Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2015 i Hot Rod

Hot rodding has two purposes: to show what you can do to a vehicle, and to show what you can do with a vehicle. I know we all spend countless hours and zillions of dollars on the projects sitting in our driveways—and there’s joy to be found there for sure—but to get the pride of ownership and craftsmanship you deserve, I say you have to stop wrenching, washing, and waxing it, and take that vehicle to its very limits. But where do you find those limits, what do you learn there, and at what cost? Road-tripping our cars used to be the answer. A paper map, some tools in the trunk, and a buddy riding shotgun that liked the same kind of music was all it took. But as A/C,…

Americans have grown accustomed to owning the biggest, the best, and the most powerful versions of pretty much everything. To the uninitiated, some of these luxuries might seem a bit, overkill—but when the ends justify the means, hot rodders can always rationalize having bigger and more powerful stuff. During the 1970s, the size of the average American farm was expanding, and four-wheel-drive, articulated farm tractors powerful enough to work enormous parcels of land were in high demand. As these tractors grew in popularity, so did the power ratings and the size of the machines. Yet there were still some farmers who needed more than what the big-name tractor manufacturers could provide. Ron Harmon, owner of Northern Manufacturing Company, a producer of custom tractors called Big Buds, had one such customer.…

In Dodge’s new commercial, John and Horace Dodge engage in some time-traveling car chasery. Not bad for a commercial, but it has a rather glaring historical inaccuracy. The Dodge brothers go from their first car in 1914 to a stylish 1939 coupe, skipping the 1920s, but after that it goes for a few decades, the mid-1950s Lancer, the late-1960s Coronet, and then—2015 Charger. Huh? Sure, there was a slight dip in glory after 1969, but we can think of any number of cars that could have filled in the 30-something years between Coronets and the return of the Charger. Can’t you? HOTROD.COM/Elana-Scherr Old Car City USA is Full of Abandoned Muscle Cars and Classics You’ve probably seen images from this place before. Big finned Cadillacs sinking slowly in the…

In the back corner of a local body shop sits a 1971 Oldsmobile 442 convertible, still wearing its original bias-ply Firestone Wide-Ovals. Upon closer inspection, the odometer reads a hair more than 14,000 miles. One of only 1,304 convertibles built for 1971 and with the standard 455—but backed by a fourspeed with Hurst Shifter—this car was a sight to behold. I was told the car sat outside for a few years (maybe decades) and the original owner finally sold it to be saved. The new owner brought it to my friend’s body shop so he could take a look to see what it needed. After years of neglect, the car needed just about everything body-wise, and so it sits covered in bondo dust, waiting for the new owner to decide…

We knew early on that Drag Week™ 2014 was going to be big, but we couldn’t have anticipated the close finishes, and the tales of hard work and triumph that led to an amazing finale at Tulsa Raceway Park. This was the tenth consecutive running of Drag Week™, where cars race and road-trip for five days in a row to crown HOT ROD’s Fastest Street Car in America, and all signs pointed to a packed field of the fastest cars we’d ever seen. We saw the video of 2013 Drag Week™ winner Tom Bailey dyno-tuning his engine, we saw the composite-bodied 1957 Chevy Jeff Lutz planned to campaign at the PRI show in December, we knew Doug Cline was still looking to prove his all-metal Camaro had what…

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For a brief second, forgetting everything you know about supercharging and crankdriven GMC blowers and how they function, you’re wondering if this is yet another exercise in “what if?” Upon closer inspection, your brain and eyes engage, and you see this for what it is. What is it? A Top Fuel 392ci blown Chrysler Hemi running a 6-71 GMC supercharger that has blown apart at its base, then reverently returned to said base from which it was bolted—but 90 degrees off. Sort of a “we’re done for the weekend” statement seen at the 1965 NHRA World Finals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.…

Q: Can I use a three- or four-speed manual tranny with the new 5.3L LS-style blocks? Do they have the same bellhousing as an older small-block? A: On any LS-type engine (not just the 5.3L), there are two ways to make this work: mechanical clutch linkage or hydraulic linkage. A traditional Chevy V8 bellhousing going all the way back to 1955 more or less bolts up. “More or less” because the LS block’s rear-face (bellhousing) bolt pattern is close, but not 100 percent identical, to the old pattern. Locating dowels are effectively the same size and remain in the same location, as are five out of six bellhousing-to-block mounting holes. Using just five holes to attach a traditional Chevy V8 bellhousing is fine. On the all-metric LS engines, you…

This is Justin Burcham on day 4 of the first HOT ROD Drag Week™ in 2005. He’s thrashing to replace his 2005 Mustang’s five-speed as time ticks away. Eventually, Burcham got the car to the staging lanes with only 15 minutes left and ran a 10.301-second e.t. at 137.65 mph. Then he loaded everything needed for five days of pit and/or roadside thrashing into his trailer, hooked it up to the Mustang, and made an interstate blitz to the next track. Burcham finished that first Drag Week™ with a five-day average of 10.756 seconds at 131.378 mph.…

Justin Long // Arlington, Virginia Justin sent this pic of his 2012 Dodge Challenger RT, aka the “Beltway Bandit,” in front of the U.S. Capitol before he took a date to the Smithsonian Institution. Barry Stewart // Granger, Indiana Barry’s 1970 ’Cuda was built with all the alphanumeric codes that Mopar guys dream of: TF727 three-speed auto, 93 ⁄4-inch ring gear Dana 60 rear axle, with 3.54:1 gears.…

Australian artist Matt Dunlop put together this visual comparison of some of the world’s most famous race tracks drawn to scale. Seeing the long line of Bonneville against the four short quarters of zMax, or the angry T-rex of Laguna Seca dwarfed by the 24 hours of Le Mans’ Circuit de la Sarthe and all of it enveloped by the 37 miles of the epic Isle of Man Snaefell course really makes us want to go race everything. See how many tracks you can recognize, and if you want a copy of Matt’s map for your own wall, go to RedBubble.com/people/sirdunny.…

Did everyone at Drag Week™ finish their car in the pits seconds before tech inspection? We talked to so many people who claimed they had yet to run their car on the track—let alone on the street—that we might need to change the name of this event to “Engine Break-In Week.” Every day started with action at the track, but once the quarter-miles were done, there were hundreds of street miles to go. Even when everything is running smoothly in these cars, you’re manually shifting, babying the brakes, and sweating of what has to be at least 15 pounds over the course of the week. Of course, when things aren’t running smoothly, there are repeated side-of-the-road stops. You know you’re really a Drag Week™ expert when you try to time…

The weather wasn’t kind to us at SRCA Dragstrip in Great Bend, Kansas, but that didn’t stop the racing action. Mark Covey cut the whole exhaust of his 1970 Buick GS (Buick-powered, you’ll be happy to hear) to save some weight. He also said he had to clearance some valvesprings on a belt sander in the hotel parking lot the previous night. At least Mark was still running. There were a fair amount of damaged engines and other parts, so the wrenching in the pits was pretty vigorous. Some hurts were fatal, like the seized-up cam in George Gallimore’s Monte Carlo. We were bummed to hear that the small-tire large car was out of competition, he was high up in the list of quick e.t. averages in Drag Week™ this…

Paul James’ restomod 1958 Corvette started as somebody else’s dead project. Paul was looking for a 1958 Corvette to update when he came across this stillborn project out of Canada that had been dismantled to the point of being a bare shell on a rusty Art Morrison chassis. As it sat, it would be daunting to most, but Paul had four previous Corvette projects under his belt, so he stepped up. The frame was set up with a C5 front and C6 transaxle, which was a great start. Now it just needed a new engine and the dedication to put the myriad pieces back together, and then be finished off to the level it deserved. Here’s how it came together. GOT PICS If you’ve built or restored your car…

The Roadkill Ranchero, affectionately known as the “Raunchero,” has been an ongoing project since the very beginning of the show. The 1968 Ford made an appearance in Episode 2 and starred in the icy adventures of both Episodes 13 and 14, when Finnegan and Freiburger tried and failed, and then tried again and didn’t fail to make it to Alaska for an ice race. Later it went ’round an autocross and did its best to cross the finish line first in the Roadkill car shootout in Episode 25. You can see all that and more at YouTube.com/user/MotorTrend. Since it has a reoccurring role on Roadkill, and also since most things don’t make it through an episode unscathed, the Raunchero has been through several engines and on-the-road fixes. For its most…

Whether you have angled or fat Holley carburetor vent tubes, there should always be no less than3 ⁄8-inch clearance (and preferably 1 inch of clearance) between the top of the vent tubes and the underside of the air cleaner lid. Tighter clearances place the lid too close to the tubes, resulting in incorrect float bowl reference pressures. A pressurized float bowl will cause an overrich condition.…

Chrome Don’t Make It Fast Rocket Racing Wheels //888.307.7525 RocketRacingWheels.com Crafted by mediablasting its A356 aluminum wheels, the Rocket Racing Wheels’ As-Cast fnish is textured to provide a raw, gritty look that hardcore hot rods deserve. The As-Cast finish has a matte clearcoat to protect it from staining, so it can be maintained with soap and water. You can get this finish on Rocket’s Launcher, Injector, Solid, Fire, Igniter, and Strike series wheels, and you can also add Rocket’s classic fat gold-tinted RPM 7 (its take on the classic DOW 7) finish to them. Price: $200 (Injector wheel shown, 15x8) A Good-Looking Castle Nut? Designer Fasteners //716.478.4111 //DesignerFasteners.com Designer Fasteners brings some style to castle nuts with the Castle Cap Assemblies, essentially an attractive cap that hides the cotter pin…

Scene by Readers: Featured Artist Ryan Schude Ryan Schude’s interest in cars started in high school with an early 1980s Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royal—which was already an old car by the time Ryan ended up behind the wheel. He drove the Olds throughout his college years and credits it not only for getting him back and forth between Chicago and San Francisco during that time but for kickstarting an interest in automobiles that is heavily represented in his current photographic work. While many of Ryan’s images feature architecture or portraiture, there’s a high ratio of cars that end up in his pictures too. All three of those interests come together in his current series, Them and Theirs, in which he photographs car owners with their cars in interesting or surprising…

The 2014 California Hot Rod Reunion took over Bakersfield and the Auto Club Famoso strip just outside of town for the 23rd time. Of course, Famoso has been the site of the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championship, better known as the March Meet, since 1959. Art Chrisman won that first meet. It is very much like it was then, which makes it the perfect venue for this step back in drag-racing time. A huge swap meet is also included in the deal, along with the infamous Cacklefest on Saturday night, with some new dragsters debuting—including Tom Hoover’s longtail “Fishbowl” dragster from 1966. Considered one of the most beautiful dragsters ever, it has made its way from Minnesota. A reception with Grand Marshall Mike Dunn and honorees Bob Brooks, brothers Ed…

We decided to do a little social experiment on our Facebook page. We posted head-on shots of three ponycars, a Camaro, a Challenger, and a Mustang, in the three matchups possible—and gave no further explanation. Only one commenter picked up on the changing matchups, everyone else was happy to cast their vote for their favorite ponycar or bash their favorite rival. A few interesting trends were noted, and a whole lot of brain cells were lost reading fanboy bickering. HOTROD.COM/Brandan-Gillogly MUSTANG VS. CHALLENGER 18,000 LIKES // 550 COMMENTS Challenger got the most positive comments, by a fair margin, although this group was the most decisive, with few commenters stating that they were fans of both cars. That sort of makes sense, as the Mustang and Challenger have the least…

Is Ak Miller’s Hemi-powered Caballo II the world’s busiest hot rod? Its well-archived history leads one to believe it’s certainly in the top 10. Caballo was gracing HOT ROD covers in the 1950s before it was even roadworthy. When you’re Ak Miller—who helped start Bonneville Speed Week, was a key member of the NHRA, and a driver who humbled Ferraris by entering and finishing the famous La Carrera Panamericana Mexican race in a homebuilt, Olds-powered Model T monstrosity known as Caballo de Heirro—people tend to expect great things from you. “We are not rich motor enthusiasts…we ask only for accommodations where we might work on our car…”—Le Roi “Tex” Smith in a 1956 letter to the Automobile Club of Brescia When Ak decided to build a sleek new…

If you talked to Doug Reh, he’d show you a broken rocker arm and a few busted fingers. In Tom Bailey’s pits, you’d see a cracked head sitting alongside what eventually turned out to be a cracked block. The scene at Larry Larson’s pit was so frantic we didn’t even try to push in for an update. All day you could hear people borrowing tools, asking for welding advice, and ordering parts next-day-aired to hotel rooms in the hopes they could push their battered machines one more day for a new chance. Then they hit the streets, but the engine parts don’t know the difference. They go when and where they please. @hotrodmagazine: HOT ROD, Drag Week Catch Phrase: That should be one piece @MIKEFINNEGAN999: Small fire for…

When it comes to big-block V8s, Chevy’s venerable Rat motor has received the lion’s share of attention over the years from hot rodders seeking plus-sized horsepower and torque, but the aftermarket has provided another big-block some attention: the Ford big-block, which hasn’t been given the spotlight it truly deserves. Known as the 385-series bigblock, these engines were built at Ford’s Lima Engine Plant in Lima, Ohio. They debuted in 1968 as 429ci mills and were mostly known for powering fullsize family cars like the Lincoln Continental and Ford Tunderbird. Te 1970s emissions restrictions caused the 385-series engines’ horsepower ratings to fall down to the low-200hp range shortly after its introduction. Te 429ci and 460ci engines were phased out of passenger cars in the mid 1970s and relegated to…

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When you’re a little kid, you learn something new every day. You get the thrill of realizing you can do something you couldn’t do the day or month or year before. As an adult, we miss that. You’re already as tall as you’ll ever be, so if you can’t reach the top shelf now, you never will. There might be some excitement from finally figuring out how to work the office coffeemaker, but it’s not like learning how to play the clarinet or anything. That’s where hot rodding comes in. Working around cars, you learn lots of stuff. You have to, because you just can’t predict what is going to break, or become available through the aftermarket, or get found in a barn and restored. I’m always learning new history,…

THE COMBO High school teacher Michael Bees has owned his 1974 Nova hatchback for more than 10 years. Originally purchased as a rolling shell without an engine or a trans, it went through several small-blocks and 700-R4 automatics. When the latest small-block developed a rod knock, Bees swapped in a salvage-yard 2004 Tahoe 4.8L EFI LS-type engine and 4L60E automatic overdrive trans using Street & Performance conversion parts. Bringing up the rear is a 3.73:1-geared 10-bolt with an Eaton Posi and Sierra axles. THE PROBLEM Sometime after installation, the car developed what Bees describes as an “intermittent screaming noise. It makes the noise 80–90 percent of the time. I thought it was the transmission, but a local trans shop said it was not the trans but the brake…

The Guy Who Makes the Rules I’ve read all the old stories about Don Garlits and the bumpy relationship with Wally Parks, and now I totally get it. Not that I’m anywhere in the league of Wally, but I’ve found myself in the position of being the rules guy for HOT ROD’s street-legal racing events since 1992, and it’s a thankless job. These days, Larry Larson is my Don Garlits, and Drag Week is my mini NHRA. HOT ROD Drag Week is a decade old, and the rules have changed a few times along the way. In 2012, we had locked-in rules and promised to leave them unchanged for three years. That means next year is the time for potential change, and people want to know now. Tree weeks after…