Indholdsfortegnelse for July 1959 i Hot Rod

Man, what a ball … customize in miniature just like you want your big car to look some day. Here’s a chance to build one of Detroit’s bombs just the way you’d like it. These new AMT customizing kits provide all the necessary parts—1 /25th actual size. Build it just like the factory does, or for competition on the race track, or as a custom, ready for the car show. There’s a choice of most all the sharpest ’58 or ’59 hardtops or convertibles … Ford Fairlane 500’s, T-birds, Bonnevilles, Impalas, whatever you like.…

“COMPLETE” is truly the word to describe this amazing book. For beginners and seasoned Hot Rodders, from basic theory to the latest in techniques, THE COMPLETE BOOK OF HOT RODDING covers the entire field in detail. Authored by automotive magazine publisher Robert E. Petersen and the editors of Hot Rod Magazine, this master reference is certain to nrnvide vou with scores of ideas YOU CAN USE. OVER 200 PAGES OF THE MOST EXCITING HOT RODDING MATERIAL EVER COMPILED IN ONE VOLUME! THE HOT ROD STORY-Learn how the sport of hot rodding actually began. Here.is the history of its development, obstacles which blocked its growth. HOT RODDERS TACKLE THE WORLD’S ENGINES —How veteran hot rod enthusiasts get more power. An invaluable checklist of primary facts. GETTING MORE HORSEPOWER FROM YOUR ENGINE…

Published especially for high school graduates and seniors Just off the presses! A valuable 48-page booklet titled The Secret of Getting Ahead. This free booklet explains all about the special Army opportunities open to high school graduates— shows you how to make your diploma pay off in military service! Learn how you can choose technical schooling before enlistment The Secret of Getting Ahead includes the complete Graduate Specialist story—all the facts about the Army educational program for high school graduates and seniors only. If you meet Graduate Specialist qualifications, you’ll be able to choose technical schooling before enlistment. This booklet describes each of 107 Graduate Specialist courses—gives you details about up-to-the-minute training in Electronics, Atomic Weapons, Radar & Television Repair, Machine Accounting, Guided Missiles, Drafting and many more. Do you…

“When I sold my business and retired I knew exactly what I wanted to do: slide behind the wheel of a big longlegged car and spend a solid year seeing the U.S.A., all the places I’d missed. “And I knew exactly the car I wanted, too, after an evening studying Chevy’s all-out list of options. Here’s my own recipe for the ideal cross-country automobile: “An Impala convertible (wind through the Grand Tetons just one glorious morning with the top down and you’ll know why I wouldn’t have anything else); the Turboglide transmission* (so completely automatic it takes the strain out of strange big-city traffic—and that Grade Retard range really saves the brakes in the Western mountains); and that whopping 348-cubic-inch Turbo-Thrust V8* (of the nine engines Chevy offers, this is…

One of the most popular west coast hot rod events is the annual Gold Cup Drags at Santa Ana. California. This year’s meet was no exception—a near record crowd turned out to wit-ness the area’s best gas-burners in action. Traditionally known as a strip where street-driven machines find a big welcome mat out. Santa Ana hosted an enormous Field of Stock cars and Gas coupes & sedans. Late models were plentiful and outstanding, with a large number of pickups. El Caminos and Rancheros in hot competition Cars entered in the hotter classes were generally top-runners of the sport. Roadsters were numerous and potent coupes were the wildest. True to form, the 1959 Gold Cup Drags were typical of Santa Ana events—a big success.…

Gritting your teeth is about the only thing you can do when your road-rod refuses to fire up, especially when it happens in front of a skeptical, ad-libbing crowd: “How can you talk about how well it goes when you can’t even get it to start?“But there are several ways to save that precious dental enamel, at least the portion that’s being ground away over starter worries. Recent developments in the battery field can solve your cranking problem if it falls into any one of the three following catagories: 1. You’ve got a 12-volt late model ohv engine you want to install in an early model chassis having a 6-volt electrical system. 2. Your car is factory equipped with a big V8, but was one of the last of the…

The cooling system in your car deserves more attention than just pulling into a gas station and saying “Check the water please.” The cooling system handles nearly one third of the heat generated in the engine. In terms of power this equals the entire output of the engine at the fly-wheel. The more efficient the engine the smaller will be the heat rejection into the cooling system, but even the latest and most efficient ohv V-eights give off 25 to 35G of their power and heat to the cooling. This heat must be disposed of winter or summer. on the open road as well as in bumper to bumper traffic. The need for cooling is governed by the resistance to heat of various engine components. Heat must be carried away…

February 14. 1956—a Red Letter day for hot rod enthusiasts in the Hanover, Pennsylvania, area. On this date, one of the most active and respected hot rod clubs in the East was organized, with sponsorship of the Hanover Kiwanis Club in, cooperation with the Hanover Area Youth Council and several farsighted civic officials. Recognizing the benefits a well organized and supervised car club could bring to the community, the Hanover Police Department assigned Patrolman Harold Shorb as official advisor to the new club. (Shorb was later appointed NHRA Regional Advisor to the area.) Since this was the first organized car club in the area, the club leaders recognized the need for a full-time schedule to keep the club alive and active. On March 28, 1956. the group received its Charter…

Reporter: Bill, you’ve been racing now for a quarter of a century. That’s a lot of time with an engine in your lap. You must have handled all kinds. Bill: Yes … big ones and little ones. Like this hot midget I drive now. It’s a sweet little engine, and I like to keep it that way. That’s why I never put anything into it but Pennzoil with Z-7. Reporter: You must have good reasons for that. Bill: The best! Pennzoil keeps an engine running at peak performance from start to checkered flag. Helps an engine develop all the horsepower it’s capable of, too. Like streamlining on the outside cuts wind friction … Pennzoil on the inside cuts friction between moving engine parts. Lets your engine put all its power…

THE OFFICIAL WORD No doubt about it, you’ll be lost at the drag races unless you know your classes and rules. Copies of the official 1959 Drag Rules books are available. They were compiled by NHRA, based on experience gained at hundreds of drag strips, and are in use at most strips throughout the world. Get your copy at your local speed shop or via NHRA, 1171 No. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles 29, Calif. 25c each. SPORTS CAR FILM Kendall has announced the release of a new 25-minute color film on the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Sports Car Races called “Competition Driver.” Described as one of the most thrilling and accurate films yet to be made on the sport of road racing, the film is available for free showing to…

Certainly, you’ll be a space man — lots ot young men today will be the space men of tomorrow. Oh, not in the sense that you will be taking rocket trips to the moon - (although you may even be doing that). But rather that if you are educated in engineering technology, you will probably be engaged in some sort of space age research or manufacture. The Aviation-Electronics Industries are already far along with advanced studies having to do with “space!’ Nothing can stand in the way of the Future - and the Future belongs to You - if you will prepare for it. NOW IS THE TIME Get the education you need to become employed by an excellent company whose future may be limitless as the stars. Your earnings…

Drag racing gained new stature in Dixie recently when the Helena, Alabama drag strip hosted a big March of Dimes benefit event. Top ranking names in Southern drag circles were on hand to compete for honors in the 26 car classes, setting several new strip records in the process. One of the event’s most enthusiastic boosters was Jefferson County’s sheriff, Chief Morris, who was there to take part in the program. His crew of officers added a welcome assist to the sponsoring rodders who conducted this well-run operation. With some 200 cars entered and 2,000 spectators in attendance, the event netted approximately $1,500 for the March of Dimes fund—an admirable accomplishment any way you look at it.…

Old-time readers of Hot Rod will remember a cartoon character named Stroker McGurk whose favorite saying was, “If it don’t go, chrome it.” What Stroker meant was if you didn’t have horsepower, you could at least make the engine sparkle and look pretty. A new interpretation of Stroker’s saying has popped up lately in the hot rod field, and in this latest case chrome is being used to make the engine go instead of sparkle. There are two types of chrome plating; decorative chrome and industrial hard chrome plating. The decorative chrome is, as the name implies, used for decorative purposes on such items as automotive body trim, bumpers, tools, door knobs and just plain pots and pans. The thickness of this chrome is usually from .00001- to .00005-inch. which…

INGENUITY IN ACTION.” that’s the theme of the National Championship Drag Races presented annually by the members of the National Hot Rod Association. This year’s “Big Go” will be held at Detroit. Michigan, right in the automotive capital of the world, where a quarter-million-dollar super dragstrip is being constructed. As usual, it’ll take place on Labor Day weekend; five days and two nights of drag racing. September 3rd through 7th. Previous year’s Nationals have been held in Kansas, Missouri, and two in Oklahoma, with each event bigger and more exciting than the one before. The ’58 Nationals attracted an estimated 70,000 people during the four days running, and car entries reached the set limit of 500 long before the deadline date. With the addition of night racing this year, production…

A RED-HOT market for ANY product! Most young fellows are keen on cars—that’s the reason they read HOT ROD and buy the automotive items advertised in its pages. But they’re also “fired up” over a wider range of products— a range which includes sports, clothing, toiletries, hobbies and countless other facets of living. HOT ROD’S a sure lure for these all-around guys—and what they like, they buy. If your product appeals to the 18-25 year old group, showcase it in HOT ROD—today’s hottest youth market.…

Now, GLIDE CONTROL lets you achieve automatically, with any car, exactly what professional “economy run” drivers are famous for — record-breaking fuel savings through precise, even throttle control and fuel-feed! You get any speed you want, without the usual gas pedal “palpitation“—without excessive, wasted rpm without burning up gasoline needlessly. Glide Control is a perfected, precision-made electronic instrument, proven efficient and fool-proof in rigid performance tests by leading engineers. GREATLY REDUCES FATIGUE Another constant aim of “pro” drivers is minimum fatigue, and Glide Control can promise you this advantage. It ends the tiring, cramping strain of holding right foot steadily on accelerator pedal. The usual tenseness of long grinds on thruways and much of the strain of local hops can be forgotten for good. Wherever you drive with Glide Control,…

Consulting Engineer, S.A.E., James Glidewell, reports: “My main interest in new Flying A was how it would affect engine performance. I found that Flying A burned clean and left little or no engine deposits. A clean engine delivers peak power and mileage—with less repairs and maintenance. New Flying A 100+ is an outstanding gasoline development.“ Here’s why: 1) Tidewater’s advanced refining removes sulphur, nitrogen and dicyclic aromatics—the “impure” gasoline components that cause engine deposits. 2) Flying A contains no special chemical additives that further contribute to forming deposits. Result: Flying A 100+ is the only gasoline in the West that burns clean! And over 100-octane, it eliminates knocks in all engines. No increase in price. Flying A combines highest-octane with cleanest-burning performance—all this at no extra cost to you. TIDEWATER…

When Ford discontinued production of their two-passenger Thunderbird and made the switch to a new. larger four-passenger model in 1958, a lot of people (including us) thought that they had made a big mistake. Ford pointed out that surveys of Thunderbird owners indicated the Birds were being bought for prestige and styling—which they delivered, but a common complaint was that the ’55-’5 7 models could only accommodate the driver and one additional passenger in com-fort. Holding only two people, the T-Bird was impractical for families with children except as an extra car and with the limited luggage space, wasn’t too well suited for lengthy trips by even just two people. Surveyed owners replied that the one improvement most wanted was extra seating room so that at least four people at…

When Ray Brock tested the then-new Chevrolet El Camino for HRM’s February issue, he made the remark that the car’s quarter-mile performance was mediocre up to 40 mph due to the extremely high (2.20 to 1) low’ gear in the four-speed Corvette transmission that was part of our test car’s standard equipment. He further went on to state that breaking 100 mph with an elapsed time close to 14 seconds flat should be possible with an identically equipped El Camino (315 horsepower engine option ) if it were correctly geared for the course. HRM’s test car had a 3.36 rear end giving an overall ratio in low of 7.39. Ray suggested the 4.56 ratio as being the required change, which would give an overall low gear ratio of 10.03, >f…

Anybody who has been around the drag strips long knows that /I acceleration is pretty much a function of the weight- to-horsepower ratio. The fewer pounds of lard each hp has to lug. the quicker you get down that quarter-mile. The Arfons brothers—Walt and Art—of Akron. Ohio, have applied This principle in its rawest form on their famous series of “Green Monster” dragsters. They reasoned this way: If you put a modified automotive engine in a light dragster chassis, about the best weight/power ratio you can get is 2 pounds per hp—even with a big GMC supercharger and nitro fuel. But, if you start out with a lightweight aluminum aircraft engine with a highly efficient centrifugal supercharger and huge cubic inches, you can get down close to one pound per…

Imagine a track 3414 miles long, where modified coupes can scream at full throttle I for days on end, with nothing to stop them, and a devoted public that cheers the I faster the cars go and the louder the exhausts blast. This is Argentina’s Gran Premio, held in December of each year, spanning a colorful variety of the country by way of existing roads. Somewhat reminiscent of the Mexican Road Race, last year’s course was divided into seven sections; the longest of 629 miles, the shortest being a tortuous 261-mile mountain stretch! Rules ask for modified coupes, where engine and frame must be of the same make, though obviously not of the same year. However, some limitations exist due to the difficult import situation of Argentina where a modern…

You’re absolutely right, Madam, about TOP SPEED! You have no use for it yourself … but look at it this way: your car would not perform well for you if someone hadn’t first done a great deal of trying out every engine part under rigid test conditions. GRANT PISTON RINGS have long been known for delivering maximum power with excellent economy of oil and fuel. Those drivers shown at the left side of this page have access to any piston rings made — but year-after-year they choose GRANT RINGS … and for very good reasons. Speeds up to 300 m.p.h. call for absolute reliability. … and speed at 30 m.p.h., Madam, calls for exacting oil control and power-saving as well. Your short trips — with constant starting and stopping —…