Indholdsfortegnelse for May 1949 i Hot Rod

POWER PLANT—PART III Editor’s Note: This article, Hie sixth in the series of constructing a hot rod, and the third part of the power plant section, discusses stroked pistons, rods, flywheels, high compression heads, intake manifolds, and ignition units. The two previous articles on the engine were concerned with engine disassembly, reboring, porting, relieving, ground cams, valves, and stroking and balancing of the crank. Although a great amount of the work necessary to build up an engine for a hot rod can be performed by the individual, there are certain functions that should be done only by qualified machine or engine building shops. This is necessary since the components of a high performance engine must be made to close tolerances, requiring exacting machine work. In addition, in a great number…

Jim Berger, a personable young man of 18 years of age, and a senior at Beverly Hills High School, has combined a lot of hard labor with ingenious ability—the result being a ’27 T Frontenac combination street and lakes pickup. Jim did the majority of the work on the car over a period of 18 months in his private shop, set up in the garage of his home in Beverly Hills, California. Jim hails from the Windy City, where he was born on April 22, 1931. At the age of six he moved west with his parents and younger sister, Virginia. They settled down in Beverly Hills, where they have lived ever since. At Beverly Hills High, Jim is taking an academic course, consisting of mathematics, physics and chemistry. Prior…

As a means of filling in the “tension ’ period (those months during the winter when there is little or no club activity) one hundred and thirty members and guests of S.C.T.A. clubs recently took part in a joint cruise and picnic. The event was termed a great success. Clubs participating in the event were the San Diego Roadster Club, Road Runners, Carlsbad Oilers, Gophers, Dolphins, Gear Grinders and Lancers. Leaving the well-known Long Beach traffic circle at 7:30 A.M., some thirteen cars, including roadsters, coupes, pickups, convertibles and sedans, were led down the Coast Highway by Hal Powell and his popular “chow wagon.” Troubles en route were at a minimum and of a minor nature. Harvey Haller, with Doug Harrison as co-pilot, was forced to turn back near Oceanside…

THUNDERBOLTS (Sacramento, California) By NORM MILNE We have recently reorganized our club and have had a number of meets. The first meets were held on the Davis-Winters flight strip about 30 miles from Sacramento, last summer. The strip is approximately one mile long. Some good heats were run at all meets. There are a number of fine roadsters and custom jobs of various makes in the club. Regular meetings are held twice a month at the Clunie clubhouse. Gene Garrett is President, Buddy Ohanesian is Vice-President and I am guardian of the cash. On the 20th of February we had a meet at the New Jerusalem airstrip between Stockton and Tracy, California. Members of Stockton and Modesto clubs participated. Most of our boys were out in front on this particular…

The 1949 Roadster season was opened in the Northwest with one of the best races ever put on up here. The stands at the Portland Speedway were packed to capacity with many of the spectators flowing over into the infield. This was the opening Roadster Show and there had not been a roadster race in Portland since the Memorial Day flood wiped out the speedway in 1948. The show promised to be good with the track repaved, the sun shining brightly and many new cars on hand for the event. Len Sutton, 1948 Champion, was picked as favorite for the day. However, the day before the race, he had blown up his motor. Owner Rolla Vollstedt was reported up all night sleeving and patching the motor, but at time trials…