Up to this point all my time down at North Main was as a spectator or helping out fellow racers with their cars. I really wanted to race but was lacking one crucial item to do so - horsepower! In anticipation of more power, I had already upgraded the rear end on my Chevelle to a 373 posi 12 bolt axle. The transmission was a 4 speed M22 Muncie "Rock Crusher", along with a Hays sintered metal clutch and a Lakewood scatter shield. Although I had acquired various small block parts and could have cobbled together a decent 327 or 350, I wanted some serious horsepower to replace the 307 that was still motivating the Malibu.
My first ever job was as a helper in an engine rebuilding shop called Auto Engine Exchange. The owner, Bill, taught me many things, including an old racers saying: There is no replacement for displacement. I knew I needed cubic inches and the best way to achieve that in the eighties was with a porcupine headed big block. Even back then big block chevys were expensive, so I was always on the look out for a suitable candidate. The local self serve wrecking yard was a decent source for good prospects. During my many trips to Ecology Auto Wrecking I found more then a few 396 Impalas and a bunch of worn out 454 powered trucks. A complete engine could be had for $200 bucks, but the cost could quickly spiral out of control if it needed to be rebuilt, so I was always looking for that diamond in the rough. I was hoping to get lucky and find a wrecked car that had a recently rebuilt engine, or even evidence of a valve job. I started more junk yard motors then I can count, some with disastrous consequences! Local networking turned up a few leads, one of which was a very worn out "race motor" and another was a 366 industrial block that someone was trying to pass off as a 396 passenger car motor. One other lead ended up not even being a big block, it was a 400 small block. Now I had read a few articles on the "big inch" small block and the potential for horsepower that it had, so I was intrigued. At a asking price of $25 dollars, I snapped it up and brought it to my go-to machine shop, Motor Supply and Machine. I was fortunate that my neighbor, John Dahl, was the lead machinist at Motor Supply. He was a perfectionist by nature and I trusted him, especially when it came to engine or machine work. I brought the block to him for hot tanking and to get it magnafluxed for cracks. I loved going to that machine shop as there was always something special being worked on. This time was no different as John showed me a 454 blower motor that he was building for his 1970 Nova Super Sport. I left the shop in awe that day after seeing that big block with it's aluminum heads, BDS blower and Enderle fuel injection. A few days later I heard back from John about my block and it was not good news. The block had a crack between two of the cylinders and was basically junk. He asked what my plans were for it and I told him about wanting to replace the motor in my Chevelle, and also about my fruitless hunt for a big block. Then he told me that the final assembly was all done on his 454 and he would be dropping it in the Nova soon, and would I be interested in buying his old motor? I hesitantly asked how much, because I knew how bad ass his "old" 396 was. When he told me he would sell it to me for $500 dollars, all I said was "when can I pick it up?"
A couple of weeks later I got the message I had been waiting for, my motor was ready for pickup. I thought maybe I would be helping John remove the motor from his Nova but to my surprise when I showed up at his house the following Saturday, the motor had already been pulled out and was looking almost new. John told me that he decided to freshen it up so that it didn't give me any problems. Typical machinist. He knew I had a 4 speed transmission so he swapped out the cam (the Nova was an automatic), gave me the new cam card and instructed me on the break in procedure. Wow! I couldn't wait to put this wicked big block in my Chevelle! The motor was technically 402 cubic inches (.030 over 396). It had rectangular port heads with stainless steel valves, Crane roller rockers, Cloyes true roller timing chain, TRW forged pistons, Melling high volume oil pump, Milodon oil pan and windage tray, and an Edelbrock intake manifold. In anticipation of getting the big block I had put the word out that my 307 was for sale. I thought it might be a tough sell because most gear heads viewed Chevrolet's 307 as an abomination. It was actually a 283 block with a 327 crank but performance was not the first thing that came to mind, especially if compared to other small blocks. My friend Johnny ending up buying it for his '66 Impala low rider as he thought it would be a good upgrade to his 283. He also bought a polished Edelbrock "shoe box" tunnel ram with dual Holley carbs from me to put on it! Now flush with a little extra cash, I decided to purchase a new set of Hooker Headers for the soon to be big block Chevelle. I cruised down to J&M Speed Center to purchase the headers only to find out that they had to order the ones that I wanted, and I had to wait a week for them to be shipped or I could do a customer pick up. I had been jonesing on that big block for awhile now and didn't want to wait a minute longer then I had to, so I chose the will call option, and am I glad I did. The Hooker Header company was about 20 minutes from where I lived. At the time they were located in Ontario, California so I made the short drive over there to pick up my headers. I showed up at their will call and was told it would a few minutes while they pulled my order. I had no sooner sat down when a guy walks in from the back and asks me if I would like to see how headers are made. I couldn't say "heck yeah" fast enough! I soon found myself on a personal tour of the Hooker Header factory. To say it was cool would be an understatement. When I left there with my new set of headers I had a whole new appreciation of how headers are manufactured.
On my drive home I swung by D&H Rentals to get an engine hoist. They rented the type that you could tow behind your vehicle which made it convenient, and a one man job, to get home. Now everyone who I had talked to about this engine swap told me that I needed big block frame perches for the motor mounts in order to get the engine to bolt up. After trying in vane to find a used set I ended up going to the local Chevy dealer, DeAnza Chevrolet, to see what their parts department had to offer. The counterman pulled up a diagram on a microfiche machine and then spun it around so I could see it. After verifying the exact parts I needed he disappeared in the back. A few moments later he comes back and tells me that he located a set at a dealer back east. The price was a shock and the wait to get them was even more shocking! I decided to ask him if he knew what the difference was between small block and big block frame mounts. He told me only the height. Big block perches were about one inch taller then small block. I decided to pass on purchasing new perches and thought if worse comes to worse I could use washers to space up the small block perches. Boy was I wrong, but in a good way. When the engine compartment was finally ready for the big block and I was lowering it slowly into position, the motor mounts lined up perfectly with the small block perches! Yes it took a little jostling and the oil pan only had about 1/2 inch clearance in a few spots, but it fit!
So there I was on a late Saturday afternoon, the 396 nestled in the Chevelle's engine bay, and as I am tightening the final header bolts it suddenly dawns on me that I made no provision for the exhaust system! Jerl's muffler shop was already closed and I really wanted to drive the car but it's not like I could go cruising with open headers. I quickly formulated a plan and used a hacksaw to cut the turbo mufflers off of my old exhaust system, then I grabbed the reducers that I bought with the headers and walked up the street to my neighbors house to see if he could weld them up. My neighbor, Bobby Goodwin, was a circle track racer and had everything in his garage to fabricate and work on his race car. Bobby and his brother Wayne raced at Corona Raceway in the half mile dirt oval and figure eight. I spent many a Saturday helping him prep his car and then watching him race. Bob and Wayne were like mentors to me growing up and I learned a lot from both of them. As I got older and was preoccupied with cars, I spent less and less time at his house and the dirt track. I was glad to see that he was home but I totally spaced and forgot that it was Saturday. I saw his race car loaded up on the trailer and it dawned on me that he was going racing. Fudge! Only I didn't say fudge. He was still loading stuff up into his truck when he spotted me and asked what was up. I explained that I needed a little welding done and showed him what I was working with. Bob said to me, "You know how to weld, the garage is open." "Just make sure to close everything up when you are done." I couldn't say thanks fast enough and made a beeline to his garage. I used his acetylene torch along with a coat hanger for filler rod to weld the reducers to the mufflers. With this setup the mufflers were basically being bolted directly to the header collector. I figured that it would be quieter then open headers and it was the only choice I had if I wanted to go cruising later that night.
After double-triple checking everything and pre lubing the engine I was ready to fire it up. From the cam card that John had given me I knew that it had a very healthy cam in it and I was eager to hear how it sounded. After the first startup and initial cam break in, where I varied the engine rpm between 1500 and 3000 for about 20 minutes, I was ready to change the oil and take it out for a spin. The hood was still off the car but that was fine with me as it would just show off my new big block all the better. The cam ended up being radical enough that I had to do some fine tuning on the Holley carburetor to get the engine to respond the way that I wanted it to, but the sound was incredible! I'm sure you could hear me coming a block away! I was really glad that I had installed a decent stereo system in the Chevelle as I needed it to be loud to hear the music over the exhaust. I had a Pioneer Super Tuner, an Alpine graphic equalizer, Carver 200 watt amp, and 6 speakers. Now all I had to do was wash the car, Armor All the tires and dash, shower, throw on a Izod shirt along with my 501 Levi's and I was ready to go cruising. I was driving down Magnolia Avenue to the newest cruise area when I noticed a large crowd had gathered in the Gemco parking lot. Picture this: I am turning into the parking lot in my blue '69 Chevelle and Loverboy's Working for the Weekend comes on the radio. I have the stereo cranked up, the engine is loud, sounds wicked, and is totally visible because my hood is off. As if on cue, everyone standing around turns and looks at me as I pull into the lot. I am in first gear and goose the throttle a couple of times which really lifts the front end of my Chevelle due to the Moroso drag springs and shocks. After idling past a seemingly endless gauntlet of people I found an open spot by where some of my friends were parked. As soon as I shut down the engine a crowd formed around the car. It wasn't long before one of the guys looked at me and said "North Main?" "Next weekend" I said, "After the motor is broke in."
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