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Back in May 2012,in the old shop, Royce came to us with his 1956 Chevrolet BelAir. This beauty has had some modifications to the body, prior to his purchase a few years ago. Originally she was a 4 door, which had been smoothed over and made a two door, hard to notice unless you are really looking. We had only spoken with Royce a few times before he handed us the keys and told us to get going, talk about putting full faith in a shop you had just met!
So in the midst of moving the shop, Royce's car had to sit for a bit. It's to get all the necessary parts in order, build an engine and move an entire shop across town. Lucky for us, Royce is a super patient guy! Once we were all settled in the new shop, we got to work. Building the engine was the simple part, its an LQ9 with custom ground camshaft, 317 heads, a 4L60E transmission with 2600 stall, Dirty Dingo accessory brackets and a very custom cross-member! As you can see in the pictures of the engine and progress we made, Phil spent many hours in the engine compartment, welding, grinding and painting to make the engine just right. When we were all done, we took her out for the maiden voyage around Mesa. Boy did she have some get up and go!! This little LQ9 had no problem getting out her own way! People were looking as we drove her around working out all the kinks that come with a new build. On a Friday afternoon, Royce came in pick up his girl. Talk about being able to see the joy in a man's face when he looked his car and then heard her start up!! He was like little kid on Christmas Day! That evening, he drove her out to her first of many car shows here in the Valley of the Sun. I spoke with him the following week where he told me all about his friends and strangers and how much they loved the car and the sound of the engine. Thanks again Royce for allowing us to build your engine and for trusting us during a pretty hectic time in PRK's life as we moved across town to a bigger and better shop! We look forward to many more projects with more great customers!!! |
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