Over the last few months, Long Island has been more than generous to SUPER CHEVY magazine, puking out a wide assortment of 1,000-point hot rods-no two the same, but all equally deserving of attention.
Though it's only 33 or so miles from our humble office in the great state of New Jersey, a trip to "The Island" takes anywhere from two to six hours, depending on whether the Long Island Expressway is at a snail's pace, or completely stopped (the only two choices you get, no matter what time of day it is).
In our August issue, we featured a beautiful IROC belonging to Harold Caron, who apparently doesn't ride alone. He introduced us to his posse of Pro Street colleagues, one of whom, according to Caron, "has the baddest of the bad '70 Chevelle on the planet."
We took a peek at said Chevelle between the raindrops at Atco Raceway and found out that Harold was not exaggerating. It could indeed be the baddest of the bad, no doubt about it. Tubbed out and packed with a 632ci big-block on nitrous, the 3,980-pounder hits harder than a freight train and gives new meaning to the term, "bad in black."
This '70 Chevelle, owned by Keith Seaman, is a tribute to his late father, who instilled in him a passion for cars and their ability to exude emotion inherent in a job well done.
"Driving through the Good Guys Show in Ohio with my dad was the greatest experience in the world," Keith said. "Six months later, he unfortunately passed away of cancer. It was the only time he was in the car, but the short time we spent in it was the best it could possibly be."
Over the years, Keith and his pops spent time tooling on whatever they could get their hands on, and Keith is grateful for the tutelage.
Built by Big Sal Race Engines in Centereach, New York, the monster under the hood provides stump-pulling torque and over 940 hp without even going near the nitrous switch. Sitting atop an internally balanced 10:1 steel short-block is a set of aluminum Brodix cylinder heads flowing well over 300cfm all through the power band and sucking more than enough air flow that a 632ci engine demands. The valvetrain consists of a custom-grind Comp Cams camshaft, Crane roller lifters, and custom roller rockers.
Rounding out the power plant is a Brodix aluminum intake manifold, QuickFuel Technology 1,250-cfm carburetor, and 21/4-inch stainless steel headers.
Keith recently received his license and chassis certification, allowing him to run this baby full bore. Without the nitrous, he was able to walk her to a 9.80 at over 138 mph, but he expects mid-8s in the near future after getting comfortable in the wheelman's chair.