Did someone say, "Serious horsepower?" How about 528 cubic inches of Mother Mopar's famous Hemi engine? Of course, just having the "King Kong" of crate Hemis wasn't enough-like most car guys, Vince wanted more. So he added a full spray of velocity stacks atop a Hilborn manifold that has been converted to accept electronically controlled injectors rather than the old pills that were originally used to adjust the mixture. With the stacks in place, and an MSD crank trigger ignition to fire the mixture, the 610-hp-plus (650 ft-lb of torque) monster blasts its spent gasses through the stainless Sanderson block-hugger headers and out the back of the car. The brute power of the Hemi is passed through a 3,000-rpm stall converter, mounted within the TPI-modified 727 TorqueFlite trans, then out to the Currie 9-inch rearend.
Knowing that at some point after a glorious full throttle blast, one must come back to reality, and sometimes to a rather quick stop, Vince installed a pair of Wilwood disc brakes up front that work in conjunction with the Ford drums in the rear. Because of its relatively low curb weight, this is plenty of brake to bring things to a safe halt. Then, in keeping with the Gasser theme, the ends of the axles were capped with classic E-T big 'n' littles.
Next on the list of things to do was freshening the body, which, due to its earlier pampered usage, would require only cosmetic touches. The first time around, the top had been chopped 4 inches, which meant the most serious of the alterations had already been completed. This turned the bulk of the hard work into removing the old paint-the rest would be the fun stuff that makes things look neat. Custom splash aprons were created to clean up the bodylines, the fuel tank was moved to a location behind the seat, the filler neck was moved into the trunk, and a really slick rear roll pan with molded '37 Chevy taillights was created to replace the original rear panel. Up front a Rootlieb hood with true '34-style louvers and a pair of King Bee headlights finish the look. In keeping with the basic theme, the body is rather low-tech; the exposed hinges are still there, as are the door handles, locks, and the original hood trim. Yet the combination of all these touches makes the body look light and agile with just enough points of interest to capture your attention. Then, for that "just right" amount of pure flash, Vince covered the body with a beautiful shade of yellow Centari enamel paint. For an added artistic touch, and to further the classic styling, Vince contracted Tom Kelly to lay down the finishing touches of black and white pinstripes.
The last piece of business to be taken care of was the completion of the interior. For this, Vince selected a full complement of Moon gauges, a Lokar shifter to make those critical gear changes, and a Kenwood sound system to supply tunes. To keep the '34 headed in the right direction, an ididit column was attached to the Mullins steering box and a Billet Specialties steering wheel attached to the top of it for leverage and good looks. There's even a chrome-plated rollbar built into the interior for an added touch of safety and to emulate the '60s Gasser look. With all the interior items in place, it was time for Terry Goltz to bring the car to life by connecting a Ron Francis wiring kit to every nook and cranny of the vehicle. Then, with the fire lit and bulbs glowing, a Glide seat was added to the mix, and the car was delivered to Carsen Auto Trim where the entire interior was covered with black leather in a very traditional-looking tuck 'n' roll pattern.
The finished product is everything that Vince was looking for-it catches your attention without being in-your-face, it rides and handles nicely, it's got serious horsepower under the hood, and has extremely good road manners. The big Hemi even has a retina-riveting Hilborn fuel-injection system bolted to the aluminum heads. Sure it's on electronics, but the look is still that "just-right" look. And because it's on electronics, it starts and drives just like a modern vehicle. Fact is, the car runs and drives so well that when we caught up with him at the Goodguys Indy show, Vince was having a blast trying to run the wheels off the car. I guess if you take a bit of time (something like 15 years) to plan your project, you end up with exactly what you had in mind.