Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2002 i Hot Rod

Los Angeles: 1987 Here’s how the Archives page goes: We started looking for some definitive color shots to illustrate the legendary Larry Watson paint style. No luck. Then we thought we might be able to find some ancient shots of Pete Chapouris’ California Kid, progenitor of this month’s cover car. Again, all that stuff has long since been pilfered. But in the Chapouris quest, we came across another of his—the Limefire 32 roadster. This was the car that inspired George Poteet's latest iteration (see “The Po’ Boy,” Feb. ’02), and since Pete’s So-Cal Speed Shop is wrenching on HOT ROD’s latest rod, well, it all ties together. Also, according to then-editor Jeff Smith, Limefire was HOT ROD’s very first tri-fold pull-out poster when it appeared in the Oct. ’87 issue.…

Back in the Sept. 02 issue, we showed you (to underwhelming reader reaction) an LS1, six-speed, rear-drive Holden Ute SS that’s sold in Australia. We loved it. So did Matt Schmidt of Holden Public Affairs in Melbourne, who sent us a cool full press kit on the ’01 Holden Monaro. Produced in Australia since 1968, the Monaro is a performance coupe with either the LS1 or a blown V-6. Even the color names are keen—like Flame, Devil, Hothouse, and Phantom. Once again, we want one. So we probed Chevrolet’s Jon Moss for the expected disappointment: “We looked into selling them here, but it’s just not possible.” Seems there are too many American vehicle regulations that can’t be affordably applied to the Holden. Bummer.…

Faithful readers may remember our two-part Clifford Hyper-Pak Slant Six buildup that appeared in the Nov. and Dec. 00 issues. In a 3,100-pound, four-speed Duster, it ran 14.926 at 78.73, or 13.576 at 99.23 with a 100-horse shot. But there was a problem. We used 4.30 gears to get off the line and a ’76 Chrysler aluminum overdrive four-gear to ease freeway flying. It worked great until about the 900-foot mark and the upshift into overdrive. After peeling our face off the dash, we got to watch the car in the other lane get real small. The 0.76:1 top gear killed acceleration and explains the lame no-nitrous trap speed. The Duster is now slated for 360 V-8 power, so we scored a ’62 Valiant for $900 to serve as a…

One morning I was working on my ’55, and an editor from HOT ROD magazine stopped by wanting to do an article on it. [7sure did. My eyes just about popped out of my head.—Steve Magnante} This didn’t really interest me because I’ve always felt that most people don’t seem to like this style of car anymore. Nonetheless, this is the only way I like them, so I decided to spread the word and if people enjoy it, that’s great. I’d like to see more cars done this way. It’s the ’60s Gasser look: jacked up in the front, skinny tires and slicks, screaming small-block, multiple carburetion, and colored side windows. I got this one in 1975, and even then it was a hot rod—not quite a Gasser, but well…

Description: We re hyping two different computer programs here. One is Dyno2000, an engine simulation that lets you spend hours tinkering with virtual parts to see what kind of power curves you can come up with. It’s pretty easy or pretty advanced depending on how you want to use it. You can either select generic components with pre-programmed parameters, or enter your own data such as cam lift, cam opening and closing points, and even full flow curves for cylinder heads. The program “knows” the bore/stroke combinations for common engines, or you can fully customize a combo. Once your virtual engine is designed, you can look at its output either as a chart or as a plotted curve; you can even lay one dyno curve over another to compare different…

At the behest of Chevrolet, Chuck Mallett joined us on the ’01 Power Tour. He showed up in a race-dress C5 painted like some godawful leopard. He said it was his daily driver. There was more, of course. The engine in Chuck’s car had a stroker crank and pushed 15 psi from a reworked Vortech blower, all of it good for about 500 scary rear-wheel horsepower. Now what kind of person would drive such a hairy car? We soon found out. We'd known Mallett about 5 minutes before he cranked attitude all over a Viper that got stupid. He ripped the guy a new ass before our eyes. Like being naked in New York! Alllriiiight, Chucky! Mallett is a lot less sanguinary behind a hamburger and a beer than he…

Circle the number(s) of the literature you would like to receive. Enclose a check or money order payable to HOT ROD for the total literature fees plus $2.00 handling charge. Mail coupon and remittance to: HOT ROD, P.O. Box 5294, Pittsfield, MA 012035294. Catalogs will be mailed directly to you by the companies making the offer. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for shipment. Requests will be honored if received by, June 15, 2002. HOT ROD and PRIMEDIA are not responsible for unprocessed orders. Companies participating in this section have accepted full responsibility for filling reader requests. Check or money order, U.S. funds only. Do not send cash. We cannot accept credit card orders. Please send the circled literature to: (please print) COUPON EXPIRES JUNE 15, 2002…

We found this one on the Internet: It's a picture of Ken Barkley’s °81 Malibu moments after getting creamed by a Jeep Cherokee. It seems Ken had just finished carefully loading his tunnel-rammed, 454-powered Chevy for a day at the strip and went in the house to wash his hands before hitting the road. Then he heard a loud crash. As his brother Brad tells us, “A cold chill went through his body because he just knew without even opening the door that it had something to do with his rig.” Sure enough, when he opened the door he was greeted by this lovely sight. A young driver travelling at 60 mph somehow managed to ignore the parked trailer and hit it dead on. She ran away in a panic…

While visiting Evans Speed, Gene Ohly’s machine shop/bizarro speed parts museum in El Monte, California, we were reminded that every Chevy small-| block doesn’t necessarily have to be a V-8. Parked alongside the traditional Donovan aluminum V-8 is an alloy Chevrolet Bow Tie V-6. These things are big at Bonneville and anywhere else big power has to come from small cubes. The little aluminum freak on the right is a Scat V-4. A V-4, you say? Yep, these little screamers are popular with Sprint Car racers and dune buggy builders. Check out the solitary splayed four-bolt main cap. Imagine popping the hood of your Camaro and having one of these things underneath. Though more than a tad down on torque, it’s the sound of a Scat V-4 at 9 grand…

You see them at shows and in the pages of magazines—ultra-straight cars reflecting their surroundings like mirrors. Unless you’ve attempted a paint job yourself, it’s easy to overlook the efforts involved in achieving such stunning results. Although we’re certainly not paint pros, we elected to try our hands at the paint and bodywork game by straightening and changing the color of a beater ’86 Mustang GT. Hell, we couldn’t make it look any worse. Here are the highlights of our experience. Sources Finishmaster Automotive Refinishing Supply www.finishmaster.com Kwiklift Broken Arrow, OK; 800/961-LIFT; www.kwiklift.com Mateo Tools www.matcotools.com PPG Industries Strongsville, OH; 440/572-2800; www.ppg.com…

This is one of many car-mag stories that’ve been done a million times. But the thing is, the concept of what’s a bargain and the cars that fit the definition continue to change. There was a time when HOT ROD told you to go buy a ’70 Barracuda and turn it into a fake ’Cuda because it was so much cheaper. Too late—these days, we can’t afford any Mopar E-body. The cores just aren’t out there. Same for most of the traditional musclecars and their more mundane taxicab counterparts. Man, even ugly four-doors are starting to command real money. So what’s a kid to do when he’s got a V-8 jones in a four-banger clique? We asked ourselves that in a staff meeting and proceeded to get depressed enough to…

Mayhem? Murder? Yeah, folks, moida in the first degree. What else would you call the onslaught of high expectations and products so smart and cool that they make us ooooh and aaaahhh and wonder why haven’t we seen them before? Well, it’s crunch time in Motown these days, what with the imports virtually eating Detroit’s lunch in terms of model array and niche balancing, it was time to slap some lips, issue challenges, and ignite ancient, smoldering backyard rivalries. It warms our black little hearts to see this happening again. Ford Forty-Nine Convertible A year ago, the Living Legends Studio commissioned the Forty-Nine Coupe, which was an immediate success, especially in the hearts of HOT ROD staffers. What to do for an encore was easy. The sexy, rosy, ragtop might…

TEST PRESSURE: 28 inches of water BORE DIAMETER: 4.500 VALVE DIAMETER: 2.250/1.880 (optional tulip-head) VALVE SEAT ANGLE: 45-degree intake and exhaust PORT VOLUME: 315cc intake, 123cc exhaust CHAMBER VOLUME: 121CC AVERAGE FLOW BETWEEN 0.200 AND 0.700 LIFT: 308/249 cfm INTAKE EXHAUST FLOW RATIO AT 0.400 LIFT: 81 percent Marno {near camera) and Brule get all the good news on the AFR 315 head. Note the excellent low- and mid-lift flow numbers in the chart. Westech's Steve Brule says: “They flow better than any comparably sized aftermarket head I’ve ever tested. In fact, the AFR exhaust port gives some of the weaker intake ports I’ve seen a run for the money." These things are gonna rock We can't wait to get our hands on the larger runner designs.…

Spring is in the air, and it won't be long until our hot rods are roaming the streets once again. Got a last-minute snag that's hanging you up? I'll try to help. Send your technical questions to: HOT ROD Pit Stop, 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048, or e-mail hotrod@primediacmmg.com. Keep in mind that we do not have the time to personally respond to your inquiries, and while we encourage you to send photos of your projects, we cannot mail back anything you send us. Why Block I have a dual-point Mallory distributor and need a little help with it. It was sold to me as being for a Ford Y-block, and I hope to install it on my ’58 Ford 292 for nostalgic reasons. It needs some rebuild…

Though it lacks the brutal punch of the Viper, we're saddened to learn that DaimlerChrysler has officially pulled the plug on the Prowler after a successful six-year, 11,000-plus unit production run. The final 300 Prowlers will be painted a special Deep Candy Red color that DaimlerChrysler says makes ’em sparkle in bright light. There is good news in all of this. Tom Marinelli—VP of the Chrysler/Jeep Global Brand Center—says, “While we're discontinuing Prowler production, I can assure you that we've got even more head-turning vehicles in our pipeline”. Dear, Tom: Please, please, please say there’s a RWD, Hemi-powered machine in the mix so we can forget the whole V-6 thing. Here’s a look at Prowler’s color/production history: Of total Prowlers sold, 1,530 were purple, 1,576 were yellow, 1,911 were black,…

Don Garlits’ Museum of Drag Racing—the Ocala, Florida-based home of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame—has announced its 2002 honorees. The selection board consists of Wally Parks, Harry Hi bier, Ted Jones, Dr. Robert C. Post, the late Steve Evans, Steve Gibbs, and Shirley Muldowney. Televised coverage of the awards ceremony is sponsored by Mopar Parts and can be seen nationally on ESPN-2, March 14, 2002, in conjunction with NHRA GatorNationals event coverage. 2002 Honorees: Jerry Baltes Steve Evans Pat Foster Roger Gustin Darrell Gwynn Connie Kalitta Steve Reyes Kenny Safford Elmer Trett Jerry Verhuel…

While we’ve pasted more than a fair share of ’55 and ’57 Chevys on these hallowed pages, the middle child rarely gets any attention at all. Praise the Axfords, then, for they have been posing and petting their ’56 nine-passenger wagon for more than 20 years. Better than that, they’ve only dropped $25,000 in it so far. There’s a good reason for that: Brian is a real hot rodder, a consummate tinkerer, and obviously one who isn’t phased by electronic or mechanical realms. Before he begins, Axford makes a detailed investigation of his subject, approaching it with conventional wisdom as well as far-out treatments. Thorough and exhaustive research is the key to making it all work the way it should. It took 12 years and a few close associates to…

“Go ahead,” urged Steve Sbelgio. “Lean back, get comfortable.” We were waiting for the light to change to make a left onto the boulevard. “I always drive like a hunchback,” I said. “I don’t feel right unless I’m hovering over the steering wheel, ya know.” But in Sbelgio’s rod it’s so easy to relax. The machine seems to drive itself, like it’s being hauled along on some statically charged mother vine, infinite in its power and in its reserve. That’s the thing that sticks: Sbelgio’s °34 coupe is full-on modern in every persuasion. It drives modern, feels modern, smells modern, squeezes a computer-controlled automatic transmission clinging to an all-aluminum engine, and has amassed electronic cues and micro-processed LED fireflies up the ying-yang. Electronics are Steve’s thing. His enterprise, Eclipse Engineering,…

Two-tone paint jobs first appeared on the scene during the fabulous ’50s, and while some are best forgotten, there’s no denying that a well executed two-tone paint job can be a real standout. Regular HRM readers will remember our Match Bash ’63 Nova from the May and June ’01 issues (available by calling 800/544-6748). When we stumbled onto some vintage photos of the “Seaton’s Shaker” ’66 Chevelle match racer, we fell in love with its classy orange-on-white graphics. After rounding up a bucket full of PPG paints, we headed to Spray-Rite Auto Body where our two-tone dream became a reality. Sources PPG Industries Stronsville, OH; 440/572-2800; www.ppg.com Spray-Rite Auto Body Monrovia, CA; 626/303-4646; www.sprayrite.com…

As the resident crones at HOT ROD, Gray Baskerville and I were fortunate to have seen Gene Adams and Don Enriquez rip it up in full-color action at places like the Indy Nationals, the old Orange County International Raceway, and at Lions dragstrip in Wilmington, California. During that epoch, Adams and Enriquez virtually owned A/FD. Gene’s cosmic association with the early Hemi, Don’s preternatural driving skills, and their close personal friendship proved them virtually unbeatable, regardless of climatic conditions or the walleye in the other lane. 1 hey set a precedent of sorts by maintaining Hemi power rather than snuggling with the small-block Chevy, which was a fixture in the Junior Fuel ranks. Why the Hemi, Gene? “Of all the (production) engines built up to the late ’70s, the early…

Mustang IRS Rear-Steer Kit Kenny Brown 317/247-5320 www.kennybrown.com We’ve not yet been thrilled by the independent rear suspension on the ’99-02 Mustang Cobras, and apparently, neither has Kenny Brown. He found that one cause of the squirrellyness was an abrupt change of rear toe during body roll. His new IRS Rear-Steer Kit tames the rear-to-esteer problem for both lowered and stock-height Cobras. It includes tie-rod bars with adjustable spherical inner-tie-rod bearings. The company says, “This allows the inner pickup point of the rear toe bar to be lowered approximately 5 mm, which helps to reduce the rear toe steer under hard body roll. This kit also makes adjusting the rear toe easier and affords racers the tuneability required to improve rear toe angles for open-track and aggressive street applications.” New…

Norman Brewington ’40 FORD STANDARD BUSINESS COUPE CHAPEL HILL, NC OWNER’S OCCUPATION: Industrial Adhesive Sales ENGINE: 383ci Chevy ENGINE MODS: Ported, polished, and balanced, block ground smooth. Comp Cams 'stick DYNO-PROVEN POWER: 406hp TRANSMISSION: TH350 powdercoated, 2,000-stall REAREND: 9-inch Ford, 3.00:1 gears SUSPENSION: Parallel-leaf spring conversion out back, stock-type dropped transverse leaf front, Monroe shocks WHEEL TYPE AND SIZE: American Torq-Thrusts, 15x6 front and 15x8 rear TIRE TYPE AND SIZE: Firestone 165R15 front, BFG P255/70SR15 rear PAINT COLOR: Guards Red BODY MODIFICATIONS: None APPROXIMATE TOTAL INVESTMENT: More than $45-1 hou WHAT'S THE BEST MODIFICATION YOU’VE MADE?: 85 T-bird electric seats with lumbar support WHAT’S THE BIGGEST PROBLEM YOU’VE HAD?: Struts wearing out the trunk area leather HOW LONG HAVE YOU OWNED IT?: 2 years HOW MANY MILES HAVE YOU DRIVEN…