1955 Chevy Bel Air - Street Shaker
Jerry Holbrook's Rat-powered 1955 Chevy Bel Air shakes it with a dash of elegance
Chuck Vranaswriter
Regardless of which coast you grew up on, it seems one of the most recognized rites of passage to becoming a rodder started early on when receiving your first set of Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars. With a hopped-up die-cast planted in your hand, your mind triggered an imaginary ignition and from there it was off to the races. There were never enough cars for your collection and soon enough it was time to start building model kits and reading little books to keep the fire going.
Jerry Holbrook, of Haymarket, Virginia, grew up like many of us, surrounded by plenty of visual stimulation till he was able to get his driver's license. From there his likes centered on cars with plenty of venomous horsepower with enough attitude to shake houses off their foundation. After spending over 25 years campaigning cars at the dragstrip as well as in the show world, he finally decided to switch gears and get involved in streetable cars with just enough edge, giving them a radical personality. Being a regular visitor to the Cruisin' Ocean City event in Ocean City, Maryland, he came across a wicked, rat-powered 1955 Chevy Bel Air just completed by Rodger Purdy Jr. of Pro Street Chassis in Chesterfield, New Jersey, that left him in awe.
Purdy had just completed an extensive two-year ground-up build of the '55 at his shop and had brought it to Ocean City for a shakedown weekend. The pair struck up a conversation and by the end of the afternoon a deal was made and the car motored onto its new home.
When it came time to address the body, Purdy located a pair of factory-fresh original front fenders to which he added new reproduction rear quarter-panels, rockers, and floors to rid the car of its rusty past. He then fabricated a custom steel cowl induction hood, and completed the body updates with shaved bumpers, and stylish exhaust outlets out back. While the sheetmetal was being massaged, the chassis was also molded and mated to the body permanently. Mules Autobody of Yardville, New Jersey, blocked everything to perfection and Ron Mule laid down a decadent coating of '07 Lexus Burgundy vibe, bringing the car to life. Once in the final assembly stages, a call was placed to Mike Lippincott to design an interior full of style, which was stitched up by Al's Trim Shop of Mount Holly, New Jersey, using yards of soft gray and red Ultraleather. A Billet Specialties steering wheel navigates the course while gauges from Classic Instruments keep the driver in the know. It's no doubt that the '55 is a thunderous new-generation Pro Street car living up to the reputation Rodger Purdy has become well-known for building. All we know is that it's going to see plenty of miles under the care of Jerry and to us that's just plain bitchin'!
What is the difference between different intake centerlines and how is this not the same as lobe separation?
By advancing and retarding a cam, you can move the intake centerline wherever you would like, but unless you have separate cams for the intake and exhaust (like the DOHC Ford), you cannot change the lobe separation once a cam is ground. Advancing the cam will make more cylinder pressure and build bottom end. Retarding it will broaden the powerband and add top end, but can also make the motor a little lazier on the bottom.
My EZ-EFI is idling very rich and unstable. What can I do?
This is almost always noise caused by improper installation. Make sure the battery positive and negative wires of the harness are connected directly to the battery with nothing spliced into them. Ensure your ignition box is no closer than 18 inches to the EZ-EFI ECU. Ensure that the pink 12V ignition wire is connected to a clean spot on the fuse block and not shared with anything on the way. If your hand-held unit is powered by the cigarette lighter, make sure the outlet is clean and not corroded or rusty.
The isolated runner advantage
In a typical four two-barrel Weber layout, each cylinder is fed by its own barrel without any intercommunication between barrels or cylinders. This "isolated runner" design ensures that each cylinder is fed exactly the same as the next, without any chance of charge-robbing or over-feeding. This results in better throttle response and an increase in torque at midrange rpm, right where street engines spend 90 percent of their time, making isolated runner carburetion systems an ideal for street use.