Star Quality Elky
August 20, 2024
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THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
MULTITASKING FOR THE MASSES
Say you drive an older pickup in which the original designers weren’t all that interested in engine management. Thanks to the addition of that high-horsepower engine, however, you are very interested in what it is up to. But you are also interested in keeping the dash area clean and don’t want to put a bunch of holes into it. You also don’t really want to have an old-style gauge panel hanging beneath the dash. What to do? For those who drive a 1947-’53 Chevrolet pickup truck, the ideal way to handle this problem is to install Haneline’s 3-in-1 gauge clusters.
Shop Truck Makeover
It’s a classic type of buildup: a big-block 396 in a ’66 Chevrolet El Camino, sprayed a glorious red with in-your-face yellow flames. Meticulously created by Bob Nation of Twin Falls, Idaho, like so many great builds, this one comes with a story.
A FAMILY AFFAIR
In the summer of 1977, a young couple expecting a son decided to purchase a new family vehicle, one that would provide ample room, safety and the ability to handle their love of camping and the outdoors. After deciding on a Chevrolet, the couple headed out and purchased a new ’78 two-wheel-drive Blazer from a dealer in Knoxville, Tennessee. Optioned out nicely for the time, the Blazer was equipped with A/C, a 400-inch small block, an automatic transmission, power disc brakes and a factory tach-equipped instrument cluster.
After driving the Blazer for several years, the couple decided to present it to their son, Travis Griffin, as a 16th birthday present. He drove the Blazer to and from high school, and then was given the opportunity to have the Blazer painted for graduation.
Spotlighter
Destined Bel Air
A Classic ’57 Chevrolet From Hawaii, but Not Originally
Author
Bob McClurg
Story & Photography
This has to be one of the nicest looking ’57 Chevrolet Bel Airs I’ve ever seen in the state of Hawaii,” I kept saying to myself as I was photographing Keith Maeda’s black cherry ’57 tri-5 Chevrolet. I mean, this thing has all the bells and whistles.
It has a full house, Gerald Fernandez-massaged 350 small block. The 9:1 compression, Crane Cams-equipped short block sports 202 Bow Tie cylinder heads capped off with a pair of ProForm Industries Chevrolet-script cast aluminum valve covers, not to mention an Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap intake and 14-inch K&N XStream-filtered 770cfm Holley. It’s is also fired by an MSD 6AL ignition with MSD Blaster coil, NGK spark plugs and Accel spark plug wires. Finally, a pair of thermal-coated Sanderson block-hugger headers and Flowmaster muffler-equipped 2-1/4-inch exhaust complete the engine tune. A Griffin four-core aluminum radiator cools the package, and a polished 100-ampTuff Stuff alternator is responsible for the electrical power side of things.
Some of the equipment you don’t see on this awesome ’57 includes an Island Transmissions-prepared GM TH350. Suspension consists of a pair of McGaughy’s Classic Chevy Parts 2-inch dropped rear leaf springs, McGaughy’s 2-inch dropped front spindles, a set of William’s Classics tubular front control arms and a McGaughy’s 605 GM power steering box. This Garden Isle-based tri-5 also features Wilwood Engineering four-piston disc brakes, a set of four KYB gas-charged shocks, a set of 17×7-inch (front) and 18×8-inch (rear) Boyd Coddington Magneto billet aluminum wheels, and P215/45ZR17 (front) and P225/45ZR18 (rear) BFGoodrich g-Force KDW high-performance radial rubber.
Since the previous owner had already painted the ’57 in two-stage PPG black with a violet pearl overlay, all that was required was a little buffing and detailing. On the inside, you’ll find a Classic Chevrolet International silver and black reproduction factory interior, along with a Flaming River/GM six-way tilt steering column, Grant steering wheel, McGaughy’s billet aluminum dash insert, Classic Instruments gauges and a Kenwood audio system. The trunk area has also been fully trimmed out, and there you will find the Alpine woofers and Pioneer Amps. Now here’s an interesting story.
“The car was purchased last year in Oregon from the previous owner with only 53,622 original miles on the odometer. It was then shipped to the island. The funny thing is that when I rolled the Bel Air out of the container, it already had a hula doll affixed to the dash although the previous owner had never visited Hawaii before. Maybe the car was just destined to end up here,” Maeda says. Well, it sure seems that way to us!
