The annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas is known for having some of the finest builds on the planet on display. Manufacturers want their latest products showcased in up-to-date, cutting-edge builds to attract buyers to their trade show booths. FiTech Fuel Injection is no exception. To showcase its new Ultraport EFI system for the small-block Chevy — and its new 12.3-inch Digital Dash — it partnered with Lyon McClenahan of Finish Line Speed Shop on the ‘51 Chevy 3100 pickup you see here.
Unveiled in FiTech booth, the ‘51 Chevy 3100 has a plethora of its new products on it — most notably the new Ultraport fuel injection system for small-block Chevys with integrated timing control, plus spark plug wires, coil, distributor and CDI box.
Equally cool: The interior features Fitech’s new 12.3 digital gauge cluster mounted in the dash, a unit that also debuted at the SEMA Show. The FiTech 12.3 Digital Dash delivers a fully customizable driving experience with a 12.3-inch ultra-wide, anti-glare LCD modular display. Designed for style and function, it integrates seamlessly with FiTech ECUs and CAN-enabled systems for real-time performance data and complete visual personalization.
The easiest part of this entire build was the fuel-injection system. This thing literally fired up right off the get-go and we’ve yet to tune the truck. It’s been running right off of the baseline tune. We put the parameters in it, set it to number 2 on the cam level on the thing and it fired right off. —Lyon McClanahan
Finish Line went all Fi-Tech on this build. The 3100 uses one of the FiTech returnless regulated fuel pumps in the tank of the truck.
“I can’t say more more about the basically plug and play running on it. It was a brand new Blueprint Engines plant in the truck and it just fired right off, and it’s been flawless getting it going and getting it down here,” McClenahan said.
Speaking of the Blueprint-supplied powerplant, it is a traditional 355 small-block and the trans a 700R4.
Lyon noted that one of the best parts of the system is you can change anything on the engine management system from inside the truck.
“You can literally, on the fly, change from Cam 1 to Cam 4 to 2 to 3 and it’s not going to destroy anything. You, can make a camshaft change on it and you can watch the change instantly as to how the system will regulate it,” according to Lyon.
He also liked the fact that the new 12.3 gauge cluster is actually wired into the fuel injection system. It’ll do what the mini handheld does.
This was the 10th build Finish Line Speed Shop has done for display at the SEMA Show and eight have featured FiTech Fuel Injection products on them.
The 3100 started out as a nice, solid, completely stock truck, and the gentleman who owns it wanted it to be something that he could drive and enjoy.
Anyone who has ever driven a ’51 Chevy truck, though, will tell you it’s not exactly like a modern Corvette on the road. Or even a ‘53 Corvette. Thus, the decision was made to change its entire chassis.
“We put a full TCI chassis under it with Wilwood disc brakes and it’s got a Currie 9-inch rearend under it,” said McClenahan. “We were keeping it so the outside looked pretty much stock. We mocked the truck up with a modified stock column so the whole interior would be stock to work with the rack-and-pinion steering on the TCI chassis, and as the project snowballed — as they all do — we ended up switching to an ididit column and Eddie Motorsports steering wheel.”
The paint color was originally gonna be the stock Cape Maroon and once it was decided it was coming to SEMA, Lyon’s wife, Jennifer, went to work with the color changes on it.
“The initial look still looks like a Cape Maroon, but once any light hits it or from different angles, you can see the custom Rivolt Auto Paint, all pearls and metallics. In the light it will turn almost a bright red, and in the shade it looks like the stock maroon,” explained McClenahan.
The interior got a full treatment as well, with leather and alcantara bench seats (heated) and, of course, the FiTech 12.3 dash.
For wheels, Finish Line kept it simple: just a set of 18-inch in Steele wheels painted body color.
Every SEMA build requires a ton of labor, sweat, and frayed nerves. But we think the end result here was worth it.
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