We love finding project car builds on the internet; it’s like discovering buried treasure. Every so often, we run across the same cars several months after we’ve shared them with you, and in the case of Eric Hokenson’s ’63 Chevy Bel Air sedan, it’s even better the second time around.
We covered Eric’s Chevy back in January when we found it on pro-touring.com. It was powered by a supercharged 5.3L LS with 450HP and faux individual throttle-bodies, sitting atop of an LS6 intake. The body of the Bel Air was painted in red with yellow flames and covered in illustrations and signatures from hundreds of people, mostly children, with their suggestions of what Eric’s crew should do to the car next.

Project Flatliner's many signatures, all suggesting what Eric & Co. should do with the Bel Air next. Images: pro-touring.com
As we’ve pointed out before, Hokenson originally picked up the sedan with a 350/350 combo and the adorning flamed paint job, but was never truly happy with either. Hence, he swapped the small block for the blown 5.3L, then he went all over the country to car shows and cruises asking onlookers for their insight on the potential build.
Since then, the car has been under the knife; out is the supercharged mill and mock throttle bodies, and in are intercooled twin turbos and a complimenting camshaft, a new intake, and about 300 additional horsepower. Eric has been adamant about maintaining the stock bottom end, full-drivability, and it needs to achieve over 20MPG on the highway. It’ll be backed by a fortified 4L80E. Hokenson's new mill looks impressive.
Sounds like a tall order, but since the team manages to keep busy on the project, we wouldn’t doubt that they’ll get it accomplished, and soon. We have been keeping tabs ion the Bel Air since we first discovered it, and in that time, Eric has produced at least two videos documenting the build, and we’ve included the first of those videos for you.