Indholdsfortegnelse for May 1970 i Hot Rod

For some months now we’ve been telling you all about the Rapid Transit System and how, among other things, it contains the best handling, best stopping, best performing and best equipped high-performance cars in the Industry. But the propaganda mill being what it is these days, we figured there might be a few skeptics left in the audience. So we decided to prove something. We asked the country’s top Super Stock driver, Ronnie Sox, and the country’s best Super Stock car builder, Buddy Martin, to take six of our cars, in absolute pure stock condition, and put them to the test. No holds barred, guys, do your thing —critique them, drive them, run the lung out of them—and if we look bad somewhere, tell us. At the same time, we…

Darn near everybody’s building ‘em — it’s just that Dick Landy has been there before. Dick and many of his Pro Stock contemporaries aren’t newcomers to this heads-up scene. In fact, they’re actually responsible for this reentry into exciting Super Stock racing. Before this new eliminator appeared, the racers, the racing press and the spectators were screaming for headsup Super Stock racing; and the sanctioning bodies really had no choice but to initiate it into their programs. Of course, prior to the regulations imposed by both NHRA and AHRA (and it sure would be nice to have one set of rules for both Pro Stock Eliminators for the two organizations), racers like Landy made appearances throughout the country, racing one another in various match races. The cars they used weren’t…

Our bolt-on goody this month is a fuel shutoff valve that is more of a theft prevention device than any-thing else, but we’re all for a good thing — like girls and apple pie. With one of these valves (we’re showing two similar units) installed into your fuel system, an uncouth character trying to hot-wire your wheels some night would only get about two blocks away before a fuel-starved carburetor would force him to abandon the car. You see, our little shutoff valve consists of a simple electric solenoid (any other type?) that is “spliced” into the fuel line on your car. Wired up properly, it allows fuel to flow only when you permit. One of the valves shown is a product of Quarter Master Industries in Skokie, Illinois, while…

Derry and Dale Snelson built their ‘48 Anglia so they could race. Thus, when winter closes down the Polar Dragway in Anchorage, they head south with their machine. The Anglia frame sports a Don Long front end, tubular roll cage and narrowed ‘58 Poncho rear end with 4.56 cogs. The 427-inch Chevy is outfitted with TRW pistons, Ramco rings, Sig Erson roller cam and kit, M/T rocker arms, Hilborn injection, Hays clutch, Vertex mag and Mondello-reworked heads. Derry and Dale built the engine in their shop, S&S Racing Engines. Henrys’ Machine Works narrowed the rear end and equipped it with their special axles. Hurst/Airheart disc brakes are hidden behind the M&H-shod Halibrand mags. Front end combo is Halibrands and Pirellis on Anglia spindles. An adapter plate by B&M Automotive accepts…

Motorcycle racers are a breed all their own, a rare mixture of gung ho and che serà serà. Their recent inauguration of NHRA’s unprecedented run-what-ya-brung bike rules for 1970 at Southern California’s Irwindale Raceway reflected their devotion to the sport time and again. For despite the trials of breaking in a new set of rules and bike-savvy crew, 4397 spectators got their share of smoky kicks; and NHRA’s record book, open to national motorcycle records for the first time, was swelled by eleven tough ones. Despite the inevitable shortcomings that are part and parcel of a first-time event, the meet must be termed a success, because of the elasticity of the racers and the determination of Irwindale’s one-in-a-million manager Mel Reck. In drag racing, if the strip manager invites your…

Dear John: I own a ‘65 Chevelle 283 two-barrel, and I want to boost the performance. The engine will have a set of four-tube headers and a hi-rise manifold. What size factory cam would give good performance? What is the purpose of eccentric bushings in the phasing-in of a performance cam? Is the phasing-in of a cam really necessary for good performance? Grant Jones Ames, Iowa The above “Shop Talk” letter is typical of the many requests we receive each week for solid basic information. However, this particular letter hit an area that is extremely important to both performance and extended engine life. I must apologize to Mr. Jones for using his letter as an example, but it was his questions that sparked this column. Far too often, the “would-be”…

Karl Johnson, a Salinas, California, electrician, wanted a show quality roadster at the lowest possible cost. Karl’s first snag was in fabricating a roadster body from the pieces of a 1915 Buick four-door touring car. After literally months of effort, Johnson managed to fabricate an aesthetically pleasing roadster body, with the abbreviated turtle deck serving as a shelf for an old-fashioned cylindrical gas tank. Since Karl had already decided on a ‘55 Buick V8 for motive power, his next problem was to fabricate some type of frame that would accommodate both the engine and the body. Normally a simple task, except for the fact that Karl wasn’t particularly enthused about having his roadster ride like a roadster. To soften the bumps, Karl selected Fiat 600 shocks and coil springs for…

Aspectator at the Daytona 500 might consider the ticket sellers the busiest people at the track. That’s not so. This year, Tiny Lund was the busiest man at Daytona. Actually, he and Bob- by Allison vied for the title of man-with-the-most-duties, but since Tiny’s win record was better, Tiny edges Allison out, because he also had to serve time in Victory Circle. During the four days leading up to the “500,” each man drove in four races, the maximum number possible. Two qualifying races are run to determine starting positions on Thursday, and entries are split, making it next to impossible to run in both unless relief driving is done. Then on Friday, the Citrus 250 Grand American Challenge Cup (nee Grand Touring or G.T.) car race is run over…

The very last word in speed secrets, as far as keeping an automatic transmission working for a long period of time, is “Keep it cool!” That one thing alone will contribute more to transmission life than any other combination of things you can do. An oil cooler is a must when working your automatic. Off-roaders, camper haulers, trailer haulers — take note. If your car has an automatic, install a cooler; the cost is a very small fraction of what you’d pay to have a burnt-out transmission overhauled. The unit shown here is a Hayden Trans-Cooler, used on the famous off-road-race-winning Baja Boots. There are several types of commercial coolers available; and if you’re frugal, get an old air conditioner/condenser radiator from a wrecking yard and route the hydro oil…

Not quite! Lou Fabian, a dedicated hot rodder, slipped a Ford 289 engine and all-new drive train under his Hudson Jet (that’s something like an Edsel or Pierce-Arrow) drag machine and then discovered the wider rear end would hang the wheels too far outboard — like where the fender panels are. Naturally he had a problem to solve, and there were two approaches to it. First, he could have the rear end housing narrowed and buy custom axles (you don’t run shortened, welded axles in race cars), or he could pick up a pair of Olds Toronado wheels. You can see how he solved the situation. Besides, those holes help keep the rear binders cool should he ever have to use them.…

You’ve all heard of Dave Strickler. He races Chevys in and out of York, Pennsylvania. And we’re sure you’ve heard of Bill Stiles. He races Plymouths in and out of York, Pennsylvania. Well, according to rumors, the former somehow got hold of the latter’s prize possession: his race car. That winning license plate (or is it an identification plate?) was the end result of this meeting. Bill Stiles went racing shortly thereafter and didn’t get an eyeful of the tag for most of one day. After spotting it, he thought it was becoming, so he left it hanging. We have secretly learned that he has taken the plate seriously and plans to do something about it; but in the meantime, he’s taking it in stride.…

If you find it a touchy situation to pull valve cover bolts or screws from the heads when the engine is hot, then look at things this way. By getting rid of the stock bolts and replacing them with long bolts, like about 3 inches worth, you can quickly remove the covers without getting burned, and you’ll reduce chances of dropping the goodies on the deck. And how do you keep the covers cinched down when the bolt head is about 3 inches in the air? Easy! Run a pair of nuts up on each bolt. They play the role easy enough when jammed together. Quite often when new cork gaskets are installed too, it’s hard to start the stock bolts because they are so short. So with long bolts,…

There’s only one “Wild Willie” in the realm of drag racing, and he’s chief pilot of a flying machine known as the “Winged Express.” According to Webster, one definition of the term “wild” can be applied to a person who is uncontrolled, while another can describe a cat who is simply fantastic. Both terms are appropriate here, as no one is more controlled, yet more fantastic, when it comes to driving a A A/Fuel Altered roadster than “Wild Willie” Borsch of Los Angeles. When his big blown ‘T’ roadster smokes off the line, headed for another 200-mph run down the 1320 in the low, low elapsed time of 7.40 seconds, sure as shootin’ Willie will be doin’ his thing with one hand. He’s famous for driving with his right hand,…

That first supercar Chevelle, back in 1965, was some kind of a strong machine. It had a 375-horse 396, and while it lacked a few of the refinements that occur with aging, it began life as the hottest Chevrolet, except for Corvettes, ever to run off the end of an assembly line. The 350-horse-power 327 V8 Chevy II was a fair equal, but the lengths to which it could be taken weren’t as far-reaching as the inaugural issue of the SS396. The first model was a brute, and the last model of the Chevelle muscle car is the epitome of parts-gathering from existing bins for adaptability to something that can and will perform. And last in the line of supercar products by Chevrolet may well be this one: a 454-cubic-inch,…

Back in the good old days before slipper clutches, there used to be so much smoke boiling off the back of fuelers that many people couldn’t see who won the race. But, for the most part, that colorful phase of drag racing is history. With the introduction of the bleachbox, some of the smoky glamour is back as the diggers do their burnouts in preparation for the quarter-mile sprint. However, if you are not sitting close enough to the action, you miss out on this exciting part of a day at the drags. We placed ace PPC photographer Gerry Stiles where the action was, and this is what he came up with… pretty wild, huh? The participants (clockwise from below) are: Tom Larkin, Kelly Brown, Bob Hightower, Frank Pedregon, Jimmy…

photography: Eric Rickman You’ll have to look a long time before you’ll find a machine to match the Henderson brothers’ labor of love. Picture if you will a ‘41 Willys chassis with a flip-up ‘66 Stingray bod lengthened 4 inches and featuring opening doors. If this hasn’t blown your mind, how about a 440-cubic-inch rat motor hooked to a ‘67 Clutch-Flite typewriter trans lashed to a ‘57 Poncho rear end? Putting all this together took a bit of thrashing, but Mike and Gary took the time and patience to come up with a real winner. The balanced innards have .060-inch oversize Venolia pistons swinging from L-88 rods. A Sig Er son cam and kit are used with L-88 rockers pushing lightened valves. Hilborn injection passes the charge through ports reworked…

The best quarter-mile speed our Boss 302 could muster during testing for our January road test was 97.50 mph, with a low elapsed time of 14.62 seconds. The car carried a 3.91:1 limited-slip-equipped rear gear and ran on stock tires, which are F60-15. We thought it could do better, and a slight bit of work proves that it can. Ak Miller’s garage came to our aid with some help in the tuning department. Valve covers were popped off and rocker arm clearance was checked. All were okay at .025-inch clearance. A new set of dual points were slipped in, because the stock set encountered point bounce at 6000 rpm and above. The distributor calibration was set at 18 degrees initial lead, with a total of 42 degrees, all of which…

A year’s time and $1600 of those long green ones and Gary has a really different roadster pickup. We say “different” because this shortened and narrowed chassis began life as a ‘32 Ford and now has a Dodge roadster body (you don’t see many of them anymore) and a Chevrolet engine. The engine is a 283-inch block overbored .060 to 292 cubes. Heads are Corvette fuel-injection type. Corvette dual-point ignition is used. The intake manifold is a ram-log type custom-made from sheet metal. Four Rochester quads feed the 292 cubes through a crisscross manifolding arrangement. Bendix electric pumps push the fuel up to the jugs. A set of Hedman Hedders handle the used fuel through a pair of glasspack mufflers. The basically stock engine uses Grant rings and has a…

But when a winter weekend rolls around, you’ll find him schussing on some Michigan hill or “bombing the powder” on a Vermont slope. Sy is a research chemist at GM’s Research Laboratories in Warren, Michigan. And the project he’s involved in is MetNet (short for metal network). It’s a material — a lot like Styrofoam,® only metal—that can be produced with a uniform structure. Sy’s material is used in GM’s auto safety research program to measure surface impact of test dummies in simulated collisions. GM researchers—like Sy Katz — have now discovered many additional applications for MetNet. For things like filters, sound absorbers, heat exchangers and battery electrodes. And GM feels it’s just scratching the surface. While Sy Katz works with MetNet, some of his friends are helping develop experimental…

Today, there just aren’t enough good mechanics and technicians to go around. And because you like cars, enjoy working with them, you’re in a better position than most to cash in on this opportunity. But you have to have the right training, professional training, before you can qualify for one of these money jobs. Get this, and you can almost name your own price for doing a job you like. The question is, how. You can’t take time off to go to an automobile factory for weeks of intensive training. Or to a school somewhere to learn the professional skill you need. And you don’t have to. ICS brings this training to you in a series of authoritative, practical automotive courses. Where required, texts are modernized each year by ICS…

Have you ever wondered why desert tribesmen always wear white garments? Or why a black interior in an automobile is always hotter than a light-colored interior? It’s really very simple. That sun bearing down on us is sending forth all the visible colors of the spectrum (as well as those sneaky invisible ones). Everything around us shows up as one particular color or blend. A red car appears red because its paint absorbs all or part of all other colors except red. It reflects the red light waves, thereby appearing red. Same with blue, green, or whatever. If your car is painted white, it appears that color because the paint is reflecting all colors. Paint it black, and it appears that way because there is an absence of reflected color;…

Having trouble positioning your block on the engine stand? Try this one on-for size. A simple little latch assembly welded to the frame will provide the necessary button to hold the engine in position. Of course you will have to drill corresponding holes in the engine plate to accept the locking button. You can drill these holes to position the block at any convenient angle. It sure beats the heck out of poking old valves through aligning holes, or fighting a good-sized wrench to keep the engine from slipping lower and lower. Anyone who owns a makeshift engine stand knows exactly what we’re talking about, don’t you?…

A replica of a dragster torsion setup was developed for this ‘23 ‘T’ roadster, the only difference being that the links from torsion bar to axle are of 3/9-inch plate to stand the abuse of street driving. This design uses Volkswagen torsion bars, locked in the middle of the crossmember tube via a steel collar which is welded or bolted to the tube. The steel torsion links are held onto the square torsion bar package with triangular-shaped end plates, being sandwiched between sheets of Teflon or other material to play the role of friction shocks, too. Unknown to a lot of guys is the fact that these setups work fine on the strip (strips that are smooth, anyway), where the front axle bounces up and down evenly. Let one tire…

It’s reasonable to assume that Buick remained aloof from high-performance car-building activity almost in direct defiance of something that was obviously going on around them. That assumption might be fostered by the fact that Buick never got into the game on a first-name basis. In the late ‘30s and early ‘40s, there were dual-carbureted straight-eight Buicks being built that were equal to most anything of that era. Buick brought out their first overhead-valve V8 in 1953; one year later, the 322-cubic-incher showed up with some high-suds action and made the then-new Buick Century a hot item. In 1955, they sold enough cars to become third in the market, and scored two NASCAR wins, which tied Chevrolet for stock car wins in that circuit. A price figure above their com-petitors’ hot…

Ray Graber is a wheelwright: a vanishing breed in today’s world. Ray makes a living by restoring antique cars, with emphasis on wooden wheels. This accounts for the beautiful woodwork seen here. Oh yes, excuse our editorial license. That’s not redwood; it’s solid ash with mahogany panels. Ray thinks of his runabout as a possible rental vehicle for resort areas. In fact, he can supply the Plantation Buggy as either a finished car or in kit form. The chassis is a modified Cyclone Roadrunner dune buggy frame that’s engineered to accept a Corvair engine and suspension. The car’s designed to utilize all Corvair components — steering, wire loom, dashboard and shift linkage — in order to make it as much of a bolt-together job as possible. All the painted body…

The Daytona 500 is really a numbers game. Everyone should know that. Pete Hamilton won 12 Grand Touring races last year in a Gene White Camaro; he also won the 12th annual Daytona 500. Chrysler had 57.5% of the field in the “500” so they were the odds-on favorite. We all should have known that, but we didn’t. Not one of the assembled “automotive experts” (often referred to as the press corps) picked Pete Hamilton to win. Maybe Hamilton wasn’t considered because he only signed up with Petty on January 7, and only three weeks were spent building the car. Pete Hamilton stayed away from Grand National racing for nearly a full year. After receiving Rookie honors for his ‘68 driving season, Pete competed in only two Grand National events…

Mel Garbitt used to strap himself in a Hudson and go whanging around the circle tracks on the East Coast in the era when Hudson was king of the track. After the Hornets bit the dust, Garbitt moved to the West Coast and picked up on a 12-second Volkswagen. With an e.t. like that, you don’t expect a street rod with stereo. Talented Bud Whitfield of Costa Mesa, California, built the tubular frame and gets credit for putting the car together. The car was on its way to the painter’s when they found out what a Metalflake job cost — so Bud took care of that too. Displacement of the engine is close to 2000cc. Two 48 IDA Weber downdraft carbs feed fuel to the fire contained in the ported,…

Meet strong friend Ramon Lowe. Behind the wheel of his pearleseent 1958 Pontiac Chieftain, Ramon Lowe, of Huntington Beach, California, is the man to beat. In Class I/SA (Stock Automatic) in NHRA’s Division 7, Ramon won his class in 1968 and 1969, in Southern California. How do you get this good? “Tuning and practice,” says Ramon, whose reaction time has been electronically timed at 5/100ths of a second! Ramon’s decision to buy his Firestone Drag “500”® tires wasn’t just a matter of luck, either. “The clocks told the story,” says Ramon. “Those Drag 5 0 Os gave me 2/10ths of a second better time than the others I tried. Those Firestone 500s really come out of the chute! “Two-tenths of a second doesn’t sound like much, but it’s two car…

Found on the inside of every “auto parts store special” in the late ‘40s, rear window louvers gravitated to the outside on one of GM’s late-’50 styling exercises. But it took Lamborghini’s P-400 Miura of the late ‘60s to provide the class touch necessary to ensure their widespread adoption on America’s muscle cars. Their use on Mustang’s Boss 302 immediately tabbed them for the after-market consumer, and Cyclone Automotive Products has happily obliged with this very clever bolt-on for Mustangs and Volkswagens. The Cyclone rear window louver is made of molded fiberglass, comes in matte black to cut down on reflections, and is easily attached. The practical side of this unit is evident not only in its ability to cut down on sun glare from the rear, but that it…

MAVERICK GRABBERS……….If you’ve noticed a rash of customized Mavericks in your area lately and were curious as to who was responsible, we can tell you: It’s the factory. Yep, Ford Motor Company did a little springtime restyling and announced the Maverick “Grabber.” Included in the “Grabber” package are matte-black painted hood, cowl top, grille, headlamp doors, lower back panel; plated drip moldings and window frames; bodyside tape stripes in black or white; deck lid spoiler; three-spoke woodgrain (rim-blow) steering wheel and five wild exterior colors (pick one). The colors offered for the “Grabber” are Bright Yellow, Grabber Blue, Vermilion, Grabber Green and Grabber Orange. “Grabber” buyers will also be able to order such options as power steering, vinyl roof, optional axle ratios and the 250 1-V engine with D70-14 white…

Dimensions Engines Standard: 1.1 SR (1100 c.c.) Four cylinder in-line O.H.V. water-cooled. Displacement 65.8 cubic inches. Compression ratio 9.2. Horsepower, maximum output, 67 at 6000 rpm. Torque, maximum output, 62 foot pounds at 4600 to 5400 rpm. Bore 2.95 inches. Stroke 2.40 inches. Exhaust emission controls. (O.E.C.S.) Available: l.9S (1900 c.c.) Fourcylinder in-line O.H.V. cam-in-head water-cooled. Displacement 115.8 cubic inches. Compression ratio 9.0. Horsepower, maximum output, 102 at 5400 rpm. Torque, 115 foot pounds at 3000 rpm. Bore 3.66 inches. Stroke 2.75 inches. Exhaust emission controls. (O.E.C.S.) Standard Transmission Four-speed manual shift with short-throw gearshift. All forward gears synchronized. Console mounted. Automatic Transmission Console-mounted shift lever. Available with l.9S engine only. Fuel Systems 1.1 SR engine-Two single barrel Solex down-drafts with manual choke. l.9S engine-Single Solex 2-barrel downdraft with automatic…

At the base of any countdown is Stage 1. At the base of a car is a good wheel. Which is where our Stage 1 comes in. Stage 1 is a brand new wheel from Rocket. Its features include a chromed aluminum mag-type wheel. Available in a variety of bolt patterns and sizes to fit all popular domestic and some foreign models. This quality five-spoke custom wheel meets SEMA specifications and is offered in standard or deep off-set, (4” to 10” widths) accommodating 14” and 15” tires. Chrome lug nuts and hub covers are included with each wheel. For a look at the complete line, send in for our 1970 Rocket Wheels catalog.…

The “Old Fox” of boat-building, Rich Hallett, isn’t going to be caught in the wake of these new tunnel-hull boats. Rich experimented with the design several years ago but failed to follow through. Now the recent tunnel-hull successes have sent Rich back to the drawing board, and he’s come up with his own version of an inboard tunnelhull boat that just might be the answer. Rich is noted for his hydroplane hulls, and he simply had to keep a bit of the hydro flavor in this new boat. It has small hydro sponsons and a very small step up front, combined with the full tunnel hull. This will be a four-point hydro with twin rudders cutting the hard water on both sides of the tunnel. The hull is 21 feet…

Here’s the swift way to lower the temperature of the manifold and carburetor between rounds at the local digs when things get tough, or hot. Drain the ice cubes from that soft drink chest and pack them about the carb(s). If something doesn’t crack, you’ll have the coolest mill at the races. Of course it the metal fuel line feeding that Holley carb was angled up a bit, it too would run cooler by its being positioned higher above the manifold and valve covers.…

In an effort to prevent breakage of expensive cylinder honing stones, Duffy’s Performance Shop in New Jersey hit upon this “trick” idea for solving the problem. It seems that when one is honing a block, it’s pretty easy to run the hone too far down into the cylinder bores, allowing the stones to strike the crank webs. Not only does it cost bucks to buy new stones, but the chipped edges may scour the cylinder walls. They made up a few wooden cranks to fit the blocks they work on. Each shaft has its “mains” turned down to fit inside the main caps and block webs. The sections in between are just round, but of the same diameter as stock crank throws. Now, if you run the hone down into…

Ductape works for a multitude of jobs. Its use here on Mark Donohue’s Trans-Am Camaro is to eliminate air from entering the left side cowl vent, where the air can do no good. The right side is the carburetor air inlet, but the left side is blank. Donohue’s crew blanked it off to smooth out the air stream here. No telling how much good came as a result of this, but he won last year’s Trans-Am series in big style. Must be something here. Getting it through tech inspection is another matter. Give it a try.…

A AEDELBROCK 1970 CATALOG: Starts with a head-on, full-color shot of the Edelbrock track-check Camaro and continues page after page with all the new goodies from Edelbrock. These include the redeveloped series of Tunnel Ram manifolds, 3x2 intake systems for 383 and 440 MoPars, all-new VW “Bug Ram” manifolds, “Perf-Pak” Holley carb, Street Tunnel Ram (STR) units for the 340, 383 and 440 Chrysler products and more. Also there are about 40 pages of technical and historical material, including a history of Edelbrock. For the catalog, send 50¢ to Edelbrock Equipment Co., Dept. HR, 411 Coral Circle, El Segundo, California 90245. B NEW FOR ‘70: The latest edition of the J.C. Whitney catalog contains 244 pages describing over 100,000 automotive and motorcycle parts and accessories. It lists parts for every…