{"id":74014,"date":"2016-10-12T18:30:28","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T22:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=74014"},"modified":"2016-10-11T22:37:29","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T02:37:29","slug":"morrisville-state-college-professors-car-featured-in-national-automotive-performance-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=74014","title":{"rendered":"Morrisville State College professor’s car featured in national automotive performance magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Matt<\/a>
Matt Heckerman and his car. Photo by Franci Valenzano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was something special about the 1987 Pontiac Grand Prix Matt Heckerman was eyeing at the dealership where he once worked. Despite its doors touched up with Wite-Out and in need of some TLC, it piqued his interest enough to buy it.<\/p>\n

Years later, with an improved look and faster engine, the car is turning heads. Recently, Heckerman\u2019s car was featured in the October issue of Car Craft, <\/em>a national automotive performance magazine.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Heckerman, assistant professor of automotive technology at MSC, replaced the stock 305\/TH200 4R with an 11.01:1 383 and a stout TH350 transmission, Hooker 1 \u00be-inch headers, a Comp flat tappet cam and a Holley 750 carb that help the engine power the 3,140-pound car to 11.90s at a local track.<\/p>\n

The car\u2019s new look is thanks in part to automotive students at MSC who have worked on it over the years, giving it an orange coat of paint in the college\u2019s Garmat paint station, installing a hood scoop and adding custom touches.<\/p>\n

Heckerman\u2019s set of wheels has made its way to car shows, including the annual car cruise-in at MSC\u2019s alumni weekend, where it earned him Best Alumni Vehicle in 2012. It also sees time at ESTA Safety Park and Dragstrip in Cicero and is driven back and forth to work in good weather.<\/p>\n

Heckerman, a graduate of MSC\u2019s automotive technology program, started working in the college\u2019s automotive department 14 years ago. His interest in cars started long before as a teen. \u201cI would take things apart and put them back together. Mostly take them apart,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a story he likes telling. Heckerman has nearly sold his prized car twice\u2014once for a motorcycle\u2014 before he had a change of heart, selling its engine and transmission only. Three years later<\/span>, he decided to sell the bike to get the car running again.<\/p>\n

Sentiment still has him holding the keys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no interest in selling it anymore,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s a reminder of students who have put so much work into it. There is too much blood and sweat in it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides, it has the attention of his 10-year-old daughter, who plans to paint it pink and emblazon it with blue and purple flames when he hands the keys over to her someday.<\/p>\n

Morrisville\u2019s automotive programs prepare students for automotive careers, aligning them with the current industry.<\/p>\n

Morrisville\u2019s facilities include an award-winning automotive technology building with nine state-of-the-art laboratories and a showroom, and an auto body building with a lab containing superior air purification equipment, a laser device for measuring frame damage and a Garmat paint station.<\/p>\n

As the only campus with its own parts department and live service desk both run by students, students gain communication skills performing live work on faculty, staff and student vehicles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was something special about the 1987 Pontiac Grand Prix Matt Heckerman was eyeing at the dealership where he once worked. Despite its doors touched up with Wite-Out and in need of some TLC, it piqued his interest enough to buy it. Years later, with an improved look and faster engine, the car is turning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23813,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}