Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2017 i Hot Rod

Years ago, cool had two doors and a fastback roofline. Today, cool is open for interpretation. Sure, there’s an argument to be made that it always has been, but more so than ever, cool is dictated by what’s left. As a teenager, I wouldn’t have given a four-door Nova or Chevelle a second glance. But the older, only-a-little-bitsmarter me realizes Detroit isn’t making 1960s and 1970s muscle cars anymore, and the once bountiful cornucopia of potential projects is ever dwindling. Every year, more vintage iron disappears from the road, never to return. Be it rust, crashes, or any other automotive ailment, the result is the same: less available canvas for us hot rodders to paint and a skyward-creeping price tag. Seriously, remember when a first-gen Camaro was something…

ASSEMBLY FIRST STARTS AT DISASSEMBLY hIt was not even 10 years ago that the concept of a 1,000hp street car was a mind-boggling proposition. Now, anything less than quadruple- digit power barely makes news. While EFI is more user-friendly and certainly more accessible than ever before, there is no disputing the simplicity and functionality of a carburetor. But when that carburetor is going to be tasked to handle a blowthrough application exceeding 1,300 hp—well, that’s what Kevin Van Noy at CSU carbs in Fontana, California, has been specializing in for more than 15 years. Big power and alternative fuels, such as E85 and methanol, require significantly higher fuel flow than your run-ofthe- mill carb can handle, and Van Noy has a few tricks to make them possible. The base carburetor…

Some folks believe eye for detail is a subject of quantity, but that’s a misconception. An eye for detail sees the reason behind going to the extremes or stopping at the subtleties. Pro Rides’ Denny Terzich has that eye, and it shows on his 1955 Chevrolet 210, dubbed “X-BOX.” No video games to be found here, just 2 tons of steel, aluminum, and horsepower. Terzich pulled from his generational cohorts and the Tri-Five “shoebox” nickname for the build’s title. The car was Pro Rides’ biggest undertaking yet, with more than 150 modifications to the venerable Tri-Five shape. “We actually wanted to bring the car out to Drag Week™ a year or two earlier than we did,” Terzich explained. Readers will recognize Pro Rides for building “Sick Seconds” for Drag Week™…

There was time in hot rodding when brakes were a “must-have” but not a “brag-worthy” item. After all, they just “slowed you down,” and who was going to brag to their buddies about that? Enter the Pro Touring movement, and that notion was cast out the window altogether. As wheels got bigger and spokes got thinner, big, beautiful brakes became as brag-worthy as tunnel-ram intakes, huge hits of nitrous, and that big blower poking through the hood. A paramount facet to going fast on a racetrack is knowing where to go slow. A consistent and capable brake system is the key to a center podium spot. At the forefront of the performance-braking movement, providing the engineering, innovation, and the know-how to slow down is Wilwood Disc Brakes. The company is…

555 + LS = Trans Dapt’s LSSwap Mounts for Chevy Tri-Five Trans Dapt // 562.921.0404 // TDperformance.com Trans Dapt has introduced its new LS-swap mounts for Chevrolet’s venerable Tri-Five, the 1955–1957 Chevrolet 150, 210, Bel Air, and Nomad. The complete kit includes all the brackets, rubber mounts, and fasteners necessary to install a Gen III/IV small-block LS into your project. Rubber pads are offered standard for less noise and vibration while more durable polyurethane units are offered for those who don’t mind a little extra rumble through the chassis. Price: $235.60 rubber; $364.40 polyurethane Thermalfect Sleeve Insulation For Wiring and Fluid Lines Heatshield Products 844.723.2665 HeatshieldProducts.com The more horsepower you make, the more heat your engine produces, and that means more things under your hood will need protection— especially with…

I met Danny and Byron on Power Tour® 2012, and we had a blast when they joined us in our pack of Mopars. Danny showed me some cars he had on his property—not just the usual junk but a 1971 Barracuda convertible! I asked to see the collection, but little did I know I’d soon own it. I ended up purchasing the cars, which sat next to a lake for decades and were parts cars for Danny’s fleet of E-bodies. Mopar lovers are prone to snatching up every parts car they can to keep one or two runners out of the junkyard. The saddest car of the collection was the horribly rusted 1971 Barracuda convertible: the firewall rusted in half and the car split in four pieces. We tore it…

When Rob Roberts sold his 1969 Camaro project car, he didn’t know just how much his sons, Matthew and Austin, would miss it. He could tell Matthew was especially sad to see the car get loaded on a trailer and roll off forever. “I knew I had made a mistake,” Rob told us. He had sold the Camaro to make room for a Corvette ZR1 that would replace it. The LS9-powered C6 got hot rodded with an aggressive cam, an overdriven supercharger, and a set of HRE wheels, but it wasn’t the same as the old muscle. Soon enough, the bug for old iron bit him and Rob found a 1971 Camaro to buy as a project. The car was a driver, although it was always in need of some…

In our occasional look back at HOT ROD editors, we bring you the editor with the distinction of holding that position for the least amount of time: nine months. “Too Tall” Pat Ganahl is the first to admit he knew his days were probably numbered when he took the position. It wasn’t from a lack of talent or experience, but maybe a lack of tolerance for office politics. Internal politics can get nasty, and unfortunately, Pat held reign during a time when HOT ROD overlords outnumbered the editorial side. His nemesis was John Dianna, who on his first day as HOT ROD publisher announced he would make the staff work 110 percent. Pat immediately replied, “Gee, that sounds good to me, I’d like to slow down about 40 percent.” Pat…

From above, it looks like a rocky stream, the flow splitting and slowing to a stop around stalled cars and dropped mattresses. My usual commute south on California’s 405 freeway goes through two of the most congested freeway interchanges in America, and I’d always wondered what it looked like above the swearing and honking. Rather peaceful, really, with all the brake lights twinkling below like a reversed and ruddy starred sky. My aerial viewpoint came courtesy of pilot/reporter Mark Kono and his camera- operating, photo-journalist partner, Eliana Moreno, of the KTLA Sky5 News Helicopter. Kono and Moreno invited me in the chopper to see what car culture looks like from the heavens. During our flight, we chased down reports of car fires and rollovers, and while I intended to try…

Fifty years ago, a woman emerged in the drag-racing scene and changed the face of the quarter-mile sport, modeling what women can achieve in an especially maledominated field. Shirley Muldowney, the fresh-faced shoe from Schenectady, New York, received her NHRA pro license in 1965, and by 1966 was piloting an injected Gas dragster in this shot from the NASCAR Summernationals in West Salem, Ohio. Is that determination in her face or satisfaction from envisioning a trajectory to become a three-time Top Fuel World Champion in 1977, 1980, and 1982? Said to be the most naturally talented Top Fuel driver ever, after her recovery from a violent crash in 1984, she continued running in Top Fuel until her retirement in 2003. Besides making a difference as a model for what women…

I’ve always been in love with the streetfreak look—you know, the cars so ugly they’re kinda cool,” admits Jeff Bornstein, a lifelong hot rod addict. And Jeff knows firsthand about these bizarro hot rods and “high and mighty” Gassers, as he belongs to the Dead Man’s Curve car club—a group of street warriors known for their bombastic builds and sky-scratchin’ mega-rides. The DMC members build their custom cars in the tradition of the wild and way-out “freaks” and Gassers first glorified on the street and strip battlegrounds of the 1960s. Jeff’s got a few attention-grabbing rides back in his garage in Livingston, New Jersey. A day-two-styled 1964 Corvette coupe and a 1932 roadster boasting blown Bow Tie power have found permanent residence at his spacious auto abode. But a few…

With the fifth-generation Camaro, Chevrolet changed the meaning of ZL1. While it originally stood for a limitedproduction, dragstrip terror that carried the biggest, baddest engine from the Corvette, the modern version added impressive levels of road-course capability and daily driver comfort while leaving a bit of the horsepower on the table. The 2017 ZL1 now brings every bit as much power as the top-dog Corvette while also introducing a new, world-class transmission along with an improved chassis to create an all-around driver’s car that excels in any environment. The last ZL1 had a 580hp 6.2L LSA V8 that was similar to the Corvette’s LS9 but with a smaller-displacement supercharger. Now the 2017 ZL1 brings the same 650 hp as the Z06 Corvette. From the throttle-body to the main caps, the…

Some hot rod enthusiasts want to go fast and some want their cars to be unique, but whichever way you flip the coin, the essence of hot rodding is self-expression. There are a million ways to go fast and a million more to personalize and improve the look of your heap. While digging through the HOT ROD archives, we came across these two cars, shot within a month of each other in 1956. In the same window of time, you see two completely different approaches for personalizing cars back in March 1956. The Caddy is from Florida, though it appears to have been shot just outside of the Indianapolis Speedway, while the smoothed-off 1946 Ford is from California. One endeavors to improve the aesthetics with add-on accessories—piling on if you…

Q:I have a 1996 302 Ford motor that came with a reverse-rotation water pump. I need to change to a standard-rotation water pump. Do I need to change the timing cover also, or do they make a standard-rotation pump to work on the later-model timing cover? A:It depends. Water pump and front timing cover interchange on the Ford smallblock Windsor V8 family (includes the 221/255/260/289/302/351W) is tricky. To help sort it all out, we brought in Ford specialist Mark Sanchez of Advanced Engineering West (AEW). First, we’ll discuss the most common variations that pertain to nearly all 1967-and-later models—except very early models and certain 1991-and-later models, which may include your motor. (We’ll get to them below.) Other than the preceding exceptions, to determine suitability for interchange, you need to check…