Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2003 i Hot Rod

What do you call Chevy’s current performance engine—the one used in ’97-up Corvettes and ’98-’02 F-bodies? When these all-aluminum engines were first released, they were called I.Sis, then came the higher-powered LS6. Magazines tend to refer to them fand also the iron-block truck versions) as ”LS-series” engines, though GM still calls them small-block V-8s, which is confusing because they share nothing except the rod bearings and lifters with the small-block we’ve known for nearly 50 years. More correctly, the LS1/LS6 platform should be called the Gen III small-block. The Gen I was ’55-’02 (the last conventional 350 was installed in a van some months ago), and the Gen II is the ’92-’97 4.3L (L99) and 5.7L V-8s also known as LTls (in Camaro/Firebird/Caprice/Impala) and LT4s (Corvette and SLP, 5.7L only).…

Four Readers Get Free Stuff From HOT ROD Remember the June ’03 issue? HOT ROD set it up so that four readers could win free engines that we’d build using parts from Comp Cams, Edelbrock, Speed-Pro, Milodon, Performance Distributors, and ARP. We got 6,039 total entries, and they broke out like this: Oldsmobile, 363; Pontiac, 791; Mopar, 871; Ford, 1,303; and Chevy, 2,711. HOT ROD editors judged every single one of ’em, and here are the winners we chose: Chevy: Steve Hammonds of Woodstock, Georgia, will get a fresh, 11,0:1,302ci small-block with a big solid cam and a tunnel ram for his ’57 Chevy that his dad bought in 1973 and that Steve drove on this year’s Power Tour. Ford: Tommy Moore of Palmdale, California, convinced us that his 70…

The OEs have attacked land speed racing over the years with varied success, and the sport compact trend has launched a whole new flood of corporate interest. Readers with sharp recall will know that HOT ROD and hotrod.com have mentioned that we would be building a Dodge SRT-4 for big numbers around town and at Bonneville. Sadly, Dodge elected not to run with that program, but we decided to share our Thom Taylor illustration with you as an idea of what could have been. We’re currently rub-bing Ford for the same deal with an SVT Focus. Then we found out that GM beat us to it, and is building a Saturn Ion with its limited-production Red Line bodywork and supercharged, 2.0L version of the Ecotech engine. It’s going together at…

www.cornercarvers.com Want the harsh truth about building handling cars without all the pansy Pro Touring cushiness? This is your spot. Make sure to check the tech forums and use the search function for hardcore suspension testing and info. Much of the content is about late Camaros and Mustangs, but there’s a smattering of relevant stuff for anyone looking for the late apex. Just beware, these guys brutalize newbies who ask lame or redundant questions. Slow in is fast out!…

There’s just something timeless about the! design, the aura, and the power potential of V-81 engines, and today, despite the proliferation of I high-revving four-and six-cylinder engines, there are I more high-power V-8s available from more American and I international manufacturers than at any time in recent memory, and for those of us born and bred on raw red white-and-blue pushrod power, it’s quite shocking to see just how much horsepower some of the current crop of high-tech marvels are producing We narrowed our worldwide search for the best V-8 engines to power-plants still in current production, or at least built in the post-1990 era, so we could check out the latest in hightech power. They’re from the U.S., Japan, and Europe, and they make for some interesting bench racing.…

… spacers to install a Ford 289/302 intake on a Ford Cleveland motor? I want to install a dual-quad or triple-deuce on a Cleveland 2V, and the only way to do that is to use a 289 manifold. George PepperkingVia e-mail Price Motorsport (Hope, IN; 812/546-4220; www.http://pricemotorsport.com) specializes in small-block Ford intake manifold adapters. PN AP-06C mates 302-Windsor intakes to 351C-2V heads installed on a 351C block. … a ’67 GTO steel reproduction hood? I think the company that makes them is located in Georgia. Christopher ThompsonOzark, AL It is. Contact Year One (Tucker, GA; 800/YEAR-0NE or 770/493-6568; www.yearone.com) and order PN RY91, which fits ’65-’67 GTOs. … a ram air kit for a carbureted 289 in a ’66 Mustang GT? Devin MeyerVia e-mail Air Inlet Systems (Hamilton, ON, Canada;…

HOT ROD’S FASTEST STREET CARS IN AMERICA It was exactly 10 years ago that HOT ROD pulled the pin on the street-car racing explosion when we stepped to the line at Memphis International Raceway for the HOT ROD Fastest Street Car Shootout, planned in conjunction with Flowmaster. This is a different look for our Archives page, as I've just taken a random sample from a proof sheet I shot in 1992; we don't even use proof sheets any more. This shows racers like Steve Johnson (’81 Firebird), Rod Saboury (’57 Vette), the late Steve Grebeck (Mustang), and 1992 winner Max Carter (early Nova)—all part of the germ that infected an entire industry. HOT ROD is working on a plan to breathe new life into the street racing formula in 2004.…

Power Tour You guys did a great job’ This was my first Power Tour, and I wanted to tell you about two men who prove that car guys are the best kind of people. My ’61 Vette lost ignition on the side of 1-20 to Dallas. Bennie Gray, a proud Texan mechanic, pulled over and diagnosed the problem and fixed it in less than 5 minutes. Then I lost both rear wheel cylinders arriving to the Arlington Ballpark. The next morning I was changing them in the rain at the hotel parking lot when a young man—Nikolas Davis of Clayton, Indiana—offered to loan me his floor jack and stands. More importantly, he did this while he should have been in the Long Haulers photo. We finished just as you were…

You could easily write a book describing just one of Helen Flint’s pictures. They’re that stunning. Vintage ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s Detroit iron combined with brilliant color, classic settings, and exquisite attention to detail create images so real you’ll have to rub your eyes to make sure they’re not photographs. Available as posters, T-shirts, and on canvas, her collection can be seen at www.helenflint.com. These particular prints are available through Andy’s Tee Shirts (www.andystees.com).…

What: Super ’60s Fords; The Inside Story of the Most Powerful Fords Ever Built Who: CarTech, 800/551-4754; cartechbooks.com How Much: $24.95 plus $4.95 S&H Though it has been published before (but never reviewed here), the updated edition of John Smith’s Super ’60s Fords is a refreshing break from most Blue Oval books in that it gives equal attention to the often overlooked non-Mustang, non-Cobra offerings from Dearborn. To wit, within its 16 chapters and 160 pages, there are large sections devoted to the Falcon, Fairlane, Torino, Galaxie, Thunderbird, and even the Maverick. Oh, you’ll read about Shelby’s ministrations and the Boss Mustang program, but these tales have been told to death in the last three decades, making the underdog coverage all the more interesting. Plus Smith loves to show off…

“A tiny 10-inch car without an engine holds the spotlight these days on a miniature proving grounds track at Chrysler Corporation’s research laboratories. As it whizzes around the track, the little car is demonstrating fuel cells in action—small sandwiches of commonplace chemicals providing the power. The engineers expect that some day the miniature car will be replaced by a full-size model powered by the cells.” —It’s been 41 years since these words appeared in the July ’62 Motor Trend, and in this issue we announce what may be the first EPA-certified production fuel-cell car, but it’s still questionable. The “commonplace chemicals” reference is probably a hint that hydrogen was at the root of the project.…

presents Co-Sponsored By Man! Power Tour rules, and this year’s was more fun than free horsepower. Reality is that the Tour can be a hassle for the staff, but there was just no way for anyone to be involved in the ’03 hoopla and not walk into it and away from it totally stoked. Second revelation: We get letters every year from readers tired of the Power Tour hype machine, claiming they weren’t there and they don’t care. Clearly, those guys are the chumps for missing out. “Get are now, brah. I’ve never seen so many cars place.”—New Orieans spectator Why the extra fuzzy glow? This, the 9th HOT ROD Magazine Power Tour, saw over 1,000 cars loaded with gearheads following the HOT ROD crew for 1,500 miles from Nashville,…

Porta-Power Damper Puller We’ve had this tool for a little over a year and never want to live without it again. It’s an ABS Products number 5501 puller with a Porta-Power 10TA air-over-hydraulic power unit that puts the tug on your harmonic damper and removes it from the crank snout faster and easier than anything we’ve ever seen. We once micro-welded a Rat-motor damper to the crank and no amount of hand grunt was going to remove it; the power tool did the trick, no sweat. It cannot be used as a damper installer, but it hardly matters. If you build more than a few engines a year, or if you change cams often, you need this. Get it from ABS Products, Brea, CA; 714/671-0728. The company also has a…

Last month we announced the gala program for the buildup and coverage of eBay’s Project FastForwardFastback, but between conception and coverage, a few things have changed. The bad news? The complete Cobra drivetrain we mentioned last month has been replaced by a traditional 351/manual-trans/solid-axle combo. The good news? The car will actually be auctioned on eBay next year, and not during Carlisle 2003, giving you much more time to watch, enjoy, and win. Follow the progress on the car by hitting www.ebaymotors.com/fastback right now, and stay tuned for the big story in HOT ROD.…

Companies such as Edelbrock, Holley, and Auto Meter have been fighting a swarm of imported knock-offs of their parts. The most recent step is Auto Meter’s announcement that the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has initiated an investigation to determine whether the foreign manufacturers and their U.S. dealers have infringed on the Auto Meter designs, and if so, the infringing products will be barred from sale in the United States. Twelve separate com-panies have been targeted for investigation under Section 337 that provides that if imported merchandise is found to be infringing valid U.S. trademarks or patents, such goods can be barred from entry into the United States and existing U.S. inventories may be barred from sale. We’ve found the cheap imitations to be virtually worthless, anyway.…

The power of symbolism is important, even for a corporation as huge as Ford Motor Company. That much became evident when Chairman and CEO Bill Ford, great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, unveiled a new Ford blue oval atop the company’s world headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, to kick off the automaker’s: 100th anniversary celebration last June. Those who have never seen the Ford HQ in person might be surprised to hear that the familiar corporate symbol wasn’t already ensconced atop the seat of power in the company’s ancestral home, but the familiar blue oval was actually removed a few years ago by then-CEO Jac Nasser, and replaced by the corporate Ford Motor Company script as part of a strategy to position the company as a global player in more areas than…

We have a winner! He’s Dick “Skip” Holdren of Filley, Nebraska—the lucky recipient, chosen at random, of the awesome HOT ROD Magazine PowerDriver Chevelle. Built within the confines of Garage 27 at the top-secret General Motors Mesa, Arizona, Desert Proving Grounds, by GM employees Scott Leon, Dennis Skutecki, Chris Stubbs, and Wayne Brooke, PowerDriver isn’t just any ordinary street machine. As GM’s Mark McPhail says, “It’s a perfect pairing of parts from the present and future with a classic from the past.”You see, PowerDriver is powered by one of the just-released GMPP Gen III LS6 crate motors, spinning 405 hp into the also new-for-’03 4LB5E automatic overdrive crate transmission. As the name implies, PowerDriver is built for driving. Hard, fast driving. It combines timeless American looks with the sort of…

Not since the Mays of the fablecf 427’Shelby Cobra had a red-blooded Yank so brutally put the smack-down on Europe’s finest, During its seven-year reign, whipping up sissies from Stuttgart and Maranello (such as the Porsche 911 and Ferrari F355) was all in a day’s work for the Viper GTS. The V-W-powered beast spanked them down the 1,320. out-stuck ’em around the skidpad, turned quicker road course laps on tracks both sides of the Atlantic, and pulled the ol’ 0-100-0 trick with fewer ticks on the stopwatch. Eating the upper echelon for lunch was never so delicious. Granted our game has traditionally been the straight stuff, but given the Viper GTS’s multi-faceted performance acumen, repurposing it as a pure drag racer is a high-stakes gamble. If you’re willing to risk…