Hot Rod Garage

- Season 1

(2015)

We have fun showing you how to install a 4L60-E overdrive transmission into a 1969 Chevy El Camino, drop a 700hp blown small-block into a 1974 Jaguar XJ12, get TIG welding lessons from the guys at ToxicFab, and do smoky burnouts at every opportunity.

Finnegan blows up the stock clutch in a borrowed 2010 Camaro SS at the drag strip after installing an SLP supercharger kit and a pair of drag radials.

Mike Finnegan gets tips for strengthening sheet metal using a bead roller from world-famous fabricator, Jamey Jordan, owner of Handmade Seat Company.

Kirk Brown stops by the shop to school us on the art of sand casting traditional hot rod parts.

We revamp the Muscle Truck, our 1974 Chevrolet C10.

We turn a lowridin' 1965 Pontiac LeMans into a corner-carving muscle car with a budget-minded suspension system, a quick-ratio steering box, and disc brakes.

We catch up with David Freiburger's Hemi-powered Dodge Super Bee project car as it gains a much needed fourth gear and a few more in between in its three-speed 727 trans.

We've got a brand-new Dickies Roadkill Project Car Update on the Crusher Camaro.

The crew tunes the FAST XFI 2.0 electronic fuel injection system for wide-open throttle performance, lowers the front suspension, adds a pair of Viking adjustable dampers, and installs a Hurst Roll Control line lock for better burnouts.

We revamp the suspension on our 1969 Chevy El Camino to turn this lowly hauler into a real corner-carver.

We round out a season of El Camino upgrades with a big heart transplant. Gone is our old 383ci Small-Block and in its place is Chevrolet Performance' LS376/525 an all-aluminum, fuel-injected, crate engine that is probably underrated at 525hp and 475 lb-ft of torque. Using parts from Hooker, Aeromotive, Holley, Gearstar, Flex-A-Lite, and Chevrolet Performance, the swap only requires a few holes drilled and a bit of exhaust pipe fitting to make happen.

Mike Finnegan journeys to Sonny Leonard Racing Engines in Lynchburg, Virginia to help assemble his new engine, a 771ci Big-Block Chevy topped with Hemi heads, which is primed to produce ridiculous pump-gas horsepower and torque.