertin, Matt and Debbie Hay, Rocky Robertson, Rich Gebhardt, Mark Grimes, Troy Trepanier, Al Hinds, and Brett Voelkel are more than familiar. Brooks lavishes a chapter on each of them, recounting not just their accomplishments but giving the reader an inside look at how their earlier experiences and influences pointed them to the center stage of the Pro Street movement. Due to factors beyond his control, Brooks was unable to interview Rod Saboury for the story. Several of Rod’s Corvettes are noted in photos, but his story is just as intriguing and Rod’s contributions just as important. Word has it that a 2nd edition will include Saboury. What Brooks has accomplished is an amazing collection of personal stories along with not a small amount of research that accurately chronicles the Street Machine Nationals amazing rise and eventual fall. As the editor of Car Craft and Hot Rod during these days, I find Brook’s research amazing. I’ve known most of the characters in this book for decades and the gift of this book is the wonderful things I learned about my friends. So if you are a fan of the Pro Street movement and think you know something of what went down, pick up a copy of Sensory Overload. You can find it by going to streetmachinereunion.com. Sure, you will remember the cars but the real payoff is the opportunity to spend some time with a wonderful group of people who made an amazing difference in the world of high performance. GH4L

Jeff Smith was the editor of both Car Craft and Hot Rod magazines during the pinnacle years of Pro Street from 1985 to 1993. The closest he came to owning a Pro Street car was a tubbed ’55 Chevy that he never finished! Are you a gearhead?

BOOKREVIEW BOOK REVIEW

Photo Sources:

Toby Brooks, Rick Dobbertin, Butch Pate, Troy Trepanier, Bret Voelkel

SENSORY OVERLOAD

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hat are you thinking? Have you lost your mind? That was the initial reaction of friends and family of Gregg Dunkin when he purchased his 1967 Camaro off the Internet from a shop in Florida. The reason for making the purchase seemed practical in the beginning. One time tag fee, lower insurance costs, and a non-depreciating vehicle were the factors in the decision making process. Gregg is a car guy that came by it in a different way than most true gearheads. He has a laundry list of previously owned cool cars including Corvettes, BMW’s, Porsches, and even a Lamborghini. He got into cars as a reward for being a self-proclaimed workaholic, with a 20-year career in coaching tennis. He figured since he worked six and a half days a week including holidays, he might as well have fun driving to and from work. Hence the aforementioned list of “fun” cars. His coaching career came to an abrupt halt due to a kidney transplant in 2004, the delayed effect of a teenage bout with Goodpasture Syndrome. The decision to purchase the first generation Camaro was inspired by a friend he had through tennis while growing up, who got one for his first car to drive. He looked for a couple of years before deciding to pull the trigger on a supposedly restored 1967 RS/SS. The lesson learned was “a picture hides a thousand flaws.” When the car arrived, it would not start to back out of the trailer. After an hour of frustration, they finally figured out a lack of gas was the culprit. Later that evening, Gregg took it out for the initial test drive and two miles down the road the car started swaying left and right upon mild acceleration and through gear changes. Turning around to take the car back home the smell of something burning arose in

SHAWN BRERETON

Gregg Dunkin’s ’67 Pro Touring Camaro was a test in patience

Gearheads4Life.com

YDD the cabin. Gregg openly admits he knew nothing about what was wrong, but had the common sense to know it was not drivable. The next chapter of Gregg’s introduction into classic car ownership was “the shop years” as he likes to call it. He decided to take the car in the pro-touring direction after finding out the car had been wrecked and needed a new front sub frame, along with complete re-wiring. He was excited about getting to make all the decisions that would make the car what it is today, but learned the hard way that there can be a shady side to shops in the car hobby. A shop was selected, contracts drawn up for the specific alterations for the car, and payment was made for services to be rendered in advance. The first red flag for Gregg should’ve been the promise that the car would be completed in four months. An experienced car guy knows Are you a gearhead?

that kind of turnaround only happens on Overhaulin’. Thirty months later, Gregg was still waiting and was told the car was 95 percent done, but was going to be transferred to another state for completion and have a photo shoot for the shop’s website. Fed up, Gregg asked some friends he’d met through car shows to help him recover the car from Ohio. When the friends arrived, the car was on a lift covered in shop dust and had to be winched into the trailer to bring it back home. He remembers the shop general manager standing in front of the trailer until he signed 15 pages of legal documents to take his own “paid for” car home — red flag number two. Just to get his car back, he finally ended up handwriting “I will not sue [name of] shop, or any of the staff, or ownership — no matter what!” After arriving home, he looked the car over and

the list of issues came to light including: crossed power steering lines, kinks in the fuel lines, unbled brake lines, a battery cable that was 3/4 severed, missing chrome items in the engine bay, the alpine stereo head unit was replaced with a cheaper brand, and the original glass was scratched beyond repair. You would think this would drive Gregg right out of the car hobby. Instead, Gregg decided to stay closer to the build this time. With the help of some local mobile mechanics, he completed an LS7 swap in a storage unit he acquired while the car was gone. With the mechanicals behind him, the custom interior he had contracted for earlier was not up to snuff, so he sent it to a local upholstery shop to revamp the interior. It shouldn’t take too long right? Fabric changes, custom door panels, console, headliner, and trunk enclosure were agreed upon, but once again the car was gone for 16 months.

Gregg has owned his 1967 Camaro for five plus years and driven it only seven miles, but he finally has it back in his possession and is ready to drive it. He still plans on trying to find someone to extend the rocker panels to hide the exhaust exits in front of the rear tires. The only other thing he plans to work on is naming it. He has narrowed the list down to three: Nightmare, Ghost, or Upgraydd. Obviously, he still has a sense of humor. While the original idea of practicality may be gone out the window with all the additions he has made, he is still happy he has it back and can now enjoy it. Gregg had a tough introduction into hot rodding, but says he has learned a lot as a rookie and has really enjoyed meeting fellow gearheads involved in the hobby along the way. [Editor’s Note: As you can see by the title, we’re pushing for Upgraydd for both the reference to the character in Idiocracy and the irony of his saga. Also, don’t feel too bad for Gregg, he moved on to buy the blue ’69 Camaro you see in the photos while he was waiting on the ’67 to make its way back home.] GH4L

TECH SPECS Owner: Vehicle:

Gregg Dunkin 1967 Camaro

CHASSIS Frame: Factory subframe Rearend / Ratio: 12-bolt, 4.11 gears Rear Suspension: Hot Rods to Hell Rear Brakes: Wilwood Front Suspension: Global West tubular arms Front Brakes: Wilwood Steering Box: Factory Power Front Wheels: 18" Fikse Front Tires: 275/35/18 Rear Wheels: Fikse Rear Tires: 355/35/18 Gas Tank: Rick's Tanks

DRIVETRAIN Engine: Heads: Carb/FI: Manifold: Ignition: Headers:

Mast Motorsports LS7 LS7 EFI Mast MSD Street & Performance Shorty

Exhaust / Mufflers: Spintek mufflers, 3" side exit exhaust

Transmission: Misc:

Tremec T-56 6-speed 680hp

UPGRAYDD

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EVENTCOVERAG EVENT COVERAGE

2ND ANNUAL STREET MACHINE & MUSCLE CAR NATIONALS — POMONA March 14–15, 2015 SHAWN BRERETON

nder record breaking heat that had people finding shelter in the shade with the sun working overtime, the 2nd Annual Street Machine and Muscle Car Nationals at the Pomona Fairplex showed that it had the goods. We were excited to get the first event under our belt as the official media sponsor of the Street Machine Nationals Summer Series. Though the Pomona show may not be as big as the other more established Street Machine National events (yet), it shows signs of being able to catch up quickly. That is not to say it was a small show by any means, with approximately 600 cars on the grounds. What it lacked in volume, it made up for in quality. California never disappoints when it comes to high quality cars — and we’re not just talking about inside where the Pro Builder area was — we found some fantastic cars outside cruising the lanes, testing on the dyno, doing burnouts, or risking their pride and joy on the autocross. The vendor areas were busy with folks trying to figure out what their next purchase would be, while Queen Nation rocked the main stage all day. We were busy shooting the event trying to cover the acreage while we were shooting a few features for this issue of Gearheads4Life. We needed more hours in the day, but as 2 p.m. on Sunday approached we knew we had to get to the main stage for the trophy girl contest and the awards. Jeff Smith, Senior Technical Editor for Xceleration Media, stepped up on stage to present the Editor’s Choice picks for our three sponsoring publications: Power and Performance News, Gearheads4Life, and Street Rod Life. Larry Krussow’s 1971 Challenger RT was chosen for Power and Performance News; Dana Hinkle’s 1956 Chevy Belair was chosen for Gearheads4Life; and Troy Martin’s 1953 Ranch Wagon was chosen for Street Rod Life. Smith also presented the winners of our Gearhead PowerPack Giveaway Facebook contest with an envelope containing $750 worth of gift certificates courtesy of the COMP Performance Group. Mark Johnson’s 1965 Altered Ford Falcon was shot for this issue, while you will see Mario DeLeon’s 1966 Fastback Mustang in Power and Performance News. The next event for the Street Machine Nationals Summer Series will take place June 26–28 at the place that started it all, Du Quoin, Illinois. Like our Facebook page for details and a chance to win the Gearhead PowerPack! See you in Du Quoin.

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EVENTCOVERAG EVENT COVERAGE

Parting Shots

Sunset Cruise The sun had started its descent into the horizon when we took the Olds out for a ride down by the river. 96

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