Home-Built Heroes: Three Very Cool Reader’s Hot Rods

Home-Built

If there is one definite upside to this job, it’s that we get to check out the cars you guys have or are building. Each week, we get images from around the world showcasing some really cool hot rods. We want to share the wealth, so we thought we would put a few of the more recent submissions together and let the rest of you take a look. So sit back, enjoy the view, and if you get the urge, don’t forget to send us a couple images and the pertinent information about your car.

Super Duece

When A.L. Richard first bought this little Nova, it was equipped with a de-stroked 454 big-block, a Turbo350 transmission, and rearend packing 4.56 gears. A.L joked that the car performed miserably, and he was the laughing stock at the local track. After discussing the situation with his friend, Tracy, they decided it was best to build a new engine, versus rebuilding the 454. The new engine is a 565 cubic-inch monster.

homebuilt

When the Nova made its first pass with the new engine, it launched to the right and had substantial body roll on the top end. The welded more bracing on the front of the car, installed new shocks, and welded subframe supports to the chassis. They then upgraded the 8-point roll bar to a 10-point unit.

Home-Built

After 14 months of working on the Nova, the car was taken to the track. It left the line and ran straight, but when A.L. shifted to Second gear, the transmission and rearend came apart. After installing a new Superglide and rearend, the car ran a 6.83-second e.t.

Z-Great Camaro

Doctor Darrell Wong started his submission by telling us, “My first car and “hot rod”, was a 1964 Chevy II Nova kindly given to me when I was 18 years old, by Uncle William.”  Darrell told us that car had two doors, a six-cylinder engine, and wide, Goodyear Polyglas GT tires, and polished aluminum wheels. In true fashion for the day, the back was jacked up with air shocks and chrome shackles. The interior had a small chrome steering wheel and custom stereo. “I loved that car, but it was stolen and stripped while I attended college at University of Southern California,” Darrell stated.

homebuilt

But, misfortune can sometimes pave the way to something positive. “That was when my father was kind enough to take me to Jack Wall Chevrolet in Pasadena, California. It was there that I ordered my 1973 Camaro, he said. The car was ordered as a Z28 with the LT and RS packages. Darrell also ordered the Muncie M20 wide-ratio transmission.  The color was dark blue (code 26), and the interior was black.

home-built

“I was very disappointed when the car arrived and didn’t have any Z28 badges or stripes. Apparently, the LT package overrode the ordered stripes. In the long run, it turned out to be Okay,” Darrell quipped. he did install Z28 badges that he later found in a salvage yard. The car has always been garage kept and has the original paint.

 

Headin’ To Malibu

Jack Jordan told us that he always wanted a ‘78-‘81 Malibu coupe ever since he saw one as a kid. After he eventually purchased a 1985 Monte Carlo form a good friend when he got his license. Under the hood, it had a stock 305 cubic-inch small-block. It wasn’t his dream car, but it was cool and got him where he needed to go.

homebuilt

“One day, I went to a friend’s shop to discuss getting a 350 small-block built and put in the Monte Carlo. He had this ‘78 Malibu sitting there, so I asked him if it was for sale. It was, and I have owned it since then,” jack stated. The Malibu has a 1970 LT1 block that has been bored .030-inch over, and he is getting ready to install a new pair of Bow Tie heads and intake.

Do you want to read about more Home-Built Heroes? All you need to do is click here. If you own a Home-Built Hero, we want to hear about it. Since we’ve started the series, we have received more than a few candidates, but we still want to see more – we can never get enough. If you want to see more cars built by you the readers, send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior, and exterior, along with all of the pertinent information, and we’ll make you Internet famous. You can send your submissions to [email protected].

About the author

Randy Bolig

Randy Bolig has been working on cars and has been involved in the hobby ever since he bought his first car when he was only 14 years old. His passion for performance got him noticed by many locals, and he began helping them modify their vehicles.
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