We got a hold of our friends at Trans Dapt for the classic-looking stuff. This company makes all kinds of vintage-looking products to feed the retro need. If you really want a period-correct engine, Trans Dapt also makes a full line of Chevy Orange powdercoated accessories. To go along with our swap meet Cal Customs valve covers ($25), we had the company send us a '55 Corvette-style louvered air cleaner ($45), chrome coil ($28), steel oil pan, which we painted satin-black ($52), chrome dipstick ($11), straight chrome thermostat housing ($11), and a set of high-lift wire separators ($15). If you don't like the 'Vette air cleaner, Trans Dapt also has a triangular unit ($45) that keeps that older look. The valve covers we picked up at the swap meet were in good shape but looked nothing like they do now. What you see here is after a lot of scrubbing and a few coats of paint. If you can't find this style of valve cover at your local swap meet, Trans Dapt has some ball-milled aluminum ones that could be painted to look like this. If you are building a retro-themed truck, which is usually simple and clean, this motor concept would keep with the theme without overpowering it.Cost for essentials: $187
For the race look, we tripped over to Proform Parts' website, because we knew the company would have a full line of GM-licensed products. We just really like the fact Proform makes a whole Chevrolet Black Crinkle Dress-Up Kit ($170), which includes one set of valve covers, air cleaner, timing chain cover, breather cap, eight wing nuts, and eight hold-down clamps. If you are not into black with red, the company also offers it in silver with blue accents. We also picked up a set of linear Bow Tie wire looms ($66) to hold the JBA plug wires and a high-flow aluminum water pump ($60). In this setup, we changed the manifold bolts over to a black oxide, threw on a factory thermostat housing, and installed chrome button heads in the timing chain cover. We left the dipstick ($11) and oil pan from the Vintage look on here, so if you are like us and don't have one, factor that into the budget. The black crinkle stuff with the red script combined with the red plug wires gives the motor that mean look. A race motor should look mean and angry.Cost for essentials: $207
We contacted Mr. Gasket for the show look, and by show, we mean shiny. The company has enough chrome in the catalog to satisfy all you shine-mongers, and every one of these parts came with gaskets and hardware needed to install. Mr. Gasket has a chrome dress-up kit ($56) that includes two short valve covers, two valve cover gaskets, one chrome push-on breather, chrome dipstick with tube, eight chrome hold-down clamps, eight chrome wing bolts, and two grommets. That provides some flash, but we wanted to go all out, so we also ordered chrome wire looms ($10), a chrome oil pan ($64), a chrome timing chain cover ($17), a chrome timing tab ($4), a chrome Mallory coil ($44), a chrome thermostat housing ($10), and a 14-inch chrome air cleaner ($24). Since this is all about flash, we installed the JBA nickel-plated headers and the red JBA wires. Couple all of that chrome with the Weiand Everbright manifold and chrome hardware, and this motor concept could blind you.Cost for essentials: $229