By Ron Covell Photography by THE AUTHOR

e’ve covered MIG welding, which for many years has been the most widely used process for both amateur and professional car builders. Since MIG welds are strong and fast, and the learning curve is easy to master, why would you consider anything else? That’s exactly what we’ll cover in the basics of TIG welding.

Having more control over each parameter of the welding process also makes it easier to get the dime-on-dime look that many builders prize. It can also help with getting sufficient penetration in challenging situations, and to tailor the welding arc to make it ideal for any weld joint configuration and for a broad range of material thicknesses.

t’s no secret that one of the keys to seeing your name engraved on the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) trophy is to build a car with meticulous attention to detail. In the case of Jeff Breault’s 2022 AMBR winner “Lucille,” the phrase “attention to detail” doesn’t begin to describe the effort put into the construction of this ’34 Chevy roadster.

Breault has been a lifelong GM guy and the idea of building this roadster has been with him for years. He describes his vision as “A car that combines the look, feel, and attitude of a traditional roadster but benefits from cutting-edge engineering and technology.” When a suitable candidate to make this vision become a reality was found, the all-original ragtop was delivered to Tim Devlin and his crew at Devlin Rod and Customs (DRC) to begin its transformation from stocker to shocker.

ometimes hot rodders have been known to “drive the long way around the barn” to get to their final goal. It sure seems like that’s the case for our Modern Rodding Project ’55 Chevy Wagon. We’ve been tinkering with small projects so far, like removing and replacing the spare tirewell as well as the tailgate (special thanks to Danchuk for helping us out on those projects). But the latest effort is a doozy. We want to keep the patina look but upgrade and make roadworthy the remainder of our ’55 Chevy wagon.

The first step was to go through the self-analysis of the sheetmetal. Well, it’s loaded with what you would expect from years of hard-earned patina—thoroughly abused paint (or lack thereof) and rust. Really good rust; you know, the kind that you can see through! That was our first clue that something had to be done to our ’55 Chevy wagon roof—patina is good, holes aren’t. Upon close inspection and the fact that we could see through the holes in the roof in the rain gutter area had us scratching our heads. Apparently, Plato, the Greek philosopher dude, had a rust problem on his Chevy wagon. His writings were once translated to say: “The true creator is necessity, who is the mother of our invention.” And that’s exactly where we found ourselves. We needed to think and come up with a solution.

he hydraulic clutch turned everyday clutch operation into a pleasure rather than a session at the gym. I’m sure there are plenty of us who can remember the days of waiting at a stoplight as we patiently counted down the seconds for the light to turn green, all the while holding in the clutch pedal. The obligatory leg shakes and cramps are still fresh in our minds. All because we had opted to run a 3,000-pound three-finger clutch. Ah, the days of sheer brute force. The advent of the hydraulic clutch has relieved us of this discomfort. But it’s an offering from American Powertrain in their HydraMax bolt-in underdash hydraulic clutch and pedal system that has taken the hydraulic clutch installation to a new level of ease, comfort, and performance.

he car (most likely) parked in your driveway has some form of a factory vacuum pump. It functions via one of two ways: as a mechanical engine driven or electrically powered pump. It generates additional (supplemental) vacuum that is in addition to what the engine can produce. While new cars are designed with these as part of the integral workings, hot rodders need to take the needs this pump provides into consideration. We have a way for you to manage this dilemma: the Granatelli Motor Sports 12V Electric Vacuum Pump Kit.

Whether it be the stocker in your driveway or the hot rod tucked away in your garage, there is every likelihood a function such as power brakes, wipers, or headlight doors, or some other form of engine management requires ample vacuum to properly operate. Many high-performance engines can be vacuum deficient; we see this in the hot rod industry often. Does your hot rod have a remote vacuum pump, or should it have one? Vacuum pumps are required in engines where the necessary vacuum cannot be garnered through the intake manifold. Think about the following. If your gasoline-powered engine has variable valve timing, direct fuel injection, or a turbocharger there’s a good chance you will have need for additional vacuum. A little less exotic, how about power brakes or the controls on your heating and air conditioning system? Oh, did I mention that an auxiliary vacuum pump, such as the Granatelli 12V electrical unit, can add documented 10 to 35 usable horsepower back into the engine? That alone is a great reason.

hat better way to demonstrate Dynamat’s Xtreme Custom Cut Kit made for GM A-body cars can easily be installed by using just a Dyna-Roller than to prove it in front of hundreds of folks at the 2022 Grand National Roadster Show? Custom cut means Dynamat’s sound-damping material is precut to fit a specific make of car or truck and only requires peel and stick for installation. Then mash it flat with a Dyna-Roller and it’s done.

The saga of this ’66 Chevelle Malibu project dates back over five years ago when I had just been given the editorship of Chevelle magazine. I had never owned a Chevelle for the street, but in the mid ’70s I did buy a few ’66 Malibus for around $200 so my race crazy friends and I could cut them up to roundy round race at Irwindale’s Speedway 605 on Saturday night.

The 21st century was high time for me to repent for the Chevelles I had destroyed racing decades ago and, besides, I didn’t want readers asking if I owned a Chevelle and didn’t. The ’66 SS396 Chevelle has always been a favorite of mine since early 1966 when my dad and I searched for SS396s on Clippinger Chevrolet’s new car lot in Covina, California. It was spotting the distinctive twin inline scoops on the SS396 hoods that sped up our search locating SS396s on Clippinger’s lot.