Indholdsfortegnelse for December 1966 i Hot Rod

Since the world began to move on wheels, one particular type of car has always had a tremendous following. Needless to say, this model, regardless of make, is the roadster. Though fewer of them are seen on the highways today than were around during yesteryear, the number is still impressive considering how many years have passed since the last one rolled from an assembly line. Perhaps one reason the number has grown in recent years, rather than decreased as expected with time and wear, is due to the fact that fiberglass reproductions of all sorts have caused an upsurge in interest in these particular body styles. Still, the availability of “new” bodies is only one part of the roadster building story. A few other mighty important ingredients are required if…

Features. Entirely new engine with high-strength precision castings, general performance camshaft, hydraulic valve lifters and dual exhausts with resonators. Valves are 1.94” intake, 1.50” exhaust. Capacities. The gas tank holds 18.5 gallons. Oil capacity is 4 quarts, 5 with filter. The radiator holds 17 quarts. Transmissions Standard. Fully synchronized column-mounted 3-speed. Ratios are 2.54, 1.50, 1.00. Also available. Fully synchronized Special 3-speed. Ratios are 2.41, 1.57, 1.00. Floor-mounted. Fully synchronized 4-speed on the floor. Ratios are 2.52, 1.88, 1.47, 1.00. Powerglide 2-speed, 3-element automatic. Ratios are 3.70 to 1.76 range. Column shift standard, floormounted when center console is specified. Steering. Manual with recirculating ball gear. Standard ratio is 24.0:1. Power steering is 17.5:1. Fast ratio available—21.6:1 manual; 15.6:1 power. Suspension. Independent coil spring spherical joint front suspension with low-friction spherical…

owner: Dick Rundell Long Beach, California car: ’28 Ford T…

How often have you said to yourself, “Gee, that’s so simple I wonder why someone didn’t think of it before.” It seems axiomatic that when an inventor sits down to solve a problem, he is often prone to take the long way around to reach a solution. Remember, the Model T had a rather involved planetary transmission long before the simple, straight-forward three-speed gearbox was invented. Just such a case is represented by the new Hy-Torq differential, made in Portland, Oregon. It is so simple it’s almost unbelievable. The principle involved concerns the overriding sprag clutch, an idea that’s been around for a long time. In the Hy-Torq unit, the sprag clutch idea has been carried one step further in that it has been made double-acting so that it locks…

SHOW SCHEDULES COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA Speed & Hot Rod Show plus Teen-O-Rama, Feb. 11-12, Orange County Fair Grounds. Hunters Car Club of Santa Ana, P.O. Box 400, Maywood, Calif. 90270. OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA National Roadster Show, Feb. 17-26, Coliseum Exhibit Hall. Al Slonaker, 8208 East Meadowbrook, Scottsdale, Ariz. 85251. SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA Inland Empire Teen-O-Rama, Custom Car & Hot Rod Show, Jan. 12-15, National Orange Show Grounds (2 buildings). K-MEN Radio, Coachmen Car Club of Berdoo, P.O. Box 400, Maywood, Calif. 90270. SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA Custom Auto Show & Boat Show, Jan. 12-15, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. Paul Bender, 358 Roan Street. SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA Auto Show, Jan. 5-8, San Mateo County Fair Grounds. Harry Costa, Jr., 661 San Mateo Avenue, San Bruno, Calif. HONOLULU, HAWAII Hawaiian Hot Rod Show, Dec.…

That’s right. The canteen is rigged to be an overflow catch-can. It’s also true that any well-spun performance engine should be equipped with such a device to avoid watered track surfaces. But what other tricks can you find in the photo? Give up? How ’bout the snap-on connection where the usual block-mounted drain plug goes? Know of an easier way to fill a block with coolant without trapping air in the jacketing? Filling from the “bottom up” sidesteps this problem of bubbles and possible steam pockets when the engine becomes heated. Makes draining simple, too. And notice the head studs and flat washers under the nuts. Whether you select capscrews or stud/nut combinations for head holding, use the washers. Doing so will prevent head metal from being gouged and scuffed…

An easily-made, inexpensive, useful shelf and Hilborn injector tube cover can be made in just a few minutes. Take a piece of ¾-inch-thick plywood and cut it into an 18 × 13-inch piece. Obtain a length of wooden molding, about ½- to ¾-inch high, cut for length and nail to the edge along the top. Now set the plywood on the intake tubes and pencil the tube top pattern on the bottom of the wood. Four 1¾-inch rubber radiator plugs can be purchased from your local radiator shop. Use eight if desired. A large washer and wood screw will secure these to the wood. Drill four holes, ½-inch in diameter, on each side of the wood — spaced equally. These can be your plug holders when changing spark plugs. Number…

Strictly for strip applications, this unfiltered air collector is another of the “air grabbers” we’re showing you this month. The essence of a low-cost performance part, it’s no trick to find this item at the neighborhood hardware store. If you can find no other way to hook the elbow to the carburetor air horn, simply drill one hole in the elbow’s bend so that the stock air cleaner stud will pass through the sheet metal. A short section of copper tubing (cut to match the slanted surface of the elbow) and the stock wing nut will hold the unit in place. Don’t forget some form of gasket at the carb/tube connection. A smear or two of paint will make the package more appealing.…

Keeping foreign matter out of a race engine is extremely important. Rags, soft rubber balls, plastic caps and various other arrangements have been used, but there is always the chore of pulling and installing each cap, one at a time. The pair you see smilin’ in the photo (Roy Leslie and son Roy, Jr.) have come up with a quicker method than pullin’ plugs one by one. A sheet of plexiglass (of about ¼-inch thickness) was drilled with hole centers coinciding with the axes of injector ram tubes. Selection was made of eight soft rubber balls which were attached to the ’glass. When cap-up or open-up time comes now, it’s a simple matter to lift the entire set of stoppers out of the injectors; just remove the plexiglass plate. Besides,…

TANK YOU Dear Sirs: As I read your August edition of HRM, I came across a letter written by Pfc. Craib telling of his 10-ton “track” in Viet Nam. Well, I decided to add my two-cents worth with an entry of a B-7, our M-88 recovery vehicle. The “track” weighs 56 tons loaded and is powered by a 1000 hp V-12 Continental supercharged fuel injected mill with an Allison cross-drive transmission which is a combination transmission differential, steering and braking unit. The striped blade in the front is used to support the weight of the track when the hoisting boom is in use. It is capable of lifting 25 tons and can pull up to 180 tons with an extra snatch block. The B-7 will clock a maximum of 35…

Zonk! Splash! Someone blew up Boulder Dam, or seeded the clouds, or moved Hurricane Inez west a few paces, or overdid it at the rain dance, or who knows what — because it’s coming down in white sheets and Route 66 just out of Flagstaff, Arizona, looks more like the Colorado River than the fabled asphalt artery. It’s raining; raining, about as hard as it does in these parts, and the Mamas and the Papas are on the radio California Dreamin’ and so are we. That Gold Coast sunshine is just the ticket for weary driving bones, chilled by the season’s first snowfall in the Rockies and miles of cold rain after. Not that the Barracuda’s heater didn’t heat; no sir, it worked like a champ, but when you have…

There are more street roadsters on the road today than at any time in the sport’s history, a large percentage constructed with fiberglass bodies. It isn’t that the old steel Model T buckets are so hard to find; it’s just that the ’glass shells are better suited to the home craftsman without the tools or technique for metal working. Just about anyone can mix up a batch of resin and get one of the “cake-mix” bodies in place. Trouble is, as these wonder material shapes come delivered, they normally don’t have doors. Oh, some builders offer an opening door as an option, but the average rodder buys the “Sally Rand” model. So whadda’ ya do when you stand there admiring that new ’glass body and the chicks ask, “How do…

It was July 18, 1965. Don Westerdale kicked the feared Ramchargers dragster to life and rumbled to the starting line at York, Pennsylvania. NHRA officials gave the go-ahead and pow!— 7.47 and a new National AA/FD Record. A year and two months later, all but ten of the 89 NHRA class records had been broken. But not the Ram-chargers’ 7.47. The nation’s toughest fueler crews had given it a try time and time again at record meets from coast to coast. But still, nobody could come up with one of those “banzai” runs at the right place at the right time. So, once again, it came time for Bernie Partridge’s Southwest Division Seven boys to take a shot at the record. The excellent year-old Irwindale Raceway was the scene of…

owner: Mike Groover Downey, California car: ’23 Ford ’T’…

There’s a spot of trouble in rear-end city — in the dragster section of town, that is. Well, maybe in some of the funny-cars and altered roadsters, too. It goes like this: When you take a production axle assembly and put it into a non-production context, grim happenings start to occur — especially with the spider gears or the axles (or even both at the same time). Which problem is the most aggravating depends on what type of machine you happen to be involved with but, all things considered, it’s not what you want to put up with, because it’s dangerous. And there are cures — several, in fact, but the ones we’re discussing this time are the talented products of Bob and Bill Summers who, besides breaking wheel-driven land…

In years past, it has been a common occurrence for a product or trademark to become a household word, synonymous (through popular usage) with the product. An outstanding example of this is the name “Kodak.” To a great many people, all cameras are Kodaks. Although many of you are not familiar with the racing game, it too has its trademark and product associations. The leader in this field might well be the trademark “Magnaflux” and its universal association with safety. If you think of safety, you naturally think of Magnaflux (and vice versa). The Magnaflux Corporation was the pioneer in the field of non-destructive metal testing and inspection through the method of magnetic particle inspection. For those of you not familiar with this process, the name itself should provide a…

Galvanic corrosion, like the theory of relativity, is an unfamiliar subject as far as the average Sunday afternoon boater is concerned. Because it is not generally understood by laymen, the problem of galvanic corrosion is too often ignored by people who boat in salt or mineral-laden waters, observe Kiekhaefer Corporation engineers. Unfortunately, the damaging corrosive effects cannot be ignored. MerCathode, Kiekhaefer’s new accessory for stern drives and outboards, is a powerful weapon in the fight against corrosion. To understand how it functions and why it’s so useful, it is necessary to understand galvanic corrosion. Whenever two dissimilar metals are placed in a conductive solution such as salt water and connected in some way, an electrical current will flow between them. The result is gradual corrosion of one of the metals.…

Rear wheel-well space can be somewhat of a problem on late Fords. So i much so that the use of large-variety drag tires often necessitates the removal of a little metal just to avoid metal/rubber contact, especially during hard acceleration runs. One solution to the problem is the arrangement you see here. Both rear springs are removed (perches and all) and placed on top of the axle housings. As you can note, spring U-bolts have been reversed, automatically placing the shock pad and attending shock mounting hole upside down. Even so, rear shocks are attached to the stock holes. The trick sometimes requires re-alignment of front end geometry, and if you plan serious and high-speed competition with the car, it would be wise to beef front suspension through the use…

And now the rage is tube front ends. This is a Chevy unit built from tube stock and wrecking yard pickings. Note the home-made front crossmember (tube), V-shaped tube member for front support of the engine and the sectioned/welded tube that is carrying the spring pad and shock brackets. Radius rods for such a setup can be made from moly tubing with threaded tie joints to facilitate proper adjustment of caster. Various leaf springarrangements can be used depending on the application you plan for the car. Other features of this particular rig are visible, the point here being that you don’t necessarily need to chop off the front end of the car to install a tube unit. Study it a little.…

owners: Mears & Hampy E. Peoria, Illinois car: ’57 Chevrolet Chevy men for years and years, Alan Mears and Dick Hampy have discarded earlier versions of Stovebolt and put together this 12.22-second, 112.50 mph D/Gas thumper. Tilted hood exposes reworked front framing. Change amounted to 35-inch cutback of stock frame, replacement with 3/32-and 1/8-inch steel welded and gusseted to original rails. Frame is now 29 inches high at center of spindles, engine is 21p inches off the ground at the crank pulley. Rear engine mounts are back 11 inches. Front axle is 4130 chrome moly tube with built-in 12° of caster, 0° camber. Spindles came from ’48 Ford, adapted to ’54 Rambler backing plates drilled to accept the Ford units. Front brake hoses are ’61 Ford (4-wheel-drive) parts that will…

This month, we trick you. There’s no literary punch designed to launch another facet of the shop series. However, this much we’ll promise: The paragraphs that follow will probably reveal a slant on engine air-flow that you’ve heretofore not considered. There’ll be a few “science” ideas, but temper your reactions with the thought that a mere half-dozen years ago, most American engine builders were content with moderately efficient fuel/air/gas control systems. The approach has a new coat of paint. Based on carefully designed tube systems, even some of the better motorcycle engines have been pullin’ as much as 2 bhp/cubic inch of engine displacement! With an unblown engine, this is definitely a bunch. If you don’t think so, consider the fact that based on this figure an unblown 327-inch Chevy…

owners: Hrudka Bros. Parma, Ohio car: ’33 Willys…

owner: Tim Shumaker South Gate, California car: ’18 Ford ’T’…

It gets hot under the hood of a competition-type car. In fact, it has long been established that air ducted to an engine from an outside source will generally provide a cooler (thus denser) charge of fuel mix. The trick lies simply in getting a sufficient amount of the fuel-carrying medium into the innards of an engine, a problem for which there are several solutions. One such approach is the use of air collectors and suitable ducting. With an eye on a tight budget, let’s discuss the water-can “lashup” you see in the photo. To get the project started, locate a gallon can, preferably a clean one. Emptied Ditto fluid containers, paint thinner cans or comparable carriers will suffice. Measure the inside diameter of the carburetor air-horn gasket and transfer…

Frequently, during installation of small-block Ford engines into the ’55-’57 T-Bird chassis, there’s a little physical get-together between oil pan sump and tie rod. Of the several methods that will alleviate the problem, the method of heating and bending the stock rod seems to be the simplest and least expensive. At first glance, it would appear that considerable bending is necessary to clear the pan, even though a total drop of about 5/8-inch is really all that is required. As you can note in the photo, the stock rod bend begins just short of the pan’s vertical side, extending almost horizontally across the pan bottom and rising to the stock height just past the opposite side. If you find that the bending operation shortens the overall length by more than…

Getting that rod up in the air, either for special showing or underside work, can sometimes be almost impossible. For years, I toted a special hydraulic jack and several cinder blocks around to the custom shows. Then I saw this creation at a Model A restorer’s meet and rushed right home to build my own. The small ramps are constructed of ¾- or 1-inch plywood, firmly glued and screwed together. A jigsaw, screwdriver and sandpaper constituted the entire toolbox, and I finished my set of ramps off with marine varnish. To keep the ramps steady while driving the car onto them, a number of small rubber bumpers are tacked to the bottom. A thin piece of rubber mat at the back of each ramp provides traction for the tires. Total…

If you own a tri-power GTO (and there are thousands who do) or have added an extra pair of carbs since the car was purchased, here’s a non-factory air collector that can be hewn from some small sheets of metal and a pocketful of sponge rubber. The photos should be reasonably explanatory, but it would probably help to mention a couple of items. Make all the solder joints as air-tight as possible, and don’t forget to check spark plug coloration to see if minor carburetor re-jetting is necessary due to the increased air-flow Actually, the center air cleaner is installed as an aligning device, the top of the “box” being held in place by the closed hood. Sponge rubber further aids in containing inducted air. Ignition timing can also be…

HOT ROD MART Requirements: 25 word limit per ad, not including name and address. We reserve right to edit copy or refuse ads. While not responsible for accuracy of description, we will reject misleading statements. No ads from commercial firms. Only one car may be listed in any one ad; this limitation not to apply to parts or equipment, however. $10 per ad must accompany each insertion. When photo is included, the rate is increased to $15 per insertion. Due to normal publication schedule, allow at least two months from time ad is received until it is printed. SELL — ’36 Ford cpe., V-85, 3 window, orig. stock equipt., whl. cover, driven daily, body mint. Best offer over $750. P. Hurst, 11 Grove St., Plainville, Conn. 747-2220. SELL — ’18…