Indholdsfortegnelse for August 1981 i Hot Rod

Believe it or not, these are the words of perennial Pro Stock competitor “Dandy” Dick Landy (Dick Landy Industries, 19743 Bahama Street, Northridge, CA 91324, 213/341-4143), cigar and all. After countless seasons of Pro Stock driving and wrenching, Dick and his brother, Mike, have found it too costly to build a competitive MoPar product for NHRA Pro Stock racing. Because of this, they sold the Pro Stock Dodge Omni, which Brad Yuill and Ken Dondero piloted through the 1980 season, to Paul Gentilozzi. But Dick displayed to our journalistic eyes the inner workings of the 340-cubic-inch racing engine; an engine so extensively modified as to make Ferrari mechanics cringe. Lest the unknowing get the wrong idea, the MoPar was campaigned numerous times in divisional competition, and garnered more than its…

There’s no denying the trend toward down-sized, lighter vehicles powered by smaller, fuel efficient engines; herein lies a problem. It’s no secret that you can get good fuel economy by reducing engine size, but such small engines also lack the inherent low-rpm torque to expediently accelerate a vehicle from a standing start, to merge into expressway traffic safely, or to handle passing situations where intervals in oncoming traffic are not unlimited. One approach to recovering power lost through reduced displacement is to increase engine crankshaft speeds for more air flow through the engine, but high-speed frictional losses quickly eat up any efficiency gains that were achieved by reducing the engine size in the first place. Obviously, what is needed is a means of increasing power output, on demand, without increasing…

The name “Peterbilt” conjures up thoughts of big tractor-trailer trucks hauling goods cross country. “Jerry Built” means just haulin’. Jerry Mungle’s ’76 Chevy stepside pickup has to be one of the speediest trucks to ever hit the quarter-mile drag strip, consistently challenging the Super Gas competitors in his home town of Pasadena, Texas. But the little stepside’s eggs are not all in one pickup bed, for as well as being able to record sub-10-second passes, the truck earned first place in the 1980 Houston Rod& Custom Car show. Not bad; a truck built for show and go. I’m sure Peter would have wished his trucks had been built so well. Maybe Mungle Truck-ļ ing can spare a few vehicles.…

The Studebaker Model “X,” or Avanti as it was eventually called, was a car ahead of its time. Ingrained in its design wąs the shape of many cars yet to be built, drawn from the talents of re-nowned industrial designer Raymond Lowey. Deciding that the Avanti could still be bettered, Joe Aluise of Beltsville, Maryland, located a ’63 model and set about building his own special Studebaker. This particular Avanti came equipped with the supercharged R3 engine (only nine of the 4643 Avantis produced came with this option) which produced 335 horsepower from the 289-cubic-inch engine. Aluise’s Avanti received a thorough massaging of the engine to net over 500 horsepower. This mysterious Model “X” certainly has the street machiners in Beltsville confused.…

OBJECTIVE: The mixing of air and fuel. But today’s carburetors are a far cry from what they were once. This month we lay out some fundamentals and then look at what we may expect in the future. There’s a notion in the study of physics that suggests all matter seeks equilibrium. Differences in energy, or weight, or motion are accompanied by a tendency to “equalize” or eliminate these differences. For example, remove most of the air from inside a tin container and the outside air tries to get back inside the can. And if it cannot, a crumpled can results. Such is the case of the normally aspirated (filled by atmospheric pressure) engine, only it usually doesn’t get crumpled. Here’s how it works. A downwardring Air and Fuel By Jim…

All too often we hear unenlightened automotive critics implying that the only real advanced technology, engineering, design, and styling comes from foreign car makers. It’s easy to understand how these casual observers might get this erroneous impression since the American automotive industry has been devoting its talents and resources toward solving the more urgent and pressing problems of emissions and energy consumption over the past decade. During that same period, a handful of high-performance exotic foreign sports cars, most of which enjoy relaxed or special exemptions from stringent U.S. safety, mileage, and emissions legislation, have received widespread attention from some segments of the automotive press and gold chain j set. Such cars are often cited as examples of foreign know-how, even though they are not mass ä production vehicles and…

John Anderson is a far-out dude. He calls his Model A roadster a Fo-Mo-Co ’29. He said his rag top “cost too much” to build, even though he bought the old Ford from a farmer for the princely sum of $40. And if you ask him about ‘glass parts, he’ll answer, “None, turkey!” But he’s got a few things backwards. Instead of putting the Jag in the rear, he’s got it up front. On a more conventional note, he’s got a quickie in the rear. But when it comes to good ol’ honest horsepressure, leave it to “Napa” John. The owner of AmTest Turbocharging in Napa, California, is a rubber-boiling hot rodder whose idea of boost comes in the form of a twin-turbocharged ’67 “mouse-katerror.” No doubt about it, it’s…

Next to the camshaft, the carburetor on a race engine is probably the most difficult component to select and set up. It must be large enough to produce maximum power and small enough to give good response; it must be able to control the fuel under hard acceleration; and it must idle cleanly and provide a measure of driveability in the mid ranges. That’s a pretty tall order for any mechanical device. Almost any carburetor can be modified to work under race conditions, as evidenced by the wide variety of carbs raced in the Stock and Super Stock classes. But the mainstay of the racing carbs is the Holley. It has several things going for it: the Holley is simple and easy to work on, the float bowls do an…

Traditionally, highboys, be them “T,” “A,” or ‘32-bodied, rely upon 1932 Ford frame rails. There are several reasons behind this. First, the Deuce frame rails were designed to accept a V8 engine, so the early hot rodders didn’t have to fabricate front motor mounts. Second, these rails featured a highly pleasing molding which picked up the flow of the front fender and carried it through along the bottom of the rail. Third, they were stronger than either “T” or “A” rails. However, “Little” John Buttera quickly decided not to mess around with tradition. In fact, Lil’s idea here was, “Why use something that doesn’t fit—it’s close [the Deuce rails, that is], but no cigar. I know it’s been done [using Deuce rails], but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it…

Address all questions to C.J. Talks Tech, HOT ROD Magazine, 8490 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069. Please restrict inquiries to one question per letter. All letters must be signed and contain a return address. Due to the large number of questions received each month, personal replies are not possible. Questions will be answered only in this column, so please, no tech questions by phone. No V6 Tricks I own a 1980 Camaro with the 229-cubic-inch Chevy 90-degree V6 engine. I’m having no luck finding speed parts for this engine, such as headers, intake manifolds, etc. I called Hooker Headers about an exhaust system, but they said it would be at least a year before they had anything for it. Do you know where I can find speed parts for…

Tool Crib This month’s selection for Tool Crib is something that can be used in virtually any shop that has a vise, regardless of the type of work done there. We’re talking about Vise Mates jaw covers that are designed to both increase the holding capabilities of any vise while simultaneously protecting the work from damage by the vise jaws. Vise Mates are custom-made, heavy-rubber jaw covers that can be installed or removed in seconds. These covers, manufactured and sold by R.P. Industries, 178 Maple Dr., Gilbert, MN 55741, are available in different sizes to fit vise jaws ranging from 4 to 9½ inches. They are ideal for clamping delicate work and anodized, chrome-plated, or other finely finished pieces in a vise without damage. They even work well with soft…

Cruisin’ Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a long way from Texas, but Dallas TV personality Steve Kanaly apparently goes to great lengths to catch a good rod and custom show. A competition judge for the eighth annual Speed Sport Car Show in Halifax recently, Kanaly posed beside this sanitary, fuzzy dice-equipped ’57 Chevy owned by Wayne Conrad of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Upside-Down In Wheelstand Land Like other professional stuntmen, drag racing’s wheelstand pilots make it all look so easy—but their common worry is the crosswind. Just such a gust recently destroyed Bill “Maverick” Golden’s trick Dodge D50 mini-truck, which received its world premiere right here in Roddin’ at Random only one year ago (July 1980 HOT ROD). Team driver Rick Mehl was past the finish line at Wichita Falls, Texas,…

If you want a car that really cooks, why not get one built by a chef—like Corey Jennings’‘70 Mach I Mustang? Corey, the head cook and kitchen manager at Lord Charley’s (the “Inn” place to eat in Upland, California) decided to whip up a new creation, so he laid out $2600 for the well-used ponycar, then threw in another 10 grand to come up with his gold-medal Mustang. And “gold medal” isn’t just a brassysounding phrase when real 24K gold was used to plate many of the smaller metallic parts (everything else was either chromed or anodized). But all that’s really only frosting on the cake, for what really gives the competition indigestion is the vitamin-packed 428 Cobra Jet motor that’s exhausted by Turbo mufflers. An Advanced-built C-6 digests the…

No doubt about it—hot rod drags are where it’s at. I mean those sit-a-round rod runs are weak sisters compared to a fulJ-boogie scene where you “run what you brung,” race for fun. and drag it out! Let’s face it, hot rod drags are the essence of rodding… the roots of the movement. Whatever you want to call them—”gow jobs” or “backyard bombs”—hot rods are still high-performance vehicles. Forget the “if it doesn’t go, chrome it” crowd; these latter-day hot doggies show and go. And what better place to stage a time warp than at Fremont Drag Strip, a San Jose, California-based facility that’s been keeping the faith since 1959. The May 3, 1981, “Nostalgianationals” was the brain child of Tom Prufer and Bryan Burnett. The Sunday event featured a…

Roger Baron, a 21-year-old machinist from Norwalk, California, doesn’t fit into the stereotype gear-head mold. He’s quiet, clean-cut, polite, and punctual—that’s where it ends. He’s a full-on hot rodder. Give him a Chevy with a big motor and he’ll go for it. And if you think his ’66 Chevelle, armed with something like 461 inches of big-inch bow tie, doesn’t go for it, then try a steady barrage of 10.90s @ 128 mph on OCIR’s clocks. “What I originally intended to build was a nice little street/strip car, something with a complete interior and quick-connect mufflers so I could do a bit of serious cruising.” That isn’t quire how it began. You see, Roger works next door to Carl Smith Smith happens to own a complete machine shop and fabrication…

For the past decade, high-compression engines have been sorely missing from American cars, partially due to the misconceptions that high-compression engines and unleaded fuel were incompatible and that high-compression engines are not economical, a major concern with today’s motoring public. Well, the folks at GMC Truck Division have set the record straight with their new high-compression, 305-cubic-inch V8 powerplant found in both manual and automatic-transmissioned ’81 GMC trucks. Although the 9.2:1 compression ratio found in these trucks may not measure up to the 11:1 figures found in late-Sixties supercars, it does substantially break from the 8:1 ratio found in most new cars. The return to high compression was achievable because of a new system engineered by GMC, “Electronic Spark Control” (ESC). An ESC sensor mounted on the side of the…

Most Vega engine swaps have been done to radically increase performance, but now John Kilgore (718 Jamestown Rd., Burbank, CA 91504, 213/843-6815) has come up with a swap that preserves the Vega’s original design concept as an economical solution to the daily transportation problem. He swapped in a reliable late-model Volkswagen, water-cooled, inline 4-cylinder engine. John used the fuel-injected, 74-hp 1588cc motor found in Dashers and Audi 100s; a larger 97-hp version is found in the Rabbit, Scirocco, and Audi Fox. Chrysler’s Horizon and Omni and ‘76-’77 AMC Pacers also have basically the same engine, but with a carburetor. Any of these engines can usually be picked up at the local boneyard for around $400-800 and should deliver 25-30 mpg in a Vega. They’ll go in using one of John’s…

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