DrivetrainMartin leaned on the four-bolt 350 a little, boring the block to 355 ci and adding Speed-Pro 9.25:1 pistons with Perfect Circle rings, plus World Products Sportsman II heads. The 600-cfm carb, manifold, valve covers, and air cleaner are all Edelbrock. The exhaust pipes are Hedman Hedders. He figures the small-block makes in the neighborhood of 350 hp (he knows it's enough to run low 13s at the dragstrip). Backing it up is a TH350 automatic with a 2,000-stall B&M converter, and a Ford 9-inch rear with Posi-traction and 3.00:1 gears.
ChassisMartz Chassis (Bedford, Pennsylvania) has a '32 Chevy IFS chassis assembly that Martin slid under the stock body. Tubular control arms, coilovers, and dropped spindles are part of the package. Camaro disc brakes were installed at all wheels. The Ford 9-inch is suspended by coilovers, along with a four-bar and Panhard bar.
Wheels & TiresOld photos from the coupe's brown and black days show it rolling on stock spoke wheels, and later with big 'n' little blackwall radials and Torq-Thrusts, which makes the current combo look even better. Martin dressed up the orange-painted 15x5 and 15x7 steelies with '50 Chevy rings and caps, and mounted 165- and 235-series Coker wide white radials.
Body & PaintThe original door handles, hood vent doors, radiator shell, cowl lights, rumble seat, headlight bar, hood ornament, and the original roll-down rear window all contribute to the resto rod side of the car. After stripping the body to bare metal, Martin primed it with epoxy and shot a basecoat of PPG black followed by PPG flat clear to achieve a great suede finish that adds to the hot rod side. The original bumpers were rechromed and remounted, and a second stock taillight was mounted on the passenger side. The headlights are aftermarket King Bees.
InteriorDick Gerwer (Lititz, Pennsylvania) stitched rolls 'n' pleats in the black Naugahyde covering the door panels and the original bench seat. The orange piping matches Gerwer's 'striping on the dash. Martin modified the dash and filled it with Auto Meter gauges. The shifter, hand brake, and pedals are from Lokar. The steering wheel is a '55 Chevy wheel, reduced 2 inches in diameter. The cowl vent opens for old-time air conditioning.