Indholdsfortegnelse for November 1981 i Hot Rod

The ’83s Are Already Here? The calendar may be sneaking up on 1982, but Ford has already introduced its brand-new line of downsized ’83-model pickups. These new Ranger models are offered in several different trim levels and with two sizes of 4-banger powerplants. Standard is a 73-horse, 2.0-liter L-4, and an 80-hp, 2.3-liter engine is optional. Both 4-speed manual and 3-speed automatic gearboxes are available, and FoMoCo offers two wheelbases: 108 inches or 114 inches, with the longer truck receiving an extra 12 inches of box length. Why designate the Ranger as a 1983 model? Well, since the trucks won’t actually appear in Ford showrooms until March 1982, Dearborn deemed it better to have an early ’83 rather than a late ’82. All of which is sure to confuse at…

The Funny Car and the Ford Mustang grew up together in the Sixties. In those earliest days, a Funny Car’s doors still opened and closed, its body still contained factory steel panels, its driver still sat on the “driver’s side,” and its engine and body styles were still expected to represent the same U.S. automaker. Ford’s newly introduced Mustang was playing the game well as early as 1965. Fond Memories of Ford Powered Funny Cars These primitive “quarter horses” really got moving during the subsequent season, 1966, when heavy FoMoCo factory sponsorship helped escalate the evolution of tube framed, fiberglass-bodied, nitro methane-burning, 427-cubic-inch, fuel-injected, overhead-camshaft Mustang fastbacks. Mustange sweep A.H.R.A. winter show (’66) Factory feuding Southern-style (1966) Five winning seasons followed, climaxed by Mickey Thompson’s awesome two-car domination of 1969…

Most Ford enthusiasts are well aware of the Mustang’s winning heritage on the race courses of America. They know the car has been made to successfully turn corners. Shelbys did it. Boss 302s did it. Now the TRX suspensions are doing it. But most Mustangs are none of these, and most of the parts necessary to upgrade them (with the exception of the currently in-production TRX) can no longer be purchased from Ford. However, one Mustang road racer continues to keep the faith—Bill Maier, owner of Maier Racing Inc. Not only does Bill still road-race a late-model ’81 Mustang in the SCCA Trans Am series (one of the few Fords running at all), he also has one of the largest inventories of racing and performance Mustang parts to be found…

One of the reasons most hot rod building projects take so much time and money is because a hot rodder is never satisfied with the status quo. It happens to the best of ’em, and that includes Lil’ John: “About half way through the project, I started having doubts about using a Chevy V8. The overall size of the engine, the pinched-in frame and hood, the price of gas (I figured I could get between 25 and 30 mph with a V6) were only a part of that re-evaluation. I also came to the realization that this was the engine I would be stuck with for the next five years. Was I being stubborn holding onto a ’50s engine when it’s 1981? About a week later I kicked the V8…

Have you ever noticed that the more some things change, the more they seem to remain the same? Take Ford’s Mustang engine line-up, for example. When the Dearborn autoworks presented their little prototype pony (then called the Mustang I) in the early Sixties, it was powered by a foreign-built 4-cylinder Ford powerplant. Now, nearly two decades later, the freshest factory Mustangs feature 4-bangers as standard, and their one-time 260-inch, then 289, then 302, then 255-cube base eight has been opened back up to 302 muscular cubic inches. What has changed forever, however, is nearly everything powerful in between. In the 20-year period, the Ford ponycar line has seen all manner of motors—from muscular to minuscule—and nearly all have made their own scorched rubber marks on modern motoring. For the purposes…

On and off the race track, only the strong survive the world’s greatest drag race. Money can help, certainly, and good luck never hurts, but endurance is everything in the United States Nationals. This was particularly true in 1981. Nine hundred different drag racers and probably 70,000 total spectators participated in the preliminary stages of NHRA’s “Big Go” Number 27, but only a handful of each were still around for the rain-delayed Tuesday conclusion. These few ultimate survivors, eight days into the Indy activities, included about 1000 cold, tired, wind-blown, sore-bottomed race fans, and exactly one dozen weary eliminator champions: Johnny Abbott (Top Fuel), Raymond Beadle (AA/Funny Car), Lee Shepherd (Pro Stock), Brian Raymer (Top Alcohol Dragster), Ken Veney (Alky Funny Car), Tom Trisch (Competition), Cotton Perry (Modified), Ray Pacquet…

What are AK Miller, the world’s oldest street racer; Bill Stroppe, the world’s bravest co-pilot; Don DeBring, the world’s fastest systems specialist; and actor Larry Wilcox, the world’s foremost tester of valvetrain components, doing at Bonneville, the world’s vastest raceland? Would you believe breaking FIA records? How about participating in a time warp? Can you get behind having a good time messing around with an automotive odd couple—a Bill Stroppe-prepared LN7 and an AK ’n’ Bill Edwards-powered streamliner? Both did well, the ’liner ran 262 mph and the LN7 established FIA records in 12 national and 10 international classes. But that figures. The thirst for speed started with Henry Ford. OF Henry was of the opinion that racers sell stockers; and who’s to argue with Hank? I mean, three generations…

In 1979 after the bizarre 600-horsepower “Sorcerer” dragbike had run 199.55 mph and been retired along with its owner/builder/rider Russ Collins, the French people invited Collins to the Paul Richard raceway to make a demonstration pass. Nearly 180,000 people had gathered to watch a huge Grand Prix where the exhibition would occur. Collins’ crew pushed the “old man” out to the staging area on the front straightaway and the crowd hushed, awaiting the strange ritual of a “burnout” that most of them had only read about. Suddenly Collins realized that his crew had forgotten burnout water, so in his usual showy manner, he turned the omission into an advantage. With great pomp and ceremony he uncapped a bottle of Perrier, showered the tire with bubbles and let loose the Honda…

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. Stored Away What’s the best way to store an engine for a couple of years? I’m removing the 2000cc Pinto engine from my ’73 Pinto for future use in a kit car, but I don’t know if there are any special preparatory steps I should take. Stephen Wilson Manassas, Virginia Engine storage doesn’t require much preparation as long as the engine can be stored in…

There’s a fabricating fool around Prior Lake, Minnesota, called Greg Fleury. He’s a low ridin’ trucker who loves to lower lids, bend tin, and punch louvers. The rolling stock he produces, is fast and “Fleury-ous.” Greg’s responsible for some pretty heavy metal in and around the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and that includes his own Chevy-powered Formula A-style streeter and his work on Gary Kollofski’s ’36 Willys and Dave Reinhart’s ’55 Chevy. But Greg still felt he needed an attention getter. “I’m in trucking country around here, so to better advertise my fabricating skills I decided the challenge of making an ugly truck look nice was more than I could resist.” The pièce de résistance took a year out of Greg’s life, not to mention what flew from his wallet.…

Any time Weiss runs low on grub, he can call upon his “Country Kitchen” to go out and get more groceries. All-steel pickup features teakwood bed, Pete & Jake four-bar split wishbones, Super Bell disc brakes, and a brilliant chrome yellow paint job. Jewel-like engine compartment is dominated by a completely detailed ’69 302-inch Chevy V8. Mods to the mouse include Holley Street Dominator intake, Quadrajet carburetor, ’80 Vette rocker covers, and brass air cleaner. Headers are from Total Performance. When you haul “A” in Rich’s ’29 roadster pickup, you do so in style. Interior accouterments include tan ’Hyde upholstery, wood dash housing a full complement of Stewart-Warner gauges, and a brass steering column supporting a wood and brass wheel. Rear undercarriage is comprised of a Halibrand “quickie” fitted with…

The development of Trans Am race cars closely parallels that of drag racing’s Funny Cars and Pro Stocks. Since 1969, Trans Am cars have been transformed from basically stock-bodied and chassied cars with suspension improvements to the full tube-chassied derivatives campaigned on this year’s CRC Chemicals Championship trail. The only remaining portions of the original cars are a few exterior body panels, and they have been “aerodynamically enhanced” almost to the point of non-recognition. SCCA, the governing body, has made a strong effort to maintain the identity of each body style (with little success), but it doesn’t seem to matter as racers and spectators have turned out in record numbers this year with a strong rivalry between Mustangs, Corvettes, Camaros, Trans Ams, and even a Jaguar and a Mercedes. It…

CLUTCHES Heat, pressure, friction, and the transmission of torque. These are basic clutch requirements and conditions we’ll discuss in this month’s Series. Slide your hand across a desk or table top. Feel the heat and resistance to movement? The greater the “traction” the greater the heat build-up and the more effort is required to slide your hand over the surface. In a sense, these are the conditions seen by an automotive clutch assembly. For in the transmission of torque from the output side of an engine into the drivetrain components that lead to the rear wheels, some amount of slippage must be provided else the engine will bog as it tries to move a vehicle from a lower speed (even stopped) to a higher one. In cases where an automatic…

Tool Crib This month’s selection for Tool Crib is a new twist on an old tool, the ⅜-inch drive ratchet. Called the Side Winder (Model SW-38), this ratchet combines a pivoting head with an offset handle to permit normal ratchet action tor loosening or tightening bolts and a spinner action for running them in or out quickly. The knurled section of the handle rotates on the handle shank for smooth action. Additionally, the offset in the handle helps prevent skinned knuckles when exerting force on the handle close to the work. Manufactured by Davenport Tool Company in Rochelle, Illinois, the Side Winder is distributed by Unique Tool Sales, 5023 N. Rosemead Blvd., No. 18HR, San Gabriel, CA 91776, at a price of $19.95 plus $2 for handling and shipping. (California…