Magazine Appearances

"The 440 is potent enough to be exciting but not over the top. Gordon says the Six Pack fuel injection is mostly just for bling when he opens the hood and while the bling factor is accurate it also really improves the drivability of a 6-barrel set up."

"The solution that Muscle Car Restorations has been using for many years now is to leave these critical areas intact (assuming they are in good condition on the particular vehicle)"

"While this sort of repair isn't common, MCR has seen it before."

"Muscle Car Restorations sees this sort of thing all the time. What comes in looking like a really clean car comes back from the dip tank full of holes that no one suspected were there"

"Muscle Car Restorations (MCR) has installed a number of A/C systems in the last 30 years, and unless originality is an issue, the team there definitely prefers aftermarket systems like those from Vintage Air"

"Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, has been restoring muscle cars pretty much since restoring these cars became a thing to do. MCR has a lot of time to figure out how to make an engine look good"

"This is one of the very few times MCR calls on outside help to finish a resto."

" - Q-Jet or Sniper EFI? Your call, but no need to let fear or cost of EFI tuning be a factor"

" - The crew at Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, has been producing show-quality paint for decades"

" - top-line shops like Muscle Car Restorations (MCR) produces, any deviation in the surface's form will clearly be seen in whatever that surface is reflecting."

"Muscle Car Restorations makes sure that the bottom of the car is securely supported so that nothing can move out of place when the inner fender is removed for repairs."

" - unless there's some historical significance in keeping the original vinyl, the time involved and the cost of restoring the original seat covers is probably not worth it to most owners - "

"Muscle Car Restorations sees a lot of older restoration work come into their shop. Cars come back from being chemically dipped showing overlapped seams, pop rivets, panels that have been brazed on, slide hammer work and even wire mesh."

"- then toss in a healthy dose of youthful testosterone, and you get the classic car, say hello to tree scenario."

"Time didn't stop eating away at it, as was obvious when Muscle Car Restorations got it back from being chemically stripped."

"Muscle Car Restorations, Chippewa Falls, WI, routinely sees really bad vintage restoration work. "

"MCR has seen this many times. An owner brings in a car they think is super clean and only needs the obvious metal repaired, and then it comes back from being chemically stripped where all the hidden rust is revealed. "

"- the car was passed on to the owner's son who eventually brought it to Muscle Car Restorations"

"Fortunately, there is a practical way to repair pot metal parts and you might be surprised at what's possible with the right techniques."

"- MCR elected to preserve as much of the original sheet metal as possible -"

"- a one-piece panel won't fit through the trunk opening so two-piece panels are much easier to install."

"Of course, you're replacing the carpet as part of your resto with a quality reproduction like this one from Legendary. "

"Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, has seen the full spectrum of restorations from little to no rust to needing to rebuild the entire car around the roof and firewall. Fortunately, Auto Metal Direct has the parts needed to save classic Mopar muscle in even the worst condition."

"Muscle Car Restoration of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, has learned over years of installing convertible tops is that each one needs to be custom tailored to the car."

"MCR was fantastic in everything they did on the car. Before talking to them about taking on the project, I had seen their work and decided they would do the car. I'm very glad that I chose them. I made the right decision! As of currently, the Coronet has just over 11,000 original miles on it and I do plan on driving it in nice weather and putting more miles on it!"

"This particular Charger was being prepped for a 700-plus hp big-block that would be putting power to the ground through a four-link rear suspension, so strengthening the rest of the body was necessary to keep it from getting twisted out of shape."

"Bel Air Brawler: This B-Body Is A Dressed-Up Street Fighter"

"Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, has long gone to great effort to preserve the structural integrity of every project."

"Once the car makes landfall at MCR the carefully laid plans of action are implemented. MCR paces the owner's timing very thoughtfully and some projects, as this one, can take a few more years than originally thought"

"We wouldn't say that watching the experts at Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, made it look easy, but if you take your time, it's nothing to be afraid of."

"Fortunately, the experts at MCR had a plan. The basic design of the '73's bumpers was fine. They just needed to be correctly fitted to the body so that they looked like they belonged there instead of being an afterthought."

"The crew at Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, WI does this type of work on a routine basis and while they do use pro-level shop tools don't let that intimidate you. You can achieve more than acceptable results with some of the consumer versions of these tools."

"Anyone can 'restore a car,' but if you want your vehicle restored correctly, then finding someone that knows the proper procedures is paramount."

"Was able to obtain an original sample of Vitamin C Orange paint from the PPG archives. MCR and Sam's now had an original reference, not just a chip in a paint book, to compare to the waterborne version of that color."

"Fortunately, MCR has a skilled metalurgist on staff and decided to design and build exactly what was needed, rather than modify an existing part."

"The result of months of hard work put in by the crew at John Balow's Muscle Car Restorations"

"We recently were out at John Balow's Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, resto shop, Muscle Car Restorations, and got to watch his crew replace the front clip on a '69 Road Runner hardtop. Actually, this car was so badly rusted that about the only major parts they were able to save were the firewall, rear package shelf, and rear seat support. By the time we got there, most everything had already been replaced, except for the front clip."

"Since Muscle Car Restorations replaced most of the back half of this car to erase the effects of racing tubs, a rollcage and frame connectors, they need to be absolutely certain that everything will fit together correctly before it's painted. So in addition to mocking up all of the sheetmetal on the car, they also fit all the glass, chrome trim, lights, grille, and even bumpers while it's still relatively easy to make corrections should they find something out of order."

"... we have been following owner John Balow's personal 1968 Plymouth Barracuda as it makes its way through Muscle Car Restoration's progressive restoration process, one that allows customers to tackle one bite-sized project at a time and not be overwhelmed with trying to do it all at once. This time we are going to show you how to reinstall and adjust side windows."

"John Balow started Muscle Car Restorations in 1988 after one of his restorations was discovered at Barrett Jackson. Since then, he has created some of the nicest restorations we have ever seen. His operation grew from one building to six in order to control the quality of each part of the process. This photo is inside building six. In it are cars that are in-process, waiting for parts, about to start a restoration, or just in for a bit of maintenance. MCR's Les Lienerth walked us around the room."

"Spraying a world-class paint job is a lot more than just the skillful laying down of an even coat of paint. It's about mastering the chemistry and dealing with the temperature and humidity. It's about controlling overspray, resin pooling, and fisheyes. Then there are tape lines, dry spots, and wet-sanding stains. And what about areas that can't be effectively color-sanded and buffed? These are the sort of issues that separate good paint jobs from jaw-dropping finishes."

"So how do you know your panel gaps and body lines are even? According to John Balow, owner of Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, the answer is to preassemble or mock-up the entire exterior before the final bodywork phase."

"... That's the issue that Muscle Car Restorations came up against recently, when the owner of a '70 Challenger wanted to upgrade from a 383 four-barrel to a 512 inch stroker and a Sid Pack. Sure, repop carbs are available, but EFI on a six-barrel throttle body sounds cool."

"John and his crew did a phenomenal job making his 'Cuda new. By the middle of 2012, Patrick's '70 'Cuda AAR was again ready for action--this time with hoodpins in place."

"... To achieve this, it took the better part of three years for Mack to gather parts to begin the restoration, since a lot of pieces were missing and a lot of what remined was beyond hope. Having been a Mopar guy for decades, Mack knew John Balow up at Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa falls, Wisconsin, and they'd spoken about the Road Runner several times before he decided MCR was the place the Plymouth needed to be."

"Even the most diehard old school traditional hot rodder out there has to admit that nothing beats EFI for maintenance-free, casual, get around town driving."

"Muscle Car Restorations has gotten busy prepping this ex-Canadian promo car for some new sheet metal. This is where the real work begins and as you'll see, this project is not one for the inexperienced or the faint of heart."

"I talked with John Balow, at MCR, at length, and I told him what my plans were, he recalls. I brought the car up there, he looked at it, and he showed me a lot of things on it that weren't right. I told him, 'The only way that I'll be able to do this is if Tony oversees the project, and if you're willing to have him work side-by-side with your guys. John agreed, and the 330 then underwent an 18-month, Hamtramck-fresh restoration John did a helluva job on it, its owner says proudly. His people really did a great job on this car."

"With 40 project cars under six roofs, Muscle Car Restorations probably houses more horsepower than the Kentucky Derby on race day.

There are a couple things that I think my company does better than anyone else, he said, We build our cars by knowing the customer goals and expectations up front. We build them and deliver them to a customer's expectations."

"Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. I saw them on TV, on My Classic Car with Dennis Gage, and he interviewed John Balow, says Larry. At the time, it was pretty close to where I was living, so that's when I went up there and took a tour of his shop. After taking the tour, I was convinced that was the place to do it."

"Everybody wants to own a rare car... which is a little ironic in that not many wanted them when they could bought them new... which is what made them rare to start with and now so desirable today. And why are they desirable? Because they are fast and they turn heads and they are really fun to drive. ..."

"What one man builds when not working on the space station.

Precision. The owner of the this impressive '64 Belvedere knows something about it ... An internet search led him to Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where owner John Balow and the rest of the MCR staff helped Mai put together a plan to finally give birth to his lifelong dream car."

"Look for the feature article featuring an MCR built 528 Hemi DartFrom the article:In the 1960s, every decent town had its equivalent to Woodward Avenue. In Montreal, it was an old road behind the Dorval-Quebec airport. You can picutre it, a summer Canadian sun sending in long, low orange light from the West, as the cars start to gather. The air is full of the sound of ragged cams idling through dual exhaust, punctuated with occasional roas, and there's a slow, building tension..."

"The Camaro featured on the cover of the April 2011 issue of Car Craft Magazine was built by Muscle Car Restorations as an example on how to modernize an iconic muscle car without destroying it's original DNA. If you saw this car driving down the road you would likely not be able to tell that it's anything other than a well restored '69 Camaro - and that's exactly what we were after."

"... he was ready to ship the car to Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, for its complete restoration. Mack had met MCR owner John Balow several years earlier and was convinced that his shop could handle the extensive metalwork that he knew the Road Runner needed. ... "

"After sitting for 13-plus years as a very large flower pot, it was time to either sell the charger or get it back together"

"Muscle Car Restorations (MCR) in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, certainly had to learn to deal with the dwindling supply of original muscle over the last two decades, and anxious owners worried about their investments. It's actually common now to replace the passenger and trunk floors in most of the cars the company restores."

"For John Balow, this 1968 Barracuda is the culmination of a high school love affair."

"I am totally satisfied with the construction portion of this restoration, but what I'm really pleased with is MCR's ability to take my idea and turn it into the automobile that we see here. For someone who's not a gearhead like me, my best suggestion is to contact a company you can trust, like I did with MCR, who can take your vague concept of what you want and turn it into an actual automobile."

"When Jeff Hutchens brought his '67 GTO to Muscle Car Restorations (MCR) in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, for a complete restoration, he told the company he wanted a car that could run with the high-dollar exotics but still retain the factory GTO look."

"So what do you suppose it would be like to drive a 500 horsepower big-block that doesn't have any flat spots in the power curve, never loads up in traffic, and always starts quickly, runs the same wether it's hot or cold out, and gets double digit fuel economy? We thought we'd find out if we can have the proverbial cake and enjoy the frosting too. Our test vehicle is a '68 Hemi Dart replica that's being built at Muscle Car Restorations ..."

"Look for Muscle Car Restoration's owner John Balow on the cover of the August 2009 Mopar Collector Guide!"

"...what he really wanted was a Camaro that performed like a Corvette, in every possible way... the pros at MCR got going-"

"MCR doesn't install their Year One sourced vinyl tops at their shop. They send all their vinyl work to Auto Top Shop in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where Larry Gabus has been replacing vinyl and convertible tops and doing all types of upholstery work for more than three decades. ..."

"MCR's artisans are known for some of the best quality work in the business. We wanted to see if they had any tricks to getting replacement wiring in place. ..."

"Mike Creglow of Welch, Minnesota, the owner of this super clean '65 Plymouth Satellite, had a revelation one day. He knew that he wanted to build his '65 into a show-quality race car and had been working toward that goal for seven years when he realized that, at the rate he was going, he was going to run out of time before he got it done. ..."

"So, we would like to introduce a new series of articles to help you restore you dream car one bite-size piece at a time. The inspiration for this comes from our friends at Muscle Car Restorations (MCR) in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Owner John Balow, responding to a need in the restoration market, has started a new program called Progressive Restorations. The basic premise is to do only what can be done during one winter season so the owner gets his car back in time for summer cruising."

"To get some expert advice on how to deal with this issue, we spent a day at Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. These guys are well known for their world-class full restorations, but they are also glad to take in partial work. This is doable in one day, so you shouldn't have to miss your next event."

"All the previously mentioned issues are certainly the case with the wiring harness in the '68 Barracuda that Muscle Car Restorations (MCR) is tackling as a testbed for their new program -- the Progressive Restoration. This is a new consumer available process where instead of restoring the car all at once, the car is done in stages, one section at a time. It's a great concept ..."

"Settin' Up A Six Pack With Ease"

"Archie decided to let the car go, but after a couple owners, it eventually found its way back home to him. Even though some good repair work had been done on it, he sought out Muscle Car Restorations (MCR) to complete the project..."

"When it comes to advanced restoration metal work, we don't know of anyone more experienced than the guys at Muscle Car Restorations (MCR) in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Ownver John Balow got his start working on Mopars when there weren't the resources available like there are today. He and his team have been doing this kind of thing for almost two decades ..."

"Why did Nick bother to build a car he knows he can never drive? Because it was his dream, and he refused to let it go. ..."

".. he found Muscle Car Restorations, where owner John Balow planted another seed into Waynes life. Namely, to build a faithful replica of the race Hemi Dart but add enough modern technology to make it streetable, fun, and much safer to drive. The results far exceeded anything that he could have hoped for .."

"John Balow of Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin had been tossing around the idea of building a Challenger T/A-style retro Pro Touring car powered by a modern 5.7 Hemi. A veteran in the field of building customs and restoring stone stockers, John has a network of close allies in the Mopar camp. He was getting good feedback on the theory when he bumped into Dean Skuza. ..."

".. and John Balow, owner of Muscle Car Restorations, was quick to respond with the offer of an A-833 (Hemi four-speed) rebuild ... Zumbrota Bearing and Gear in Zumbrota, Minnesota, supplied the parts necessary for this rebuilt. ..."

"... This one happens to be the 440 Six-Pack creation that Muscle Car Restorations will be bolting to the A-833 four-speed we showed you a few months ago, ..."

"To get us going, we asked John Balow, owner of Muscle Car Restorations (MCR), to help us add a set of tail stripes to an A-body with a minty-fresh paint job."

"... John Balow at Muscle Car Restorations (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin) had painted the car, and he did some overnight 'glass and paintwork to get it ready for the competition. The color is Auto Air's Metal Blue Silver."

"... Watching the progressions of the Holley Road Runner project, Craig decided that only the boys at Muscle Car Restorations were worthy enough to tackle his beloved Charger ..."

"We are quite confident in our selection of Muscle car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Muscle car Restorations has been restoring award-winning cars since 1989."

"What the heck is Project M? It's a project car we did a few year's ago and decided to reinvent, so to speak. Remember the Holley Road Runner? That car will now be known as Project M. Realizing enthusiasts are never really finished with their cars, we decided we weren't finished with this one either. Each year, we want to take Project M on the Hot Rod Power Tour to see how our new conglomeration of parts performs. Remember, this is Mopar Muscle -- anything's possible."