Indholdsfortegnelse for December 1985 i Hot Rod

Triken’ with Ed Ed “Big Daddy” Roth has built plenty of inventive hot rods over the past 25 years. But ever since he came up with the VW-trike configuration in the late ’60s he’s been hooked on three-wheelers. Shown here is his latest creation, the “Asphalt Angel,” featuring Buick V6 power, auto trans, narrowed 8-inch Ford rear, hand-formed glass body, and typical Roth touches like sonic animal deflectors and evaporative cooling (window washer nozzle aimed B at driver). Ed calls these V6/V8-powered three-wheelers “Muscle Trikes” and considers them the most practical, powerful, comfortable, and yes…zany…form of personal rapid transit going. Immediately upon completion, he rode the “Angel” 5000 miles across the country for a gathering of other Muscle Trikes (including a 454 Chevy-powered rocket built by “Leonard” of Super-Trikes in…

Although it seems like yesterday, it’s been 30 years since NHRA’s Wally Parks, the Safety Safari crew, and a portion of HOT ROD Magazine’s editorial staff jumped into their Mopar wagons and spent the better part of September 1955 making that trip from Hollywood to Great Bend, Kansas, to conduct and cover the first U.S. Nationals. Obviously, the ensuing three decades have been as kind to us, the NHRA, and Wally as it has to the racers, spectators, sponsors, and the news media which now covers organized drag racing’s premier event. Unlike its blood brother, however, the Bonneville Nationals, hot rodding’s other jewel in its competition crown, the 31st runnning of the “Annual National Championship Drags” totally illustrates how far organized drag racing has come from its abandoned airstrip beginnings.…

I hope I have impressed upon you, over the past nine months, that careful and correct preparation is nine-tenths of any quality paint job. At last, we come to the penultimate step. Are you ready to spray on the paint? As I have said numerous times, use acrylic lacquer for your first paint jobs. Since you will color-sand and rub the surface smooth, you don’t have to worry nearly as much about getting lacquer to flow out perfectly. Enamels and especially catalyzed paints are much more difficult to spray, and much more susceptible to problems such as fisheyes, separations, sags, and so on. Second, use a solid color (black, red, yellow, etc.) because metallics are much more difficult to spray since you must worry about streaking, mottling, and overspray. Third,…

ROAD RACING Dec. 1—IMSA Camel GT, Kelly American, Championship Spark Plug Series, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida Dec. 8—SCCA Pro Rally, Carson City International, Carson City, Nevada OFF-ROAD Dec. 2—SCORE Off-Road Barstow Classic, Barstow, California Dec. 2—High Desert Frontier 250, Las Vegas, Nevada ROD RUNS & SHOWS Nov. 29-Dec. 1—26th Annual International Houston AutoRama, AstroHall and AstroArena, Houston, Texas Dec. 6-8—11th Annual Bud Light World of Wheels, Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas Dec. 8—Reggie Jackson’s 4th Annual Greater Bay Area Collector Car Auction, San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area, California Dec. 8-21—An Annual Art Exhibition, “The Automobile: A Love Affair,” Auto Sport Gallery, Raleigh, North Carolina, Vegas, Nevada (919) 872-2002…

CARS & TRUCKS BEVERLY HILLS JIMMY& CLUB COUPE S-10 PICKUP. Appeared in Jan. and Feb. ’85 HOT ROD Magazine. For information contact Tony Nancy, 4363 Woodman Ave., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423, (818) 789-6926. ’69 AMC JAVELIN. 390 V8 engine, transmission overhauled, good shape. All original except wheels, newly upholstered, two new tires, collector’s item. $2500 or best offer. Kathleen Ripley, Rt. 1, Box 5, Airport Rd., Astor, FL 32002, (904) 759-2680. ’82 BLAZER built by Boyd Coddington. $13,000. Porsche Red, body lowered, handles and marker lights removed. Top shaved. Wheels and knock-offs by Boyd. Drives great. Less than 30,000 miles. Was one of Boyd’s personal cars. Jim Zeiger, 125 S. Walter, Pasadena, TX 77506, (713) 472-4328, days. ’79 CAMARO Z28. 90-percent restored with high-performance extras. $11,000 invested. $7500 or best…

HOT ROD TRACTORS In the “Finish Line” section of your magazine you cover all kinds of motorsports. How come you haven’t covered any tractor pulling yet? Just because there are no Chevys, Fords, and Mopars in tractor pulling doesn’t mean there isn’t any excitement and big horsepower. Some of these tractors do wild wheel stands and get more than 1000 horses from their inline six diesel engines. In the future I hope to see something about these hot rods that have names like John Deere, Case, International, Allis-Chalmers, and White. Erin JohnsonFreeport, Michigan The only reason we haven’t shown tractor or truck pulls in the “Finish Line” column so far is that we haven’t received any good coverage of a major event. We would love to see some dynamic photography…

Ther’s no question that hot rodding is in its golden age. Every form of motorsports—from street/hot rodding to Bonneville and the drags—are drawing ever-increasing crowds and participants. And because every category of motorsports is represented by associations, sanctioning bodies, and various sport-related publications that, in turn, have their champions, we thought it was about time we revive HOT ROD Magazine’s Top Ten … and turn it into an annual HRM event. Since the middle ’60s, when we honored the previous year’s drag racing champs, HOT ROD Magazine has flirted with occasionally naming a “Top Ten,” usually ending with a Street Rod or Street Machine of the Year award. Unfortunately, the magazine’s involvement in the selection process was somewhat superficial. The staff would be asked to make their choices without following…

In Southern California, where Warren Brogie holds shop, big-block-powered ’27 T Pro Gas cars are the hot setup for the 9.90 index. Some people call them “cookie cutter cars.” But SoCal Pro Gas regular Bill Harrell’s nice and nasty ’27 T is cut from a different mold. This budget, home-built roadster is fully streetable (except for mufflers); not only does it have full fenders, it also has lights, radiator, water pump, springs, upholstery … the driver even sits on the left side. When he gets tired of racing, Bill fully intends to put it on the street. After a crash at OCIR in 1978, the T was rebuilt from the ’59 Pontiac rear axle forward by Roger Lang. The frame is 2x3-inch tubing with Corvair steering, Koni coil-over suspension (front…

After scoring a major styling and packaging coup with their radical Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager mini-vans, the new Chrysler Corporation is concentrating on another segment of the ever-blossoming small truck market with a hot new performance entry. The “Dakota” N-body platform is a high-performance mini-truck built for the badlands, and HOT ROD’S deep-cover spy source has shown it to be a street-savvy tough customer with plenty of muscle and a handsome touch of styling. The modified version shown here was discovered and photographed during performance development maneuvers at the Chrysler Shelby Performance Center, and subsequent clandestine snooping has uncovered a factory performance program of serious magnitude. With a little slight of hand we were able to leap ahead of the production vehicle’s introduction to get a hot rodder’s view…

Bernie Farrell and Dan Martell’s Boston-based Challenger is one of the more interesting late-mod-els we’ve shot in some time. It’s got all the right elements: a smooth and brilliantly painted body (by Hanson Custom Designs in Norwood, Massachusetts), a well-conceived chassis (by John’s Racecraft) featuring a modified frame augmented by 2x3-inch tubing, a six-point roll cage, both ladder and wheelie bars, and rear semi-elliptic springs which have been moved in 4 inches, and a most unusual drivetrain combination featuring a 302-inch Chevy V8 (which has been fully ported, polished, cammed, and carbureted) hooked up to a clutch-turbo and Dana 60. Asked how this most unusual project began, the boys answered, “We bought it as a primered basket case from its previous owners who had planned to make a race car…

Watkins Glen, the famed road racing track nestled in the foothills overlooking upper New York State’s Finger Lakes region, is one of the finest locations in the country for any performance car-related event—and that included HOT ROD Magazine’s Cruise East, which was held at the facility on the weekend of August 2, 3, and 4. Unlike Indy, where a mixture of poor weather conditions, an over-zealous constabulary, and an uncharacteristic reluctance of some street rod clubs to participate at the HRM Super Nationals, the weather, law enforcement people, and the area’s rodders at Super Cruise East cooperated like long lost brothers to produce an event worthy of the title “Super Cruise.” While it was true that the access road leading into the Watkins Glen racing plant was still undergoing new…

Outlaws Update Back in November ’84 we ran an article on the wild “Supercharged Outlaws” circuit in Ohio—an 8.5O-index, heads-up show open to any type of supercharged machines running gasoline or alcohol. Well, this past season interest, organization, and participation all increased significantly. Fortunately, Ohio has plenty of good dragstrips, and the Outlaws ran at four of them (including Norwalk, Quaker City, and Thompson), plus Cayuga in Canada. The schedule increased from three races last year to nine this past season. Ten to 20 cars turned out for each race, including several new ones. And perhaps best of all, the racing index was lowered to 7.99, with a qualifying index of 8.49. As you remember, any car that qualifies earns $100, but only the four closest to 7.99 get to…

Pumping Aluminum Weiand now offers lightweight aluminum water pumps for 429/460 Fords, 1970 and later. They weigh 50-percent less than cast-iron water pumps, with an impeller designed to eliminate pump cavitation at high rpm. Pumps are rebuildable and use heavy-duty roller bearings. For a copy of Weiand’s latest catalog and race decals, send $3 to Weiand Automotive Products, Dept. HR-12, P.O. Box 65977, Los Angeles, CA 90065. Milodon Reading Whether you’re concerned about your vehicle’s reliability for the street or improved performance for competition purposes, Milodon’s current catalog contains many of the parts you’ll need. They offer a large variety of products, including oil pans, valve covers, water pumps, and timing indicators. For details on obtaining your copy, contact Milodon, Inc., Dept. HR-12, 20716 Plummer St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, (818)…

Camaros and Mustangs are righteous cars. Everyone wants a Z28 or SS 396 Camaro; Boss 302 or 428 Cobra Jet Mustang. Unfortunately, the very fact that everyone wants one means almost no one will ever have one. You just can’t fight the laws of Supply and Demand: Compared to Mom and Pop cars, relatively few pony-cars were built. Fewer still were “high-pos.” And the hotter the car, the more likely it was to be abused. So, how can the majority of us ever hope to get our hands on a musclecar without declaring bankruptcy? Simple: Redefine the meaning of “musclecar.” Instead of only applying the term to classic factory-built high-performance cars, let’s call any car with the potential to be fast—using mostly factory parts—a candidate for “musclecar.” Suddenly, the possible…

Porsche India Red lacquer makes Dave Carlson’s ’34 three-window a standout against the stunning backdrop of the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. Yet parked among dozens of red rods at one of today’s runs, Dave’s Ford might not attract much attention. External alterations to the steel body and Gibbon ’glass fenders are minimal: a painted grille, louvered Rootlieb hood, ’39 Ford taillights … nothing trick. Same goes for the subtle interior stitched in gray leather and velour by Jack Garrison. However, those big 31x18.50x15 M/T tires on Weld Superlites give you your first clue, and you peek under the back of the car. You’re greeted by a Halibrand Champ quick-change rear riding on Carrera coil-overs and carrying Mark Williams axles and disc brakes. And if you know early…

Not surprisingly, there are thousands of drag racing fans who envision NHRA Winston Top Fuel World Champion and All-Star Team member Joe Amato as little more than a sublimely successful quarter-mile competitor. They may admire his prowess behind the wheel—indeed one would be hard pressed to mount an argument to the contrary—but they very likely see him as a one-dimensional individual. Such a value judgment would be both hasty and entirely incorrect, for Amato is much, much more than just about the best Top Fuel driver to come down the pike in a long time. He is, by all accounts, one of the most innovative and successful businessmen to have involved himself in the aftermarket industry since … well, since the world began hearing how Joe Hrudka took a tiny…

When Chevrolet finally introduced a modern V8 in 1955, it was impressive. But when they upped the displacement to 283 cubic inches, added the industry’s first-ever direct-port fuel-injector, and produced an advertised one horsepower-per-cubic-inch—that was phenomenal for 1957. Even by today’s standards, the “Power-Pak” 283-horse f.i. 283 was astounding for a production motor. It came with 10½-to-one pop-up pistons, a solid-lifter cam, Power-Pak heads, new “ram’s horn” exhaust manifolds, dual exhaust, dual-point distributor, and the high-pressure, eight-nozzle, constant-flow Ramjet Rochester fuel-injection unit. In stock form this engine could easily and reliably rev to 6500 rpm; in fact, the injector runners were tuned for ram induction in the 5500 to 5700-rpm range. The surprising part is that lots of these fuelie ’57s were sold (partially because the injector also got great…

BAD REACTION Q I’ve been following your “How to Paint” series. You state that you should treat bare metal with “Metalprep.” One thing puzzles me. When my dad and I treated the doors, etc. on my ’57 Chevrolet that we’re restoring, the metal turned to a rusty brown. We were able to get the water to sheet when we rinsed or neutralized it. We even tried drying it off right away with a dry rag. It still became rust-colored. What causes this and will it hurt anything? David KirkmanNewton, Iowa A Metalprep is designed to “etch and clean” (ferrous) metal surfaces. The light amber/brown color is iron phosphate residue, and is of no consequence unless it’s unusually dark and thick. In that case, after rinsing off the first coat, repeat…