The addiction to speed isn't something you grow out of. Whether it's flying planes, driving fast cars, or goofing off in a boat, the same underlying obsession is there. For 71-year-old Bob Hewitt, stretching his sea legs was only part of the hobby. As a former professional drag boat racer, taking his passion for speed to the land was easy. His weapon of choice was this '70 Sport Satellite. The buildup would take two and a half years. He decided to take a great part in the buildup, and assembled most of the car with friends within his retirement community.

Dream jobs. They can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For motorheads, being professionally employed in the motorsports business would be a real kick. Living that dream is Jeff Guenther, who earns his paycheck in Huntersville, North Carolina, the heart of Nextel Cup racing, as an engine assembler for Joe Gibbs Racing. When he isn't spinning wrenches on high-rpm Brand X mills for the NFL coach, he's got this little Barracuda he plays with.

If you know your E-Body history, then you know that only 2,165 Dodge Challenger convertibles rolled out of Hamtramck Assembly during the '71 model run. Factors such as high insurance costs for anything considered sporty, and air-conditioned hardtops and coupes-which led to dropping droptop sales across all of Ma Mopar's car platforms from the mid-'60s onward-are cited as reasons why the E-Body, and all of Chrysler's U.S. built car lines, went steel roofs only starting in 1972.

While the Chrysler TorqueFlite transmission is one of the strongest automatics your car could be equipped with, able to survive hard-core racing, neutral drops, and most of the other abuse we can dish at them, the TorqueFlite still has a weak link. Like most automatic transmissions, the TorqueFlite, whether 904 or 727, has an overrunning clutch assembly that's designed to prevent extreme transmission damage if the transmission is allowed to free-wheel due to a broken U-joint, axle, or driveshaft. The overrunning clutch assembly is commonly referred to as a "sprag," and the clutch housing is pressed into the rear section of the transmission case. This pressed-fit assembly of the sprag can create a problem that will destroy the transmission case in a high-powered or abusive application. Fortunately, there is a cheap fix for this weak link, and it comes from TCI transmissions.

Choosing the right camshaft to match your engine combination can be confusing. It's also very important to use the proper valvetrain components that will work reliably with your camshaft of choice. Paying careful attention to the workings of the entire valvetrain is of the utmost importance. Don't wonder if everything will be OK (we did that about our spring pressure and oiling, and then paid the price-more on that later). Never hesitate to consult with a knowledgeable tech person from one of the cam company tech lines like those at Comp Cams. They want to help you pick the right cam and components for your combination.

There's a reason purpose-built race cars are manufactured primarily from round tubing. For the weight, round tube chassis provide the safest and stiffest automotive frames. Unfortunately, you just can't duplicate the performance characteristics of a tube chassis car with a unit-body car that's made mainly from sheetmetal. While unit-body, or unibody as it's commonly called, construction has come a long way since the first cars manufactured by this method, the fact is that unit-body cars like the new LX cars from Mopar are still prone to body and chassis flex, which is counterproductive to good handling.

A couple of months ago, October 2008 to be exact, we started a buildup of an engine that clearly defines "built on a budget." We decided we would reuse the rotating assembly and build from that, making a reliable driver-style engine that would propel any A-Body into a cruise night or simply down the highway. In that issue we tore down and diagnosed what we had to work with and devised a plan of attack.

Bolt-On Power
As gearheads, no matter what kind of Mopar we drive, we want it to look and perform its best. But with so many aftermarket parts available these days, how do we decide how to best spend our hard-earned cash? By now we all know there are certain upgrades that offer big performance gains, but there are also plenty of parts on the market whose performance gains can't be backed up with hard numbers. So, before you run out and purchase the "Tornado" to greatly improve performance and fuel economy, you might want to follow along as we outline our top 10 modifications and parts that are guaranteed to help your car accelerate, handle, stop, and look better, without costing you an arm and a leg.

When Andrew Stiles returned home to Oklahoma from his tour of duty in Iraq with the Army National Guard, he had a big surprise waiting for him.

There's nothing like a new paint job to improve the looks of your ride, but there are a few things you can do to get the most benefit from having your car painted. First, when the decision is made to paint your car, be sure you paint areas like doorjambs, the inside of the trunk, and the engine bay so they match the exterior of the car. Also, have the painter paint the upper and lower inner door frames with the properly coded interior paint. Then, once the fresh paint is applied, attention needs to be paid to the fine points that really accent a new paint job. Remember that shiny paint attracts attention, and when people pay more attention to your car they notice details like the condition of the interior, trim, chrome, emblems, and all the other items that set a good-looking car apart from the rest.