Introducing BISKWIK

[Cramer4918]

Hello Everyone. I’m finally getting around to starting my build thread. I am enjoying the pleasure of making this 1961 Biscayne road worthy once again. A little back story… I have been around and wrenched on this car for almost 30 years now. I became friends with the owner when I was 17. I met him when I had questions about my 1963 Corvair w/400 SBC in the front. Anyhow, he had sold and bought back this car numerous times. Each time it went to different hot rodders who were friends of his. Each person made changes, upgrades, downgrades, whatever to it. I believe he owned it a total of five times since I have known him. It had combinations ranging from a 350 SBC w/671 blower, to 502 BB w/Procharger and 150 shot of nitrous. It was mostly a street/strip car that he took to car shows. The last owner who had it before he bought it back put a 454 w/671 blower in it. He became ill and was not able to complete the car. My buddy bought it back with intentions of retiring it from the racing scene and make a cruiser out of it. A year and half into it, he lost interest and that’s where I come in!

The car has a full cage in it now but will be modified to accommodate easier entry to the back seat for my kids. The setup it had when I acquired it was a bone stock 6.0 LQ4 with 4L60E. He purchased a Vintage Air AC kit, power steering setup, and a few other goodies for it. The power steering setup was installed and the AC kit is still in the box. Me being who I am, I could not have this beautiful machine running around with a stock motor in it.. especially after the history it has in my area.

Project updates will be added in upcoming posts. In the meantime, here are some pics…

The first pic is from 1997 when it had the 502 in it. It was a respectable land yacht that ran mid-6's in the 1/8th. I took this pic when he let me drive it for the weekend. The others are of when he got it back with the 454 in it and of the interior.

[Cramer4918]

Picking up BISKWIK to bring it to its new home.

[Cramer4918]

BISKWIK’s resting place for a bit…

[Cramer4918]

Some of the frame stiffening work that goes with the roll cage and engine compartment as I received it.

[Cramer4918]

Goodies from CPP and Summit start to arrive…

CPP - Big brake upgrade and brake booster
SUMMIT - Stage 2 Pro LS Truck Cam Kit, Stainless fuel line, a few odds and ends, and a Holley Terminator X Max 4 months later.

[Cramer4918]

First order of business, I wanted to rebuild the front end with new ball joints, tie rod ends, springs, and the brake upgrade.

I don’t know what springs were in it when I got it, but it looked like it was shooting for some good 60’s! Definitely had to fix that ASAP!

[camcojb]

Great project!

[Aschle]

Awesome car !!! Congratulations !!!

[Jimbo1367]

Cool back story. Looks like a nice car. I also like the car’s crib. Nice empty garage. LOL

[Cramer4918]

Thank you for the replies! I have more updates to post and I will soon. All the pics are on my phone, so I will get them downloaded from there.

In the meantime, I have ordered new wheels. I am going with 18" and 20" versions of the Boyd Coddington Junkyard Dog. Once I get those in, whenever that will be, I'll mount some tires and check ride height. I think the front end is still sitting a little high. We shall see.

If time permits, I am hoping to start mocking up the Vintage Air system to see how and where I can mount the Holley Terminator X Max and run all the wiring. I know I will be fabbing up a center console for it, so it will most likely be tucked away inside it. I do not have the means to smooth the firewall and make fancy, but I will clean it up as best I can. I was thinking about getting the Terminator X Firewall pass through from Sharpe Performance. Is anyone here using that? Thoughts? I would also like to use a bulkhead plate for the AC system rather than passing the hoses through the firewall. I think that would help clean up the firewall somewhat.

If anyone has any suggestions or tips, please feel free to share them. I would appreciate it.