Hot Rod February 1994

ELECTRIC SPEED The guy on the other end of the phone line was dismayed, near panic. “You won’t believe what they’re going to do,” he groaned. “Chevron is following Unocal’s lead. It plans to crush 4000 cars, and some of them are classics.” The guy’s name was Paul Maddams. He was a member of a Southern California Galaxie club, and he was up in arms—rightfully so-, it turned out—about Chevron’s plan to mangle and mash hundreds of tons of perfectly restorable and hot roddable cars and light trucks. A story about the Chevron program and HOT ROD’S part in saving a ’67 Camaro from the jaws of the crusher appears on p. 56 of this issue, but the crusher programs have sparked other debates among our staff as we’ve pondered…

DISSENT ON REMINISCENCE Don’t do this to me, guys! Isn’t the low-buck, pick-a-car-off-death-row-and-make-it-roar approach still the essence of hot rodding? If you disagree, skip the rest of the letter. If not, what’s your editorial in the October issue (Remembrance and Reminiscence) got to do with anything? The ’94 Camaro/Corvette/Viper running circles around stock ’68s? No argument there. Super-tight, 100-percent vacuum-sealed, fuel-injected, lightweight, 26 years of leap-and-bounds technology improvements—give me a trashed Hyundai four-cylinder, and I can make my skateboard run circles around the Viper! Some of us can’t afford new cars, and as far as those sure-to-follow aftermarket things go, how affordable and easily available will a hydraulic lift be, since it’s needed for a simple engine swap in the ’94 Camaro? Steve Campbell’s editorial sounds almost like he’s advocating…

BILLY ROY’S LONE STAR TOY Big-block, four-speed Camaros get the HOT ROD staff all aquiver with excitement, so when Bill Roy’s IROC Metallic Blue ’68 SS graced our mailbox, it was immediately placed in the “must run’’ Readers’ Rides file. Bill’s Euless, Texas, baby runs a 461-inch Rat motor with a Competition Cams stick, MSD electronics, an 850 Holley on a Chevy factory intake and Jet Hot-coated Hooker headers. The Muncie four-gear runs a Lakewood scattershield and Hays clutch and flywheel and sits ahead of a 4.10-geared 12-bolt. Chassis Engineering subframe connectors and traction bars _ help multileaf springs put it to the pavement. PILE TO WILD It’s too bad we can’t show you the “before” photo of Richard Willis’ ’56 Chevy because you’d be amazed at how much work…

THE OTHER NEW FORD ’94 THUNDERBIRD SUPER COUPE All of the hoopla and excitement concerning the new Mustang overshadowed the other good news at Ford Motor Company—namely, an updated exterior styling and completely new interior for the Thunderbird. The Super Coupe (shown) is still available with its supercharged intercooled 3.8L V6 while a 4.6L modular V8 is a new optional engine for the LX. The Thunderbird also receives Ford’s new EEC-V ECM for better engine management. The body received a fresh nose, rear fascia and side molding, producing an aggressive look fitting for the family sport/musclecar. The interior has also been redesigned and features a wraparound instrument and control panel similar to the one found in the new Mustang. The seats, door panels and console are also new. Finally, the…

Let’s face it: Many of the high-profile cars that appear in magazines are just pretty faces—Hollywood hardware with fake facades. Many of them couldn’t lay down a respectable number on the dragstrip or even put 100 miles on the clock without major difficulties. The good news is that engineering is on the rise in hot rodding. As an example, take a look at Danny Shaffer’s ’55 Chevy. Danny wanted a bad ’55—a street machine that not only looked evil but could perform the part as well. Like every hot rodder, Danny wanted the car to be capable of both blistering dragstrip escapades and mild street manners. That’s why he joined forces with Fred Moore’s Eagle Productions in his own backyard of Bakersfield, California. Fred is a self-taught fabricator and engineer…

You probably know a Cliff Clavin —a guy who has all the answers. You can ask him anything from astrophysics to why your Holley has an out-of-the-hole bog, and he comes up with an answer. Usually it’s an incorrect, uninformed answer, but it’s an answer nonetheless. Basically, he’s annoying, and you can never trust a thing he says. But we all come to a point in our hot rod projects when we’re confused and so desperate for the right answer that we’ll even resort to asking Cliff, just in case he finally hits one. Well, to save you from the painful, futile experience of wading through a long-winded, incorrect explanation of your problem, we’ve asked a group of pros—most of whose names you’re probably familiar with from reading HOT ROD—some…