Indholdsfortegnelse for February 1985 i Hot Rod

For days now we have been studying Thom Taylor’s paint recommendations for the street rod kit pictured on this month’s cover. My choice is for traditional HOT ROD red, Thom and the art department want it to be Prussian blue. Staff recommendations range from silver, to maroon, to black. We even have an orange version to consider. All the fuss over the paint scheme is because we wish the car to make a bold statement. Equally important is to bring this car in on budget, a budget no more than you would spend if this was your first attempt at home-building your own hot rod—which is the main reason why we have undertaken this project in the first place. ” WE FEEL IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE IDEAS THAT…

In our four-part buildup we will show you exactly what’s needed to complete this revolutionary new street rod kit, and prove how simple it is to assemble. For a detailed look at the kit components, send $30 to Speedway for the assembly manual (deductible from purchase price). While the kit comes ready to assemble, it does require additional parts to complete, allowing you to choose components from other sources or from Speedway’s vast catalog. The kit leaves out such items as an interior kit, brake kit, instrumentation, front spindles, shocks, etc. A number of option kits make the construction easier, albeit more costly. The basic kit comes with a fiberglass body, trunk lid, doors and door-mounting hardware, hood and side panels, rear roll pan, grille shell, and dashboard. It includes…

Among the “Milestone Musclecars” that will eventually appear in this series, the Boss 429 ranks as the one theoretically capable of nailing you to your seat and continuing to pull until you get that little tingle as you hit warp speed. Trouble is, the car in real life came out as a well-dressed bruiser that had been subjected to just one too many shock treatments. All the pieces were there, it just wasn’t well orchestrated. In those days a manufacturer was faced with two different routes toward homologating a car for competition. In NHRA drag racing, cars competing in Stock or Super Stock had to be produced as a matched set: body and drivetrain. In NASCAR, however, the car makers needed only to build 500 engines for “street applications” to…

The epidemic rearend problems that have plagued General Motors in the last few years are not new. And the factory has not addressed the problems in today’s Camaros and Firebirds. Ironically, the solution isn’t far away; the GM engineers need only go as far as their archives to find the drawings for a rearend that, with a few relatively simple mods, can take anything a full-race 454 can dish out. We’re speaking, of course, about the Chevrolet 12-bolt, GM’s 1965-1972 answer to the demands of torquey musclecar motors. Unfortunately, it’s been out of production for 13 years! But we don’t need to wait for engineering approval. There is an ample supply of 12-bolts in the wrecking yards, and many more are still going strong in thousands of performance cars. For…

We seriously doubt that Norm “Woo-Woo” Grabowski could have thought his street-style lakes modified would be a trendsetter, a car star, or an inspiration. But it is. Norm’s famed Kookie car became Edd Byrnes’ four-wheel companion on the “77 Sunset Strip” TV series, and Mesa, Arizona’s Jack Dooney’s dream. “I was inspired [like so many other rodders] to build this car the moment I saw it on the cover of the June ’57 issue of Car Craft Magazine. “I was not trying to copy Norm’s T, but rather to duplicate ’the look’ Norm achieved.” So Dooney set about recapturing “that look,” which is based on a ’glass ’23 body and shortened pickup bed—covered with candy-blue acrylic lacquer paint augmented by a combination of gold-pearl and orange flames and candy-blue and…

In last month’s issue we showed you the details of the chassis for “Black Fog,” a hot, rod street roadster for the ’80s. This month we’ll show you progress on the body building. It’s a shame that the genuinely beautiful framework of this hot rod street roadster has to be covered up … but it does, so why not wrap it all in aluminum? After the basic frame was complete and rolling, the roadster was sent from the Snow White Ltd Shop in Fresno, California, over to the other side of town at Jim Allen Specialties. Here, this master craftsman of aluminum began bending, banging, and rolling pieces to fulfill the dream. The car will be as designed: super low, with the look of a highly modified hot rod Model…

I’ve received several Ford 2.3L turbo-car owner inquiries concerning the availability of an intercooler kit to increase their cars’ performance. Several potential aftermarket kits unfortunately died stilborn, but now Ford itself is introducing retrofit kits through its Motorsports program. These offer up to a 10-percent power increase through the installation of a Mustang SVO air-to-air heat exchanger that cools the air, thereby increasing its density and, consequently, its horsepower potential. The kits contain an intercooler assembly, hose clamps, rubber sleeves, pipe support brackets, compressor discharge neck, hump hose, intercooler-to-manifold pipe, compressor discharge pipe, discharge “U” pipe, rubber grommets, all the necessary hardware, and instructions. The illustration shows the T-Bird kit, which is available right now and takes about one hour to install. Other kits (see list) will be available by…

NEW FORMAT I have just received my October issue of your fine magazine. I think your new format is outstanding, especially the artwork. But I do have a few points to make. The first is your new policy of not finishing your larger articles on succeeding pages. It’s very irritating for us who read your magazine from cover-to-cover to have to flip past 50 pages or so to finish an article. I also take exception to your new practice of putting all your feature cars into one section, “Profilin’.” Spacing the feature cars throughout the magazine I think would brighten it up and make for easier, more exciting reading. My only other complaint doesn’t have to do with your new format. It’s about the glaring omission in your “ ’85…

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Ford Thunderbird, with more than 25 million cars having borne the name since 1955. The original two-seater suggested the musclecar long before anyone ever thought of it, and over the years the Thunderbird has come to represent quality and performance, as a hallmark of Ford products. Moving into the Eighties, the T-Bird has once again become a performance sedan with styling and ability that equal anything available from distant shores. Thunderbirds pioneered a variety of automotive Innovations like seat belts, power windows and removable lops, In the early Sixties Thunderbirds sported hot rod performance equipment like tri-power carburetion, and, throughout its history, the marque has consistently been a strong performer. Now Ford has introduced a Thirtieth Anniversary edition to celebrate their success.…

The Right Wrench Many rodders and racers didn’t know that Dzus Fastener Co., Inc. made a special plastic-handle tool designed to remove and retighten their famed slotted aluminum fasteners. A tool, we might add, which is made from bendproof, heat-treated steel and conforms perfectly with the slot on the face of the fastener. We’ll also bet you rodders didn’t know that these tools could be purchased from Don Hardy (Dept. HR-02, 202 W. Missouri, Floydada, TX 79235, 806/983-3444), Mr. Gasket (Dept. HR-02, 4566 Spring Rd., Cleveland, OH 44129), or any one of the Mr. Gasket retail outlets scattered throughout the country. And for those hot rodders who are also interested in Dzus’ long line of fasteners and related hardware, you can obtain a brochure by contacting Ted Dzus, Dzus Fastener…

If you had told me a month ago that I could be convinced that computers are good for hot rodding, I would have been skeptical at best. Like most hot rodders, I understand mechanical things. When I opened the hood of a new car and saw all those wires, hoses, sensors, and mysterious black boxes, I simply threw up my hands and asked, “What can you do with one of these things?” Ignorance is not always bliss. Amazing’what a little education can do. We told you in October that it’s time for hot rodding to move into the ’80s, and that HOT ROD will lead the way in a concerted, necessary re-education process to bring hands-on performance modification up to speed with current technology. As you learn a little about…

Don Smith, a garage owner from Evansville, Indiana, is a full-on hot rodder. And so is his 71 Pinto, a not-so-subtle sedan which has been totally owner-altered for both looks and per-Fordmance. The looks part is readily apparent, running the gamut from custom-built rear fenders and fiberglass hood and front spoiler components to a dazzling yellow, red, purple, and orange-candy paint scheme augmented by an interior featuring Hyde-covered bucket seats, a Cal Custom steering wheel, and a stereo which Smith can’t hear. “Because of the blower whine.” Ah, yes, blower whine--that square-cut gear music which is part ’n parcel of a Roots-type blower. But that audio/visual treat is only a part of Smith’s performance image. It goes deeper than that. His Pinto has been equipped with a 2x3-inch frame, Koni…

After the superbike wars of 1984, we thought we’d seen everything. Dragstrip records fell like so many leaves, with the overall quartermile king, the Suzuki GS1150ES, finally setting the time to beat at 10.47 seconds @ 128 mph. There were five other bikes right behind, all with sub-11-second runs to their credit, all of them, like the Suzuki, capable of touching 150 mph in a straight line. The planet had never seen machines for sale on every street corner that could come close to what these monsters could do. It’s beginning to look like we ain’t seen nothing yet. The Suzuki is back, with an unfaired brother bike, the E model, that should be just a touch faster through the traps. Honda has a new VF 1OOOR, with endurance-racer styling…

Let There Be Light From a luminescent standpoint, cowl lights are about as effective as a candle in a cloudburst. But that’s been fixed, folks Thanks to Ron Francis of We are Works fame, there’s a cowl light lamp kit which transforms a flickering foul-up into attention-getting parking and tum-signal lights. So. if your rod-ney needs a modern safety feature wrapped up in an old-style accessory, you might contact Ron Francis’ Wire Works. Dept. HR-2. 167 Keystone Rd-Chester. PA 19013. (215) 485-1937, and light’er up. Deuce Truce Unless a rodder is well-versed in chassis fabncabon, it doesn’t make a whole lot of dollars or a bunch of “cents” not to buy a turn-key chassis from an expert like Roy Brizio. For instance, Brizio’s Deuce chassis come with two things going…

In November ’84 we ran a picture of this frantic four-door ’34 Ford doing a burnout at Norwalk Raceway in Ohio, saying we couldn’t locate the owner, but that we loved the unusual car. Well, we figured that whoever owned this rapid taxi would be reading the magazine. Sure enough. His name is Steve Kaptur; he’s from Toledo, Ohio, and has owned this car for 10 years. It runs an LS-7 454 Chevy with “C-port” aluminum heads, Crane roller cam, an 1150-cfm Dominator on an Edelbrock C-454 intake, and a T-400 trans with a Lamb brake. The car gets into the 9.50’s at about 140 mph, and Steve has it set up to run IHRA B/EA class (9.40 index), though he usually runs Pro or Super Gas at his home…

On pages 26-29 we spell out the many ways Detroit is replacing carubretors and distributors with computer-controlled direct-port fuel injection and computerized spark management. During our research we got a look at a couple of new fuel-injected Fords that ought to interest you. The first is a ram-tuned, direct-port EFL version of the familiar 5.0L V8, This particular design, with a tall intake runner manifold, is slated for introduction early this year in Ford pickups. A lower-profile version of the same setup will be used in cars next year. The other engine is Ford’s brand-new 3.0L “Vulcan” V6, which will debut in ’86. This 60-degree, all cast-iron engine will be made in Ford’s Lima, Ohio, plant (unlike the 2.8L 60degree V6, which comes from Germany) and will be used in…

Now for the good stuff! From the preliminary course (you did read the preceding four pages, didn’t you?) you can readily see’ how computer systems can be made to: operate in high-performance modes—and do it better than carbs and distributors. The problem is that we cannot modify factory computers without knowing their program codes. And the factories have been extremely protective of their computer program information. Let’s clear up one point here, also. There has been a lot of talk about “performance PROM’s’’ being developed for GM computers. You know, pull the stock PROM from the ECM in your Z28, put in a “hopped up’’ aftermarket PROM’S and the car would run 12-second quarters. This cannot happen, for two reasons. First, in terms of performance, the computer controls only spark…

CARS ’69 BUICK SPECIAL DELUXE, aluminum V8, 35,000 miles, cherry body Tom Kempley. Box 524, Reno, NV 89503, (702) 323-8739. ’70 BUICK WILDCAT. 455-cid, 390 hp, 400 Turbo Hydromatic trans. 100 percent factoryoriginal cream paint, vinyl top, and upholstery. Factory-original invoice, accessories including radio, hubcaps, etc., 50,000 original miles. Mint condition. $8995. Must see to appreciate. Morris Simmons, Rt., 4, Box 701, Spring Lake, NC 28390, (919) 497-9378. RADICAL ’37 CADILLAC on 1970 El Dorado chassis, firewall, and dash. Full power and air, FWD. Best of both worlds. 50 percent completed. $4995. Stored in L.A. Jim Lytle, (916) 386-0255, 5-7 o.m. ’68 CAMARO Custo m purple, white and pearl paint. Black interior. Pro Stock 467-cid. Rat motor, Muncie 4-speed. 12-bolt rear. Never been raced. $7300 o.b.o. Don E. Olson, 185…

Drag Racing in Sweden Where else would you expect to see Pro Stock Volvos and Saab Funny Cars? Although they suffer from a lack of dragstrips, a very short season, and a dearth of spare parts (imagine the time and expense involved in ordering engine pieces from the U.S.), Sweden continues to be a hotbed of drag racing activity in Europe. Given the conditions just mentioned, you wouldn’t expect Swedish Top Fuel or Funny Car times to come close to American records. Surprisingly, they’re not that far behind At the 11th Annual Sko Uno Drag Festival held at Mantorp Park last June, 25,000 fans came out to see the quickest Top Fuel field in Europe and the first new e.t. record in 10 years. The slowest car in the eight-car…

Probably the most impressive run at the 10th Annual Yesteryear Drags held last Fall at L.A. County Raceway was Tom Taros’ 180.00 mph blast (actually 186.10 if factored to sea level) in the former Ike lacono dragster. What makes the run impressive is not so much the fact that Tom’s car runs a relatively mild 355-inch iron-block Chevy with a homemade injector, but that the car is 35 years old! It was initially built as a rear-engine lakester, then converted to a Jimmy-powered dragster by Sonny Balcaen, and finally became one of the most famous Wayne 12-ports ever, under the ownership of Ike lacono in the late ’50s (see cover, HRM January ’59). Taros worked in Ike’s San Pedro, California, tune-up shop for years, and ran the Jimmy a few…