'70 Nova SnowballedWhen 17-year-old Colin Russ, of Houston, Texas, bought his first project car, he thought it would be simple to work on with his dad, but it didn't happen that way. The good news was that the '70 Nova only set him back $800. Colin explained the bad news: "when we started the teardown, we realized we had a whole lot more to do than just replace the interior and stick in a new engine. we had the car completely blasted, and we found that it was in much rougher shape than we thought." It required a new floor pan, trunk pan, and the mini-tubs already on it were done badly and had to be replaced. The ex-drag car also had a fiberglass front end, so the pair decided to replace that with sheetmetal as well. originally, the plan was to restore the car, but Colin stumbled onto Pro-Touring.com, and the project took a 180-degree turn. Colin says, "we now want it to handle better than a new sports car, but still have the vintage feel. we haven't decided on the chassis yet. It's between the art Morrison Max-G chassis and a full dSe setup, but either way, the idea is for the car to handle like it's on rails." He also assured us that this Nova isn't going to be a garage queen and will see plenty of action on the road. we're holding him to it!
The Plan Of Attack* Mini-tub* DSE or art Morrison suspension* 12-bolt posi rearend* Black and polished aluminum accented interior* T56 six-speed transmission* 396 carbureted big-block engine* Two-inch steel cowl hood* 19x8- and 19x12-inch Forgeline SP3P wheels* 13-inch wilwood disc brakes on all four corners* Sparco "Modena" seats* Carbon-fiber driveshaft
'65 Skylark Boulevard BuickWith the crazy prices for mainstream classics, the smart course is to find something different that has a lot of potential. Phil de lorm of alta loma, California, had that same idea when he picked up this '65 buick Skylark for $1,500. It suffered from some bad repairs, but Phil didn't let that deter him. "It had been in an accident and I had to have the frame pulled back almost one inch," Phil recalls. Since then, he's been busy working over the body and hopes to have the car shot in '04 GTo Cyclone blue. To give the care a more modern feel, he also shaved much of the trim, and powdercoated the remaining trim in charcoal gray. Up front, the factory frame will be modified to accept C4 vette suspension parts, and the rear will be a three-link arrangement. Phil is working on a 383 stroker with a dart block, aFR 220 heads, Jesel shaft rockers, and a custom-ground CoMP cam, spec'd by Kenny duttweiler. an 80mm turbo will blow through an 800-cfm Holley carb and behind the mill will be a T56 with hydraulics from aTS. The Skylark will roll on budnik Ice 18-inch wheels and the goal is to get a 275 tire up front, and-thanks to a mini-tub-a 325 tire in the rear. This car is local, too, so we're hoping for a ride when it's done. Pencil us in Phil.
'68 Firebird 400 A Pontiac With PotentialOne man's problem is often another man's opportunity. That's what lenie Hamm found out when he bought his '68 Firebird project car. Lenie told PHR: "The guy I bought it from had it on ebay, and had receipts for a little over $60,000, not including the original purchase of the car. It was an unassembled roller, no bodywork was completed, and all the parts were still in boxes. It didn't reach its reserve and since I was the high bidder, he sent me an e-mail asking if I was still interested. I was, and I got it for a quarter of his investment." The deal was struck on a Sunday and on Monday lenie rented a 24-foot enclosed trailer and drove five days straight from his home in Port orchard, washington, to brighton, Michigan. That's a 5,200-mile round trip, but it was worth it. between the car and all the parts, the trailer was stuffed full of Pontiac goodness. Since then, he's been getting the car ready for paint, which should be done by the time you read this. after that, the Firebird will be upholstered by lenie's father-in-law, Quinton daniel. "I really like family members helping because it creates