#I wanted to try out a new design that incorporates more of Turbo since he got very little screentime in the movie! but idk...

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

Had to shuffle this guy's design around a lot to fit the narrative, but I still haven't fully figured it out... which one do you guys prefer bc I'm genuinely stumped?

+ 2 bonus practice doodles back when I was still unfamiliar with how to draw Turbo

[jasper-dracona]

Thought:

We’ve seen Castiel fight quite a bit, he’s actually decent at it, and he has plenty of cool abilities that we see him use like once and never again. He can shoot lightning down from the sky, twist knives that he’s not touching, and he’s obviously pretty good with a dagger/knife because Angel Blades. So, here’s my Supernatural Better Ending idea.

So, after the confession Dean and Sam fight like hell to get Cas back. But, they make a rule: No more of this self-sacrifice garbage. It always gets us into more trouble than we were in before, and it hurts us all. So, we get Cas back by any means necessary, except that. Spells, trickery, killing demons, angels, reapers, all powerful creatures we’ve never even heard of, whatever, just not ourselves.

And they succeed!! It was... oooohhh my god it was fucking hard. The boys need a fucking nap.

After said nap, they sit down and discuss what they all want, and what they’re gonna do next.

Dean says that hunting is really the only thing he’s ever known, it’s what he does best. Sam got a year off to think and feel what living in the real world is like, but Dean’s never really done that, and he doesn’t really want to. He likes kicking in the door of abandoned factories and killing whatever ghoul or ghost is traumatizing or killing the local townspeople.

Sam says that he’s really tired, even after that nap. He wants to live a normal life, and he feels like he’s got the chance because for once it feels like the world isn’t hunting them down, or that he needs to go hunt someone else down to go save them. He’s got a knack for fixing things, for making things work and tick, and well... there’s this girl... But, there will always be this little voice in the back of my head saying that there’s lives to be saved, there’s ghosts to be killed, so maybe I can still help out?

Cas says, he’s not really sure what he wants, other than to be with them (it goes unsaid but they all know he has a uhhh preference if he “must” choose between them)

And Dean pipes up that, well “we’ve seen you fight Cas and you’re pretty good at it, a bit stiff” Sam snickers a bit “but, uh, you can handle yourself quite well.” He snickers again. “You can use an Angel Blade, I’ve seen you shoot lightning down from the sky in the past. Why don’t you come with me on my monster hunting trips?”

“Would I have to learn how to use a gun?”

“It might be good to know, but there’s other ways of fighting that work almost as well.”

“Alright, I... like the sound of that” Cas says, as he cracks a little bit of a side-smile.

Dean, on a bit of a roll, says “and Sam, you’ve always been more partial to research anyway, would you wanna be our...” he pauses for a moment, because this is an emotionally charged title he’s about to offer Sam, and a lot of memories and feelings come flooding back. He smiles warmly and with pride, but undertones of sorrow creep in. “Our new Bobby? I mean, like, part-time since you want a mostly normal life, right?”

Sam, seeming a bit taken aback by this proposition “d- uh- y-yeah! I’d- I’d be glad to do that! Oh and uh, I was thinking, since I’m good at fixing things and making things work, well, I could maybe design you two some new tools. I mean, we’ve got salt pellets for the shotgun and iron tools, and silver bullets, but there’s gotta be other ways to further simplify those kinds of techniques, make them more efficient.”

Dean face lowers a bit and he seems... sceptical. He’s always been one for tradition, “if ain’t broke don’t fix it” is a very old phrase and I think he’s a fan.

“Of course, never to the point where hunting would be un-fun. The danger is part of it! But, I wanna keep the number of hits you- two- (he pauses and gestures to Cas, getting used to this new dynamic) take before you kill whatever you’re hunting to a minimum, right?”

Cas, having been just kind of standing, listening mostly in silence until now, says “yes that would be good. Also, since the main weapon I use is an Angel Blade, would it be possible for us to get other, similarly styled blades for me to use? Because, as powerful as an Angel Blade is, it only kills some supernatural beings other than demons and angels.”

“Uh, yeah I’m sure we could get you that. I don’t think I could make it but I can definitely look into it.”

And then they go, they get right into a decent rhythm (I’m not technically caught up so the details of what’s going on with Sam are going to be lacking.) Sam goes and talks to his girl, tells her that he’s going to be living a mostly normal life from now on, just with a bit of research and a bit of tinkering. He gets a job as the local plumber, but also does work on cars, on electrical things. He’s kinda known around town as the fix-it guy. If you’ve got a problem or somethings broken, he’s a pretty safe bet. In his off time he designs this heavy cloth rope that’s been soaked in salt-brine and then dried, leaving it full of salt, so that you can more easily encircle a room with it. It works best for ghosts because they’re mostly incorporeal. He designs a little box, kind of like a craft supplies box, with a series of small tools and materials in each spot. Gold, silver, copper, a coin of each, a piece of iron, and all sorts of other little pieces of equipment and ingredients.

We jump to Cas and Dean, in The Car, having a laugh when Dean’s phone rings. Sam says he’s got a lead and that he has some stuff he wants them to try out while they’re there. He gives them the rundown and say he’ll mail the package to the local shitty motel.

Normal Supernatural episode stuff happens, they follow the lead, get the package, find the house, and get to work. And we get to see Dean and Cas dance-fight their way through like 12 ghosts. They flow around the room with such synchronicity, despite the difference in pace between their weapons of choice, shotgun and throwing daggers. A beautiful sweeping shot around the room of them annihilating ghost after ghost after ghost. The only interruption being that Dean takes just a second too long reloading and gets scratched across his left cheek. Cas quite promptly stabs that ghost in the back, and the room falls silent.

“I think we got them all.” Cas says, without looking around the room, eyes fixed on Dean.

“Thanks, Cas” Dean says in a near-whisper

“No worries. Let’s go get that patched up.”

Cut to Dean sitting on the edge of the trunk, with Cas patching up his cut. Can’t Cas heal people? Well... they prefer this ritual to magic-y insta healing, it’s not as fun. Cas will make sure it won’t scar, however. Cas finishes bandaging him up, and makes one more good press on it to smooth it out, leaving his hand gingerly on Dean’s cheek.

“There we go, all cleaned up.” He says, smiling and looking over Dean’s face once more, just to make sure that’s the only scratch, or is he looking for more personal reasons? Maybe both?

Dean was kinda looking off in the distance while Cas patched him up, but now he looks right into his eyes. He grabs onto Cas’s caressing hand gently, smiles ever-so softly and leans in and kisses him. It is the exact kind of kiss you would expect from Dean Winchester, if any kiss could be described as “gruff”, this would be it.

They both let go after a long moment, Cas’s eyes are full of so much: shock, confusion, excitement, joy, and for a split second, fear, thinking he might just get sent back to turbo hell the empty.

Dean however, simply has a cheeky grin on his face with a touch of embarrassment. “Y’know... we haven’t had a chance to talk much since you got back.”

“Uh- Dean- I...” it looks as though Cas’s mind is going about a trillion miles a second.

Dean revels in his love’s adorable awkwardness, that often shines through even if he isn’t the only one in his vessel, even if he hasn’t spoken, damn he’s the cutest. “I wish I coulda done that sooner. I just... felt I wasn’t ready. That one had to be 100% on my terms.”

Cas wants to say something, anything, but just- there’s so much happening in his brain right now he can’t- he just- ah! This is amazing but he just cannot get any words out.

“Hey uhh, you good there buddy? Did I short-circuit you?”

“I think maybe, yeah!” Cas finally says with a chortle and this expression of relief and excitement and at least a little bit of embarrassment.

We cut to the next scene, back at Sam’s house, giving reviews and suggestions about his inventions.

“Okay okay, I can probably fix that by adjusting the drying time based on the humidity, and you’ll probably need to keep it in an air tight container from now on.”

“Yeah I was uhh... a little distracted when we put it away last. Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright Cas, it’s good to know that proper storage matters for this one.”

Suddenly, a bunch of pinging comes from Sam’s computer.

“What’s that?” asks the ever-paranoid Dean.

“I set up a series of notifications on my computer to go off if it found any news article that had a series of key words. This seems like a big one, vampires most likely, telling by the key words it found. You guys down?”

“Always.” They say, in tandom. Somewhat surprised, they glance at eachother a moment.

Sam raises his eyebrows. His face then says the word “anyways” without him making a sound.

“The article says it happened in [town], [state]. A man was killed in the...” Cas and Dean step around the desk and Dean leans in to look at the laptop, both hands on the desk, Cas leans in slightly and looks intently as well. They begin to discuss, likely speculating what type of vampire and what to do as the camera pans back and up in an arc as Sam’s voice fades, Carry On Wayward Son begins to play (because it has to) and it fades to black.

(Honestly wanted to write that last scene as if it was far later, well after the kiss, so that I could mention an Easter egg, that would be for eagle eyed viewers if this was an actual episode, where Cas and Dean both had wedding bands. Couldn’t figure out how to make it work though, and not seems like a big, weird jump.)

[tfwiki]

In TRANSFORMERS: Forged to Fight, Transformers fans and gamers everywhere can build a team of Transformers characters and battle with the most iconic Autobots and Decepticons from nearly every era of the storied franchise’s 30-plus year history, including fan-favorite bots from previous and current animated Transformers TV series, Paramount’s blockbuster films, Transformers comic books and Hasbro's line of iconic action figures. Players explore an epic new universe where multiple realities collide to form a massive planetary battlefield while assembling a team of Autobots and Decepticons from across time and space to fight against a world of corrupted Transformers robots and their villainous overlords. The game features amazing visuals, intense one-on-one battles, meaningful robot to vehicle converting action and deep RPG elements.

Hot Rod made quite the splash when he debuted in Transformers: The Last Knight and he’s looking to do the same when he enters the fray in Forged To Fight. Let’s get the scoop on the undercover protector. NOTE: If you haven’t seen the movie yet, there may be some spoilers below so continue at your own risk

AUTOBOT HOT ROD has joined the fight! Long undercover on Earth with his brother in arms, Bumblebee, Hot Rod is a powerful and agile warrior with a unique Time Bubble Cannon that definitely packs a serious punch!

Nick Warps Hot Rod’s Reality

Cuz: Early on in development, Hasbro shared that Hot Rod was rocking a new “Time Bubble” cannon.  Tell us a) were you pumped on this b) how you created the effect and c) how would things be different if it was a “Time Bubble” chainsaw as some fans had predicted?

Nick: I was absolutely pumped about Hot Rod’s “Time Bubble”. It’s an effect that really shines  on the higher end devices (to witness all of the bells and whistles).

For this effect I needed to communicate that not only the character was in suspended animation, but that reality itself was suspended. I started with a sphere as my bubble shape to encompass the character and then added a warp ripple that distorts the entire game view as it flows along the bubble shape. I then added some lightning that flows along the sphere which also gets distorted by the warp. This helps to break up the sphere shape by giving the appearance of flowing energy waves. I then added some lighting bolts that shoot outside of the sphere to show that the energy can hardly be contained within the time bubble. Lastly there is a soft outer blue glow to enhance the sphere shape and some tiny dust specs on the outer edges. These last two additions help give the sphere a real “space/time” bubble look. I was really happy with the final look.

A time bubble chainsaw could also have been cool! I would have added lots of grinding sparks and energon sprays for the chainsaw.

Piero Reveals The Secrets of The Rod

Cuz: Tangent time, bear with me. Piero, your name means “clown” in French.  And, some have said Hot Rod’s French accent in Last Knight bordered on being clownish. You must have been psyched. Did you try to incorporate clown skills or attributes into Hot Rod’s design? Does he have any rad seltzer bottle or pie in the face skills?

Piero: Nothing clown-ish in Hot Rod’s ability design! He is definitely one of the strongest damage dealers in the game with the help of his Time Bubble Gun. Hot Rod is able to “Decelerate” opponents when hitting with his Ranged Attacks. This supports all the other abilities in his kit.

Ranged -> Dash -> Melee Hitting opponents is his specialty since he gains Critical Rate Buffs when punching opponents. Using a Heavy Attack at the end of a combo is going to have a high chance to inflict a Critical Hit and Stun opponents.

Cuz: In the movie, Hot Rod spends some time speaking with a suspect French accent, perhaps to amuse or confuse his fellow Autobots.  Is there any chance we get a sweet confusion or amusement attribute?  If not, then how about telling what mod works best with him.

Piero: Hot Rod’s Signature Ability “Acceleration” will allow him to get Power really, really fast. Because of this increased Power Rate, he will be extremely effective on modules that provide even extra Power like the “ Robot Resources”, and the Superconductors.

Moreover, Hot Rod’s Deceleration Debuff activates when he hits with his Ranged Attacks, a module that will help with that will be the Laser Guidance module. The laser Guidance module increases the defender’s Projectile Speed, making it harder for opponents to Sidestep it.

Louie lays Down The Laws of Animation For Hot Rod

Cuz: I’ve gotta start with the Hotness. In HR’s special 1 move he exhibits serious breakdancing skills. Hand on ground, spin, kick, twisting kicks inverted in the air...we’re talking Electric Boogaloo stuff.  So, who inspired you more...Ozone or Turbo?

Louie: I was aiming for a combination of smooth, smooth, smooth with a finish of power.  So I think Turbo, haha.

Cuz: Cool, but maybe next time you could have him throw down some cardboard so he doesn’t scuff up his paint job. Onwards. Having seen the movie now, it seems he could have a new ranged attack.  Were you tempted to have him transform into car mode, haul ass at opponent, then transform and eject a human projectile like he did the woman in the movie?  If not, what was your focus for making Hot Rod stand out?

Louie: Haha, that's right.  This is a completely new and different version of Hot Rod that no one on the team was familiar with.  Coming up with the fighting style for this Hot Rod was very challenging, even after deploying our Kabam ninjas for something juicy.  We were able to get a hint but still required a lot of back and forth within the character team.  The team did agree on making Hot Rod a very gymnastic style ninja where he was doing a lot of handstand and aerial attacks.  We really wanted to make him different from his brother in arms Bumblebee.  Hope we were able to capture that for our game.

Hot Rod Specs

SIGNATURE ABILITY – ACCELERATION

§  Special Attacks: Overclocks Hot Rod’s engines, increasing his Power Flow on attacks by 60~120% for 7 seconds. Additionally, while Acceleration is active, Hot Rod has a 30% chance to Evade Ranged Attacks.

SPECIAL ATTACKS:

Special 1 – Punishing Pirouette: A flurry of aerial kicks to knockdown the opponent.

Special 2 – Time Tampering: Series of acrobatic kicks that ends with a taste of the Time Bubble Gun.

§  A powerful blast from his Time Gun inflicts Deceleration for 9 seconds.

Special 3 – Time Bubble Blast A temporal coup de grâce. Hot Rod’s uses the most powerful setting on his Time Gun, inflicting Deceleration for 20 seconds.

Download Transformers: Forged to Fight Today: http://www.bit.ly/PlayTransformersFTF

[itsworn]

12 Design Concepts for a New Generation of Pro Street!

The Pro Street build style has been a staple of Car Craft readers ever since it blew up in the early 1980s. It emerged as hot rodders began emulating the look of NHRA Pro Stock, which used production-based bodies with back-halved rear suspensions and narrowed rearends. Big engines, often with power-adders and trick induction, were paired with “pizza-cutter” skinnies up front and huge slicks in the rear—and for the first time, those big meats were enclosed within the rear bodywork for a sleeker appearance and better aero.

Pro Street has always been about bringing the look and performance of the dragstrip to the street; in other words, going fast in a straight line. Turning is something you do at the end of the track or in to the burger joint. Comfort in a Pro Street car has also traditionally been sacrificed for performance, with race-car interiors and few baubles. With the advent of the Pro Touring style in the 1990s, many enthusiasts flocked to its superior handling, braking, and driveability. With turning in vogue for decades, Pro Street seemed passé. Or so they thought!

Of course, everything old eventually becomes new again, and the Pro Street scene is seeing a revival of sorts with more drag-inspired builds stuffing mile-wide meats in the back. If you’d like to be on the leading edge of the next big thing, we thought we’d provide a little inspiration. A while back, we asked automotive illustrator Ben Hermance to come up with some designs for modern Pro Street builds, and what Hermance delivered makes us want to commission a few of these ourselves. These cars definitely look like a cross between old-school Pro Street with the Pro Touring look that is so hot right now. Gone is the radical rake in the chassis; these cars sit low and menacing. Modern touches like flush window glass and sleek lines certainly help these cars stand out from any Pro Street you’ve ever seen.

With a nod to better braking and handling, the useless Pro Street skinnies up front have been replaced with stickier front rubber and bigger brakes, although Hermance stops short of going to a full-blown wide tire in the front in order to preserve the staggered Pro Street look. And although the renderings don’t show it, the race-car vibe inside, in most cases, is replaced with more comfort and entertainment options. We hope you’ll be inspired to build one!

1961 Pontiac Catalina

Let’s start with the car that’s least likely to be built in the Pro Street mold. Illustrator Ben Hermance explains that he liked the challenge of this car and the way it turned out. “If you are going to do Pro Street, there are some vehicles that look like they are going to resist a little bit, so you have to finesse them more,” he says. “That bubble-top–style car is usually used as customs or street machine-type cars, not Pro Street. So to make it work, I had to change the stance, and I increased the wheel diameter so you don’t have those big, heavy tires. That’s a little bit like having a flamingo upper body and a hippo lower body, it just kind of looked out of proportion. But I like the final result. It’s still a little bit unusual for a Pro Street car, but I think it works.”

1972 GTX

The Plymouth GTX and Road Runner body style is normally associated with 1970s NASCAR racing and is not usually built as a Pro Streeter. But this car can change that, because few automotive shapes were as alluring as Chrysler’s early 1970s “fuselage” styling. Hermance accentuated the low, bulging, aero-inspired shape with Plymouth’s most outrageous color ever: C7 “In Violet” purple. Note how he stretched the C-pillar and the quarter-panels wider to improve the flow over the greenhouse and beefed up the rear tires.

1967 Chevelle

The Chevelle is probably the car here that will be easiest to build. Hermance says he imagined this as a skunkworks factory race car, so it retains much of the factory sheetmetal unmolested. Underneath that big hood bulge, we can easily imagine a big-inch big-block with a single-plane intake and a Dominator carb bolted up top. Rendered with a satin bronze sheen, this illustration reflects recent trends in vehicle wraps and refinishing.

Buick GNX

Hermance might be committing heresy by penning a Buick GNX in anything other than solid black, but we think it works. “I’ve always loved the Grand Nationals,” he says. “They are already evil-looking, and not much needs to be done to them. Everybody has seen a G-body on a dragstrip, so I felt it needed to do something to make it stand out, so I did make a few aerodynamic touches. Really just adding vents to the front end to get more airflow.”

Hermance also lengthened the hood bulge over the stock model. At its best, the GNX’s turbo V6 made 245 hp—not exactly good enough to keep up these days—so the extra room under the hood probably makes room for an upgraded LS (with turbos, of course!).

1974 Laguna S3

If you want to be a real bad hombre, figure out how to keep the Laguna’s swivel bucket seats. But otherwise, do exactly this: “This is the opposite end of the spectrum from the understated Chevelle,” Hermance says. “This build will require a lot of fabrication work. The first thing I did was ditch the bumpers, which we all know in the 1970s were the worst ever. Those bumpers were just gigantic and there was no styling involved. They were just these big chrome bricks. Then, with the rest of the design, I tried to let the good parts of the vehicle dictate where I was going to go with the parts that needed some help. And the end result might be a bit of overkill, but I said, ‘You know what? Nobody’s ever really done a Pro Street Laguna, so let’s try something different. Let’s build a badass car.’”

1969 Camaro

Although it may not be obvious at first glance, there’s actually a lot going on here. There are so many first-gen Camaros out there, to come up with something different, Hermance drew the ’69 as a Nostalgia Funny Car. First, the wheelbase has been stretched by lengthening the front fenders. The iconic Camaro nose has also been raked back. He’s given the car a Lexan windshield (notice the fasteners around the edge of the windshield), and you can even see the rollcage through the windows. The hoodscoop has hints of a Corvette Stingray, and dog-dish hubcaps add a bit of no-frills flair that you couldn’t get with a set of modern wheels.

Ford Falcon

Here’s another car that is rarely seen in Pro Street trim, and that engine makes a pretty obvious statement! Another big statement piece on this car is the greenhouse. “I’ve never really loved the roof line on a lot of these smaller Fords and Chevys from this era,” Hermance explains. “It’s the same thing with the Nova’s. I just thought it was too abrupt. So I thought, This Falcon is roughly the same size as the Mustangs, so what would it look like if you took the roof off of a fastback Mustang and mated it to the body of a Falcon?

“So this was just an experiment to see how that would look, and I think it looks pretty nice. With that big blower sticking out of the hood, this little car should go like a bat out of hell, and I think the look matches the speed.”

1969 Dodge Charger

Hermance admits that he barely touched the body on this 1969 Charger, other than to open up the rear fenders to fit the gigantic rear tires. He says the Coke-bottle silhouette is such a perfect design, there’s really not much to be done other than accentuate it with that green-on-black paint scheme and tuck in the bumpers. Oh, and a giant blower and dual four-barrel carbs help get the point across, too.

1970 Mustang

Here’s another where the original designers got the body just about perfect. Everybody loves the 1970 Mustang fastback, so once again, Hermance simply tried to accentuate those fantastic lines with an aggressive paint job in black, blue, and silver. He did draw in a functioning shaker hoodscoop modeled on the famous Boss design, and LEDs in place of the original headlamps provide an ethereal glow.

1968 GTO

Earlier, Hermance talked about having to work hard to make the Pontiac Catalina work as a Pro Street design. The 1968 GTO is the other side of the coin. “When you are doing something that is a little bit more of a rounded body like the GTO, that body lends itself really well to the Pro Street style,” he says. “It is more rounded. It has hips and curves, so it allows the big rear tires to fit in there naturally. Plus, it is already fast-looking.”

1970 Oldsmobile

Like the GTO, which is also a GM intermediate A-body, the Oldsmobile Cutlass 4-4-2 simply works as a Pro Street car. Tuck the bumpers, paint it a great shade of gold (what else for an Olds?), and drop in an old-school, big-inch, blown V8 and you’re ready to go.

1970 Ford Torino

“This design I really love. My intention with this one is to build an absolute rocket ship. A high-end race car,” Hermance says. “If there is a future for Pro Street styling, this is my candidate for what it should look like. I tried to incorporate what we have now in all the vehicles you see that have aerodynamic advantages. This has got all kinds of aero goodies all over it. Brake cooling, venting for heat extractors, a wing that can articulate to take advantage of aerodynamics, all that stuff.” This would be a more difficult build because practically nothing has been left stock, but boy, would we love to see this one in real life!

The post 12 Design Concepts for a New Generation of Pro Street! appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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[itsworn]

Want to Go Fast? Jerry Link’s Twin-Turbo, Big-Block Ranchero Has the Formula

Though we all get itchy reading about diesel-locomotive-like torque, high-rate handling, and how one person achieved that with their own car, we are probably more disposed to hear how it all really turned out. It’s stuff you can’t make up; it actually happened, right? Jerry Link is an old-car hand who’s tended creatures like a 1957 Stude Silver Hawk with a 394-inch Olds motor and a 1947 Jeep CJ-2A powered by a nailhead Buick. As for modern history, he recently completed a twin-turbo Viper conversion and then bestowed the same largesse on a Trail Blazer. Say that Jerry’s become intimate with snails.

Then he was driving the same stretch of road he had for three years and something hooked, a change in the landscape. “There was my dream car, a pickup with a Torino front end,” he said. “It was a one-owner, 64,000-mile car from North Dakota. I begged and pleaded with my wife, Lori, to get the new project. We discussed it at length.” The deal was on.

He pulled in the owner’s driveway and there it was shiny, black—and with a huge dent in the right front fender. Ah, jeez. What the hell happened? The night before, the owner’s brother had a few too many and backed into it on his way out.

“I was disappointed, but the guy made me a deal—he’d knock $200 off the price and get me a new rust-free fender. It had a 302 two-barrel, C-4 transmission, and an 8-inch one-wheel wonder. Man, this thing was the coolest ride I ever had.”

When he brought it home, Lori looked at it, then looked him in eye and said “nice car.” Ahem. Then she asked him why it was dented. “Within the week, I had it apart to replace the fender and cure a small spot of surface rust. I sold the motor to a friend.”

Thus began a torrent of ideas and changes and of engines, each one larger and nastier than the previous motor. At one point, he painted the Ranchero a House of Kolor translucent red. Jerry tired of 900-pound valvesprings and decimated camshafts and decided on a gentler method—gobs of forced induction. And the engines grew proportionally. In 2003, he began building the mountain with an M-6010-460A siamese-bore race block. Over the seasons, it hosted increased displacement as well as superchargers and turbochargers, sometimes combined with nitrous oxide. The bullet bloomed big—but didn���t blow.

He painted the Rancho black again. In 2009, he ripped it all apart again for major reconstruction in the key areas. He replaced the original rails, the front and rear suspension, adapted some motor plates, stretched the wheel openings, and screwed the biggest DOT slicks in the world on the back of it.

Throughout, Jerry did his due diligence and enlisted several specialists in his area to help with the chore. He credits Steve Morris Racing in Muskegon, Michigan, for engine development and Link-Tech in Waukesha for the tune-up. The Waukesha hop-up community offered chassis and welding development from X-Treme Fabrication, drivetrain assistance from All-World Transmission, and custom welding by Brandenburg Electric. Jerry relied on Fuel Systems in Milwaukee for turbo design/development.

“I really enjoy showing my car and doing dyno shootouts and being able to explain every facet of the car. In the early building of this car, it was drag-raced for fun. Although the track is cool and the guys who spend their time and money to race make it well worth watching. But I have spent thousands of hours putting time and effort into the vehicle that can’t compare to a timeslip justification or what could go wrong trying to get one. One day it will run down the quarter again,” Jerry promised.

TECH NOTES

Who: Jerry Link What: 1970 Ranchero Where: Waukesha, WI

Engine: The original 460 currently measures 598 ci. The machine work to get it that way was the province of C&S Performance Engines in Butler, WI, which fitted the block with bronze lifter bores, finessed the oil galleries, and balanced the rotating assembly. Jerry had specified premier internals: a Crower crankshaft, Oliver billet rods, and Diamond pistons (custom conical dish/hard anodizing) with an 8.6:1 compression ratio, Pro Select ring packs, and Clevite inserts. At the bottom of it all, a Kaase pump circulates the lubrication. The valvetrain includes Crane 904 roller lifters and a Bullet hydraulic cam (0.640-inch lift/264 degrees duration at 0.050 inch) that is connected it to the crank with a Danny Bee 2521 timing belt. Those hot tuna Blue Thunder aluminum cylinder heads were prepped with 110cc combustion chambers and cast with ported and raised exhaust ports. The heads host 2.25/1.88-inch stainless valves, Manley titanium retainers, and Crane 1.73:1 roller rockers. Smith Brothers pushrods follow. Cometic gaskets and ARP studs hold the Blue Thunders true to the block. Induction begins with twin Garrett 2-GT4202-R turbochargers pushing through a water-to-air intercooler, which returns the denser charge to a brace of 75mm Accufab throttle-bodies. The intake manifold is composed of a single-plane intake manifold bottom and a fabricated aluminum airbox. An Aeromotive A1000 pump draws from a “hand-engineered” 22-gallon tank that feeds Injector Dynamics injectors 211-lb/hr (at 43.5 psi) with E85/E98 moonshine. A Zietronix ethanol content analyzer and flex-fuel sensor (wideband A/F ratio) monitor the process. Jerry modernized and digitized the big-block. He incorporated a FAST XIM and XFI 2.0 controller in league with an MSD 8644 crank trigger firing LS truck coils, an MSD Cam Sync distributor, Taylor 8.8mm primary wires and Autolite 32 sparkers. Unburned slurry is sucked from the cylinders by custom stainless steel header/turbo stanchions featuring 2-1/8-inch primaries going into 3-inch collectors that expand to a 4-inch stainless steel system and Dynomax mufflers. The March accessory drive obscures the Meziere electric water pump. The fan is a Flex-A-Lite 295. Link-Tech in Waukesha tuned the 598. Output at the pavement is a smoky 1,225 hp at 6,500 rpm and 985 lb-ft of torque at 5,700 rpm.

Transmission/Drivetrain: Jerry liked the Turbo 400 built by Automatic Transmission Design in Germantown, WI. ATD preceded the install with a JW flexplate and ProTorque custom converter (2,750 rpm stall) and hooked it to the engine block with a JW Ultra Bell bellhousing. ATD included its Hipster valvebody, shift kit, and finished off the conversion with a transbrake. A Hayden transmission fluid cooler and auxiliary fan lends longevity under stress. The long link is a 3.5-inch diameter steel shaft sporting 1350 U-joints. The 9-inch housing was fabricated by Hepfner Race Products in Hartford, WI, and is fitted with 3.5-inch axletubes, a Detroit Locker differential, a Motive Gear 3.91 ratio and 35-spline Strange Engineering axles.

Chassis/Suspension: Just prior to the 1,200hp motor, Jerry judiciously constructed chrome-moly 2×3 square-tube rails to replace the original linguine. He strengthened the construction with a front engine plate and then mid-mount. To enhance safety and lend rigidity, he put up a 10-point chrome-moly rollcage. He based the front suspension on Wilwood/Mustang spindles. He built tubular control arms around them, inserting QA1 eight-way-adjustable dampers and a 550-lb/in spring rate. Then he took up the rear with a four-link suspension system secured by 1-inch Heim joints, QA1 eight-way adjustables, 350-lb/in coilover springs, and a 1-1/2-inch antisway bar.

Body: Considering the mondo dimensions of the rear tires, the all-steel envelope was treated to 35-inch Chassis Engineering wheeltubs beneath fender openings that Jerry stretched 4 inches. He spent time preparing the shell for paint as well. From there it went to Nagel Auto Body in Waukesha for the inky single-stage Imron Black.

Interior: After he rewired the body with an Infinitybox Multiplex system (Elk Grove Village, WI) loom, Jerry installed the Alpine/tuner/CD and MTX speakers. He fashioned a custom dash insert and filled it with big Stewart-Warner Performance Silver gauges. He put up a new headliner and upholstered the Olds Achieva seats in cloth. Ancillaries include a Grant wheel on the stock steering column and Simpson four-point harnesses.

Brakes/Wheels/Tires: Since Jerry’s life ride is more about moving quickly in a straight line rather than tapping fenders, he was confident with Wilwood 11.75-inch discs and four-piston calipers in front and 11.44-inch discs with four-piston calipers in the rear. A Hydratech booster augments the system. Forged Weld V Series rims are 3.5 and 15 inches wide and attached to Moroso 29.5-inch-tall front tires and mammoth 17-inch-wide Hoosier Quick Time 33×22.5 DOT radials.

The post Want to Go Fast? Jerry Link’s Twin-Turbo, Big-Block Ranchero Has the Formula appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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