Our car originally began in concept with my Stepson's daily ride, a 1984 Mailbu Station Wagon with a stock 305 cubic inch Chevrolet motor.
The idea was to bring something to the track that was not the ordinary race car.
Clyde Blackstock, my stepson Andy, and myself began working on this car in my front driveway of all places. Of course, building a race car from scratch is far more complex than simply buying one that is already built. At that time we had no idea just exactly what we were getting into. As we were building the car I met with Mike Orlando who eventually donated a big block 454 Chevrolet motor from his salvage yard to our program. After getting about half way into this project I met my current crew chief, Joey Cram. To our surprise, Joey was driving a bright yellow 1980 Malibu wagon that he had set up for a big block Chevrolet.
Joey and I began negotiations about the team purchasing the car. It is no secret that it is far cheaper to buy a car already done than to build one from scratch.
A deal was made, along with a friendship, and the P.D. Heat race team was born.
Our car is a 1980 Malibu Station Wagon with a 468 cubic inch Chevrolet Engine that produces approximately 600 horsepower. The transmission is a two speed powerglide with a ford 9 inch rearend with 456 gears and 33 spline Moser axels. Rear tires are Mickey Thompson 29.5 X 10.5 racing slicks. All the glass excluding the windshield, driver's door, and rear window latch has been removed and replaced with lexan. An all aluminum dashboard replaced the stock dash and all Autometer gauges provide all the necessary information about the motor. The car runs consistently in the 11.0 second range with occasional passes in the upper 10 second range. A second motor was donated by Gary Hogan, owner of Blazer Inspection that produced approximately 690 horsepower. With that motor the car ran consistently in the low 10 second range. Unfortunately, that motor was destroyed when the number three cylinder imploded during a pass at the Houston's Pinks All Out race.
Not enough can be said for those that have contributed to our program. Special thanks are needed for companies such as Crane Cams, Holley, Dart, and Autometer, who generously donated parts for both the engine and chassis. Local businesses such as Island Transmission, Mr. Muffler, AVD Design, Aramco Blinds, and Blazer Inspection have contributed and continue to support our program.
"WFO" Joey Cram
Sgt. Gary W. Jones
Racing for Education
P.D. Heat Racing
