About Cameron Tunstall

265-400 SBC, third generation F-bodies, anything Oldsmobile... and a little modular 2V as well.

Don’t have a carb? Don’t need a cowl hood.

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Cameron Tunstall

Saw this guy speeding down Happy Valley Rd from 83rd Ave to 39th Ave. He must think he’s driving a Wrangler, judging by his matching full-size spare hanging off the back end. Barring the fact that it probably improves rear traction immensely with it’s Pluto-like planetoid mass and lifting the trunk lid into something like a spoiler, It looks incredibly stupid.

Though not nearly as stupid as this cowl hood:

I will never understand the aesthetics of a cowl hood. I understand if you have to have one. Like, say, you have a third-generation Corvette and you want it to not be the saddest performing vehicle on the road. If you really intend to make any horsepower naturally aspirated, running a non-low-profile intake manifold may force you to resort to using a cowl-induction hood. That doesn’t mean you need a 6″ super-duper-outlaw-pro-stock hood, though.

This is all I’m saying:

Is that a Mk. IV or a Mk. V Jetta?

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Cameron Tunstall

Actually it’s a little bit of both. Welcome to the confusing world of the Hispanic auto market. If something is popular, they just keep making it. What you see here is basically a Mk. IV Jetta chassis with an updated drivetrain, and refreshed front and back clips to better assimilate itself with the new (at the time) Volkswagen corporate face. Although this car is from south of the border, they actually sold the car like this in Canada too, as the Jetta City model. In the Mexican market it was known as the Jetta Clasico, which later changed to it just being called the Clasico. This is one of those later models. If you’ll believe it you can still get a Mk.IV Jetta like this brand-new in Mexico.

It isn’t too weird though: In Brazil you can purcahase a Volkswagen Type 2 ( the rear-engine van popular among our peace-loving, hallucinogen-abusing, wimpy “friends” of the Hippie movement.) brand-new with a radiator mounted in the front and and water-cooled engine mounted in the back! It’s conception dates back to 1947 and was first produced in 1950! Those “crazy” Hispanic people don’t like change. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if Chevy still made 88-98 GMT400 trucks with updated drivetrains (they actually sold vehicles based off this platform up until 2000 for those not in the know)

Anyways, the whole reason behind posting this is because not many people in the U.S. get to see what other markets are selling. In Arizona we often see many strangely modified cars from down below, but occasionally you’ll see a car like this or a Ford Lobo (Mexican market F-150) and other things like that.

Explorer Sport Trac: Adrenaline

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Cameron Tunstall

I’ve never heard of these things before. Honestly, I didn’t even know there was a second generation of the Explorer Sport Trac. Apparently this started out as a stereo package for the Sport Trac and morphed into this “appearance-package” atrocity starting in 2008. Based off what was meant to be an SVT-lead performance truck, that idea was apparently scrapped, but kept the 2005 GT-R concept grille treatment. Something nowadays many other manufacturers can’t seem to avoid stealing as well (I’m looking at you SRT team).

So basically this thing is all show and no go. Being as it’s a quad cab with a pathetic excuse for a bed -and built from the Explorer platform- I shouldn’t be surprised that this is basically what you would call a “lifestyle” vehicle. Which I suppose is a nice way of saying that it’s only meant to look like its sporty and utilitarian, instead of actually being sporty and utilitarian. It’s a mechanical cod piece. I also shouldn’t be surprised that the lady driving this looked like she was off to get the kids from soccer practice, driving in a part of town that is exclusively new, upper-middle class suburbs.

During a year where Ford was making the Five-Hundred, Fusion and Taurus (fleet only) all at the same time, I feel comfortable in saying that this was the most useless, outdated and foolish-looking vehicle in their line-up. I hope it’s rarity ensures that I never have to notice another one and think “Oh, what the fuck?”

I don’t care if you care, I like Vipers.

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Cameron Tunstall

Saw this on the way to work the other day. Then I saw another black on black vert with a lady driver. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera for that one. Not usually a big fan of mopar (or their fanbase), but I’ll always make an exception for a good looking Viper.

Driven: 1985 Z31 300ZX 2+2

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Cameron Tunstall

Welcome back to Driven, where we feature cool cars found in hotel parking lots that are actually driven! Today we have a naturally aspirated 2+2 300zx. It has a beautiful interior, metallic brown paint and a manual transmission! Judging by the lack of a Datsun badge, 50th Anniversary Edition-styled steering wheel, Leather interior and steering wheel controls, we can decipher that this is more than likely a 1985 GLL-trim model.

The car you see here is powered by a SOHC 3.0L V6 that managed to make 160hp in it’s naturally aspirated form, according to Nissan. Not too shabby considering a 5.7L v8 nearly twice it’s size could barely manage similar numbers with exception to the brand-new L98 TPI mill for the 1985 model year.

FFT: The Big Day

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Cameron Tunstall

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Let me start by saying that when I found out they made a longbed stepside for the 60-66 trucks, I wanted one. They’re super rare and reproduction parts are expensive to say the least, but I just like the way they look. They aren’t very well liked in the 60-66 community (like all long beds), but the guys that do have them, love them. I had convinced myself when I started this build that if I wanted one, I’d have to make one out of a short bed. A daunting task, but I added it to my list of things I would need to do to get the truck to where I wanted it. Thankfully, I have a craigslist addiction that knows no bounds. I found someone with a 1962 GMC long bed stepper (powered by a 305 v6 and a 3 speed manual no less) that wanted to trade for a fleetside. I emailed them immediately and we were both so excited to get what we wanted we scheduled the trade off for the next day.

What I didn’t know is that the wrap-around window 60-63’s sit on a different frame than the vent windowed 64-66’s. It took a little bit of convincing but eventually we finalized the even trade. One bed for another. Here’s the photographic tale of how it happened.