Late Model
The 2007 Cadillac Escalade ESV was one of the most eagerly anticipated SUV releases in recent history. The ESV is spacious, powerful and elegant from the factory, but most owners will choose to add their own touches to personalize this truck, just as they did with the old one. Ryan Friedlinghaus, owner of West Coast Customs in Corona, California, wanted to personalize his own Escalade ESV, but he wanted to do it in a stealthy and subdued sort of way so that he could then offer the WCC package to other Escalade owners.
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Now, it may seem crazy that anyone would take sandpaper to a new paint job, but if you want to have a glass-like finish that is exactly what happens. Of course, it is special sandpaper, and the person doing the work needs to know exactly what he is doing or that paint job can be toast. One of the things that makes color sanding possible is that the paper used is meant to be wet while the job is taking place. The water not only works as a lubricant, but it also removes the fine paint sludge from the area. The problem is getting that water in the proper place and having enough of it to do the job. After all, who really likes sticking his arm into a cold bucket of water time after time?
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The Power Programmer is designed so that once the parameters are established and loaded, the unit is pulled and the program remains in the onboard computer until you elect to remove it. The HyperPAC is different; this unit stays in place. In addition to the three stages of performance tuning—the HyperPAC has all of the performance programming benefits of the Power Programmer—it also has diagnostics; an engine monitor with a complete gauge display; a dynamometer, which includes such items such as a horsepower graph; and our favorite, a dragstrip program. This program actually monitors real-time engine operating conditions, has a Christmas tree start, displays a timeslip and will provide you with “magazine-type road test” acceleration times in 10-mile increments. It will record and display important engine operating conditions throughout the run and will display drive wheel horsepower versus vehicle speed after each run—in both table and graph formats.
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The ’07 Tahoe, Chevrolet’s premature baby, hit the street in late March 2006. Introducing the next generation of Tahoes so early was part of some master marketing scheme, born and nurtured in the hallowed halls of Chevrolet corporate. In any case, the ’07 Tahoe’s rear ride height measured 23-1/8 inches from the center of the hub to the lip of the fenderwell, while the front measured only 20-1/4 inches. As usual, the rear stood considerably higher than the front.
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Bully Dog Technologies, located in Aberdeen, Idaho, designs and develops some great bolt-on power products for the diesel aftermarket. Creating these pieces involves literally hundreds of hours in R&D and design work with some of the brightest engineers and technicians around. But, as you can imagine, it’s fun work.
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When Ricardo Lopez began building this 1955 Chevy he had some help, as well as a plan. In the beginning, this little Chevy pickup was to provide an excellent chance for Ricardo to spend some time with his son, Ricky, and to be able to show the boy some of the tricks that he had learned over the many years he had worked as a customizer, bodyman and painter. As owner of Paint By Lopez in Compton, California, Ricardo had hopes of his boy taking over for him in the years to come, maybe even calling the shop Paint By Lopez & Son. Unfortunately, Ricky was taken from Ricardo and his wife, Monica, in a freak accident. At first Ricardo was going to sell the truck, as the sight of it was almost too much to bear. But upon reflection he changed his mind. Ricardo thought that finishing the project was not only a perfect way to work through his grief, but it would also give him a chance to feel connected to the son he had lost. When the Chevy was completed, it would be a way to honor Ricky’s memory.
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It can be argued that one of the best mods you can make to an LS-based or Gen III motor is a camshaft change. With the number of aftermarket companies making many different types, a good cam can be found for anywhere from $300 to $1,000, depending upon what type of power you want to make and how sophisticated the cam package is. Because 99.99 percent of all vehicles on the road today are computer controlled, most aftermarket companies are able to suggest whether a new tune will be necessary or if the stock one will suffice. But with so many different options out there, it can be quite confusing as to which is the right one for you.
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Like their diesel counterparts, gas-powered truck owners are always looking for ways to give their vehicles even more power and better mileage. To find out what kind of power options there are for gas-powered trucks, we went to J&D Performance in Ontario, California. We’ve seen what kind of power and performance the guys at J&D can make in a diesel-powered truck, so we figured we’d follow along as they wrenched more power out of a common gas-powered truck. After a quick phone call, we were set. The guys at J&D had a customer’s stock 1999 Ford F-350 dualie with a 6.8-liter V-10 ready for buildup. Here’s how it went.
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Though only 27 years of age, Mike MacKellar has built an impressive résumé as not only a truck builder, but also a businessman. As the owner of a financial services company, MacKellar is well aware of how much things cost, and it seems that he spared little expense when he set about building this 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe. He also knew just how he wanted his latest project to be.
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Those who longed for their engines to look as they did back in the old days of multiple-carb setups were out of luck. Cool as they were to look at, there are lots of reasons why the multi-carb setup fell out of favor, and most of them had to do with the fact that they were a bear to sync. The advent of the four-barrel carb was the death for these systems, though the purists among us prayed for a breakthrough. Thanks to Ken Farrell and his company, Retro Tek, those prayers have been answered. Farrell started off converting old mechanical fuel injection systems (Hilborn & Enderle) when the first aftermarket EFI systems became available. His new system, which uses the latest in EFI mated together with the classic Stromburg 97 design, came about when Farrell saw that there was interest in the benefits of EFI, but he also knew that they were lacking in the looks department. The idea was simple take the best aspects of both and add them together.
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