Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2005 i Hot Rod

Everybody has an opinion on how the rules for various sanctioning bodies should be written, and we’re no exception. We just have the enviable ability to publish our opinions in a forum where they can be read by 7 million people, and we did in the November issue. As expected, it drew a lot of response, almost overwhelmingly positive, but with a few well-made counterpoints too. Will the NHRA or NASCAR listen and make changes? Doubtful, but at least we’re not alone in our occasional boredom of big-time racing. WIN ON SUNDAY, SELL ON MONDAY What would it take to make NASCAR racing more credible? I think you hit on the answer: put the engineering back into the manufacturers’ hands. I think that NASCAR designing a “spec-NASCAR” with a common…

INSIDE THE OEs PROFILE KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE AT MOPAR PERFORMANCE David Hakim is the guy who sits in marketing meetings at DaimlerChrysler and comes up with comments like, “We need to change the badge on the Magnum RT because it doesn’t have the slash between the R and the T like the original.” He remembers when psychedelic Rapid Transit Authority ads sold new Plymouths, and Direct Connection was more than just a marketing phrase. At 42, he wasn’t long out of diapers during the glory years of Mopar muscle, but Hakim’s institutional memory comes in handy in his job as manager of Muscle and Restoration Parts at Mopar Performance. For a guy who grew up in Detroit with a dad who drove a succession of Imperials and an uncle…

HOW THEY MAKE IT: VORTECH SUPERCHARGERS The latest race-oriented centrifugal superchargers are capable of supplying the needs of large-displacement, high-boost applications. One of the leading centrifugal-blower specialists, Vortech Engineering—now celebrating its 15th anniversary—has introduced the V-20 blower for applications up to 2,000 hp. At Vortech, all critical machining operations are performed on the newest CNC workstations. To ensure trouble-free operation, extremely tight, aerospace-standard assembly tolerances are maintained and critical components are inspected using state-of-the-art quality-control testing devices. SOURCE VORTECH ENGINEERING LLC; Channel Islands, CA; 805/247-0226; www.vortech-superchargers.com…

From the freezing cold of South Dakota, AMBR winner Larry Ruth is spending the winter holed up with this ’34 Ford Tudor sedan. Originally built about a dozen years ago in Minnesota and significantly updated by Ruth two years ago, owner Gary Lattin of Nemo, South Dakota, spun it into a ditch during a rainstorm the past summer. While in Ruth’s shop for repairs (new fenders and a new rear quarter), the early-’90s plague of tweed upholstery is being replaced with leather and the car is getting a thorough inspection. By the way, those aren’t four Weber carbs atop the ZZ4 350 crate engine, but throttle-bodies mounted to a Moon manifold and controlled by a FAST programmable engine control system. The transmission is a four-speed 700-R4 automatic.…

FIRST OUTLAW 10.5 IN THE 6s There are a lot of milestones in racing, and perhaps the most sought-after one in heads-up drag racing just fell when Tim Lynch became the first person to run in the 6s on l?.5W tires. It happened November 21, 2004, at an outlaw street car race dubbed The Shakedown at the legendary Englishtown Raceway Parkin New Jersey. Over 40 Outlaw 10.5-style cars showed up at E-town for the last race of 2004. The rules were simple; a back-halved chassis at 3,000 pounds with driver, and run watcha brung. The exceptional weather conditions and sticky racing surface attracted some of biggest hitters on the southern Outlaw scene, including Lynch and his partner Steve Petty of Woodstock, Georgia, and their twin-turbocharged ’02 Mustang GT Their first…

Launched by GM to celebrate 50 years of the small-block Chevy, Smallblock.gmblogs.com is packed with all kinds of interesting technical tidbits and history on the most popular engine ever built. Learn all about the engineers and execs behind the development of the original 265, and check out cool archive photos and timelines of significant small-block Chevy milestones. Even the biggest Chevy historian will learn a thing or two. For example, who knew there have been 90 million small-block Chevys built since 1955, and that if you lined them all up side by side, they’d stretch 30,000 miles? There are also forums for readers to share small-block stories with other enthusiasts.…

So we’re hanging out at Borla Performance Industries one day and stumble upon this, one of the original Ford GT development mules. This particular car was probably used for testing interior noise levels on public roads. Engineers even took the liberty of executing countless burnouts to see how squealing rubber and the associated vibrations impacted NVH. After development concluded, Ford handed the car off to Borla to use to develop an aftermarket exhaust system, which the company says is good for 50 hp.…

“America’s fastest-growing motorsport” has had huge beer sponsorship for years now (as Dale Earnhardt Jr. shows in the photo], but now NASCAR will begin allowing distilled spirits companies to sponsor teams beginning in 2005. That means cars like the Jack Daniel’s Dodge or the Captain Morgan Ford could be running alongside Junior’s Budweiser Chevrolet starting next season. “We felt the time was right to allow distilled spirits companies into NASCAR,” says NASCAR President Mike Helton. “Attitudes have changed, and sprits companies have a long record of responsible advertising.”…

A lot of people just don’t get it. Why would you intentionally not paint a car? Beer cans for velocity stacks? And for crying out loud, can’t somebody use something resembling a modern engine? All incredulous questions that you have to deal with when driving a hard-core traditional hot rod, but after meeting the Throttlers, you’ll get it. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, The Throttlers are a group of buddies, mostly in their mid-20s, who hang out, drink beer, scrounge for parts, and work on each other’s hot rods. Though they have club jackets and a cool sign with their name on it, they’re a different animal than a traditional car club. There is no president, no treasurer, and no secretary. Instead of going over an agenda at weekly…

While KB Racing was settings new standard for Pro Stock, the Ferrari team was doing the same thing in the parallel motorsports universe of Formula One. Formula One and Pro Stock couldn’t be more dissimilar, but these two teams dominate their respective sports so completely they can only be compared with each other. There is however one area where Ferrari has KB completely beat—its ’04 championship was Ferrari’s fifth in a row. KB’s streak only runs to two. So give KB another three years, but even then, we doubt NHRA stars will reach F1 income levels any time soon. Check the figures we came up with below. KB RACING VS. SCUDERIA FERRARI GREG ANDERSON VS. MICHAEL SCHUMACHER *HOT ROD’s wild-ass guess based on NHRA winnings and inexplicable hunches about endorsements…

After more than a year of doing it, here’s what I know about building my first race car: it took longer than I expected, cost more than I planned, and wasn’t as easy as it looked. But it was fun, I learned a lot, and I’m glad I did it. Progress was rapid when I first decided to build a car to enter in the NASA Camaro-Mustang Challenge, an entry-level road racing class that offers all the fun of wheel-to-wheel racing at a reasonable cost. Buying an ’84 Mustang GT for $500 at a local salvage auction was easy, gutting the interior and stripping all nonessential components took a day, and bolting on the major components of the braking and suspension systems was straightforward once I carved out the time…

CHRYSLER MAGNUM V-8 CYLINDER HEADS Edelbrock 800/416-8628 www.edelbrock.com The new Hemi crate motors promised to be the hot new engine swap, but they’ve been AWOL for way too long. If you’re bummed out about having to settle for a ‘92-and-up 5.2L and 5.9L Magnum V-8 (318 and 360 in knuckle-dragger speak), check out Edelbrock’s new Performer RPM aluminum cylinder heads. They feature 176cc intake ports and quench-optimized 58cc combustion chambers. The company says flow is vastly improved over the stock iron heads with 2.02/1.60-inch valves and CNC’d bowls and ports. They come fully assembled and ready to bolt on. HIGH-FLOW FUEL RAILS Wilson Manifolds 954/221-6216 www.wilsonmanifolds.com Making big power requires big fuel flow, and Wilson manifolds has some monster rails to make sure your mill doesn’t starve. Extruded from aluminum…

STILL TICKING Remember our Aug. ’02 cover car? This is it: Nick Fusco’s ’89 Firebird Formula 350 from Long Island, New York. The hook then and now is that Nick bought this thing new and started racing it with just 500 miles on the odo. Now, 17 racing seasons after he first flogged it on the quarter-mile, the car still runs its bone-stock short-block that has never been out of the car. Quite a testament to the L98 Tuned Port 350, an engine that has been largely dismissed in the face of the Gen III small-blocks. Almost makes us want to build our ’91. Nick’s car is now in the mid 10s with bitchin’ 1.32-second 60-foot times on reliable buttloads of nitrous.…

We took a little bit of a risk by putting two purpose-built drag cars on the covers of consecutive issues, but readers [especially the old guys) were really diggin’ the front-engine dragster on the November issue, and we got far more positive response from Force’s Funny Car on the December cover than we thought we would. Along with the response to “If We Made the Rules” (Nov. ’04] it just goes to show that people are into racing, nostalgia, and good old-fashioned coolness. We’re also starting to get a lot of good Hidden Treasures and old-timey racing photos, and that’s bitchin’. Keep ’em coming, but make sure they’re 300 dpi and at least 4 inches by 4 inches so we can print them. We’ve also been pleading for more readers’…

FAMILY FUN ’60S CHEVY MUSCLE THE LOVAT FAMILY SMOCK, PA It took the Lovats 25 years to get to this point, but now each family member has a sweet piece of Detroit Iron. On the far right is Joseph Sr.’s 458ci Rat-powered ’69 Camaro. The blue ’69 Camaro features a 350 engine and TH350 trans and belongs to his daughter Stephanie. Joe Jr.’s ride is a frame-off-restored ’66 Chevelle with a 396 and TH400 trans. Matriarch Patty rolls around town in her 70 Chevelle SS powered by a 454. But that’s not all. The family is currently working on another’69 Camaro project car they hope to have on the road soon. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS In the Nov. ’04 issue, Matt King wrote a section on the Holley 3310 carb (“20…

If the Chrysler Firepower concept [which debuted in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit] looks familiar, it’s probably because it bears a remarkable resemblance to Ford’s Shelby GR-1 concept unveiled last year. The Firepower also shares the concept of platform-sharing with the Ford, which is based on the engine and chassis of the Ford GT. The low-slung, two-seat Firepower features a tinted glass roof that extends to the rear liftgate, and it rides on a Viper chassis mated to the 425hp 6.1L Hemi from the SRT-8. It looks like a cross between a Viper and a Crossfire, but whether this sports car can find a market niche between the Crossfire SRT-6 and the Viper remains to be seen.…

Known for his line of performance fuel system parts, Demon carburetors, NitrousWorks nitrous systems, and air filters, Barry Grant shocked everyone at the ’04 SEMA Show by unveiling a new cylinder head. It’s a three-valve (two intakes and one exhaust) design for a traditional, first-gen small-block Chevy that uses a common rocker arm for both intake valves. It’s strictly a plastic prototype as we write this and has yet to be cast and tested, but Grant is shooting to have a real pair on an engine sometime this spring. What prompted him to get into the cylinder-head market? Part of it was a close association with noted cylinder-head and airflow expert Chuck Jenckes [who now works at Dale Earnhardt Inc.). Another reason was BG’s leverage with its foundry that makes…

The Ford Y-block, most known for its use in the early Thunderbirds, has always been the red-headed stepchild of the Ford world, living in that no-go zone between the retro flathead and the more modern Windsor. But circle-track engine builder KT Engines in North Carolina recently did a modern update to a 312ci Y-block for a customer’s T-bird. Most of the flavor of the engine was kept, and you can hardly tell the modifications from the outside. The modern distributor is the biggest giveaway. The original crank was offset-ground to increase the stroke from 3.438 to 3.600 inches (with 2-inch journals) and the bore was increased 0.085 to hold 283 Chevy pistons. A lightweight rotating assembly with NASCAR castoffs was used, and the intake manifold and heads were ported as…

If this rendering looks familiar, it’s because Rohan Day’s the man who sketched the illustrations for the wild 1:18-scale die-cast models from Muscle Machines. Hailing from the land down under, cartoonish proportions, scrunched up cabins, and throttle-stacks and blowers exploding out of the hood are his trademark. He also specializes in ali-business technical illustrations for the more-serious art connoisseur. From wall art to flyer design, to preparing illustrations for screen-printing T-shirts, Rohan does it all. For more info, visit his Web site at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rohankim.…

The Pump Gas Drags was easily the most fun we’ve had at a dragstrip in years, and we’re coming back to Memphis Motorsports Park on Friday, May 13. Yup, Friday the 13th. If you think you have the baddest street car in the land and want to prove it against 49 others who think they’re the fastest, then throw your hat in the ring by entering for the second 93-octane showdown hosted by Comp Cams and Rockett Brand fuels. The rules are posted on HOTROD.com, and you can also find the official entry form there. Print it, fill it out, and send it to us along with a few photos of your car or truck. You can also find the form on page 62 of last month’s issue of HOT…

IN THREE WORDS: Trans-Am Reborn THE GIST: If Trans-Am racing stayed true to its ’60s form, the result would be something very similar to the Australian V-8 Supercar series. There’s the requisite OE involvement with real production cars, Ford versus GM (Holden) brand rivalry, screamin’ 5.0L V-8s, minimal body modifications, colorful driver personalities, and fender-crunching fun. Over the years diverse fields have included BMWs, Jaguars, Alfa Romeos, Chrysler Valiants, Toyota Celicas, Nissan Skylines, Novas, Mustangs, and Camaros. In 1994, to keep the series more Australian, rules changed to allow only V-8-powered vehicles. Races are run throughout Australia in both sprint and endurance formats ranging between 20 minutes and over 2 hours. VEHICLE SPECS: Minimum weight of 2,925 pounds 5.0L EFI V-8s producing over 600 hp Holigner six-speed manual transmissions Aero…

There are few places more commercialized and more populated by tragically hip “look at me” poseurs than Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Walking the streets and buying $400 10-year-old Levis is a gaggle of young people trying to be cool, waiters/actors/models looking to stand out, and tourists hoping to see famous people. The stores all sell pricey stuff and keep pace with the latest trends with laser-like precision. In the mix is Von Dutch, a store that sells clothes and accessories bearing the name and logo of the counterculture automotive artist of the same name. Most of the younger people tha1 are paying big dollars for Von Dutch T-shirts and hats have no knowledge about Von Dutch the man. They know that it’s hip to have his stuff but are…

Not many cars get featured in HOTROD multiple times over the span of more than four decades. But the Stone, Woods & Cook Willys is no ordinary car. To many, it’s the most famous drag race car in history, even now, nearly 40 years since the last time it ran down a dragstrip in heads-up competition. To understand why the S-W-C Willys holds such a revered place in hot rodding history, one needs to look at the events that swirled around the sport back in the early part of the ’60s, when drag racing and the NHRA were just beginning to gain a national following beyond their roots on the dry lakes of Southern California. The pages of magazines like HOT ROD, Car Craft, and Super Stock, along with weekly…

“500 mph is definitely achievable.”—Tom Burkland On September 16,1947, Great Britain’s John Cobb established a 394.196-mph land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in his Railton Mobil Special. He overshadowed that achievement the very same day with an astounding 403.135-mph one-way blast that marked the first-ever penetration of the 400-mph mark by a wheel-driven vehicle. In the nearly 58 years since, men have battled for the favor of the 400-mph maiden, and while thrust-powered vehicles have broken the sound barrier (team ThrustSSC set a 763.035-mph record in the Nevada desert in 1997), hot rodders still battle for the wheel-driven records over 400. Those records are further broken down by piston engines versus turbines, and whether the event is sanctioned by the Federation Internationale del’Automobile (FIA) or by the more…

There’s been renewed interest in altered wheelbase cars lately, and why not? They’re sick to look at, fun to drive, and years away from becoming belly-button passé. The few original cars that surface every now and then are too valuable, too frail, or are ridiculously dangerous to be driven or raced, but who needs an original? You can build one yourself, and we’re here to show how using basic construction techniques and a little bit of freestyle ingenuity. They’re called Match Bash cars, and one of the leading practitioners of the wheelbase surgery is Seattle’s Richard LeFebvre. Rich’s creations can be viewed online at www.performanceking.com, and many have graced these pages in the last few years. Here, for the first time, Rich demonstrates the Match Bash wheelbase alteration technique on…

Chevy 383s destroy 350s in overall power. Readers have figured that out, since 383 stroker combos are the ones we get asked about most often, and most of the shops we talk to peddle more 383s than not. These days, if you need to buy a crank when rebuilding your small-block, there’s no reason not to add the extra cubes; a 383 is just as cheap as a 350. So you’re sold. But people still have questions about 383 combos, so after we threw one together for a video project and then noticed that it made pretty good grunt—eclipsing both 500 lb-ft of torque and 500 hp—we decided to give you the parts list so you can build one of your own. This one’s based on a ZZ4 short-block we…

Sears, Roebuck and Co. 800/322-2414 www.sears.com/craftsman Sears has a new wrinkle in circular cutoff saws: its Twin Cutter has two contrarotating blades, meaning they spin in opposite directions, which in theory produces cleaner, smoother cuts. Although primarily designed for consumer home-improvement tasks, we tried out the new saw on typical car guy stuff like flat steel plate, l¾-inch mild-steel tubing like that used to make rollbars, and assorted chunks of aluminum. When used with the proper [and included] lubricating stick, the saw produced quick, relatively burr-free cuts on thin or small-diameter material—not as good as a bench-mounted chop saw with a fresh abrasive cutoff wheel, but in less time. The contrarotating blades kept torque reaction to a minimum, but the saw had difficulty with larger-diameter tubing and thicker plate sections…

HOTTER HOTSHOT I’ve been reading HOT ROD for over 30 years and this is the best it’s ever looked. I like anything that goes fast on the street, dirt, salt, and the 1,320. You guys rock’! How did you talk those other magazine guys into a drag race? Hot Shot reminds me of shop class 30 years ago. We were given an old, early ’60s front-engine dragster to rebuild. It had a stoker 409 with an old Offy six-Weber setup. But I was disappointed to hear no blower on your race car, and after reading the 8-21 bit I’m thinking your eBay motor needs one. You guys don’t have a hair on your a@# if you don’t bolt on a blower, fill the tank with nitro, and throw down a…

STREAMLINING DRAGSTERS Even before the Howard’s Cams Twin Bear rail famously wore a sheet of plywood at an angle ahead of its twin blown mills, aerodynamics have been important to drag racing. After all, the sport grew from the dry lakes, where swoopy coupes in the Peirson Bros, vein were testament to a base knowledge of cheating the wind. Robert “Jocko” Johnson finished the first enclosed-wheel dragster in 1958, a design that disintegrated when downforce pushed the fenders into the tires. The idea was revisited in 1963 by Craig Breedlove, and by 1965 there were enough aero bodies being tested to warrant an in-depth story in HOT’ ROD’S Aug. ’65 issue. It included streamlined dragsters from the likes of Nye Frank, Tommy Ivo, the late Tony Nancy, and the team…

Al Gore invented the Internet, and HOT ROD invented the upcoming Pontiac Solstice roadster. Here’s where our fantasy about the Pontiac developed: About three years ago some big shots from GM came to our offices for a round-table discussion on the future of GM’s global powertrain initiatives. We all lobbied for V-8, rear-wheel-drive sedans so GM responded with the GT? (hey, it’s our fantasy and that’s how we remember it), but the main discussion was around the four-cylinder Ecotec, which GM believed could become the small-block Chevy of Generations X, Y, and Z if marketed properly. We suggested a small, rear-wheel-drive roadster, kind of like a super Miata. So when the Pontiac Solstice was later announced for ’05, we took full credit. See how these fantasies develop? The Solstice, powered…

DRAGSTANG GOES TO SEMA Paul’s High Performance’s ’05 Mustang has undergone quite a transformation since it appeared on the cover of our January issue shortly after making a historic 12.3-second trip down the dragstrip. After we finished testing, PHP’s Dragstang was immediately stripped to have a 6-point rollbar installed, outfitted with new suede-trimmed Recaro seats, and sent off for a full repaint after being gussied up with a custom front chin spoiler, rear spoiler, and side window louvers from Classic Design Concepts, and a Cervinis-modified cowl hood in preparation for the SEMA show in Las Vegas. So what’s up with the flat-black schnoz? “We asked Cervinis for a 4-inch cowl, but looking back, two and a half might have been better,” says PHP’s Paul Svinicki. Paul expects a few additional…

Scott Bonowski at Hot Rods 8c Hobbies in Torrance, California, is in the final stages of rebuilding this trick roadster, which was a cover car for Street Rodder magazine in 1986. The car is being built, as Bonowski describes, “with a ’50s or ’60s, racer meets the street feel.” The spoke wheels and knock-offs will carry Firestone dirt track tires, and the chassis features a pinched ’32 frame with hairpins and an I-beam in front, and a quick-change rear. A small-block Chevy and five-speed will be the drivetrain. This should be cool.…

We guess winning the Super Stock Hemi Challenge in a Barracuda at the 50th Annual U.S. Nationals at Indy inspired Jeg Coughlin Jr. to jump camp and run a Dodge in Pro Stock for 2005. Jeg’s announced that Coughlin, the ’00 and ’02 NHRA Pro Stock world champion, is teaming up with Don Schumacher Racing to field a Dodge Stratus in NHRA Pro Stock this year. Coughlin wants another crack at winning the championship and sees Schumacher’s operation as the way to do it. The partnership between Jeg’s Mail Order and Don Schumacher Racing will feature associate-level signage on all of the team’s cars, including Tony Schumacher’s Army-sponsored Top Fuel dragster, Gary Scelzi’s Oakley Funny Car, Whit Bazemore’s Mateo Funny Car, and the Army Suzukis of Angelle Savoie and Antron…

In relation to the road, a vehicle’s chassis moves around three different axes. When cornering, the body rolls around its longitudinal axis. During acceleration and braking, a vehicle pitches around its horizontal axis. The softer the roll stiffness and the higher the ride height, the more a car will move around both these axes. Movement around the vertical axis is called yaw, which happens anytime a vehicle deviates from a straight line. However, how a vehicle rotates around this axis and keeps yaw under control—whether the front, rear, all four, or none of the wheels are sliding—is much more dependent on driver input and skill. The two most undesirable forms of yaw are excessive oversteer and understeer, which is precisely what the OEs try to avoid with active handling systems…

How popular is the reality TV show Overhaulin’? So popular that it’s got the attention of big-time rock stars and athletes. By the time you read this, you may have already seen the episode where Sheryl Crow “steals” her boyfriend’s car and has it tricked out by Foose and the gang. Crow’s boyfriend is uber-athlete Lance Armstrong, multi-time winner of the grueling Tour de France bicycle race. Crow gave him the 70 GTO convertible after he won the Tour in July, then promptly had it ripped off and tricked out. Once it was done and the jig was up, Armstrong was diggin’ his new ride, saying “This is one of the most amazing cars I’ve ever seen!”…

In an effort to minimize financial losses suffered by its Jaguar division, Ford sold Cosworth Technology and its Jaguar Formula 1 team last November. Cosworth supplied motors for the Jaguar team and will continue to do so under new owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, co-owners of the Champ Car World Series. The Jaguar F1 Team was purchased by Red Bull, makers of the popular energy drink. Since returning to Formula 1 in 2000, Jaguar has failed to win a single race. With McLaren’s promising MP419B chassis ready to challenge Ferrari next season with Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya, we don’t think the Brits will miss Jaguar much at all.…

Not all retro and rat rodders dress the part with a rockabilly flair, but a lot of them do, and you’ll see the two converge at events like Viva Las Vegas. Held on Easter Weekend on top of the parking garage at the Gold Coast hotel, the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend is a four-day frenzy of music, free-flowing Pabst Blue Ribbon, and a car show hosted by the Shifters car club from Orange County, California. You’ll find hundreds of hot rods and customs, from ’32 coupes that look like they were just exhumed from somebody’s backyard to ’59 Chevys coated with an inch of metalflake. Surrounded by the cars is a sea of greased pompadours, cuffed jeans, vintage sundresses, lots of red lipstick, and plenty of tattoos. The frantic…

“Qualify one-two and have both cars in the final. That’s the best day a guy can have.”—Jeff Perley How’d they do it? KB Racing’s record during the ’04 NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series season is one of the greatest achievements in the history of sports. It’s right up there with the ’72 Miami Dolphins undefeated NFL season; Bob Beamon’s insane 29-foot, 2-inch-long jump in the ’68 Olympics; the seven NCAA championships the UCLA basketball team won between 1967 and 1973; and Lance Armstrong’s six straight Tour de France wins. But it’s unlikely to rate even a mention in Sports Illustrated. KB won 19 of the 23 races they could win during 2004—in Pro Stock, a class designed to guarantee close competition by radically limiting innovation. KB drivers Greg Anderson and…

“I don’t care of scratches. Hell, I plan on getting plenty of rock chips road racing the thing.”—Eric Reed “It’s not going to be a show car that’s pampered. I’m going to drive it, enjoy it, and see how well it can do what it was built for.”—Eric Reed Waltzing through the doors of Pure Vision Design reveals an eerily pristine inner sanctum belying the grease pit that is your typical hot rod shop. Neatly arranged stacks of paper rest atop a finely finished oak desk. Display racks cradling shiny parts and project-car renderings embellish the perimeter. Step into the shop, and not a single stray wrench litters the floor. Even the toilet bowl’s free of muck. Owner Steve Strope explains, “When you’re trying to convince a guy to drop…

It’s fitting that during the 50th anniversary year of the small-block Chevy, arguably its two greatest variations have been released. First, the 400hp 6.0L LS2 arrived for the ’05 model year in the latest-generation Corvette, followed recently by the news of the giant-killer small-block: the 500hp 7.0L LS7 that will arrive this fall in the ’06 Corvette Z06. Looking back, the small-block engine design that debuted with 265 ci and 195 hp doesn’t seem like much of a world beater, but in its day, it was a world-class engine with lightweight head and block castings and an overhead valvetrain that was ahead of its time. Today, we look at the latest LS6/LS7 engines and see race-inspired technology, including lightweight valves, cross-bolted main caps, and rollerized rocker arms. Back in 1955,…

AIR HOG MACH 1 GOES TO… After burning the first tank of gas on the road course and dragstrip in the Fram Air Hog Mach 1 last June, we announced we’d throw the keys and the title to a lucky reader at the NHRA Finals in Pomona, California, Ourtime with the car flashed by, and on November 13 Joel Atchley and his son Nick drove it home to Benton, Arkansas. “I wish it would stop raining so I can take it out, but I got on it a few times on the way home and, golly, I can tell it has some power. As soon as the weather clears up, I’m going to go run it at the track,” says Joel. We hope you put it to good use, fellas.…