On Saturday October 17, the final night of Grudgefest was held at Sacramento Raceway in Sacramento, California. Grudgefest is an event where people can drag race their cars at the track, but instead of the normal ‘race yourself’ drag race where you’re fighting to get the best time, you can also line up against a buddy or competitor so as to see earn bragging rights (or money…).

It was the busiest I’ve ever seen it! This place was flooded with custom cars, trucks, and bikes.

A packed house!

Whereas most nights a person can expect to get 5 or 6 passes with their $50 admission, on this particular night most people only got 2.

People were lined up a long way to take their turn on the drag strip.

I went with my father-in-law Deryl, who has a customized 76 Nova. He’s been going to the raceway for more than a year now with that car. He started off in the low 13s after doing a motor swap and putting in a custom exhaust setup. And after each time, he tunes something else to get the car to perform even better. Now he’s in the 12.3 range consitently, and sometimes in the 12.2 range. He did 12.27 on one pass at Grudgefest.

Most recently He changed out his radiator to be a performance lightweight aluminum radiator, and also changed to an electric fan. These two mods were all about improving the efficiency of his engine, where the goal was for the engine to spend less of its resources on powering those two units so that it can spend more resources generating power.

He’s talked about possibly throwing a bottle of nitrous in there, but probably won’t. One key reason is that the bottle would probably give him an extra half second, which would qualify his car such a fast time that he would be required to put a roll bar in there, which he doesn’t particularly want to do. I don’t think he needs the bottle as it is – that Nova is lightning fast!

It’s was a great time, especially being out there with so many custom cars in one place. And unlike a car show where everyone’s cars are there just for show, the drag events let people really show what their cars can do.

Body kits are certainly designed to be bolted on to your vehicle.  That being said, most body kits are hand-made products.  The original designs were done by hand, the molds were made by hand, and the parts themselves are made by hand.  So you will not have the same installation experience with a hand-made body kit as you would a computer CAD-designed machine made part from Ford.  It takes some extra elbow grease sometimes to make the body kit bumpers fit perfectly flush with your hood, fenders, and trunk.

Every brand comes in a different color. But all body kits come unpainted either way, meaning you have to get them painted after your receive it. Most body kits come in either a white, black, or grey gelcoat though, depending on the brand. Vision Autodynamics for example makes all their body kits with a white gelcoat finish, while Extreme Dimensions is famous for the black Duraflex gelcoat that they put on body kits.

While the gelcoat finish on most body kits is a matte finish and somewhat imperfect, there are some brands that come with a gleaming, shiny, near-flawless gelcoat finish. An example is Bomex. Most Bomex body kits are higher in cost comparatively, but the reason is because you get a product that is very well finished.

We wouldn’t say it’s a huge risk, and many people do not use them. It’s just an extra precaution to avoid a disaster on the road. The latch on the hood interfaces with your factory latch receiver, but it’s not made by the car manufacturer so it’s not necessarily an OE latch. I personally would put the pins on just to be extra sure the hood never flys up while driving, but I’ve seen countless people not use pins and be just fine.

You’re driving down the street when you hear it, a loud and rugged roar of an engine, and then you see it in your rearview, a beautiful pearlescent orange Mazda RX-7 pulling up next to you in the stoplight. You try to guess what he is running under the hood but you just can’t recognize the sound, it’s not a turbo because it doesn’t sound like it’s got some sort of forced induction but the engine yet sounds so mean and powerful. He looks at you and revs his engine, you say, “Why not my car can take him”. You get ready for the light to turn green and as it does you notice the RX-7 roar and lead the way already a car length away. As he finishes running the block and slows down for you to catch up you make the sign for him to pull over. You both pull over and you talk about how that was cool and you ask him if you can see what he has under the hood. You expect him to have some sort of highly modified Mazda rotary engine or maybe a swapped turbocharged RB26DETT, but what you find leaves you stupefied to say the least. The Mazda RX-7 that just beat you is running a GM LS1 V8, a DOMESTIC V8 engine!

This might not happen to every one of you but the truth is GM V8 engines are now making their way into the tuner scene, especially the LS series. GM LS engines have been very popular with Mazda RX-7 owners for years now. Some Nissan owners have started doing the switch too, just look at some of the Formula D cars.

But what about the fact that V8 engines are big, bulky, expensive, gas guzzlers, and heavy?

Well that might have been true for the V8 engines of the 1960’s up to in some cases the 1990’s but the fact is that today’s V8 are much more efficient than their older counterparts. Today’s V8s are made with many of the following materials and components:
* Cast aluminum (or in the case of trucks, cast iron) engine blocks with Siamese bores
* Forged steel crankshafts
* Forged steel (or in the case of the newer LS engines titanium)
* Forged aluminum pistons
* Aluminum heads with titanium or steel valves
* Composite intake manifolds
* Cast iron exhaust manifolds
* Sequential fuel injection
* Coil on plug ignition

As you can see V8s are pretty much made with some very high strength materials and are pretty more modern and efficient than most people think. In this article I’m going to describe in as much detail as possible the positive and negative effects that a V8, specifically a GM LS engine, can have on your car.

First of all many of you are probably saying, “Even if this is a good idea it’s probably so expensive that it’s something better reserved for sponsored teams rather than an average Joe like me”. Well it’s not so expensive as you might think, for example a brand new Honda K series engine costs easily over $4K if I’m not mistaken and makes 230HP at the flywheel right out of the crate while a brand new GM LS1 can cost no more than $3,400 or used from, if you’re lucky like me whole lives in an area with an enormous supply of Z28 Camaros, $290 in good conditions with over 400HP at the flywheel in a stock tune. It doesn’t sound that expensive now does it? Now the cost of a transmission for these engines can run from $800 to $3000 for a high performance version in either automatic, electronic overdrive, paddle shifted clutch less transmission (for those who like rally and autocross), manual, and manual with overdrive.

Something that many drifter and autocross competitors wouldn’t like of a traditional V8 would be the heavy weight concentrated at the nose which would cause lots of under steer, but LS engines are not your traditional V8s. LS engines because of their aluminum construction can be pretty lightweight at approximately 390lbs more or less depending on your configuration. I know it might sound heavy but think about the fact that this 390lb engine can easily produce 500 horses before you start upgrading basic stuff like the fuel, ignition, and intake system. Now depending on your application, LS engines can make great low end torque averaging at about 280ft/lb  and extreme high end horsepower reaching well over the 1,000HP mark and in the case of the now 3 year old LSX  over 3,400 Horsepower.

On the short run the price of installing a LS engine might sound a little pricey and I’m sure some of you are already thinking that it will be even pricier on the long run, but it really isn’t so. LS engines have been mass produced in large quantities since 1997 and have been used from small cars trucks to high performance cars/SUVs to large SUVs and in some cases even airplanes. This has cause the market to be saturated with a large number of high quality replacement and performance parts at really low prices. This makes it extremely quick, easy, and cheap for the average Joe to repair his LS conversion in case of a wear and tear.

If by now your thinking, “Wow I want to do that, but how” here is the solution. The market has started to fill the demand for conversion of LS engines into smaller tuner cars and like in the example of the RX-7s suppliers have started selling conversion kits and conversion engine mounts and cross members. Some of the suppliers of these kits are as follows:
* Boss Frog
* Hinson Supercars
* Improved Racing
* Monster Miata
* Samberg Rod and Custom
* V8 Roadster

These companies offer everything you need to convert your cars from a kitty to a tiger.

Hope this article helps all of you gearheads and racers with your next swap, now remember nothing is too crazy when “Crazy Joe” is involved.

First, pop the hood, and prop it up.

There are six screws holding the top of your factory grill securing it to the frame. Remove them. Then, slide the grill outwards away from your Ranger.

This is what your factory grill will look like. You will have to use a hacksaw to remove the top panel( you can skip this step if you have a polished steel top panel).

This is how your grill should look like now. The top panel should be detached from the rest of the grill.

You will have to drill holes in order to mount the lower brackets. Line up the lower bracket and determine where you will have to drill. Next, using a drill bit relatively close to the size of the provided bolts, drill straight down and through.

Mount the lower brackets using the holes you just drilled. There will be holes for the upper brackets, so drilling will not be necessary.

Line up the billet grill, there will be four holes (2 upper and 2 lower) line these holes up with the brackets. Using the provided bolts, bolt all four brackets to grill. Don’t forget to screw the top panel of your old grill back on.

This is what your grill will look like after installation. Enjoy!

Most body kits consist of replacement front and rear bumpers and a pair of sideskirts.

Bumper Installation

First unfasten your factory bumper. For most cars, this will require removal of the headlights and tail lights. You will find the factory bumper bolts and clips located in these areas: under the headlights and tail lights, near the hood and trunk latches, inside the fender wells, and in many cases in hard-to-reach places likes on a flange deep on the underside of the bumper on a flange connecting to the fenders. Make sure to keep all the hardware, because it will need to be used to bolt the body kit bumpers back on.

After the bumper is off, then first ‘dry fit’ the body kit bumper. Do this just to be sure you got the right one, to be sure it looks like it’s going to fit ok, and also to mark with a pen all the mounting points on the bumper. This is done because most body kits do not come pre-drilled, meaning you have to drill your own holes in the body kit. With most body kits you are expected to mount the body kit bumpers to the same place the factory bumpers are mounted, so mark the bumper at all locations where a hole will need to be drilled in order to bolt it up to the factory mounting points.

Next drill the holes as marked. Then, using the bolts and clips from your factory bumper that you saved, bolt up the body kit bumpers using all the same mounting points as the factory bumpers. Voila, the body kit bumpers are on.

Sideskirts Installation

First do a ‘dry fit’ of the sideskirts, fitting them up to your car. Most sideskirts are made to fit over the top of your factory rocker panels. Most sideskirts have a ‘lip’ that goes beneath the doors of your car but on top of the rocker panel on the door jam. That is a mounting lip. Do the dry fit in order to ensure that you got the right product, to ensure the product fits appropriately, and to mark your planned mounting points.

Sideskirts should be mounted inside each fender well using pop rivets. They should also, when possible, be mounted in the door jam on the lip of the sideskirt for extra adherance (also using pop rivets). After you pop rivet both sideskirts on, you’re all done with the installation!

Tools:
Philip’s screw driver Needle nose pliers (optional)
Flathead screw driver Glass cleaner (optional)

Step one:
Remove the Philip’s screw from the plastic roof latch cover and remove the cover. Also remove the two rubber stoppers that hold the roof in place. Pry off the four factory push clips out of the rear trunk lining and lay the lining over into the trunk (may need to use a flathead screw driver or pliers to pry the clips off).

Step two:
Remove the four nuts that are holding each tail light in place with an 8 mm wrench from the inside of the trunk. Disconnect the tail light harness clip (a small flathead screw driver may be necessary). Hold the tail light in place while doing this so that it doesn’t fall out.

Step three:
Gently push the tail lights outwards from the inside of the trunk. Make sure the foam guard comes out with the tail light. It is not necessary to keep this foam guard as long as there is a new one included with the aftermarket tail lights.

Step four:
Remove the four bulbs from the tail light housing. Turn them approximately ninety degrees and pull straight back as to not crack the bulbs. Check all bulbs before installing them into the new housings to ensure they are not cracked or burnt out. Replace any bulbs if necessary.

Step five:
Replace the bulbs into the new tail light housings. The location of the bulbs may be slightly different in the new housings so be sure to note which bulb is used for signalling, reversing and braking.

Step six:
Once all the bulbs are securely in place, put the new tail light back onto the car and line up all the threads into the existing holes. Replace the 8 mm nuts and only tighten until they are snug. Over tightening will cause cracking and/or damage of the new tail light. Plug the harness clip back in.

Step seven:
Check all the lights to make sure they are functioning properly. Another person is necessary for this task.

Step seven:
Place the trunk lining back together and replace the factory push clips, the rubber stoppers and the roof latch cover and tighten the Philips screw.

Step eight:
Wipe off any fingerprints on the tail lights and the installation is complete.

The new, silver 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 received a one-of-a-kind paint scheme design by PPG master painter and instructor Paul Stoll and was painted by renowned street rod painter Charley Hutton of Charley Hutton Color Studio. Hutton recently partnered with PPG and is best known for his appearances on the American Hot Rod television show. The paint treatment, a bold combination of blue and Hemi orange, uses PPG’s environmentally-friendly EnvirobaseR High Performance waterborne coatings.

“This is one fabulous car,” said Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger for Penske Racing. “The design is genuinely spectacular and the finish is absolutely great-looking. I’m delighted with what PPG has done and how they’ve helped the foundation. They’ve done a stand-out job on this car. Someone is going to be very happy driving this amazing Dodge around town.”

“I really enjoyed this project. Knowing that I was painting the car for such a good cause made it all very special and rewarding,” said Hutton. “Plus, Envirobase HP is a phenomenal product. It is easy to spray and lays down perfectly. This car is an award looking car.”

The charity car raffle commences today, and will go through September 29, 2009. The winner will be announced at www.kurtbusch.com on September 30th.

Purchase tickets for $100.00 each.

All proceeds will go to the foundation and will benefit The Kurt Busch Superdome which is an indoor, climate controlled, sports facility located at The Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, NC.

Two of the most common modifications you can add to a car are a high performance intake and upgrades to the exhaust system. It could be headers, high flow catalytic converters or a cat-back exhaust system. There are a couple of different option when it comes to aftermarket intake systems you have cold air and also short ram intakes. Each of them with pros and cons but research is always good before you purchase one, taking on count the look of it and also the performance should be always key components on deciding which brand to go with. There are a variety of reviews and even dyno testing in the most commonly known name brands, it’s always good to check out those dyno results because they provide actual information on performance.

Another very common upgrade to gain a bit more performance out of your engine is a cat back exhaust system; they are less restrictive and also add a nice tone to the car. In purchasing a cat-back personally I have always shopped around based on horsepower gain and also sound. In my opinion sound is essential to either “make” or “break” your car, if your car looks “clean” you probably will want to get an exhaust that will go with the look and also will perform both in power and sound up to quality of the rest of the car.