Indholdsfortegnelse for November 1997 i Hot Rod

Posie’s Pick The Poseman’s choice this month is Billy Odell (Wichita Fails, Texas) and his ’59 Chevy Fleetside pickemup. Billy’s biue baby hauls something, all right, and it ain’t manure! The take: an 11:1 406c? small-block with Crower roller cam, Weiand Team G intake, Holley 750 carb, and plenty o’ rubbin’ work with a 3,000-stall converter and 4.10:1 gears to spin the 29x15.50 Mickey Thompson steamrollers. Billy did the bodywork himself, shaving the front bumper bolts, frenching the front plate, handcrafting the tailgate, and installing a rollpan in the rear. The whole shebang is dedicated to his grandpa, whom Billy says gave him the truck “and the push to do something with it.” If you’d like Ken “Posie” Fenical to consider your hot rod for this monthly column, and you’re…

Heat and humidity put the density altitude above 5,000 feet— the equivalent of a decent day in Denver! The normally aspirated engines in Hot Street didn’t take kindly to it, but this didn’t bother Noel Davis. He produced a strong 6.168/110.26 Number One spot and took down Rick Moroso in the final. HOT STREET CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS TOTALS HOT ROD Magazine/Mr. Gasket Points Fund for 1997…

Hal, owner/proprietor of Baer Racing (high-performance brakes), has owned this car for about 25 years, and recently racked up his 450,000th mile. If you think it’s flexy, soft, and in the throes of terminal rot, think again. Thirteen engines have in habited the Mach 1 under Baer’s tutelage. Currently, it plays the original 351, mildly breathed on and mated to a five-speed, making for a pleasant, flexible combo that pulls well in any gear. A Hurst shifter, seats from an ’89 Corvette Challenge car, and a MOMO steering wheel created one of the most hospitable vintage cabins I visited on the Tour. All the suspension rubber has been replaced with Heim joints; this, combined with 17- inch Goodyear Eagle GS-Cs on a Baer exclusive wheel design should rattle your teeth…

Owner: John Lingenfelter Top Speed: 190 mph There’s no such thing as a car that’s too fast, or too quick, or that handles too well. A real hot rodder is never content to leave something alone, especially when there’s something to be gained by messing with it. The new Corvette is fast, quick, and comfortable, and it handles way better than any that came before it. To pedestrians, it’s already too fast, but for the rest of us, stock just isn’t good enough. John Lingenfelter subscribes to this philosophy, and he’s doing something about it. The Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE) 383 Corvette is a 450hp succubus that runs high-lls/low-12s in the quarter, squirts to 60 mph in 4 seconds flat, and blasts the radar traps with a 190-mph top-end charge.…

Mike Downs/Downs Engineering Top speed: 195+ mph A moment of silence, please. With bowed heads and reverence in our voices, we announce that this Mustang, sadly, is no more. It was a fine soldier fighting for truth, speed, and the American way, and it died in the heat of battle, doing what it was meant to do—going fast. That it is gone, and that it was a full-blown racer rather than a street car, does not diminish its accomplishment a whit, and it is still worth detailing here. Ken Duttweiler screwed its race-block 434-cube Windsor Ford together with 833 hp at 6,500 rpm, and 726 lb-ft at 5,200 rpm. The main power adder was a Vortech blower limited to 14psi boost at 6,500 rpm feeding ported Motorsports aluminum cylinder heads,…

Starting off late in life can give you a whole different perspective on the world. While some may argue that it can create a naivete only time and experience can make up for, others believe that those unencumbered by the past can create fresh outlooks, new approaches, more individual ideas of style and what should and should not be. Invariably, it becomes a blend of the two: individuality and style remain, but basic mistakes are inevitable. The learning curve rockets into the stratosphere, you get on with it, and then you end up with a piece that stands out from the rest. Like everyone else, Kent Matsumoto, a nightclub owner from North Hollywood, California, got his driver’s license when he was 16. But he never owned a car until the…

It All Came from Muroc Hot rodding—the best-kept automotive secret in the rest of the country prior to WWII—was in full swing when Vic Edelbrock started running his two-pot intake manifold at Muroc Dry Lake in his Deuce highboy in 1938. The point is this: The virginal Ford flathead was dog meat for the hot Ford and Chevy four- bangers. Edelbrock’s new intake manifold, followed by high-compression, finned aluminum cylinder heads, began to even the score—a company trait that spanned the flathead to the OHV small-block era, and included the development of the first aftermarket, three-jug intake manifold for the then-new Chevy V-8 in 1955. Since the ’50s, Edelbrock has widened its product line to include intake manifolds for a variety of V-8s, carbs galore, air cleaners, fuel-injection systems, cams,…

From Universal Joints to Universal Recognition It’s rather ironic that the Dana Corporation—manufacturer of U-joints, driveshafts, CV components, engine parts, oil seals, filters, chassis assemblies, brass fittings, hydraulic hoses, and hose ends—founded by Clarence Spicer in 1904 and purchased by Charles Dana in 1914, feel that a driver’s aid conceived 66 years ago by a blind employee is the product that has gained the most public recognition and acceptance. Yet in 1931, Perfect Circle’s Ralph Teetor, who had been blind since the age of seven, began development of a cruise-control throttle system that would take more than 20 years of experimentation before becoming an option on the ’58 Chrysler Imperial. In fact, Teetor, with the help of his cousin Dan, built a car at age 12, and drove it more…

Fel-Pro Is Much More than Gaskets Historically, the bare-bone T spawned the aftermarket because of the owners’ desire for individuality—to dress and/or hop up their flivvers. Henry Ford also created a legion of vendors, including an obscure company in Chicago that began supplying felt washers packed with grease to help lubricate Model T axles. Founded in 1918 by Hugo Herz and Albert Meck-lenburger, Felt Products was ultimately shortened to Fel-Pro. and the company slowly evolved into one of the most respected names in the industry. Along the way, Fel-Pro acquired TCI Torque Converters (founded by Bill Taylor), and the dynamic duo set off to create a number of award-winning products—Fel-Pro’s wire-ring head gaskets among them. The newest ventures are FP Performance Electronics, TCI gas-steel stator racing torque converters, and the…

It’s Rust or Us Being a native Southern Californian, I never understood the term “fender-flapper.” It was when I went to Detroit for the second annual Street Rod Nationals that I first saw cars and light trucks in the final stages of fender-flappin’ body rot. So it figures that Sherman& Associates—oone of the country’s leading suppliers of reproduction body parts, and currently celebrating its 15th year in business—is located in a 60,000-square-foot warehouse in…suburban Detroit. James Sherman, its founder, transformed a passion for restoring vintage ’60s-era musclecars into a powerhouse that supplies a broad selection of complete panels, patch panels, radiators, runningboards, bumpers, and hard-to- find items such as structural sheetmetal and wheelhouses. SOURCE Sherman & Associates Inc. Dept. HR11, 28460 GroesbeckHwy., Roseville, MI 48066, 810/774-8297…

Would You Believe 5,000 Titles Under One Roof? I love hot rods. I love to drive hot rods. I love to mess around with hot rods. I even wipe on hot rods—kind of. But what I like to do best is read about them. And the place to find that special haulin’-A publication is Classic Motorbooks. Classic has been around since 1965 when Tom Warth, a native Brit, began selling books and magazine subscriptions out of the basement of his Minneapolis home. By the early ’80s, Classic Motorbooks began to rock and roll. Catalog mailings flat took off, attracting the attention of such power-book sellers as B. Dalton, Borders, and Barnes& Noble. By decade’s end, The San Francisco Chronicle stepped in and purchased Classic Motorbooks—lock, stock, and four-barrel. With all…

All Teeth Since 1921 Richmond Gear’s family tree looks like a genetic study of the fruit fly—man, were there a lot of changes. The original concern was started by E.R Horton and his partner Edgar Hamilton, in 1921. After Horton retired, the company moved from being a service replacement parts house to a more profitable OEM supplier, although it continued to manufacture racing gears until the advent of WWII. Although Richmond ceased production of racing gears during the war, it picked up the cadence in 1968 and returned to the production of high-performance gearsets for all manner of competition, including the drags, circle track, and off-road racing. And since 1986, Richmond has supplied the aftermarket with more than 90 different gearsets out of its Liberty, South Carolina, plant. SOURCE Richmond…

From Backyard to Brickyard How many of you hot rodders still have an STP decal stuck on your toolbox, wall, file cabinet, car, helmet, or forehead? Most of you, I’d bet. Years ago Andy Granatelli—whose name appeared on the masthead of the first issue of HOT ROD magazine—literally wallpapered the world with STP decals, and sold zillions of cans of “Scientifically Treated Petroleum” in the process. Yet STP, an oil-treatment additive formulated in Germany during WWII, began as a three-way partnership on May 1, 1954, when three St. Joseph, Missouri, businessmen—Ralph Liggett, Robert DeHart, and Jim Hill—coughed up $15,000 and formed Chemical Compounds. Liggett had discovered the additive while serving overseas, and found that a variant of it could be made by a U.S. petroleum refiner. Somehow they came up…

It’s All It’s Cracked Up to Be Picture this. Sam and Mary Bonham, owners of a small automotive machine shop, must have tried to save a lot of flathead Ford engines. Why? Because during the ’60s, they developed a cold-weld compound to repair freeze cracks. The Bonhams soon discovered that their cylinder-block saver had many other uses in the automotive re- pair field. According to William Kizer, J-B Weld general manager, “We have received reports of machine shops using our products to fix blocks and cylinder heads after they’ve bored or ground into water jackets, or had to repair cracked trans cases and third member housings.” Best of all is the testimonial correspondence they’ve received: “J-B Weld is all that it’s cracked up to be.” SOURCE J-B Weld Company Dept.…

Where “Cheaters” Prosper The positive effects of nitrous oxide are more than a laughing matter. While dentists have used it for years as an anesthetic, the Germans during World War II discovered that it had powerful properties when injected into fighter plane engines. I recall Dale Armstrong experimenting with nitrous by placing a bottle on the cowl and squirting its pressurized contents down the carburetor; or NASCAR drivers, with small bottles strapped to their legs during qualifying, fogging the engine compartment with nitrous. But the hot rod use for juice began 20 years ago when Mike Thermos and Dale Vaznaian equipped a magazine project car with one of their first “production” units, and tested it at Orange County International Raceway. With “fingers crossed,” the Mustang cleared the traps 3 seconds…

Direct Hits Applies “Rocket Science” to Ignitions Some of the companies highlighted in our salute to the aftermarket have a history dating back to the turn of the century. Others, such as Septima Enterprises—the marketer of Direct Hits, a high-zoot capacitor amplifier that is said to help promote the ignition of fuel more consistently and efficiently—have only been at it since 1993. That’s when owner Francisco Urrea Jr. acquired the rights to the pulsepower-based technology from George Hensley and his sons. However, the development of what seems to be leadingedge technology has been going on for some time. According to Septima, the ignition spark amplifier—installed on nonresistor spark plugs—creates a larger flame kernel that travels faster and forms a faster flame front than that produced by stock OEM ignition systems.…

In the House that Built Auburn Cars Remembering Auburn Gear’s address is easy—the name of the company, street, and town are the same. Better yet, Auburn Gear occupies portions of the building where the famed Auburn passenger cars were built, and whose dashboards graced some of the original hot rods. However, the company, which was once part of the Borg-Warner empire, has been on its own since George Collins purchased it in 1982. Since then, Auburn has been offering OEM and the aftermarket a complete line of high- performance limited-slip differentials—said by its users to be “bulletproof”—ring-and-pinion sets, spools, minispools, and planetary gear for off-road applications. SOURCE Auburn Gear Inc. Dept. HR11, 400 E. Auburn Dr., Auburn IN,46706, 219/925-3200…

In the mid-’80s, the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) pioneered a class called Top Sportsman. It was Southern-style, run-what-you-brung racing—reminiscent of the old Santa Ana drag’s postwar Gas class where anything went, so long as the tech inspector couldn’t find the modification (s). During the ’90s, Top Sportsman evolved into Pro Mod and promptly divided itself into two camps: those who favored nitrous oxide, and those who relied on Roots-type blowers. Until 1997, these hellions ran with a 2,550-pound weight minimum and gas- or alky-fired wedge-head engines; Hemis, nitro, and screw-type blowers/turbos were not allowed. All Roots-stuffed engines were limited to 530 inches, and a maximum overdrive of 32 percent. Restrictions on body style were nonexistent, ensuring a delightful mix of fanciful fiberglass ’33-’4l Willys, ’55-’57 Chevys, Chevy Ils, shoebox…

Keep on Truckin’ The series you did on trucks was exceptional; I really liked the Galaxie 500 F- 150. The references to old Galaxies and bubble hoods made me smile. HOT ROD is becoming a much better magazine these days. Back in the ’60s and ’70s, there were Mopars, Fords, and AMCs, not just GM cars, and the guys buying magazines today raced those cars back then. We want to read about lightweight Galaxies, Pontiac Catalina 2+2s, Buick GS455s, and even Chrysler 300 Hurst cars. A young coworker loves my ’70 Fury, and thinks my brother-in-law’s ’67 Toronado looks great. He’s not one of the old guys, but he still likes different stuff. Keep up the great work. And remember: one more red Camaro and I’m subscribing to Galen Govier’s…

Since the early ’60s—beginning in the multitiered Hollywood Bowl parking lot, and ending at portions of the huge Pomona Fair- plex—the Roadsters of LA have staged what has become the world’s largest gathering of ragtops. This year more than 400 roadsters, roadster pickups, phaetons, tourings, and phantoms gathered on Father’s Day to prove that going topless is still a magical part of basic hot rodding. Or as someone said, “If it doesn’t have fenders or a top. then it’s a hot rod.”…

Hot Rod is a soft-bound coffee-table book that would be as appropriate in a Grosse Point, Michigan, mansion as it would in a mobile home in Beeville, Texas. With the exception of the first few pages, there is no text, only sepia-tone black and white photos of visions, of hot rods, and of the life surrounding them. But kids, what photos. Perry captures some striking images that won’t soon dissolve from memory. The bulk of the work concentrates on the speed orgy at Bonneville, but not from a technical point. Rather, we see the vastness of the salt, the individualism of its participants, and their balls-out machines as enigmas. Words would be superfluous. The rest of the work shines darkly with scenes from the digs at Famoso, inside Bakersfield chop…

Mid-Michigan Maul-Fest The Mid-Michigan race marked the halfway point of the HOT ROD World’s Quickest Street Car Drag Racing Series. Despite consistent wins by a few racers early in the season, the mid-season race produced some compelling upsets. While you can read about the rush to the points, the money, and the glory, it’s just not the same as experiencing it from trackside. If you’re quick, there’s still time to attend the final HOT ROD race in Commerce, Georgia (October 4-5). Pro Street The big boys began the march of upsets during the first round of qualifying. Pat Musi’s mean Camaro was plagued by small disasters all weekend. He qualified an unlucky 13th after the car made a hard move to the right on his first attempt. On his second…

The desire first stirred in 1989 when Stan Davis saw R.J. Gottlieb traverse 90 miles of Nevada State Highway 318 at better than 220 mph in a stock-bodied ’69 Camaro. Davis succumbed to his urges four years ago: He gutted his T-type, leaving only the front framerails and the body shell. First came the 21-point chrome-moly rollcage. Bill Osborn, who designed and built Gottlieb’s Camaro, specified a three-link rear-suspension layout with Carrera coilover shock absorbers. Up front, he installed tubular upper and lower control arms and Pro Shocks dampers. Osborn’s design raises the roll-center and brings the bumpsteer down to .003-inch over 4 inches of suspension travel. Davis also employs Lee Manufacturing’s custom, Winston Cup power-assisted steering box and pump, and attached a Woodward collapsible steering column to satisfy tech…

For mild street engines, stock valvesprings are more than adequate. But if you’ve screwed in a big bumpstick for strip-banging or banzai runnin’, then pay attention. Our plan was simple: Install a stout hydraulic street cam in a 350 Chevy engine, then use it to thoroughly abuse the valvesprings. We began with a Comp Cams Extreme Energy camshaft and matching springs with the idea of comparing them to stock valvesprings. But before we tell you about that, let’s take a look at what happens to valvesprings that are asked to do too much. Don’t Float The normal perception of “valve float” is that the valvespring loses control of the valve, launching it off the nose of the camshaft like a ski jumper off an alpine ramp. While it’s true that…

In terms of efficiency, the drumbrake system indigenous to the ’64’67 Chevy II Nova rates right up there with bureaucracy and deficit spending. To put it bluntly, these old dogs fade faster than the colors on a 99cent T-shirt. One or two hard stops in commuter traffic will fry them beyond redemption. Enter, then, this simple disc-brake kit from Super Bell. We converted a ’66 Chevy 11 from drums to discs in less than a day, and ended up with stopping power the equal of a late- model car. Check out the photos and captions for the play-byplay, but keep in mind that there are a few caveats you need to know to prepare for this favorable change. When the brake kit is installed, track width increases by % inch…

B&M Made Shifting “Hydro-Magic” What made Gassers the quartermile darlings of the early ’60s? Bob Spar and Mort Schuman, better known as B&M. In the late ’50s, the boys combined talents to develop a four-speed automatic racing transmission. The highly modified GM Hydramatic, which they called the B&M Hydro Stick, allowed the praying mantis-like Willys, Anglia, Thames Panel, and Austin-bodied Gassers to wheel and deal off the line with their blown V-8s at high C, much to the delight of the paying public. They even built a direct-drive fluid coupler for Top Fuel that allowed Frank Cannon to become the first fueler to top 200 mph in the quarter. Then they conceived their own test car, driven by Kenny Safford, and prepared by the legendary engine builder Dave Zeuchel. Since…

A History of Involvement Since 1922 You know why they called it the “Roaring ’20s”? It wasn’t because of booze, flappers, or Al Capone. It was from the roar of cars driven on a daily basis. Unfortunately, engine longevity wasn’t what it is today, so they needed to be rebuilt after a couple years of “normal” use. That’s how Gerry Grant—who founded Grant Products in 1922—entered the scene. He started selling engine-rebuilding kits, then graduated to the piston-ring business. Ill health forced him to sell Grant Piston Rings to the MacCoon family, which steered the company into various fields including ignition systems (Flame Thrower), helmets (such as the one worn by Peter Fonda in Easy Rider), and, of course, steering wheels. Still, the company had the time and resources to…

“Our ’Auto Drag’ Is Still in Production” It’s amazing how a company can go from one specialty to another, strictly by happenstance. Take Center Line Wheels, for example. In 1964, founder Ray Lipper opened the Center Line doors, specializing in tool- and dye-making. The chance acquisition of a huge press (as partial payment for a bad debt) led Lipper to explore its various forming capabilities, including the shaping of new and different steel wheels. Lipper’s experiments soon led to the creation of the Outlaw aluminum wheel, a simple, 12-hole lightweight modular wheel that became an instant hit—on and off the street. Center Line has been building two- and three-piece aluminum wheels—including its famed two-piece, strip-or-street “Auto Drag”—for the last 27 years, and the company is still using the same bad-debt…

There’s an SVO Ford in Your Future No doubt about it, Henry Ford was the first hot rodder. He and driver Frank Kulick showed the competition the short way home 88 years ago when they fielded a couple of cut-down T’s and did the deed. Their efforts weren’t lost on the rakes of the day, and soon a whole gaggle of clones were circling the country’s dirt tracks. The task of perpetrating Henry’s awesome legacy is now in the capable hands of Angelo Giampetroni, the man in charge of Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations, better known as SVO. The skunkworks was cranked up 27 years ago when Walter Hayes and Michael Kranefuss started supplying high-performance parts for the Winston Cup NASCAR series—now those parts have been upgraded by the likes of…

The Success of Being “Tachy” I doubt if a racer or rodder who consults that big Auto Meter tachometer staring them in the face realizes the company that built it began as a backyard family business in Arlington Heights, Illinois, 40 years ago. In 1957, Vern Westberg founded Auto Meter Products, after the automotive engineer realized that the then-new high-revving small-block Chevrolet V-8s needed more accurate measurement. “So,” according to his son, John, “we began making aluminum sand castings in our backyard, and assembled tachs in the house.” During the late ’60s, John and his brother, Ralph, rejoined the company and initiated the development of a complete line of racing instruments. Today, Auto Meter employs 400 people in Illinois and Utah and, in their words, “has become the largest manufacturer…

Streetable Products with Race Potential Hooray! Hooray! A Ford-natic in a sea of Mopar and Chevy lovers—and all because of HOT ROD magazine. Rick Smith, the founder of cylinder head biggie Trick Flow Specialties (TFS), was taking college prep classes in high school because his folks dearly wanted him to be a doctor. “But,” according to Smith, “I was a hot rodder at heart. Instead of hitting the books during study hall, I was studying the contents of HRM.” Smith’s hot rod mania caused him to cut his college career short, and he soon found himself messing around with a series of hot Pintos and Mustangs. During a casual perusal of HRM, Smith came across an article about a company building high-performance parts. Smith eventually joined the company and began…

Building a Better Crap Trap K&N, one of the biggies in the air-cleaner business, was actually founded by “K”en Johnson and “N”orm Mcdonald, a couple of dirt bike racers who recognized the need for better air filtration, and began designing and building filters for their dirt bikes. Their improvisations—which were said to allow for greater airflow, increased filtration, and complete reusability—wasn’t lost on other motorcyclists, and they had to have those K&N filters, too. Although Ken and Norm are no longer associated with K&N, the outfit they formed 34 years ago has blossomed from a small speciality shop into a very large company that currently manufactures high-quality air filters for virtually any vehicle or application—which is why K&N enjoys a close association with NHRA racers Larry Erickson (NHRA Super Gas…

Part of the Heat Exchange Since 1947 Buddy Griffin—who grew up in his daddy’s radiator shop—knows something about cooling it, and his five-style series of street-and-strip aluminum heat exchangers bear this out. In 1981, Hugh (a.k.a. Buddy) and Jackie Griffin began offering a line of vacuum-brazed aluminum radiators to the aftermarket, and they trace their success to a number of factors. Customer service is paramount. Quality is another—the company’s furnace-brazed aluminum heat exchangers are said to be 20-percent stronger than conventional copper/brass units. Technology is rampant in heavy-duty, double-louvered plate-fin design and 1½-inch-tube diameter. All the Griffin radiators, from the aluminum Pro Series and HP Max Series to the copper/brass HE Series, are built in-house to ensure maximum quality control. SOURCE Griffin Radiator Dept. HR11, 100 Hurricane Creek Rd., Piedmont,…

What Rodders Needed Thirty-three years ago, Joe Hrudka and his brother stopped racing their Gasser long enough to form Mr. Gasket Company—their first effort was a S5 set of header gaskets. Three years and $600,000 worth of gaskets later, Mr. Gasket was on its way to becoming one of the most profitable middle-market companies in the northeast Ohio area. That made Gasser legend Ohio George Montgomery very happy. The Hrud- kas could never beat Montgomery’s stable of stallions, so they teamed up with him during the early 70s and fielded a number of winners, including the former Malco Gasser and Dyno Don Nicholson’s Pro Stock Maverick. Along the dusty trail, Mr. Gasket acquired a number of famous aftermarket companies, including ACCEL (ignition and digital fuel injection), Cragar and Weld (wheels),…

Giving Hot Rod a Brake Eleven years ago, a of successful sporty-car racers—active in IMSA, Fire Hawk, SCCA, Escort Challenge, Corvette Challenge, and World Challenge—led by Hal Baer and Todd Gartshore, decided to apply their closed-course experience to building better brake systems for street rods and machines. Eight years later, Baer Claw brake kits began appearing on ’87-’93 Mustangs, and with the help of sister publications 5.0 and Car Craft, began dynamic-testing Baer’s braking systems. The results, coupled with the fact that their systems came preassembled on their own spindles with features such as aluminum hubs, DOT-legal two- or four-piston calipers (the rears feature an integral parking-brake mechanism), and user-friendly instructions, have allowed the company to widen its product line to more than 100 applications. Baer has the ability to…

Maybe age is catching up. Maybe my love of blessed excess is waning. Maybe the realization of having 900-plus hp raging in front of me is an inkling of what going for a ride with Willie Borsch would have been like. Sheesh, I’ve finally experienced a car with too much power! What’s too much? Consider this: Bonnevillian Chet Thomas’s original plan was to run his chromed, pearl white and candy purple Deuce highboy at the Salt Flats—having his need for speed whetted by numerous 230-mph passes in a similar, less- powerful roadster. At the end of 1993, he commissioned Roy Brizio to help him build another highboy roadster, but this one -* would be powered by a blown 440-inch engine, rather than the huffed 370-incher that propelled him past the…

The ’55-’57 T-birds are hot now, as evidenced by the two we’ve featured in HOT ROD (“Flippin’ the Bird,” March ’97; “Bird of Paradise,” November ’96). But hot rodding the early Bird means replacing most of the antiquated equipment with neato stuff, and that dictates cutting the car up. Tough to do after; you’ve just spent 20 large to; get the damn thing in the first place. But there’s an alternative i that we just discovered. Regal Roadsters (301 W. Beltline Hwy., Madison, WI 5 3 7 1 3, 608/2734141) has a high-quality ’55 fiberglass body, as well as any other parts you could ever want, so building a nice T-bird is no different than doing up a street rod. Regal will sell you whatever kind of package you want,…

Ford Mustang GT In a previous life, I wrote about and drove Mustangs for a living, and long ago I came to the conclusion that Ford blew it with the two- valve 4.6L. The car had gone to hell, and I drove it to Hell, Michigan, to illustrate the point. Yet again and again I slip behind the wheel, am told to drive one, and report back. Always I hope there are incremental improvements. Always I am disappointed. So much for being unbiased. A spin in the latest GT version of the perennial ponycar hasn’t done much to change my mind, either. Installing the 4.6 SOHC in 1996 netted a Mustang that seemed to lose its desire to run: the high- winding eight has a power curve that starts at…

Points leader Chuck Samuel was back with an electronic fuelinjection system to defend his points lead. But the new Super Street hero is Billy Glidden. Notching two wins in as many races, Glidden has the potential to steal the points championship if he can continue his winning ways at the last four events. Glidden qualified first at 5.297/136.23, handily covering Jimmy Jackson’s 5.451/130.22. Samuel was third quickest with 5.579/128.53. Tim Lynch, Spiro Pappas, and John Hall’s Monte Carlo rounded out the top six. Glidden made it look easy, running through five rounds to face Jackson’s EFI Corvette in the final. The win was in the bag when Jack- son redlighted, giving away an excellent 5.516/129.98 to Glidden’s back-pedaling 5.798/100.82. SUPER STREET CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS TOTALS The Schedule Car Craft Nationals August…

Mission Statement: Build a ’32 Ford street roadster BWBB with performance equal to its appearance. The project must be capable of being driven to Bonneville, be able to run 200 mph, and be driven home. Plain and simple, those are Frank Currie’s (of Currie Enterprises, rearend builders to the masses) requirements of his latest creation. Now, if you really understand what it takes to run 200 mph in an aerodynamically inhibited street rod, you know that the car’s gonna be all motor. To actually drive the thing the 700-odd miles from Southern California to the Salt Flats, bolt in some safety hardware, and run two bills is a lofty goal to say the least. Sure, Jim Ewing and Jack Chisenhall both did it (Jack trailered his car to the salt,…

(Editor’s note: When Ken Zeller filled out the tech sheet and photo release on. his car, he included the following story.) I purchased/this car in early 1993 with the objective of building; a street|legal land speed record car. As a mechanical engineer, I like to document all the changes make, ’along with the results. Since my goal was top speed, I needed to know what my horsepower drag was at higher speeds. Using equipment that Gale Bliks developed for his LSR lurebird, I calculated that I would need 417 hp at the rear wheels (at 3,500 rpm in Sixth gear) to run a cool 200 mph. Same quick calculations showed that by using a 3.73:1 gearset (rather than the stock 3.42:1) in the Dana 44 rear, I could move then…

In the ’60s, there was Yenko, Nickey, Berger, Shelby, Royal, and Mr. Norm. Today, there is Lingenfelter, Callaway, Saleen, and Steeda. In the dark, dark ’70s—the era of custom vans and polyster—the Mecham brothers (Dennis and Kyle) and the Macho T/A offered performance illumination. Here was alimited-production tuner-tweaker special that added the cache of serialization. Popular speed secrets were combined into a single potent package that supported the Macho moniker. A few hundred per year were built from 1977 to 1980; in 1982 the brothers created the Mecham Special Edition (MSE) cars, which ran through 1984; a few ’85s were built before Dennis and Kyle (DKM) ceased production. Racing and winning is an easy way to become an icon and, in 1982, DKM used Macho funds for its championship-winning SCCA…

As we approach our 50th year of publication, we must remember why and when HOT ROD magazine was founded. The explosive growth of illegal street racing 50 years ago caused city fathers to consider legislation aimed at banning hot rods from Southern California. A “fence-mending” rod and automotive equipment show—coproduced by the Southern California Timing Association and personnel from Hollywood Publicity Associates (HPA)—was planned during the latter part of 1947, and realized January 1948. Among those selling booth space were Bob Petersen and Bob Lindsay, both minions of HPA. One of the by-products of their sales effort was the formation of HOT ROD magazine, which attracted advertisements from such historical names as Bell Auto (now Cragar) and (Don) Blair’s Speed Shop, Carson Top. cam grinders Ed Winfield (arguably the father…

Hot-Spark Specialists Since ’74 Though we’ve been told that camshafts are the heart of a high-performance engine, Dr. Christopher Jacobs, whose performance-ignition manufacturing company bears his name, knows something about the heart beating in a human chest. He began his career in 1974, working in the medical electronics field. This led to him developing the first variable-rate cardiac pacemaker. But Jacobs—whose first shop was located in Eagle Rock, California—realized that medicinal electronics would invite governmental regulations, so he moved into the aftermarket automotive industry, and used his variable-rate technology to create ignition systems that would increase fuel efficiency, improve performance, and lengthen the intervals between tune-up and spark-plug changes. The by-product of Jacobs’ variable-rate technology was the development of Ultra Team, a three-element package consisting of what he calls the…

Dave Leonard Muscled Up Talk about down and out. You’ve lost your bodyshop. You’re nearly broke. You’re living in your clapped-out car. But you still have the huevos to drop your last $150 on a dream—an investment in a new venture: Chevelle Classic Parts. That’s what Dave Leonard is all about—living on the edge, in the margin, juggling finances like W.C. Fields juggled cigar boxes. And it’s paid off. In the mid-’80s, Leonard spent his spare time reading about marketing, finance, and the fact that Chevrolet produced about 3 million Chevelles and El Caminos between 1964 and 1972. Now consider this: Ford built a total of 8,000 ’32 roadsters—and you know the impact the Deuce has made. So it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize when it comes to…

Silent but Deadly Ray Flugger, who founded Flowmaster in 1983, remembered the day we spent after the Winternationals sound-testing a handful of race cars. Excessive exhaust noise threatened the existence of a number of local dragstrips. The tests eventually led to the formation of Flowmaster, which dedicated itself to silencing race cars without dropping horsepower. Flugger’s first mufflers were produced in an old, corrugated-iron building in Kenwood, California. During the initial test at a local dyno shop, Flugger realized that the mufflers he designed produced less negative pressure than he had expected, and more horsepower than open exhaust. In fact, Jack Roush was quoted, “I use Flowmaster mufflers for horsepower and torque gain over unmuffled systems.” Obviously, those who read HOT ROD magazine are aware of the overabundance of Flowmaster-equipped…

Metallic Ceramics Are the Answer Since the dawn of time, hot rodders have fought the rust-ugly effect of corrosive engine exhaust eating away their muffler-moly headers. I don’t know how many cans of high-temp header paint I squirted on my exhaust system in a vain attempt to end the rust, but that’s all over now thanks to an offshoot of the military’s development of ultrahigh-temperature coatings (used to protect delicate parts in jet engines—and other wholly evil environments). These metallic-ceramic coatings have been a boon to hot rodders, whose desire to protect and enhance their exhaust systems is now being addressed. To better serve this growing market, Jet-Hot, one of the country’s leading metallic-ceramic coating specialists, began a development, manufacturing, and application program aimed at improving the performance, appearance, and…

Building Them Better than the Original Evidently, Detroit must be the rust capitol of the world because so many body-panel-replacement and reproduction-parts companies have taken root there. Classic Industries founder Jeff Leonard is a Detroit native who fled the Motor City in 1974 to set up shop in Palm Springs, California, before moving on to Huntington Beach, where Classic Industries is currently located. While Classic specializes in OEM- approved and licensed restoration assemblies of GM stuff, Leonard is especially proud ’ of a popular but delicate convertible-top boot clip that is better and stronger than original—in fact, Classic will replace the clips for free should one fail. SOURCE Classic Industries Dept. HR11, 17832 GothardSt., Huntington Beach CA92647, 800/854-1280…

Almost Nothing Beats a Set of Polished Halibrands If Ted Halibrand had been a hard-core, wheel-making businessman rather than a highly focused racing purist, he would have been the mag-wheel king. All Halibrand could see was getting rid of those heavy steel rims and replacing them with lightweight magnesium wheels, which he began producing right after the Second World War. However, the aftermarket saw a winner, and they’ve been cloning Halibrand’s ideas since the ’50s. It all started during WWII when Halibrand went to work for Douglas Aircraft. There, he was exposed to the technology of forming and machining magnesium castings for aircraft. With this knowledge, he began constructing one-piece mag wheels for his race car. The success of Halibrand’s lighter and stronger wheels led to the formation of Halibrand…

Holley—from Motorbikes to Motorsports We can see it all now. Monster motors and bodacious-inch V-8s force-fed by oodles of nitrous fogging through a brace of huge Holley carburetors. Now rewind to the turn of the century. Brothers George and Earl Holley, a couple of motorbike builders from rural Pennsylvania, had already designed and assembled their first automobile before producing their Motorette, said to be a state-of-the-art Moped. Of the 600 sold, only two are known to exist today. In 1903, Henry Ford urged the Holley boys to build carburetors for his cars, and by 1907, Holley carburetors were standard equipment on Fords, Pierce- Arrows, Winstons, Oldses, and Buicks. During World War I, the brothers changed the name from Holley Motor Company to Holley Carburetor Company, and began supplying products to…

Check the DTS Catalog for Answers Unless a shiny Halibrand is staring back at me, I’ve always thought that driveline components were a hot rod’s most forgettable parts. Let’s face it: Clutches, driveshafts, and gears are visual wastelands compared to the elegance of polished blowers, gleaming mags, chrome axles, and painted blocks. Yet if it weren’t for a car’s twist-transferring drivetrain stuff, all those shiny bits would be reduced to a state of suspended animation. Drive Train Specialists (DTS), one of the aftermarket’s leading sellers of rotating components, began by selling bearing-installation kits in the fall of 1984 after a group of performance enthusiasts saw a need for a place where the best drivetrain products could be obtained under one roof. What began in a 7,000-square-foot building has grown by…

Joe Lunati’s Career Began at the Digs Cal Rice and Joe Lunati share one thing in common: They were both drag racing in 1955. Rice became the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) first Top Eliminator and Lunati, a weekend warrior at the time, started a career that has led him to become one of America’s most respected cam grinders. Lunati’s story is a most familiar one. The on-and-off racer and engineshop cam grinder evolved into a record-breaker after he fielded his first NHRA winner in A/Modified Sports. The Street Eliminator success of his Trouble Water tea-bagger prompted Lunati in two directions: first, to fashion a Corvair; then to regrind his own cams and those of his friends. The Corvair flopper gave way to a Camaro Funny Car. But the hassle…

Ticklin’ Tappets Since 1976 Where were you in 1976? I was at HRM doing ultra “ugh” stories on vans and van-ins. Ron Coleman and Scooter Brothers were having a lot more fun. They, along with a small group of like-minded automotive enthusiasts, were founding Competition Cams. Twenty-one years after the fact, Competition Cams has evolved into a bump-and-grind juggernaut boasting 135 employees, 100,000 square feet of space, six engineers on full-time R&D, and a corporate outlook that allows them to see things differently. Because of that, Comp Cams has become more than a cam-grinding company. It has the ability to open the door to future options—V-Thunder Harley- Davidson products, Comp Cams’ Go-Parts (for Briggs& Stratton engines), Powerhouse Products, Max Systems fuel and oil system parts, Gator brand performance hose clamps,…

Ever tried sharpening a drill bit by hand? It’s nearly impossible to capture the thing and get the angles right—so lots of people just buy new ones. Here’s where the Drill Doctor comes in. Drill Doctor model 750SP ($169) sharpens bits from a miniscule ½ inch to an extra-large ¾inch, while the less-expensive 500SP ($129) that we used handles sizes from ½ to ½ inch. It takes a few minutes to orient yourself to the process, but the directions are clear and concise. Once you know how this simple, compact tool works, you can blast through your entire inventory in no time. Within a half-hour, we’d sharpened every drill bit in (he house. In fact, this machine’s so easy to use, you’ll start looking for an excuse to tune up…