A few months back, I found a set of original steel wheels for my 1972 Chevrolet K10 pickup. In the time since, I had them soda blasted, welded up scar on one of them, and had them primed and painted white. Then I hunted a set of proper hubcaps for them at the Portland Swapmeet in April, and spent a week of evenings in May restoring those caps Read More
I don’t remember a whole lot of strict rules growing up, save for one: the rule of GM. The Pickering household bled Chevrolet Orange.
Sure, there were other rules that we had when I was a teenager — but they were more like guidelines. Stuff like no burnouts in the driveway, decreed by Read More
My wife can always tell when I’ve been out driving my ’66 Caprice. Unburnt hydrocarbons waft around that thing and stick to my clothes like high-performance perfume, thanks to a high-lift long-duration cam and big carburetor. I kind of like it, but I’m sure the people sitting behind me at traffic lights don’t.
Want to give the father in your life a Father’s Day he won’t forget? Then you need to give him what he really wants. Not sure what that is? Well, if he’s anything like me, the answer is always horsepower. With that in mind, here are a few gifts he’s sure to love:
A Charger Read More
Old cars offer an un-ending supply of small problems to solve. Figuring out creative solutions — especially for the serious head-scratchers — is one of my favorite things about classic car ownership. Here’s a project I’m working on right now.
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If you drive an old car on a regular basis, you’ve likely had to come to terms with the fact that it’s just harder to use than a modern car. Brakes, lights, wipers, and suspension systems just weren’t as good 40 years ago, right? Right. But that’s not the whole story. The age of the parts — and how much they’ve worn — is a big factor in how your car drives.
Full frame-off restored cars tend to have all-new Read More
Last week, ACC Auctions Editor Tony Piff and I hopped a flight to Detroit. While we were there, we visited with longtime ACCer Ken Lingenfelter and checked up on our old 1964 Nova wagon, which sits prominently in one of the rooms of his massive car collection.
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I love swapmeets. All it takes is a little time and a little walking to find just about anything you’re looking for at a bargain-basement price. And even if you don’t know what you’re looking for, chances are you’ll end up buying something anyway.
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Buying an engine is a lot like buying a whole collector car: it’s almost always cheaper to buy one already done. But you never really know what problems might pop up on a project you didn’t complete yourself.
About five years ago, I tore the 350 out of my Chevy truck and took it apart. The truck was new to me, and the engine had a bunch of little problems at the time, including a leaky carburetor, a chug at Read More
My three-year-old daughter Katie grabbed my ears and pointed my head at the car she wanted to see. We were at the 59th Annual Portland Roadster Show this past weekend. The long-running show brings in a couple-hundred cool cars from all over the U.S. and Canada. I’ve been going for years — it’s one of the events that got me hooked on cars in the first Read More