I've been pretty quiet about it, but this past Saturday

I’ve been pretty quiet about it, but this past Saturday I finally got my hands on a second-gen Camaro and you’re getting the first look at our newest project. I couldn't be happier; it's pretty clean and has a lot of potential. Rust is minimal, mostly on the lower passenger side fender, but other than that it drives and sounds great.

Now if you’re wondering what I have planned for it, let’s just say it'll be clean, but no show car. It’ll have a fairly stout small-block, but it won’t be a drag car. Instead, expect to see something that can do a little of everything, including Open Track events. More importantly, it’s going to be a true daily driver, which will require it to have excellent street manners, deal with 100+ Valley temperatures during the brutal summer months, and be able to idle through the horrendous stop-and-go LA traffic.

For the time being, I’m waiting on the title to register and insure it, but here’s where I could use your input. Now that you know where we want to take our project, lets see some of your ideas on the direction we should go. Also, we need a project name for our newcomer; so post your thoughts and potential names here or e-mail me at chevyhi@sourceinterlink.com. The lucky winner will receive a CHP jacket and believe me when I say that these are hard to come by, even for us!

Have high gas prices made you tighten your belt?

I could be wrong here, but I'm guessing we've all had to change our habits or give something up because of current gas prices, which are running as high as $3.83 for the "cheap" stuff here in LA, according to www.gasbuddy.com. Me? So far, I've traded in my usual stroll through Starbucks for a pit stop at 7-11. I may not get chocolate and whipped cream in my coffee, but a good cup of joe and a couple of breakfast bars are less than half the price of a grande mocha and a piece of cinnamon coffee cake. Of course, I'm also trading a room full of college girls for one that's full of construction workers--but harsh times require harsh measures.

I'm sure I'll be tightening my belt much more in the months to come, but tell me: How have you felt the squeeze, and what have you done to adapt?

JN

Four Banger Camaro? 

There has been alot of talks about the new Carmaro these days, Well the most recent talks have said that the new Camaro witll be a 2.0 Liter turbo. The same engine that is in the Chevy HHR SS. Also rumors are that it will be priced higher than the Mustang. GM sees the Camaro as a higher end offering. The Camaro will have much better interior and better IRS than the Mustang.

What do you guys think about the latest news on the Camaro? Lets hear it?

Summer sun and tons of fun

It's getting to be that time of year again, where sun comes out, and the weather is over 40 degrees. It also means its time to open the garge and clean off the car for show season. That's right, it's warming up so all the fun car shows that we all love to attend are coming up really soon. There are 3 or 4 of them in So cal in the next month or so. Its busy busy busy. I know i get excited for this time of year, to go walk around the car shows and just have a great time with the family.


So lets hear it, what shows are you guys looking forward to this summer, Anything in particular or just shows in general. Are you taking a car or just going to walk around?

Imagine if we all had a little black box...

So i was browsing around and came across this pretty cool gadget. For not it is only available in Japan and for Hondas but I think they should develop this for all makes and models. Its a black box like they have in aircrafts that record accidents. It records audio and video 12 seconds prior to an accident and 8 seconds after. Its a way to prevent people trying to point the finger in an accident. It all get stored onto a SD memory card that can eaisly be transferred to your computer. (jalopnik.com)

What do you guys think? Do you think its something that should be developed and brought over here?


Lets Hear It!

I've always wanted an event for Chevy High Performance. 

I've always wanted an event for Chevy High Performance. Matter of fact, several of our sister publications have successfully created viable events, which have churned out incredible street machines that we may have never seen or heard of otherwise.

I should note that I've gone into details in our upcoming June '08 editorial, so I'll just pose this question for all of you. What kind of CHP event would you participate in? Would you prefer open-tracking or would it be an all out drag race? Maybe a combination of the two? That said, what about location?

Any thoughts? I'm definitely listening!

H

It's that time of the year again

It’s that time of the year again and if you happen to be stuck indoors because of the weather; we’re willing to bet you’re already scheming new projects or combinations for the New Year. Will it be a new engine, fresh wheels, or a paint job? Share your updates here and while you’re at it, don’t forget to upload your street/strip machines onto our Reader's Rides section.
H 

Wally Parks Tribute

This weekend was a great one. There is nothing better than a cold beer and a day at the races. It was the NHRA drag races finals in Pomona this year. It was a great time but one thing really stood out. Throughout the day during the final eliminations they were bringing cars out from the NHRA museum and lining them up down the outside of the track. At first i didn't know what was going on but I then realized what was going on. They were going to do a tribute to the late Wally Parks. They started pulling cars out from early drag racing days to the most modern cars such as a top fuel dragster and a funny car. They had introduce all these cars and gave a breif history about them as well. When the announcer had finished his introduction of the cars the greatest thing happened. They Fired up all of the cars that they had brought out. It was a great sound, hearing all of the engines roar and them reving it up. It was a great tribute to Wally Parks. Im just glad i was there to see it and be a part of.

Here are a few photos from the tribute:

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r119/Lewdogg13/DSC01191.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r119/Lewdogg13/DSC01190.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r119/Lewdogg13/DSC01189.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r119/Lewdogg13/DSC01188.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r119/Lewdogg13/DSC01186.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r119/Lewdogg13/DSC01185.jpg

Project X!

Do you all remember the Project X car? That Yellow Chevy that's been built and re built over and over again? Well there at it again and it's supposed to be the best one yet. Well they are revealing it on October 30th at SEMA this year.  It is the first time its going to be seen by the public and everyone is pretty excited about it.

If you want to be the first to see the Project X then all you have to do is go to GMperformanceparts.com at 9:00 PM EST and 6:00 PM PST and check it out. There will be up to the minute coverage of the big reveal!


I can't wait, I am pretty excited. What do you guys think!

Well about 2 weeks ago I went on a little vacation, I had gone to NYC for the first time in my life. I really didn't know what to expect except for what a I saw on movies, but we all know what is in the movies is not always the case. I have never been on a subway either up until this trip. I always thought how much of a mess and confusing it had to be to catch the right train or bus and what have you. Much to my suprise that was not the case at all. It was easy to maneuver my way around the subways of New York, and if I did have a question the New Yorkers we glad to help.

While on one of my many subway rides I thought to myself how great it would be if the same system was used here in Southern California. I mean I know Los Angeles already has there little metro system but come on, All of So Cal suffers from horrible traffic. I think some sort of subway system throughout California would be great, of course I don't know how possible it would be but hey.. a guy can dream can't he?

What do you guys think?

Ice..... Yea, It's Cool.

So not to long ago( well its actually been a few months, but hey who's counting?) I had recieved a box of the new Ice, by Turtle Wax. Turtle Wax is claming that Ice "is the only clear polish that wipes off in one easy step". So to test the theory I decided to go out side and get my hands dirty and wash up my ride. Which in this case happens to be a lifted chevy truck. I washed and dried my truck and it looked pretty good.


Its about time i break out the Ice and see what this stuffs really made of. I decide to try out the liquid polish. It seems pretty easy to use. I put it on, rub it off... all that good stuff and my truck looks great. I actually didnt have my camera handy. I left it at the office unfortunatly. It did come out great though and I definitely recommend this product! So go out there and get your cars clean with Ice bye Turtle Wax!

New Corvette... Maybe?

There have been a few spy shots going around the net these days... it seems pretty interesting. Jalopnik obtained some photos of the new vette...

Check it out and let us know what you think!


http://jalopnik.com/cars/spy-photos/spy-photos-i-am-the-corvette-ss-powertrain-mule-238647.php

New Chevy In The Works?

So as I was browsing my numerous automotive news sites as I usually do when I first come into the office I came across this little tidbit of information, well more so a Sign that could be a possible hint... Thanks to Jalopnik for The picture that goes along with this little blog, take a look at it... does this mean Chevy is in the works of a Bel Air? A New one maybe? Or there gonna bring back the cool fin... OR they just wanna tease us....


What do you guys think?

Happy Birthday AutoBahn...

So today as I was doing my daily internet surfing I came across an interesting Factoid. It is the 75 year of the autobahn, that's right. The Autobahn turned 75! As i read the little article to coincide with the headline I had read I thought to myself, One day I would love to go to the autobahn and just drive my little heart out. I am sure most of you feel the same way as most of us are performance and speed junkies. How great would it be to take a new Camaro or our high perforemance cars that we have built and see what they can really handle, Not on a quarter mile but on a whole stretch of freeway! I know I would one day love to go there and just drive with no limits and see how it went.

How about you? Have any of you ever been there and driven on the famed autobahn?

GM Advertising... IN A MOVIE!

Alright so as many of you know the Transformers movie came out recently and is pretty much the coolest flick in a long time. I mean come on, what's cooler than transforming GM cars that save the world? I mean what's cooler than seeing the new Camaro thats not even out yet transform into a mean lean yellow fighting maching? Imagine taking that car to the drag strip? I think the car would rather shoot the oponents car rather than race it.... Ok back to where i was really headed, I lost track a bit there. GM came out HUGE with Transformers, If thats not the best advertising idea I really don't know what is. It couldn't have come at a better time, GM needs the sales and I know seeing the new camaro and a couple of those other cars sure sparked my interest(not that my interest wasn't sparked already) That movie helped alot of the GM models such as Pontiac, Hummer and Chevy of course. So lets just hope things are on the up and up for GM.

Come on people... You know that when you look at a VIN plate you don't always know what it means. It just looks like a bunch of numbers... Well check this out!

Well the web guy from Popular Hot Rodding Magazine and I were talking the other day( we share a cube, so its inevitable that we talk) and he told me about this cool site. It's for those of you like me who don't always know what your VIN means. I know when I look at my VIN, I just kind of stare at wondering what all the numbers are. It looks more like a Soduku Puzzle rather than a form of identification for vehicles. So check out this site and see what was original on your car when it was originally produced!


http://www.decodethis.com/

One crazy weekend...

And this is how it began. I t all started Friday night when a few friends of mine talked me into driving out to Arizona to visit for the weekend and go to a concert there. I really didn,t take much convincing now that I think about it but non the less, convince me is what they did.  So i went to be early to prepare for the 5 PI  hour drive that awaited me the morning that followed. 4:00 AM rolls around and I finally head out on my quest for Arizona. I hope in my little Hyundai Elantra, to save me gas rather than driving a V8 Silverado with mud tires, And head on my merry way. Nothing but me, My car, and my Ipod on the open road. Well I am now about 3 hours into my drive and the sun is starting to come up, Its peaking over the mountain and shining in my eyes. I suddenly see something in the road and swerve to miss what ever it may be and my tires run over some dirt on the shoulder area. I try to correct it and pull it back onto the highway, but I over correct and lose control. My car spins out across the highway and I roll off the side. Not once, twice or three times but four times! I can still hear the sounds around me, I tell ya, that was one heck of a ride. Once I finally stop rolling I realize I landed topside which is a good thing but I see the engine smoking. I unhook my seatbelt and climb out the driver side window. I take one look at the car and realize I shouldn,t have been able to climb out. I check myself for scratches and I find one on my left arm that looks more like a carpet burn. Luckily a couple truck drivers stopped and made sure everything was fine, thank God they did, my cell phone was thrown from the car during one of my acrobatic rolls. Well after all the police reports, insurance claims and towing expenses I finally got to go home and rest. The moral of this story is always wear your seatbelt. I usually am partial to it, I am not one to always put it on, weather I,m a passenger or the driver. I know it,s annoying to hear at time and it gets in the way. But I do have to say, the seatbelt is what saved my life. So buckle up out there and be safe.

Sitting at home on a beautiful Southern California Afternoon?

Is there nothing good to watch on that 60" High Def T.V of yours? Well then why dont you head out to Fontana's California Speedway! This weekend is the PSCA's 2007 Spring Break Fastest Streetcar Shootout! It's going to be a fun weekend full of Fast Cars, Good Food and Great Weather. If you do happen to come out, Im sure I will run into some of you!

Check Out The Website!

www.pscaracing.com

All Night Thrashin'

Building and toying with cars is fun and depending on the level you want to participate, man this stuff can quickly drain your pockets. Fortunately for me, I'm not married, and what little resources I have left over after the bills - gets thrown to my personal pleasures. Lately, we've been scrambling to get our project going and what a valiant effort its been. No, I didn't buy the Nova pictured here, but if it looks familiar to you, that's because it belongs to a close friend of mine, Artis Houston, who also happened to be on the January '06 cover. Actually, it was after the cover shoot that we formulated a newfound friendship and have since teamed up for a whole new adventure.

As most of you already know, and for those who don't, I'm in the middle of building a '91 Camaro with the sole purpose of drag radial competition. Matter of fact it's currently residing at Chris Alston's Chassiworks in Sacramento, California, getting all new suspension and being outfitted with a 25.2 spec'd roll cage. Until the car is complete, our plan was to run my 598ci big-block mill in Artis' ride. Seems easy enough, right? Let me tell ya, its already been a monumental journey, where its included half a dozen people to keep the momentum going. I'll admit, we've ran into a few snags here and there, but like any project, it's an unavoidable monster that's always bound to rear its ugly head at any given moment.

This is where teamwork counts and be it the dead of the night or middle of the week these guys don't stop. While I'll leave the dissertation for a later date, I have to give credit where credit is due. Our engine builder John Fields is nothing short of amazing and has put in an unbelievable number of hours to ensure we reach our goals. I also need to extend the big thumbs up to Artis, Lonnie, Mike, Chuck, Robert, and Mark. These guys are relentless and never seem to put time into the equation; rather, they relate everything to what needs to be done and to me that's pure dedication.

As for our current status: we're really close to hitting the track. We ran into a minor snafu last weekend, causing us to miss the final race of the season. However, we're only two weeks away from the Street Car Super Nat's event in Las Vegas. Will we make it? Only time will tell, but one thing's for certain; everyone involved will be thrashing to get there. Wish us luck!
-Henry D