1968 Chevy Chevelle
Dan Pagel, Stevens Point, WI
Dan has fond memories of riding around with his dad in his ’70 Nova, so he always wanted to get a muscle car of his own one day. After graduating from vocational school and securing a good job, he started looking around. Rather than a Nova, it was a ’68 Chevelle that caught his eye. It was red with a stock small-block, a four-speed, and a 10-bolt rearend. Nothing special, but perfect for building the car Dan wanted. Right away the drivetrain came out and the tame little 350 was replaced with a warmed-up small-block with World Products Sportsman II heads, a healthy solid roller cam from Lunati, and an Edelbrock Air-Gap intake. The 10-bolt gave way to a stronger 12-bolt, and the four-speed was swapped for a Turbo 350. Luckily for Dan, when it came time to paint the Chevelle, he had experts in the family; his cousin is an excellent bodyman and he handled all of the work to get it straight. Now the Chevelle spends a lot of time with three passengers: Dan and his two little girls. His youngest is only 2 years old and always insists on taking “daddy’s blue car” instead of anything else.
Engine: 355 ci with World Products Sportsman II heads, Lunati .501 lift solid-roller cam, Crower roller rockers, Edelbrock RPM Air-Gap intake, Pro Systems 780-cfm carb
Trans: TH350 with B&M 3,000-stall Holeshot converter
Rearend: ’67 12-bolt with 3.42 gears
Suspension: stock front with Bilstein shocks, adjustable upper control arms and custom lower control arms in the rear
Brakes: stock disc and drum
Wheels & Tires: 15x8 Rev five-spoke with Firestone Firehawks
1967 Chevy Chevelle SS
Shane Arthurs Grandora, Saskatchewan
Engine: 396ci big-block Chevy with factory oval-port heads and .540 lift COMP cam, Edelbrock Air-Gap intake and Holley Street Avenger carb
Trans: Muncie M21 four-speed manual trans
Rearend: stock with 3.55 gears and Auburn limited-slip diff
Suspension: Hotchkis tubular control arms and sway bar up front, Hotchkis adjustable control arms in the rear
Brakes: stock discs and drums
Wheels & Tires: GM rally with small center cap, 215/60R15 and 235/60R15 Cooper Cobra Radial GT
Cool Factoid: Shane says this is one of the straightest Chevelles he’s ever seen, and judging by the reflection in the slick black paint we’d be inclined to agree.
1956 Chevy 210
Todd Willman, Germantown, OH
Engine: 350ci small-block Chevy with 202 camel-hump heads, and Edelbrock RPM Air-Gap intake
Trans: stock Turbo 350 three-speed automatic
Rearend: original rearend with 4.10 gears
Suspension: stock front with CPP drop spindles and RideTech air springs, RideTech AirOverLeaf rear
Brakes: CPP power disc front brakes, factory drums in the rear
Wheels & Tires: 17x8 and 18x8 Boyd Coddington Smoothie II wheels with 255/40R17 and 265/35R18 Kumho Ecsta tires
Cool Factoid: Every time Todd takes the ’56 out for a cruise with his wife and daughters, he always hears stories from folks who had one just like it, and loves to hear their memories.
1957 Chevy 210
John Baila, McKeesport, PA
You get just one guess where John Baila got the inspiration for his ’57 Chevy 210! “I liked the movie Hollywood Knights, and I wanted my own Project X,” John writes. “I even have a ’56 sedan delivery so I can have the ‘pie wagon’ too.” The best compliment John gets is when he takes the ’57 to a car show and admirers tell him his car looks like the car in “that movie.” The car in “that movie,” of course, is Popular Hot Rodding’s own Project X—which remains with the magazine to this day. John’s ’57 didn’t always look like Project X though. When John got it, the car needed new floors, inner and outer rocker panels, and new body mounts. And then it was time to strip the paint off and put the yellow coat on. Unlike Hollywood Knights, however, John dropped in the 468ci big-block from his drag truck instead of a blown small-block.
Engine: 468ci big-block Chevy with Edelbrock intake and Lunati cam
Trans: Borg-Warner T10 four-speed manual
Rearend: stock with 3.36 gears
Suspension: stock with drop spindles and air shocks (rear)
Brakes: front and rear disc brake conversion with slotted discs
Wheels & Tires: Billet Specialties Fastlane 17x8 wheels, Kumho 235/45R17 and 255/45R17 tires
1958 Chevy Impala
Don Jones, Prescott, AZ
Engine: stock rebuilt 348ci big-block Chevy “W” series
Trans: 700-R4 four-speed automatic overdrive
Rearend: original 12-bolt with 3.08 gears and custom three-piece driveshaft
Suspension: CPP drop spindles, 1-inch CPP front sway bar, CPP 1.5-inch lowering springs in rear, 1-inch CPP sway bar in rear
Brakes: CPP power disc brake conversion in front, stock drums in rear
Wheels & Tires: polished 16-inch ARE Torq-Thrust II wheels with 205/55R16 and 245/50R16 BFG G-Force T/A tires
Cool Factoid: Don has wanted a ’58 Impala ever since seeing American Graffiti in 1973. He even designed and built his dream house garage for the express intention of restoring his dream car.
1962 Chevy Impala
Koby Weishaar, Minot, ND
Engine: 283ci small-block Chevy with camel-hump heads, Weiand aluminum intake, and Rochester Quadrajet carb
Trans: stock Powerglide two-speed automatic
Suspension: RideTech CoolRide air springs with AirPod
Brakes: CPP disc brake conversion, front and rear
Wheels & Tires: 14x6 GM steelies with ’70s El Camino hubcaps
Cool Factoid: The trunk-mounted RideTech AirPod is covered by an era-appropriate tweed Hartmann suitcase. Koby also has a 5.7L Vortec and a 4L60E that he plans on swapping into the Impala this winter.
1972 Chevy Monte Carlo
John Rasmussen, Cedar Falls, IA
Having served in previous lives as both daily transportation and dragstrip terror, John Rassmussen’s ’72 Monte Carlo is arguably in its most important role right now: family fun machine. Purchased 12 years ago as a used-up roller with no engine or trans, John and his two daughters have lovingly nursed it back to health. Besides some fresh paint, the triple green Monte has been treated to a smoothed firewall, a hidden wiring harness, a rebuilt breathed-on 350, body-colored accents, retractable gauges, a monstrous 2,000-watt stereo, and some green neon. (We’re gonna give him a pass on that one since he’s got young daughters.) Some mild suspension mods and lowering springs give this ride both attitude and aptitude. Big props to John and family for building this lean clean budget machine in a two-car garage!
Engine: 350ci small-block Chevy with Performer EPS intake, Edelbrock 600-cfm carb, COMP Cams .454-inch lift hydraulic cam, MagnaFlow exhaust
Trans: Turbo 350 three-speed automatic
Rearend: original 12-bolt GM posi with 2.73 gears
Suspension: stock, QA1 coilovers, Hotchkis rear control arms and .75-inch rear sway bar, Hotchkis 2-inch lowering springs
Brakes: stock front discs with cross-drilled rotors, stock rear drums rears
Wheels & Tires: Cragar S/S 17x8 inch wheels, Nitto Invo 235/45R17 (front) and 255/50R17 (rear)