Indholdsfortegnelse for May 1993 i Hot Rod

ACTION TO ACTION KNUCKLE-SAVING RATCHET The new Ingersoll-Rand 111 ¾-inch-drive reactionless ratchet eliminates the effect of torque kickback after tightening a fastener, helping save your hands from bruises and cuts. The ratchet also offers a 50-ft-lbs torque rating and a 300-rpm free speed. For more information, contact Ingersol-Rand Company, Power Tool Division, Dept. HR05, 253 E. Washington Ave., Washington, NJ 07882, 908/647-6000. IT’S IN THERE REBUILDER’S KIT Kanter Auto Products now offers engine rebuild kits for most popular engines. The kits come complete with the parts you’ll need and are made with strict standards to ensure performance, strength, and durability. For more information, contact Kanter Auto Products, Dept. HR05, 76 Monroe St., Boonton, NJ 07005, 800/526-1096. KNOW YOUR GAS FUEL ANALYZER Gastester Professional tests carbon monoxide (CO) as a percentage…

NEW FACE FOR AN OLD PLACE For the last 10 years, Southern California, the birthplace of hot rodding, has virtually said no to drags. Although Los Angeles County Raceway and Carlsbad continue to operate on a weekly basis, the once proud home of bad boy fuelers now plays host to only two Top Fuel shows annually—the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) long-running Wintenationals and its ancillary World Finals wrap-up race. However, the “no-to-drags” perception may be changing. The NHRA recently signed a 15-year lease with the Pomona Fairplex people, the group that controls the land under the dragstrip, and began renovating the world’s oldest dragstrip (racing began there as far back as 1952) to the tune of $4 million. NHRA’s face-lift included permanent aluminum bleachers and toilet facilities on both…

BOB SUMMERS DEAD AT 55 Bob Summers, the hot rodder who drove everything from belly tanks to the 409-mph Goldenrod streamliner, and who founded the Summers Bros, axle company along with his brother Bill, recently died of a heart attack while jogging near his home in Ontario, California. Although Summers retained his fame by manufacturing high-performance axles, differentials, and engine components, the hot rod fraternity will always remember him as a dominant part of a back-yard team that crafted two unusual streamliners. The first was the teardrop-shaped Polywog (shown here), followed by the four-engine, four-wheel-drive Goldenrod, which went on to take the ultimate Land Speed Record for piston-driven cars away from England’s Donald Campbell and return it to the USA. After his brother left to pursue other goals, Bob Summers…

On April 9, 1988, Eddie Hill became the first man in drag racing history to record a sub-five-second run when he cranked a 4.990/288.55 timeslip at the Texas Motorplex. Driving the some car less than one year later, Hill experienced a 250-mph blow-over al Pomona’s 1000-foot mark when the left-front spoiler came loose. Proving once again that fine tunes can still be played on old fiddles, Hill returned two years later with “ol’ blow-over” at the ’92 NHRA World Finals (at Pomono) and promptly stopped the clocks with what was then the quickest time in history—-4.779 seconds. Ironically, Hill’s top speed was 288.55, the same speed he ran during his historic “first-four” pass. According to Hill, “I’m still dropping cylinders like I did in ’88, but I was more impressed…

Do you know why the television show Star Trek was a fantasy? Because Captain Kirk never screamed, “More power, Scotty—as long as it doesn’t cost more than $200!” Every hot rodder ever born wants more power, but unlike our favorite futuristic star voyagers, meager earthbound budgets dictate what we can spend. If we’re talking power, we’re really talking about engines. That’s what this Budget Engine Special is all about. Making power is easy, but making horsepower and torque with less cash is the true final frontier. Since bargain power shopping requires some serious research, we’ve taken on that daunting task for you. Within the next few pages, we’ll boldly blaze the trail to the best buys in engine kits, assembled short-blocks, and complete engines. We’ve also split this effort into…

According to Chrysler, more than three million 383s and million 440s were produced between 1959 and 1978, when big-block production ended. Chevy seems to pump out that many small-blocks in a year. Because Mopars aren’t as common, there aren’t many sources for complete low-buck engines, so you’ll probably have to build your big Mopar yourself. To help out, we’ll tell you about the best Mopar parts sources with quality rebuild kits ready for action. And since the boneyards are filled with prime Mopar engine goodies, you’ll also learn to identify the best core engines and parts. While we’re at it, we’ll show that a big Mopar is a better deal than a big-block Chevy! But do us a favor and keep it quiet; we don’t want people to catch on…

Hot rods ore not an exclusively American phenomenon. You’ll find chopped and dropped, scooped and souped street rods and street machines the world over. But there is one group of hot rods that the States seem to have exclusive rights to: trucks. We have all kinds of hot trucks roaming our streets, and they fit right in at all the major rod runs, street-machine happenings, and bracket races. Yet outside our borders, trucks are viewed as nothing more than workhorses, utility barges that get parked once the quitting-time bell rings. Well, we’re about to change those shortsighted opinions on the next few pages. First is a gallery of some of the latest hot street trucks we’ve discovered in our travels, followed by the first stage of the buildup of our…

Trucks just may be the most popular new vehicles to hit the hot rod landscape. You can build a truck to be nearly anything a car can be, but you can also haul the parts to do it with in the truck’s bed. Even better, trucks are often far more affordable as raw material than cars from the same era. Still, you need aftermarket sources from which to purchase the parts that will become your pride-and-joy pickup. What we have here is a select gathering of some of the foremost suppliers to the truck aftermarket. The products on display are only samples of what’s available, so if you don’t immediately find the piece you’re seeking, don’t hesitate to call any of these companies for help in your quest. EXPO TOP…

In 1967, Chevy’s personal luxury car had acres of sheetmetal. More roomy than a bachelor pad, it invited you to lounge while you drove. It held more passengers than a Greyhound, more cargo than a UPS truck. You didn’t carry a spare tire in the trunk—you carried a Volkswagen. It was a man’s car. It was an Impala. Now it’s 1993, and they don’t make parking spaces big enough to dock a real car. You don’t see too many because you can melt ’em down into two or three Yugos. Still, a highway-barge Impala summons coolness beyond compare. But even with I967’s Super Sport 427 option, there wasn’t much tug in these boats; remember, the Minnow was an SS, too. Randy Lambert had a plan to fix that. He found…

Stock is boring. We’re into modified performance cars here—street machines and rods that are built to be faster and better looking than they were stock. We think nothing about spending hours rubbing out fresh lacquer, days getting the ignition curve “just right,” and weeks sorting out the suspension to make the car hook up. But why is it that the interior never sees the same attention to perfection? Many high-end, mega-dollar Pro Street or Kustom projects have as much money and time in the interior stitchwork as they do on the body, but it’s seldom you see a custom interior in a street machine. Why? Think about where you spend the majority of your time with the car. Unless it’s an unreliable slug, most of your hours are spent seated…

We introduced Project Porky-Eights last month. The two fat fender coupes—one a Chevy and the other a Ford—are being built by BFGoodrich Tires as a celebration of HOT ROD’s 45th anniversary. The two cars originally hit the streets in ’48—the same year that HOT ROD was born—and they’re being refurbished by California Street Rods (CSR) with the help of numerous aftermarket equipment manufacturers as well as Ford and Chevrolet. Even better, they will soon be given away in a sweepstakes that BFGoodrich is sponsoring (look for an entry blank at the end of this story). We thought it fitting that our readers should see exactly what’s going into these two nifty presents, so we decided to follow their buildups. Each coupe was chosen to represent a basic way to complete…

TRANS SCAM COOLNESS I just received the February ’93 HOT ROD and read Gray Baskerville’s ’Transposition” in Roddin at Random. As you can see by the photo, you aren’t the only one with the idea of emulating old Trans Am race cars. I recently completed this car for renowned automotive artist Bill Neale, who has been involved with Carroll Shelby’s antics for many years. The Terlingua Racing Team Mustangs were campaigned by Shelby and lit up the circuit with yellow paint schemes and decals penned by Bill Neale. The Terlingua cars won several races and contributed heavily to Shelby’s team winning the 1967 Trans Am championship. Bill wanted a car that represented the essence of Trans Am but was streetable on today’s gas and complied with emissions standards. We chose…

DESERT RACING A SOILED HISTORY HOT ROD’s coverage of desert racing began with the birth of the Baja 1000, first run in 1967 and sanctioned by the National Off Road Racing Association (see “Big Bad Baja,” January ’68). Early Baja race cars were spotted with lettering from HOT ROD, Car Craft, and Motor Trend, and several Petersen Publishing employees participated. Other notable entrants included Parnelli Jones, now-drag-racer Larry Minor, and actors Steve McQueen and James Garner. NORRA has since dissolved, but desert racing is kept alive by various sanctioning bodies, the most prominent of which is SCORE (Short Course Off Road Enterprises). Our off-road interest dried up during the ’70s, but with today’s technology, hauling dirt is bigger and faster than ever! We decided to get back into it. January…

THE NEXT GTO? Pontiac was at the 85th annual Chicago Auto Show with a full hand of performance cards. Along with the new LT1-powered Firebirds, Pontiac also unveiled a Grand Am GT show car that caught our eye. The Victory Orange Grand Am sports a 3.4L Ram Air VIV6 that produces 205 hp at 5500 rpm and 210 Ibs-ft of torque at 4250. For comparison’s sake, that’s the same number of horses and only 75 fewer Ibs-ft of torque than is found in the ’92 Tuned Port Injected 305 Firebird! Much of the power is brought about thanks to a “Ram Air” induction system that picks up cool air from the grille (reminiscent of early-’70s performance cars) and an excellent exhaust consisting of a 1 1/2-inch-diameter exhaust manifold and 3-inch…

GENERAL HOT RODS It’s refreshing to know that a large portion of the engineering and research-and-development teams at General Motors are hot rodders at heart. People in those positions with a need for speed help LTl-powered Camaros and Firebirds become reality. They’re also responsible for ZR-1 Corvettes and factory cars equipped with wider rubber than we can fit on our mid-’60s musclecars. In celebration of their hobby, these hot rodders congregate annually at a car show that fills 10 acres of Michigan with more than 150 cars and trucks of all makes. The show is free to enter as long as you’re a GM employee, and it gives everyone an opportunity to check out their compadres’ handiwork. The show is put on just for fun and owes its success to…

SLINGIN’ THE GOO Have you checked out Mickey Thompson Off-Road Stadium Racing? The idea started in 1974 when the prophetic racing entrepreneur realized the benefit of bringing the worst of off-road racing into a controlled stadium where you get the fender-scrapingest, mud-flingingest. high-jumpingest racing action in town. Now there are six classes from bikes and ATVs to the rear-engined Sport Utility class and the killer Grand National Trucks. At the season opener in Anaheim, California, heavy rains served a mudbath for racers and photographers alike. The slime ruined a few Nikons while the crews were busy carving mud tires and changing gears for the ever-gooey track surface. While Toyota has traditionally been the team to beat, 1993’s Round 1 went to ex-Supercrosser Rick Johnson in the Chevy Thunder Grand National…

Drag fans know the joy of taking a first-timer into the Pro pits. It’s 10:00 a.m. when the Top Fuel crew first lifts the starter into place. Whir, whir…BANG! Your neophyte buddy freaks as the Hemi explodes to life. He thinks he’s gone deaf. Eyes watering, nose burning, he fights to inhale against the cacophony thumping against his chest. Ah. yes. The Nitro Initiation. But an NHRA pit pass buys more than a total body experience—it’s a total hobby experience. You get to see all your race heroes and pick up photos as well as power and styling tips. Your favorite speed suppliers are on Manufacturer’s Midway with stickers for the kids. The most recent addition is the Alumni Center so nostalgia racers can hang out and promote the California…

Small-block Chevrolets are the most popular engines for hot rodders. That means you can find parts nearly anywhere, and they should be priced right. You can build twice the car for the same amount of money if you invest in a Chevy rather than a Ford or Chrysler; it’s just simple economics. So when you talk about budget engines, it’s only natural for the small-block Chevrolet to lead the way. There is so much available that you can really tailor your engine to your needs. If you have a running engine that would benefit from a rebuild, you won’t need a long-block engine assembly. However, if you’re upgrading from a thrifty-six, you’ll need to find the most complete engine kit possible. Because this is a budget article, we’ll assume that…

It had to happen sooner or later. When we’ve needed a heavy hauler, a simple phone call to Chevrolet/Ford/Chrysler Public Relations usually resulted in a comfortable, capable loaner truck to tow our sometimes-running junk to the racetrack or hobby shop. But we knew we were living on borrowed time. So we got our own rig for those occasions when we needed a truck to haul, tow, or rescue something. But of course, this is HOT ROD, and we couldn’t just leave it stock, now could we? When you want style and utility in one package, it’s hard to beat a new Chevy truck. Ford has done wonders with its F-series pickups in the last few years, but we still prefer the looks of the Chevys—not to mention the warehouses overrunning…

When you own a custom body shop that caters to hot rods, you build a wide variety of show and race cars. For Eddie Sox, putting together countless cars for customers was too much. So he went to work on a project of his own. While we typically shun Chevettes and Mustang Ils, Eddie’s approach and attention to detail demand a closer look. Eddie started by bending a custom 2-inch square-tube frame that was fitted with a Ford 9-inch hung by an Art Morrison four-link. Next, he stuffed 468 inches of Rat motor into place, carrying a Weiand tunnel-ram, dual Holley carbs, and MSD ignition. Combined with a 10-inch-converter-equipped TH350 and 30x18 M&H tires, the little Chevette scoots to the tune of 6.18 seconds in the K-mile. But building a…

Until recently, concept cars were those often fanciful machines created by the styling studios to push the bounds of automotive elegance. Unfortunately, they rarely dealt with the ball-joint-busting, knee-deep-pothole world that everyday cars must face. However, the future-car fabricators are changing their ways. If you look back at Pontiac’s Banshee, which debuted in 1988 (see HOT ROD’s January ’89 cover), you can see the family resemblance to the ’93 Pontiac Firebird. But the real watershed mark for current concept cars was Chrysler’s Viper. It looked fantastic, which was probably why many people thought it would never be built. Yet a scant 1 ½ years later, Chrysler was officially taking orders for a Dodge-built Viper roadster that was virtually a dead ringer for the concept. Which brings us to two recent…

After he totaled his S-15, Phil Quinn’s buddies tried to convince him to step into style with an older ride, but the thought of payments on a generic roadbox pushed him over the edge. Before long, Phil picked up a ’56 Chevy Stepside that earned the nickname “Smoke Show,” thanks to the oil-burning “rebuilt” 350 under the hood. With an overhaul imminent, the 28-year-old machinist took the ’56 to his pal John Huber, who dissected the straight axle and implanted a 78 Camaro clip. He also back-halved the truck with 2x4 tube steel, C’ing the rails 10 inches and moving them inboard 8 inches., Meanwhile, the narrowed Ford flinch visited Pro Differentials in Fremont, California, where Mike Corbett packed it full of 4.33 gears, a Detroit Locker, and 31-spline axles.…

18 HOLES IN 15 SECONDS It’s amazing how much fun you con hove on o golf cart, even the anemic kind with governors. Why, at the summer street machine events, your trusty HOT ROD staff spends a full three days doing brodies, Dukes of Hazard-quality aerials, and similar death-defying and Special Events—maddening stunts. But we’ve just seen what has to be the ultimate links cruiser and, frankly, it scares us. Tom Sneva, the some hot shoe who first broke the magical 200-mph barrier at Indy in 77 and won the 500 in ’83, has driven this golf cart to 104 miles per hour! The basic chassis is stock Yamaha golf cart, but it’s been lengthened about a foot and fitted with a Yamaha 750cc crotch-rocket motor, complete with the bike’s…

POSIE’S PICK In the March ’93 Roddin at Random we announced section that Ken “Posie” Fenical was on a car quest. The objects of his search were rods—any kinds of rods—built by rodders who were under the age of 25. Randy West, a resident of Barto, Pennsylvania, and his 32 roadster were declared Posie s first pick. West’s wonder combines a roadster top with a tonneau that covers the back half of the phaeton. A grand prize, presented by Posie al the end of the year, will be a jacket with a ’93—25-and younger-pick inscription. Those interested in submitting their rods for Posie’s perusal can send photographs of their righteous rides to Posie’s Picks, Dept. HR05, 219 N. Duke St., Hummelston, PA 17036. Show the old Goal that kids can…

HEADS UP! Big-inch street engines are all the rage, and Ford SVO is right there for you Blue Oval fans with an excellent new aluminum cylinder head designed to feed all those hungry inches. The Ford Pro Stock Wedge Head (part No. M-6O49-C460) is based on the very successful Robert Yates-designed small-block Ford port configuration, which is now standard fare in NASCAR racing. The 460 head is constructed of 356-T6 alloy and features a small, 65cc wedge combustion chamber, bronze valve guides, and premium valve-seat inserts. The heads are recommended to work with 2.400-and 1.900-inch intake and exhaust valves, and a Jesel rockershaft valvetrain is required. Ford will cast this head for both the standard four-bolt-per-cylinder production configuration and for a Pro Stock/Pro Modified version with six bolts per cylinder.…

If you thought the new Comoro was just a good drivetrain packaged in a Geo Storm body, check out what one looks like when it’s done up Trans Am style. The ’93 Hot Wheels-sponsored Camaro will be driven by last year’s Trans Am champion Jack Baldwin. Teammate Scott Sharp, driving a Duracell Camaro, finished number two last year, giving Buz McCall’s American Equipment Racing team a one-two, in-your-face finish. The new ’93 bodies will ride on a Riley & Scott chassis with a 570-horse, 310-inch Katech small-block to power the 2550-pound car. We’ll never be able to afford the real thing but, hey, we can buy the Hot Wheels Camaro (the little one) for a buck and pretend. We’re waiting for someone to Pro Stock one of the new cars.…

In the bad old days, Ford engine builders knew that Blue Oval power would always cost them at least 50 percent more than building a comparable Chevy. The reason for the price disparity was volume. A Chevy guy could build a similar engine because thousands of other Chevy guys were building the same piece. The good news today is that the small-block Ford Windsor engine is quickly moving up on the Mouse, which means lower prices! For blue-blood Ford fans, the picture has never looked better. Literally dozens of mail-order opportunities await the Ford engine builder in his quest for the best prices to deliver the best power. We’ll show you some of the better deals available to the 289/302/351 Windsor engine builder. Let’s take a look at what’s available.…

How does a basically stock Trans Am rate a car feature in HOT ROD? Simple. It’s a clean, well-done hot rod. First, except for the wheels, there are no billet goodies to get in the way. Once you discover that there’s more stock than rod in this ’74 Trans Am, you can see what Duane Mayer saw in his mind’s eye when the car was just another road urchin. This Poncho odyssey began when Duane bought the low-mileage, original-owner car in 1980. He drove it until 1985, when he disassembled the car with the intention of restoring it. He then moved from his home state of Wisconsin, leaving the dissected Trans Am behind in boxes, and eventually reassembled it over the course of 3/years. The real work was in welding…

When Chevrolet introduced the 454 SS, HOT ROD magazine had lukewarm reactions to it, saying: “…we think most 454 SS pickup buyers are really looking for an image vehicle that has the look and feel of a muscletruck and the performance of a competent sports car.” Chevrolet was on the right track and saw that a performance fullsize truck had a definite niche market, but someone at Ford Motor Company must have taken our comments to heart. Ford’s Special Vehicle Team (SVT), headed by John Plant, has set free a true fireball of performance, and it’s called the F-150 Lightning. Basically, Ford wanted a truck that could haul, and also be able to move cargo. So an F-150 was sent to the track with a Mustang GT to learn a…

The hot rod heritage of the Willys marque traces directly to drag racing’s early days. Coupes and four doors were regularly transformed into ’/-mile scooters, and this Passion Purple ’40 is no exception. Louisville, Kentucky, residents Lee and Gloria Childress had to wait several years after first seeing the car before the owner would part with it, and Lee was heavily into the buildup of a ’35 Willys by then. When he finally got started on the car, however, he’d given plenty of thought to how it ought to look and act. The frame is a custom piece from Harris Racing and provides a 102-inch wheelbase. The Mustang II front and narrowed ’78 Ford truck rear ride on Pro-Star wheels fitted with little Michelins in front and big (33x15x15) Mickey…

Belief in the saying “Good guys wear white” will get you in serious trouble in Van Wert, Ohio. That little town in the northwest corner of the Buckeye State is the home of Brad Cashel, Dan Brown, and their seriously fast, dangerously deceptive ’55 Chevy. We say deceptive because while it looks fast—tubbed, four-link rear, ’glass body parts, and thumpity-thump big-block with a Dominator and a Fogger nitrous system—the car runs street tires. They’re very big, very sticky street tires, but they’re treaded and DOT-approved nonetheless. If you’re thinking “low 10s, high 9s at best,” grab your socks, because this treaded shoebox has tripped the quarter-mile lights with a blistering 8.91 at 155-mph pass! A portion of the Brad and Dan story was told in the March ’91 issue of…

Engineering concepts, interior designs, wheel patterns, and suspension ideas are exchanged every day in the automotive world. The crossflow of ideas ranges from racing to hot rodding, and from street machines to production cars, from low-buck beaters to high-dollar exotics. Many ideas have moved from the designer to a craftsman to actual production and on to the home car builder. Some ideas are impossible for the home builder to apply, but others can be taken in hand to create unique and imaginative hardware and software. The current trend away from the bare-metal Pro Street-interior look has come about as the gap between street machines, customs, and rods has narrowed. High-dollar interiors have long been a standard treatment for many expensive hot rods. Tony Nancy—one of the world’s great interior craftsmen—recalled…

IMPALE YA Q My ’68 Chevy Impala Custom Coupe has a 030-over 327 with 10.25:1 TRW forged pistons. I have done quite a bit of work to the car, including a 1-inch front sway bar and a 1-inch bar out back. What are the best coil springs to get the best ride and handling? I would like to drop the front end 2 inches with different springs. Any suggestions? Also, I want disc brakes. What cars can I swap with instead of buying expensive aftermarket discs? F. Scott Bloke Pelham, Alabama A As John Pearly Huffman at Car Craft found out during CC’s Project Heavy Metal buildup, you can’t change physics. Impalas are very heavy cars and, therefore, have limited handling capabilities. However, John was able to coax CC’s battleship…

A two-piece timing-chain cover is an alluring item that makes an engine look serious no matter how much of a loaf it really is. And there are a couple of good technical reasons to have one, too. It allows the cam to be changed without dropping the oil pan, so the cam can be swapped in the car, assuming there is enough room in front of the engine to slide the cam out of the block. If you’ve ever tried that with a stock cover, you know that an oil leak is all but assured. Also, an aluminum timing-chain cover solves the problem of cam walk with roller camshafts. Stock steel covers with a cam button move all over the place, causing erratic ignition timing at best and damaged distributor…