By Candy and Jim Rizzo

Hello again, and welcome to the third installment of my home-garage assembly of a Total Performance King T track roadster. As you may recall, last month I finished up the chassis assembly. After initially assembling the chassis to check for fit and finish, Jim and I tore it down for paint and a few additional chores-like drilling and tapping the brake line clamp holes, fine-tuning and adjustment of the suspension (hairpins, tie rod, and four-bars), and the installation and plumbing of the brakes-before I reassembled it for good.

By now, those of you following the assembly are well aware of why I chose to build this particular hot rod. For those who aren't, in a nutshell, it goes like this:

I wanted a hot rod of my own, and I wanted to build it myself-but, I've never done it before. So, I really needed something designed to both be simple enough for a beginner to successfully complete and something that didn't look like a giant model car. My wishes were fulfilled when I came across the Total Performance King T; the kit was everything and more than I'd hoped for, and its assembly was amazingly simple.

From uncrating the parts to a finished and painted rolling chassis, it took roughly 55 hours or so, spread over a couple of weekends and a few nights after work. And remember, I've never built anything more complicated than a TV stand before I tackled this chore. And, don't think this is some kind of sham where Jim did the work and I only took the credit, though he did supervise and shoot the photos. The King T, and I feel safe at this point saying all of Total's kits, is the perfect way to get started in the hot rod hobby, especially with little in the way of experience or a big pile of bucks.

That said, this time around, we'll take a look at the T's driveline assembly and installation, and as I did with the rest of the vehicle, I used a catalog and a Web site to source my parts-but this time it was the Summit Racing catalog and Web site versus Total's.

The Summit catalog is extensive, and the company offers everything I needed to put together the mechanical parts to power my King T-again, all from the same place. I started my Summit shopping list with the choice of a small-block Chevy crate long-block, and though the company offers everything from powerful turnkey engines to individual components, I split the difference and went for a long-block assembly and the individual parts to complete it. Since the King T is lightweight, I figured I didn't need a monster motor in order to have fun; a relatively sedate V-8 would suffice. With that in mind, and with a need to stay within budget, I chose a 350ci, 260hp long-block (PN NAL-10067353). To this, I added all the ancillary parts I'd need to make it complete-from an intake and carb to a distributor and flywheel (Jim says flexplate). I had a list of parts that'd get me up and running within an hour or so of catalog and Web site shopping. Like Total Performance, Summit has a reputation and parts selection that's second to none, and like with the car itself, the idea of getting everything I'd need from one source was a plus.

It really is amazing to me that I've been able to construct a fully finished rolling chassis with a complete drivetrain with nearly all the main components sourced from basically just two companies, all within the last couple of months. Heck, Jim has spent more time than that sourcing parts alone in the past. Thank goodness for companies like Total and Summit, and thank goodness they've made it so easy and affordable. The whole project has been a pleasure so far, and I can't wait to get behind the wheel!

As was the case with Total Performance, the Summit catalog was a great one-stop-shopping experience. Summit offered everything I needed to outfit my King T chassis with a driveline that would get me down the road reliably and quickly. With nearly everything on hand, the installation went smoothly. Of course, there was a trip or two to the local parts store for small items like fuel line and clamps, an oil filter, and all the nickel-and-dime stuff I'd failed to order from Summit.

I chose a GM Goodwrench 350ci/260hp long-block (Summit PN NAL-12499529) engine from Summit Racing. You can't beat it for $1,695, and it was the perfect foundation for a lightweight roadster, like my King T.

We decided to locate the dipstick on the driver side of the block, so I plugged the hole on the right side and installed the dipstick tube on the left.

He then helped me line up the trans and started the first two bolts, and I got to finish up the rest of 'em.

While the engine sat in the crate base, I attached the Total Performance engine mounts that came with the King T kit to the block and hooked up the hoist.

Next, I bolted up the flywheel (flexplate) and the torque converter. Jim had a new converter and a rebuilt TH350 on hand, so that was a bonus for me.

Once we uncrated the engine, the first thing Jim pointed out to me was that these engines have dipstick holes on both sides of the block. The short-block assembly comes with a pair of steel plugs used to close up whichever hole you don't use, depending upon what side you want the dipstick.

Jim got smart and converted his hoist to an air-powered ram setup-we just pushed a button and it worked like a charm. The engine and trans slipped right into place, and just like with the chassis assembly, all the boltholes lined up perfectly! Again, a great job by the folks at Total Performance.

With the engine and trans at home in the chassis, the next steps were to finish up the engine assembly. I chose to tackle the intake first and proceeded to ready the block for intake gaskets. Jim had me use Permatex Form-A-Gasket at the front and rear of the intake instead of the rubber gaskets in the set. I hope he was right and it doesn't leak- he's fixing it if it does!

The Edelbrock intake I got from Summit was a lot lighter than I thought, making it an easy install. Jim said the intake and carb will give me a bit more power over the stock iron manifold and two-barrel he had sitting on his workbench.

After installing the intake and torqueing it to spec-actually, to what Jim told me-I next installed the water pump and balancer. Jim had a new standard-length water pump and told me we may need to swap it out for a short pump in the future; we'll just have to see if it'll work.

Because I like the traditional style, just like Jim, I chose a pair of Cal Custom finned valve covers from the Summit catalog during my initial shopping spree. A pair of Fel-Pro gaskets and some sticky, messy gasket cement (that was a good pair of jeans, damn it), and they were ready to install. Boy, they look great.

Summit was also the source for my new Holley carburetor, and Jim chose a 600-cfm 4160 series. He said it'd be fine for my stock engine and would give me good performance with decent mileage.

Ignition-wise, I again depended on the Summit catalog. A SUM-850001R blueprinted HEI distributor fit the bill perfectly, and it was a great deal for a mere $89.95. Jim, again, helped by getting the engine up to TDC and ready for me to drop it in.

At this point, I was getting excited; the engine was looking great, and it really boosted my motivation. I chose to go with iron manifolds rather than tube headers, since the King T has a full hood and sides. Jim said manifolds would reduce underhood heat relative to tube headers, hopefully helping with overall engine cooling. Summit offers neat Corvette-style manifolds (PN RNB-674-501) made by Dorman, and they come in a natural finish and with hardware and the donut gaskets. The manifolds sell for about $109 each and are the same left and right.

I learned there are two important things to keep in mind when assembling a crate engine. Most don't come with an oil filter adapter (shown here) or fuel pump plates or rods. Luckily, Jim had a small-block Chevy core around back from which we stole these items.

Jim said the fuel pump pushrod looked to be in good shape, so I lubed it up with a bit of oil and slid it into place.

Jim bead-blasted and painted the fuel-pump plate we stole off his other engine, and I used some Form-A-Gasket for what is hopefully a leak-free install.

I bolted up the Carter Street Pump (Summit PN CRT-M-6901) after putting a bit of grease on the pump lever, where it meets the pushrod.

With the basic engine complete-although, there's still a bunch of ancillary stuff to go, like plugs, wires, throttle and trans linkage, and the like-we turned next to an exhaust system. This portion of the build was one I gladly stepped back and let Jim handle. He chose to use a Flowmaster U-Fit Duel Exhaust kit (a 2-1/4-inch package; PN15935) he had originally ordered for his Model A but let me use-nice guy that he is.

The universal nature of the Flowmaster U-Fit kit is perfect for a street rod, and Jim has been really pleased with 'em in the past. The selection of pipes and bends work in nearly any situation and makes fabrication relatively easy. He did have to buzz over to his muffler shop of choice-Norco, CA-based Speedway Muffler-to have some flange pipes made up to match the exhaust manifolds, though.

Jim has been cutting up a storm since he got his new Femi bandsaw (which he said he'll be doing a "Cool Tools" story on soon). And, according to him, it was a godsend when it came to fabricating the exhaust system for the King T.

Though the Flowmaster kit provides everything you need, Jim still had to figure out what bends to use and where to make his cuts. It looked great by the time he was done (it took him a good four or five hours).

And, there we have it-a nearly complete drivetrain and a finished chassis. I know there's still a lot of work to go yet, but it has been a heck of a lot easier than I'd have ever thought. Everything has gone really smoothly, and I have to say I'm totally pleased with everyone and everything so far. Between Total Performance and Summit Racing, the aggravation factor has been nil and the affordability awesome. I truly recommend going this route if you're considering building a cool, affordable hot rod. Now, I'm gonna rest up, cuz we're about to get to work on mounting and wooding my roadster body.