Indholdsfortegnelse for July 1990 i Hot Rod

Under Pressure Campbell Hausfeld has a tough line of air compressors for serious hot rodders. The 2- to 5-hp compressors are engineered to deliver more air power and durability, and less maintenance than conventional units. The 2-, 2.5-, and 3.5-hp U.S. Air models run on 115V, while the 3- and 5-hp units require 230V. The 5-hp models are available with 30- or 60-gallon tanks for large volume work. For more info, including the location of the nearest Campbell Hausfeld dealer, contact Campbell Hausfeld, Dept. HR-07, 100 Production Dr., Harriston, OH 45030, (800) 634-4793 or (513) 367-4811. 100-Round Action The new 100-round Calico 9mm offers unique advantages in capacity, weight, and handling characteristics. Featuring a new Helical Feed system, the Calico 9mm offers the option of using 50- or 100-round magazines,…

Fender-free Fords were a visible part of road racing back in the ’50s. These rodbodied home-builts competed against Jags, MGs, Ferraris, and Porsches. Known then as “Backyard Bombs” or “Specials,” rods such as Max Balchowsky’s Buick-booted ’32 roadster; Dan Gurney’s dark Deuce coupe; Duff Livingston’s (of karting fame) “sportified” ’23 T track roadster; and Ak Miller’s HRM-sponsored, shark-nosed ’27 Pan American road racer were part of the sporty car scene. So Charlie Edwards was in good company when he Dared to be Different by building this low-buck, home-hued, sports-style highboy. Said the man from Lexington, Kentucky, “It took me a year and 10 months to redo the old channeled car with its doors welded shut, and I did it all by myself for around 10 grand.” What Charlie redid to…

When it comes to getting maximum mileage from an existing chassis, the Ford Mustang gets accolades as the longest-running-production performance car that has not deteriorated one bit in performance or excitement. The Mustang GT and its LX derivative were clearly the superstar performance cars of the ’80s. And while a few selected cars such as the notorious Buick Grand National were quicker, their supremacy was short-lived compared to the ever-reliable Mustang, which kept on delivering top-level, high-performance value year after year. The years have been kind to the Mustang as it matured into a performance workhorse that is still tremendously popular with Ford fans and grudgingly admired by alternate-brand enthusiasts. Moderate styling changes helped the car keep pace with Ford’s across-the-board aero movement, and the muscular 5.0L powerplant developed in…

Mary had a little lamb,Its fleece was white as snow.Despite the slick cars that Mary built,The lamb would only build Camaros!(Poem courtesy of HOT ROD’s Bad Poetry Department) Now that we’ve successfully alienated every Camaro owner in the galaxy, would you believe us if we said it’s okay to build whatever you want-even a Pro Street Camaro? But if the essence of hot rodding is expressing your creativity, then it’s time to wave the Dare to be Different flag again, blow the bugle, and make a headlong charge at the boring majority. And unless you somehow missed this month’s cover and are ignoring all the photos and stories in this section, then it should be painfully obvious by now that something’s happenin’ here, and what it is, is crystal clear—Dare…

As we race toward the year 2000, hot rodders continue to shape future trends, adding new twists to old designs. Lines once drawn between race cars and hot rods have slowly blended through advanced technology and workmanship to create an entirely new look. But the latest version of 21st-century rodding didn’t come from the good old USA, but from south of the border in Mexico City, Mexico. For some time now, Conceptos Y Technologia, S.A. de C.V. has been producing a wide array of reproduction sports-car and hot-rod bodies and also chassis for ’23 to ’34 Fords. In the United States, these products have been marketed under the name Rods International. In recent years, Carlos Lara has been busy reshaping the past with technology borrowed from Indy and Formula 1…

The ’55 Chevy is an ageless hot rod with an enduring character that makes it one of the all-time favorites. Such is the case with Stan Blanca’s bigblock-powered, fuel-injected 210 model. Stan took two years to build it and we photographed it almost four years ago, but it still looks absolutely right, even today. Stan built his car using a combination of traditional hot-rodding techniques and current Pro Street modifications, and because he thought out the combination carefully, he was able to build a relatively hot street car that can be driven without undue distress. Stan removed the body and narrowed the rear frame rails six inches on each side to accommodate the large aluminum wheel tubs and Pro Trac street tires. Then he added an eight-point roll cage built…

Although Ford has almost always taken a serious approach to motorsports, its mid-’6Os performance activities had grown particularly intense. The company’s cars and parts were involved in many areas of racing in very much the same full-on ways that they are today. But during the late ’50s and through the early ’60s, it appeared as if Ford had obediently aligned itself with the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) racing ban and had backed off performance almost completely. Instituted on August 22, 1957, a day once referred to in the industry as “Black Monday,” the AMA ban was an agreement between domestic automakers to withdraw their support of performance-related activities. The manufacturers agreed to downplay performance, especially in advertising and promotional campaigns and not to participate directly in motorsports competition. Promoting power…

A guy got on my case the mother day about building cars. Unlike racers, whose war wagons are formed from the ground up, few rodders actually scratch-build their own rodneys. Most assemble their hot rods from components that they have purchased from various vendors. Hands-on enthusiasts like Scott Secrest, a 49-year-old chiropractor from Columbus, Indiana, generally stick their particular rides together in kitkemp fashion. Consequently, Scott employed a great deal of manipulation to assemble his repop ’34 Chevy cabriolet and did so in the following manner. First “Dr. Scott” ordered up a Progressive Automotive chassis—a roller that employs rectangular-box tubing and mild-steel pickup points for its Mustang II front end. This nearly complete package also contains the Ford’s O.E.M.rack-and-pinion steering attached to a Total Performance aluminum column operated by a…

The basic idea behind the world’s great sport tourers is a great one. Sure, it’s fun to have the most horsepower on your block, or the lightest frame, or the most corner-capable chassis. But most of us only use the last 10 percent of the performance capabilities of our motorcycles 10 percent of the time—and we treat our CBRIOOOs, our FZR 1000s, and our ZX-11s like normal, average street bikes the other 90 percent of the time. So Honda asked itself this question: Why not engineer a bike that’s 90 percent as fast as the fastest sports bikes—and 90 percent as comfortable as the biggest, most luxury-laden tourers? Honda’s new ST1100 is closely modeled after the premier practitioners of Euro-style touring—BMW’s K-series liquid-cooled triples and fours. The engine is a…

ODD RODS Back in the ’50s, when hot rodding was still being shaped by shade-tree tinkers, Daring to be Different formec the basic part of the rodder’s learning curve. His creativity manifested itself on our nation’s streets, strips, and straight-aways with what the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) called “Ingenuity In Action.” Although the nation’s boulevards saw their share of backyard beasties, the racer’s need for real speed at the drags or on the salt produced an incredible array of odd rods. This outpouring of imaginative home-builts ultimately found a home in the pages of HRM, and we thought it would be both instructive and entertaining to show you this handful of daringly different rods in the hopes that you will gain a better appreciation of what hot rodding was—and…

RODS IN PROGRESS I read the article on Rich and Jacklyn Gebhardt’s Pro Shop (April ’90) and thought it was neat to see future feature cars under construction. How about more articles like “The Pro Shop” that show current projects in the rough stages from hot-rod industry veterans? I’d love to see their high-tech rides in a way that hot rodders can relate to—under construction! Enclosed is a photo of my future feature ride—a ’56 Chevy 210 sedan. I hope it’s good enough for Reaction Time now and maybe a feature when it’s complete. Thanks! Andrew KrugSpringfield, Illinois A+ PERFORMANCE I couldn’t believe the prices you quoted for your parts in “A+ Performance” (April ’90). The most shocking was the figure you showed for the pistons—$660.88 for the set. I…

DAYS OF THUNDER Top Gun star Tom Cruise, director Tony Scott, and producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer are bringing another blockbuster action/adventure to the screen this summer with the release of Paramount’s Days of Thunder. Set in the gritty, competitive world of Winston Cup racing, the new movie has Tom Cruise playing the ambitious, young Cole Trickle, an experienced Indy car driver who faces numerous personal obstacles in his quest to become the NASCAR champion. The film also stars Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, and Nicole Kidman, and it features the Hendrick Motor-sports-prepared Chevy Lumina in “Mello Yello” colors. Mello Yello is a citrus-flavored soft-drink product of The Coca-Cola Company, a major marketing partner for the film. Highlighting its national promotional campaign is a sweepstakes with a ’91 Chevy Lumina…

A new addition to the 1990 General Tire/Special Events Performance Series is the Hot Rod & Street Machine Super Nationals sponsored by Ford and Motorcraft Quality Parts. The 2-day outdoor show will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 13-14 and is open to all makes, models, and years of cars and two-wheel-drive trucks. An added bonus of the event is a special arrangement with the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) that will permit preregistered participants to attend the SEMA show on Friday, October 12. This showcase of high-performance aftermarket equipment is normally closed to the public, but you’ll be able to walk right in, check out all the latest performance parts, and meet the people who make them. Participants will be eligible…

How many times have you heard that performance tuning is a game of compromises? Typically, once an engine has been tuned to produce power in a certain rpm range, you must sacrifice low-speed power, for example, in order to gain top-end power. That has always been the way of the world—until now. With the advent of electronic fuel injection (EFI), and specifically Tuned Port Injection (TPI) for the small-block Chevy, the high-water mark for street-performance tuning continues to improve. While adding EFI doesn’t necessarily increase power, the tuning flexibility and intake-design freedom that multipoint EFI and TPI add do offer serious advantages to improving both torque and horsepower. John Lingenfelter has been experimenting with Chevy’s TPI system virtually since it was first used on production Corvettes and Camaros in 1985.…

You’ve heard it ail before: “Anyone can make a Chevy run—but it takes a real mechanical genius to work on a Ford!” For whatever reason, Chevys always seemed to respond to traditional hop-up techniques more willingly than Ford products … maybe because there were just so many more parts available for the Bow-Tie boys. When the new electronic-fuel-injection (EFI), computerized engines were introduced, nothing really changed. Instead of dialing in the carb and messing with the timing, you merely traded in the stock GM factory computer chip for a go-fast hot-rod chip. Companies like Hypertech led the way in developing this aftermarket-chip technology. Unfortunately, none of it was applicable to Ford, which doesn’t utilize separate plug-in “PROM” calibration chips. Blue-blooded Ford fanatics began to despair that there’d never be an…

One venue where the Ford Mustang is still king is SCCA Trans Am racing. Current Trans Am champion Dorsey Schroeder drove a Roush Racing-prepared 5.8L V8 Mustang to the title in ’89, and the Roush machine appeared poised Io continue its domination in 1990 when Schroeder qualified number one at the season opener in Phoenix. A controversial stop-and-go penalty for jumping a restart and then leading the field too slowly under caution forced him to the rear of the pack, but Roush teammate Robert Lappalainen assumed the lead in his 5.1 L Mustang and never gave it up. With capable driving talent from Lyn St. James, Max Jones, and Wayne Akers, Mustangs captured four of the top five positions, thoroughly trouncing the Chevrolet Berettas and Olds Cutlasses in the process.…

It all started in 1956 when Jerry Moreland was still matriculating at Garden Grove High, located near Santa Ana, California. One of Jerry’s pals had an older brother who owned a ’55 Buick Century. The brother was a rodder and had already lowered the Century and fitted it with chrome reversed wheels plus baby moons, lots of Buick baby-blue lacquer paint, and a McCulloch supercharger that wheezed away between the rocker covers of its 322-inch “nailhead” V8. “Some day,” Jerry said to himself, “I’m going to own one of those Buicks.” It was a rod that Jerry coveted then; it’s a rod that he owns now. Then as now, Jerry, the president of a manufacturing company, has been actively associated with some of the most devastating hot rods in the…

Anyone who has ever owned a ’50 Studebaker can recite bullet-nose stories. Take my uncle, for instance. A hitchhiker kidded him about his ’50’s Raymond Lowey-inspired styling with its wraparound rear window. He kept nerfing Uncle Millard, claiming that its owners didn’t know whether they were coming or going. So the guy who married my aunt promptly spun a 180, stuck it in reverse, and stood on it up one of those steep, steep San Francisco hills. The hitchhiker promptly took a hike. Bullet-nose ‘Bakers ran in the family. My grandmother sold my folks her ’50 business coupe after complaining that people were jealous of her cute little car. It never occurred to Grandma that riding the brakes, driving 30-mph slower than the posted speed limit, and signaling with just…

During Detroit’s heavy-metal horsepower wars, America’s new-car automakers fought the sales battle of 1963 in a series of continuously escalating skirmishes. By that time, factory-versus-factory “fighting” had actually grown into a continuous marketing conflict. And, despite the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) racing ban of 1957, the action had spread itself across a number of model years and into assorted arenas of competition (see “Charge Of The Lightweight Brigade” sidebar). Interbrand rivalries were just as fierce on the track, where new cars were shown, as they were in the dealerships, where they were sold. Motown, at that time, had just unveiled its compact and intermediatesized models. But those early economy-oriented rides were a long way from becoming competition material. So, through the next few years, the factories’ maximum-performance production packages continued…

A SUPER-SWEET SUPER BEE Dale Cannister of Sewickley, Pennsylvania, bought this ’70 Super Bee back in 1979. After driving it for a year, he repainted it and hit the local car-show circuit. A year later, he completely dismantled the car and spent the next five years reconstructing it. He has been showing it ever since. Dale installed subframe connectors to reduce the unibody flex and relocated each rear leaf spring three inches inboard to mount the 4.88-geared, narrowed Dana 60. He replaced the stock leaves with Mopar Performance (MP, formerly Direct Connection) Super Stock springs and replaced the stock front drums with disc brakes from a ’69 Charger. A set of 90-10 valved Race Country shocks was installed up front with a set of 50-50 valved shocks damping the rear.…

If you’re a bona-fide banked-track fanatic (or just a plain old-car nut), then the place to kick off next season is the Charlotte Auto Fair, held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in early April. We cruised through the event this past April 5-8 and had one heck of a good time. It’s hard to imagine a better place to hold this kind of an event. The facility is huge and well maintained. And with the banked-oval track as a backdrop, you can’t help but get excited about one thing: cars. At this event, you’ll find a great mix of show cars, cars for sale, a parts swap meet, as well as displays guaranteed to get your motor running. There is even a specialty car auction if you’re serious about collecting. This…

Loctite Corporation is offering enthusiasts a chance to win a classic ’70 Ford Torino Cobra with a Super Cobra Jet package that includes a 370-hp, 429-cid Ram Air V8, a Toploader 4-speed with Hurst shifter, and Magnum 500 wheels. To promote its line of DL/Permatex Fast Orange hand cleaner, Loctite will conduct its sweepstakes through jobber and retail-automotive outlets. The winner will be chosen by random drawing, with entries closing on December 31, 1990. Official entry blanks will be available at participating stores.…

The license plate mounted on this red ’67 Camaro RS owned by the 350-plus members of the Minnesota Street Machine Association should read “Win Me.” The car will be awarded to a lucky winner at the association’s annual “Back To The Sixties” car show and swap-meet weekend on September 8-9, 1990. The car Was a 350-cubic-inch Corvette engine and a TH35O transmission. Chances to win are available for $1 each, and the net proceeds are being donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The winning ticket will be drawn by the local MDA poster child at the Aldrich Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 9, at the conclusion of the show. The association expects over 900 entries and will award over 400 trophies. Anyone wishing to participate in the Camaro…

Hot on the heels of the IROC Daytonas are the ’90 street versions. The Daytona Shelby comes on strong with a 2.2-liter intercooled Variable Nozzle Turbo (VNT) that almost eliminates boost lag and pumps out 174 horsepower at 5200 rpm and 210 Ibs.-ft. at 2400 rpm. The engine is backed by a high-capacity 5-speed transaxle and puts the power down through 15x6.5-inch aluminum wheels and P225/5OVR Eagle GT radials. Next up, the Daytona ES and ES turbo offer a choice of a 2.5-liter, SOHC, 4-cylinder, multipoint electronic-fuel-injected non-VNT turbo motor; a 3.0-liter SOHC V6; or (for base models) a normally aspirated, 2.5-liter, SOHC 4-cylinder. The 2.5-liter turbo motor yields 150 horsepower at 4800 rpm and 180 Ibs.-ft. of torque at 2000 rpm. In nonturbo trim, the 2.5-liter engine puts out…

It was only a matter of time before Ford picked up on the performance advantages of a better manifold for its 5.0-liter injected engine. To this end, SVO has released its enhanced version of the stock Ford TPI manifold, which still follows the basic design of the factory intake and allows a relatively easy retrofit for all its TPI Mustangs. As you can see, the runners are substantially larger and the plenum is a two-tiered design to accommodate the larger runners. The base portion of the intake features equally large ports with the requisite fittings for the fuel injectors. While we’ve not been able to test this unit as yet, you can bet it will be a substantial improvement over even a modified stock Ford manifold. The Ford SVO intake…

Light, fast, affordable—today’s Mustang is tops in most performance categories. Most… but not all. More than 10 years after its introduction, the third-generation Mustang V8 still comes off the production line with old-fashioned rear drum brakes and eco-no-car, four-lug wheels. In an attempt to fill the void, Ford Motorsport initially offered its M-2300-C rear-disc conversion kit. The truly bolt-on kit featured four-lug, 10-inch rear rotors (one inch smaller than the front discs). It made interchange easy and kept the price down, but no-compromise enthusiasts still demanded a no-holds-barred 11-inch/five-lug kit. Motorsport engineer Don Walsh has finally met those demands, developing a new “big-brake” kit, part No. M-2300-E. As delivered, the kit fits any ’87-up Mustang. It also fits ’79-’86 models if the ’87-up production front struts, spindles, dust shields, hoses,…

Considering that only 1654 ’33 Ford “woodie” wagon; were originally built, it’s amazing that any exist today given the damage caused by accidents, dry rot, and termites. This one could barely pass for kindling when Bot Oney first found it, but he carried it home anyway! To provide a stressless foundation for a somewha fragile body, a frame was constructed joining Just-A-Hob by frame rails with tubular crossmembers at each end The rails were notched to clear a narrowed 8-inch Fore rearend, while the motor mounts were raised 2½ inches to keep the pan from dragging in this low-slung chassis Posie’s Super Slide leaf springs and Pete & Jake’; shocks were used in back and in front with a VCW dropped axle. A Vega cross-steering box directs ’46 Fore spindles,…

Flip the switch! Scratch the itch! Dare to be Different and do it quick. Do it low. Do it lean. Slam it on the ground and tub your machine. Keep the chrome or paint it out. Any way you do it, just make it shout—Dare to be Different! Blown and carbureted or EFI, it doesn’t matter as long as it can fly. Bigs ‘n’ littles, yeah, we like that; then again, why not a fat-tire attack? Make it cook in the quarter and stop on a dime, fly around the corners to get back in time—Dare to be Different! Yeah! Being normal is for nerds. And besides, being “normal” is a stark, raving bore. Wake up and get a personality. Or better yet, build a really different sort of hot…

In the past few years, several first-rate rods have rolled from Mike Adams’ Rod Shop, including his HOT ROD 1989 Top Ten “Neon Nova.” But his latest goes beyond even the Nova. Not only does Rick Martin’s ’37 encompass every high-tech trick, but it also captures the true spirit of hot rodding! The first task was to improve certain contours of the body, in particular the top. To do so, Mike chopped it up into more than 20 pieces and then hammer-welded the whole mess back together. In the process, the lid was lowered two inches at the A-pillar but only 1 ½ inches at the rear. The rain gutters were sloped at the rear, the rear window was cut down 2½ inches, and a curved lower rear panel was…

HANDLING A MOPAR Q For hard-core GM suspension parts, I go to Guldstrand, H-0 Racing, Herb Adams VSE, and Global West. For FoMoCo parts, I go to Kaufmann, JBA, and Maier. Where do I go for rear-wheel-drive and front-wheel-drive Mopar suspension parts? Also, where do I go for Mopar 2.2L, nonturbo performance advice? Michal KupkaDenison, Texas A A Mopar Performance (MP), Chrysler’s factory-performance-parts program, carries an extensive inventory of both turbo and nonturbo, 2.2L performance parts. It also offers both front- and rear-drive chassis and drivetrain parts. The front-drive components are primarily road-race and rally oriented, while the rear-drive pieces are mostly for drag-racing-style acceleration contests, although recently a line of heavy-duty sway bars and gas-charged shocks has been added. MP also publishes complete technical how-to manuals—the ones concerning you…