DRiVE! Magazine Project Surf Wagon

06/08/2026

02/11/2026

First time this car has run in 22 years.

02/11/2026

As promised, here's a clip from our initial start-up and heat cycling runs. That's me with my 1 year-old grandson, Jett (who loves all things with motors or wheels)
Sound up!

02/11/2026

Progress Report:
Project surf wagon has a heartbeat!
Back in November, we took the stagnant creamsickle cart to a trusted longtime friend to get the custom dual exhaust done. We had been literally spoken of doing it for years and the time had finally come. (He is happily retired now and private, and didn't want to be mentioned). His work is top tier and much appreciated.
After getting it back, it was time to call on Gasser Matt's Performance. Matt specializes in mobile classic car repair and he was just the guy to get this Chevy small block to come to life. So after some careful stealth wiring, a bit of perfect timing, a fresh Optima Red Cap battery from O'Reilly and all the vital fluids were added, we heard the Thunderworks powerplant come to life. We let 'er warm up to operating temp for 3 separate heat cycles and couldn't be more pleased. The engine breathes through an Edelbrock 650 Street Thunder carburetor on a polished intake manifold from Speedmaster 79. The spent dinosaur juice fumes exit via a pair of GM "rams horn" manifolds for that vintage touch, into 2.5" aluminized steel tubing, through a crossover pipe, and then through a set of FlowMaster 50 series mufflers. It was a great day, and definitely a reason to celebrate.
Big thanks to:
👍 Marv & Suzann Grogan of Thunder Works custom engine building
👍 Mike McDougal
👍 Mike Bell & Tina Bell
👍 Kyle Williams
👍 O'Reilly (N. Apple Valley)
👍 Gasser Matt Performance
👍 Lenard Williams of Len's Performance Automotive. ✝️
Thanks for following along.
More to come.....
[See the video in a separate post]

12/14/2025

Wait, what?

12/14/2025

The new Speedmaster 79 intake manifold, polished up, & ready to mount atop the '57 Surf Wagon's powerplant.

12/14/2025

Update on Project Surf Wagon:
File this under: " Better to find it now, than later"...
Unfortunately, we spotted a few hairline cracks in the coolant temp sensor boss, along with evidence of cross-threading, so we determined that the whole manifold should be replaced.
So with a quick inventory check in the parts room of Len's Performance Automotive, we scored a new-in-box small block Chevy intake manifold from Speedmaster 79.
The as-cast rough finish wouldn't do, so we dropped it off at Phoenix Polishing in Hesperia, California to let them perform their magic on it.
A few days later, we picked up this gleaming piece of automotive jewelry and installed it on the Thunderworks Chevy mill.
👍 Big thanks to Len's Performance, Mike Bell, Gasser Matt Performance, and Phoenix Polishing.

09/04/2025

Update on Project Surf Wagon:
We recruited our friend Matthew Owings of Gasser Matt Performance for his great knowledge in hot rods, classics and especially electrical wiring. On this day, we wired up the spark plugs with a new set of Taylor wires and connected them up to a new MSD Street Fire electronic distributor. With the help of a new chrome distributor holder kit from the local O'Reilly, we dropped it into the small block Chevy.
Moving in to the dash, we installed the AutoMeter Products, Inc. "Custom Shop" instrument set into this slick instrument bezel from Hampton Engineering. With Matt's help, the assembly went smoothly and the wiring was routed and prepped to go into the dashboard.
Stay tuned for more as it happens. 👍

08/24/2025

03/23/2025

Messing around with some A1 images this morning...I told it to make the 57 Chevy Surf Wagon into a boxed 1:24 scale model kit. Here's what it gave me 👇