But like a Volkswagen diesel’s emissions standards, the ’55 wasn’t absolutely what it seemed. “I anticipate I alone collection the car alert afore chief it bare work,” he admits. A appointment with Jason Walroth at Gearhead Garage in Sacramento, California, yielded the afterward bold plan.
The physique came off the aboriginal anatomy and went aback on one of Art Morrison’s MaxG chassis. For those not accustomed with the MaxG, it’s a accurate mandrel-bent (as in a arbor central the tube to advance the shape) anatomy with the company’s authentication foreground abeyance and a four-link with Panhard rod out back. This one sports Strange Engineering coilover dampers and antiroll confined foreground and rear.
The absolution for such a anatomy in fact came with the car – a 454 block abounding with a Callies alternating accumulation that pumped the displacement to 468 cubic inches. The Gearhead aggregation reassembled it for acceptable measure, buttoning it aback up with a COMP hydraulic roller cam and the company’s rockers in a brace of Edelbrock Victor Jr. heads. Those abrasion a set of PML rocker covers. A Vintage Air Foreground Runner houses one of the company’s compressors a part of added things. Plans at the time dictated a carburetor on a accepted manifold, which the engine got, but added on that later.
Due to the avant-garde agreement of the MaxG anatomy a custom bankrupt bare to be bogus so the 210 was beatific off to SPD Bankrupt in adjacent Rancho Cordova. They bogus the absolute bankrupt arrangement from the 2-inch primary headers to the 2 1/2-inch tips. Between the two are an X-pipe and MagnaFlow mufflers.
A Quick Time scattershield and a Ram clamp brace the engine to a Tremec TKO 600 five-speed transmission. A Driveline Specialties aluminum driveshaft directs ability to a 3.73:1 screw. A limited-slip carrier transmits the torque to 31-spline axleshafts.
A Hydratech Braking Systems hydroboost multiplies leg force to a Wilwood adept cylinder. The 15x8 and 15x12 American Rebel Sprint-style auto at already reflect history and Haley’s hot rod interests, and their big anchor vents action the casual blink at the Wilwood calipers and 12.19-inch rotors. Those auto abrasion BFGoodrich hides, 215/60 foreground and 325/50 g-Force annoyance radials rear.
As any racer will attest, money adored on adorned bodywork can be bigger spent traveling faster. This car’s physique charcoal appealing abundant stock; the alone cogent change getting a covering of PPG’s adaptation of Viper Red and Graphite Gray activated by Stewart Customs and Collision. Mert Perkins mini-tubbed the rear wells to board the bigger hides. Legendary chrome boutique Sherm’s Plating adequate the trim and bumpers but not afore the Gearhead aggregation addled the foreground one. Auto City Classic Bottle cut the brave bottle for the occasion, and Eddie Motorsports awning hinges add some appetizing adornment to the engine bay.
The anatomy may be the better change, but the autogenous wins the accolade for the a lot of elaborate. Perkins absolutely adapted the floors rather than body risers to board the Pontiac GTO foreground seats. An ididit cavalcade boasts a Budnik Stratos wheel. A Dakota Digital VHX array replaces the banal accumulation and a Vintage Air altitude ascendancy arrangement lives abaft a lower dashpanel of Haley’s design. In-house trimmer Shawn Katt bogus the autogenous panels, including enclosures for the ARC Audio system, afore cladding aggregate in gray covering and square-weave carpet.
“Steve’s a abundant guy to plan with,” Walroth reveals. “He owns a apparatus boutique that makes medical hardware, and he fabricated a agglomeration of being in the car.” A part of those items are the about-face batten and bassinet and the adornment on the rear amalgamation tray. “He aswell fabricated the array box, and it’s a abashment that you can’t see it,” Walroth laments.
Remember the affair about the carburetor and accepted manifold? “Steve ultimately capital to run bang on the car,” Walroth continues. “He had us do things like run the acknowledgment band and get a (Rick’s) catchbasin set up for injection. But we had to adapt the firewall to fit the stacks, which he didn’t wish us to do at the time.” So afterwards the car accomplished the end of the line, the Gearhead aggregation yarded out the engine and cut aback into the car. “Mert had to alcove the firewall, which meant that Silver Sport clamp adept butt bureaucracy wouldn’t fit.” The solution: arise it to the council column. “We aswell had to adapt the electric wiper about-face because the alcove was appropriate in the way.” The bang is addition section from the hot rod world: a Hilborn. This one allowable by a Holley Dominator ECU that aswell controls the atom curve. Haley contributed to the activity already afresh by machining assemblage filters.
It’s absurd to alarm any car absolutely done — abundant beneath absolute — but it’s appealing safe to say Steve Haley came appealing abuse abutting to architecture the ideal comfortable, hot car. At the actual least, it’s safe to accept he won’t be trading this one off any time soon.
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