Indholdsfortegnelse for July 1983 i Hot Rod

The Super Duty BOOK Pontiac is preparing a comprehensive guide detailing the preparation of their Super Duty 4’cylinder i engine components for racing applications. The 48-page manual will be available through Pontiac dealers later this year. It will provide detailed instructions for performing block, cylinder head, and crankshaft modifications and will also furnish complete details on all aftermarket high-performance equipment available for the engine. The standard 151-c.i.d. (formerly called the Iron Duke) engine is the base powerplant in a variety of GM cars including Camaros and Firebirds. The performance program Pontiac has assembled for this engine is nothing short of amazing. Super Duty components can be crossbred for street application, and that should lead to some genuinely exciting 4-cylinder-powered street machines. Dirty Air or Dirty Pool In a recent legal…

When the crowd cheers louder for their local Pro Gas heroes than for the imported big. name Funny Car talent, you know you’re at an unusual track. And that you are, for it’s the wild and woolly original home of heads-up 9.50 index Pro Gas drag racing—Northern California’s Sacramento Raceway. Track operator Dave Smith has it all together. On this particular Sunday early in April, there were AA/Funny Cars, Alcohol Funny Cars, Jet dragsters, Jet Funny Cars, Rocket dragsters… and the Pro Gassers-always the Pro Gassers. Nonstop action, wheelstands galore, down-to-the-wire finishes, tough qualifying, even tougher elimination! However, now everyone gets a second chance. Losers in every round except the semis return to race again. First round losers can actually loose twice more before they’re out for good. The winners…

HOT ROD’s ongoing Z28 Camaro project has turned out to be a surprisingly positive testimonial for the potential of the much maligned 305-c.i.d. engine now powering performance versions of GM’s sleek F-body. Recent testing has revealed an abundance of horsepower hidden in the 305’s tiny little cylinders. Most of the modifications described herein were performed as bolt-on additions, and with the motor installed on Edelbrock’s dyno, it served up an astounding 402 hp without spitting up any parts. Then it was installed in the car again and run on the chassis dyno, where it applied better than 300 hp to the rear wheels. Driveability was excellent, with the engine willing to pull through 7000 rpm while moving the car as though it had a larger engine. Unfortunately, the fun didn’t…

It takes at least a little black magic to put a double-whopper-size car like Rich Williams’ ’41 Willys coupe into the Pro Gas field at Sacramento Raceway. The index there is a stout 9.50, but Williams and his big, black “gasser" seldom fail to make the show at their home track. Best time to date for the rat-powered, 2350-pound sorcerer is 9.29 seconds @ 140 mph. Legend has it that this Willys once pounded the asphalt at Fremont as a supercharged gasser, but when Rich found it, it was a $300 clapped out hulk. That was before he and Ron Fry began to work their magic on it. Starting at the foundation, Ron Fry built a complete new frame for the car from 2x3-inch box tubing. He also hand-fabricated a…

One of the points on the Chrysler Pentastar represents engineering. Chrysler Corporation has had a longstanding reputation of sound engineering and advanced technology. That reputation has been enhanced as Chrysler Corporation took frontwheel drive technology, refined and honed it to meet American driving demands, and developed a new generation of vehicles that offer spacious, comfortable interiors, stable ride, and maximum power train efficiency. The apex of this important achievement has been realized in 1983 with the introduction of a new generation of midsize high-tech automobiles that lead the industry in innovative design and elegant appearance. Dodge 600 ES Grand touring for less than ten grand. The Dodge 600 ES is a Euro/Sedan touring car that offers sleek, bold lines and an inviting interior. The Dodge 600 ES exterior appearance is…

“The fact that you are reading this Buyer’s Guide is a strong indication that your love affair with the American automobile never went away as some would like us to believe. It is Chrysler Corporation’s greatest pleasure to know that people like you still take pride in owning a fine automobile with state-of-the-art technology. It is a pride we share with you. “The Pentastar shown on the cover of this Guide is Chrysler’s pledge to the world in general, and to you in particular, that Chrysler-built cars are quality-built cars… a claim substantiated by the fact that they are the only U.S.-built cars covered by a five-year/50,000-mile limited warranty*.More than just a symbol, the Pentastar does represent every Chrysler employee’s commitment to constantly improve quality and reliability in the products…

Let’s face it, lovers of the late models, Camaros, V8 Vegas, and Chevy Il’s are getting to be like belly buttons… it seems that every street hero has one. But not Lakewood, California’s Tom Agin. He likes his boulevard beater to be big, beautiful, and full-bodied. Consequently, he did what came naturally. He picked up a ’66 Biscayne and then filled what had originally cost him 2100 clams with $7000 worth of improvements. Agin’s flaming fun runner is propelled by 396 inches of Reath Automotive-prepared ’66 rat, which, in turn, is equipped with such go-fast goodies as a High Flo II cam, a Holley 800-c.f.m. double-pumper carburetor, and a Mallory igniter. The balance of the Biscayne’s driveline includes a McLeod clutch, 4-speed manny tranny, and a 12-bolt rearend filled with…

For those of you who feel the best thing to do with any front-wheel drive car is to turn it around and make it a rear-wheel drive car, you’ll just have to drive the new Daytona Turbo Z or its sister coupe, the Chrysler Laser. The clone cars are both a pleasant surprise; they’re unlike the usual FWD offerings because of some novel tricks the Pentastar engineers have built in. Beginning with the engine, one look tells you the new engine compartment has received a lot of attention; the wiring, plumbing, and bracketry arrangement is cleaner and better thought out than in the earlier Charger/Turismo/Rampage package. The big news, of course, is the hairdryer clinging to the back face of the 2.2 liter engine. It’s an AiResearch TO3, and the…

When Dick Wilson first made a race car out of this 1960 Valiant station wagon, he set it up for B/Modified Production with a 480-inch Hemi. The year was 1968, the car was orange, had four doors and a stock top, and its first race was against Dandy Dick Landy at the Winternationals in Pomona, California. By ’74 Dick decided to go bracket racing, sold the Valiant, and built a couple of altered roadsters. Six years later, however, Dick was ready for Pro Gas—but he wanted a car that was unusual. He went looking for his old Valiant wagon, and found it sitting right where it had been since he sold it… now little more than a rusty hulk. So Dick carted the remains over to friend, fellow-racer, and home-craftsman…

Time to OD I have a ’71 Chevelle with a smallblock V8. I am doing some experimental work with turbos on the engine and I need either an overdrive unit or a 2-speed rear axle for the car. The transmission is automatic and I would prefer not to change it to a 4-speed box. Ken LivingstoneSan Francisco, California Add-on 20 and 30-percent overdrive units are marketed by B&J Transmissions, a Division of B.A.&T., Inc., 38 W. Henderson, P.O. Box 2170, Porterville, CA 93257, (209) 781-1064. The Mains Fall Mainly on the Plain I am a proud owner of a ’69 Road Runner with a 383. Some of my friends tell me that the car isn’t worth its weight in mud because it doesn’t have 4-bolt main bearing caps. My question…

Tool Crib Using what most sheetmetal guys call a “hand nibbier,” working from a ’1/4-inch hole, you can clip out any shape or size hole for interior or engine compartment tinwork. The nibbier comes from Jilson Corp., 200 Atlantic St., Hackensack, NJ 07601. They make a line of snips; this is the newest, model J-1451-SS, and it can cut aluminum and other soft metals to 15 gauge, or steel to 18 gauge. One nice thing about the Jilson snips is the clean break at the end of the cut; you just squeeze the snips to remove the curled metal from the cut. It Worked For Me Movin’ Around I discovered an easier way to move trailers around at home and in the pits. I mounted a piece of ½-inch-thick, 4-inch-wide…

Hot Air, and … I own a ’64 Corvair Monza with a high-performance engine and 4-speed. I’d like to know if there’s a club for Corvairs, and if there are any publications about them. Mike AllenGillespie, Illinois Contact the Corvair Society of America, P.O. Box 2488, Pensacola, FL 32503. They publish a monthly book on the cars, and are an active organization. Here’s a picture of my unique 1965 Corvair which has been completely restored to show car status. It placed first in its class in the Frank Marrata Auto Show at the Hartford Civic Center in 1975. The following year it took second place for “Best Car in Show.” The engine has been rebuilt, balanced, and blueprinted. It is a 110 and has 10:1 compression, 140 heads, Curve distributor,…

Road-Rated Sounds Craig Corporation has introduced a new, comprehensive line of car stereos and speakers. One of the items included in their new line is the Road-Rated Model T741 AM/FM/cassette stereo (shown). It features Dolby FM and tape; auto-reverse with locking fast forward and rewind; separate loudness, bass, treble, balance, and fade controls; and more. Available at your local Craig dealer. Balancing Act Chrome-A-Shaft’s new balanced, ready-to-race engine assemblies enable the engine builder to tailor a complete Chrome-A-Shaft crank kit to his application and budget by selecting from the many quality parts offered. Every kit features a dynamically balanced Chrome-A-Shaft crank. Chrome-A-Shaft, Dept. HR-7, 280 Tillman, P.O. Box 12535, Memphis, TN 38112, (901) 4540560. Chemical Workbench Direct Connection’s Racers Chem-Pak features 11 top-quality, professionally proven chemical helpers that answer most…

At one time, not so long ago, there was a dream that started to come true—"Pro Street” cars. Basically, these were supposed to be street cars with warmed over engines and enough interior/exterior cosmetic alterations to give the visual appearance of Pro-style drag cars. But, due to various big-buck promoters and media hype, somewhere along the way the “Street” got separated from the “Pro.” What resulted was really a race car with a license plate hung on the bumper. The bottom line is: things are totally out of hand. We don’t know about the rest of you, but here at HOT ROD we believe cars are created to be driven first and displayed second. It’s about time to take the “Pro” out of “Street” and leave it where it belongs—on…

A key ingredient of any street machine project is the personal flavor injected by each individual owner. The various modifications and additions to the car offer a unique reflection of the owner’s personal automotive convictions, and Wally Klock’s sano V6-powered 1965 Buick’s Turbo V6 Is an Engine Swapper’s Dream Buick Skylark is yet another example of the diversity that keeps hot rodding fresh and alive. Klock is a man who is so into Buicks we almost expected him to have a Buick tattoo somewhere on his person. The carefully restored Skylark shown here is just one of many Buicks in Wally’s stable, but right now it is undoubtedly the most prized car in his collection. It was completely rebuilt after an errant motorist casually reduced the rear half of the…

Dodge Shelby Charger An affordable performance driving machine. The Charger lineup is topped by the Shelby Charger, a balanced performance car for the ’80s, featuring special suspension, tires, trim, and a high-output 2.2-liter engine that really delivers the goods for only $8,290.* Its 0-50 time: 5.5 seconds. † The base Charger has the same sporty styling and a 1.6-liter engine ‡ that takes the “guzzle" out of your “go.” And, as with its Shelby counterpart, Charger is a sure road performer, thanks to its rack-and-pinion steering and Iso-Strut independent front suspension. Features also include standard halogen headlamps, standard cloth-and-vinyl high-back bucket seats, and Rallye instrument cluster. This is a car for people who still love the feel of power underfoot. Base Charger is priced at only $6,379.* ’See Page A2…

Today’s high-performance enthusiast is faced with a serious problem: the gasoline that is currently available at the corner filling station is simply not compatible with high-output powerplants. The reason for this is very simple. Horsepower is primarily dependent on cylinder pressure. In other words, the harder the expanding gases in the combustion chamber push on the piston, the more power the engine makes. Nearly all of the changes that an enthusiast might attempt are designed to raise cylinder pressure: a higher compression ratio raises pressure by squeezing the mixture into a smaller combustion area; increasing spark advance raises cylinder pressure by giving the hot gases more time to expand; even valve timing and fuel system changes result in more cylinder pressure because they allow the cylinders to fill more completely.…

“What’s really neat about my Fiat Topolino [and Topolino means “little mouse” in Italian] is that most street rodders have never seen one before.” That’s sad because way back in the ’50s and ’60s, Topolinos (or their fiberglass replicas)— in addition to Simca’s similar three-window coupe, Austin’s Bantam roadster and five-window coupe, plus Willys’ model 77 five-window coupe—were common sights at the dragstrip. That’s why these depression-bred sub-subcompacts, which could barely contain two adults let alone Wilt Chamberlin, weren’t relegated to the list of automotive oddities. Even back then hot rodders understood what a favorable power-to-weight ratio meant, so they wound up stuffing more power into the lightest car they could find in the local boneyards … and those happen to be Fiats, Simcas, Willys, Anglias, Populars, and Thames panel…

Back in the ’60s, parts tended to be over-engineered. Drivetrains especially were quite capable of handling that era’s torquey high-output engines. In the intervening years power levels dropped, so the rest of the drivetrain was accordingly downsized as well. Now, even though performance levels are once again rising, the drivetrains (especially the rearends) have not kept pace, as Detroit continues to try and hold the line against the fuel-robbing weight increases that would result from such beefed-up hardware. The problem is particularly acute on today’s premier enthusiast cars, the Ford Mustang/Capri and GM Camaro/Firebird. Enthusiasts quickly started hopping up the new cars, only to see the rearends hop out. Traditionally, that called for going down to the junkyard and bolting in a similar-length rearend in place of the failed unit,…

Computer Lies HOT ROD staffer Kevin Boales has discovered a cheap, effective means of reprogramming the ignition computer on certain late-model Chrysler Corp, products to give a more performance-oriented advance curve. The modification concerns “tricking” the vehicle’s oxygen feedback (oxygen sensor) system into doing what you want it to do, instead of what the Feds desire (which is why this is for “off-road” use only). Most ignition computers sense four things: rpm (from the distributor’s pickup), engine temperature, throttle position (usually it only wants to know if the throttle is at or off idle), and mixture (which it gets from the oxygen sensor). The computer tailors the advance curve to these four conditions or “parameters,” giving you more advance when the engine is running lean, less when it’s rich. They…

BF Goodrich koffers a handsome reusable glove compartment document case containing details on their T/A High Tech Radials. Inside you’ll find informative brochures to help you choose the right radial, a car owner’s data record and tire care tips card, and a special rebate offer on the purchase of T/A High Tech Radials. Send $1 for handling to J.H. Industries, Dept. HR-7, P.O. Box 263, Aurora, OH 44202. MorOSO’S 1983-’84 catalog contains an extensive, up-to-date line of performance-improving, tract-tested products. This 93-page catalog includes everything for your racing needs from A-frame bushings to wire-crimping tools, as well as their new, official apparel line. Send $2 to Moroso Performance Products, Inc., Dept. HR-7, Carter Dr., Guilford, CT 06437. HP Books has introduced Metal Fabricator’s Handbook written by well-known car builder Ron…

Fund Racer The smiling faces and ’67 Chevelle in the photo belong to the ITC Drag Club, made up of students from the Industrial Training Center in Fenton, Michigan. The students built the car without tax dollars, raising funds and gathering donations from local merchants. “Racing to Learn" includes, body work done by the students in the school’s auto body course, suspension pieces and roll cage from the welding students, and the rest of the drivetrain stuff by the guys in the auto mechanics course. Professionals were brought in to help get the project rolling in the right direction, and officials from the local racing organizations gave talks on the regulations the car would run under. The Chevelle is powered by a 1975 truck 454 with 396 heads, Competition Cams…

Have you ever noticed how a beautiful Corvette tends to attract beautiful women? How else could we explain why a tall, blonde beauty like Georgette Murray is posing beside John Harvey’s Hemi-powered ’58 Corvette? But who needs an explanation? The car is what first caught your attention, right? It’s not every Corvette that is loaded with 488 inches of late-model Chrysler Hemi. Nor do many early-body Vettes turn a top speed of 192 miles an hour on gasoline, as this one did at Bonneville. And there certainly can’t be more than a handful that run the quartermile in 9.85 seconds @ 146 mph pulling a weight of 3100 pounds. Even fewer can do both. Actually, John built his version of Hemi-under-glass primarily for the speed trials at Bonneville and El…

Look again, friend; that was no Trans Am that just blew by you on the back-stretch. It was Pontiac’s new Super Duty Firebird—a screaming, 4-cyttider-powered Firebird constructed to IMSA Kelly Girl specifications by Pontiac Engineering. It was built to demonstrate the potential of Pontiac’s 4-cylinder Super Duty engine in a variety of racing applications, and although the car is still a little too heavy for the Kelly Girl series, its performance is nevertheless impressive. It has a top speed of better than 150 mph and does the quarter-mile in 13.2 seconds at more than 100 mph. That’s rather impressive for a 165-c.i.d. 4-banger in a 2700-pound car, but this is no ordinary engine. It develops 272 hp at 7600 rpm, and it’s packed full of the same high-performance Super Duty…

Dodge 400 Convertible The lowest-priced convertible in America at $9,995.* Chrysler uncovers a real beauty in the Dodge 400 convertible. Features include front-wheel drive engineering sophistication, personal comfort, and outstanding quality. And at only $9,995,* † it’s the lowest-priced convertible in America. Built with a long list of standard features, the Dodge 400’s mileage rating is EPA EST MPG;* 35 estimated highway. It’s the kind of car you deserve to drive. Dodge 400 convertible! Chrysler LeBaron Convertible Open up to the ultimate in Chrysler driving excitement. Sleek, crisp styling, elegant interior, the fun and thrill of the open road, plus an extensive list of standard features put the LeBaron convertible in a class by itself. Standard features include a power-assisted top with tailored boot, luxury steering wheel, electric digital…

Two new forms to fire the imagination. Chrysler Corporation is making bold new moves this fall with the introduction of the 1984 Dodge Daytona and Chrysler Laser. The sleek, aerodynamic, futuristic shapes of these two all-new cars are accented by sporty front and rear spoilers for improved road adhesion. Both are powered by a high-output, fuel-injected Trans-4 engine designed and built by Chrysler, and feature a five-speed manual transaxle. And both are available with the first and only American-built turbocharged four-cylinder engine for frontwheel drive applications. The Dodge Daytona and Chrysler Laser are two sports cars that mark a new peak in automotive performance and technology, with strong accents on driver comfort and control. Ride and handling will be superb, because both new vehicles have sophisticated chassis and suspension systems…

To help make this the narrowest 650 four in history, Honda put gear teeth on a flywheel and made it do double duty as the primary drive. Clever. The cam spins on top of the rocker arm, using the bullet-shaped hydraulic adjuster as a fulcrum. The adjuster maintains perfect zero clearance forever without maintenance. The brushless alternator is fan cooled because it nestles behind the block away from airflow. Interestingly, the engine spins backward so the driveshaft turns in the right direction without an added jackshaft—which adds weight, expense, and length to the engine. Our main test ride on the Nighthawk was a three-day 600-mile dash through the twistiest roads in California. The little 650 loved it, and never fell behind the 750 Interceptors and GPz’s that constantly taunted it.…

SELL—’74 GTO Hatchback 350. Top rebuilt, all stock except stonecrusher. Black, gold Imron, candy airbrushed Firebird. Factory gauges plus warning lights, super stereo. Garaged. $4500/o.b.o. Arthur Shukaitis, Box 355 RD #5, E. Stroudsbury, PA 18301. (717) 421-5238 weekends; (215) 865-9280 evenings. SELL—’23 T-bucket, Buick V6, Powerglide 2-speed. Candy apple red, fiberglass body, 8000 miles. $6200 or best offer. Steve Dolan, 525 S. Jessica Ave., Tucson, AZ 85710. (602) 885-1338. WANTED— Six-Pak manifold and carbs for big-block Ford. State condition and price. Clay Simmons, 1304 Mugu Rd., Point Mugu, CA 93042. (805) 986-3333. WANTED—Latham Axial Flow supercharger in good condition; one set 215 Olds V8 headers. Steve Wilderman, 552 Berkshire Dr., Salina, KS 67401. SELL—Plymouth AAR Cuda and T/A Challenger stripe sets. All are factory original. Norb Schlichter, RR 1, Adams,…