Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2001 i Hot Rod

Many readers will remember the legendary Art Carr as a Funny Car pioneer. His modified pushbutton-operated Chrysler Torqueflites were standard equipment in unlikely altered wheelbase racers of every make. Because the GM TH400 and Ford C6 weren’t commonly available until 1966, the Chrysler Torqueflite (introduced in 1962) was the only choice, and Art offered adapter kits so non-Chrysler racers could enjoy its benefits. Since then, Art has been active developing all domestic automatic transmission designs for better performance, and was among the first to offer a fortified TH200-4R to keep pace with the giant strides made by Buick Grand National racers. Today, the Art Carr Transmission Co. continues to offer high-performance transmissions, converters, and components for virtually every make and application, including domestic front-wheel drive. Here, Art is showing off…

They say you can’t go home again, but Frank Hawley is proving’em all wrong by bringing his NHRA Drag Racing School back to its Gainesville, Florida, birthplace. In 1985, after Hawley retired from the seat of Austin Coil’s Chi Town Hustler, Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School enjoyed 12 years of operation in the Sunshine State before moving west to Pomona, California. “We’ve always loved Gainesville Raceway and the East Coast, and we now feel our customer base is large enough to support both fulltime locations, Pomona and Gainesville. Gainesville was an obvious choice for our East Coast home. We have a great history there, the track is fast, the weather is great, and it’s an easy trip for our customers from anywhere on the East Coast.” Classes include time in…

By now, everyone knows the story of the Tucker: Fifty-one were built in 1948, technologically advanced and innovative, creativity squashed by Detroit, creator sued for fraud, inspired a movie. The ones that remain—most of them, in fact—are treasured national symbols of the never-ending optimism of “the little guy” in the face of insurmountable odds. And it’s coming back. It’s true: Ida Automotive of Morganville, New Jersey, will create just 51 of these handbuilt, tube-framed. Northstar-powered visual dead ringers for anyone who missed out the first time. To dismiss the New Tucker 48 as a mere kit car would be foolish: The fit and finish here are above the slur that the term “kit car” connotes. The shape, with measurements taken off one of the original 51, is perfect. The new…

About a half-hour after the invention of the internal combustion engine, somebody figured out that it would make more power if the intake air could be forced into the engine rather than sucked in by the down stroke of the piston. Since then, hot rodders have been trying to devise new and better ways to stuff cylinders full of mixture for maximum output. Many of these efforts involved crank-driven devices to compress the air, but one of these gearheads, a Swiss gent named Dr. Alfred J. Buchi, came up with the idea of using exhaust gases to drive the compressor. It was a brill liantly simple concept: Put the energy contained in the exhaust to work rather than letting it go to waste. That was back in 1915, and the…

Remember when hot rodding was about breaking the rules, thumbing your nose at the establishment, having fun, and most of all just going fast? This “outlaw” notion of hot rodding has (d)evolved into a V-8/rear-drive lock-step that remains trenchant to this day. HOT ROD has been as guilty as anyone in fostering these notions. And the front-drive guys, just discovering and developing what works and doesn’t on their particular cars, haven’t got a prescribed course. They’re more into breaking the rules… which makes their hot rodding instincts more true, for our money. We're not talking about the “lifestyle” crews who prefer cheesy graphics, self-stick carbon-fiber dash pieces, and giant wheels. We're talking about those who are looking for serious speed in their non-traditional chariots. You don’t have to like it.…

SAVE 79% That’s right! Subscribe to one year (12 issues) of Car Craft magazine for $10. That’s like getting 9 issues free when compared to the one year newsstand price. That's 12 jam packed issues with all the stuff you’d expect from America’s largest do-it-yourself street performance car magazine. In every issue you’ll find informative monthly features, including technical how-to articles, aftermarket product evaluation, in-depth testing of new performance cars, plus the hottest drag raciing technology available. To subscribe, simply fill out the attached card and mail it back. Or send payment, along with your name and address to: Car Craft, PO Box 51462, Boulder, CO 80322-1462. Do it today! Canadian orders add $13.00 per year (including GST), all other foreign orders add $15.00 per year (for surface mail postage);…

When we test new products on the chassis dyno, we usually expect to see big leaps in horsepower and torque output. But when it comes to ignition upgrades, you don’t often see improvements unless there was something wrong with the parts that were replaced. Ignition system improvements are best at enhancing driveability and for setting the stage for other engine modifications that increase cylinder pressure and allow higher rpm levels. The point is, we shouldn’t expect ignition system upgrades to add to peak power numbers like a cam or carburetor swap. Peak power numbers generated on a chassis dyno only tell a small part of the story. In the case of Jacobs Electronics’ new Fire Control ignition system, we observed an improvement at the tires of 1 hp and 2…

The deepest, darkest ’70s were not the best of times for American car fans: Insurance regulations strangled most performance offerings, safety took priority as cars bulked up with bumpers and more, and the first OPEC gas crisis just kicked everyone in the teeth. Plenty still survive on the streets to day, and they’re as cheap as Internet opinion. Looking back now, there were some interesting and potentially worthwhile rides built in those murky days, and thanks to modern technology we can make them perform better and cleaner than Detroit could manage back in the day. We asked renowned illustrator Jairus Watson to come up with some ideas for hopping up these forgotten, oft-unloved machines. Beep Beep This Plymouth Roadrunner/Volare coupes used to be on every street corner. Where have they…

Although carburetor spacers are nothing new, the Mr. Gasket Super Sucker (PN 3420 for square flange carburetors) is a departure from the norm. While traditional spacers are designed with either four distinct bores or an undivided rectangular opening, the Super Sucker is an offshoot of the four-hole variety. Instead of the usual constant diameter bores, Mr. Gasket has contoured the underside of the spacer to create four distinct venturii that effectively increase inlet air speed and increase plenum volume. To test the Super Sucker, we took a trip out to Universal Technical Institute (UTI) in Rancho Cucamonga, California. To learn more about UTI, call 888/884-3678 or log onto www.uticorp.com. Source Mr, Gasket To find your local dealer, call 800/267-4674…

Five employees of Auto Custom Carpets perished in a small-plane crash near the Talladega, Alabama, airport the evening of February 13, 2001. This included Jeff Moses, president of Auto Custom Carpets; Don Robertson, director of sales; Jeff Davis, show manager; Terri Tomlin, telemarketing supervisor; and Camille Randle, director of programming. Robertson, a flying enthusiast was at the controls of the twin-engine Cessna. The cause of the crash is unknown at press time and is being investigated. Their unflagging enthusiasm and perpetual high spirits will be missed by all. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the SEMA Scholarship Fund, Attention: Mike Sae-va, Educational Services Manager, Box 4910, Diamond Bar, CA 91765.…

Basic turbocharger design employs two similar devices to convert the force of the exiting exhaust into fresh airflow for the intake. The turbine is exhaust-driven and usually mounted on the exhaust manifold just beyond the ports. All exhaust flow is directed into the turbine, and then into the exhaust system. In most modern EFI turbo systems, the compressor draws ambient air through a filter, then pumps it into the engine's intake tract in a “blow-through” configuration. Some older draw-through systems pulled ambient air through the carburetor before entering the compressor. Not illustrated is the bearing assembly, which supports the shaft between the compressor and turbine. This map of a turbocharged engine system charts the path of airflow and its relative temperature. Exhaust is always hot, but the presence of the…

Although HOT ROD’s 1978 new-car preview story was called “The Thrill Is Back” (Oct. ’77), de-emphasized performance data and a distinct lack of burning rubber suggest this title was overly optimistic. But amid the yawns of 304-powered Pacers and weak-suck 133hp 302 Mustang King Cobras was an odd piece of news. Buick was about to offer the first American-built turbocharged car since the ’62 Chevy Corvair and Oldsmobile Starfire ceased production. The host platform for this new option was the newly downsized Regal. Under the guidance of Buick General Manager Lloyd Reuss, the turbocharged ’78 Regal Sport Coupe sowed the seeds for some of the most potent production cars ever to come out of Detroit, even if it would take nearly 10 years for the flower to reach full bloom.…

Following on the heels of the massively successful Dakota Quad Cab Hemi that debuted at SEMA 99, the annual Las Vegas aftermarket parts orgy, Dodge wanted to get together with HOT ROD to do another attention-grabbing concept vehicle for SEMA ’00. The Stratus Coupe seemed a natural. The plan was to emulate musclecars past on a contemporary platform. The list of changes is long and is detailed briefly herein There’s plenty more beyond that, but you’ll have to wait until next month to get a complete look at the final product. Consider that Rad Rides by Troy had about five weeks to pull everything together as seen here. Many others couldn’t put something like this together in fifty weeks. Yes, we wish we were allowed to convert it to rear-drive,…

Yeah, we know. HOT ROD doesn’t do trucks… unless they’re ours and they serve us like a slave. Seems a muckety-muck that is no longer in the employ of emap usa had “a little truck you need to come up and get from me.” We had no knowledge of such a vehicle and were expecting maybe an S-10 or some kind of quarter-ton rig. The little truck was a 3500 crew cab (1-ton) Chevy sporting an 8-foot bed. Now, you must realize that this piece was bought outright, so we didn’t owe anyone for it, no one-dollar deals in return for 8 skillion bucks worth of editorial coverage spanning the next decade. We didn’t need to give this truck a single line of ink, so why are we doing it?…

SEMA Tech Talks SEMA will be holding the SEMA Roundtable tech talks with vast new products display tent during our kickoff party in Pontiac, Michigan. Look into the future at DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and General Motors. SEMA/OEM Roundtable Tech Talks feature the newest vehicles and provide an interface with key players. Tuesday, May 1, 2001—DaimlerChrysler Day; Wednesday, May 2, 2001—Ford Motor Company Day; Thursday, May 3, 2001 — General Motors Day. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet with movers and shakers in the auto industry! "Being a hot rod mecca, Our city's honored to again be part of the HOT ROD Magazine Power Tour, and we will roll out the red carpet to welcome the participants and the sponsors to San Bernardino, Home of the Route 66 Rendezvous." Mayor Judith Valles,…

City Style In a town like New York City, where people think cars are yellow and have lights on the roof, Michael Chookasezian of Oceanside, New York, dares to drive his 140K ’83 Mercury Zephyr, nicknamed “Silver Dollar.” The big Six modified itself to burn gas and oil for extra power; it runs 20.90s in the quarter while still getting 15 mpg. “On the roads of Long Island,” he writes, “among the BMWs and Lincoln Navigators, it really makes a statement: I’m poorer than you!” A-Rust Me Put the handcuffs away, Herb Robinson of Monroe, North Carolina, is having trouble with his ’40-something Studebaker pickup. Like figuring out what year it is. He’s looking forward to getting started on rebuilding it and can’t wait to get it moving under its…

After teasing you for nearly a year now, we finally got some seat time in the 2001 Ford SVT Lightning and made tracks around San Antonio. The biggest news is underhood: a reshaped intake plenum, a larger intercooler, a 90mm throttle body, and computer tweaking. Visually, new wheels, clear-corner “Altezza-style” taillights, and new headlights and grille round out the updates. The chassis now sports Bilstein shocks and revised body mounts. Color choices remain the same. Three-seventy-three gears replace the 3.55s. Clearly the 01 Lightning is an evolution, and a fine one. Driving an 00 and an ’01 back to back, we can report that the Bilsteins and new mounts quell rutty pavement without sacrificing an ounce of feel, and the extra 20 horsepower and the stiffer gear gives a definite…

If you want to know the legend of Marvin Pontiac, I recommend a visit to www.strangeandbeautiful.com. There you'll get the full story of an immigrant from Mali who took the name "Pontiac" because he thought it sounded American. You'll also read about his blues hits of the early '50s, alien abductions, insane asylums, Jackson Pollack, nude bicycling, and plenty more I'm forgetting at the moment. It’s a good read, but I'll opt to gloss over the details here, because they don't really convey the feeling of this music. The recorded output is polished, cool, and detached. Somehow, it's hard to imagine Pollack working this soundtrack. Maybe Warhol… Standing on its own merits, though, this is an impressive collection of sultry, jazzy blues-or perhaps bluesy jazz-that works occasional flourishes of funk…

Hot rodders love old iron. The die-cast wizards at Johnny Lightning have responded by offering their second series of hot rod castings. (The first were done in '96, utilizing HOT ROD Top Ten cars of years past.) The six cars in the new series ('23 and '27 Ts, '32 Roadster, '34 Coupe, '37 Coupe, and ’33 Sedan Delivery) are not prototypical of any single car, but still look great. Bright colors, soft tires, and lots of stance and attitude are yours for less than lunch at Mickey D's. What’s the best news about these babies? They're modular: Future versions of the '32, for example, will be available without a roof, without the hood (with a detailed engine in place), and/or without the fenders. Of course, paint and wheels are easily…

Hot rodding is like a gigantic snowball rolling through the years, picking up new trends and getting bigger all the time. Somewhere deep inside the snowball are the door-slammer Funny Cars of the '65-67 era. In a few short years, these mutated Super Stockers infected the nation with match race madness and paved the way for the modern flip-top fuel Funny Car. We’re taking a. second look and paying tribute to the genre by introducing the Match Bash building style. In this segment, we’ll begin the transformation of a ’63 Chevy Nova into a replica of a ’66-era steel and’glass bodied altered wheelbase Funny Car. The Match Bash title was first used by the NHRA at the ’66 Springnationals in Bristol, Tennessee, to describe the Eliminator category for “late model”…

To many hot rodders, turbochargers are like unwelcome visitors from a faraway world—a world where high fuel prices demand small-displacement powerplants. The only reason turbos exist is to help these wheezing four-poppers make enough extra power to reduce the danger of being flattened while entering a freeway or passing a doggy truck. But if they’d scratch the surface a little, they’d discover that turbocharging has lived in the world of brawny Detroit machinery for quite some time, and it is just as effective on a big motor as it is on a small one. Assembled here is a gallery of historic turbo cars that did their fair share to open some minds to the benefits of beltless boost. THE MALLICOAT METHOD The Lure of Free Horsepower Jerry and Gary Maliicoat…

Aaah, the playground. Swings, slides, sandbox, jungle gym, merry-go-round, the prepubescent squeals of delight… now and 50 years ago, the basics of this neighborhood staple remain constant. Of course, now there are more modern interpretations on the playground cheme-che big box full of plastic balls as seen in Chuck E. Cheese, the riding toy mounted to a pring chat's stuck in the ground, and most of the play area i, now made of plastic, not metal. till, it's all about fun and fantasy and pretend and socializing… and did we mention fun? Once we grow up, though, we're taught chat playtime is over, chat to be an adult, play muse cease and desist. The wise among us have avoided this rrap. (Enter clithe about men and boys and the size…

Dutch would come and go like a nomad, mosdy in an old school bus loaded with his ancient hand and machine tools, as a base of operations. In 1986, he showed up at Stan Betz’s (Betz’s Speed & Colors—home of tropical fish, tacos, hubcaps, sword swallowing, and bear hugs) to energize his shop truck. “Betz,” says Williams, “was a Dutch favorite because he knew more about paint than Dutch did.” Betz remembers that it took Dutch two weeks to finish the job. The type under the six flying eyeballs (Dutch’s trademark) reads, “Something to read while you and I are in a traffic jam—just because I’m ahead of you, don’t make me a bad guy, just ahead of you right now! Too bad!”…

Oil is the blood of any engine, but that’s only part of the story. The oil pump must be capable of delivering the oil throughout the engine with enough volume and pressure to prevent scuffing, galling, and other destruction caused by metal contacting metal. Remember that volume and pressure are not the same thing. Simply stated, volume is the amount of oil moved in a given amount of time. High-volume oil pumps are designed with taller rotors and bigger cavities that displace approximately 25 percent more oil with each revolution. High-volume pumps help to fill the voids in high-performance engine assemblies where bearing clearances have been enlarged for reduced friction and when oil passages are enlarged or chamfered to reduce flow restriction. Pressure is the other half of the equation.…

If you put a fuel cell, nitrous bottle, or battery in the trunk of your hot rod, be advised that most dragstrip tech inspectors are going to be looking for an approved metal divider between the trunk and the interior of the car. Even if the rear seat is still in the car, a metal divider can save the day if nasty stuff comes out of the containers. Many hot rod ders assume that this metalwork takes a ton of careful measuring to get the shape just right for a close fit. Well, here’s a secret: Most cars have a cardboard panel (aka “trunk divider”) behind the rear seat upright that makes an excellent template. Here’s how to clone the cardboard panel in metal to appease the safety crew.…

Bigger and Better Edelbrock The Edelbrock Performer Series 800 carburetor (with electric choke) is a high-performance carb featuring a fully adjustable electric choke and accelerator pump, large-diameter primary and secondary throttle bores, and a 100 percent aluminum body assembled without leakage-prone gaskets. Its two-piece design means you can tune it without draining the fuel chamber or removing the carb from the manifold. Calibrated for better fuel atomization at higher flow rates, the EPS 800 will meet high-performance demands. Information: Edelbrock, Dept. HR05, 2700 California St., Torrance, CA 90503; 310/781-2222.…