Indholdsfortegnelse for June 1974 i Hot Rod

Did you ever see the classic WW II movie where they take the squadron commander out of the pilot's seat of the lead B-29 and give him a “desk job"? Well, something of that nature is going down here as, effective with this issue, Jim McCraw is the new editor of Hot Rod Magazine. I will relocate on the East Coast and function as the eastern editorial representative for Hot Rod and will continue to contribute material for publication, as well as perform a number of other related duties. The first thing that comes to mind is “what kind of a deal it that? Is that a promotion, a demotion, a lateral slide or what?” The real reason I'm vacating this position is that I want to move back to…

We know this comes as a shocker, especially in light of recent events, but the AMC factory drag teams of Wally Booth and Maskin & Kanners have been released from their contracts by the corporation. AMC officials told us that they were extremely proud of the teams' accomplishments, including Booth's amazing Pro Stock win at Gainesville over Gapp & Roush, but that continuation of the drag racing program was a question of “value received” in the midst of excellent sales by AMC. Both teams are expected to switch to Chevrolets. From the other side of The Pond comes news that the amazing Dennis Priddle has debuted his new Hillman Avenger Funny Car. Hillman Avenger? Translates as Plymouth Cricket. At any rate, the car is lengthened 18 inches over a tubular…

The car you see on these pages is a Mustang II with a 302-cubic-inch V8 engine and a four-speed manual transmission, power steering and power disc brakes as standard equipment. It is built on a Ford Motor Company assembly line and is not some small garage engine conversion one-off. You can buy one just like it right now, today. But you'll have to restrict your driving to places like Juarez, San Miguel de Allende, Mazatlan and Mexico City, because the 1974 Mustang II V8 is sold in only one country in the world, the Republic of Mexico. We went there recently to test the car as a sneak preview to the similar package that will be available through Ford in September when the '75 Mustang Ils come out, if the…

In the tiny community of Okemos in Northern Michigan, there are a couple of sharp guys, Randy Markham and Russ Keller, who operate together as Kelmark Engineering. Their specialty at Kelmark is making and marketing all kinds of hardware for unusual engine conversions, and we're going to tell you about the most unusual one of all, the V8 VW kit, utilizing any 265-400 Chevrolet small-block for power. Partner Randy Markham is quick to point out that a small-block Chevrolet in a Volkswagen is not as outrageous as it may seem. The car ends up with incredible traction, very good handling, a lot more excitement in driving and pretty good economy, all things considered. The V8 VW that we saw and photographed is driven daily and driven hard and still averages…

If you'd like to have your car appear on “Readers' Page,'' send description, plus black and white photos with a clean background, to Readers' Page, Hot Rod Magazine, 8490 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90069. Photos cannot be returned. JEEPERS CREEPERS Francis Ledesma, an overseas reader from Iloila City in the Philippines, sent us this photo of his modified Jeep. It features a reworked OHV engine with a ported head and oversize valves, Weber carb on a homemade manifold, Crane cam and valve springs, chromed header fitted with a motorcycle muffler, Hillman four-speed transmission, Mazda rearend and homemade traction bars. Quarter-mile times are in the mid-16s, which may not seem fast here, but it's flying over there. HEMI HUNTER This potent '69 Plymouth Road Runner is the pride and joy…

Pro welder Ron Damp has spent the past two years making the transition from roadster man to coupe man. Damp's Ford-In-Ford project is pretty basic actually, but not to be overlooked is the personal touch given to this '34 of the five-window type. Completed chassis maintains much that's traditional to early-iron lovers. The one big difference is a pleasant lack of the stuff that quickly spoils on any “beater” and is notorious for doubling building costs … chrome. The theme this Damp fellow seems to favor in detailing a chassis is paint … and lots of it. A dark maroon lacquer subtly and tastefully cloaks a clandestine marriage between the old and the new—it's all Ford and obviously hung together for the better, not the worse. Fasteners are gold cad-plated;…

Have you ever wondered what that gray substance is that's bonded to the tunnel-ram manifold on some of the nation's top-running Pro Stockers? Well even if you haven't we're going to tell you. It's an epoxy that's used to strengthen, replace or reshape the walls of the port runners and/or plenum chamber when they're modified to match the flow characteristics of extensively ported cylinder heads. And aside from these more visually obvious applications, the epoxy is also used on interior surfaces of the manifold, along with certain areas within the cylinder heads. There are a number of brand-name epoxies that have been used in these applications, but they all seemed to have a common drawback: they eventually flake off or crack under the heat and vibration conditions to which they…

When first introduced in the fall of 1965, the Suzuki model T-20, then called the X-6, was hailed as a landmark in modern motorcycles. With a six-speed gearbox (four was the standard and five was still pretty exotic), it could walk away from anything with twice the engine size. Another innovation it bore was the now-standard oil injection system for its two-stroke engine. It was really the Hot Setup in its day and was immediately sought after by the enthusiasts for road racing, flat tracking, and with some alterations, enduro racing. For a while it was the king of bikes. The '74 Suzuki GT-250 is eight years newer than the original X-6 Hustler. It doesn't evince much change over the last couple-of models, but how it fares in general is…

If you 're a fan of big-time oval track racing, you've no doubt heard of legendary NA SCAR superstar Bobby Allison. But what you may not know is that Bobby and his crew have tackled just about every kind of racing there is, including NASCAR's rugged Late Model Sportsman class, where engine brand has to match body brand and that's about it. The drawing above, by Shusei Nagaoka of Design Maru in Los Angeles, depicts a special '68 Chevelle LMS car built by the A llisons for Permatex Corporation to test their sealants and locking chemicals under racing conditions. It weighs 3200 pounds and is powered by a 350-inch small-block Chevrolet, but it uses no lock washers or gaskets in the engine or the chassis. Bobby drove the car 300…

Editor's Note: In January, Rod & Custom started a series on buying, overhauling and modifying a small-block Chevy. HRM is continuing the series, and the following story will bring you up to date on what has been done. If you would like specific details on those steps that have been completed to date, we suggest that you go back and review the January through May issues of R&C. Next month we'll begin the basic rebuilding steps, including a baseline dyno test. We'll conclude the series with detailed mileage and performance modifications. If you've been looking for good basic step-by-step information, this is the series for you. If the specter of the energy crunch has achieved a specific change in driver attitude, that change would be the reacquainting of us to…

We know you've been hearing a lot lately on the subject of oil, but while the “straight” media are concerned about the price and availability of it, we're here this month to talk about its function as a lubricant for automotive engines, its inherent qualities, its physical makeup and how it has been continuously modified over the years as lubrication needs have changed with the changes in the engines in which it is used. The oil in an engine's crankcase is there for four main reasons: to lubricate, to clean, to seal and to cool the engine's component parts during operation. We'll discuss each one of these functions separately before moving on to our discussion of oil “character” and physical makeup. The first and most often thought of function of…

Tuning an engine is somewhat similar to baking a cake. All you have to do is to follow the directions, use quality ingredients, then look forward to something that'll turn out mighty fine. Like a houseful of urchins going through a five-layer masterpiece, your car's high underhood temperatures, combined with normal wear and tear, can really gobble up a super tune. Today, most Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) recommend replacement of both the points and the condenser, screwing in a set of plugs and checking the ignition wires every 6000-8000 miles. Then once 12,000 miles have crossed the odometer's face, you're in for another chore. You should reverse the distributer's cam-lubricating felt (or wick if you have the common Delco-Remy model) and check the various moving parts for dwell and curve-altering…

Have you ever wondered just how much of your oil is in the oil pan while the engine is running? If so, here's one of the neatest items to come along in quite a while that will give you a good indication of exactly what's going on in that oil pan. The device is basically a sight tube similar to those used to indicate water levels in restaurant coffee makers, but instead of a rigid and easily broken glass tube, the automotive version uses a flexible plastic tube. Installation is simple, although the pan must be off the engine. All that's required is two 1/2-inch holes properly spaced to accept the sight tube. The end fittings are machined for O-rings to ensure a leakproof seal. Other benefits of the sight…

CUSTOM AUTOMOTIVE FINISHES A new line of brilliant transparent acrylic lacquers in Candy, Flake, Pearls, Toners and Clears is now being offered by SEM. All are made from non-toxic lead-free pigments and are packaged in quarts and gallons. Newest product in the Aero-Lac line is a miniature two-ounce spray can for op-art, panel work and touch-up painting. Send $1 for color card and info to SEM Products, Inc., Dept. HR, Sem Lane & Shoreway Road, Belmont, Calif. 94002. GET THE FACTS The 14th edition of National Dragstrip Guide carries the complete schedule on every NHRA facility in the U.S. and Canada, plus mailing address, motels and other info. There's also a list of drag racing's top pros and of SEMA chassis builders. For your copy, send $2 (plus 65C extra…

Largest Attendance for a Four Car Pure Stock Match Race. Through subtle use of full-page newspaper ads, 100-decibel radio spots delivered at a speed that would tie a tobacco auctioneer's tongue, and a constant barrage of television commercials featuring flameouts, crashes and the mandatory theme from “2001, A Space Odyssey,” promoter Billy Lee Groaner attracted a crowd of 50,023 delirious racing aficionados. The astute Groaner realized that a few enticements might be needed to draw more than 30,000 to a Pure Stock Match Race, so he added a little “between rounds entertainment.” Included were: 38 rocket cars running side by side, a motorcyclist who attempted to jump over 25 semi-trailers without a ramp at either end, Ralph Williams and his dog Storm doing a Busby Berkeley musical, three suicides, two…

Surprises are a tradition of the Gatornationals. It is chronologically and geographically perfect for them because those who attended Pomona have had time to perfect their combinations and those who did not are ready for their first big showing. For many easterners, the cost of the Pomona journey is prohibitive, so the six-week wait for Gainesville, Florida, is much more attractive, as it allows time for the obliteration of new-car bugs—unless you are Bernie Agaman and Claude Urevig. Sounding like a house-painting team from North Jersey, these racers welded their heads to Ralph Truppi's and produced a car which defiled the sanctity of Chrysler's last “protected” classes without so much as a warning. And as if by transcendental thought, Wally Booth did the impossible in Pro Stock—and he did it…

Dyno Don Nicholson's '74 Mustang Pro Stocker is yellow with red this year, and the paint covers one of the slickest cars of its type ever. It's a Don Hardy product including chassis, body prep, and bulkheads that weighs 1900 pounds without ballast. Under the paint there's a Ramchargers mag Dana with 5.57 gears, Monroe coil shocks all around, Cragar S/T wheels mounting Firestone tires, Airheart disc brakes, and Pinto rack-and-pinion steering. But the heart of any Pro car is its engine, and Don uses an Earl Wade 351 slightly overbored to 355 inches. It uses. 337-inch-over Brooks rods and gas-ported pistons, GK cam with twin Jomar girdles, Accel BEI ignition, Holley 4500s on Edelbrock manifold, Hooker headers and Wade oiling system, and makes close to 700 horses.…

After sending an excellent '33 Ford five-window down the road for a grubstake to start a project anew. Bill Desatoff, Cerritos, California, is now totally dedicated to the task of building the “heaviest” Deuce on wheels. DesatofTs space-age approach to suspension reflects much forethought. Long nights spent on a clammy and confining garage floor have had dulling effect, to be sure … more so, however, on a box or two of blackboard chalk than on the man doing the sketching. And with all that tiring but necessary business behind him, the finalized concept now takes form. A basic Deuce chassis features partial boxing front and rear, specially designed crossmember, Vette third member that's supported by two additional crossmembers. Rock-hard rod ends were purposely avoided. DesatofTs option was to go with…

It's been a long time coming, but the people at Holley Carburetor Company have released a whole new line of carbs with their own brand of ESP: emissions street performance. These new carbs get better readings on pollutant detection equipment; they provide more power and a higher level of drivability and response than previous street models; and the new family is available in a wide range of models and cfm ratings. They're intended for street use on cars, RVs, pickups and towing rigs for most car and truck manufacturers. Members of the new ESP family have been recalibrated and re-engineered to be as efficient and as “universal” as possible, and the two best examples of this are the new 650 and 750 double-pumper models, the 6708 and 6709. Both bodies…

Right in the middle of Big Ten football country, on the outskirts of Detroit, there's a new school. It has no varsity sports teams. It has no ivy-covered walls. And the only streaking on this campus is the streak a spark plug makes across an oscilloscope screen. The school is called MoTech Automotive Education Center, and it's a brand-new idea in automotive vocational training. MoTech, located in Livonia, Michigan, in an industrial park complex, is housed in a 36,000-square-foot building containing the very latest in service, repair and electronic analysis equipment from every major manufacturer, some of which was donated and some of which was purchased by MoTech's “parent school,” the famous Chrysler Institute. The main goal at MoTech is not keeping kids off the streets, or training existing mechanics…

By far most of the mail coming to this magazine is concerned with engine swapping. Readers want to know which engine, which trans, will the firewall have to be modified, will the radiator be big enough and a multitude of other questions that most times can only be answered after the job is complete and the car has been run. We also get mail from readers who have completed an engine swap, but now have a problem. The car overheats, or steers erratically, or is plagued with a vibration that cannot be traced. Vibration is a common problem in engine swaps and can often be traced directly to improper driveline phasing. Driveline phasing—proper or improper—is difficult if not impossible to photograph and in some respects rather difficult to explain. Thus…

Now that you're into bikes, you'd better get a handle on the second stage, “Cafe Racers.” You know they're big-time when the world-famous Rickman Brothers, Don and Derek, become stoked. Actually, they've been the elite of the custom frame builders for many years, offering butted, thin-wall tube chassis for Triumph twins and BSA singles—true works of art. And they still do. But now the Rickmans have expanded their frame, fork and arm line to embrace the Cafe crowd of Honda Four owners as well. For although Honda's 750cc engine constitutes a remarkable piece of engineering, the chassis is neither light nor exceptionally agile. But it can be now. You have Percy Tait's word for it. Percy, one of England's top racers and factory road testers for BSA/Triumph, is the phantom…