With only a final sanding left on the five window truck cab the color will be put on this week. They style of these Chevrolet Advance Design trucks, which ran from 1947 through 1955, are among the most popular for Chevy enthusiasts and it is great to see another one saved.
Running this Shelby GT500 Super Snake first on 91 octane pump gas and then on 98 octane Sunoco racing fuel confirmed what we saw two weeks ago with the GT350 that these cars will greatly benefit from higher octane fuels. The Super Snake saw an increase of 46 hp giving it around 740 gross horsepower.
Fifty years after the original Shelby GT350 a new one is now available in dealerships. Ford rates this 2016 Shelby GT350 at 526 hp but it wasn’t until we drained out the premium pump gas and put 98 octane Sunoco race fuel through it that we were able to see those numbers. To our surprise switching fuels netted a gain of 25.5 horsepower with this car.
Thanks to LMC Truck for sending us these big beautiful boxes of panels to fix the 1952 Chevrolet truck project. After unpacking it looks like the panels fit as well as if they were made by the factory.
You may have already seen the 1955 International Metro around Iowa State the last two weeks and if this food truck Makes You Wanna some Macubana then you can find it on the Iowa State campus and around the Ames area throughout the week.
Jensen used Chrysler V8 engines for the Interceptor with a 4-barrel carburetor 440 c.i. engine they produced 305 hp SAE net. Mated to an automatic transmission this car was a true GT that could cross continents effortlessly.
This International Metro went from a smashed up rust bucket when it arrived to a classic looking food truck with modern amenities. Running on propane and electricity from a generator this truck also includes a digitally controlled hood fan system and full Ansul fire protection system.
We have had the DynoJet for just shy of a year now and by the end of the year it will have seen a fair share of interesting makes and models. The DynoJet is great for much more than just finding out how much power or torque a car makes. You can analyze the fuel to air mixture, ignition condition, finding leaks, engine break-in, and even aero dynamic effects on gearing.
With the fab shop shut down for the holiday it is a good time to share a glimpse of what we are doing in there. Media blasting, powder coating, metal forming, and welding all happen in this room. We stock around fifty colors of powder and will do from a single part for a walk-in customer to supply production parts for machine shops and manufacturers.
Trucks like this C30 with grain bed used to a common sight in Iowa. Most were completely used up and very few would ever be restored to this level. Another forgotten sight is back on the road with this low mileage example farm truck.
This Chrysler 440 cu.in. V8 powered British classic is ready to prowl once again. Only 267 convertible Jensen Interceptors were made making these cars a rare site at any show.
With new door panels, tires and fresh paint the Pontiac now looks as great as it runs. Chieftains were one of the first all new car designs to come to Pontiac after World War II and were built from in various styles from 1949 to 1958.
One has to wonder if an International Metro has ever been on a dyno before. The old Silver Diamond 220 doesn’t make much horsepower but it has plenty of torque.
Now that the Pontiac is running and mechanically sorted we are stripping it down to be painted. The interior will be left mostly original as it is in remarkable shape but new door panels will replace the originals.
It was just one of those days we had vans running around all over. All four of these beauties run and drive and it is a lot of fun to see this many of them together now sixty years after they were built!
The International Harvester Metro food truck is coming along at a quick pace now. The interior walls are almost finished and the last of the exterior accents are being painted. Starting as a wrecked rusted mess this van has come a long way and is almost ready for service again.
The new suspension and brakes are fitted and adjusted. Now with disc brakes and a power brake booster this car is safer on the street and has the power to stop all of this iron and glass.
This Chevrolet chassis 1955 Grumman Olson step van arrived last night and is not allocated to a project. This van would make a great shop truck, food truck, or merch wagon for your business and if you are interested in building a unique marketing vehicle for your company send us a message. The Grumman Olson is made of aluminum so there are never the rust issues you will see with other vans and have a much larger interior and more head room making it a better usable space for those wanting to pack in a lot of equipment.
It has been a while since we had a Cobra in the shop. It was great to get our hands on this one for a corner balance and check of the suspension setups. Being the 68th car built by Shelby in Las Vegas it has all of the vintage parts you would want in your Cobra.
To clear the SN95 Mustang rear wheels attached to the new 9″ Ford rear end we added subtle flares and enlarged the rear wheel well. With four racing seats, a cage and harness bars for both rows the whole family can join in on the fun!
