Indholdsfortegnelse for November 1998 i Hot Rod

Though several pivotal events have affected the core and the structure of hot rodding, one of the biggies is the investment that Detroit made to our way of life and one that has been reinvested in from its inception. The precursor 60s musclecar and all the permutations and iterations that have followed and all the hard parts programs instituted over nearly four decades completely altered the way high performance was perceived and how it was obtained. Build a car from scratch? Come on, this was the Space Shot ’60s ferchris-sakes, and we were the most affluent, powerful nation on earth. There was no time for lagging; we needed only to mark that option box and get on with whatever we were getting on with as quickly as possible. Instant karma?…

When was the last time you took your vintage performance car to the dealer for service? Better still, when was the last time your service department wanted to see your vintage car? Right. They don’t. Until now, it seems. Galpin Lincoln-Mercury in Van Nuys, California, has the first dealership service department we’ve discovered that caters to the classics. Its Classic Auto Service program was dreamed up last year by Bruce Schureman, service manager and owner of an unusual factory silver ’70 Mustang Boss 302 (shown here). Galpin has two bays dedicated to servicing all of the mechanical needs of older and classic Ford products, plus a dozen certified (and certifiable) performance nuts on the crew who will take care of your baby. They’re so nuts over oldies that they were…

BFGoodrich All you ever hear on the news is bad stuff. But being on the open road with a pack of 400 cars, traveling for 10 days with the Tour through small towns, tends to restore your faith in humanity. The crowds. Kids on school buses shouting, “That’s the truck we saw in the magazine!” The evening news is not what - America is all about, and Power Tour shows you that. In ’97, I ran a day ahead of the pack to coordinate media coverage of Power Tour; I never got to see what it was about and had no idea what to expect. This year, behind the wheel of the BFGoodrich-shod Ford F-150, I ran out of gas, was mobbed by angry sports fans in St Louis, and…

CONTINGENCY SPONSORS AMALIE OIL, AUTO MEER, BFGOODRICH TIRES, BILL TAYLOR RACING, BORLA EXHAUST, CHASSIS ENGINEERING, COMP CAMS, CSI, CRANE CAMS, DYNOMAX. EDELBROCK. EEL PRO/TCI. FLOWMASTER, FORD/SVO. GOODYEAR. HEDMAN HUSTLER HEDDERS, HOLLEY, HOOKER HEADERS, HOOSIER RACING TIRES, HUGHES PERFORMANCE, ISKENDERIAN, K&N, LUNATI CAMS, MICKEY THOMPSON TIRES, M0R0S0 PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS, MOSER ENGINEERING, MR. GASKET CO. PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS, MSD IGNITION, NITROUS EXPRESS, THE NITROUS WORKS, NOLOGY, NOS, PAXTON PRODUCTS, PRECISION GEAR, PRECISION TURBO & ENGINE, REGIS MANUFACTURING, ROSS RACING PISTONS, SNAPPER, STRANGE ENGINEERING, TORCO RACING FUELS, TPI, TRANSMISSION SPECIALTIES, TRICK FLOW, TURBO ACTION, VENOLIA PISTONS, VORTECH ENGINEERING…

This collec tion of camrelated phenomena is intended to take you beyond the degree-it-in and set-thevalve-lash plateau. In concert with what you may already know about camshaft types, selection, and installation, these concepts are part of understanding the overall valve-timing issue. The Relationship Between Valve Timing and Piston Movement For most of the intake stroke, the smallest orifice in the inlet path is the area between the head of the intake valve and the valve seat. Specifically, this is the area formed by the space between the intake-valve head and the corresponding diameter of the valve seat. It's the win dow through which incoming air (or air/fuel mixture) passes. This area is a vadable, and it changes in quantity and rate as a function of valve lift. Movement of the…

This is the second of a two-part series which debunks some myths about three drag racers from Santa Monica, California, who terrorized the dragstrips in the mid-1960s: Tom Jobe, Bob Skinner, and Mike Sorokin, collectively known as The Surfers. For those just joining us, Tom Jobe is in the middle of defending the '1unacy" of The Surfers' practice of running pure nitromethane… Their public image as beach bumpkin oddballs who ran 100-percent nitromethane because their hydrometers were broken-an image they helped cultivate-was in reality cagey alchemy, another trump card for these wiseacre college kids, a pearl of wisdom they had gleaned from their academic endeavors. "I was going to college-mechanical engineering-and I just set about studying nitromethane," explains Tom Jobe about what led to The Surfers' witch's brew. "I would…

The yellow, drag-prepped, LS1-powered Z was literally the newest car at the event: It came back from the paint shop only hours before it was loaded on a truck bound for Memphis. But just’cause it’s yellow doesn’t mean it’s running scared. It’s just running. Hard. How does a naturally aspirated 530 hp at 6,700 rpm and 485 lb-ft at 4,900 rpm sound? Yeah. Not scared…scary. “That car is crazy fast—it amazed me,” admits our hired lead-foot Urban. “And it’s got a hydraulic roller cam! I had to shift it at 7,500—that’s where the engine wanted to rev to. That car handles nice; everything in it is simple. It’s easier to drive than either of the big-block cars [discussed elsewhere]. You hit the gas and it moves. It has excellent driveability…

Every once in a while, we trip across a car that is so subtle, so magnificent in its execution that it’s easy to pass by, assuming that it is something else. Such a car is also deserving of as much scrutiny from as many people as can surround it, and its engineering endowments unfold before you like an onion: the more you peel away and discover, the more there remains to peel away and discover, and the more it makes your eyes water in appreciation. The nuances, the cleverness, and the innovation of the package are endless, and the result is more than just another hopped-up ride with a combo that has been slapped together thousands of times before. Yeah, it’s a rolling, growling testament to dedication and ingenuity, a…

It's been 10 years since the OEMs last used carburetion for their new models, and the ensuing flood of EFI-equipped cars has had a profound influence on the hot rodding public. Still, the carburetor remains the mainstay of rodding and racing alike. But has the lack of OEM involvement in carb design and development left mechanical fuel mixers in the Stone Age? Hardly. Recent efforts from aftermarket organizations like BG Fuel Systems have helped the carburetor make the leap into the next millennium The Sports Claw is the third model to be introduced in Barry Grant's Claw series of carburetors, all of which are intended as replacements for the Holley 4150 and the BG Sportsman series of blueprinted Holleys. While its predecessors, the Gold Claw and the Silver Claw, are…

Fabulous 50 I enjoyed the “Fifty Fabulous Features” (Aug. 98). I well remember Bill Jenkins’ A/S’66 Chevy IL. I saw him at the now-defunct Dover Dragstrip in Wingdale, New York, match-racing Jere Stahl in his 66 A/S Hemi Belvedere. As I was a Mopar fan I anticipated cheering Jere on to a victory over the little 327 that Jenkins was running. I got a big disappointment that day. I watched Jenkins tune his car in the pits, and he went from an 11.80 at 118 mph to an 11.59 at 120 mph. Thanks for the memories, Bill Jenkins and HOT ROD. Brian Furman Kingston, NY A fine line can be drawn on who was first, but I believe that Calvin Rice was the first to run a “slingshot” dragster, followed…

It’s true! Boyd Coddington is back in business. For those of you who never knew he went away, a little background is in order. Hot Rods By Boyd was expanding wildly into the wheel business, car-care business, and all sorts of other directions when the company went public a few years back. Overextending business at the same time the wheel market | got soft led to, in rapid succession, Boyd being removed from what was once his company and the closing of the company’s doors for good. Now, a scant year after all the ugliness went down, Boyd has b purchased the rights to his name and will be back in business by the time you read this. He will be sticking to what made him famous—building fantabulous killer rods.…

What’s purple and flamed and too hot for words? Check out Design Studio’s ’33 Willys hottie! Design Studio usually makes 1/43-scale white-metal gems, but these 1/24:-scale effort (its first) are as detailed as any of the company’s smaller, jewel-like offerings. There’s also a smokin’ limited-edition K.S. Pittman version, which includes a base signed by Pittman himself. Billet wheels and soft rubber tires (treaded on the purple car, white-lettered slicks on Pittman’s ride) give it the right stance. Polished white-metal details like the grille, headlight bezels, and windshield frame pop out from the deep paint and splashy graphics. They are hefty pieces, making similar-scale diecast cars feel flimsy by comparison. A firstof-its-kind piece by any company is a good bet for collectors, and this one is a keeper. For more information:…

Even the most seasoned engine builders usually feel uncomfortable when conversation drifts to the intricacies of camshaft design. Surprisingly, the common terms duration, lobe separation angle, and overlap may not be fully understood but are used successfully by relying on empirical data. Earlier in my career, I was happy to master the degree wheel, but that left me yearning for more detailed information. I was confident that there had to be more to camshaft design than what the cam card told me. The lack of available data was frustrating. This frustration was compounded by the questions asked by cam grinders when ordering a “custom” bumpstick. Part of the problem with understanding cams is inherent to one’s inability to easily view the motion of the valve lifter as it travels the…

Who stuck a pitchfork in this one’s hiney? “It’s just brute torque,” reports Urban. “It’s lots of fun, but it tends to blow the tires out, and it’s hard to modulate the gas on launch. [It felt like] there was no weight over the rear tires, and I couldn’t get a hard launch off the line. Plus, the chassis is set up for cornering. “The trick to this one is to leave it in drive, and once you're going, hold on. It felt really good in the corners—it was more than a little fun on that Memphis return road. Don’t tell Moss.” There’s just something about the phrase “big-block Camaro” that makes the mouth water. Big cubes, light body, punch it, and go! When the fourth-gen Camaro came out for…

Since 1963—when we used my partner’s 57 Country Sedan to tow our racer throughout SoCal plus a roundtrip chingo to Indy and back—I’ve had a healthy respect for the reliability and versatility of station wagons. However, post-’55 wagons, featuring Detroit’s switch to cheaper, veggie-free bodies, were the automotive equivalent of dullsville—way too utilitarian. So Motown began to offer a wide variety of hardtop or post models that were chromed to the hilt or coated with phony wood in a effort, as one would say, to spruce them up. How times have changed. Today’s trend toward power touring and country cruising has revived our interest in the essence of post-’55 wagons. “But,” according to automotive designer Thom Taylor, “there is another reason. We’ve been modifying the same cars—Camaros, ’57 Chevys, Mustangs,…

There is a lot more to drag slicks than bolting them on and burning out. Inflation pressure is critical to optimum performance because it controls the amount of tire sidewall flex. Low inflation pressure allows the sidewalls to ripple and increases the contact patch between the tire and the strip surface. Conversely, higher inflation stiffens the sidewall and reduces the contact patch. The terms "low" and "high" reference a very narrow range-say 6 lo 18 psi—and a small variation side to side, as little as 2 or 3 psi, can have a major impact on starling-line traction and the directional stability of the race car. Consequently, many racers check and recheck inflation pressure lo ensure equal values, but they often fail to realize that direct exposure to the sun can…

Secure It E! American Boss Security System American Boss strikes a blow against crime with its new Steering Boss bolt-on security system. This antitheft device attaches to the steering column and disengages the steering wheel with the turn of a key. It comes with a ‘4 Medeco lock, and turning the key while pulling out a secondary lock sends the Boss into its free-spin mode, making the vehicle impossible to drive. Information: American Boss, Dept. HR11, 1221 Avenida Acaso, Bldg. G-H, Camarillo, CA 93012, 800/544-BOSS. The Inevitable Looms R&M For years, R&M’s Billet Wire Looms have offered hot rodders great-looking, fully machined spark-plug-wire looms. Now it offers them in six colors: red, blue, black, gold, and two new colors, purple and green. The looms are available for 22 different engine…

The existence of SVT as independent group outside of Ford may be in danger, and some of Ford’s hottest cars may soften up as a result. The group that develops and markets Ford’s performance-and-image cars, including the Mustang Cobra, Contour SVT, and the upcoming Lightning, had been without its two top leaders since March; at press time, one of these positions still remains open. “If you were the jewel in Ford’s crown,” asks an insider, “would you leave it without a leader?” SVT is a moneymaker within Ford—with 10,000 Cobras built and the success of the Contour, 1998 will be SVT’s best-ever year, and with three new models for ’99 (the new Cobra, the Lightning, and the reworked Contour), sales and profitability should continue to get stronger. SVT is currently…

To most hot rodders, the world of automotive paint is a distant one. We are fully aware that the paint job can make or break any car. As such, we’ll send our cars off, cross our fingers, and hope for the best, never daring to tackle this daunting task on our own. This is where HP Books’ Automotive Paint Handbook by John Pfanstiehl comes in. While it alone won’t make you an expert painter, the information will provide a complete understanding of the material and technique options available so that you can better answer the question, “Should I send it out, or can I do it I myself?” Clearly written, each chapter builds upon the previous one. Included are the history of automotive paint technology, how the OEMs apply paint,…

Concluding this series is difficult because current vehicle electronics and OBD is such a love-hate issue. We hope to have armed consumers with enough information to make the best of what’s facing the modern motorhead. Today’s teens are more and more interested in computers and electronic devices, so it’s reasonable to think that one day the likely response to the words carburetor, distributor, or pushrod will be “What’s that?” If the current generation of young people maintain a love affair with the automobile, then it’s likely that the marriage of engines and electronics will be a natural one. Is it possible that modifications to future cars will be impossible? The proposed legislation for OBD-III doesn’t bode well for the customer’s ability to hop up their rides. The door won’t be…

Vic Edelbrock has several historical tire-burners in his vintage repertoire. It is his thinking that such bits of automotive lore should remain as pristine and as unaltered from their original state as possible. Whenever his criteria are not met, however, it is in the interest of safety or the modern adaptation (better brakes, tires, and so on). Visually, the piece remains very close to the original. The latest thing in Edelbrock’s California f Street corral is the HOT ROD Camaro, a su-jitf perb and dedicated recreation of the origi-naf, hot-wrench holes and the M wounds of war quite intact. That the Camaro had so few miles (about 12,000) when the restoration began made the whole deal a whole lot happier. The straight, f ' rust-free Camaro was reduced to its…

So you've already proven you can unearth a junkyard dog, strip it down to nothing, and whip it into fighting shape within 17 weeks, then drive it 2,500 miles across the country with nary a consequence. So what do you do for an encore? What's next? More cars in less time with more technology? Rebuild three cars in 15 weeks before this year's event? Live on pure adrenaline, caffeine, and desire as you piece them together? Dedicate three solid weeks of your life to finishing them up, including a sleepless 44-hour binge at the end? Well, yes. 'Tis true. Jeff Moses and the dedicated maniacs at Auto Custom Carpet (ACC) fielded a trio of ponycars on the '98 Power Tour West: the '82 Camaro you see before you, and a…

Christmas came early this year—but we couldn’t keep the presents, and most of them won’t even be out in the store. Chevy’s annual “Toy Test Day” (as orchestrated by Chevy’s top toy man Jon Moss) gathers its latest and greatest concept cars for a track-side thrash-and-drive at Memphis Motorsports Park. Like anyone who wants what they cannot have, we were obsessing over not having a turn behind the wheel of the toys we wanted most—of course, they were the toys we wanted most because we could not drive them. We compromised. Since such power could not be operated by ham-fisted journalists alone, our pilot on this important mission was Kurt Urban of Westland, Michigan. Who’s he? Oh, just one of the top Hot Street shoes in our NMCA/COMP Cams street-car…

When we saw the subtle ZL1 badging on this black Fbody, we were excited but a little worried. We suspected that they weren’t hiding a V-6 in there, but still we wondered: How true would this car be to the all-aluminum, tire-frying big-block tradition of days gone by? The short answer: They done good. This one, in plain English, is overkill. Which means, for most of us, it’s just about right. Urban breathlessly explains: “This one drives you—it’s got torque squared. There’s a tirespin pedal under your right foot, not a gas pedal. How far do you want to smoke ‘em? It’s got 150 hp more than the other big-block car, and it just annihilates the tires. One run it went 12.20s at 125 mph. This car would be a…

Ed note: Sources for quotes and related information: Doug Rippie Motorsports, General Motors Technology Group, Hypertech, Inc., Jenkins Competition, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, and Lunati Cams, Inc. First, a little background on the en-Pisinen surrounding this newest performance offering from Chevrolet. The ability to access and work with computer codes and programming is not only relevant but required. Crystallizing the issue are the built-in barriers to emissions controls and systems tampering which limit the ability of the aftermarket to modify stock engines, as well as related criteria that appear to place the OEM in a role of control. Depending upon whether or not a given system is based on mass-air or speed-density technology, tolerances to modifications are built into stock Programmable Control Modules (PCM). Thirty years ago, the hydrocarbonburning engine and…

Chances are your high school had al least one guy who spent all of his paper-route money on hopping up a V-8-powered daily driver. He installed headers, a big carb, wide tires, mags, traction bars, the works. But when the director called "action," you and your pals watched gleefully as the rig ht-rear lire practically boiled off the rim while the left one quietly lagged along for the ride. And as that lone lire smoked into oblivion, children on bicycles, turtles, and even snails were passing him by. Yes, dear readers, there is no better way lo gel 200hp acceleration out of a 400hp car than with an open differential. Mike Micklich has been out of high school for decades, but when he mashed the honker pedal in his supercharged…

The Yokes on Us Tell PJ. Moran (July ’98) that you can assemble a Ford rearend without a standard crush ring. Just machine a solid ring that’s about 0.040-inch thicker than the stock crush ring. By experimenting with lengths, a few thousandths at a time until you get the right preload, you can change yokes all day and still have the same preload. Since you can’t compress solid metal, these yokes can even be tightened with an air wrench. Sometimes it takes a little trial and error to get the proper dimensions, but the part works. Stuart Dustan Salem, OR Shoe-horning an S-10 Q I'm interested in installing a 350 Chevy small-block in a Chevy S-10 pickup with either a 2WD or 4WD powertrain. What manufacturer makes a kit for…