Selecting the right camshaft for your engine project is essential for optimal performance, but the right balance of lift, duration and lobe separation angle confounds even knowledgable enthusiasts. And while all major camshaft manufacturers have tech lines that enable customers to talk through their needs, COMP Cams is taking the selection process to a new, high-tech level. Their new CamQuest Web site allows enthusiasts to fill out a 10-question form to help make the selection quickly, 24 hours a day. There’s even a “virtual dyno” that will estimate the engine’s horsepower and torque with the new camshaft. Check out the site here: http://camquest.com.
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Drifting Star Vaughn Gittin Jr. Trades Powerslides for Air Time in Ford’s Off Road-Ready Raptor
Online drifting magazine Wrecked (wreckedmagazine.com) teamed up with drifting star Vaughn Gittin Jr. for a blast around a CORR off-road course, putting Ford’s off road-ready SVT Raptor through its paces. It gets some big air on the course without breaking a sweat — or parts — suggesting the truck is as capable as as Ford suggested. Check out the YouTube video for their driving session, which looks like as much driving fun as any factory-built vehicle could offer. No wonder the Border Patrol ordered a fleet of them.
Toronto Star‘s Slideshow of Blizzards Past Shows ’70s FoMoCo Greatness
With much of the country — and eastern Canada — gripped by the “snowpocalypse,” the Torontoa Star newspaper’s online edition posted a photo slideshow this morning of images of blizzards past. Among the shots of snowmobiles on the streets were a couple of photos from a 1977 storm, including a Torino police car getting a helpful push from civilians and a stuck Cobra II holding up a line of other ’70s cars. Click on the images for a larger view and see the entire slideshow here: http://www.thestar.com/
January Sales Lower for both Models; Challenger Up 50%
In 2010, the Camaro outsold the Mustang for the first time since parachute pants and double-laced, yet untied, high-tops were the fashion range. The momentum is continuing in 2011, as the Camaro continues to pull away from Ford’s segment-establishing pony car. When the companies released their January sales numbers today, Chevrolet reported 4,763 Camaro sales, while the Mustang tallied only 3,165 – a spread of more than 50 percent.
Although the Camaro’s lead is impressive, both it and the Mustang are down from year-ago numbers – while their respective parent companies are up for the month. Camaro sales were down by more than 11 percent, while the Mustang’s were off by a full one-third.
By the way, the Dodge Challenger is within nipping distance of the Mustang’s heels. It sold 2,526 copies in January, a significant 50-percent jump over Jan. 2010.
Jeff Rink’s Blown LS-powered GTO Convertible Proves Adversity Breeds Success
Enthusiasm for specific cars is often molded by experiences while young. That’s certainly the case for Michigan resident Jeff Rink. During his early teens, he regularly cleaned and waxed his brother-in-law’s 1965 GTO. He grew to love the car and planned to make it his.
“I made him promise to give me first crack at it whenever he decided to sell the GTO,” says Rink. “I ended up buying it from him as soon as I got my driver license in 1969.”
The love affair with the Goat was short-lived. Rink owned the car only six months before it was stolen. He was understandably crushed and tried to sooth the heartache with the purchase of a ’69 GTO.
Time marched on for Rink. Other cars came and went. He married, raised children and welcomed grandchildren. And not least of all was overseeing the family business, Prestige Stamping, which was established in 1967. His passion for cars – and GTOs, in particular – never waned, but he didn’t have the time to indulge it. That changed in 2000, when Rink spied a listing for a ’65 GTO convertible that was to be run through a local auction. After a brief inspection and a few bids, he bought it. Unfortunately, he should have spent more time peering beneath the deceptively shiny Goat.
“It looked good and sounded good, but after replacing the body mount and all the suspension parts, I realized the frame was toast,” says Rink. “It was pretty disheartening to realize I’d been taken – and worse, the car would need to be completely redone and refitted.”
With his still-hectic work schedule, Rink sought someone who could take on the job and that, too, turned out to be a bad investment.
“I found a restorer near my work, but it was a nightmare,” he says. “He destroyed the car, stole parts off it and left in a heap and was just about out business when Ric’s Restorations rescued me and the Goat.”
The “Ric” in Ric’s Restorations (www.ricsrestorations.com) was Ric Vanlerberghe, who was already renowned for his very authentic muscle car restos. He was at first reluctant to take on the heap of parts that made up the remnants of Rink’s GTO, but was persuaded by the creativity of doing the project as a resto-mod.
“I knew there was so much wrong with it and it was a non-numbers car anyway, that I decided a modified car would be fun,” says Rink. “Fortunately, Ric thought the same.”
After discussing a vision for the car, the crew at Ric’s dove into the project by straightening the sheet metal, replacing the frame and completely re-doing the interior. The body looks mostly stock, but with shaved door handles and a subtle yet effective smoothing of the front bumper to replace the license plate pocket. There are also custom GTO emblems, halogen headlamps and shaved bumper bolts.
When it came to painting the body, Vanlerberghe and Rink agreed on a two-tone scheme, but debated about whether the upper color would be silver or copper. Vanlerberghe advocated for copper, but the customer won out in the end – but not before Vanlerberghe insisted on incorporating his preferred hue someone in the car. So, a copper stripe separates the black and silver sections, and it looks absolutely terrific in our opinion. It should prove to stand the test of time for years to come.
The restored body was married to a replacement frame, with enhancements that include a modified cross member, an Air Ride suspension, four-wheel disc brakes and detailed hardware throughout. It’s one of those frames that could grab trophies without a body attached to it. A set of custom 17-inch Foose wheels, wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza run flat rubber, anchors the trick chassis to the Tarmac.
Complementing the capability of the GTO’s chassis is 6.0-liter LS2 engine from an ’06 GTO. It’s been fitted with a Magnacharger Roots-style supercharger system that pushes the engine’s output to about 540 horsepower. The engine is dressed to impress with tons of polish and great-looking valve covers from Katech. They move the ignition coil packs off the covers, allowing for a custom appearance – Vanlerberghe wasted no time in painting them copper. There’s also a custom split air intake system, with the filter-tipped ends attached to the radiator core support via hinged links. It’s a nice bit of engineering that enhances the car’s high-tech powertrain.
Backing the blown LS2 is a Hydra-Matic 4L65-E electronically controlled automatic transmission, which funnels torque to a beefy 9-inch rearend that’s fitted with 3.73-geared Posi.
More late-model influences are found in the GTO’s cabin, where the custom steering wheel features functional paddle shifters for the 4L65-E, along with a custom shifter in the scratch-built center console. In fact, the entire interior is awash in custom touches, from the door panels and handles to the dashboard and reupholstered and embroidered seats from a 2006 GTO.
The gauges are trick, too. They’re from Classic Instruments, in Boyne City, Mich., and feature custom GTO insignias, but with “6.0 LITRE” references instead of the ’65-standard “6.5 LITRE” legend. It’s the type of details that abounds on this car – like the custom controls for the Vintage Air system, the GPS-based audio system, subtle gray tinted glass and more.
There simply isn’t room here to list every custom touch and that’s what we love about this GTO. The more you look, the more you see, proving that even the most challenging projects can produce outstanding results.
On a recent visit to Phoenix, we had some time to kill before a flight home, so we spent a couple of hourse crawling through the industrial neighborhoods neighborhoods near Sky Harbor Airport. We found some great old cars, all deserving of a new, loving home. Check out the slideshow for the highlights.
Rick Hendrick, Dale Jr. on hand for ceremonial start of production
Today at GM’s Oshawa, Ontario, assembly facility, dealer and motorsports impresario Rick Hendrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were on hand to ceremoniously kick off the start of production for the Camaro convertible models, which are scheulded to land on showroom floors in February. Hendrick is buying the first Camaro convertible available to the public, which will presumably be the 2011 Indy pace car “festival” car that sold at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction a couple of weeks ago for $225,000 (proceeds went to charity). Hendrick also bought the first 2010 Camaro coupe sold to the public.
1-of-8 Cobra Drag Car Brings Big Bids at Mecum Kissimmee Auction
Only eight Shelby Cobras were built with the drag-racing “Dragonsnake” package. The one that crossed the block on Jan. 29 at Mecum’s auction in Kissimmee, Fla., sold for $875,000. The car was CSX 2093 (the 93rd Cobra built) and was originally owned by Jim Costilow. Driving duties were handled by Bruce Larson, who went on to race the well-known “USA-1” funny cars.
The car set all new records in the 1965 season and won the NHRA Springnationals, Winternationals and U.S. Indy Nationals that year. The Cobra was so successful that it overshadowed Shelby’s factory-sponsored Dragonsnake, much to Shelby’s dismay, and thereafter factory support for the privateer effort began to dry up. Later, with new owner Ed Hedrick behind the wheel, CSX 2093 went on to win the 1966 Springnationals and U.S. Nationals. It also chalked up class wins at the 1967 Springnationals, Winternationals, U.S. Indy Nationals, and finished out the season with the World Points Championship. It continued to set records in 1968. All told, CSX 2093 held national titles in four separate classes.
This Dragonsnake underwent restoration by Ziegler Coach of Los Angeles, and was presented exactly as it competed, including the Weber-carbureted 289 Ford V-8, with Ballanger side mount headers, four-speed transmission, Cobra Sunburst rear wheels with slicks, wire front wheels, removable hardtop and eye-grabbing Magenta metalflake paint.
This semi-retired ’92 Mustang SSP still serves an active role with the Michigan State Police
In the more than 90 years of the MSP, tradition has infused its operations and public presence, perhaps no more visibly than the distinctive blue state police vehicles. Of course, the cars have changed with the times, but they’ve almost always incorporated visual cues that are among the most unique in the nation, including:
A MSP-specific (special order) blue exterior color that’s been used since 1956
Door shield graphics that have remained unchanged since 1956
A red “gumball”-style roof light that is exclusive to MSP cars, making them instantly identifiable from a long distance
A lighted, hood-mounted “stop” sign known as the “shark fin” that predates modern roof lights and was originally developed to provide an indicator for motorists to pull over – when the MSP pulled alongside your car and the stop sign lit up, you pulled over.
When it came to its patrol cars, the Michigan State Police tried and used all the conventional full-size sedans and, thanks to its proximity to the Big Three, became – and remains – influential in field-testing police-package models. In fact, the agency’s annual testing of all special service vehicles is followed by police agencies throughout the country.
In the late Eighties, the MSP cruiser of choice was the stalwart Chevy Caprice 9C1, but the department launched a several-year experiment with higher-performance patrol cars, starting with the Mustang SSP. According to www.sspmustang.org – an excellent online reference site for the cars – fourteen of the cars were pressed into duty for the MSP in 1989. Another 20 Mustangs were employed in 1992. Interestingly, the agency also experimented with a couple of 1991 Camaro police cars.
So, there were only 34 MSP Mustang SSPs, which was a drop in the bucket compared to the more than 2,500 purchased by the California Highway Patrol and 1,600-plus ordered by the Florida Highway Patrol. Of the 34 MSP cars, we don’t know how many are left in private hands, but the fully dressed 1992 example seen here is still owned by the Michigan State Police. It’s not on road patrol any longer, but it’s still in the department – think of it as desk duty for a seasoned veteran. (MSP also still owns one of those Camaros, as well as an LT1-era Caprice, a ’75 Plymouth and a 1937 Ford with the original-style “stop” signs.)
With the assistance of Sergeant Matt Rogers, a driving instructor at the MSP training academy and keeper of the historic cars’ keys, we photographed the Mustang on the grounds of the Michigan State Police academy.
Under the hood, we spotted the dog tag-style buck tags clipped to the core support behind the driver-side headlamp that outlined the DSO number and SSP identification. “DSO” stands for Domestic Special Order and all true SSPs have one, which is a code for the regional sales office through which the cars were channeled. The car also sported the original VIN tags on the front fascia, front fenders, doors and trunk lid, suggesting it led an accident-free life running down speeders and bad guys on Michigan’s freeways and byways.
In fact, considering it’s been almost 20 years since this car put into service, its condition is pretty remarkable. It shows only 58,000 miles on the six-digit odometer, which is very low for a police car. That it survives at all in Michigan these days, too, is a testament to the importance of heritage to the department. The state has been hit the hardest by the economic downturn and statewide budgets have been slashed. It would be all too easy to get rid of the historic cruisers to save a few bucks.
The cars are popular four-wheeled ambassadors for the MSP and are loaned to different state police posts throughout the state for display special events. Unsurprisingly, the Mustang draws plenty of attention. Here’s to hoping the historic cars of the MSP are never fully retired.
New Web Site Picks the Perfect Camshaft
