Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2011 i Hot Rod

THE DMV SUCKS Going to the California DMV is a guaranteed day killer and an experience ranking right up there with a funeral or getting kicked really hard in the nuts. Our theory is that DMV clerks have fishbowls at their desks, and they’re filled with little pieces of paper that outline the problem they decided to find with whatever you’re trying to do. That paper could say, “All is good, have a nice day"’ or “You’re going to have to make five trips back here, just because we say so.” I can walk into the Burbank AAA office without an appointment, get to the window in a few minutes, and talk to an always-pleasant, helpful person, whereas the DMV is like going to jail and getting a fire hose…

TANK RODDING Yes, this really happened: a U.S. Army tank was timed by Chrondek’s Otto Crocker at El Mirage Dry Lake in Southern California in 1958. That much is evident, but the rest of the story has vaporized in time because we could not find any documentation of this event in the Petersen Publishing magazines of the day, despite that these were shot by staff photographer Eric Rickman. Perhaps HOT ROD Editor and NHRA founder Wally Parks had Rickman shoot it for an NHRA promotion; the organization’s National Dragster would not appear for another two years. The inset photo shows Wally himself at the helm of the tank. He likely was able to operate the thing—and perhaps he was the testdriver this day—because after WWII he had worked driving tanks…

Cobra. To anyone with horsepower in his veins and a lust for speed, that word means one thing: The 427 Shelby Cobra. It’s the epitome of American overkill, a car built by racer Carroll Shelby in the mid-’60s from an English sports car stuffed full of FE Ford and unleashed on streets and racetracks around the world. In its history, the Cobra has spanked Corvettes, Porsches, and numerous European exotics, and its “I’ll punch you in the face and kick you in a nards and laugh about it” looks have solidified it as the definition of a badass car. But we think Shelby has outdone himself. The ’11 Shelby GT500 Super Snake is a hot-rodded GT500 Mustang. The base GT500 already has Shelby insignias all over it, and a 540hp,…

Our thought process was simple—if budget boost works for a Chevy, as we showed last month in the story “594 Horsepower For $3,252,” then why not a late-model Ford? While Ford fans may argue the point, the GM LS engine family does have an advantage over the mod motor when it comes to power production, especially compared with the 4.6L two-valve. Designed as a replacement for the now-legendary 5.0L pushrod small-block, Ford's 4.6L SOHC motor traded displacement for technology (or complexity, depending on your perspective). Unfortunately, the original 4.6L two-valve provided neither the torque of the original 5.0L nor the high-rpm power promised by the overhead-cam configuration. Ford eventually stepped up the performance of the two-valve when it introduced the Power Improved (PI) version in 1999, but a gain of…

The interior may well be the most important part of any hot rod. A trick paintjob is great, but you can’t admire it much from the driver seat. The cabin is where we live. With that tenet in mind, this month we tackle the E-Rod ’79 Camaro’s interior décor. In previous episodes, we covered the project’s introduction (Jan. ’11), E-Rod LS3 engine and drivetrain swap (Feb. ’11), paint (Mar. ’11), and chassis (Apr. ’11). When it came time to do the Z28’s living room, we didn’t call in the swatch shufflers and feng shui consultants, but we did bring some special talent to bear. As he has since the start of the project, Mike Copeland of Diversified Creations in Brighton, Michigan, directed the effort, aided by his lead wrench and…

For decades, HOT ROD has preached the sermon “get out and drive your junk” and has created several events to promote that agenda. While we can totally respect AMBR-and Ridler-level show cars and the amount of time, talent, and money that go into them, how many of us can really relate to that kind of detail without the enjoyment of sliding behind the wheel, slamming open the butterflies, and spraying an obscene quantity of rubber on the quarter-panels? Brent Jarvis, owner of Performance Restorations in Mundelein, Illinois, (PerformanceRestorations.com) is one of us. A lifetime addiction to speed led him initially down the dragstrip as one of the early competitors in HOT ROD's Fastest Street Car Shootout in the mid-'90s. We featured his very cool, low-8-second, Pro Street '59 Corvette back…

Do you ever think about how many thousands of minute, mechanical details on a car can shut you down? I We don’t. Nope, our schemes are anchored in the type of delusion that sounds like this: “The Crusher Camaro runs and drives—all it needs is an exhaust system. Let’s throw an overdrive in it and go on a road trip!” Spoiler alert: We survived that mission with impoverished yet heroic flair, but not without so many pratfalls we almost stopped laughing. Now a backgrounder for the newbies. HOT ROD’s Crusher Camaro is a ’67 that was purchased in 1994 out of a parking lot where cars were being turned over to a gasoline company that crushed vehicles in exchange for government smog credits. That program presumed a volume of annual…

NEW BOSS PERFORMANCE IN JECTION STACKS Jon Kaase Racing Engines 770/307-0241 JonKaaseRacingEngines.com This new injection system came from an interesting piece of misfortune in hot rodding. During the finals of the ’05 Engine Masters Challenge, a small piece of cork gasket jammed the main jet in Jon Kaase’s Pontiac engine, costing him the title. That piece of cork gasket hangs on Kaase’s wall in his office in a bag with $57,500 written on the front—what he could have won. Since then Kaase has designed his own fuel system that has neither cork gaskets nor main jets but rather stacks and injectors. The cool thing about this fuel injection system, other than the sharp and clean look, is the hidden plenum that equalizes all of the runners for a smooth idle…

HOT ROD CHECKS IN AT THE ’10 NORTH AMERICAN AUTO SHOW With the industry climbing back from the 2008 crash and gaining momentum, the domestic automakers set up their wares at the ’10 North American International Auto Show (Detroit) with a new sense of focus. General Motors is now down to four brands instead of its previous eight; Ford has reduced its nameplates from three to two with the demise of Mercury; Chrysler’s display was combined with that of its new partner, Fiat. The sackcloth and ashes have been cleared away and the Detroit three are getting back to business—with the emphasis on product. GM won the North American Car of the Year award with the Chevy Volt, while Ford took top truck honors with its redesigned Ford Explorer. For…

To a small slice of the hot rodding world, performance matters above all else. Whether it’s modding a lawn mower or a Studebaker, job one is making it fast, and if there is any cash left over, then maybe we’ll make it look cool. It’s a mantra that leads quite a few gearheads to build sleepers or beaters. A fast car or truck with just the right amount of patina or straight-up rust doesn’t need a $10,000 paintjob or a powdercoated chassis to draw a crowd or elicit an ear-to-ear grin from its owner. A stupid-quick lap time will suffice and in many cases, overshadow a lesser-performing show car. It’s a lot like cooking; you can put as much food coloring in weak sauce as you want, but it will…

FORD 351C-4V BUILD I have a ’70 Mustang with a 351C-4V and auto trans. I have been researching my options for more horsepower and have been getting nothing but confused. Searching the web, there seem to be a lot of mild street engine builds [less than 400 hp) on race engines with high compression and race fuel, but not much in between. What I’m looking for is a streetable, 500 to 550hp engine build. A stroker sounds like the best idea if I keep my 4V heads, but what size? The heads are the most confusing, with 4V, 2V, Aussie heads, and aftermarket aluminum heads. Should I fix up my heads or go with something else? Jackson Butler La Crescenta, CA Jackson, one problem I have in answering questions like…

CUSTOMS THEN & NOW One of the biggest car guy events of the year in Southern California is the Grand National Roadster Show at the Pomona Fairplex. Every year the show features a special, multicar exhibit or two; this year’s show highlighted a gathering of notable and historic customs, with more than 70 in attendance, and you’ll see the highlights in next month’s HOT ROD, in the words of Pat Ganahl. On sale April 19, 2011 Meanwhile, Get Your Car Fix at HOTROD.com Facebook.com/HotRodMag And YouTube.com/HotRodMagazine…