Indholdsfortegnelse for April 1997 i Hot Rod

Dad, Dear Dad This issue has a section about simple handtools. I learned a few things about them through my relationship with my father. They marked my transition from dumb kid to dumb wrench-tender. One time, I dropped a ½-9/16 on the old man’s face from fender height (more on this incident later), thus making that particular wrench the best-remembered of all wrenches. Though the old man wasn’t a hot rodder, he liked fast, obnoxious vehicles. Worse than that, he was the consummate tinker, a whiz with mechanical contraptions but helpless in denying them, many of which he bought with a deliberate mind for the express purpose of rejuvenation. My earliest memory of him screwing with stuff was the great and wonderful grandfather’s clock that guarded the foot of the…

Land Speed Attempt While Craig Breedlove and Richard Noble attempt to officially break the sound barrier with a land-bound vehicle (and while Stan Barrett privately smirks knowing that he was the first to actually do it, even though his 739.666-mph blast in the Budweiser rocket car isn’t recognized by the FIA), another challenger is preparing an assault on Mach 1. Yikes! This one’s from Russia. Peter J. R. Holthusen, one of the leading authorities on matters pertaining to the Land Speed Record, tells us that the Soviet Institute for Automobiles and Roads in Kharkov is going to make another attempt at the record with the Khadi-9 car, powered by a Tumanskij R-11 gas turbine—the engine that powered the Russian MIG-21 fighter planes. These photos were taken of the car, with…

Lunati Chevelle Runs The Number If you build it, it will run the number.” That wasn’t exactly the quote from the movie, but that was the goal with the Lunati Super Street Chevelle (HOT ROD, November ‘96, page 24). The heavy Chevy chronicled a four-part buildup of an entrylevel Super Street drag race machine designed to run in the 9s without the help of nitrous oxide. As such, its single-carb 540ci Rat motor makes an impressive 840 hp. Deadline pressures brought an end to the process before the car was really strip-ready, but the Lunati crew remained, eradicating the little bugs to produce a series of 9-second timeslips. The quickest pass was a 9.94 at over 137 mph, via consistent 1.54-second 60-foot times. The 60-foot times are decent, but the…

Award From ISCA First presented in 1992, the Judi Murray Memorial Award has become one of the most prestigious on the ISCA show car circuit. Given in memory of a woman who epitomized the best qualities among show car builders and exhibitors, the award is presented to the best overall car showing for the first time at the Phoenix World of Wheels. The winner receives $3,500 in cash, which is sponsored by Concrete Coring Incorporated, (Larry Murray), Boyd Coddington, Championship Auto Shows Incorporated, and Shadow Promotions. In addition, there’s a beautiful award from Boyds and a special plaque from Pro Graphics Incorporated. This year’s winner was the Reverand Scrub Hansen of Fountain Valley, California, for his outstanding ‘40 Ford coupe, as shown here. Congrats, Rev!…

1 May 8: Power Tour kickoff party, Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, California 2 May 9: Las Vegas, Nevada 3 May 10: Grand Junction, Colorado 4 May 11:1: Denver, Colorado 5 May 12: Goodland, Kansas 6 May 13: Kansas City, Missouri 7 May 14: St. Louis, Missouri 8 May 15: Springfield, Illinois 9 May 16: Lansing, Illinois 10 May 17: Mount Clemens, Michigan 10 May 18: Last Day cruise in Mount Clemens We gave you details on the first three stops last month, so it’s time for more specifics on the Tour, like the roads we’re taking, the days we’ll be on them, and the places we’ll be stopping along the way. Take heed. We shove off in less than two months, and if your project is anything like ours,…

From Beat Up To Seatin’ ‘Em Up Adversity has a way of bringing out the best in people. As an example, soak up Ted Pelech’s story. He was racing his just-finished Super Street Camaro for the second time when his opponent crossed the centerline and hit his car in the rear corner, sending it careening into every immovable object in sight. Pelech whacked all the body panels on the car before he came to a stop but luckily the chassis was still in good condition. Before the shock of it all had settled in, Pelech and his father, Ted Sr., went to work putting the car back together, spending the winter getting it to the level you see here. Says Pelech, “Amazingly, the car looks better now than it did…

Mike Moran’s (Blurred) Vision In White Hey, you should call this car Caspar and just say, ‘Watch me disappear.’’’ That’s what Brian Odoms said when he first saw friend Mike Moran’s refrigerator white Pro Street ‘95 Camaro. Caspar stuck. But whereas the cartoon ghost is friendly and benevolent, Caspar the car is a plenty mean character, only taking from others—race wins, trophies, and, yes, all the glory, too. The car was built to the letter of the Pro Street rules to kick ass, but Moran followed much of the intention of Pro Street, which is to create more than just a single purpose race car. While the rules would’ve allowed the use of a carbon-fiber Pro Stock body, Moran and teammate Jack Pemberton started with a real car, a wrecked…

How To Set Ignition Timing There are two things an engine must have: spark and fuel. The proper amount of fuel and air, compressed and ignited at the ideal moment, produces power. In this piece we deal with igniting the spark that lights the fire. Ignition timing is typically split into three types. The first is initial timing—that is, the amount of spark lead that is set using a timing light (aimed at the harmonic balancer) with the engine at idle. The second type is mechanical advance, determined by the distributor’s mechanical advance system. The final type is vacuum advance, determined by the vacuum canister attached to the distributor. All three combine to produce the total amount of ignition timing in your engine at any given load and/or rpm. Since…

Changing Automotive Fluids Fluids. Those slimy, colorful liquids that inhabit the engine, transmission, and rear axle are the lifeblood of your car. And dagnabbit, they need to be changed on a regular basis, regardless of wacky Uncle Henry’s decree: “Aw hell, I’ve got 122,000 miles on the oil in Ol’ Blue out there!” Petroleum breaks down with use, age, and heat, and if it’s not changed, the parts will suffer. Engine oil can go as long as 7,000 miles before changing (longer if synthetic oil is used), but why risk it? Compared to a rebuilt engine, the stuff is cheap, and it only takes a few minutes to change. We swap oil every 2,500-3,000 miles. Transmission fluid lasts a lot longer in normal use; change it every 20,000 miles—or once…

Replacing Or Repacking Wheel Bearings Basic hot rod maintenance isn’t as much fun as bolting on a supercharger or a trick set of wheels, but proper care of the less glamorous parts of a car—the stuff that doesn’t contribute to performance—is mandatory. A worn-out suspension, bad brakes, sloppy steering, and the like aren’t visible to the cruising crowd, but they must be in optimum condition to make the car safe and fun to drive. Those lowly wheel bearings require periodic attention too. Hidden behind the wheel under a little tin cover, wheel bearings are virtually invisible, and even if you install the world’s trickest ones, you’ll gain not one iota of performance. But even if it’s just repacking them with new grease every two years, your wheel bearings need attention.…

Inspecting Suspension Joints, Checking Tire Pressure Aside from a flaming gas tank, there’s nothing more dangerous than worn suspension bushings or ball joints. Make sure the parts are sound and keep them greased. The same regimen applies to tire pressure. Make a habit of checking tire inflation every time you put gas in the tank. Improper tire pressure will ruin the tires in short order. The following tips show you what to look for and how to fix it. TOOLS Floor jack Jackstands Grease gun Air pressure gauge…

We Build A Hot Street CyberRacer There’s a new class in HOT ROD’s World’s Quickest Street Car Drag Racing Series (WQSCDRS) called Hot Street. We debuted the rules in the January issue, but the possibilities for Hot Street are various, so we thought it deserved a more thorough investigation. Since this story is being written months before the race season starts, we approached Hot Street much the same as a racer would—and built a car on paper. Using the rules as a guideline, we talked to a number of racers and engine builders to formulate the guidelines for a competitive Hot Street candidate. Then we plugged the projected horsepower, gear ratio, and torque converter numbers into Patrick Hale’s Quarter dragstrip simulation program to see how quick our paper tiger could…

This was all my idea. What kinda moron am I? Why the hell are we doing this? How long is it going to take to clean up this mess? Boy, bet it’d hurt to fall out of this thing at this speed. Damn, this is a blast! These thoughts are coursing through my mind while nothing more than a bare frame and basic running gear hurtles my keester through the lights at “this close” to 90 mph. The wind is gusting past where the windshield used to be, trying to rip me out of the fiberglass bucket seat that is held in place by a single bolt and a questionable spot weld. While onlookers gaze in a fascination reminiscent of grade-schoolers staring into the platypus cage at the zoo, I’m…

The Blue Oval Strikes Back We shall not be outdone! Please select the caption that best fits the photo: 1. Can anyone think of a better use for a Chevy engine? 2. Chevy’s newest NASCAR Tidy Bowl Setup. 3. Chevy’s Secret Carburetor—100 miles per flush. 4. Chevy’s pioneering the use of alternate fuels. Powers B. FordProvidence, NJ For 40 years, I’ve been looking for a good purpose for a Chevy engine. I’ve finally found one! Irv KlairWilmington, DE Hey HOT ROD, I thought the pictures of the Ford block with flowers growin’ out of it was awful smart, I’m thinkin’ of givin’ my wife one as a present to put next to the old commode with the cactus growin’ out the bowl. But I wanna warn everybody not to use…

Jordan Runs 195-mph In A Car That’s Older Than He Is W’e have to wonder if Landon Jordan’s clients—the Mansfield, Texas, native sells insurance for a living—realize they’re buying policies from the quickest kid in town. But then again, it’s hard to imagine what caused the 23-year-old Jordan to convert a nice, all-steel, ‘69 Camaro into a nitrous-huffing killer capable of qualifying at all of HRM’s meets, stout enough to win a couple of national events (including the Oklahoma Muffler Street Car Shootout with a 7.12), and consistent to the point that he was runner-up at two more races. Jordan’s success can be attributed to a number of factors, including its David Wolfe-prepared chassis, the bullet-proof dependability of its multisqueezed, Hans Feustel-built Donovan, and “Launchin’ Landon’s” obvious driving skills. According…

There’s Nothing Cowardly About Steve Carrier’s Yellow Streak It’s amazing what bad-ass competition can do. Two years ago, Farmington, Connecticut’s Steve Carrier was competing in the world’s fastest street car shootouts with a “back-half’ Camaro powered by a 509-inch Rat spinning an automatic transmission. No more. Not after an overnight avalanche of bad-news cars. In Steve’s words, “It got too tough and all I knew is that I had to make a change—fast! First, I had Markow Race Cars build a 25-1 chassis for the car. Next, I purchased an Eagle Racing Engines-prepared, 648-inch Olds-head motor, and backed it up with a Ram clutch and Lenco transmission. That worked. “The car went from a best of 8.49 at 152 mph to a 7.49 at 188; Thanks to C.A.R.S. Inc., Carrier…

How To Set Idle Mixture Little things can make a big difference in how an engine performs. Street engines spend a lot of time at idle and off-idle speeds, so on carbureted engines it’s important that the idle mixture be adjusted properly. This improves driveability, minimizes rough idle, and can provide cleaner emissions and better fuel economy. Here’s a quick look at how to set idle mixture on a stock or mildly modified engine. All engines require an acceptable air/fuel ratio to run properly, even at idle. Stock or mildly tweaked engines generally idle at 16-18 inches of intake manifold vacuum between 750 and 900 rpm. Carburetors equipped with adjustable mixture screws allow the tuner to change the amount of fuel delivered to the engine, creating an ideal idle mixture.…

Tips On Selecting Wheels And Tires For Your Hot Rod The most important visual component on a street machine, sport truck, grocery getter, or hot rod, is its wheels and tires. You need to determine the mission of your visual package, and which wheels and tires will help your car make that statement. Many people underestimate the wheel/tire impact and end up with something less than spectacular—don’t make the same mistake. In general, hot rods look good with the biggest rubber that can be stuffed under the fenders. If you plan on “tubbing” your car, then you can use the world’s biggest tires and build the wheelhouse around them. Squeezing big skins into stock wheelwells and ending up with a car that is imminently driveable requires a scientific approach. Here’s…

The interior of your hot rod has to provide you with the proper environment, and it has to look good and keep you comfortable all at once. This is why you need these tips on installing a carpet kit—literally the background for the interior setting—along with a new heat shield kit, from Auto Custom Carpets Incorporated (ACC). The carpet maintains good looks and the heat shield keeps you comfortable regardless of ambient temperature. In most cases, the ACC kit consists of two pieces, both of which are molded exactly to the floor of the car. One piece fits the front footwells and runs halfway under the front seat; the second piece overlaps it under the seat and runs to the leading edge of the rear seat. To prepare for the…

Applying Super Stock Science To Super Street Cars What’s the hottest thing happening today? Simple: Fast street cars. They’re fresh, they’re exiting, they’re headlined everywhere, and they’re swifter than most people ever dreamed possible. But are fast street cars new? Not as far as disciples of drag racing are concerned. You see, fast street cars bear a striking resemblance to NHRA Super Stockers, and they’ve been around (in various incarnations) for over three decades. There’s more here than History 101: Tickle some of the quicker S/S cars with giggle juice and you’ve just conceived an instrument that will easily earn passing grades in fastest street car competition. (A good example is Terry Sherrill’s SS/AM ‘57 Corvette—on the motor alone this thing runs deep in the 8s—with a 395-inch small-block.) If…

Cruisin’ For To Carry Dean Home The history of hot rodding is one of opposites. Rods versus customs. Go against show. Lead, not lead foot. Fuel instead of cool. I was from the go-lead foot-fuel camp. Dean, the owner/builder of this magnificent ‘50 Merc custom, represents the other side—the tail-dragging, boulevardcruising, chick-attracting school of design dedicated to looks, not cooks. Now one of Dean’s shticks is not having a last name, but I do know where the guy with the ZZ “beeve” came from-—East Los Angeles, you know, “Eeest El Lay, Ese.” The “car-crazy” hub of Eeest El Lay was Lincoln Heights, gassed to the gills with rods and customs produced by a multi-cultural collection of blue-collar Italians, Jews, Hispanics, and Anglos. It was like New York west, including Brooklyn…

Built To Do The Blacktop Boogie When former HOT ROD editor Steve Campbell decided to build a street rod, he had two criteria: Since he is a family man, it would have to seat four, and it would have to be fully roadworthy, since he believes that heaven hates a trailer queen. His ‘39 Ford Tudor sedan fills both requirements, and is a head-turner to boot. That Campbell built the ‘39 is something of a misstatement, however. More precisely, he selected the parts and transported the car to the shops that actually assembled his fat rendered Ford. Construction began with a gutted hulk that had spent the majority of its life in Arizona. After evaluating the stock carcass, Campbell decided on a ground-up rebuild, using as many modern techniques and…

The tough part about blasting down the dragstrip is that it’s downright expensive. But what if you could learn what it takes to make a car run quicker in the quarter-mile for less than 50 bucks? Without even leaving the house. While quaffing a cold one. Would you be interested? Thought so. Mr. Gasket has introduced the DeskTop DragStrip program from Motion Software. While the concept isn’t new (Patrick Hale’s “Quarter” pioneered the idea a number of years ago), the Mr. Gasket disc offers some useful features. The DeskTop DragStrip is a Windows-compatible program that simulates specific vehicle combinations as if they were on the dragstrip, and uses pull-down menus to help create the optimum vehicle. The engine portion of the simulation uses included power curves or ones that you…

Unearthing An Old Friend Cars are very much a part of our lives, which is why finding that special one is such a big deal. Older readers may remember Pueblo, Colorado’s Bud Neumeister and his ‘28 Model A roadster. In 1953, Neumeister asked HOT ROD editor Wally Parks if the magazine wanted to document the construction of his ‘28 Ford roadster. Parks agreed and the story appeared in the May and June ‘54 issues. Neumeister showed and raced the flathead-powered Model A for about six years before selling it to buy a Porsche. Looking back, Neumeister says, “I knew it was a mistake when I sold it…but I sold it anyway.” A few years later, he was looking to buy it right back, but the car had already changed hands…

Stayin’ Alive Nothing lasts forever, but in the case of a certain Delco battery, that may not be quite right. How about a 24-volt battery that has been on the bottom of Lake Michigan for the last 50 years? Yeah, it still works! During World War II, the U.S. Navy conducted aircraft training exercises using two aircraft carriers on the waters of Lake Michigan. According to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida, an almost new SBD-5 Douglass torpedo bomber crashed on final approach to its carrier during training exercises on February 29, 1944. The pilot received a wave-off but had trouble giving the plane full power. He survived but the plane has slept with the fishes all that time—until recently. After retrieval, workers flushed the aircraft battery…

While he was building his Power Tour roadster, Posie took the time to check out Tommy Rhoads’ slick ‘69 Camaro…and choose it for Posie’s Pick. The 16-year-old Rhoads got it for his 14th birthday from his dad, but it needed a lot of work. The Rhoadses swapped in a Saginaw four-speed and a 12-bolt Posi with 2.73:1 gears. They pulled the cam out of pop’s 327 (that was powering a Datsun 240Z) and slid it in the Camaro’s smallblock, along with a Weiand intake, and a 750 Holley. New interior stuff from National Parts Depot came “after mowing countless lawns,” according to Tommy. “The car runs 14.4s at 92 mph on street tires and through the mufflers,” says Tommy. “That’s not too bad for a daily driven high school kid’s…

Beech Bend Raceway In the heart of bluegrass country, Beech Bend Raceway has always been the center of sportsman doorslammer racing. Event: Chevy High Performance Thunder Cruise Date of event: June 21-22 What it is: An event with plenty of Chevys in the show area and on the track, but all makes of street cars are invited to go racing Track: Beech Bend Raceway Location: Bowling Green, Kentucky Directions: From I-65, get off at Exit 28 onto 31W; take 31W about 3 miles into Bowling Green; turn right onto Beech Bend Road (it’s just after the big bridge over the river); follow the road until it ends, then turn right into the raceway Typical April weather: Sunny in the high 70s or low 80s Altitude: 980 feet above sea level…

“The first car I ever raced is the ‘69 Chevelle that I currently run. I bought the car and built it into the fastest one around. It got so nobody local would race me, so when I heard about HOT ROD organizing a fastest street car competition in Memphis in ‘92, I went there. To my surprise, I finished 10th on street tires, running 10.13 with a 406ci engine at 3,700 lbs, and won a Top 10 jacket!” That’s how Jim Huber got started racing with the baddest cars in the nation, but the rest of the story is how he’s kept racing. Huber works at BES Racing Engines in West Harrison, Indiana, as a machinist and head porter, so he does the majority of the work on his engine…

This Popeye Gobbles Gas, Not Spinach Pat Musi—owner of Pat Musi Performance (Carteret, New Jersey)—does it in reverse. Instead of saving an old race car from the junkyard dogs and turning it into a thing of beauty, he did the opposite, as in converting a glitter queen into a mean, green, muscular machine. Said motorman Musi, ‘The car was originally purchased to be displayed on the International Show Car Association (ISCA) circuit.” But all good things must come to an end. After a successful trophy-collecting stint, Musi decided to exchange ISCA show for National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) go, and sent the ‘69 to Willie Rells for a complete structural update. The combination of Rells rails and Musi muscle has produced a 7.31 e.t. with a trap speed of 193…

How To Set Valve Lash Setting valve lash has nearly become a lost art. Hydraulic lifters are so prevalent and so efficient that many enthusiasts resort to the old way or doing it—engine running, oil spewing everywhere. Let’s try a more professional approach to setting valve lash on either hydraulic or solid lifters, new engine or used, hot or cold, with the engine off. It’s easy and a whole lot cleaner. Just like mechanical lifters, hydraulic lifters require setting. While mechanical lifters must be checked periodically, once hydraulics are set, they can be ignored for the life of the engine. For this task, you’ll need a friend to bump the starter, or a remote starter button to turn the engine over. Disconnect the coil wire from the distributor and make…

Chasing Those Dreaded Vacuum Leaks Hot rods are meant to be enjoyed. So when it comes to driving your street dream, it must run properly. Few things are more aggravating than an engine that hunts, sags, and generally runs poorly at idle and light throttle. Short of an engine that won’t run at all, vacuum leaks are the worst. Before you search for that elusive bugger, it’s best to know what you’re looking for. Vacuum leaks are what Bosch calls “false air,” or air that enters the engine unmetered. Cracked or broken vacuum lines, leaking intake manifold or carburetor gaskets, open carburetor fittings, and loose or missing carburetor screws are just a few of the causes of vacuum leaks. These leaks are often difficult to detect, especially those bothering intake…

Installing Plugs, Wires, And Looms The installation of quality spark plugs and new ignition wires is one of the best things you can do for the performance and appearance of your engine. Even for those with just a flirting acquaintance with basic handtools, it’s a one-day procedure. In the pursuit of performance, we installed SplitFire Triple Platinum spark plugs in a mild small-block Chevy. To replace the existing sparkers, order a new set using the number from the ones in the engine, or crossreference them in a SplitFire catalog at the auto parts store. The SplitFire plugs come pregapped, but check them anyway. Consult the owner’s manual for the correct setting. To allow as much leeway as possible, Taylor Pro Series 8mm wires come with unfinished distributor terminal ends. Determine…

How To Bleed Brakes When it comes to the essentials of any car, brakes rate right up there with things like wheels and gasoline. A solid, firm brake pedal is a good place to start checking that your brakes work properly. Virtually all brake service should be accompanied by bleeding the system. Air is quite compressible, so in order for the hydraulic system to work properly, all air must be bled from the system. All automotive brake systems are equipped with bleeder screws located on the wheel cylinder and/or brake calipers. We’ll outline the basic procedure and highlight a new aftermarket product that makes bleeding brakes easier. Bleeding the brakes usually requires a company of two. The first person applies hydraulic pressure by gently pumping the pedal to establish and…

Boydster II—A Subtle Study In “Coddinuity” It’s been more than 40 years since California’s dreaded fender law was enacted. This piece of legislation—ostensibly instituted to contain windshield-breaking debris kicked up by “dualie” truck tires—effectively ended the highboy era. Rodders with cars that weighed over 1,500 pounds had to re-fender their hotties. Now, Boyd Coddington has done the same with his Boydster I—kind of. After it was judged America’s Most Beautiful Roadster at the Oakland Roadster Show last year, Boyd and designer Chip Foose deemed an encore appropriate. They decided to “coddstruct” another Boydster. However, this one, christened Boydster II, acquired a set of handbuilt fenders, smoothie running boards, and a luscious, brilliant yellow paint job. The essence of the Boydster II mirrors its older brother Boydster I. The configuration of…