LOWER YOUR ALTIMA, NOT YOUR STANDARDS
December 15, 2022
THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
Honda Header Shootout
When it comes to performance, there is one steadfast rule: All the good air that goes into making horsepower must eventually find its way out. This means that adding all the cool camshafts, intake manifolds and even superchargers to help improve airflow into the motor will be useless (okay, maybe not useless, but certainly much less effective) if the motor is not able to rid itself of the exhaust. Cork up a serious performance motor and watch it struggle and gag on its own exhaust fumes.
BULLETPROOF
For the past several months Super Duty Headquarters in Gilbert, Arizona, has been working one very special project—a full-custom, double-throw-down pre-runner for non-other than Jesse James. Yes, that Jesse James.
THE INTRUDER
From the first time you see this beautiful ’57 Ford Ranch Wagon, you know it’s special, both in its concept and its execution. You might also know this is the latest creation from one of the Midwest’s elite rod builders, Troy Trepanier, a guy who has been doing it his own way since he first started shaping specialized vehicles back in the late 1980s. Since that time, Troy and his crew have been stopping people in their tracks with fresh, leading-edge designs, and their latest innovation certainly carries that tradition into a new era. After taking possession of another Trepanier creation, the ’54 Plymouth known as the Sniper, George Poteet decided he wanted Rad Rods By Troy to rework another car that he had been thinking about for some time. As with all such projects, it began simply enough, but soon a well-worn Ford station wagon was well on its way to an entirely new life.
Spotlighter
PLYMOUTH ROCKS!
Modern Mopar Muscle in a Classic Mopar Wrapper
For the most part, automotive enthusiasts tend to display a degree of loyalty to their brand of choice. It’s rare to find someone who has equal parts Ford and Chevy in the garage; most owners tend to favor one or the other. Mopar fans, though, typically take the concept of brand loyalty to a whole new level. Those who don’t own Mopars tend to think of Mopar owners as something of a cult. Is it a fair comparison? Well, the verdict could go either way, but we can think of worse obsessions to have.
Author
Will Smith
Photography by Josh Mishler
Meet Paul Jacobs: A True Mopar Enthusiast
Paul Jacobs is a Mopar nut. Now, before all you other Mopar owners think we’re being derogatory, he admits it, and “moparnut” is part of his e-mail address. Jacobs has two jobs: The first is as a police officer, and the second is as the owner of Jacobs & Angelly Restorations (812/454-1496) in Evansville, Indiana. He earned his credentials as a Mopar nut thanks to the many cars that have occupied his garage over the years, including a ’69 Charger, a ’69 Charger R/T, a ’69 Dart and a ’64 Sport Fury.
The Friendship That Led to a Build
Mopar nuts tend to congregate, and one of Jacobs’ friends is Mike Crowell, who owns a ’70 Challenger convertible powered by a 5.7-liter Hemi. Crowell jumped at the chance to buy one of the first available 6.1-liter Hemi engines, and though he did get it, he didn’t have a car to put it in. That’s when Jacobs and his partner, Troy Angelly, agreed to stuff the engine in Jacobs’ ’69 GTX.
The Challenge of a Tight Timeframe
The timeframe to build the car was extremely tight, but since Jacobs and Angelly had helped Chip Foose overhaul a ’69 Road Runner earlier in the year (a week-long total rebuild), they knew that such a job was possible if they worked hard. Angelly began with the body, and fortunately they didn’t need to make many repairs or changes. The alterations they did make were in the name of smoothness and included jobs such as filling the corner marker lights, mirror holes and antenna holes. The most noticeable change is the new hood, which is a blending of hoods from a ’68 Satellite and an AAR ’Cuda; this change alone consumed 80 hours of labor. For the most part, though, the rest of the bodywork consisted only of repairing minor dings in the car. When Angelly was done, he applied the two-tone paint scheme consisting of DuPont Q3 Teal over AA1 Silver, both factory colors.
Custom Interior for a Modern Look
Next, Jacobs and Angelly teamed up on the interior, which they upholstered in white pearl vinyl. This material covers the stock-style seats and door panels, and a matching shade of leather wraps around the Budnik Famosa steering wheel. The steering column and dash are painted and upholstered to match the Q3 Teal exterior, and the dash contains the stock-style cracker box instrumentation and a Vintage Air climate control unit in place of the old cigar lighter and ashtray. Above the A/C vents sits an Alpine CD stereo head, which works with a pair of amps to feed a quartet of speakers in the cabin and two more Kicker component subwoofers. A TKO shifter extends up from the teal carpet on the floor, terminating in a carbon fiber and billet pistol grip shift knob that blends Mopar tradition with current trends and styling.
Modernizing Performance and Handling
At this point, Jacobs and Angelly had an exceptionally clean-looking GTX, but this was also the time to start making changes that would really modernize the car. Fortunately, much of the original frame and suspension was suitable to reuse or replace with stock components. However, other changes reflect current attitudes regarding modern muscle car performance. Changes to the front suspension resulted in a 2-inch drop that cures some of the traditional muscle car nosebleed stance. New disc brakes from Wilwood incorporate four-piston Dynalite calipers to provide stopping power that previous generations of Mopar faithful couldn’t have imagined. Urethane bushings throughout the suspension tighten and firm the ride. At the rear of the car, a narrowed rearend turns 3.91 gears and another set of Wilwood disc brakes. The Plymouth rolls on a set of 18×8 front/18×10 rear Budnik Fontana wheels tucked inside BFGoodrich KDW2 Z-rated tires.
Swapping in the 6.1-Liter Hemi
As we said earlier, the entire point of the project was to provide a platform for the 2006 6.1-liter Hemi engine. Jacobs and Angelly shipped the Plymouth to Street & Performance in Mena, Arkansas, for the installation of the new engine and its associated equipment. S&P was the first aftermarket company to offer an engine harness for the 5.7-liter Hemi, and the company was quick to support the new 6.1-liter engine, too. Mark Kincaid installed the new engine, which S&P left internally stock. With 425 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque available, the new Hemi does not lack for power. If anything, it lacks only for looks, and S&P took care of that issue with a chromed intake manifold, polished heads, valve covers and the like. A combination of painted stock and polished billet accessory pulleys and a new air filter and intake tube complete the look. S&P wired the engine to make it work inside its new home and backed the engine with a Keisler five-speed manual transmission and hydraulic clutch.
A Show-Stopping Debut at SEMA
Jacobs and Angelly completed the GTX just in time for the 2005 SEMA show, where they debuted it. Not surprisingly, the car received a ton of attention, and not just from fellow Mopar nuts. This is a Plymouth that any rational Bow-Tie or Blue Oval fan should appreciate. After all, with the popularity of swapping LS1 engines into Chevelles or mod motors into early Mustangs, it’s only natural that this new engine should give Mopar fans the same access to reliable, powerful, new-generation, fuel-injected engines. Jacobs’ GTX now has classic Mopar styling with modern Mopar power—a tough combination to beat. If anyone should toss the now-catchphrase “That thing got a Hemi?” at him, he can answer that “Yes, yes it does.”
