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Hotrod Matty Classic Cars • Builds • Stories • Culture

Follow my journeys, history, and world touring with my fleet and the culture. Zero Ai Zone

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A lick of paint and a few weeks searching for parts on the international interwebs, and the ‘64 Galaxie looks a lot bett...
17/10/2026

A lick of paint and a few weeks searching for parts on the international interwebs, and the ‘64 Galaxie looks a lot better than when she first landed.

Lots of options on suspension, from mild to wild - haven’t decided which direction yet..

When you can’t find an auto-electrician to wire your car, so now you add “sparky” to your resume…Bonus fun working on th...
16/10/2026

When you can’t find an auto-electrician to wire your car, so now you add “sparky” to your resume…

Bonus fun working on the 67 Mustang with its fresh paint…

Advice needed: valve stem seals for early SBC headsI’m rebuilding a 283 with early small-block Chevy heads marked 379589...
14/10/2026

Advice needed: valve stem seals for early SBC heads

I’m rebuilding a 283 with early small-block Chevy heads marked 3795896. The machine shop measured:

* Valve stem: 8.65 mm
* Valve guide OD: 14.50 mm (about .571 in)

They say these heads need a full, guide-mounted positive valve seal—not just the valve stem O-rings. The seals I bought from Summit, Enginetech EGN-S2926-20, are too small for the guides (0.500”). The seals supplied with my COMP cam kit are O-rings only.

The cam is a COMP K12-234-2, with .447/.454-inch lift. Has anyone fitted positive seals to heads like these? I’d really appreciate the part number and supplier you used, and whether the guides had to be machined or lowered to get proper retainer clearance.

12/10/2026

Blown big blocks in Aussie Falcon hardtops didn’t come much tougher back in the day.

Let’s take a look at Steve Cini’s XB from back in 1995 on this edition of Cover Story.

Know where this car is now? Let me know!

Best decision I made with the Cobra rebuild was the LS swap - light, powerful, simple.Took an LS1 from a 2002 Holden Sta...
11/10/2026

Best decision I made with the Cobra rebuild was the LS swap - light, powerful, simple.

Took an LS1 from a 2002 Holden Statesman, stock rebuild, backed by a TR6060.

I plan to dress it up as a BBF in the future.

08/10/2026

This little box on the window was built to make a hot drive more bearable.

It’s a vintage Thermador car cooler—a clever piece of evaporative cooling that brought relief to drivers long before modern car A/C became commonplace.

Would you bolt one onto your classic today, or keep it as a conversation piece?

Save this for your next classic-car chat, and send it to someone who loves forgotten automotive technology. Follow Rear View Mirror for more stories hiding in the garage.

The HK Monaro is back on original HK steel wheels and Monaro hubcaps after many years.Took me several years to find and ...
08/10/2026

The HK Monaro is back on original HK steel wheels and Monaro hubcaps after many years.
Took me several years to find and transport the parts to the car.
Now to plan the red walling of the tires

05/10/2026

The ’57 Chevy Bel Air is ready for another chapter.

Time to pull the tired 283ci small block V8 for a freshen-up and add a few 1960s-inspired custom touches to give this Bel Air more character.

This is the start of THE JOURNEY - capturing some of the plans, decisions & dreams of my fleet..

03/10/2026

Finally have this combo together on the other side of the world. Now the fun part getting it all to fit together perfectly….
Original HK steel wheels, Monaro hubcaps, and new wheel nuts…

You will never hear me complain about working on my cars. Even at 3am. When you’ve checked everything. And it still does...
30/09/2026

You will never hear me complain about working on my cars.
Even at 3am. When you’ve checked everything. And it still doesn’t work like it should. And the shops are closed. And it needs to be ready by the morning.
Nope, this is my happy place…

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