The Hellcat headers are a tight squeeze in the engine compartment given the nearly 600 CI motor and thus, extremely difficult to fabricate inside the car. Ken–our Hellcat extraordinaire–recently created a header jig to allow for subsequent headers to be built outside of the car. This model was built using an existing header that was custom fitted inside of a Hellcat as a template. The dips and turns of this header were precisely measured to determine the set up for the jig.
July 13, 2010
July 7, 2010
1947 Dodge Pickup Upgrades
This ‘47 Dodge pick-up has pro air-ride suspension, plush red leather interior and a beautiful oak bed, but there were still a few things the lucky new owner wanted done before the truck left Classic Car Studio for its new home…
These Dodge trucks were originally equipped with windshield wipers on the top of the windshield. These original wipers were removed when the truck was restored, so to compensate, we installed a new wiper system fitted to the body on the bottom of the windshield with the wiper motor neatly tucked away in glove box.
The truck also received a few new goodies under the hood including: cast aluminum retro valve covers, blue spark plug wires and some nifty flex hoses for the heater core with a gold-plated cover.
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- Cast Aluminum Retro Valve Covers
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- Valve Covers and Flex Hoses for Heater Core
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- Gold-Plated Cover on Flex Hoses
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- New Wipers
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- Flawless Fit!
May 21, 2010
Custom one off Carbon Fiber parts
Pictures are some one off custom carbon fiber parts that we had made for the Hellcat Camaros. They will go on the gauge cluster that DSE made for our cars. We’ll have some other parts coming down the line soon including door sills with carbon inlay, shifter surrounds, door inserts etc..
March 24, 2010
1970 Mustang restoration
Pictured is BF’s Mustang which is being treated to a rotisserie restoration. We’ve just complete a complete tear down to prep the car for soda blasting. We already know that we will be using new full floor boards from our friends at Mustangs Unlimited and suspect that we’ll be doing new quarters and new fender wells.
We’ve contracted Keith Craft Performance to build a new 351c for the Fastback and we’ve sent the C4 transmission to Camdup Racing for a serious build to handle the new engine which should put out a solid 400 HP. As for the looks of the engine, it will be a wolf in sheep’s clothing built to look exactly like these motors did when they came off the show room floor.
Stay tuned for more updates!
February 27, 2010
Ford Galaxie 500 Convertible
This gorgeous Galaxie 500 convertible needed a complete front end suspension rebuild. After pulling all of the components off the car, we blasted and refinished them in satin black prior to re-installation. Check out the photos!
February 19, 2010
NASCAR!
Shown is a NASCAR, Car of Tomorrow from the Hall of Fame racing team. They were affiliated with Yates Racing last year and featured Bobby Labonte as their driver. We’re not sure what their plans are for next year, but we have been put in charge of storing the car in our showroom -
This isn’t the first kind-of-maybe-famous car we’ve stored. Here are some other almost great automobiles:
Dan Rather’s 1990 Oldmobile Cutlass Ciera
Ricardo Monteban’s “fine Corynthian Leather” Chrysler Cordoba
Kim Jong Il’s “Mini Dictator Edition” nuclear Power Wheel
Frank Sinatra’s cousin’s sister’s friends’ Aston Martin
February 9, 2010
Custom aluminum gauge surround
Shown is a custom made gauge surround piece that was fabricated out of aluminum. First the design was laid out in AutoCad and then the piece was cut with a water jet. Next the aluminum was anodized in black and finally we had the Hellcat emblem laser etched into the new anodized finish. The result is a crisp, bright white image and a nice finish piece for the interior.
February 6, 2010
2010 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
We just picked up this car for a good customer in California that we assisted in special ordering the car a few months back. She’s certainly the most capable Corvette we’ve ever driven and agreeably the most serious production Corvette that GM has ever turned out.
You can throw around horsepower numbers all day long but how about a 7:26.1 Nurburgring lap record? Pretty impressive. Watch the video here:
February 5, 2010
Premium Paint Service prep work
Shown is the prep work for our Premium Paint service on a 911 Porsche SC. The Premium paint service is a great process that can can remove a variety of scratches and really rejuvenates tired paint jobs. The 3M buffing compound that we use leaves a lot of dust and splatter so we like to tape off all of the windows and vents to make clean up quick and easy. In a world of gimmicky car products, we’ve found that 3m makes the absolute best paint products on the market! Time and time again we keep saying the same line, “you really get what you pay for!”
February 2, 2010
1969 Camaro custom aluminum valve covers
These 1969 Camaro custom aluminum valve covers just arrived back from getting some final etching performed. We thought they looked good but we had to get Burt Reynold’s approval to be absolutely sure. Here is a photo from our video conference yesterday. Stay tuned for some great looking interior pieces that should be in next week.
January 28, 2010
High end detailing
Shown is our detailer putting the finishing touches on a Bentley GT Speed. The detail ended up taking over 8 hours as and the car was hand washed, hand waxed, and hand buffed. The interior was then treated with our Zymol leather treatment which nurishes the hide and protects against harmful UV rays.
We also offer wet sanding, precision touch up where we can blend the touch up right into the paint, and of course high speed buffing. It’s amazing to see an what these processes can do to a paint job.
January 27, 2010
1941 Cadillac parts refinishing
We just upgraded our media blaster and the restored parts just keep looking better and better. It’s amazing how nice vintage parts look when they’ve been properly stripped and then refinished. Attached are some photos of restored parts of the 1941 Cadillac in our shop. Shown are a Cadillac engine fan, the Cadillac drum brake parts and some Cadillac suspension parts.
Genuine Jaguar parts….
Yeah yeah yeah….everyone knows that Ford owned Jaguar and they used lots of their parts on the “Jaguar.” It’s just comical to see a FoMoCo casting on a part coming out of a Jaguar parts box as seen on this “Jaguar” steering knuckle.
You know what they say- “Everyone loves a FoGuar.”
1947 Plymouth Sub frame restoration
The 1947 Plymouth was stripped of it’s front body panels this week as we prepared to restore the front subframe. Dave used a strong epoxy semi gloss black coating which filled in lots of little irregularities caused by years of use and the results speak for themselves. We will build the front end back up with Kanter suspension products and we’ll have completed the suspension and brake end of this project.
January 26, 2010
1969 Camaro Tremec TKO 600 conversion
Just two weeks after project L89 hit the roads, the Camaro was back in our shop for more modifications. Although the M22 seemed like it would be a good combination on the car, the stock linkage and lack of 5th gear got the best of JF. We called up our friends at Keisler engineering for one of their plug and play Tremec TKO 600 transmissions and a couple weeks later it showed up. Were using a brand new Centerforce clutch/flywheel combination and project L89 will be back on the road in no time with a nice new highway cruising gear and and a tight new shift pattern.
December 9, 2009
Hydroboost vs Vacuum Booster—-Chevelle presiding
Many years ago when cars all ran around with drum brakes, power brakes were not a necessity as drum brakes naturally provide some of their own power assist. Today, most modern cars have 4 wheel disc brakes and without power brakes it would be quite the workout just to haul your vehicle to a stop.
The power brake booster uses vacuum produced by the motor to multiply the force you foot is applying to the master cylinder. Well you ask, “what happens if your mot0r isn’t making enough vacuum to properly power the system?” Hold on one second….BAD BRAKES!!!
Pictured is a mildly modified LS5 Chevelle that we upgraded with a nice brake set up from Baer and a killer suspension set up from DSE. What’s the problem??? The car has an aftermarket cam set up and the motor doesn’t make enough intake vacuum for the power brakes to perform properly. The equation is simple: fast car+poorly operating brakes = SCARY!
The solution is easy: install a Hydroboost brake system that relies on hydraulic pressure to make it work and forget about the vacuum nightmare. All we need to do is reroute the output from the power steering pump and let the new booster and the PS fluid do all the dirty work.
December 2, 2009
Wiring…..Human vs Bird
If you’re into old cars, you’ve probably seen this a thousand times –it’s a seemingly beautiful restoration with a wiring job that looks like is was done by birds. The nest has probably been built under your dash, and even the thought of working on it probably makes you slightly ill.
When we’re constructing a custom car, its important to be neat and methodical - not only for appearance sake and our own sanity, but also for the next guy that has to go in a make a repair.
One of our very talented techs likes to think of his wiring as a “river flowing into small tributaries.” He may have watched “A River Runs Through It” too many times in the 90’s, or he may be on to something. …
Check out his crafty work:
1969 Camaro cosmetic touches
We just installed this great looking core support cover on J.F.’s 1969 Camaro. This is a Detroit Speed piece that covers up the “unsightly” (just kidding) core support, horns and battery. It offers a clean new look to the compartment and really focuses the eye on the what really matters - the engine!!
Look for an update on this car when we install a Tremec TKO 500 transmission!
December 1, 2009
1976 BMW 2002
BMW aficionados love this car but if you don’t recognize it, it’s the 2002, the model that put BMW back on the map and paved the way for future high performance coupes and “M” cars. The formula: light weight chassis, disc brakes, independent suspension, rev happy engine = lots great handling and lots of fun.
This solid car came in for some tuning magic and a little help with some overheating issues. 
November 19, 2009
Plymouth Prowler Customization
As car buffs we often go in search of quick and easy modifications to perform on our cars to make them stand out a bit either in terms of performance or looks. J.K. just purchased this great looking Prowler and despite my assumptions there are very few aftermarket parts available for these cars. So, were going to start with a custom air intake and build out from that point. Also available are some neat kits to delete the giant front plastic bumpers and really kick off that street rod look.
