Glenn Grozich's '62 Chicayne Becomes a Moving Target
By Ro McGonegal
We chatted with Jack and Judy Trepanier a few minutes before son Troy was to whisk away the olive drab parachute cloaking Chicayne at the official SEMA show unveiling inside the Billet Specialties booth. The result of nearly two years of sweat and short sleeps would soon be hunched naked on the floor under the harsh scrutiny of invited guests and sponsors alike. Troy rambled around the set like an expectant father, sucking on a Miller MGD. A few days prior, Angie Trepanier had birthed Luke, their third child. Maybe Troy was still in the groove. Owner Glenn Grozich hung by the sidelines. Glenn was smiling.
The ring of flesh around the sinister lump under the cloth grew six or seven deep as we watched, backs against a wall, catching glimpses of green and bits of nervous blather. We flashed on Troy months ago during Chicayne's gestation. "Ro man, it's gonna rewrite the way cars are built." Later on, "This thing's so low, even the ants are screamin'!"
Then ... showtime! Troy snatched the cape like a magician playing a space and time illusion. But this was no illusion. The chorus pulled back and croaked collectively, oooohed and ahhhed, finally shattering the introspection with whistles and booming applause. It was several minutes before we could get near to what was once a '62 Chevy Biscayne without catching an elbow or getting bumped by a photographer.
Yo, two-tone green? It's real low, yup, but the body looks real stock. Damn, those wheels are so far under the car you can barely see 'em. Um, that suede gut looks ripe. Wonder if Grozich is happy. When the hood comes up, the joint explodes. The best-looking small-block in the world glistens like fresh, clean oil. Hairdryers hangin' out there absolute, the focal point of the engine compartment. And how many hours are in those sculpted inner fenders? Then the trapdoor slams shut. It's what you can't see that makes this car what it is.
Such subtlety is the essence of understated elegance. The green scheme isn't flash, it's darkside and downright menacing. On an entirely different plane, Chicayne represents the absolute necessity of electronic wizardry and the awesome, ethereal power under its control. Troy suggested that three of us get in the car on Power Tour just so he could hear our screams of chainsaw terror. According to him: "At idle, the motor is so quiet you'd think it couldn't make 500 hp, not twice that much. Even at 5 psi of manifold pressure the engine is subdued, but with 20 pounds this sucker sounds like a ride at Disneyland. I had it out the other day, put it back in Third at 80 and stood on it. It nearly shredded the tires. It's subtle but naughty."
A late-model Corvette throttle-body is there specifically for its electronic control (drive-by-wire). John Meany will soon incorporate it in his Big Stuff III software for a traction control feature! For now, Meany's digitals take readings from the TPS, coolant, ATP, MAP, crankshaft, camshaft, vacuum, boost, and wide-band O2 sensors. An MSD crank trigger signals the ECM while an MSD distributor with rotor phase capabilities (25 degrees BTDC) and an adjustable mag pickup to set the cam synch also provides a cam signal to the Big Stuff ECM. The crank trigger is set at 65 degrees BTDC that allows the processor a large variance. The ECM then supplies a signal to the 7AL box, thence to the MSD coil and on to the spark plugs. The crank trigger also supplies an rpm switch to engage a relay that turns on a second Aeromotive fuel pump at 3,800 rpm to provide enough fuel at full boost.
As Rad Rides has matured from exceptional car builders to craft guild, it has become aware of the infinite marketing capabilities at its disposal. Exclusivity goes only so far. Why build a one-off part when you can recreate them for sale? This a painful lesson realized on the Hemi Dakota project Troy's completed for HOT ROD in 2000. People clamored for the swap material, but alas, no one had the foresight to blueprint the originals before the truck disappeared forever into the ether. Now, try this: Based on prototype Billet Specialties pulleys sized for a high-performance Corvette, Troy and Billet created a new serpentine pulley and bracket system for Glenn's small-block. (More Billet parts to follow.) Although the arrangement for his engine accommodates a vacuum pump, a belt tensioner will replace it in systems for retail consumption. On Glenn's motor, the vacuum pump pulls from the intake valley and passes through a Stef's oil separator on the left side of the oil pan. It then transfers through the pump which exhausts through a Stef's breather canister to muffle pump noise. The crankcase gets negative pressure at all times to help squelch detonation under full boost.
We saw the Chicayne's bones a couple of years ago--just the rails and the rudimentary rear suspension. The front stuff wasn't even there yet. It had a queer-looking wishbone underneath and on top a single link fastened to the frame at one end and to the axlehousing at the other. Having seen that configuration on a couple of Bill Jenkins' Pro Stock Camaros in the mid-'70s and never on a street machine, it etched my memory. I think Troy got the idea from a '60s Caddy he was working on. Rad Rides perfected the design with two frame-mounted adjustable upper bushings for setting the pinion angle with a one-ton ball joint that is attached to the axlehousing. According to Rad Rides, this design allows for excellent traction control while placing the axle assembly deep within the car so that the 22-inch wheels do not compromise Chicayne's stance.
The front suspension is based on the stock crossbar mounting system and locates tubular upper control arms that incorporate all the original geometry, but the ball joints are recessed 1 inch, and that allows for full turning radius when the car is lowered. Those ball joints and arms sandwich '95 Impala 2-inch dropped spindles, thus making an easy upgrade to big disc brakes. The lower control arms accept either an Air Ride Shockwave or a QA1 coilover and include a 11/8-inch stabilizer bar. This arrangement bolts to any '58-'64 fullsize Chevrolet and is also available to the hot rodding public.
Just as Chicayne is designed to be an incomprehensibly fast street machine, it is also crafted as a supreme servant for its fortunate occupants. The interior plan and the finishing materials are unique. The common bench seat configuration is split into four personal pods by carbon-fiber consoles. Colors of the buffalo suede upholstery are flat sage, beige, and olive, a combination of the two exterior colors. Headliner and portions of the door panels are rough-side out, for a decidedly masculine aura. The dashboard is most striking. A 5-inch Auto Meter tach and speedo are surrounded by a cluster of smaller faces, the gauges overlapping one another and bulging outward at disparate lengths in keeping with the dynamics of Chicayne. As much of Rad Rides thinking is clandestine, only the eye candy is in plain sight. The left kick-panel covers the cooling-fan relays and the modules for the remote Air Ride control as well as the TCI 4L80E controller. The right side panel shields the MSD capacitor (to nix radio interference), MSD 7AL box and rpm switch for the second fuel pump, and the omnipotent Big Stuff ECM.
Though most of the Biscayne's exterior trim is unaltered, Troy and the crew messed with the greenhouse sheetmetal. In order to remove the vent windows and install a single piece of sliding glass in the doors, they pushed in the posts a little to negate wind noise and make the top of the car a little slipperier.
They fixed the front bumper flush to the body and recreated the original top shape across the bottom where the license plate niche used to be. Now it serves as an air intake opening that channels cool ambient to the A/C condenser, intercooler, and radiator. The flush rear bumper has a real job, too. It acts as the center mounting point for the full bellypan and on that flat expanse (from the rear axle back) are two parallel stabilizers, as in high-speed rudders. The way this is going, you'd think these cats are actually serious about seeing just what kind of freaky top end they can squeeze out of 1,200 hp. Yikes, there's even a 2-inch wind deflector running the width of the deck, the lid of which is unlatched by giving the righthand taillight a twist.
So turn it and pop that lid. Ah, the pinpoint detail of the entire creation bleeds through. To the left, a Painless four-circuit relay fuse panel for the Air Ride system, main and secondary fuel pumps, and the (pressure) sending unit control module. The Diamond audio amps come down off the upper deck to expose the fuse panel for the fuel delivery system. The right panel area houses dual Optima batteries, a remote charging station, and the battery cut-off--don't tell anybody--is accessed through the right wheeltub.
Chicayne is like a finely crafted film. You could crawl over it a dozen times and not realize everything. Bigwigs at the SEMA affair couldn't have either, but they dug it more than anything else on the floor. Design studio heads fell over for this Biscayne. It got the GM Design Award for Best Interior, Paint, and Performance. It got the Mother's Award. The Turbonetics guys were zonked. "I know we build some pretty good cars and people like they way they look," said Troy. "But I'm really a freak for the mechanical part of it." Glenn was hooked after he took a shot in Meany's 1,400hp twin-turbo Corvette and had Troy plan the entire car around that experience. The small-block is an extension of the one in Meany's car, only prettier, and wasn't quite the same chore to package under the hood of the Chevy as it was the tilt-nose Corvette. Over the past two years, Meany's driven his car many thousands of miles in the Midwest, knocking down more than 20 mpg. It scorches slicks. It scorches brains. It'll clear the quarter-mile traps at 168. Like we said, these cats are serious.
-Hot Rod
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First time I saw it, I was like, the best car to date.
. Anyway...that's SICK. 1200 BHP!?! I don't like the autometer gauges though 
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