Upon hearing about the plight of Octavio Sanchez and his ailing 1962 Impala, WyoTech Technical School students and faculty members were moved beyond belief, and immediately offered their time and efforts to help restore his car. During his service in Iraq, Sanchez, a 29-year-old Marine Staff Sergeant, was the unfortunate victim of a roadside bomb. The explosion yielded tragic injuries for the young Marine, costing him the use of his left hand, the loss of his right hand altogether, and third-degree burns over 70% of his body. Utilizing the help of the Edelbrock Corporation and Fatsco Transmission Parts, the students and faculty at the WyoTech-Long Beach campus completely rebuilt and restored the small-block Chevrolet engine and transmission to better-than-stock condition.inline_mediumwraptextright25456991/tech/0911_lrmp_1962_chevrolet_impala_overhaullrmp_0911_02+1962_chevrolet_impala_engine_transmission_overhaul+lift.jpgTrue

In a quest to find a Lowrider fast enough to compete in the Castrol Top Car Challenge, presented by Castrol Syntec and Lowrider Magazine, we sifted through hundreds of submissions looking for the perfect contestant. Our answer to that search has come to us in the form of Art Medina of Northridge, CA., and his super charged white '68 Caprice. The ideal candidate, Art's Caprice pushes over 400 horsepower, fusing together the explosive blend of American Muscle Car speed and classic Lowrider styling. A lifetime builder with several cars to his credit, Art is certainly a candidate worthy of representing the Lowrider community in this big challenge.

When people get tired of their vehicle, they usually tackle a project that will not cost much, but will still change up or enhance the look of the already existing car. If you have a hydraulics setup and it's working, all you can really do is improve it. This was the case for a 1966 Impala that was going to be worked on at Hoppo's Hydraulics of Ontario, CA. The car already had a few things added to it in the past by its previous owner, in fact, the car had fresh new batteries and armatures, however the rest of the equipment needed to be re-worked and upgraded. The owner decided to drop off his Impala so that Hoppo's could re-do the trunk compartment and add the one-of-a-kind Hoppo's touch to the Impala to give a rejuvenated custom flavor to the car.

We called out all those fast lowriders last month when we brought you the announcement that Castrol Syntec and Lowrider Magazine were joining forces again. Our first respondent to the challenge is Art Medina of Northridge, CA, and the thirty-five year old insurance salesman is certainly no stranger to performance.

"My father and I considered this work an art form because you can't hide any imperfections with bondo or body filler," he notes. "Your parts need to be worked right and polished the right way, if not, your parts will come out wavy or dull. This art form is not something that you can find in the yellow pages, it's just not something that comes with an owner's manual," he says truthfully. "Every molding has its own contours and shapes, and is worked similarly. No matter if its aluminum or stainless, it just takes a little patience," he remarks. "You can't rush these jobs and our customers know that. We have had to do re-work on moldings that were worked on by other people, those are usually the worst and more time consuming." Despite the time frame necessary for quality work, Gonzalo prides himself in still executing perfection in the most efficient manner possible. "Depending on the job, our normal turnaround is two weeks on moldings," he says.

Kicker's QS-Series Component System
The KICKER QS-Series Matched Component Systems reach an entirely new level of optimal audio, using the latest, most innovative parts and cutting-edge processes to give the listener the absolute closest thing to live sound. The QS65.2 System features 6.5-inch mids while the QS60.2 System has true 6-inch that fit 5.25-inch location as well.
www.kicker.com

OwnerDee Dog

Rockford Fosgate Delivers More Power
The new Rockford Fosgate new Power Amplifiers T2500-1bd 2500 Watt Class-bd Mono Amplifier.This class-bd mono low-frequency amplifier pumps out 2,500 watts. It can easily drive four 2-ohm DVC woofers without breaking a sweat or any array of woofers wired to create a 1-ohm amplifier load. Use two amps in Power-Sync mode for a whopping 5,000 watt power horse! www.rockfordfosgate.com

Tech Project
Rack-and-pinion technology became popular in the '80s and has since been incorporated into different types of vehicles, like older-model cars and even John Deere tractor equipment. The guys at Unisteer realized that there was a demand for these kinds of kits and turned their focus over to fill in the void in the custom car world.

A part from the mechanical side of a car, the driver seat can be considered one of the most important things in your car. If you can't sit behind the wheel, you can't drive. With that said, your seat is usually the first one to wear out due to everyday usage, and it usually needs to be redone or restored after only a few years. The seat that we're going to show you today has had about 20 years of service- it almost looks like the owner lived in the car!

All Star Series Lowrider Muffler
3A Racing released an exclusive series of patented muffler designs for hot-rods, lowriders, and street rods. Constructed from full stainless T304, it's perfect for vehicles with lowered suspensions or limited mounting space. The All Star Series lowrider muffler increases exhaust flow and produces up to 40 percent less back pressure compared to stock mufflers. It's available in both single- and dual-tip styles. www.3aracing.com, West Coast 310.436.3600, East Coast 718.886.6600

Tech ProjectThe final part of the 235 engine build now comes to a close. This engine was completely rebuilt from the ground up. In our first part of the series we worked on the motor head, which creates all of the torque and horsepower. As we mentioned before, this 235 engine received Egge components for the internal parts of the block. Last month we installed the Egge cam bearings onto the machined engine block and we balanced the connecting rods to keep the vibration down to a minimum.

Don't Stress OutThe evolution of hydraulics has progressed over the years and so has the technology in strengthening the automotive frame and suspension. From trial and error people have learned that reinforcing a car's chassis would help relieve some of the pressure created by the hydraulic pumps and cylinder pressures. Some of the problems were created by abuse, like the crossmember collapsing from hopping, or frames cracking because the stock frame couldn't handle the weight of the batteries and the complete car pivoting from one area to another. These are just a few examples of problems that hydraulics can cause when they are demonstrated with massive force that becomes abusive to the undercarriage of today's lowriders.

Send your product releases to Lowrider Magazine New Products, 2400 E. Katella Ave., 11th Floor, Anaheim, CA 92806, or email them to joe.ray@sourceinterlink.com.

Last year we introduced our first annual restoration guide. It turned out to be a complete success, so once again we're bringing the DIY guys tips and pointers for 2009. Planning the initial steps in a car restoration project is very important: make a schedule, budget expenses, and get started. We figured we would try to get you ahead on your project by showing you some of the newest products that will help you restore your soon-to-be classic cruiser.

When Dave at Speed-O-Motive in West Covina, California, told us about a Chevrolet 235 engine that they were going to be working on, we jumped at the opportunity to show the build. When we arrived for our second session, they were ready to start working on the straight-six. The 235-cid engine is very reliable and is often referred to as a bulletproof engine by the bomb guys.

UpgradeThe "Flying Lady," "Winged Lady," "Naked Lady," and "Chrome Flying Goddess" are just some of the names that people have called this hood emblem over the years. The "Spirit of Ecstasy" is the actual name of the mascot, or hood ornament, on Rolls-Royce cars. It's of a woman leaning forward with her arms outstretched behind and above her with billowing cloth running from her arms to her back to resemble wings.

Forget "low and slow," our annual Performance Guide will help you bring your engine into the new era. It's been 10 years since our first engine/SEMA shot on the cover of Lowrider magazine. The fact of the matter is that there were only a few of us who were doing the crossover engines, but since that shoot in 1998 we haven't turned back. In fact, we have embraced the bull by its horns and showed you, the readers, all along about the essentials of engine building.

You Could Be The Winner Of This Custom-Built Engine!Go To SyntecTopShop.com and Vote For Your Favorite Engine

You receive more benefits when restoring or customizing a vintage vehicle if you perform upgrades. Some of the options that were not available on all models back in the day are being offered today by manufacturers like Flaming River. Flaming River has stepped up its game and is offering tilt steering columns for several classic models, and this month we're doing a tilt column installation on a '69 Chevy Caprice. That particular model year was the first for Chevy in which the ignition went on the steering column.

You Could Be The Winner Of This Custom-Built Engine!Go To Syntectopshop.ComAnd Vote For Your Favorite Engine

We are always talking about what's next after you're done with your lowrider. The fact is that our cars take so long to build, mostly because of money situations, that by the time we're done, we already want to redo the vehicle. If we were to perpetually tear down our cars and redo them, constantly trying to keep up with the Joneses, our cars would never get done. Most of us opt to add or make some changes to our vehicles. Engine compartments have come a long way in the last 10 years as there are different parts that will allow you to dress up your engine to your liking without major downtime.

OwnerSam Zuniga

There comes a point in every builder's life that the thrill of the hop and the rumble from the trunk becomes too much to want to deal with; a day where the next build is something for the family to enjoy with the top down under the summer sun, not for a turntable or for an active night of swinging on the boulevard. But just because we don't need the entire neighborhood to hear us doesn't mean that we don't want clean sound and a clean classic to hit the street with.