Indholdsfortegnelse for November 1989 i Hot Rod

I've often wondered what makes a car person choose the particular style of car he or she will build. We are all influenced by significant people in our formative years, and I believe it is these influences that shape our plans for the kinds of cars we build in later years. When I was growing up in a small town in Iowa, there were no real street rods in town. There may have been a couple of musty '32 Fords that older guys kept stashed away in their garages only to be exercised on the occasional Sunday afternoon, but as far as street rods in my hometown were concerned, the pickings were plenty slim. On the other hand, even a naive 13-year-old blasting between cars on his Sting Ray bike…

The forthcoming '91 Dodge Stealth may well be the new performance car that enthusiasts have been waiting for all these years. This sleek, new entry will be offered in addition to the Dodge Daytona, and will come in a range of models, with a twin-turbo engine and all-wheel drive as significant available features. Predicting 5-second zero-to-60 times, Dodge Vice President John B. Damoose said, “The Stealth will be the first in a series of new products over the next few years that will revolutionize the Dodge product line. We expect it to be the new lead image car for Dodge, and many elements of its aggressive styling will be seen on future Dodge models.” THUNDERDOME If you've always wondered what it would be like to drive a Funny Car, JCA…

The best musclecar action of the summer wasn't on the auction block. It was on the track. Letting America's best cars do what they were designed to do—blasting down a measured quarter-mile—has become a passion in some circles. And, as such, a forum for reasonable class competition has sprung up at a grass-roots level. Over the past several years, loosely organized events have been attracting a growing body of musclecar owners who want to race their cars. They're not content, it seems, merely to throw a cover over a car and watch it appreciate in value. They want to enjoy the potential of these mean “over-the-I counter” machines. Today this movement is in its infancy. The rules are subject to change, depending on which organization is putting on the event.…

Jim Turner's '70 Buick Gran Sport represents everything we have come to love about musclecars. Although it wasn't one of the mainstream cars, it has always been regarded as one of the hottest performers, and Jim's car certainly backs up that reputation. Jim's GS is powered by a 455-cid-based, big-block Buick featuring 12:1 compression, rare Stage II cylinder heads, Kenne-Bell Mark 75 flat-tappet cam and rockers, an 800-cfm Q-jet or an 850-cfm Holley on either a T/A Stage I or an Edelbrock B4B intake manifold, Arias pistons, Carrillo rods, a breakerless MSD-7A ignition, Total Seal rings, a Fisher balancer, and a homemade ram-air unit. The drivetrain consists of a '70 Buick trans with a 2.75:1 low gear, TCI 4000-rpm converter, B&M Pro Stick shifter, and 4.10 gears in a '65…

For musclecar fans, 1969 was like a year-long Christmas celebration at wide-open throttle. High-horse-power street machines rolled out of Detroit just about as quickly as each new car-and-motor combination could be conceived by the factory product planners. It was a time when it almost seemed as if each and every fantasy supercar that an enthusiast could dream up was actually being built for sale by one new-car automaker or another. Not only were Motown's assembly lines constantly cranking out high-performance hot rods in its finest mass-production fashion, but a few of America's more progressive new-car dealers also concocted some pretty quick combos of their own. Since their show-rooms were effectively a whisper closer to the streets and speedways than the factories were, dialed-in dealerships often knew what kinds of new…

WE SING THE ENGINE ELECTRONIC Last month, HOT ROD began hopping up an '89 Camaro RS coupe. Our original plan was to take this car, equipped with the 170-hp Throttle Body Injection (TBI), 305 V8 engine, and 5-speed trans—and get it to run low 14-second quarter-mile e.t.'s and mid-9s on the skidpad, while remaining basically smog legal, all for about a $5000 theoretical budget. After spending nearly $3000 on 3.73 gears, a new Posi unit, fat tires, wide wheels, a low-restriction air cleaner, polyurethane lower control arm bushings, and a Flowmaster muffler, we had not run any faster than 15.68 at 85.46 mph. To put it mildly, things were not going well. The factory package and associated computer were dialed in so well that these traditional, simple bolt-ons didn't have…

Subtle but significant change for modern musclecar fans is rapidly overtaking us. While we've all been marveling at the strong performance levels displayed by IROC-Zs, Mustang LXs, and Buick Grand Nationals, a whole new generation of performance-packed mini-musclecars such as the all-new Eagle Talon TSi has been maturing right under our noses. Real hot rodders such as Carroll Shelby foresaw this revolution—and capitalized on it with a line of Chrysler-based Shelby performance cars capable of outperforming al-most anything on the road. Shelby was a front-runner in this new musclecar age. He had the vision to see that smaller, precision-crafted automobiles really could outperform the recognized musclecars of the past and present. Up until recently, however, a lot of us have refused to listen. Vintage Mustang musclecar owners were outraged when…

HOT STUFF CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING REQUIREMENTS: $225.00 for 25 words. $6.50 for each additional word, $1.00 extra per word in bold. Company name and address are FREE! Count phone number as one word. $150 for 1” photo, logo or illustration. 5% discount for signing up and prepaying for 6 or more issues. 1” DISPLAY prepaid rates for each insertion: 1X: $340, 3X $315, 6X $305, 12X $270. Advertisers in CA. using a P.O. Box are required to supply a permanent street address and telephone number. PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ALL ORDERS! VISA/ MasterCard accepted. All ads must be received by the 14th of the 3rd month preceding issue date, (e.g., Oct issue deadline is July 14th.) Orders received after the 14th will automatically run in the next issue. Mail orders with payment…

Hey, gang! How would you like these two Fordnatics working on your Henry? If Ernie Elliott (left) can't get it running, then try Bob Glidden. Actually, what happened is that Glidden, the nine-time, NHRA Pro Stock champion, and his wife, Etta, were invit-I ed by Ernie's brother Bill and I the entire Motorcraft/Coors I Thunderbird Racing Team to J see how fast an Ernie 'Bird could get around the Charlotte Motor Speedway. In fact, it was the first time the Gliddens had ever been to a Winston Cup race. While Glidden was heard to describe the event as “kind of like a really long drag race, except you have to keep turning left,” we wonder what the two secretive racers really had to say. Perhaps it was, “I'll show you…

Because of my family's close association with motorcycles–my grandfather and then my father owned Magazine from 1919 to 1965—I've always had an interest in drag bikes. First it was Chet Herbert's mighty H-D Beast, followed closely by Clem Johnson's Vincent by Clem Johnson's Vincent HRD Barn Job. Now it's Demerost, Georgia's Elmer Trett and his Kawasaki clone, a “billet"-proof facsimile of a KZ1000. Trett's trick is a powered by a 750-horse, blown and injected, nitro-swallowing hummer comprised of a cast “ET” crankcase that supports both a set of cast barrels as well as a billet head. A billet crank, rods, and forget pistons revolve inside the transverse –mounted four. Included in its drivetrain package is a multistage slipper clutch and a 2-speed B&J trans. Trett's best has been a 6.69-second/206-mph…

CADZZILLA REVISITED Having just skimmed through my current HOT ROD, I'm compelled to write. I feel that I have experienced automobile enthusiasm on several levels—at least enough to have some deep-set opinions on which customizing is appropriate and effective, and also to recognize when the money and talent could have been better spent. CadZZilla fits entirely in the first category. Every exaggerated feature is so incredibly alluring that I cannot remove my eyes for several minutes. I want to personally thank you for sharing this project with me, and for the breathtaking photography. I remember being just as spellbound by the '34 three-window ZZ Top car, too. And the chopped limo was great! Robb Swenson Chanhassen, Minnesota YESTERDAY AND TODAY These are photos of my '53 Studebaker Champion. It is…

Stephen Engberg, being the fun-loving kind of musclecar owner, set up his car so that he could transform it from full-original to full-race in a few hours. Tires and wheels switch from Center Lines and M&Hs to Magnums and Goodyears. The shift handle bolts in and out, one clamp fastens the tach to the column, an MSD ignition with rev-limiter is hidden in the dash, and a set of gauges folds into the ashtray. He also has a Line/Loc with the switch hidden in the console. When Stephen bought his car eight years ago, it had six cracked pistons and burned three quarts of oil during the 10-mile trip home. Now, however, the 429 Cobra Jet is a. 030-over, 11.3:1 TRW-slugged, MSD/Unilite-fired, Milodon-oiled muscle motor which was balanced by Skericks…

When Paul Suloff decided to take aim at the 1989 Supercar Showdown, he did so in a slightly different way. Instead of choosing one of the vehicles more commonly utilized by his peers, he opted for this light-weight '64 Dodge 330 Max Wedge. Yet rather than endangering the rare and valuable aluminum hood, fenders, bumpers, brackets, and related componentry, he opted for steel replacements. (This 150-pound weight penalty also shifts two percent of the total weight to the front.) The 426 Wedge engine benefits from a full blueprinting, as does the drivetrain, with improvements such as a 27s-inch exhaust system. The cross-ram manifold has been retained, along with a pair of Carter 4-barrel carbs, factory-iron exhaust headers, and a dash-operated 3-speed Torqueflite tranny. A Chrysler bolt-on pinion snubber has also…

Just how fast are all those musclecars, anyway? Twelve seconds… 11 seconds? How about 10 seconds? Did some of the original musclecars really have the potential to run 10-second quarter-mile times? Are these cars really the awesome performers we like to think they are, or have we perpetuated a myth? It is almost impossible to find old magazine road tests with times any quicker than low 13s, and that's for cars that were supposed to be production units. Clearly some manufacturers were not above slipping the press a hopped-up unit now and then, and some buyers would have a tough time duplicating the quick times generated by magazine testers in these factory-optimized cars. There are very few documented occurrences of actual 12-second cars, but 13-and 14-second cars were numerous. So…

Low-profile musclecars such as the COPO 9560 and 9561 Camaros were factory-assembled with very few badges, plaques, medallions, emblems, decals, or stickers. Destined mostly for America's dragstrips, these stealth-style machines called a minimum of attention to themselves. But once Yenko SportsCars got its hands on a plain-Jane L-72, its promotional motives transformed some of those Camaro Q-ships into veritable rolling sideshows. All '69 Yenko Camaros displayed special ID on their headrests, and, as illustrated here on Dan Bodnar's feature machine, these cars were also available with a considerable array of graphic splashes. Among these distinctive Yenko markings are (A) Yenko emblems on both front fenders, (B) Yenko/SC reliefs in contrasting tape stripes on both quarter-panels, (C) 427 plaques on both sides of the hoodscoop, (D) an sYc tape cutout on…

If a body rotates around an axis other than the one at its own center of mass, it exerts an outward force upon anything that keeps it from going in a straight line. This is the definition of centrifugal force, which tends to pull objects outward from the center of rotation. The greater the object's weight or the faster its rotation, the greater the centrifugal force will be. For example, if you tie a rock to a string and swing it around in a circle, the force on the string becomes greater as the rock is swung faster. In fact, centrifugal forces becomes greater by the square of the speed of rotation. At high speed, the effect of centrifugal force is tremendous. If a one-pound weight was rotated about an…

John Mancini tends to take things to the limit. Case in point: his '70 351C Mustang. When he bought the car from the original owner it had a '68 390 in the bay instead of a 351C motor. The car was raced in its first life (as an original Drag Pack car), and then it sat in storage for eight years before John bought it in 1981. “The body and interior,” said John, “were in great shape. So I decided to build myself a respectable street machine.” It's respectable, alright. The. 030-over, balanced, blueprinted, and Magnafluxed Boss 351C engine is packed with TRW bearings and pop-up pistons, Isky Mega cam and chrome-moly pushrods, and micro-polished and chamfered crankshaft. And there are eight venturis' worth of 48 IDA Weber carbs breathing…

There was a time when choosing a carburetor for your hot rod was as simple as pumping gas. You could either buy a 2-barrel or a 4-barrel. But today it's a different story. There are annular-discharge carburetors, variable-ven-turi carburetors, multithroat, multicarb systems from Weber, and even electronic fuel injection to confuse the entire issue! Today it's different throats for different folks. To gain a better understanding of how these systems work in relation to one another, we've decided to compare four different types of carburetion on the same engine, using Valley Head Service's Superflow 901 dynamometer. The fuel mixers we decided to test include a Holley 750 carb, a custom-designed Lorus annular-discharge carburetor, a Predator variable-venturi carb, and a multithroat Weber system constructed by Fast Freddy's. But before we review…

You could say that Randy Seger's '49 Chevy pickup is a family heirloom. Said the 34-year-old steam fitter from Coffeyville, Kansas, “The truck has been in the family since I was born. It came down through the channel and ended up mine … and I will eventually pass it on to my oldest.” What the oldest of Randy's two children will get is one of the more unusual and imaginative pickups in the country. Mechanically the '49 is relatively sedate, until you start looking. For instance, Seger built his own frame, which was fabricated from 3×4-inch, 11-gauge rectangular tubing. Moreover, he adapted a 70 GM intermediate front end to the frame by narrowing it 4½inches, then filling it with Monroe shocks, a sway bar, stock coils, 70 GTO Judge steering,…

HILLZAPOPPIN…

Since the late '60s, Ford's Mustangs have been a part of the Trans-Am scene. Consequently, FoMoCo staged a “Remembrance of Things Past and Present.” To kick off its Mustang Media Day, Ford invited some of the people who made motor racing history driving their studbusters. Shown at Ford's proving ground, standing behind the ex-George Follmer-driven 70 Mustang—which was beautifully restored by Rich Rodeck (see HRM March '89)-and “Cactus Jack” Roush's '89 No. 25 Motorcraft Mustang are, from left: Robert Lappalainen, Lyn St. James, and Dorsey Schroeder, 1989 Trans-Am Mustang drivers; Steve Saleen, 1987 SCCA Endurance champion; Wally Dallenbach, Jr., 1989 Trans-Am Mustang/ IMSA GTO Cougar driver; exHOT ROD Magazine staffer Rick Titus, 1987 SCCA Endurance champion, Bob Bondurant, 1965 World Manufacturers' champion; Parnelli Jones, 1970 Trans-Am champion; George Follmer, 19671970…

Professional drag racing buffs will recognize the name Bruce Larson. Larson is currently leading Kenny Bernstein for the 1989 NHRA/Winston Championship in the fuel Funny Car division. That figures. Bruce has been at it since the early '60s, when he campaigned a fuel-burning, injected, altered-wheelbase Chevelle Funny Car called USA-1. According to ex-HOT ROD Magazine Editor Pat Ganahl, “Larson claims his USA-1 was the first all-'glass F/C built and predates Nicholson or Chrisman's Comets.” Meanwhile, the Chevelle (originally built by a friend)—encompassing working doors, window glass, original door upholstery, full floorpan, bumpers, and exterior trim pieces—has been relocated. Larson—who runs a lightning-rod company during the week and drives a '32 Ford pickup (nailhead Buick powered) and a fully restored Deuce roadster—plans to return USA-1 back to its original condition.…

Here's Lookin' At Ya Simmons Outdoor Corp., a manufacturer of sport optics, has introduced a new set of binoculars designed exclusively for viewing auto racing. The new “racing binocs” use a focus-free lens arrangement that lets you concentrate on the action instead of trying to focus. All you do is adjust the spacing to your eyes and you're set. Racing Binocs are available in two versions: 8x40 mm and 10x40 mm. The field of view at 1000 yards is 430 feet and 367 feet, respectively. For more info, contact Simmons Outdoor Corp., Dept. HR-11, 14530 S.W. 119th Ave., Miami, FL 33186. Pushrod Performance “You may not be getting all the valve lift you paid for if your rocker arms are operating out of the ideal arc window,” says Joe Lunati.…

George Britnell, a 44-year-old metal pattern maker for Ford Motor Company, invested nearly 2300 hours in this 3/10-scale, fully functional, 302 Ford engine. It features an aluminum block with iron liners, full-pressure oiling, and a fully operational cooling system that returns water through the iron heads and into the manifold. The crankshaft is iron, with split main bearing inserts, aluminum pistons, and brass connecting rods. George has the engine up and running, and is currently working the bugs out of the carburetion. It is the third engine he has built, and he plans to continue his work with a V-twin modeled after a Harley-Davidson and an overhead-cam engine.…

Just because the summer is over doesn't mean you gotta slow down. So what if all of the great smoky burnouts, awesome “leaves,” and powershifts of the Summer of '89 have settled into a low, loping idle with the approach of winter? Just say “no” to boredom and “yes” to our special Musclecar Summer section. We've packed it full of some of the hottest images of musclecar action from this sizzling summer past—to keep your flame stoked well into the next century. (Or, at least until the next issue.) We launch the section with a look back at the National Muscle Car Association's (NMCA) High Performance Show-down. This tall “tale of torque” was frozen on film by Petersen Photo Department ace shooter Scott Killeen, with the narrative by Joe Pettitt.…

For today's muscle maniacs, a tremendous variety of high-performance vehicles exists, with a following for each and every one. For Jim Mino the choice is—and always has been—Pontiacs. In all, he's owned over 20, including several GTOs, numerous Firebirds, Trans Ams, and even a Grand Am. Currently, he owns and races this '68 400 Firebird with extremely rewarding results. Jim's latest Poncho follows the pure stock format, with a 400-cubic-inch Ram Air II motor making 340 horse-power and cranking out quarter-mile times of 12.38 at 113.06 mph! With performance like this, it's no wonder that Jim has placed first in class at both the 1987 and 1988 Supercar Showdowns at Quaker City Dragway in Salem, Ohio, at an altitude of over 1300 feet! To achieve such impressive results from a…

It was once said, “The worth of a hot rod is equal to the sum of its parts!” If this is true, then Doug Mosley's '26 T roadster that you see here certainly qualifies. It's powered by a 460-cubic-inch “bigger-block” Chevy with enough ponies for a rodeo at the Bow-Tie corral. Eight TRW aluminum slugs ride on Perfect Circle rings, while Federal-Mogul bearings come face to face with the crankshaft. A combination of Crane's 260 camshaft, lifters, and springs controls induction from the 780-cfm Holley 4-barrel and Edelbrock Performer 2 manifold. A Mallory Pro Comp 9000 ignition system turns fuel into fury before burnt offerings exit through Sanderson headers and a 2-inch aluminized exhaust system. Since there was little doubt that driving this roadster would require both hands, a Turbo…

Pro Street cars and hot colors are where it's at in today's fast-moving street machine scene, and some rodders are doing a terrific job of blending traditional technology with the hot new look to create practical Pro Street machines that retain a high degree of functionality while still conforming to the spirit of the Pro Street movement. Car builder Mike Adams is no stranger to controversial new cars, having built Larry Williams' radical Pro Fat '41 Willys that graced our February '88 cover. Now he's built himself a flashy new '66 Nova that puts Pro Street in its proper perspective, relative to cost versus practicality. Mike and the crew at Adams Rod Shop in Delray Beach, Florida, built a simple rear subframe and roll cage assembly designed to accommodate a…

Everyone would love to own a slick street machine or rod. Unfortunately, most hot rodders' champagne tastes can't be supported by their Hawaiian Punch budgets. Welcome to the real world of hot rodding. But before you slit your wrists in frustration, investigate with us the low-buck alternative to Rockefeller rodding—Project Budget Builder! The idea is certainly not new; it's as old as hot rodding itself. But the best ideas never go out of style. We're talking about the age-old tradition of resto-rodding. Take one forlorn street machine that's been used, abused, and neglected for the last half of its life and hot-rod it into a slick, safe, fun-to-drive ride that'll reward you with years of class cruisin' action. Since this plan of action requires both mechanical and cosmetic work, we'll…

David “Yank” Bradley never got over selling his first '57 Ford. “I had it in the service in 1971,” he recalled. “It was low, mean, and fast. I had several engines in it, from the stock 390 to a 427, and finally a 428.1 blew them all up and finally sold it when things got rough,” he said wistfully. “I wish I hadn't.” Today, Yank's drivin' another '57 Ford. But this one's leaner and meaner than his first and more at home at the New Atlanta Dragway than the two-lanes around Cumming, Georgia, where he makes his home. And Yank planned it that way. He massaged the back half to accept a narrowed Ford 9-inch rearend, wheel tubs, and added a TCI four-link suspension and coil-overs. He rebuilt the front…

It's back! It's better than ever! It's… READERS' RIDES 2! Due to the enormous volume of mail we received for our first installment of READERS' RIDES, and the fact that space limitations forced us to leave out some truly fine machinery, we've decided to do a sequel and give you another chance to see your car in HOT ROD Magazine. The situation is the same as last time: real cars owned by real people, and, for the most part, driven on real roads. This month we have something for everyone-from a Studebaker Daytona to a Buick-powered airplane. There's even something for you mini-truck fans! So sit down, buckle yourself in, and cross your fingers. Maybe this time you'll see your beloved ride in these pages. Bob Kszywanas, '69 Chevelle, Meriden,…

AVOID UNSEAMLY CRIMPS Common, commercial, solderless electrical terminals have a seamed barrel. To avoid terminal or crimp fa ure, this design should be positioner in the crimping tool so that the searr is opposite the protruding die on the crimper. Driving the crimper's protru ing die into the opposite side, as shown, thereby avoids opening the terminal's seam. Extruded, seamless Mil-Spec terminals don't have this problem, but it's still a good fail-safe practice to position the terminal so that the side opposite the ring is also opposite the protruding die.…

CARS & TRUCKS '69 CAMARO CONVERTIBLE. Too much to list! Becky, (215) 649-4411, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. '48 CHEW. Four-door, 327, 4-speed, seen in HOT ROD and others. Too much to list. $19,500 o.b.o. Will take 409/ 425-hp Chevy as partial trade. (716) 663-3118. '38 CHEW COUPE. 350, 4-71 blower, tilt, cruise, auto, AM/FM, power antenna, beautiful car, best of everything. $17,500. Will consider partial trade. Rob Easdon, P.O. Box 33254, Denver, CO 80233, (303) 457-9948. '48 CHEW SEDAN DELIVERY. Camaro subframe, 350/ 350. Air, tilt, power windows, featured in Street Rodder Magazine, June 1989. Good driver, $28,500. Tom Wilkinson, 3655 Centennial, Sylvania, OH 43560, (419) 841-2240. '48 DODGE. Two-door sedan. Restorable. $1500. Harold E. McClanahan, Rt. 2, Box 3321, Friendsville, TN 37737, (615) 982-7303. '67 DODGE CHARGERS. Your choice. Fresh drivetrains,…

I can't imagine turning left for 62, 000 miles. I can't imagine doing it for more than 18 days. I can't imagine averaging 138.78 miles per hour Center's 5.7-mlie paved oval. But that's What it took for Subaru to set a new land-speed endurancerun of 138-plus, which broke Saab's 132-mph mark that was set back in 1986. That's quite a Leg Cy to live up to. Oh, by way, during a subsequent magazine “supercar” test, driver Steve Millen was timed at 161 mph, and we understand that this same Legacy will be at the salt flats for Speed Week.…