Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2022 i Hemmings Muscle Machines

tmcgean@hemmings.com • Instagram @tmcgean Messing with engines is something I’ve enjoyed since I was a teen… Wrenching for the Win We’ve been delving deeper into a project involving one of GM’s GEN-III small-block “LS” engines, getting an example ready for some dyno testing, and it’s been a learning experience. Though I’ve been interested in the LS since it debuted as the power source for the 1997 Corvette, I’ve never actually gotten inside of one until now. Messing with engines is something I’ve enjoyed since I was a teen, and for better or worse, I’ve often just taken the dive into unknown waters without giving it a second thought. Back when we were budding gearheads, not yet old enough for our driver’s licenses, my friends and I would tear into the…

MODIFIEDSPOTLIGHT: Mopar Muscle MIKE HERNDEN’S 1970 GTX WAS A STUNNER. It was a local-area car since new, with its original 440+6 engine, and he’d lusted after it for ages. After 39 years with the B-body, and much persistent nudging, the owner finally relented and sold the car to Mike. “It was an amazing-looking car, in Tor-Red with white stripes and a white interior,” he says. “And it was original, right down to the carburetors, but it needed a restoration.” Mike spent the next four years on the painstaking project, ensuring every last fastener was fastidiously fawned over in his quest to make the GTX as correct as possible. The work paid off, as the car drew plenty of rewarding attention from aficionados who assumed it was a professional job. “It…

STOCKSPOTLIGHT: Mopar Muscle I MAGINE YOU’RE BACK in the muscle car era, standing at the local Chry-Co dealership ready to purchase a hot new performance car. The matter of which one to buy isn’t hinging on available finances, but rather, something as simple as a baby stroller. Sounds crazy, right? “My wife, Jo Ann, and I were seriously looking to buy a brand-new 1968 Dodge Dart GTS in late ’67,” Bill Sangrey, reports, adding, “We had been looking at all the options and had talked to the salesman at the Brunswick [New Jersey] Dodge/Plymouth dealership a few times, and just by chance we had our first-born son with us in his stroller. Remember, this was at a time when most strollers were not the compactable units, unlike the umbrella type…

NEW OLD STOCK Q: Ray, thanks for all you do! You have the gift of a true teacher! My question will follow, after some background. I have noticed a growing number of very-low-mileage older vehicles in auctions/for sale lately. For example, a 1980s Camaro IROC with 300 miles on it. The description of these type of vehicles is usually something like, “Just as it left the showroom floor.” Is this possible? Not the mileage but the condition being “still brand new”? I know of your teaching that frequent exercise is best for vehicles, but the temptation to get an “old-school” new vehicle can be quite high. If someone purchased such a vehicle, could it be a brand-new older vehicle, or would there be more to it? Tim Sandman Des Moines,…

FULL PLATE CLASSIC INDUSTRIES • 800-854-1280 • CLASSICINDUSTRIES.COM • $110.99/SET If you want to install a factory-style power-brake system on your 1966-’69 Chrysler B-body, Classic Industries now offers the necessary firewall reinforcement plate. Each is made from formed steel and powder coated for durability in a glossy black finish. The plates are specific to the power-brake cars and are not intended for use with manual brake applications. Hardware is sold separately. Sold as a set, the plate and brake booster linkage/swivel come together as p/n MP500500. COOL RUNNING BIG-BLOCK MOPAR SUMMIT RACING • 800-230-3030 • SUMMITRACING • $1,181 Summit Racing’s new Griffin Exact Fit Radiator Combos are designed to give your Mopar’s engine the best possible performance by using a two-row core design with 1.25-inch-wide tubes. The tubes are said…

I’ve been a Mopar guy my whole life. My first car was a 1969 Dodge that I transformed into a Super Bee, and over the years, I’ve done it all: modified street cars, drag racing, restored muscle cars. All of it. This Barracuda provided the opportunity to build something really creative that my wife and I could enjoy more than anything else I’ve built. There are still a couple of things we want to do with it, but it’s exactly the car we’ve wanted, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.…

SPECIAL FEATURESPOTLIGHT: Mopar Muscle I CONSIDER MYSELF TO BE A DRIVING PROFESSIONAL, and as such, I take pride in being prepared before I hit the road. I’ve crisscrossed this country more than a dozen times in everything from classic muscle cars, to moving vans, to high-end Euro-missiles and luxury barges. Each journey has been a lesson in how to do it right. Step one is to figure out what type of trip you’re embarking on. In my experience, there are a few different types of on-road excursions. The first is the sightseeing drive. This is where you pack up the family, their luggage, entertainment, and snacks, and hit the road for a week or so to take in the splendor. These sorts of trips are fun for about 48 minutes…

GM T-5 RETROFIT Q: Will a 1986 Firebird T-5 manual five-speed transmission fit my 1962 Pontiac with a 389-cu.in. V-8? Bob Johnson Via email A: This conversion can be done, but it will take a lot of parts beyond the gearbox itself, and we’re assuming you are referring to the T-5 from a V-8 Firebird; the V-6 gearbox is different. With the V-8 T-5, you will need to use an original Pontiac V-8 four-speed bellhousing, Pontiac number 538090, or similar aftermarket offering, as the 1986 Firebird/Camaro bellhousing mounts the gearbox at an angle. If the car has a Roto Hydramatic transmission, often referred to as the “Slim Jim” automatic, you will also need a flywheel, hydraulic throw-out bearing, slip yoke, crossmember, clutch assembly, transmission mount, and clutch master cylinder.…

jmcgowan@hemmings.com It’s about time for us to get back on the road and enjoy the ride! Back in the Swing Though it still feels like summer, the topic of Halloween came up recently, in anticipation of an event we’re hoping to get back to this fall. For years, High Street, or the main street through my little town, featured a Halloween-themed car show. The cars and the owners, as well as hundreds of attendees, came decorated for the event in all kinds of scary costumes. In addition to the decorations, many car owners would hand out candy to costumed children. Hopefully, things will return to normal this year for both the participants and their vehicles. That event made me think about other gatherings having to do with vintage cars. Over…

STOCK FORD PERFORMANCE in 1964, especially before the Mustang came out at mid-year, meant one thing to most people: The 427. That 7.0-liter behemoth, winkingly rated at 425 horsepower like all of its top-dog competitors, was derived from the 1958-vintage FE series of big-block V-8 engines. The FE’s were originally intended for sedate-duty hauling around increasingly beefy Ford and Edsel passenger cars in 332, 352, and 361-cu.in. sizes. The 1957-declared ceasefire in the horsepower wars didn’t last, however, and for model year 1960, Ford started reinforcing the FE series for duty on the NASCAR oval tracks and quarter-mile dragstrips nationwide. Winning there meant sales to performance-oriented consumers and a 360-hp iteration of the 352 was the first High-Performance version of Ford’s original big-block. From there, the tuning technology and displacement…

TECHSPOTLIGHT: Mopar Muscle BRINGING CLASSIC MUSCLE CARS back to life generally entails lots of restoration work, but these projects often involve modifications in the name of improved performance. And therein lies a potential conflict — where do you draw the line between absolute factory spec and including a few alterations? Fortunately, the two pursuits are not necessarily mutually exclusive — you can bring your muscle car back to showroom appearance while still warming things up a bit on the inside. This was the situation faced by Rowland George, one of our teammates here at Hemmings, who has owned his ’71 Plymouth Road Runner for more than a decade. After years of trying to find an affordable example of his favorite car, Rowland landed this one and set about making it…

PLYMOUTH ’CUDA CAP CLASSIC INDUSTRIES • 800-854-1280 • CLASSICINDUSTRIES.COM • $21.99 Chrysler’s dearly departed Plymouth division made a lot of iconic automobiles in its nearly 73 years of operation, and one that still resonates strongly today is the E-body Barracuda and its high-performance ’Cuda variant. If you’re a fan of that super-stylish coupe and convertible, you’ll appreciate this Black Liquid Metal Logo cap from Classic Industries (item HT122) that pays tribute to the nameplate badges seen on the car’s tail panel and inner door panels. The low-rise baseball cap sports a raised, chrome-metal-look ’Cuda by Plymouth logo on the front, along with a period-correct “Plymouth” logotype on the Velcro-fastened rear tab. Pulling it all together is a bright chrome bead lining the edge of the bill. One size fits all,…