he venerable first-generation Chevrolet small-block has been out of production for decades now. Since then, multiple generations of engines from various manufacturers have come and gone, but the small-block is still everywhere you look. Of course, it remains incredibly popular in several forms of racing—everything from drag racing to oval track and beyond—and it remains a favorite with hot rodders in general. Its reputation as a reliable engine that makes great power without breaking the bank is well deserved.

Besides the ability to make big power pretty easily as well as its durability, one of the great advantages of the classic small-block is its versatility thanks to tons of aftermarket support. We’ve seen great small-block builds with carburetors on tunnel port intakes, giant roots blowers, twin turbos, you name it. And they’re all great. But one setup we don’t often see is individual runner intake setups like you often think of on old-school sports cars. That’s why we were excited when engine builder Keith Dorton of Automotive Specialists told us he was building a big-inch small-block complete with stack injection EFI from none other than Jim Inglese Eight Stack Systems and instantly decided to tag along for the build.

ld cars have personality, which means each one is a little different. Tolerances weren’t as precise as today’s machines and if you’ve ever tried to achieve show-quality panel gaps on a muscle car, you know it’s a large task. Sometimes you can get lucky and make some adjustments that make the gaps uniform, but the reality is that most cars from the 1960s and 1970s had huge gaps. Wide gaps are acceptable on an original car, or a driver, but details truly matter on high-end cars, like Mike Selvaggio’s 1966 Chevelle station wagon that’s currently under construction at Old Anvil Speed Shop in Orange, California.

This car will have top-notch pieces inside and out, and a great way to accent the high-end workmanship is to dial in the panel gaps. This project is naturally more challenging because it’s a four-door, meaning there are more panels to perfect, but it’s all part of the metalworking process for Brandon Gerringer, a fabricator at Old Anvil Speed Shop.

f you ever feel the need to enliven a conversation among gearheads during a bench racing session, merely float engine oil into the discussion and then sit back and watch the fireworks shoot around the room. The problem with all the resulting banter is that there are always plenty of opinions offered but a discouraging lack of facts. So, we’re going to enhance this discussion with 11 facts about engine oil along with additional tidbits of which you may not be aware that you will find useful for your current or next engine project.

tarter motors are kind of like the guy behind the counter at the auto parts store. When he’s competent and efficient you may not notice. But if he can’t find a stock spark plug for your 350 small-block 1969 Camaro, this attracts your attention and not in a good way. Starter motors can be like that—the only time you notice them is when they don’t work.

Starters don’t contribute to horsepower, so they are often overlooked—until they don’t do their job. Such was the case for a stout small-block we found ourselves working on recently that offered up more than a little irritability. The owner had recently purchased his XS-series Powermaster starter motor, but it wasn’t happy. The noise it made during cranking was approaching painful.

It was obvious something wasn’t right. First, we looked at the relationship of the starter pinion gear to the flexplate. With the engine out of the car, it was easy to measure the clearance between the pinion gear and the flexplate. The proper spec for gear clearance was supposed to be 0.040 inch, but our check revealed it to be in excess of 0.100 inch.

he corniest and most overused story title in the book for a car magazine is “It’s a Family Affair” but sometimes you just have to go with it … or maybe not. The saga of 15-year-old Hunter Hay and his dad, Ron, building a 408ci stroker LS engine to run in a drive-and-drag 1966 Nova when Hunter turns 16 years old is really a story about Hunter and Ron’s help and support from their extended race car family.

At age 11 Hunter was helping his dad service and prep a Fox-body drag racer. At that early age Hunter learned how to cut the lights when Adam Burkholder and his son, Abe, invited Ron and Hunter to check out RC drag racing. It was an awesome hobby with a full-scale Christmas tree, a real timing system, and running the quarter-mile at scale. Hunter and dad traveled from Oklahoma to Texas, Kansas, and Nevada scoring several NPDR no-prep RC drag racing championships.

At age 13, thanks to Chris Maybriar at Mid America Dragway in Kansas, Hunter went through the process and gained his NHRA license followed with a WDRA license. Hunter borrowed Ron’s hopped-up 2003 GMC shortbed, running it at the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Series and WDRA Summit Racing Equipment Bracket Finals and did quite well. Now, several seasons into it with a long list of wins and championships, Hunter and Ron’s focus is having the 1966 Nova ready for Hunter to drive to high school during the week and race on the weekends.