Hey everyone! Wanted to start a "Of the Week" blog to highlight cars, owners, parts suppliers and shops that are responsible for the industry being as great as it is! Not always going to be the newest car out there, some weeks might feature cars from years ago that helped evolve the industry to where it is today.
So, for the first issue "of the week," we are going to feature the 2002 Street Machine of the Year built by Denny Terzich.
Denny Terzich Jr. and his father (R.I.P. Captain) transformed this '56 Chevy into an award-winning ride-and won the 2002 Goodguys Street Machine of the Year title. Denny and his dad did the majority of the fabrication in his grandfather's one-stall home garage. Denny and his Dad are known for slick Pro Street-style rides; the roster includes three other shoebox Chevys, a ’33 Ford, and a ’62 Bel-Air bubbletop with a fuel-injected 409. The ’56 started out as a Pro Street ride too—this time for Denny Sr.—but his son convinced him to hand the car over for some major surgery.
The chassis was the first to fall under the scalpel. Denny cut out the body’s floor pan, then channeled it three inches over a home-fabbed jig. The frame was set up for Pro Street rubber, which meant it had to be redone to fit inside the body. The rear subframe was hacked off and replaced with a pair of rails from S&W Race Cars. To create a kickup in the rear, the rails were welded to the top of the remaining frame just before the rear tires. With the frame set up inside the body at actual ride height, the engine, transmission, and rear axle mounts were mocked up and pinion angles set correctly.
The ’56 gets its ground-scraping stance from a combination of S&W ladder bars, Fatman Fabrications A-arm front suspension, and AirRide Technologies Shockwave coil-overs on all four corners. Also sitting on those corners are Wilwood disc brakes and Colorado Custom wheels (20 x 12 rear, 18 x 8 front) wrapped with BFGoodrich rubber.
With the chassis buttoned up, the Terziches turned their attention to the rest of the body. They fabbed a new floor pan, hung new rear quarter panels, and fitted the rest of the sheetmetal before hauling the shell over to Dave Mathews Auto Body for completion. Dave created a through-the-hood air cleaner and steel belly pans, modified the inner front fenders for extra tire clearance, and built an air vent into the passenger side fenderwell to duct air to the transmission cooler. When the bodywork was finished, Dave laid down the PPG Concept Orange and Chevy Truck White paint job.
Lest you think this shoebox is all face and no action, take a look under the hood. You’ll find 572 cubic inches of big block Chevy built by Evanuik Performance Engines. The 11.8:1 compression motor has a Merlin block filled with Crower and JE internals and a Comp Cams solid roller cam. The block is topped with a pair of prepped Trick Flow R-Series aluminum heads and a Brodix intake with a 1,145 cfm carburetor. Add an MSD ignition system and custom-built 2 1/8-inch primary headers, and you get an engine that makes 900 horsepower. Throw in a 300 shot of Nitrous Works giggle gas and you get—well, very, very scared.
A complete custom interior with several cows’ worth of white and orange leather (still don't know where he found the orange cows) Mini roll bars on the front buckets to attach the RJS harnesses, a mondo audio/video system, and a custom dash insert. In the trunk you'll also find white leather with the orange nirtous bottle and two sub woofers and additional audio/visual equipment.
SPECS
Chassis and Suspension Frame: S&W Race Cars rear subframe Z-ed to stock frame rails, Fatman Fabrications front subframe Front Suspension: Fatman Fabrications tubular A-arm with 2-inch drop spindles and Air Ride Technologies Shockwave coil-overs Rear Suspension: S&W Race Cars ladder bars and Air Ride Technologies Shockwave airbag/coil-overs Rear Axle: Currie Enterprises 9” Ford , Currie Enterprises 9-Plus third member, 4.56 gears and posi unit Brakes: Four-wheel Wilwood disc brakes (13-inch front, 12.25-inch rear) Wheels and Tires: Colorado Custom Slotted Slater wheels (18 x 8 front, 20 x 12 rear), BFGoodrich Comp T/A tires (225/40ZR-18 front, P295/40ZR-20 rear) Chassis Work: Owner
Engine and Transmission Type: Big block Chevy, 572 cubic inches Block: World Products Merlin block, cast iron Reciprocating Assembly: Crower stroker crank, 6.405-inch Crower connecting rods, 11.8:1 JE forged pistons Camshaft: Comp Cams solid roller cam, 280-degree/287-degree advertised duration, .748-inch lift Cylinder Heads: Trick Flow R-Series aluminum heads, 340cc intake ports Valvetrain: Comp Cams valve springs, 1.7/1.6 ratio Comp Cams roller rocker arms Induction: Brodix single plane intake (cut two inches for hood clearance), 1,145 cfm Dominator-style carburetor Power Adder: 300-horsepower nitrous system Ignition: MSD Pro Billet distributor, MSD Digital 6-Plus ignition , MSD Blaster coil, MSD 8.5mm ignition wires Exhaust: Custom 2 1/8-inch primary headers with 4-inch collectors, 4-inch dual exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers Transmission: Rossler Turbo 400 with Gear Vendors 6-speed over/underdrive unit, B&M 10-inch torque converter (3,500 rpm stall) Other Items: Milodon oil pan, ARP fasteners, Meziere electric water pump, Powermaster starter, Powermaster 145 amp alternator, Be Cool aluminum radiator Engine Work: Evanuik Racing Engines, North Versailles, PA
Paint and Body Modifications: Body channeled 3 inches over frame, new quarter panels, steel belly pans and front roll pan, smoothed firewall, inner fenderwells modified for tire clearance, air vent in passenger fenderwell for transmission cooler Trim: Trimparts reproduction trim, custom-made clear tail lights, Soffseal weatherstripping Paint: PPG Concept Orange and Chevy Truck White Bodywork and Paint: Dave Mathews Auto Body, White Oak, PA
Interior Seats: Glide Engineering buckets with mini-roll bars on front for harnesses Upholstery: White and orange leather, white carpet Dash: Pete’s Fabrication dash insert Other Items: Tilt steering column, Lokar pedals, B&M Street Bandit shifter, audio/video entertainment system by Audio Communications, Monroeville, PA Upholstery: J.C. Auto Trim, Irwin, PA