Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2024 i Hemmings Muscle Machines

“Wouldn’t someone have wanted to take good care of a cool car…?” A friend who was a teenager in the late ’60s was telling me a story the other day about one of his classmates from back then who was lucky enough to receive a brand-new car during the 1969 model year. Even more fortunate, this guy’s father worked at the local Chevy dealer and allowed his son to order the car he wanted. Like many red-blooded teens of the time, the son was well versed in the latest factory performance hardware, and he selected a Chevelle SS 396 with the L78 engine and M22 heavy-duty four-speed. Naturally, hearing of someone so young, getting a car that was then so cool, and now, so rare, left me pondering what that…

RESTO SPOTLIGHT: Restoration MARK SHEA WAS NO STRANGER to auto restoration, nor to classic Pontiac GTOs, when he acquired a ’66 hardtop coupe as his next project. He’d already been involved with a number of other car restorations by that point, most of them GTOs. But this one needed to be a cut above, for multiple reasons. “I wanted to take this one to the next level,” he says, explaining that with each one of his projects, he tries to raise the bar. The other motivator was the car itself. This particular ’66 GTO was a bit special. “I bought this car from Ed Centofante, who everyone knew as ‘Pontiac Ed.’ He’d owned the car for years, and started working on it himself, but he had many projects, and the…

FORD 9-INCH AXLE DONORS Q: I am considering adding a Ford 9-inch under my 1968 Nova and I am seeking some information on what Ford donor cars I could find that would have this rear end with an axle width comparable to mine. Can you suggest what I might be looking for and do any of these axles have disc brakes so I can kill two birds with one stone? Trace Robinson Via Hemmings.com A: Most Camaro and Nova owners who make this swap prefer the 1977-’80 Ford Granada/Mercury Monarch axles, though most of those models use the lighter-duty Ford 8-inch axle. However, the 1977-’81 Lincoln Versailles was based on the Granada platform but came with the 9-inch axle; these also came with rear disc brakes. The Versailles axle measures…

SPOTLIGHT: Restoration WHEN IT COMES TO PROTECTING our classic cars from the elements, it’s difficult to overstate the importance of good gaskets, seals, and weatherstrips. Just ask anyone who’s had to replace the floor or trunk pans of their favorite muscle machine. The intrusion of moisture to the interior surfaces of any automobile will eventually cause corrosion, pitting, and in worst-case scenarios, the nearly complete dissolution of many sheetmetal surfaces. Even a good dose of undercoating applied to the vehicle’s underside can’t protect your precious metals from interior leaks. And once the scourge of the insidious tin worm has taken up residence within the confines of your car, the only real cure is panel replacement. Finding the means to stop moisture intrusion is easy these days — simply search online…

*Prices shown are presumed accurate at the time of printing. Please confirm with seller prior to purchase. 1971 DODGE CHARGER SUPER BEE HEMMINGS • 800-227-4373 X 79550 • HEMMINGS.COM/STORE • $114.99 The model experts at AutoWorld have given their 1:18-scale 1971 Dodge Charger Super Bee (item AMM1315) casting a vibrant new lease on life by rendering it in eye-popping FY1-code Top Banana yellow paint, accented with Rallye wheels, black sport stripes, and Super Bee decals. Under the car’s coveted N96 Air Grabber hood is a wonderfully detailed, triple-two-barrel-carbureted 440 Six Pack V-8 engine. Lifting the wing-topped trunk lid reveals a lifelike trunk mat and Goodyear-shod spare wheel. Open the doors and take in the realistic woodgrain dash trimmings, Pistol-Grip four-speed shifter, delicate fabric seatbelts, and the Tuff steering wheel that…

“‘Bury me in the ’65,’ he often says, smiling.” To be the daughter of a muscle car enthusiast means you probably spent more of your childhood in the garage than other little girls. That was where my dad was. I remember the mystery held by the red Craftsman toolbox that towered over my 5-year-old head and which still lives in his garage to this day. The drawers were so heavy my tiny fingers could barely pull them open to gaze at the endless shiny tools that were NOT toys for children (although I still believe a socket wrench is perfectly suitable for little girls to play with). It’s funny what I remember now, thinking back on my childhood and what jumps out of my memories from growing up in a…

Letter of the Month: Milestones “In December of 1968 I bought a new 1969 Dodge Dart GTS 383 four-speed. No power steering or brakes but when you’re young and frisky, who needs those things? I’d bought a new Mopar muscle car most years during the ’60s except for ’61 (too ugly) and ’68, so there was no reason to believe the ’69 would stay around for more than a year. But it did. The Dart was like the dog that follows you home and adopts you. It kept hanging around. Once the muscle car era ended, I realized the Dart might be worth hanging onto longer. I was 30 when I bought the car. As a fan of round numbers (and an optimist), I thought it might be fun…

SPOTLIGHT: Restoration WHEN IT COMES TO INDUCING feelings of fear and dread, that house in “The Amityville Horror” has nothing on pulling back the carpet for the first time on a vintage muscle car. Most enthusiasts would rather live with disembodied footsteps on the stairs every night than discover a rotted floorpan, but more often than not, that vintage sheetmetal is possessed by the tin worm. Fortunately, the floor in the 1969 Camaro project car for this story had a surprisingly solid foundation, but peeling up the carpet still revealed the need for a new floor. That’s because, when new, the car was immediately pressed into drag racing duty and had suffered innumerable bumps and bruises from a couple of wayward driveshafts and some less-than-precise clearance work with a sledgehammer.…

FUELING AROUND Q: I’ve been an avid reader of HMM since purchasing my 1970 Ford Torino Cobra in 2016. I really enjoy your column and I’m hopeful you can help with a gas cap/fuel system problem I am experiencing. My Torino was completely restored in 2008 to stock specifications. It has a 429 N-code engine, four-speed, and factory A/C. It was a California car originally and therefore was restored with all the correct emissions components including the proper fuel tank and the proper fuel tank vent expansion components. When I bought the car, it had an NOS push-on Motorcraft gas cap with key lock. The car started and ran fine with that cap. A few months ago, a buddy was following me on a road trip and noted that fuel…

*Prices shown are presumed accurate at the time of printing. Please confirm with seller prior to purchase. REVOLUTION 2500 WELDER HTP TOOLS • 847-357-0700 • USAWELD.COM • $3,995-$4,495 The new Revolution 2500 welder is a multi-process unit that can handle MIG and TIG applications while maximizing efficiency and precision. Three packages are available: one for steel, one for aluminum, and an “all-in” package that accommodates both. Each features a MIG gun that comes with a quick-disconnect feature and Victor flow gauge regulators to control the flow of gas during welding. Also included are gas hoses for TIG welding, a grounding cable and clamp for safety, a 12-inch pedal to control welding current, and TIG torch with a 35-mm Dinse connector. Note that the TIG torch doesn’t include any consumables and…