1959 Impala * Bill Hill * Jackson, TN
After searching for a solid '59 Impala, Bill Hill found the perfect one on eBay. It had spent most of its life in North Carolina and had zero rust. Boy, that must've been difficult to find! The seller led Bill to believe the powertrain was all original, but it turned out to be a '62 327 instead of the 283 it was supposed to have. It didn't really matter either way because Bill had his sights on a 565ci big-block Chevy crate motor built by Precision Machine of McMinnville, Tennessee. When he went to pull the original engine, he wanted to clean up the engine bay, which turned into a bare-metal prep, and complete paintjob. Funny how things happen...
| By The Numbers |
| Engine: | 565ci big-block Chevy |
| Transmission: | 4L80E |
| Suspension: | Air Ride front and rear |
| Brakes: | four-wheel discs |
| Rear: | Ford 9-inch |
| Body: | DuPont base/clear white |
| Performance: | 809 hp on 93-octane fuel |
1966 Chevy Wagon * Louis Jackson St. Charles, MO
When you look at a '66 four-door Chevy wagon, you think kids, groceries, automatic transmission, and brown paint. Well, life will be changing drastically for this particular car. Louis Jackson fell in love with the gasser look back in the '70s when he was just a young boy. He wanted a high-front straight-axle Chevy. He got this car as a roller, and started doing research on converting it to a straight-axle car. He came across Bob Crawford of Gassers Inc. who agreed to work on the car in his spare time. It's been two years since the car left Louis's house, but it's progressing steadily. Bob has welded the rear doors into the body for a cleaner look and modified the front end with the leaf-spring solid axle.
| By The Numbers |
| Engine: | 540ci big-block Chevy |
| Transmission: | Turbo 400 with Gear Venders OD |
| Suspension: | straight axle conversion (front) |
| Brakes: | GM discs (front), drum (rear) |
| Body: | four-door to two-door conversion, modified glass |
| Wheels: | ET 10-spoke (front) and American Racing Torq-Thrust (rear) |
| Tires: | MT Sportsman |
1969 Mustang * Michael Hay * Beach Park, IL
"It started as an idea to try and get my wife [Lorenza] to like, or at least to tolerate, my hobby with muscle cars," writes Michael Hay. "I had hoped to get her to take pride in something that was considered hers, since she never had that growing up in a dirt-poor neighborhood in the Dominican Republic." Fords are the brand of choice in the Hay household, so the quest for a Blue Oval began. A search on eBay turned up this '69 Mustang, which also included a MIG welder, SSBC brakes, and a small-block Ford crate engine in the deal--all for the price of $4,000. Michael writes: "Lorenza's tone changed from `all that car crap' to `now we need more room for the cars and all that stuff.' Of course, I sprang my grand plan for a second garage."