Install-Y Ask Why?The suspension on first generation Chevy Impalas was ahead of its time. In fact, one of the biggest changes for Chevrolet during this golden era was the new frame design on all '58 models. The new X-frame lasted through 1964. This new technology gave the cars a better ride, and it's still in evidence today, as Chevy still uses the same basic design on the rear suspension of vehicles such as the 2wd Suburban.

Over the course of a car's life span, there are many changes that occur in the fashion that is its genre. In the case of lowriding, there is an ever-changing mix of colors and styles that make up the next trend. When the hot ticket has become a fizzled flame, it's time to regroup, refresh, and then show off the newest collaboration and find your new way to the trophy.

As we began our trek back to the traditional lowriding standards of deep candy paint and laced-up rides soaked in chrome, we realized that the last few years a trend not only in lowriding but in custom cars in general of stripping once-chromed parts and covering their luster in matching paint with a color-coordinated interior had somehow infected the industry. Like the many trends that came before it that transcended one genre of custom cars and spilled over to lowriding, this trend has run its course. We can now return to our roots; refined and trimmed, but our roots nonetheless.

Hard-lines on hydraulics really clean up the setup in your trunk, but even then, hydraulics still get a bad rap when it comes to leaks and rough rides. every car will handle and perform completely different to the last car. With hydraulics, it's a constant learning process as you learn from every car that you have owned and fine tuned. With this particular '56 Chevy bel air that "Indio" of Indio's Custom Restorations (Fullerton, California) is working on, the lines kept coming loose through the vibration of the motor as well as the normal usage of the hydraulics.

As announced in the May issue of Lowrider, we're proud to be involved in the Castrol Syntec Top Shop Challenge. This challenge will be taking place between the following Source Interlink magazines: Eurotuner, Import Tuner, Modified, Sport Compact Car, Super Street, Turbo and, your favorite, Lowrider Magazine. The purpose of this challenge is to see who can build the best engine that can work for the magazine market.

This past year marked a golden milestone in Toyota's history as the company celebrated 50 years of doing business in America. They've come a long way since the first Toyopet Crown sedan reached American roads in 1957. Toyota opened for business in America on october 31, 1957, in southern California, and started selling cars the following summer. By the end of 1958, it had sold just 287 Toyopet Crown sedans and one Land Cruiser-a far cry from 2006 sales of more than 2.5 million cars and trucks.

What do we mean when we say "from the street to the show?" Well, we decided to "candy out" this engine block that used to be in a street car. The engine was partially disassembled and prepped for that bling finish. Just like basic body work, the better the prep work, the better the finish.

We are proud to announce the involvement of Lowrider Magazine in the Castrol Top Shop Challenge. This challenge will be taking place between the following magazines: Eurotuner, Import Tuner, Modified, Sport Compact Car, Super Street, Turbo and, your favorite, Lowrider Magazine. The purpose of this challenge is to see who can build the best engine that can work for the magazine market. With the guidelines set, we made a game plan and partnered up with GM Performance and Ace Machine to put together one of the baddest big-block engines to be assembled for a lowrider.

As the lowriding game has elevated in recent years, so has the horsepower of the engines found in them. Along with the need for power and speed there's also the need to slow down at the end of it all, and preferably not by hitting something.

Often times, these audio Tech articles are insights into what you can do if you take the time to learn and build, but let's face it, we rarely have that luxury anymore. We all start out with good intentions wanting to add sounds to our rides, but reality soon sets in. For some, the answer is a second set of speakers in the doors. For others, the front stage loses importance really fast.

When you do a paint job, a bare canvas is the best foundation to start off with. The less materials that you use the better your chances are of not having a chemical reaction. one of the important things to remember is to try to use the same product all the way through, as most of these materials are designed so they do not react when they're used together.

For the average show car, security is not even a consideration, but street riders know that if you're going to drive it, you had better protect it. Over the last few years, there have been great strides in knowing what's going on with your car while you're away from it.

When it comes time to restore a car, the trim can become a big part of the build. If you redo an entire car, you can't just bolt on those old parts with a new paint job. That would almost be like putting on a tuxedo with a dirty pair of sneakers. Most people will paint the car and then send out their trim to be completely redone or restored. This usually takes some time and can be an issue if you're pressed for time.

Lowriders and other cool car customizers have been placing mirrors under their hoods and in their engine compartments for years now, but no professional company has ever manufactured a mirror kit specifically to fill this need. Mirror Image in Santa Fe Springs, California, stepped up to the plate and developed a mirror kit that the average lowrider can install.

The 1957 Chevy Bel Air has become a popular model amongst the lowrider community in recent years. The sexy lines and mixture of chrome and paint make a beautiful showpiece no matter what genre you decide to build these classic cars into. For the lowrider, though, the added challenge of a hydro setup and batteries can play havoc on a show-worthy trunk.

Nothing much has changed with hydraulic pumps over the years. Pumps have become faster, but the design is still close to that of the original tailgate pumps used in the '70s. Recently, though, the pros at AH-2 Hydraulics in Santa Fe Springs, California, stepped up and decided to "reinvent the wheel."

Weather stripping technology has come a long way since the 1930s when seals were fabric webbing screwed into the metal body panels. Today, high-quality aftermarket weather stripping is made with a rubber skin and sponge. The rubber creates a sturdy weather seal, while the sponge gives under pressure and effectively conforms. Top-of-the-line reproduction weather stripping from Steele Rubber will help keep your car looking good while keeping the elements out.

This month, we wanted to show you how Primo Restorations in Rancho Cucamonga, California, bought a clean '92 Chevy Camaro, pulled out the engine (and transmission), and swapped it into an American classic. The 355-c.i.d. engine was painted to match and hooked up with several accessories that got the '57 Chevy Bel Air rolling like a modern day custom.

Building a show setup is always a challenge. There are so many ways to plumb a hydraulic setup. The combinations are different for every car and depend on the needs of your vehicle. This particular setup from Black Magic Hydraulics was designed to have a retro look. It was looking good when it was out of the car, but once it was dropped in, the builders had to scramble and adapt the setup to go with the flow.

Most of today's new cars come equipped with Led taillights and many more older models are being upgraded with Led systems. Dakota Digital is known in the aftermarket world for custom digital gauges and retro kits, and they kept getting asked about building Led taillight kits for older models. They took on the task and the rest is history in the making.

Last month, we showed you how the Comp Cams retro valve train setup was an easy add-on that will allow the engine to operate like a modern small-block straight from the dealer. This month, Jerry at Ace Machine in Riverside, California, finished the 383-c.i.d. engine build and topped it off with accessories from Milodon, Professional Products, Demon Carburetor and RHS.

Prior to 1969, GM had tilt steering columns in production, but these were typically only available in their luxury models. From 1969 on up, tilt columns were readily available in most GM vehicles. These new tilt columns featured the ignition in the column rather than on the dash. Since then, lowriders, hot-rodders, street rodders and every one in between uses the GM tilt column when they build their cars.

We recently went shopping online at www.summitracing.com and were impressed by the amount of quality custom engine products to be found there. From mild to wild, Summit Racing has everything that you'll ever need to build or dress a custom engine.

For years, we've heard about smaller enclosures and saving space. Yet no matter how much we try to shrink the box, we have always been limited by the depth of the speaker. Shallow-mount speakers and subwoofers have existed for years, but the limitation for a long time has been that the smaller the mounting depth got the bigger the enclosure requirement. That kind of defeats the purpose, especially in trucks where space is slim. At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a new breed of shallow-mount subwoofer was introduced by various manufacturers-the long-requested small box shallow-mount sub.

Most of the bomb guys who are into "OG" will tell you to leave your ride stock and just lower it. The problem with that is that the old suspensions were never designed to be lowered or to ride like newer vehicles, and the technology from 70 years ago just doesn't compare to that of today. The old suspensions and roads were completely different, and car builders had no idea about adding hydraulics or, as in this case, airbags to their rides.