Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2003 i Hot Rod

Pro Touring is as bad as Pro Street, if not worse. As bad because it’s a bandwagon rage that’s led to many cars built to emulate a type of racing that they can’t really do, at least not well. Worse because the owners tend to be so self-righteous about the superiority of their cars as compared to, say, Pro Streeters. Let’s clarify, I’m all for old cars that handle, that stop, that go, that are as comfortable as a late-model, and that look good doing it. The Pro Touring thing has created an aftermarket that makes all this stuff so doable that today can accurately be considered a street-machine heyday. Modern suspension goodies are flat awesome. The big-inch-rims-and-brakes thing has certainly lent a fresh look and a new vibe to…

GM’s newest ZL1 dream car was created in the tradition of the ’69 ZL1 Camaro by Corvette-meister John Heinricy and finished by specialty contractor GMMG (Marietta, GA), the GM Specialty Vehicles Group, and the Camaro/Corvette Brand Team. It’s a what-if of days gone by that will never see the production line. The fact that it exists and that we were lucky enough to fee! it are the important things. With its ’69 LeMans Blue paint, Corvette Gran Sport hashmarks, and Z06 rolling stock, brakes, Penske triple-throwdown shock absorbers, and Eibach 1.5-inch lowering springs, it booms down the road and through the twisties, that nasty chambered exhaust heralding its advance like it was back in the day. The LS6-derived engine packs a “conservative” 400 hp/410 lb-ft and is fed by a…

We just love it. Acquired in high school, beaten to crap for a decade of teenage passion, and then built into gold with some mature guidance and wealth: It’s the story of Ken La Fortunes high-school sweetheart ’66 Chevy Nova. What started as a 283 two-speed backroad party-crasher has been turned into a huge-cube, six-speed-bangin’ perfect-10 cover car. To make the story all the more adorable, it’s a father/son project. Pops La Fortune always loved the boxy early Nova body style when he was growing up. But as most freedom-ravenous teens learn, new cars are usually out of reach until they aren’t new anymore. But when all the other kids in his sons high school started showing up in new Mustangs and Daddy’s Porsches, Father Dick decided that Ken needed…

All the cars we consider for a HOT ROD Rod Test must do more than appeal to our twisted sense of right and wrong. The big focus is on streetability in an extraordinary setting. Or something that’s never been done before; originality rates high. And when a guy who’s run over 300 mph in a doorslammer builds a down-and-dirty street piece, we tend to hop all over it. Jerry Kugel and sons Joe and Jeff, all of Kugel Komponents, turn out some of the most beautiful street rods and associated parts you’ve ever laid eyes on. In 1999, the Bonneville vets drove the Kugel-LeFevre turbocharged small-block Firebird (originally built and raced by Dave MacDonald) at the Salt, decisively setting a speed goal (307.468 one way, 300.788 two-way average) that had…

Dave Bonk is a Ford man to the core. An area manager for Ford Motor Company, he’s worked for Uncle Henry’s house for the past 32 years, getting his first Blue Oval paycheck at the age of 18. Though he’s dabbled with cars all along, the responsibility of raising seven children left little room for serious projects. But when his youngest son, Gary, got his driver’s license and flew the coop, Dave simultaneously got a case of hot rod fever and empty nest syndrome. Though Dave could play with cars again, the truth of the matter is that he missed the kids. His wife, Renee, suggested involving them in an automotive project to lure them back. Gary, now 20, took the bait and helped his Dad from start to finish.…

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This Month’s Mail The Pro Street topic is back. As badly as car magazines want to make it stop, the continuing feedback from readers and the industry is that Pro Street is alive and well. Look at this month’s story on what’s coming next and you’ll get the vibe that it’s just morphing into something more practical. Guess we’re in for a few more months of Pro Street controversy. Here’s what guys had to say this month, mostly in reaction to the poster we had in the November issue. —David Freiburger E-MAIL: hotrad@primedia.com MAIL: Hot Rod Reaction Time, 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048 FAX: 323/782-2223 WEB SITE: www.hotrod.com Pro Street: It Won’t End I can only answer your question (“Is Pro Street dead?”) one way: Here’s a picture…

Regular Production Options for 2004 and beyond Every few years, GM Powertrain displays its wealth and bounty to select members of the enthusiast press—but with a big caveat attached: no cameras allowed. These products represent future RPOs, not experiments. Although Powertrain presented us 37 separate technologies this year, the tidbits that follow might be particular to the future of hot rodding. Northstar 7.5L V-12 There’s no publishable hard data available on this 460ci piece yet, but look for DOHC cams on an aluminum 60-degree cylinder case in a package with approximately the overall length of a Duramax Diesel V-8. Technology includes Displacement On Demand (DOD), direct fuel injection (into the cylinder rather than intake manifold runner), variable cam phasing, variable intake manifold, and rear chain timing drive. Approximate output in…

We were as eager to check out the badging for the new DaimlerChrysler 5.7L Hemi as we were to learn about the engine itself. Would the new emblems for the 5.7 truck engine measure up to the mystique? Or would they fall prey to the Tokyo-inspired flying-R syndrome that’s captured Detroit lately? Our answer came with a trip to Glendora Dodge where we coughed up $13.86 and ordered PN 55077661AA. Two days later, we found ourselves carefully tearing open the brown paper and plastic shipping envelope. Too light to be metal and lacking mounting studs, it was a clear departure from previous Hemi identification. But as the shiny vacuum-plated plastic part slid out of the pouch, we knew we held the future in our hand. At first it seemed odd…

You’ve always got to wonder if the project in your garage will be dated by the time it’s done. Of course, the solution is to build it how you want to and ignore the critical, look-of-the-month magazine guys—or you can turn to HOT ROD for the view from the dudes well beyond these walls. We called a number of our friendly visionaries and soothsayers and asked the simple question: What’s coming next in the world of hot rodding? Ask the Editor Whether the vibe is rat rod, Trans Am, vintage drag, or even Pro Street, flashback builders are growing in number. Steve Magnante HOTROD Kyle flicker Detroit Speed & Engineering www.detroitspeed.com “The most significant trend I see coming is an expansion in OE and aftermarket electronic control systems that hot…

Last time you saw the Anvil, it was all dressed in EFI, respectable like. Now it’s returning to glorious low-tech with a classic case of cam-and-intake shape-shifting of the power curve. Back in the Nov. ’02 issue, we set up our Anvil small-block with Holley’s Wild Street combination of cam, heads, and intake and made 460 hp. A few called us wimps, so here’s the answer: World Products’ Motown 220 heads, a huge Lunati solid-lifter cam, Holley’s Strip Dominator single-plane intake, and an 830-cfm Holley double-pumper (not shown in the photo above), delivering 528 hp at 6,700 and 458 lb-ft at 5,100. Its just like a car mag to preach big power numbers as the sole solution to all your life’s woes, but there’s good news and bad news here.…

When gearheads discuss the parts used in an engine’s rotating assembly, you hear terms like trick chrome-moly, 4130 alloy steel, aircraft-quality aluminum, forged, fully machined billet, or 7075-T6. But what does this really mean in terms of parts durability and suitability for a given application? To find out, we went to see Hank and Scott Bechtloff at Hank The Crank (HTC). Hank’s been grinding high-quality cranks and specing premium rods and pistons since the first Sputnik launch (that’s 1957, for those of you who fell asleep in History class). To give us a current state-of-the-art technology snapshot, the HTC guys in turn hooked us up with a round table of leading aluminum and steel metallurgists—including Jack Sparks (Carrillo Rods), Roger McMartin (Howard’s Rods), Dr. William Harrigan (MMC Engineering), Marty Cimaglia…

Here’s what happened when veteran Englishtown photographer Steve Bell, with his love for Funny Cars of the ’70s and ’80s, started to wonder what had happened to those vintage Hoppers, then got mixed up with me—Berserko Bob Doerrer, Raceway Park’s announcer/manager/clown prince during those years when floppers actually looked like production cars and weren’t slippery, wind-tunnel cookie-cutters. Stir in the Napp family at Raceway Park, and we came up with the Inaugural Boninfante Racing Clutches Funny Car Reunion, held July 28, 2002, at the historic New Jersey quarter-mile. Bell wondered where all those old Hoppers and their shoes ended up, so he kicked the idea around with the Napps, and they hatched the reunion and added it to the track’s popular Old Time Drags & Rod Run. More than 8,500…

Volts are good. More volts make starters, water pumps, and electric fans spin faster. More volts boost ignition system output. A conventional automotive 12-volt battery and properly functioning alternator system maintain battery voltage between 13.9 and 14.9 volts. But some race cars don’t run an alternator; without one, battery voltage starts out at slightly above 12 volts and goes downhill from there. When using powerful ignition systems, electric fuel pumps, and nitrous solenoids, battery voltage can quickly drop to only 10 or 11 volts. Racers try to combat this by constantly charging their batteries between races. But that can hurt the battery even more. In an effort to get the battery back to a fully charged condition, many racers hit the battery with more amps than recommended for the application.…

Shannon Jenkins’ Squeeze Play Full-bodied bottle racers are now running as fast as Top Fuelers did back in the ’70s! Last September at the 15th annual O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, Tennessee, Shannon Jenkins sprayed his way into nitrous history by setting a new Pro Mod racing world record in his Awesome Motorsports ’68 Camaro: 6.221, beating his previous 6.231. As of September, Jenkins had won three IHRA national events and five of six NHRA races attended this year, putting him first in both IHRA and NHRA Pro Mod points standings. Jenkins’ car uses a three-stage Holley/Nitrous Oxide Systems (NOS) Pro Race Annular Fogger Nozzle system installed and customized by Gene Fulton. As far as NHRA’s commitment to a Pro Mod series for 2003, it remains a promotional “exhibition class”…

“You go west on Walton and take a right on Baldwin There’s a blown lime green Pro Street Challenger out front. Ya can’t miss it,” said Southern’s manager Dave Witt with a distinct Michigander inflection. We didn’t miss it. or the 30 or so other space and time oddities on the lot. Southern Motors (www.southernmotors.com) caters to all persuasions, even that group of “young guys who don’t know which foot the clutch is on, “ according to owner Vern Roberts. “But they try, and I’m happy to see them here. They are dumbfound. They only know about Fox Mustangs.” Most of Vern’s stock hails from Tennessee, Texas, and other deep-south states and consists of ’60s musclecars, pony cars, and what he calls rarity stuff, like the Pro Street Challenger and…

I had to write this one myself. No one else would take it. After all—Pro Street? Dead. Embarrassing. Useless. Magazine guys throughout the broad reaches of the automotive niches have an unspoken rule: let Pro Street go away. Kill it in gory ways. Even in the Nov. ’85 issue, HOT ROD was questioning the trend; Editor Leonard Etnanuelson was quoted as saying, “Pro Street is neither.” We can’t argue. But here’s the news flash: It’s gonna come back, like it or not. We just hope it’s more functional next time. Lots of guys in their mid-30s to 40s are just now able to afford the dream cars of their youth, and those were, in many cases, Pro Street. It’s the same age-over-finances trend that created the street rod industry, that…

Matt Swindle is the lucky dog, not his Pontiac. And it’s not because he’s an old street racer caught in the sticky, amorphous web called midlife crisis, which he’s actually able to satisfy. It’s that he has unconditional support from his wife, who is also his number-one sponsor. Six months after he drove the new red ’97 Trans Am home, he matter-of-factly got to tearing it to shreds before her eyes. Upon witnessing her husband’s profound (possibly profane) behavior, she was prompted to exclaim, hands on her hips, “You buy a new car… and you pull the motor out of it?” Matt swallowed hard and replied with some trepidation, “Yes, dear.” And she said, “Are you having fun?” And he said, “Yes, (gulp) dear.” “OK, then,” said wife Cathy. Whew!…

Cosmetic surgery can be a wonderful thing. Sure, there is a little controversy surrounding the concept—some people insist that it’s wrong to mess with what God gave you. Then you stumble upon a car like Vern Rempfer’s ’37 Ford, and the automotive wars begin. For a drastically modern rod, should you go with plastic (fiberglass) surgery or metal manipulation? While there are several swoopy ‘glass ’37 Ford bods on the market, Vern’s is all steel, which seems to give it a sense of honesty. He calls it X-tatic—and he is, but there are those who’d cry foul at the extreme facelift of gennie steel. Vern started looking for the right shade of loud. He insists that the biggest money-sucker in the whole project was buying can after can of not-quite-right…

Cool Shop Cart Slinger Products 765/857-6712 www.slingerproducts.com This universal shop cart holds just about anything you can think of. It accommodates engines (four-bangers up to monster V-8s); engines with attached transmissions, just a tranny, a rearend, or a 4x4 transfer case. The all-steel frame has uprights that slide and has adjustable rubber covered chains that keep your stuff from getting scratched. They roll on steel wheels, which won’t flatspot, and they lock to avoid those dangerous wanderings. ’32 Ford Roadster Body Brookville Roadster 937/833-4605 www.brookvilleroadster.com Nothing new about these, but we still can’t believe you can buy a new steel ’32 or Model A Ford. These all-steel roadster bodies have all the details of a gennie roadster and are offered with many options. All bodies are hand-assembled in the same-gauge…

Bill Miller ESCANABA, MI ’31 CHEVY FIVE-WINDOW COUPE James Armstrong KLAMATH FALLS, OR ’71 AMC JAVELIN SST OWNER’S OCCUPATION: Auto body repairman and painter ENGINE: 76 Chevy 350 ENGINE MODS: Crane cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, Edelbrock 600-cfm carb, Speedway Motors headers, and lots of chrome TRANSMISSION: TH350 REAREND: GM 10-bolt, 3.08:1 gears SUSPENSION MODS: Adjustable four bar and Panhard bar, Carrera coilover shocks WHEEL TYPE & SIZE: Early Wheel Co. 15x8 chrome reverse smoothies out back and 14x6 baby moons up front TIRE TYPE AND SIZE: BFGoodrich Touring T/A P185/60R14 front, BFGoodrich Radial T/A P275/60R15 rear PAINT COLOR: Dupont Chromabase, multicolored flames on black BODY MODIFICATIONS: Chopped and filled top; steel floor; all wood replaced with steel; fabricated trunk lid, tail panel, and rocker panels. Boxed and reinforced frame…