Join us on Saturday, April 16, 2022 for a swap meet, open house, car show, and more at the V8 Speed and Resto Shop! We’ll have tons of parts for sale, both new and vintage, for a variety of classics and muscle cars. We’ll be giving shop tours, and we invite everyone to bring your cool car, truck, or bike and hang out with us. It starts at 8:00 AM, with lunch available from the Bulldog Wrestling Team. We’ll also have tickets for the Drive In Cruise, V8 Tee Shirts, and much more, so come join us!
From the V8 Archives… the build series blogs from 1997 covering the complete restoration of the 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle known as the “SS496!” This was a great car, complete with a custom 496 stroker big-block Chevy, Global West suspension, Vintage Wheels Works rollers, Hydratech boosted Baer brakes, Magnaflow exhaust, and a whole host of restoration parts from YearOne and OPGI.
We performed a complete restoration on this car from start to finish, pulling the body off the frame, replacing the floor, quarter panels, and performing other major rust repair. Fast Times Motorworks built the custom big-block Chevy engine, which sent over 550 horsepower through a turbo 400 transmission and a 3.73:1 geared 12-bolt posi rear end. Our team completed the bodywork, paint, and assembly to make this Butternut Yellow pro-touring Chevelle a standout.
But more fun was that this was one of the first cars built by the V8 Speed crew, and these videos were from a time when very few were shooting and posting blog videos about cars. The blogs take us all the way to the SEMA show, and culminate with a feature video on the car when complete. The video resolution is only 480P, but if the car still looks awesome today!
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 1 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 1 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 2 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007! V8TV-Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 3 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV-Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 4 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV-Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 5 – Deadline: SEMA, V8TV-Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 6 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV-Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 7 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV-Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 8 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV-Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 9 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV-Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 11 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV-Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 10 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV-Video
1969 Chevelle SS496 Blog Part 13 – Deadline: SEMA, 2007 V8TV-Video
Known as “The Grand Daddy Of Them All”, the Grand National Roadster Show is a must-attend event for anyone into Hot Rods, Kustoms, Lowriders, VWs, Muscle, Kulture, and more. This year they celebrated the 90th anniversary of the 1932 Ford roadster, and there were Deuce roadsters of all flavors on hand to check out and enjoy. Recognizable standouts include the 1951 Hirohata Merc, which recently crossed the Mecum auction block for over $2 Million with the juice. Another favorite is the “Limefire” 1932 Ford Roadster, which graced the pages of Hot Rod Magazine and thousands of walls in poster form back in the 1980s. Numerous awards are presented at the event, but the two most prestigeous include the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) award, and the Al Slonaker Memorial Award. This year, the blue 1934 Chevrolet Roadster owned by Jeff Breault and built by Devlin Rod & Customs took home the AMBR, and the amazing 1932 Ford Coupe owned by Pat Gauntt and built by Hollywood Hot Rods won the Slonaker, sponsored by ARP. The 2022 GNRS did not disappoint, and we recommend booking your visit to Pomona, California, for the 2023 show!
Mike “Q Ball” Clarke and Kevin Oeste bring you the latest episode of the V8 Radio Podcast right from the 2021 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals show floor! They are overwhelmed with all the amazing muscle cars on display at MCACN, and also to see so many great friends over the weekend. They were also shooting video coverage for the Muscle Car of The Week and V8TV video channels, and Kevin was unveiling Premiere Restorations as the Official Emcee of the event. The cars were amazing, and the legendary Hirohata Mercury even made a surprise appearance. Even so, the guys were able to drum up some automotive trivia as they recorded this from the Mecum Auctions display.
This 1961 Ford Starliner owned by George Poteet was a huge hit at the 2021 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals MCACN Show in Chicago. Here, restorer Zach Straits is interviewed by Kevin Oeste of V8TV.
Here’s the complete restoration story as told by interviewee Zach Straits:
“The Poteet Starliner – A Restoration Story.
This 1961 Starliner Z code FE 390/300 3 speed overdrive started life in California then to North Dakota and for the last 15 years in Mississippi as a part of the George Poteet collection. With only 61k miles this rust free Starliner was a real pleasure to restore for George. The intent was to over restore beyond factory original concentrating panel gaps, flat panels and a high-end finish but maintaining the stock appearance void of a few trim pieces. The chrome, aluminum and stainless trim re-installed on the original Cambridge Blue metallic paint begged to be perfect. That’s where the restoration started. All pieces except for a few stainless trim pieces was taken to Jon Wright’s Custom Chrome in Grafton, Ohio for a show chrome finish even on the aluminum parts. The car was completely disassembled bagged and tagged and after the undercarriage was dustless blasted the body and suspension parts were taken locally to Devils Bowl Autobody.
All agree Starliners have great lines but the eight-foot quarter panels, huge hood and trunk and all the sheet metal came from the factory a little wavy. Brad at Devil’s Bowl spent over 1,089 hours hand sanding and flattening every panel inside and out. Hours were spent on the panel gaps and getting the signature tail light surrounds and fin caps to fit perfectly. Axalta finishes were applied and wet sanded and buffed then after complete assembly Max from MX Autocare completed a final paint correction getting the surfaces perfect.
The original 390 FE engine was sent to Jeff Burns Racing Engines in Tupelo where with the help of Alan Hutcheson “Hutch”, the caretaker of the Poteet Car Farm Collection, did a complete rebuilt dyno-ed exactly at 300HP. The original 4 barrel carb was sent to ford expert and historian Don Brown for a complete factor finish and working order restoration. The original 3 speed overdrive was rebuilt by transmission experts Earl McCary and Richard Miller of Staunton, Va. Alan Completed the rebuild of the original 3:50 gear 3rd member. Hutch also sourced the many crates of restoration parts.
The frame was powder coated by Power Coating Solutions and all the suspension parts were body worked and shot with industrial single stage paint by Devil’s Bowl. 1957 Ford body mounts were lightly modified and the body was set back on the frame with the help of John and Kay at Classic Motorsports.
The interior seat insert fabric on any blue Galaxie is tough to get a good match to the SMS door panels so we used door panel vinyl on the get the correct match. George Folks of Waynesboro Upholstery did an excellent job making and installing the seat covers and installing the headliner before the glass installation. The original back package tray was taken to “Hemi” Eddie Strzelecki Jr. for the first fiberglass reproduction for a 1961 Starliner.
All new glass was purchased from Auto City Classic and installed by Augusta Glass. The stainless trim down the side and around the glass was polished by local professional polisher Stewart Peters.
This restoration would not have been possible without the help of a lot of friends. Especially Scott Balsley who partnered with me for a combined 1,217 hours of restoration time.”
The V8 Radio Podcast has been rebuilt with an all-new RSS feed to provide a better listening experience for all our loyal listeners. The transition should be seamless for subscribers, no matter what platform is the preferred podcast source. However, we ask that listeners review their subscription to make sure the latest episodes appear in their feed. If the last episode you see is the crowd shot image with the episode title “Coverage of the 2021 SEMA Show, Hydrogen Powered Hot Rods, Automotive Trivia, and More on the V8 Radio Podcast!”, then you’re on the old feed. Buzz over to https://www.v8radio.com and pick a service to subscribe from and you’ll be all up-to-date! Thanks for listening, and we’ve got much more to come from the V8 Radio Podcast!