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BLUE OVAL IN A BOW TIE

Let’s face it, most of us are working within the confines of a set of unwritten, yet clearly defined, rules of hot rodding. Stance, engine choice and wheels are for the most part selected from a menu of items that come “pre-approved” by our peers. Sure these rules work most of the time, and they provide a degree of certain acceptance when you’re building a traditional pre-’49 hot rod. But all in all, it also makes us a group of conforming nonconformists. However, for some hot rodders (and they are in the minority) building hot rods is about pure ingenuity, a total lack of peer pressure and joy of mixing parts from various sources and making it all work.

New Love for the Step Child

Ford fans will always have a soft spot in their blue-oval hearts for the Windsor, the Cleveland and the big 460 FE engines—and deservedly so. If you’ve ever crawled a junkyard for one of these engines, you’ve likely passed over more than a few 351M and 400 engines to find what you are looking for. Poor factory numbers and bad word-of-mouth have made these cousins to the mighty Cleveland about as wanted as poison ivy at a nudist colony, but there is power to be found in those engines—and cheap, too.

Totally Awesome Elky

“I started building this car a little over 15 years ago after completing a Pro Street ’70 Camaro RS for my then-16-year-old son, Brad,” says overhead door installation specialist Jim Meltzer of Ventura, California. “I always had the urge to build a ’59 Pro Street Chevrolet El Camino (hence the nickname “U.S. Pro-1”), having owned one of those cars when I was just 21 years old,” he says. “Forty years later, the ’60 came along, and I figured that was close enough. The El Camino project was a joint collaboration with my sons Brad and Rod, and it got off to a great start. We made plans for a big motor and even built a full rollcage for that huge hunk of steel with the intentions of actually racing it.”

4/7 SWAP

We showed you how to build a small-block engine that could make over 500 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque on 87-octane gas. It was a motor that could be driven just about every day with a hydraulic-roller cam and a good carburetor, making acquisition and maintenance almost nonexistent. Like many things we do in the engine world, the results we enjoyed—while good—just weren’t satisfying anymore. We wanted more.

SODA BLASTING

When starting any project that requires bodywork, rebuilding or even repainting, the first question is always, “What could possibly be lurking under the old paint that could come back and haunt us later?”

Ready to Roll

There’s nothing like an impending event inspection to motivate an install. Lorne Pearson was looking forward to the PNW4WDA Trail Jamboree in Naches, Washington where he was planning to run the challenging Rimrock Trail. This often-off-camber route required front & rear lockers, CB and winch along with some wheel base and tire specifications – all of which Pearson had. What his YJ lacked, however, was the mandatory full roll cage.

On Your Guard

Kilby Enterprises makes many cool products, such as their On Board Air systems, but they also produce some heavy duty skid plates that are designed to keep the rocks from inflicting pain on you and your rig.

HOLLEY CARB TUNING

Holley carburetors have long been a staple in the go-fast world of high-performance motoring, whether it’s NASCAR, drag racing or on the street. Much like other performance-oriented products—perhaps even more so with a carburetor—a carburetor requires a fundamental setup and a degree of maintenance, and that’s considering you have chosen the correct-size carburetor for your application, at least to get it in the ballpark. Knowing how to adjust, maintain and even repair your Holley carburetor goes a long way toward helping to ensure that your carburetor will make optimum horsepower for a long time. Because of this, we decided to compile a few troubleshooting and repair tips for the popular 4150-series Holley carburetor, which is the series designation for Holley’s street/strip and racing carburetors.

MAKING GAS

Alternative-fuel sources and hybrid cars are all the rage today. Everyone from major automakers to backyard inventors is pursuing alternative fuels and energy sources. While the ultimate goal is generally to eliminate dependence on foreign oil, for hot rodders there is also the desire to invent and create a better-performing engine.

Scrap Yard Binders

Since we don’t really have to search for vintage parts anymore, gone are the days of scouring the local “Pick-a-Part” in search for that illusive part that will interchange or convert your muscle car to bucket seats, tilt steering, A/C or some suspension upgrade. But there was a day when you and a rodding buddy could venture to your favorite junkyard and come home with a whole truckload of cool vintage goodies that would aid you in your rebuild, all in the span of a day.
Well, those days aren’t completely gone. While at the local wrecking yard looking for any useful hot rod parts, we stumbled across another enthusiast, Sean Rievley, who is in the progress of upgrading his ’71 Chevelle chassis

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