High Performance Muscle Cars - 'Readers' Pages

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mail: 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048
fax: 323/782-2011
we need a head count of every 540 built in this country: Let's see, one . . . two . .

Jeff traded a Pro Street El Camino for this car.>>>

Big-Block RS/SS Camaro
Who: Jeff Bradley
Where: Indianapolis, IN
What: '67 Chevy Camaro RS/SS
Why: Jeff gave us a story that dated back to the late '70s, when the Car Craft Street Machine Nationals had an attendance cutoff number of 5,000 cars. Those days are back, and Jeff is reliving them with his Camaro. The car is a combination of a base-model body and all the trim from a rusted-out RS/SS car. Since it wasn't original, Jeff thought it would be OK to add a GM crate 454 in place of the 396 along with a 4L60E transmission. He also added the 18-inch American Racing Torq-Thrust II wheels and a set of Baer 13-inch brakes in the front and 12-inch brakes in the rear.
We Say: We think the days of cutting up '67 Camaros for Pro Street are over. Cut up a Fox Mustang instead.

Good separation.>>>

Truck Parts
Who: Todd Cole
Where: Bixby, OK
What: '71 Chevy Camaro
Why: Todd says that his Camaro was assembled using parts from a farm truck including the 454. This pass was made using 89-octane fuel.
We Say: We're guessing 11s. Always send a timeslip.

Part T-Bird
Who: Michael Peoples
Where: Ft. Bragg, NC
What: '66 Ford Mustang
Why: It has the standard 289 and C4 transmission, but it's controlled by a fuel-injection system from an '87 T-bird.
We Say: Should we run an article about how to build your own fuel-injection system?

We're big fans of work in progress.>>>

Garage Scene
Who: Monte Dinnell
Where: Fox Lake, IL
What: '71 Chevy Camaro Z28
Why: The list of parts on this car is long and expensive, so we will cut to the main points. It has a Heidt's frontend with all those tubular goodies, Hotchkis sway bars, and Stainless Steel brakes. For the engine, Monte is using a 350-inch small-block with Brodix heads. It makes 425 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque.
We Say: Never totally finish any project. It's more fun to keep taking it apart.

Working Too Hard?
Guys, a great freakin'article on carcraft.com ("Low-Buck vs. High-Dollar," CCRP 0709). The comparisons on the dyno were single-handedly the best article I have ever read in any car magazine in the last 15 years. It should be a regular feature!!
-Ben Wahlstrom, Albany, ORRegular feature? We almost killed Jeff Smith and racked up thousands of dollars in dyno time. OK, we'll do it every month.

Trophy-winning paint for $83
Read your article ("It Ain't Paint," CCRP 0708) about low-buck paint jobs. Did mine for $82.50. Bought a paint kit for $49.50 plus a shipping cost of $12.00 on eBay through Smartshoppersinc.com. The kit includes a gallon of acrylic enamel, 25 color choices, 2 quarts of enamel reducer, 1 pint of hardener, a paint suit, a spray sock, three rolls of masking tape, and paint sticks. I bought some Rust-Oleum primer and enamel reducer and wet/dry sandpaper at Lowe's for $15.00. I spent about four hours sanding and putting on the primer and another two painting. For a race car, it looked good enough to win a trophy* at Starbird's Rod & Custom show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If I had spent more time prepping, it would have looked even better. Still, it did the job.
-Doug Friedman, Broken Arrow, OK

The only things keeping our readers from eating this guy are the Cragars and the 302.>>>

Umm . . . AMC?
Who: He wisely did not give his name.
Where: Yah, he forgot to give us this too.
What: '69 IKA (Kaiser) Renault Torino 380W
Why: According to this guy, Renault used a Rambler American body reworked by Pininfarina to sell in Europe. This one has Yankee Doodle running gear like a Ford 302, a four-speed, and a Dana 44 rear. It's weird enough to show you.
We Say: It's French. Sorry about that.

Toast!
Who: Joe Faris
Where: Newton, KS
What: Used to be a 540-inch big-block Chevy on nitrous until a bad wire caused a fireball.
Why: This guy totally barbecued his big-block, then thought enough of us to snap a photo and send it in. Thanks, Joe!
We Say: This car was in the Apr. '03 Readers' section.

Jeep SiX
Who: Todd Sears
Where: Colona, IL
What: '69 AMC Rambler American
Why: This is different. Instead of stuffing a V-8 in there and tearing around the city, Todd swapped in a fuel-injected 4.0L from a '97 Jeep Cherokee with a header, cold-air kit, and JET Performance Products piggyback ECM to control things.
We Say: That 904 TorqueFlite can probably handle the horsepower, no problem.

This Just In: Rack is Tacky!
Hey CC. The On the Rack segment is tacky! No, I'm not gay! I just think that if you want to have girls in a car magazine, have them pose with a car. I know when I was younger my garage had some nice pictures of cars with the occasional tasteful model. I think it would be cool to have a feature car as a centerfold that could be put up on the garage wall or beer fridge.

Ah, just like the good old days. Just don't tell my wife! Anyway, still love the mag otherwise. Well, maybe just a little more Mopar!
-Lou Nagy, Ontario, Canada

What? You think a girl posing on a car is more tasteful than one in a tight speed shirt?

In/Out
In: Flogging on your old car
Out: Breaking your old car

In: Too many projects
Out: Too little time

In: Drivers
Out: Trailer queens

In: Drag racing
In: Bench racing

In: Musclecars
Out: The price of musclecars. Thanks, Barrett-Jackson.
John Kasecky III, Nanty Glo, PA

Burnout!!
Burnout!! Send Smoke!
Hate your radials? Do a burnout and send it to Car Craft Burnout!! 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048, or fast mail at CarCraft@primedia.com with a photo that is at least 1 MB in size. Editors are standing by.