Table of contents for Volume 3, Issue 32 - August 2023 in All Chevy Performance

Mike Kraemer’s indoctrination into the Chevy fold started at an early age. As a youngster growing up during the late ’60s and early ’70s, it wasn’t uncommon for kids like him to see vintage iron on the road decked out in some form of race trim. As a result, he still has some fond memories of the vehicles he saw back then that shaped—and continue to shape—his automotive tastes to this day. He recalls one particular car: “When I was 11 years old my mom regularly drove me to the swim club, and as we turned into the parking lot, there was a gas station that frequently had a jacked-up Marina Blue ’55 Chevy parked out front. It was lettered-up with Double Five on the front fender, no front bumper,…

When it comes to finding out your car’s factory options and features, the best place to start is the vehicle identification number (VIN) plate and the trim tag. In most cases, these two stampings will not provide every piece of information you want, but it’s easily accessible and can sometimes reveal some cool details. If you want the car’s full history, other documentation like a build sheet and Protect-O-Plate are needed, but those items are often long gone on an average Chevy from the muscle car era. Finding a build sheet hidden in the interior or on top of the gas tank is like finding buried treasure. We’ll cover some details of the build sheet, but the main purpose of this article is to explain some of the nuances of…

“You can say I’m an old hand at this, you know, cruising, street racing, and having a good time here at the Jersey Shore,” Fred “Curly” DellaPietro declares, when talking about the history forged between himself and his stable of Chevys. “I’ve got this ’67 Chevelle Super Sport and my trusty ’55 that I’ve been running since the ’60s. Yeah, I’ve been doing this for the past six decades and love every minute of it.” Curly is a Jersey shorefront staple and participates in local cruises regularly. “With our miles of roads along the spectacular beaches, it’s a great scene here. Of course, there was plenty of street racing back in the day, and with Raceway Park just a few miles away, it was an outstanding locale if you were…

There’s no better way to kick off the outdoor event season than topping off the tank and heading out to the promised land where wicked amounts of horsepower get a chance to mingle with sun and surf for the ultimate performance car weekend. Devoted Chevy fans who live for hopped-up mills, packing everything from supercharged big-blocks to turbocharged LS V-8s, got everything they hoped for while attending the 32nd Annual Cruisin’ Ocean City event held in Ocean City, Maryland. If you want to experience the fun-meter dialed to the max, the quaint little seaside community was the place to be, with well over 3,000 registered car and truck owners pulling into town to cruise the 10-mile strip and dig just what makes the event so very special. Nothing is more…

1. ROLLING TRIBUTE The Forgeline engineering team is proud to release their latest Heritage Series wheel. The new HL3X is a variation of their original HL3, a tribute to the classic Halibrand wheels of the ’60s that famously carried the Ford GT40 to victory at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. The HL3X follows a similar design theme to the original HL3 but features larger, more-aggressive spoke window openings to better display the underlying brake hardware, improve cooling, and reduce mass. For more information, contact Forgeline by calling (800) 886-0093 or visit forgeline.com. 2. FLAME THROWIN’ Late-model Coil-On-Plug/Coil-Near-Plug series for Gen V LT1 engines from PerTronix are optimized to improve the spark capabilities of late-model ignition systems. Coils are epoxy-molded to prevent premature failure from moisture or winding fatigue.…

Structural rigidity has long been the Achilles heel of unibody cars—particularly cars from the muscle car era, such as the first- and second-generation Camaro. The issue becomes more acute with a significant jump in performance when greater horsepower and handling capability expose the functional boundaries of the body structure. A weaker structure is not only prone to metal fatigue and even ripping in some areas, but it makes it more difficult to put all the car’s power to the pavement, whether in a straight line or in corners. It’s simply impossible to optimize launches or handling with excessive chassis flex. So, just as long as there have been flexible unibodies, subframe connectors and other structural enhancements have been the cure—but even they have had their compromises. Typically, they’ve necessarily followed…

Driven to perfection… it’s something that many Chevy owners aspire to, especially when taking on a ground-zero build with the desire to create something truly unique. With each car being as individual as the owner, it presents a personal fingerprint once completed, incorporating a stream of cutting-edge parts along with seamless fabrication to establish a truly unique vibe. The wicked ’66 Chevy Nova laid out across our pages owned by Nick Cincotti III of Billerica, Massachusetts, is representative of a vision to fuse stance, performance, and a razor-sharp look to deliver a knock-out punch. Everyone in the hot rod world gets inspired in one way or another to take on their next build, regardless of whether it’s personalizing a new acquisition or the excitement to start on something fresh. For…

While we all love our older muscle cars for their style and performance, this is especially true for this writer when it comes to first-generation Chevelles. While they have tons of flair, they do lack a bit of sophistication when it comes to things like sealing the interior. This is nowhere more evident than the suggestion of a seal between the steering column and the floorpan. I own more than a couple of A-bodies that sport a near ¼-inch gap around the steering column that allows hot underhood air, dirt, and fumes to funnel straight up the steering column at road speeds. I’m in the midst of a complete restoration on our ’66 SS396 and I noticed a small ad in this publication for a firewall seal designed to solve…

At one time selecting a Chevrolet starter was easy enough, as there really was only one choice. However, since the late ’80s, the OEMs have steadily moved away from direct-drive starters and toward gear-reduction starters, and the aftermarket has followed suit. Although gear-reduction starters are more complex, making them more expensive, they are also smaller, lighter, and more efficient. These starters typically achieve a gear reduction ratio of 4:1. These starters use smaller, faster motors that draw less amperage. A 4:1 gear reduction ratio also means that a gear-reduction starter can often produce more torque than a much larger, heavier, direct-drive starter. In some cases, a direct-drive starter can weigh as much as two times more than a comparable gear-reduction unit. That represents a significant power/torque to weight ratio benefit,…

@TavisHighlander TavisHighlander.com Vehicle Builder: Charlies Custom Creations, Murfreesboro, TN Patina builds have their own appeal when done right. Luckily, the guys at Charlies Custom Creations know how to put together a solid vehicle, and this one will be no exception. Starting with a stock ’67 Camaro and some well-worn paint, the shop will nip and tuck a few details here and there. The bumpers will get pulled in and finished in satin black with the rest of the trim. Making the Camaro handle better than ever before is a Roadster Shop chassis. It’s also more powerful thanks to a Chevrolet LT4 crate engine. That new stance and power is kept in check with big brakes and modern Ferrada FR2 wheels.…

Tom Panaseny is a car guy; he’s been one basically his whole life. What started out as helping his dad repair cars led to him buying a T-bucket as his first car. His love for Camaros began when a neighbor brought home a new ’69 convertible–white with orange stripes and an orange interior. Over the last 35 years Tom has owned, restored, modified, and, most importantly, enjoyed 11 Camaros of all generations. “Each one was unique in some way,” Tom states. “I’ve owned special editions, highly modified, low-mile, and a few one-owner Camaros. Some were show winners and some I drag raced and beat the crap out of; unfortunately, they’ve all been sold … except for one.” Tom holds this ’67 special, not only because he’s only the second owner,…

The Bible says that idle hands are the devil’s workshop. Our take is a little different. When it comes to setting the idle mixture on your street-driven engine, your hands will be plenty busy adjusting, tweaking, and setting several different parameters. This may not sound like something to account for an hour or so of your time, but trust us, it’s worth the effort. If you think about it, a street-driven engine spends much of its time running with a closed or near-closed throttle. Waiting for the engine to warm up, sitting at a stoplight, cruising down the highway, or on city streets are all conditions where the throttle is just barely open. With most carburetors, these situations require a throttle opening of roughly 10 to 15 percent. This places…

If you grew up in and around the ’60s and ’70s you no doubt have spent some time in the back of a station wagon of some kind–no seatbelts, rear window down, pulling in enough exhaust fumes to knock out an entire Little League team cranked up on Red Vines and Coca-Cola. Ford, Chevy, Pontiac, Chrysler, Jeep, Buick, Oldsmobile, AMC, Cadillac, and more all made extended family haulers of just about every shape and size. Back then we didn’t have thoughts about them being cool—probably due to just about every family having one, and in our youthful eyes, the more wood siding, the less cool they were. It wouldn’t be long before the minivan replaced the station wagon, which has since been rolled over by today’s SUV. Rick Van Unen…