Indholdsfortegnelse for June 1983 i Hot Rod

New Chevy Honcho It doesn’t really seem possible, but Vince Piggins has finally stepped down from his position as manager of Chevro-let’s Product Promotion Group. After a long and colorful history, Vince has finally decided to retire and enjoy his golden years. Stepping in to pick up the pace will be Herb Fishel, the man responsible for the remarkable performance program that has developed around the Buick V6 in recent years. Herb tells us that Chevrolet is going to be on the move in the coming months, and if he means anything like his programs at Buick, we’re sure to be seeing some exciting things in Chevrolet’s performance future. Filling Herb’s old position at Buick is the very capable Joe Negri, who has worked closely with Fishel for years and…

What’s a guy to do with his front-wheel drive family sedan? Race it! Champion Spark Plug Company along with IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) have developed a full nationwide road race series for small sedans. Now maybe you’re not a road racer, nor ever intend to be one, but you should know about this series and the factory involvement because the performance picture of the small front-wheel drive sedan will be greatly determined by factory involvement with the Champion Spark Plug Challenge. Basically the Champion Spark Plug Challenge started out a few years back as a small sedan class where IMSA racers could get the necessary experience in an “affordable” car before he or she moved up into the IMSA GT category of faster, more expensive machinery. And besides offering…

MARK IT Never trust your memory when working on an engine. When removing many similar items (such as spark plug wires) at one time, mark the parts' original location with a piece of masking tape and a marking pen. Extra control can be maintained by putting little parts in a box or coffee can and drawing a rough sketch of how the pieces were assembled originally. FAST DRY If you choose to paint an engine and engine compartment right after cleaning them, make certain everything is completely dry. Paint doesn 't stick well to wet surfaces. If you do encounter small wet areas, use a hair dryer to remove the moisture. If you have a compressor, an air nozzle can be used to blow away water. Another alternative is to…

In last month’s issue we took you on a tour through Bob Lambeck’s H/SA Duster, promising we’d be back with more of the ins and outs of building an NHRA-legal, reasonably dependable, and quick street stunner. Since then, Bob waltzed through the Winternationals at Pomona, California, winning Stock Eliminator with a 12.26 @ 106.63 pass against another car also powered by his handiwork—Bill Bush-maker’s J/SA Barracuda. Both Lam-beck-built engines performed without problems throughout the meet, signaling that Bob had indeed returned to Stock Class racing as a serious contender. We touched on “getting through” tech inspection at a sanctioned event. If you’re prepared, it’s a painless experience; if you’re not, it’s going to be a little like your first hangover… it’ll take forever to go away. The keys are simple:…

Bang the drums slowly … for it’s time to ax those old ’55-’57 Chevy shoes and install a pair of late-model GM front disc brakes. In the past, this swap was a marginal undertaking, since the only available discs (rotors) were the massive stock OEM-type that, after installation on the ’55-’57 Chevy spindles, provided insufficient clearance for the wheel bearings and bearing retainer nut. But that’s all been changed, thanks to a new bolt-on kit just introduced by Super Bell Axle Co. (152 “M” St., Fresno, CA 93721, 209/445-1601). When we say bolt-on, we really mean it; this kit bolts right on in the truest sense of the word, with no exotic tools or fabrication required. Its success secret? A new meehanite cast iron disc designed and manufactured for Super…

Street rodders these days are into resto rods, repro rods, and those one-in-a-million original hot rods from the past. David Gale’s gloss black Deuce highboy from Columbus, Ohio, is a little of each. Actually, Gale’s ’32 is a surprisingly close duplication of a fine, famous roadster built by Doane Spencer in the late 1940s. Since the original car has been restored and owned by Neal East for several years, Gale decided to simply build his own “repro.” Starting with a ’32 frame, chassis-builder Gale added his own crossmembers, Z’d the rails at both ends, and hung a dropped I-beam with Kinmont disc brakes at front and a Halibrand quick-change at the rear. Then on went a Wescott fiberglass body with a rare Duvall V-windshield, a one-piece hood top, a filled…

Tool Crib Helicoil’s new wheel stud repair tool gives life to old, dead, rusty, or narfed-out threads on most of the commonly used sizes. In addition to tuning up damaged threads, the tool chases the grooves and gets rid of any rust that might have accumulated there and makes things difficult at lug nut changing time. Sometimes the chrome on new lug nuts decrease the ID to the point where they’re hard to install; the tool usually will clean up the threads enough to allow the nuts to roll on without problems. Available at most auto parts stores. Editor’s Note: Those manufacturers with new or unique tools of interest to automotive enthusiasts should send information on such tools to the following address for consideration: Tool Crib, HOT ROD Magazine, 8490…

HOT ROD will pay $25 for each item used in It Worked For Me. Send a brief description of the problem and your solution, plus clear black and white photos or drawings to illustrate. Be sure to include all dimensions or assembly procedures, and don’t forget to send along your complete name, address and Social Security number. These items cannot be returned. Payment for items used will be made on publication. Due to the overwhelming number of potentially usable contributions received for this section each month, selection often boils down to those with the clearest, most descriptive illustrations or photos. Mail your problem-solving idea to It Worked For Me, HOT ROD Magazine, 8490 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069. Tire Dolly Extra tires and wheels laying around the shop are…

Ford Fanatic I just finished looking through all of my back issues of HOT ROD, and all I see from the year 1955 are Chevys. Well, I am the proud owner of a ’55 Ford coupe, which is slowly making the transformation from low-rider to mild custom street rod. Enclosed is a photo of my Ford, which I purchased for $800 from my cousin. It has the original 292 V8 with a factory 2-barrel. There aren’t many of them around anymore. I am very proud of it and hope other people with ’55 Fords write in and let us know there still are a few out there. Steve Horton Ontario, California Cheryl’s Girl I am writing in response to a letter in your November ’82 issue written by Cheryl McRae.…

Two Hew T/As BFGoodrich has introduced two additions to their comprehensive lineup of high-performance tires. The Comp T/A 60V (shown) and the Comp T/A 70V both carry the European “V” speed rating, which indicates performance at speeds above 130 mph. They’re available for 13, 14, and 15-inch wheels and will fit American high-performance cars. BFGoodrich Tire Group, Dept. HR-6, 500 S. Main St., Akron, OH 44318. Get Spoiled Kamei has introduced their new wind tunnel designed and tested rear spoiler (part No. 44431) for ’82-’83 Camaros and Firebirds. This new rear spoiler combines style with function, has a textured finish, and is manufactured from shock-resistant black polyurethane (PU) foam for strength and flexibility. Kamei Auto Extras, Dept. HR-6, 300 Montowese Ave., North Haven, CT 06473, (203) 776-6676. Bolt On 125…

Chuck Lombardo’s business philosophy is simple: “I need to build a ’shop project’ every year so I can keep in touch with what’s going on in street rodding.” For a guy whose business (California Street Rods, 17091 Palmdale, Huntington Beach, CA 92647, 714/847-4404) is building street rods, that particular philosophy sounds kind of funny, but it really isn’t. You have to practice what you preach. And it so happens that earlier this year Lombardo’s current shop project won the prestigious “America’s Most Beautiful Roadster” title at the ’83 Oakland Roadster Show. One look at Chuck Lombardo’s sly and mighty highboy and you know he’s been there before. "Like Father, Like Son” “As for my son Chuckle’s ’57 Bel Air two-door hardtop, it started at our home when, at the age…

Standard small-block Ford heads … miniscule ports, even smaller valves, an ugly Thermactor boss sticking right up through the exhaust port. They’re born losers, right? You want a small Ford to run, go out and bolt on some Boss heads … and change the pistons and rods while you’re at it (so it isn’t really a bolt on, is it?). Well, we’re here to tell you there’s another, easier way to go for all but the most radical competition cars: get a set of early 351W heads, stuff Chevy smallblock valves in them, and then have Ken Sperling at Air Flow Research Heads (11754 Roscoe Blvd., #6, Sun Valley, CA 91352, 213/767-4270) give them the full port and polish. The result is a Ford Windsor head that will flow almost…

By now, just about everyone knows a radar detector needs lots of warning distance to be truly effective. And ESCORT(r) delivers. Over hills, around corners, and from behind. Car and Driver magazine, in their 1982 test, went so far as to say: “The ESCORT, a perennial favorite of these black-box comparisons, is still the best radar detector money can buy.'' But there's more to the story. The Plot Thickens About a year ago, all radar detectors began picking up a new type of radar signal that was as strong as some police radars. The rest of the radar detector industry dismissed these signals as unmarked patrol cars, radar intrusion alarms, or even overactive imaginations. But something didn't add up. There were just too many of these new signals. And we…

Ed Bryant purchased his ’55 Chevy brand-new that year. It took the then-junior executive at Continental Conveyor Co. five years to pay for it. “I said then, ’If I ever get it paid for, I will never get rid of it.’” He didn’t. And he’s been driving it for 25 years while running up 70,000 miles on its odometer and rising to the post of president at Continental. In between, the Chevy classic has soldiered on from grocery-getter to quarter-master. Recently, it was returned to the streets after a complete Bill Frey off-frame restoration and modernization via a 350 Chevy topped by a rare ’65 Rochester F.l. unit and backed by a Turbo 400 trans. For show (and there’s a bucketful of firsts), there’s chrome everything, plus 24K gold plates…

Drag racing on the sand? The idea sounds ridiculous when you first hear it. But once you have actually witnessed one of these unusual events—especially if you have become disillusioned with today’s all-Pro, every-car-looks-the-same asphalt drags—you may quickly change your mind. Before we look at the advantages of sand racing, let’s consider problems that beset drag racing these days. Top speeds, especially in Pro classes, are getting dangerously high. Even the best Top Fuel motors are incapable of surviving more than a few rounds of current terminal speeds. Traction continues to be the primary limiting factor in the quest for quicker elapsed times, but today’s spongy slicks have introduced new problems such as vibration and ill-handling. Since most races are won or lost at the starting line, each car goes…

Not to knock those other makes, but what ever happened to the ’55 Fords, Chryslers, Studebakers, and what-have-you? Oh sure, there are still some around, but in terms of sheer number, none have had the survival rate manifested by the ubiquitous ’55-’57 Chevrolet. Not having a degree in clairvoyance, there’s no way to say for sure why that’s so, but the clean, finely detailed body sculpture and lack of the overly ostentatious chrome and fin excesses common to others of that era’s fellow travelers must have something to do with it. As a case study, consider this gem—Brian John Diamond’s ’55 Bel Air. Its timeless styling was tastefully left basically the way it came—except for the front bumper, painted brandywine to match one half of the House of Color’s two-tone…

In the late ’60s, Al White was right in the thick of musclecar mania in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley. He operated a chassis dyno and knew as much about tuning a high-performance engine as anyone. But when that era died and the smogmobile emerged in the ’70s, Al went on to “normal” business ventures and limited his automotive activities to his own hobby cars. After owning a couple of Ferraris he decided that they just couldn’t cut it, and he purchased a new Z28. He liked the car but couldn’t cope with its lack of performance away from the stoplight. Al called back on his dyno experience and worked up a little bolt-on performance kit. It was so successful (13.01 sec. @ 109 mph on street tires) that he…

The hottest bike in the 750 class last year was the Kawasaki GPz—a firecracker red rocket that ran 12-flat quarter-miles and won box-stock road-racing titles throughout America. Well, that bike is now this bike. The factory took the 1982 GPz—with minor changes—and turned it into the 1983 KZ750L3 Sport. The Sport is a “standard” model...not a fire-breathing, singe-the-pavement racer and not a low-slung Saturday Night special. It’s an all-purpose bike with conservative styling and versatile performance. It can commute, tour, cruise, or chase through the mountains at 45-degree lean angles. The seating position is not racy-radical like the new GPz or laid-back and cool like an LTD. It’s more upright and natural. But because of the Sport’s GPz heritage, it outperforms most “standards,” especially in the engine department. Good riders…

HOW LOW Can You Go? Just before the start of the ’83 Long Beach Grand Prix, Bridgestone showed the crowd what could be accomplished with the current “state of the Kart.” Forty Pro-Kart drivers and screamers hit the track for a 17-lap exhibition race, turning the course only about 15-20 seconds slower than the Formula One cars and getting close to 140 mph on the straights. Perennial favorite Scott Pruett went on a Sunday drive from the start to win, and the fans seemed to really enjoy the show. In Pro-Kart, the machines are set up with two 100cc Kart engines, fairings, pyrometers, disc brakes at all four corners, and most have some sort of wing over the rear wheels. For those in the crowd who thought Karts were made…

All right. You’ve saved your money. Now it’s time for that face-lift your engine sorely needs. You’d like to make sure that the dollars you part with produce the results you anticipate; however, there’s that age-old bugaboo of which parts are really compatible with one another. You have dubious confidence in the average counterperson’s technical knowledge, based on the fact that you know there’s an even chance you may be encouraged to buy a particular set of parts simply because they’re in stock—not because they’re right. And then there are the manufacturers. Historically, manufacturers of specialty aftermarket parts have concentrated (and understandably so) on “doing their own thing” when it came to engineering their stuff. Almost to a company, manufacturers have strived to optimize their particular parts, unconcerned with how…

How sweet it is!” No, this is not a rerun of the Honeymooners, but if it sounds like your ol’ dad’s in love, I am. What you see in living, Dave Kimble kolor (pages 48-49) is a car I’ve always loved and longed to own and drive. The reason is … simple. HOT ROD Magazine’s Stroh’s Light-sponsored lakes-modified roadster simply happens to be the epitome of simplicity, a pre-war, backyard-brewed bomb that has its roots firmly implanted under the lakebed of Muroc, the holy grail of hot rodding. Short but Sweet can be best described as a midpoint between a T-bucket and a track roadster. It’s a Fad-A … with lots of legroom. And legroom is very important if you plan to drive something like this from Hawaiian Gardens, California,…

MAKING CAR CARE EASY □JOBS FOR DO-IT-YOURSELFERS vs. JOBS FOR PROS To avoid discouragement—and an unfinished task—realize what your limitations are before starting a project. Know what jobs you can easily and safely perform and which tasks are best left to the professionals. You are your own best judge of skill, but don't jump into a task you feel uncertain about. If the thought of doing your own tune-ups intimidates you, take a night class in auto mechanics. Many towns have diagnostic centers where, for a very modest fee, you can have your car checked out. Many of these firms will give you an estimate of repair costs. This information can be very useful in deciding which tasks to do yourself and which ones to leave to trained technicians. The…

You know heads-up, no-breakout bracket racing has reached its proper place of prominence when guys like Carl Smith will spend six months and 20 grand building plastic fantastics like his latest ’57 all-’glass “Super Gas” Corvette. We say all-’glass because Carl made the grille and headlight and taillight buckets out of fiberglass, too. But that’s not all. Smith shaped the chassis (featuring a 2x3-inch frame, Lamb front end and brakes, Pinto steering, and a ’57 Poncho rearend), the engine (employing 427 inches of Arias, Bill Miller, Crane, Edelbrock, and Holley-equipped rat), the interior (fashioned from Wayne Gaskamp-shaped aluminum), and the exterior (covered by an eye-opening array of candy pearl yellow, red, orange, blue, and wine). If Carl’s Custom Corvette proves to be as quick as it is colorful, the boys…

Like its namesake, there’s nothing fishy about Mike Dauro’s Long Beach, Mississippi-based Chevy classic. It’s pure animal, thanks to the salty ’72 Chevy 350 packed to the gills with Crane bumpstick, Team G intake, 780 Holley dual-feed carb, Mallory ignition, and Hooker fenderwell headers. A Zoom clutch transfers the torque back through the Hurst Super Shifter-controlled Muncie 4-speed to an original ’55 Chevy rearend, narrowed by Jerry Lopez to accept Grand Prix N50 tires mounted on Cragar SST 15x10 wheels. Up front, razor-sharp-looking Gillette F70 tires rotate on SST 15x7s, steered in the right direction by a walnut Grant tilt wheel working through a ’72 Buick Electra box. Rebound is controlled by a combination of Monroe shocks up front and Gabriel air shocks out back. Yup, there’s a lot to…

Following tradition, the collective HOT ROD staff herewith presents its democratic selection of the best of all street rods features in these pages during the past year. Since we feel all rods featured cars are superbly constructed, trend-setting, and visually powerful the choice is never easy. But next year we will break with tradition and make our job even tougher by opening the field of selection to all rods entered at the HOT ROD Super Nationals, as well as magazine feature cars. Be there and be counted.…

Chaos Out of Order I own a ’65 Mustang with a 260 8-cylinder engine. The manual says to keep the lifters in the exact order in which they came out. I took the engine apart to be rebuilt and the lifters got mixed up. Why must they stay in the same order? Will it make any difference if I put them in in a different order? Mike Weinstein Littleton, Colorado Lifters must go back on the same exact cam lobe they were removed from because the surfaces of the used cam lobes and lifters have become “wear-mated” to each other. If parts are mixed, the now-dissimilar surfaces’ high points will come into contact, causing high unit loading that will result in rapid lifter and lobe wear, ultimately leading to camshaft…

Address all HOT ROD Mart correspondence to: Dept. HRM, HOT ROD Magazine, 8490 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069. HOT ROD Mart requirements: 25-word limit per ad, not including name and address. We reserve the right to edit copy or refuse ads. While not responsible for accuracy of description, we will reject misleading statements. No ads from commercial firms will be accepted. Only one car may be listed in any one ad, but this limitation does not apply to parts or equipment listings. Only one month may be paid for per ad. $20 per ad must accompany each insertion. When photo is included, the rate is increased to $32.50 per insertion. Photos cannot be returned. Due to normal publication schedule, allow at least six months from time ad is received…