Indholdsfortegnelse for March 1953 i Hot Rod

Kenneth Austin,’of Aurora. Oregon, is the proud owner of this clean, stock appearing *39 Ford convertible sedan. An under-the-hood inspection, however, reveals that the Ford engine has been replaced with a ’49 Lincoln V8. Kenny claims that this installation is quite simple. The stock Ford radiator has been moved forward two inches to make room for the fan. The front engine mounting holes were moved ahead four inches and Ford truck engine mounting pads were used. The front end of the oil pan has been reworked to provide clearance for the tie-rod and drag link. The firewall was reworked slightly and. because of the close quarters in the engine compartment, the stock fuel pump was omitted and two electric pumps were substituted. The dual exhaust system uses Ford F-8 truck…

“FIREPOWER” STREET ROADSTER Engine develops 270 horsepower at the rear wheels at 4500 rpm on straight alcohol. Frame, body, front and rear cross members are stock Model A. Center crossmember behind transmission is ’32 Ford. Nose and grille have been hand formed from aluminum. Comparatively heavy for a fenderless roadster, car weighs in at 2400 pounds ready to run. Fuel tank in rear compartment holds eight gallons and fuel pressure is maintained by two Stewart Warner electric fuel pumps. A 1932 Ford radiator is used that has been cut to fit into the nose and is equipped with a special top tank and pressure cap. Potter, a native of Chicago, is employed as a liaison engineer at Northrup Aviation in Hawthorne, Calif. The car was built at a cost of…

Looking for all the world like an innocent, reconditioned 1931 Model A Ford, Ron Tehaney’s coupe is capable of kicking up dust in the face of many a later model juggernaut of the road. This rare machine is the product of 2 1/4 years work plus an outlay of some $1700. The only drastic modifications to the car’s body consist of the addition of an all steel top and reduction of 3 in. in overall height of the cab. The frame is a ’29-A which has had ’32 Ford cross-members and gas tank grafted on to it. The full balanced ’48 Mercury engine, with 4 1/8 inch stroke and 3 3/8 inch bore, totals 296 cu. in. displacement. It is equipped with Edelbrock 8.5 to 1 heads, Weiand four carburetor…

Included in the Chrysler conversion story in the Dec., 1952 issue of HRM was a description of the 299 cu. in. Chrysler V8 engine built by Chuck Potvin. Anaheim, California, to power the Post stream-liner entry at the 1952 Bonneville Nationals. Complete mechanical information was available on the engine at the time the article was written but, unfortunately, horsepower figures were not available. The engine was finished in plenty of time for a dyno test and was actually run on the dyno before it was installed in the car; however, before any horsepower readings could be made, the engine froze up and promptly ceased to run. This, of course, was not on the schedule and operations were disrupted beyond imagination. A hasty examination of the engine disclosed the trouble to…

Requirements of “Hot Rod Mort” are: limit of 25 words per ad, not including name and address. Ads will be placed in this column on a first come, first served basis. We reserve the right to edit ads when necessary. We are not responsible for the accuracy of descriptions, but we will reject any obviously misleading statements. No ads will be knowingly accepted from commercial firms. A charge of $2.00 per ad will be made and must accompany each ad. Only one car may be listed in any one ad. This limitation will not apply to parts or equipment, however. Address all ads to Hot Rod Mart, 5959 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles 28, Calif. SELL—$200 Grand Prix Ford-Mercury V8 magneto, used 10 hours, for $100 cash. Set matched, magnafluxed, precision…

When Benjamin Harris Hl. of Champaign, Illinois, decided to build a car for himself, he went all-out. The result was that he came up with one of the most unique machines ever built for highway use. But in spite of its up-to-date lines, the car was actually designed and built back in 1935. It was constructed with the idea in mind of having a small car, yet one in which the driver would not stick up like a mast. Consequently, it became a front-drive model. The first problem was that of obtaining suitable universal joints for the frontdrive. This was eventually solved by grafting Spicer joints together and enclosing them within a ball-socket centering device to make constant velocity, 30 degree steering joints. These were then combined with small needle…

You can’t buy much of an automobile for ten dollars these days, but you can certainly find plenty of good “foundations.” This theory was proven by Myles Theberge of Portland, Oregon, recently when he fashioned this snappy little three-window coupe out of just such a meager beginning. The car is basically a 1932 Ford, which has been channeled the width of the frame’s side rails but still retains its stock-height top. Rather startling in color, the car has been painted Indian Ceramic (reddish-pink), which is offset by the interior’s chartreuse and black Co-Hide upholstering. Theberge rebuilt the car with the aid of his friend Bill Peterson, a fellow member of the Columbia Timing Association and the Ramblers club. Exhibited in Portland’s 1952 Speedorama, the car won first place in the…

Pete Ogden, a native New Yorker who claims to have an “inherent Rube Goldberg instinct,” decided to build what he considered a “decent looking” car. Using his skill as a metal man he went to work on a wrecked 1934 Ford roadster and, after three years, came up with the neat machine pictured on these pages. Basic chassis of the car remains standard, except for the later style transmission, wheels, hubs, and hydraulic brakes. The engine retains a “moderate modified” status by having had few alterations made on it. Since Pete uses the car exclusively for daily transportation, the power plant’s output is entirely adequate to his needs. Interior of the car is tastefully upholstered in buff colored leather which offsets the exterior’s gleaming maroon paint finish.…

Sgt. Bud Coons of the Pomona Police Department is one police officer who likes to go fast for the sport of it. He takes an active interest in organized hot rod activities and is largely responsible for the successful development of the Pomona drag strip. Bud’s personal car bears out his belief and interest in practical hot rods. The car is a conservatively customized 1949 Chevrolet four door sedan that presents a very clean and smooth appearance. Power is derived from a modified “270” GMC engine which provides outstanding performance and is very reliable. The GMC engine has been bored to 6 inches, which, in conjunction with the stock four-inch stroke, produces 292 cubic inches. The pistons are Horning-Venolia permanent mold. The head is a pre-1950 GMC that has been…

Hot rod competition activities are many and varied. Only a few of these are actually speed competition; most are contests of the hot rodder’s skill in actual day-to-day driving. The drags, lake meets and high-speed chicane races or gymkhanas are icing on the hot rodder’s cake, and can safely be held only on specific off-the-road courses under strict club or association supervision and in co-operation with local authorities. What about the other 90 percent of the time? If one lives in an area where there just isn’t a place to run drags or time trials every week-end and the local authorities frown on such innocuous activities as reliability runs, what then? The Gripers of Pasadena. California (HRM, November 1952, “Something to Gripe About”), although they suffer from neither of the…

DUAL PROBLEM Dear Don: In every issue of Hot Rod Magazine I pick up (too lazy to subscribe) I see ads from cover to cover on mufflers—less back pressure, etc. One thing they never advertise is that you are subject to a citation and fine, plus the cost of removing a set that may have cost you $50.00 or more to install, when you buy such mufflers. Too much noise, etc., is the complaint. Of course. I admit some guys run everything into the ground, but look how’ many people make a living installing and making the special pipes and mufflers. I pass a large muffler company every day going back and forth to work and there are always three or four cars on the racks getting their invitations for…

Louis Angelucci, of Whittier. Calif., has j a sparkling black ’32 street roadster that is what we’d call a real catbird! Gliding noiselessly down the street, it is a sight to behold. Lou built it with two ideas in mind: to have himself a good looking, smooth riding car and to provide a “portable laboratory’’ for testing an electronic, non-mechanical ignition system which he and an engineer friend have been working on. To check the operation of an ordinary mechanical distributor under running conditions, they put together an oscilloscope which can be mounted on the dash. Although they still have some kinks to iron out of their igniter, Lou has high hopes that it will prove practical one of these days. Meanwhile. he uses the roadster for fair weather transportation,…

Handicap Controls Who should know more about setting up a car for use by handicapped drivers than other handicapped drivers? The answer is so obvious it need not be answered. Pictured here are controls which can be ordered by mail or factory installed on any car to give those who are permanently or temporarily handicapped, in one way or another, the use of an automobile. Picture number i shows the standard mail order kit installed on the automobile belonging to Fritz Crauth, manager of the “Flying Wheels” basketball team. Picture number 2 shows car set up at the factory for a quadruplegic customer who has normal use of arms but not legs or fingers. The controls are even available for use with standard shift in light trucks or automobiles, as…

To hear the boys talk in Tuxtla before the start of the III Pan-American Race, the only thing hotter than their assembled “rods” was the climate. I risked moving around in this tropical oven of a town to see what they thought they had that was good enough to cream the Ferraris. Mercedes and Gordinis. Stashed in garages up the side streets were four bids for the dizzy fame guaranteed the guy who could bring a souped-up job across the finish line ahead of the highly touted bevy of European iron. Star entry was the car carrying No. i in the Sports category, where anything went, as far as modification was concerned. I found drivers Fernando Duran and Reynaldo Mejia giving their radically altered’ ’47 Cadillac sedanette a last-minute onceover,…

During the course of customizing a car it is almost always necessary to fill holes in the body and fenders—holes that are left when chrome strips or small ornaments have been removed. When these holes are filled by welding, the body metal has a tendency to warp and buckle, especially on flat panels. This generally necessitates extensive reworking of the warped areas, which can be difficult and often quite costly in both time and money. We were aware that there are methods by which such holes can be quickly and easily filled with minimum warpage or panel distortion, so to satisfy our curiosity we journeyed out to the Barris Kustom Shop in Lynwood, Calif., where many of the nation’s outstanding custom jobs have been developed. We confronted owner George Barris…

One of Southern California’s newest hot rod jewels is Paul Dallmeier’s 1925-T Mercury-powered roadster. The car was built for street and airstrip use, and is as neat as they come. The combination of maroon paint, cream eggshell upholstery, and lots of chromium make it an attractive showpiece. Frame is 1932 Ford reworked. Special radius rods, bumpers, kick plates, etc., were built by Bob’s Welding, Anaheim. The body has been channeled over the frame 4 inches. Front end is dropped by use of a Dago axle. Rear end is 1940 Ford with 4.11 to 1 gears for dragging. The 305 cu. in. Mercury engine has a Potvin Super cam, Edelbrock heads, JE pistons, Evans 3 carburetor manifold, and Potvin ignition. Total weight of car, 1800 lbs.…

Howarth M. Foulds, of Los Angeles, Calif., has completely restored this ’32 Buick sedan. Painted a light ma-roon with gray leatherette top, the car presents a stylish appearance, complete with side-mounted spare wheels. The inside has been upholstered in gray and cream leatherette. As clean as the car is, its most interesting features are the engine and chassis. The frame, springs and front axle are stock ’32 Buick. The spindles, brake assemblies, rear end and wheels are 1949 Ford. The engine is a 1951 Mercury which is equipped with Edelbrock heads and a Harman and Collins 3/4 cam. All other engine components are stock Merc. The side-shift transmission is a ’51 Merc, fitted with 26-tooth Lincoln gears.…

Tom McLaughlin takes great delight in § appearing at the dry lakes or drag strips with cars that are definitely out of the ordinary. This I can vouch for, having known Tom for some years. Before WW-II, Tom ran a ’32 Ford convertible with a Lincoln Zephyr engine. Why he chose this 12-cylinder, cast-iron boat anchor is a question that Tom cannot answer himself. However, another Zephyr engine, the poor man’s Ferrari, appeared in his next creation, a ’35 Auburn Speedster. Since the war, McLaughlin has concentrated on sedans, the first of these being a rather conventional ’41 Ford tudor with a 3/8 by 3/8 Merc, engine. In 1950. Tom bought a ’36 Cord sedan, adapted Chrysler front and rear assemblies to it and installed his Merc. This combination performed…