Table of contents for Volume 5, Issue 54 - June 2025 in All Chevy Performance

Lucky or smart? That’s the question when considering Ryan Gebhardt and his remarkable journey with his very first car. Almost 40 years ago Ryan’s purchase of a 1971 Chevelle SS as a teenager set the stage for a decades-long story that intertwined family memories, professional growth, and a relentless passion for cars. “I purchased the car when I was 14 years old with money I made from mowing lawns,” Ryan reveals. “It was in 1987 when I found the Chevelle behind a used car lot building in Blountville, Tennessee. The original color was Placer Gold with a matching gold interior. It was an SS big-block car with a 454, four-speed, a 12-bolt rearend.” Having to dish out only $700 for the car may sound like Ryan landed a bargain of…

There’s nothing cooler than taking your hot rod out for a cruise. On the other hand, there’s nothing worse than driving a hot rod with one eye on the road and the other on the temperature gauge as it climbs up the scale. That’s because overheating an engine always comes with consequences—it may be as simple as having to clean up the mess from dumping coolant out the overflow to substantial engine damage. Severe overheating can cause pistons to expand enough to scuff or even seize in the cylinders, rings can lose tension, stick, or literally weld bits of themselves to the cylinder walls, exhaust valves may stick in their guides, heads can warp, head gaskets can develop compression and water leaks, and blocks and heads can crack. In short,…

“Everybody has their dream car, and I did too. I was hooked on gassers! To me if a car is not out of control and ridiculously loud, just boring,” Joe Mahalek owner of this big, bad, blue 1939 Master DeLuxe gasser states. “I bought the rust bucket 30 years ago to build myself the type of car I used to love to at Vargo Dragway and Atco Raceway when I was a kid.” The carcass that Joe started out with was heavily corroded and nearly beyond help, but that didn’t deter the man from making it his starting point. It had no front fenders or hood, and the rear fenders were not salvageable. It also lacked a trunk lid and the floors were pretty much gone. So, with the odds…

Last month, we concluded the installation of a Gen 5 Vintage Air SureFit kit in our 1957 Chevy Handyman Wagon by installing the evaporator unit. The defroster vents were installed and hoses attached, as was the center vent, and hoses were routed in preparation for the side vents. The drain was in place to route any condensation outside the vehicle and the four hard lines were installed and routed through the firewall. It would seem that we were on the downhill slope, and for all intents and purposes, we were, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. For starters, we still need to install the radiator and condenser unit. The previous small-block that was in our 1957 had a meager mechanical fan that pulled just enough air…

The old adage about making power goes: “There’s no replacement for displacement.” Every dyed-in-the-wool car guy knows it. We’ve all heard it. And we all know the rejoinder is: “Unless you have boost.” Yes, boost is the answer when it comes to helping little engines make big power. Whether it’s a supercharger or turbo, boost makes magic happen. So, what happens when you have both? What happens when you already have boost and add displacement? That, friends, is the question of the day. We recently came across a golden opportunity to put this to the test and couldn’t pass up the chance to do a little dyno testing. This became possible when our friends at Automotive Specialists in Concord, North Carolina, were sent a new engine build that the original…

There are car guy shenanigans that most of us can relate to or have done ourselves at one point in time, but the fact that Wayne Long went through eight engines in his 1962 Chevy Impala within a year’s time is a number that even the most hardcore car guys can’t claim. “I was 18 years old back then and always loved to go fast, so I was either blowing up engines or doing whatever it took to get more horsepower out of the next one. Some things worked and some things… not so much,” Wayne laughingly confesses. Wayne admits to living a wilder lifestyle in his younger years, but today he’s a bit older and considers himself a whole lot wiser than he was back in the late 1960s.…

Confident stopping power is a must in a high-performance Chevy. In addition to big rotors and multi-piston calipers, the power-assist system helps deliver that feeling of immediate responsiveness. From the factory, the power braking system on almost all classic Chevy models comes in the form of vacuum assist—a simple and effective method that uses vacuum generated by the engine to multiply the driver’s force on the brake pedal. On stock, naturally aspirated engines it is an excellent system and, apart from the occasional failed diaphragm or faulty check valve, it’s largely bulletproof. The dynamics change with performance upgrades such as an aggressive camshaft with big duration specifications or a power adder such as a supercharger or turbocharger. They typically reduce or all but eliminate the vacuum necessary for effective power…

This ’57 is in your face right from the get-go. Bright metallic orange paint mixes with black trim accents to create a modern twist on the classic shape. Modifications to the body will include a shortened front overhang with the front wheels pushed forward just a bit. The roof will have some of the mass removed by flattening the overall curve that it follows. In the hood you’ll find a pair of custom heat extractors that also match the fender vents. Custom mirrors have a nod to the classic Talbot shape, but a custom mounting arm ties in with the theme of the car. At the rear, you’ll find a heavy departure from stock. The taillights have been redesigned and right below them is a custom triangular exhaust. @TavisHighlander TavisHighlander.com…

Imagine wanting a specific year, make, and model vehicle your whole life only to get ahold of one well into adulthood. Now imagine the feeling of starting the hunt for yet another car of the exact same ilk because you just can’t bring yourself to cut up and customize that first “dream” vehicle. Sometimes, these vintage cars show up in unbelievable original condition, and the simple thought of going forward with a complete breakdown for the purpose of installing aftermarket components can seem like committing a cardinal sin. Back in 1969, John De La Luz fell in love with the Chevy Camaro of the day. At that time, he was only 12 years old and he was heavily influenced by the cars the older kids in the neighborhood were driving.…

If this were a big pharma ad, right now we’d be telling you about a silent killer of early Chevys and try to scare the pajamas off you. But really, this is a somewhat common malady with older Chevy muscle cars that you may not even know is a problem. Driving around under city lights at night, there’s plenty of illumination on the boulevards and freeways so that dim headlights aren’t a major issue. But take a cruise across the western desert or in the Midwest on a moonless night and you’ll soon discover that anything over 50 mph becomes an issue with outdriving your headlights. The modern solution has been to upgrade to LED headlights and several companies offer excellent bulbs that project a piercing bright light like a…

At just 17 years old, Michael Housh was already juggling a busy life filled with school, sports, and family. Growing up as one of four siblings, all two years apart, taught him the value of hard work and family sacrifices. Little did he know that one fateful football game would spark a story that spanned decades, centering around a golden bronze 1972 Monte Carlo. After a standout performance on the football field, Michael’s dad pulled him aside for a post-game chat. He praised his son for his hard work both in school and on the field, then came the surprise of a lifetime: a trip to Kansas City to pick out a car. Michael was stunned. Knowing the financial pressures of raising four children, he hesitated, downplaying his father’s offer…