Roadkill Garage Season 3, Episode 6: $760 Big-block Engine

Boosted Bootlegging in a ’40 Ford!

Freiburger and Dulcich have a new project car, a quick and dirty ’40 Ford Fordor. Other than the lack of interior, some rust, poor suspension it really only has one main problem…it’s too slow! The guys decide to beef it up with some new heads, a new carb and a supercharger. The ’40 Ford already has a small-block Chevy power plant that either needs some TLC or to be retired completely. The guys dig into the grimy engine and find it’s more trouble than it’s worth, but they have a solution and end up hitting the farm roads to relive some bootlegging outlaw action.

630-Horsepower Big-Block C10 Swap!

Vintage Chevy C10 pickups are hot, and there are tons of them around the Motor Trend world, including two 1967s that you’ll see in this episode along with Freiburger’s wild schemes for pickup-truck greatness. It all begins with a grandpa-fresh longbed and a 630-horsepower, 454ci Chevy big-block that has been seen in several installments of our Engine Masters show (its current configuration is the same as that in Engine Masters episode 10, “600hp Camshaft Shootout”). You’ll learn how to big-block-swap any ’67-’72 Chevy or GMC truck along with a Gearstar Transmissions Stage 4 700R4 overdrive automatic that’s beefed to handle the power. But did Freiburger and Dulcich create the ultimate tow rig they were hoping for? Well, let’s just say that this truck excels as an epic burnout machine.

Attack of the Monster Wagons!

“Station wagons: there is no finer American institution.” That’s what David Freiburger wrote way back in 1998 as the editor of Car Craft magazine. Twenty years later, it’s still true! Hot rodders love old station wagons, and surprisingly, many models can still be purchased cheaply. That’s proven in this episode of Roadkill Garage as Freiburger scores a 1968 Chrysler Town & Country wagon for $1,800—and it has a 440ci big-block for power! It’s soon dubbed the Gargantuwagon. Freiburger and Steve Dulcich show you how to give any old car a basic once-over before they also teach you how to give one a good thrashing without really hurting much. Soon it becomes clear that Dulcich’s 1967 Pontiac Bonneville wagon from Episode 11 needs to come play along—and if two full-size American land barges are good, then three are better as Lucky Costa from the HOT ROD Garage show jumps in with his 1966 Plymouth Fury wagon loaded with 512ci of big-block power!

Carb Tuning and the Tater Truck!

When David Freiburger scored a 1965 Ford F-250 4x4 just like one he used to have, he saw an opportunity: road-trip the new Tater Truck to meet up with the one he sold four years ago and see if he could trade to get his old truck back. It was a perfect excuse for a vintage-truck adventure where you’ll also learn how to tune a Holley carb on the fly. Watch as Freiburger and Steve Dulcich live large from California to Arizona on this episode of Roadkill Garage.

The BBQUDA Lives!

Steve Dulcich had big dreams for his 1968 Plymouth Barracuda, but then it burned to the ground in the California wildfires. Dulcich was devastated, and his buddy David Freiburger realized an intervention was needed. The answer: make the car live again! Every single piece of mechanically functional rubber and plastic in the car would need to be replaced; it would need basic rewiring; and the brakes, including every hardline, would need to be renewed. As for engine and trans, the guys could use the 400hp 318ci small-block that was removed from the Mopar Muscle Truck on Episode 15 of Roadkill Garage. All that needed to happen was to get the barbecued ’Cuda running and driving again and doing burnouts to lift Dulcich’s spirits and give the car new life as the BBQuda!

The 650hp Clevo Commando Begins!

Yes, we’re talking 650 horsepower from a Ford Cleveland engine in a Jeep Commando! If you’re thinking this is stupid, you’re right; in Roadkill style, we’re putting great parts on questionable cars in the hunt for massive burnouts, fast quarter-mile times, big wheelies, and—this time—ridiculously overpowered action in the sand and dirt drags. The Clevo Commando will take months to finish, but we’re kicking off the project on this episode that gives you a gander at the weirdo Jeep as we hack the sheetmetal to clear big Bogger tires, then give you the buildup recipe for a 406ci Cleveland that proves its power with bigger numbers on the dyno than even expected, even from guest-star Steve Brulé of Engine Masters. Stay tuned for a future episode where we wrap it all up.

The Ford Muscle Truck and a New Pro Street Project!

This is an all-Ford episode, starting with the Ford Muscle Truck, taking a break to look at progress on the Disgustang 1969 Mach 1, and ending with a new-to-us Pro Street FoMoCo project car. The Ford Muscle Truck, or FMT, was first revealed on Episode 22; it’s a 1968 F-100 shortbed, stepside with a swapped-in 460 big-block, C6 auto trans, and factory 9-inch rear. On a fateful day seen on Roadkill Extra, Episode 368, Steve Dulcich blew up the rearend in the FMT and it’s been sitting untouched ever since. But then we needed to tow a new project car home, so on this episode we had no choice but to repair the FMT in order to have a tow vehicle to pick up our latest project car. Want to see it? You gotta watch the episode! Ford fans and ’80s lovers are gonna dig it. Even with all this vintage Ford stuff, Roadkill Garage is still powered by Dodge!

30 min

Return of the Vanishing Paint '70 Challenger!

One of the most popular projects from Roadkill Garage is the "Vanishing Paint" 1970 Dodge Challenger from way back on Episode 4 of the series. The car has been ignored for 30 episodes now, but when Tire Rack invited Roadkill to a race coming up later this year, David Freiburger and Steve Dulcich decided to lower their lofty goals for the car and just get it running well enough to make the trip. You’ll see the installation of the 360ci small-block that was assembled over 16 episodes of our Roadkill Extra “How to Build Your First Engine” series, plus the guys will hop up the TorqueFlite trans and show you the most affordable way to convert a muscle car to a new Ford 9-inch rearend. Of course the show closes with some traditional Roadkill Garage exhibitions of speed, but this isn’t the last you’ll see of the Vanishing Paint: stick with Motor Trend Premium to see an upcoming episode of Roadkill, where Freiburger and Dulcich will finish the suspension and hit the road to meet up with Tire Rack at an SCCA autocross!

Boost for the '67 Muscle Truck!

What happens when you put too much blower on not enough truck? You’ll find out on this episode of Roadkill Garage powered by Dodge, when David Freiburger and Steve Dulcich show you how to install a ProCharger centrifugal supercharger on any carbureted V-8—but this one happens to be the bone-stock 350ci small-block in the 1967 Chevy C10 shortbed. Is boost on top of a stock cam and heads really a good idea for an older engine? Can you have driveability with a blow-through carb? Do Freiburger and Dulcich have any clue how to use an electric fuel pump? These questions and more are all answered in a rather humiliating way on this episode.

30 min

Budget Handling Upgrades for Vanishing Paint

On this episode of Roadkill Garage presented by Dodge, we’re back with the 1970 Dodge Challenger known as Vanishing Paint. This car dates back to Episode 4, when we thrashed it together, and then we revisited it in Episode 34 as we upgraded the whole drivetrain. This time, we continue the theme of “make it pretty good but not excellent” with a homegrown package of average-guy suspension add-ons for cornering performance. And then we test it in the six-clod, our new secret test method!

30 min

Crew Cab Chevelle on Nitrous!

The Crew Cab is back! This episode of Roadkill Garage powered by Dodge answers one main question: How much nitrous can you put through a stock long-block? It also indirectly answers another: Should you put nitrous on a stock long-block? David Freiburger and Steve Dulcich teach you the ins and outs of a nitrous installation as they attempt to make their big-block 455 Buick-powered ’66 Crew Cab Chevelle faster. You’ve seen the Crew Cab handle; you’ve seen it go for top-end speed. Now see how it does in the quarter-mile on and off the bottle. Will it go faster or end in disaster? Find out now!

30 min

Model A Madness!

For years, David Freiburger has wanted a true running and drivable hot rod but has never been able to pull one from the halls of neglect to finish it…until now. On this episode of Roadkill Garage powered by Dodge, meet Freiburger and Steve Dulcich's new project car, a Model A on ’32 Ford rails. With three days to get this roller running, there’s not much to do other than install a Chevy small-block and Turbo 350 trans, build the brakes, install new axles and gears, do all of the wiring and plumbing, and, of course, add a tunnel-ram! Maybe it’s a little ambitious to build in three days, but Freiburger’s mantra is: don’t get it right, just get it running. After all, you really have to get a hot rod on the road before you can tell if you’re in love or not. The guys hit some roadblocks with compression issues that send their heads spinning but manage to eventually get it on the road. This leaves only one question unanswered: Will Freiburger love it or will another project fall to neglect?