Holy sheepshit, it works...
After months upon months of work, hundreds of dollars in scrapyard and eBay parts bought, rebuilt and crammed-in ala-Junkyard Wars, and almost thirty pounds of salted sunflower seeds,
The chassis and body are that of a 1956 Pontiac Tempest Custom, originally red (before it needed paint again.) The motor came out of a 1969 Pontiac G.T.O., but has also been the recipient of a total tear-down and rebuild job. The tires and whweels are obviously aftermarket, since the original tires are no longer made out of rubber, but some kind of dry-rotted, crusty fuzz on a steel belt.
The interior is a custom job, not by my choice, but out of necessity, and lack of availability of mail-order or scrapyard parts to replace it with.
The car's name?
Phoenix.
This vehicle has been dubbed Phoenix for a number of reasons.
First of all, my specific car has been through a number of accidents, floods, and an interior fire, an engine fire, and God-knows-what-else. Mainly, the fire.
Second of all, the previous owner tried to convert Phoenix into a race-car, but fell short and scrapped the project when he found that 5.4 liters is only 326 cubic inches, which isn't really a race-worthy motor.
So unwanted and unfinished, this vehicle sat on a street-corner for close to a year with a sky-high asking price, dropping by a few dollars every week or so.
By the time I got to her, she was down to $2200, asking price.
Much longer and she'd have gone to some irresponsible little prick looking for a cheap, noisy ride to terrorize Illinois in.
Rust and decay were the obvious signs of her age, this year reaching 41 years. She looked as rough as she ran, and it took almost a year afterI bought her before the tools and space freed-up for me to replace her motor.
With a new powerplant producing right around 400 horsepower and close to 475 foot-pounds of torque, Phoenix was no longer a sickly, bogged-down tank.
With some insulation and carpet, Phoenix became a real pasenger car.
And with a seat, Phoenix became a target for rodents.
The solution?
Mothballs.
So my baby reeks of napthalene, but hopefully, she'll be sealed-up good enough that I don't need the mothballs to keep the mice and chipmunks out.
And now, the pictures.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/phelan/bond-o.jpg
This is the rebuiltquarter, using some body-filler and a piece of vinyl siding to rebuild old, cancerous sheet-metal.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/phelan/tempest013.jpg
This is Olga Kissoff, my unofficial hood-ornament/figurehead.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/phelan/tempest018.jpg
Phoenix' new stance lends her to a very, very intimidating appearance. She could make a Honda Civic shit itself now.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/phelan/tempest014.jpg
Home-made upholstery. I'm no pro, but I think that I did a pretty good job rebuilding and recoating the seat, even if it is urban-camouflage denim.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/phelan/bigassmotor01.jpg
And finally, the powerplant:
(those of you afraid of numbers and gearhead talk should skip this list)
Make/Model-Pontiac H-O 400 V8
Displacement- 399.9CID (6.7 litres)
Compression- 9.2:1
Piston type- std. bore, Federal Mogul (c) forged aluminum w/forged steel H-beam rods
Fuel system- Edelbrock (c) 550CFM 4bbl, single carburettor
Transmission- Powerglide (c) 2spd. auto
Rear axle- 3.08:1 1.5-way LSD
Exhaust- Hooker (c) semi-tuned performance exhaust headers, attached to Raptor(c) NASCAR-engineered performance mufflers, side-exit configuration.
Right now, she's no show-car, but she's my baby.
The chassis and body are that of a 1956 Pontiac Tempest Custom, originally red (before it needed paint again.) The motor came out of a 1969 Pontiac G.T.O., but has also been the recipient of a total tear-down and rebuild job. The tires and whweels are obviously aftermarket, since the original tires are no longer made out of rubber, but some kind of dry-rotted, crusty fuzz on a steel belt.
The interior is a custom job, not by my choice, but out of necessity, and lack of availability of mail-order or scrapyard parts to replace it with.
The car's name?
Phoenix.
This vehicle has been dubbed Phoenix for a number of reasons.
First of all, my specific car has been through a number of accidents, floods, and an interior fire, an engine fire, and God-knows-what-else. Mainly, the fire.
Second of all, the previous owner tried to convert Phoenix into a race-car, but fell short and scrapped the project when he found that 5.4 liters is only 326 cubic inches, which isn't really a race-worthy motor.
So unwanted and unfinished, this vehicle sat on a street-corner for close to a year with a sky-high asking price, dropping by a few dollars every week or so.
By the time I got to her, she was down to $2200, asking price.
Much longer and she'd have gone to some irresponsible little prick looking for a cheap, noisy ride to terrorize Illinois in.
Rust and decay were the obvious signs of her age, this year reaching 41 years. She looked as rough as she ran, and it took almost a year afterI bought her before the tools and space freed-up for me to replace her motor.
With a new powerplant producing right around 400 horsepower and close to 475 foot-pounds of torque, Phoenix was no longer a sickly, bogged-down tank.
With some insulation and carpet, Phoenix became a real pasenger car.
And with a seat, Phoenix became a target for rodents.
The solution?
Mothballs.
So my baby reeks of napthalene, but hopefully, she'll be sealed-up good enough that I don't need the mothballs to keep the mice and chipmunks out.
And now, the pictures.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/phelan/bond-o.jpg
This is the rebuiltquarter, using some body-filler and a piece of vinyl siding to rebuild old, cancerous sheet-metal.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/phelan/tempest013.jpg
This is Olga Kissoff, my unofficial hood-ornament/figurehead.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/phelan/tempest018.jpg
Phoenix' new stance lends her to a very, very intimidating appearance. She could make a Honda Civic shit itself now.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/phelan/tempest014.jpg
Home-made upholstery. I'm no pro, but I think that I did a pretty good job rebuilding and recoating the seat, even if it is urban-camouflage denim.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/phelan/bigassmotor01.jpg
And finally, the powerplant:
(those of you afraid of numbers and gearhead talk should skip this list)
Make/Model-Pontiac H-O 400 V8
Displacement- 399.9CID (6.7 litres)
Compression- 9.2:1
Piston type- std. bore, Federal Mogul (c) forged aluminum w/forged steel H-beam rods
Fuel system- Edelbrock (c) 550CFM 4bbl, single carburettor
Transmission- Powerglide (c) 2spd. auto
Rear axle- 3.08:1 1.5-way LSD
Exhaust- Hooker (c) semi-tuned performance exhaust headers, attached to Raptor(c) NASCAR-engineered performance mufflers, side-exit configuration.
Right now, she's no show-car, but she's my baby.