hen it comes to building a performance LS engine package, there’s no better source for not only those internal components but also the tools required to properly measure and inspect those components than Summit Racing. Not only does Summit stock all the usual suspects when it comes to engine parts and speed equipment, their private label line offers a laundry list of products with an eye toward quality and affordability. From the pan to the valve covers, we turned to Summit at every corner of our latest LS build, and they had everything we needed.

Now none of this was lost on longtime hot rodder Dwight Winter. There is simply no denying the good looks of the ’39 Ford, or even better ’39 Lincoln taillights. Their classic style comes from utter simplicity wrapped in the perfect shape. With that thought in mind, Dwight opted for a set of ’39 Lincoln taillights from Speedway Motors, and much like Ford did in 1939 he mounted them to the rear fenders of his fine ’35 Ford Tudor. All that sounds simple enough but finding the perfect mounting surface on a ’35 Ford rear fender is no small chore. The new lights were mounted, wired, and the new LEDs illuminated the lenses far better than anything available in 1939.

h, there’s nothing quite like the look (or whirr) of a quick-change axle. Inspired by circle track racers who needed to fine-tune their gearing to suit course conditions, the venerable quick-change axle has made its way under just about everything, including land speed cars, sports cars, dragsters, Modifieds, and even drift cars.

A quick-change axle is basically a conventional axle with a gear case modified or designed to use a pair of spur gears. In a conventional axle, the driveshaft and pinion rotate at a 1:1 ratio. In other words, the pinion rotates at the same rate as the driveshaft. But the spur gears in a quick-change axle alter the ratio between the driveshaft and pinion. Depending on how it’s oriented, a spur-gear set can spin the pinion faster or slower than the driveshaft to alter the axle’s final drive, or its total gear ratio. That’s a big deal when trying to tune an engine to operate within its peak powerband on a racetrack.

’ll admit, it seems a little odd to replace the factory climate-control system in an ’82-88 Chevrolet Monte Carlo or El Camino with anything else. After all, these were cars built by a corporation that owned Frigidaire, a manufacturer so renowned for refrigerators that some cultures still refer to refrigerators in general as Frigidaire. But there are reasons. Hear us out.

As good as they are, GM’s systems aren’t without shortcomings. First off, they were designed to use R12. Yes, R12 is still available, but good luck getting any without a license. Sure, a system designed for R12 can be converted to operate on its replacement, R134a, however, it requires replacing every O-ring with compatible material, gambling that the old non-barrier hose won’t sweat refrigerant, replacing damaged or sweating old hose with new barrier hose, replacing the filter/dryer, flushing the system—including the compressor—filling the compressor with compatible oil, installing R134a adapter ports, and, in some cases, replacing the old tube-and-fin condenser with a more efficient parallel flow design—and that assumes everything from the original system remains and functions properly, which is unlikely after 40 years; less likely if the car sat for any period. Maybe a prior owner removed and lost critical components when the system stopped working. Or maybe in their haste they damaged or cut those critical components when the fittings that connected their hoses wouldn’t break free easily. Or maybe just all that plastic in the system finally had enough heat cycles and started to decompose. And let me tell you, it seems that cars from this era were made of nothing but plastic.

his month we thought it would be fun to take a look at one of the iconic muscle cars of the glory years of the mid ’60s. The ’68 Dodge Charger is one of these such cars. We thought we would go to Bo Zolland who has designed many a car and massaged many more to bring to life the dreams of hot rodders worldwide. Before we get into his imagination and what a ’68 Charger could look like, how about a little background.

The ’68 Dodge Charger was a redesign; Dodge anticipated that 35,000 units should cover demand. They misjudged. Instead, 96,100 were eventually produced. Chrysler used its B platform and to this there were subtle changes, which included mostly cosmetic alterations. These changes occurred both on the outside and the inside. For instance, the grille was now “undivided,” running the width of the front end with its hidden headlights, while the taillights were now rounded.