1968 Pontiac Firebird, 1968 Chevy Chevelle, And 1971 Datsun Are Under Construction - Under Construction

'68 Chevelle
2-Door Post
Eddie McMillan of Knoxville, Tennessee, has a thing for '68 Chevelles. His first car at 15 years old was a '68, and he's owned several since. This particular car is pretty rare, being a two-door post car. When he got it, it still housed the original 307, a small-block Chevy notorious for being a dud--the two-barrel carb on top didn't help either.

Eddie was used to the all-aluminum 421-inch small-block Chevy in his 2,300-pound dirt track car, so the 200-horsepowered 307 would not suffice. He started out with a 454 big-block, and replaced every part inside to make it durable enough for the 8-71 supercharger.

The body needed even more attention than the engine. Nearly every panel had to be replaced or undergo major surgery. The roof had bullet holes in it, the floor was rotted out, the quarter-panels were caked with filler, and the fenders were damaged beyond repair. Eddie and his friends removed all the bad metal and replaced them with new pieces. The bodywork had to be perfect, since he would be painting it black; you just can't hide bad bodywork with black paint. To make the car really stand out, he painted realistic flames pouring from the front wheel openings.

The body and engine are dialed in, and the car is drivable right now, but the interior is still under construction. He plans to get the seats covered and custom embroidered for a personal touch. The car started out as a tame granny car, and exploded into a brutal, blown big-block bruiser, thanks to Eddie's hard work!

By The Numbers

'71 Datsun 240Z
Chevy Powered!
With a curb weight of 2,300 pounds from the factory and rear-wheel drive, this car is built for fun. It came with a couple different straight-six powerplants that had decent power, but not compared to the American muscle cars of the era.

Mark Fraizier of San Jose, California, grew up around both Datsuns and Camaros. His father had a '75 280Z that is basically the same as a 240Z, but with a different model designation for that year. He would take it out on Sundays and beat on it when his father was away. Since those days, he has always had a place in his heart for Datsuns. His first sports car wasn't a Datsun, but the other Z, a '70 Camaro. His brother also had a second-gen Camaro built for autocross in the late-'70s. Mark's car took the street/strip direction instead.

In 1988, Mark started working on cars professionally, and in '93 he went to work for Tom Dillard and Mark Schwarts, the owners of Campbell Auto Restorations in Campbell, California. He spent the last two decades building and restoring cars. He'd seen many American cars come and go though the shop, but fantasized of the Datsun Z he always wanted. In 2007, he picked up a decent '73 that had been daily driven most of its life. The car was rough, since it had been sitting for almost 10 years before Mark got to it. He promptly pitched the inline-six anchor to make way for a small-block Chevy. He had already invested a lot of money and time into making this car handle and brake well beyond its original ability, so why limit it to the 150 hp it came with? Mark could've rebuilt the six and gained some power, but with the cost of building a small-block so low, there was no good reason to keep the relic.

After a long search, Mark came across an LS2 with a bad bearing. He was planning on rebuilding any used engine he could find, so it didn't matter to him that this one had the bearing damage. He polished the crank, upgraded the rods and pistons, and revamped the LS with a new cam. The factory claims 400 hp, but with these upgrades we suspect it's got a little more.

With the added power, Mark would have to beef up the rest of the drivetrain. He used a 700R-4. The rearend is a little more challenging to upgrade, since it's an independent setup. With tons of time on the forums, he found a couple options, the best being to graft an Infiniti Q45 housing into the Datsun and get custom shafts made.

By The Numbers