Indholdsfortegnelse for July 1991 i Hot Rod

When was the last time you went through a car magazine and said to yourself, “Wouldn’t it be great to have a car like that?” It happens to me every issue. Most of the time, the cars we dream about are the megadollar efforts that might as well be constructed out of “unobtanium,” as they are so far beyond our financial abilities. But before you resign yourself to the belief that you’ll always be driving that rusty Impala or Dodge Monaco sitting in the driveway, consider the hot rodding alternatives. We were sitting around during lunch the other day, considering low-budget ways to make a hot rodding statement. I remembered a discussion I had with my pal Scott Sullivan while driving his Cheez Whiz-orange ’55 Chevy cross-country a few years…

R/C HEMI COUPE HITS LOS ANGELES Parma International, Inc., just released its new Xo-scale Parma Hemi Coupe radio-controlled electric car kit. Based on a ’30s-style fenderless hot rod body and a Parma California Sport Truck chassis design, the Hemi coupe features a detailed Lexan three-window coupe body, separate grille section, Lexan frame for realism, trued sponge tires mounted on chrome-plated wheels, extra-wide rear tires, a fiberglass chassis plate, aluminum rear pod and wheel hubs, a ball-type differential, and a steel axle. To complete the kit, you’ll need a 2-channel radio with speed control, battery pack, motor and pinion, paint, glue, and Parma’s Hemi Wiring Kit. The Parma Hemi Coupe Kit sells for $129.95, at this writing. For further details, contact Parma at (216) 237-8650. THE EASTWOOD PERFORMANCE PIONEER SERIES The…

SWEEPSTAKES RULES No purchase necessary. A sweepstakes winner will be selected in a random drawing on or about 8/15/91 from postcards received by 8/1/91 which include the entrant’s name/address/tel. no, and the name of the champion driver (by virtue of points) of the 1991 True Value-Dodge IROC series. Entries must be on the official postcard attached to this ad (or handprinted on a 3x5-inch card) and mailed to 1991 True ValueDodge IROC Series Sweepstakes, P.O. Box 4380, Los Angeles, CA 90078. Enter as many times as you like. No machine entries accepted. Prize is a 1991 Dodge Daytona IROC, with an approximate retail value of $13,439 (U.S.). Taxes, insurance, operation costs, license & registration are sole responsibility of winner. Winner will be notified by telephone and/or mail. Petersen Publishing Company,…

Ron Brown has owned 25 different Chevy Novas, but he’s not crazy. He just likes Novas. The Chevy Nova is one of the core elements of street machining, and Ron’s beautiful ’67 is one of the best examples around. Like ’55 Chevys and Camaros, most Novas spend the best years of their lives as modified street machines capable of performance far in excess of their original design intent. Some are more potent than others, but Ron’s 25th attempt may well be his finest effort yet. Most of the work I was done at Sansone Fabrication in Walpole, Massachusetts, where Rick Sansone welded the all-tube chassis, using .125-wall tubing. He installed tubs and a 9-inch Ford rearend that uses Koni coil-over shocks and JFZ rear disc brakes. The front end was…

I magination is the essence of hot rodding. The only substitute for imagination is more imagination. Nobody said hot rods had to be this make or that model, only that the body or engine has to be modified for better appearance or performance. But let me add one more criterion to this mix: A real hot rod should be daily-driver dependable. Therefore, we’d like to add to our hot rodding slogans. First, there was Dare to be Different, and then came Aim to be Awesome and Rush to be Reet. Our newest slogan is Deem to be Dependable. No doubt about it, it’s neat to own and drive bullet-nose Bakers, ’53 Startiners, ’ Lincoln-tonias,” and “Shark-olets.” But how about doing a daily driver? You know, a luxo-cruiser—one that says “style…

It’s late, and the crickets keeping time with the radio DJ’s rap are your only company. You’ve been under your hot rod so long the letters on your creeper are imprinted on your back. Your mind is so numb you can’t remember the firing order of a small-block Chevy (gasp!). And now, you’re staring at the garbled mess of wires you thought you’d remember how to reassemble. What will you do? If only you had read this amazing collection of 75 tech tips before you started, you would have known about John Baechtel’s “Spy Photos” tip so you wouldn’t have to rely on that fatigue-fogged mass of gray matter you used to call your brain to get the right connections. And that’s just the beginning. Did you know that incorrectly…

CARS & TRUCKS ’61 BUICK ELECTRA FOR SALE. Good body, 455 engine. $1000. William Seaver, RR 1 Box 163, Nauvoo, IL 62354, (217)453-6632. ’87 BUICK GN. All available options. Garaged. 2700 miles. Completely repainted. $19,000. Joe Decker, 917 Thousand Acre, Sellersville, PA 18960, (215) 453-0166. 70 BUICK GS 455. Standard model, 91,000 miles, runs well. All original quarters and trunk are rusted. Needs restoration. $3500 o.b.o. Troy Mullin, 2068 Salisbury Rd. S” Richmond, IN 47374, (317) 966-7927. 78 LOWERED CHEVY. Blown 305, TH400, A/C, p.w., p.s., p.b. Class-three hitch, great tow rig. Champ 500 wheels. Too much to list. $7500. Doug Hofeldt, 9954 Carla, Pocatello, ID 83204, (208) 232-2469. 79 Z/28 CHEVROLET CAMARO. Built 350, aluminum heads, rods, and pistons. Custom interior and paint. Chrome, brass plating. Recaro seats, cowl…

I don’t know about the rest of the country, but sand dragging is still alive, well, and kickin’ dirt under the auspices of the United Sand Association. The Association’s monthly shindig is generally held on the second Saturday of each month (additional information can be obtained from Bucky Ray, 714/877-5045) at Glen Helen Raceway, a facility located near the town of San Bernardino, California. For those rodders who have never savored the thrill of down ’n’ dirty racing, the dune digs enjoy the same timing, leave, and side-by-side racing action as one would find at a professional, paved drag race; the exception is that the continually plowed and graded course is 300 feet long. Class structure is relegated to either eliminator—such as Top Fuel—or various e.t. brackets. The best part…

DIVING IN That’s it. Now you’ve done it! I usually don’t write abusive letters to my favorite Petersen publication, but I am left with no choice. Regarding “Rock’n’ Roll Swimsuits” (see HRM April ’91), I’m a well-respected man about town—I’m married, have two hot rods, and I thought I was all set in life. But you guys have me looking for my old butch wax and fine-toothed comb. Shame on you. I mean Jan & Dean, The Beach Boys, and Bruce? That’s rotten! My education, my principles are all gone! Now I dream about 409s, reverb radios, pegged pants, duck tails and Beatle boots—let alone the hardship of trying to find a Foster’s Freeze or my favorite drivein! Tomorrow is another workday, and I’ll be forced to put away the…

What is a musclecar these days anyway? Does it need to have matching numbers and rare factory options to be fun? No way! We’re of the opinion that if it’s got an American V8 under the hood, looks great, and runs hard, it’s a musclecar. That’s exactly the kind of cars we’ve collected here for your perusal. Don’t think you’ve got to limit yourself to filling in the missing part numbers of someone else’s idea of what a musclecar should be. Most of these guys didn’t. They took what they had and built it better. And not all of them had to spend big bucks to get a super street ride. So grab hold of these pages, get some ideas, and go build your own modified musclecar! THE CHALLENGE It’s…

Almost twenty months have passed since our first segment of “Project Budget Builder” (HRM November ’89), and much has taken place. Changes in the USSR have swept across the world, leading to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The United States and allied forces crushed Iraq’s aggression in the Persian Gulf. And Jim Peterson finally saved enough Hot Rod Budget Bucks to finish building his ’65 El Camino. These are historic times, indeed! Ever since this project took shape, its development hinged around money, or more precisely, the lack of it. While some folks would simply wave their checkbooks over the parts bin, Jim’s approach was a bit more imaginative and challenging. After purchasing this El Camino for $1500, he decided the least expensive route was to replace its thrashed-out…

BRAND-SPECIFIC TECH ASSISTANCE These companies answei only questions regarding theii products. Accel 9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Eastern (313) 489-1000 for fuel injection assistance (203) 481-5771, extension 2523 for all nonfuel-injection assistance American Speed (309) 764-0089 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Central Technical assistance and information regarding American Speed products Auto Meter (815) 895-8141 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Central Tachometers, speedometers, gauges, speed-limiting devices, battery testers, and charging system testers B&M Automotive Products (818) 882-6422 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific Superchargers, shifters, torque converters, automatic transmission modification and rebuilding kits, and some cooling system components Fel-Pro Performance, Inc. (708) 674-7701, ext. 2761 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Central Performance gaskets and sealing products Ford Motorsports (313)337-1356 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Eastern Technical help and parts selection for Ford high-performance applications HPC Corporate Headquarters (800) 456-4721 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.…

Take a moment to really check out Jerry Brassfield’s 928 ’32 clothtop. Oh, it’s a trick rod all right. It contains all the double-throwdown elements: a tube frame; pussyfoot suspension; four-wheel disc brakes; European rolling stock; an unusual powerplant and drivetrain; a highly modified body shell; reet red paint; and leather galore. It’s also smoother than a baby’s behind, but Brassfield’s B-model isn’t what it appears to be, and that’s the purpose of this yarn. Five years ago, Brassfield, a Los Gatos, California, businessman, commissioned car builder Paul Newman to create a most unusual rodney. Unlike the majority of “street-erized” earlv models Brassfield’s idea was to design and build a phantom, freeway-flyin’ phaeton that would successfully combine the best of two worlds: German engineering and handling expertise enveloped in a…

John D’Agostino of Antioch, California, is a two-time winner of the Sam Barris Memorial Award: once for his ’51 Merc Midnight Sensations and again for his ’40 Merc Stardust. He also won the Al Slonaker Memorial Award at the Oakland Roadster Show when his Winfield-built ’56 Lincoln Royal Empress was voted the most innovative vehicle in the show. John has won more awards for his cars than we can list. Stardust (shown) was featured in a Levi’s ad and now in the pages of HOT ROD magazine. John always wanted to build an early-type nostalgia custom like the one Sam Barris built for Nick Matranga in 1949. John had plenty of help from Bill and Tom Frasier, who c’d the rear of the frame and installed an independent Mustang II…

While we rarely write about it, hot rods that handled were a significant part of the road racing scene during the latter part of the ’50s. They were usually called specials or backyard bombs. By and large, specials were a motley collection of junkyard parts, muffler-moly tube frames, flatheads, or any number of early Cad and Buick engines, plus an endless array of bodies. The envelooes oenerallv ran the aamut from Ford roadster bodies to hand-formed aluminum shells. A few months ago, a bunch of old racers, car builders, and car owners—Carroll Shelby, Bob Bondurant, Peter Brock, Bill Murphy, Bob Estes, and Cary Loftin, the legendary stunt driver—got together to honor and roast Max Balchowsky. Now, unless you’re an old HRM reader, the name Max Balchowsky probably doesn’t mean diddly.…

IT’S A WRAP UP Swain Technology introduces an improved line of woven and braided ceramic wrap and sleeving for insulating headers, exhaust pipes, and turbo plumbing. The new ceramic wrap is 2-inches wide and 1/8-inch thick, which Swain claims is twice as thick as other exhaust wraps. The wrap is sold in 100-foot rolls—enough to cover most systems. According to Swain, its ceramic wrap increases exhaust gas velocity, lowers underhood temperature, protects the driver from header burns, and increases horsepower and turbo efficiency. Swain Technology also offers ceramic sleeving for unassembled exhaust tubing and a permanent, three-layer header coating. For more information, contact Swain Technology, Dept. HR-07, 35 Main St., Scottsville, NY 14546, (716) 889-2786. KEY PARTS Key Auto Parts Stores announces its newly expanded ’91 catalog with 950 pages.…

HOW TO WIN Pick the winner of the 1991 International Race of Champions, and you may drive off in a brand- new Dodge Daytona IROC, the street version of the Dodge IROC race cars. Just fill out the attached entry form and write in the name of the driver you think will be the 1991 IROC champion. If he wins, your entry becomes eligible in the drawing for the 1991 True Value- Dodge IROC Series Sweepstakes. Since the first two IROC races have already been run, you have a head start. But in IROC racing, anything can happen, and there are still two races left to decide the championship: at Michigan International Speedway on August 3, to be televised by ABC Sports on August 4, and at Watkins Glen on…

Your Social Science teacher may have told you, “There’s no such thing as pure capitalism.” And on a macroeconomics (national or worldwide) level, your teacher was right. Politics, bureaucrats, red tape, and regulations insulate us Joe Averages from an unrestrained, competitive, dog-eat-dog world. But getting down to the micro level, there are still some thriving bastions of unfettered Capitalism. One of them is the swap meet. There, in all its glory, is the give and take of the free market. You won’t find truth in advertising, published sticker prices, warranties, fair trade practices, Better Business Bureaus, religious ethics, lemon laws, lawyers, or tax collectors. It’s every person for himself, and let the buyer beware. There’s no law but the law of the jungle; eat or be eaten; the survival of…

Bill Bowman shares his father’s name and his strong interest in hot rodding, even if he goes about it in an entirely different way. While Bill Sr. gets his kicks in a trick ’33 Willys coupe (see “Willy Wadical,” HRM October ’89), Bill Jr. set his sights on a classic Poncho. It all began when a friend told Bill Jr. about a totalled-but-relatively-rust-free ’64 Pontiac GTO that was sitting in a nearby junkyard. Before you could say, “Get your Goat,” he had it home and ready to rebuild. The first step was reworking the chassis with a 2x3-inch subframe in back to accommodate the 31 x18.5-15 Mickey Thompsons. A narrowed 12-bolt Chevy rearend with 4.88 gears is secured with a four-link and Koni coil-over shocks. New wheel tubs and a…

In this Dare-to-be-Different world of ours, it’s difficult to stand apart from the crowd, yet Kirby Stafford managed it quite well. By taking a new approach to an old theme, he made a ’33-Ford-coupe statement that stands on its own. The underlying components are standard fare among today’s street rods—SAC frame rails rein forced with an X-member and additional crossmembers and an 8-inch Ford located with The Deuce Factory traction bars and coil-over shocks. In front, a dropped tube axle joins ’40 Ford spindles, Pete & Jake’s shocks and four-bar, a Posies leaf spring, 76 Chevy disc brakes, and ’66 Mustang steering. At each corner, Cragar Drag Stars join the power to the pavement. The 305 Chevy beneath the hood is also fairly common. It features subtle details in milled…

HOT ROD’S Steve Anderson spent a most unusual weekend in Phoenix, Arizona, back in April. The Solar & Electric Racing Association (11811 N. Tatum Ste. 3031, Phoenix, AZ 85028, 602/953-6672) initiated its first race at Phoenix International Raceway, and Steve decided to make the gig. The reason behind this race should be apparent. Vehicles fueled by hydrocarbons won’t be with us forever, so it’s about time to think about the future and figure how to use a fuel Vl source that will be with us until the planet ceases to exist. Obviously that I fuel source is the sun. The trick is to figure out how to efficiently convert those rays into electrical energy. Ernie Holden, president of the Solar & Electric Racing Association (SERA), figured that a race featuring…