In this installment, the 1966 GTO's L92 V8 finally comes to life! Once we had our Magnaflow exhaust system connected to the polished ceramic Hooker LS1 A-Body swap headers, we topped off the fluids with Royal Purple Synthetic Engine Oil, MAX ATF Transmission fluid, and Purple Ice radiator additive. We didn't want to risk anything, and the protection of Royal Purple against heat, friction, wear, and moisture gave us peace of mind. Plus the reduced friction frees up power. We run Royal Purple in every car we build and drive. But the real challenge was finding the little electrical gremlin that kept the MAST -powered ignition system from firing. It was our fault, and when we fixed it, it came to life in the push of a start button. The GTO runs and sounds fantastic!
Choosing a color for your project can be tricky. Our 1971 Oldsmobile "S71" Project was originally Viking Blue with white stripes, but we wanted to jazz it up a bit with some Warp Speed Blue and Snowstorm White stripes from the DuPont Hot Hues line. In this video, we take an extra fender and spray out a test panel to see how the colors looked. We also wetsand and buff the car using the 3M Trizact Perfect-It system. Click "Read More" for photos!
For the last 23 years, the Central Oregon Classic Chevy Club has put on the Flashback Cruz in Bend, Oregon. Situated along the meandering Deschutes River, in tree-covered Drake Park, this show attracts cars from all over the west, and northwest particularly. This year approximately 500 vehicles of all makes, marques and descriptions were on display, some ratty, some racy and most radiant.
The 2008 event was my second visit to this show, as I planned a family visit to Bend that just happened to occur over the same weekend. Brilliant! The show was great in ’06 and even better in ’08. One of the most attractive aspects, besides the great variety of cars, is the location. The park provides plenty of shade, a spectacular view of the river and is big enough to comfortably accommodate a large number of vehicles. No door dings in this group.
All the body filler on our 1965 Chevelle project has been block-sanded straight, bringing the car one step closer to paint application. The next step is to apply several coats of Standox Sprayable Polyester .. a high-build sprayable body filler intended to fill any pinholes or sanding scratches in the body filler layer below. Tiny pinholes and sanding scratches can be barely detectable in filler, but they become magnified under the shiny paint and clear coat of final paint, so it's crucial to take whatever steps you can to eliminate them from the car's surface before spraying paint. We applied several coats of the Standox product, which leaves a highly textured surface when hardened, which might appear to be a step backwards in the straightening process. However, most of what you see here will all be block-sanded off, leaving a solid white layer of perfectly smooth substrate ready for the final application of primer before paint. When properly sanded, the poly leaves no traces of pinholes or spreader marks, and it sands smoothly with minimal effort. But you'll see the whole block sanding process in the next chapter of our '65 Chevelle.
The last step in our GTO's Air Ride Technologies Street Challenge suspension system was to install the ride height sensors and Air Pod unit, and connect the wiring to the LevelPRO control unit in the dash. The system takes ride height inputs from the 4 sensors mounted around the car, then the Air Pod combination compressor / solenoid / tank / power unit sends the correct amount of air pressure to each airspring to keep the car level and at its user pre-set ride height. The system is very high tech, but it's simple to install.
After all the panels were aligned and all the dents pulled, our 1965 Chevelle moved into the body filler stage. Our body technician John started the process by grinding the steel panels to achieve a mechanical bond as well as a chemical bond, then began mixing and applying the Marson Mar-Glass fiberglass filler to the structural areas and seams, followed by a coat of Marson Platinum Plus filler over the rest of the car. Although the filler was applied over large areas, John sanded most of it off in a process that refined the shape of the car, straightening minor waves and surface imperfections. The filler was followed up by a new 3M glaze applied by a new 3M Dynamic Mixing System applicator gun. The glaze fills remaining surface scratches and pinholes, and the gun applicator does all the mixing for you, ensuring quick, accurately mixed glaze (and filler) with no pinholes and reduced waste. The entire car then went through a block sanding process. The next step: Standox Sprayable Polyster.
In this installment, the 1966 GTO's L92 V8 finally comes to life! Once we had our 
Choosing a color for your project can be tricky. Our 1971 Oldsmobile "S71" Project was originally Viking Blue with white stripes, but we wanted to jazz it up a bit with some Warp Speed Blue and Snowstorm White stripes from the 
The Perfect Car Show 
All the body filler on our 1965 Chevelle project has been block-sanded straight, bringing the car one step closer to paint application. The next step is to apply several coats of 
The last step in our GTO's 
After all the panels were aligned and all the dents pulled, our 1965 Chevelle moved into the body filler stage. Our body technician John started the process by grinding the steel panels to achieve a mechanical bond as well as a chemical bond, then began mixing and applying the Marson Mar-Glass fiberglass filler to the structural areas and seams, followed by a coat of Marson Platinum Plus filler over the rest of the car. Although the filler was applied over large areas, John sanded most of it off in a process that refined the shape of the car, straightening minor waves and surface imperfections. The filler was followed up by a new 3M glaze applied by a new 
