Most of us can trace our love of cars back to our fathers tinkering in the driveway. The tinkering was usually accompanied by lots of cussing with us acting as a delivery service, grabbing wrenches and beers for dad. Bryan Beekman of Fresno, California, remembers this well. He and his father restored a ’34 Ford hot rod when Bryan was 12 years old. Bryan has since passed this love on to his own kids, and their combined efforts have come to fruition in the form of this clean convertible ‘66 Chevelle. His goal was to teach his two sons and daughter how to use tools and be mechanically inclined; he also thought it would be nice to build a cool car while he was at it, too.
Look under the hood of any vehicle built after 1990 and you’ll notice one thing in common: They all have an intake system that pulls air from a fender well or from the front of the core support, supplying the engine with fresh, cool air for maximum power and efficiency. Why? Because cool air is denser than warm air, which means there is more oxygen packed into every square inch. The higher the oxygen content, the more powerful and efficient your engine will be with every stroke of a piston. Cooler intake air becomes a denser charge, which equals more tire-churning power.
There is a pocket in time when drag racers were yanking their cars to the track behind station wagons and sedans and fueling their passion one quarter-mile at a time. There were no big-time corporate sponsors, no million-dollar rigs, just a set of cheater slicks, a homebuilt engine, a small toolbox, a week’s worth of wages, and a heavy right foot were all it took to get in the game.
The best part about owning a high performance muscle car is sliding into the seat, cranking the key, hearing the rumble exit the pipes, and mashing the gas while the rear tires feverishly search for traction as their grip is no match for the fire breather you’ve got under the hood.
You’ve saved up some money and now you’re ready to invest in a new MIG welder. First, you did your homework to figure out how much power you need, and you found out whether or not your garage is wired to support a 220 circuit—just like we did. We decided to go with a new Lincoln Electric 255XT MIG machine, mainly because so many useful options are included with that model for free, like trigger lock, a spot weld timer, run-in adjustment and burn-back adjustment.
There are few enthusiasts out there who can say they still own their high school hot rod, the car that introduced a world of performance freedom the minute the key was cranked and the pedal was mashed. Some of us spend our whole lives searching for the VIN that carried us through our youth. Ken Jansen is lucky enough to flashback 35 years every time he climbs behind the wheel of his ’68 GTX, minus the long hair and Cragars.
Part 1 of the step-by-step tutorial ended with the addition of VariShock shock absorbers. Read on to see how the A-Body suspension turned out!
Almost half a century old, improving the handling of the 1964-67 GM A-Body isn’t particularly difficult. Without as much as a front anti-sway bar, the setup on our ‘64 Chevelle mule speaks for itself, leaving plenty of room to work with. Rather than give it a moderate makeover, we jumped at the opportunity to upgrade handling with a gStreet coil-over conversion from Chris Alston Chassisworks.
Times change, and for those who want to compete in this ever-changing world, companies must change, as well. D&P Chevrolet in Huntington Beach, California, has long been known for its killer Tri-Five Chevys. Many of the cars built by Darryl and Peggy Nance have graced the covers of magazines, and throughout their 20-plus years in business, they have built up a considerable clientele heavy into the Tri-Five scene. Though they have dabbled in other forms of Chevys, Tri-Fives are still a huge part of the couple’s business.
Inspiration for building new projects comes from many different places. A certain stance or wheel and tire combo, or even the way a muscle car model captures a special time in someone’s life can drive their decision to build a particular car.
