Indholdsfortegnelse for August 1996 i Hot Rod

(With apologies to David Letterman) From the home office in beautiful Los Angeles, California, here are the Top 10 reasons you should spend the weekend of August 23-25 at the HOT ROD Power Festival, presented by BFGoodrich and sponsored by Chevrolet, at the Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia: Number 10—After weeks of watching gymnastics and swimming, you’ll be sick of the Olympics and ready to get back to motorsports. Number 9—Atlanta will host round four of the all-new HOT ROD Magazine Street Car Drag Racing Series, brought to you by Competition Cams, Texaco/Havoline and Federal Mogul. If you’re looking for fast street car action, or if you’re itching to race your Real Street, Super Street, or Pro Street car, this is the place to race. And if you don’t have…

FAMILY FUN It’s true the family that cruises together, stays together. Just ask the Cooks. Their ’69 Coronet R/T convertible was bought new and has well over 100,000 Detroit-cruising miles on it (it’s been restored once). They purchased it with a 440ci Magnum engine, a 727 trans, a 4.10 Dana rearend and functional ram airscoops. They bolt on the Redlines for the show scene but have a set of Mickey Thompson rubber to get the power down on Gratiot. Mom ran a best of 13.22 at 115 mph years ago. MIDWEST POUNDER Driving their Pro Street ’57 Chevy 10,000 miles per year is nothing for Dick and Judy Rule of Prairie Village, Kansas. A neat trick on the Guards Red Bel Air is the functional, steel ’69 Camaro cowl hoodscoop…

Where were you in March 1959? I know where I was—on my way to Famoso dragstrip (located approximately 35 miles north of Bakersfield, California) Io see if Don Garlits, a somewhat obscure racer from Tampa, Florida, could prune the West Coast hot dogs. He didn’t, but the East versus West confrontation became the famous “March Meet,” the mecca for Top Fuel, and it stayed that way until the 70s, when drag racing went Hollywood. Like Fuel Alts and Gassers, the March Meet disappeared, until Tom Prufer and Brian Burnett created nostalgia drag racing and revived the sport. Now it’s Goodguys’ turn to continue this 37-year tradition of fuel, gas and a lot of class.…

We saw these cars being assembled recently at Adam’s Rod Shop (ARS) in Palm Beach, Florida. This ’57 four-door Caddy is one of 300 (oh, you can hear the purists screaming now) stainless-roof models, into which ARS has installed a front-drive Northstar engine and trans combo and the late-model Cad’s front and rear air-ride suspension. A complete front frame stub was built to do it. ARS also shaved the door handles and some of the trim for a cleaner look. We also caught Adams whipping up one of his round-tube chassis for a ’57 shoebox Chevy owned by Miami Dolphins linebacker Trace Armstrong. The car will have front and rear independent suspensions, a fuel-injected small-block, a six-speed trans, and more.…

The Michigan Hot Rod Association’s (MHRA) Picnic will be happening again on Sunday, August 18, at the Knights of Columbus Park in Shelby Township, Michigan. This event happens the day after the huge Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise in Detroit, which we covered in this year’s January issue. The free Picnic is open to hot rods of every type, and there’s even food! Last year (where we shot these photos) roughly 300 cars attended, and at least that many are expected this August. The MHRA puts on the Detroit Autorama at COBO Hall and presents the prestigious Ridler Award.…

Hot rodders are a funny bunch. We are creative, mechanically minded humans who set our goals high and then try to achieve them—often only because we set them! A good example of this is Mark Stielow and his latest One Lap of America attack, the ’67 Camaro GTP shown on these pages. Stielow built a ’69 Camaro a few years back that won many honors, including HOT ROD’s Top Ten, Car Craft’s Real Street competition and Fourth overall in the 1995 One Lap of America race (the highest-finishing nonfactory-backed competitor), but he felt that the ’69 didn’t have what it took to win the One Lap overall, which is his goal. So the ’69 was sold and this ’67 big-block California car was purchased for an all-out effort. What you…

Dag rating is all about power-to-weight ratios. Hook up massive power and light weight and you’ll go fast. The HOT ROD Street Car Drag Rating Series and the NMCA rules for Super Street are very dear. The minimum weight for the class is 3000 pounds. Nitrous/supertharged tars must tarry 7.5 Ib/ti, while normally aspirated cars tan be lighter at 6.25 Ib/ci. For example, a 482ci normally aspirated engine would run right at the bottom of the weight minimum of 3013 pounds. This would be the lightest-weight/smallest-motor tombo. Since there is no displacement limit in Super Street, you could build a 700ti engine, but the car would have to weigh 4375 pounds at 6.25 Ib/ci and a behemoth 5250 pounds on nitrous. Neither of those combinations is realistic. The theory goes…

If this little Nova looks familiar, you’re a good judge of fast street iron. Dave Lemmond has been a Fastest Street Car racer since the first race in 1992. At that event, Dave pitted his 493ci Nova with 9-inch tires against the big guns. He pushed hard enough to win one of the coveted Top Ten Fastest Street Car jackets, but it hasn’t been an easy road since. Dave’s Nova is one of those between-the-rules cars running 10.5-inch rear tires that would make the it perfect for Super Street. Unfortunately, the Pinto rack-and-pinion front suspension forces the car into the Pro Street class. As if running against the big dogs and their 600-plus-inch engines weren’t enough, Dave was preparing for the 1993 Memphis race when a nitrous bottle exploded in…

For the past few months, we’ve been following along as Indianapolis resident “Speedy Petey” Walsh has been building a true street/strip car—a ’72 Nova that he hopes to both drive in the 10s on the dragstrip and across the country on the second HOT ROD Power Tour. As if that weren’t enough of a challenge, Walsh set strict limits on his buildup budget: The car has to be completed for less than $10,000, including the original purchase price of the car, the cost of parts, and labor. No freebies are allowed, nor are “good guy” deals. Used and swap meet parts are OK, as long as the deals are available to anyone with a talent for haggling. And so that we get a realistic cost for the new parts that…

Editor’s note: Zora Arkus-Duntov, a man whose name was synonymous with high-performance cars and especially with the Chevrolet Corvette, passed away on April 21, 1996. He was 86 years old. This story honors the man who gave so much to our sport, Jim McFarland, a.well-known figure in his own right and a previous editor and publisher of HOT ROD Magazine, was Duntov’s longtime friend. There was a charm about him. Even the name has somewhat of a magical ring—and he added to it. You had to meet him to experience the full impact of his presence. Different from many who emerged from within the ranks of GM, Zora didn’t just talk about the “daring do,” he did it! “When I came from Allard (the British sports car manufacturer) to Chevrolet,…

As HOT ROD closes in on its 50th anniversary, as well as the end of the century, we thought it might be appropriate to explore some new ideas for the kind of car on which this magazine was founded: the Ford hot rod. Yet this is not just some whimsical “what if” exercise. These concepts expand on the ideas and trends we are witnessing right now in the hot rodding world. ’They also incorporate a range of modifications that we believe you, the reader, can perform—especially with the proliferation of fiberglass body components, and even whole bodies, in almost every style, year, and make. It’s no longer necessary to search endlessly for a great starter car. And no longer need we suffer the indignities of being called “butchers” because we…

The tank on Scott Anderson’s Harley should look familiar. We used it as an example of cool graphics in the June issue of HOT ROD (’Trick Out Your Tank”). Well, now you get to see the rest of the bike. The Softail custom runs a stock motor with a Quicksilver carb and a Python exhaust system. The stock frame has been lowered 4 inches in the rear and 5 inches in the front with parts from White Brothers, and the wheels are polished stockers. But the hardware is not the focal point of this bike. Rather, it’s the paint that got our attention. Anderson is a painter by trade, so he did the prep work and laid on the base colors (after John Briggs extended the front fender). But when…

PORCUPINE SMALL-BLOCK I am an automotive engineering major at Grambling State University, and I am writing about your article on the new SB2 small-block Chevy and the engine in the enclosed picture. I took these photos at the museum located at the Talladega race track in Alabama. As you can see, this engine was a small-block Chevy with aluminum symmetrical-port, big-block-style heads. I’m curious if this engine was one of GM’s “disappointing” attempts at a new head design that you mentioned in the article. Also, I want to know just what kind of racing it was built for, when it was built, and if there are any improvements that can be made to this concept considering the extensive strides made in research and development. Thanks again, and keep up the…

PROWLER PERFORMANCE Dear HOT ROD, I found an April ’91 HOT ROD in the trunk of my lead-sled Hudson and saw something more eye-raising than your swimsuit feature! There in Roddin At Random was a sleek, purple model for a Chrysler-sponsored design contest. So answer me this: Did Chip Foose, son of customizer Sam Foose, have anything to do with the Plymouth Prowler? Chip’s design bears a striking resemblance to the concept car Plymouth rolled out two years later. Chip’s purple, snub-tailed two-seater sure looked better than the design-by-committee model I saw at the International Auto Show in Philadelphia last January! What’s up with that? Hoppin’John SherlockLanghorne, Pennsylvania You’re a sharp guy, Sherlock. We called Chip Foose, who now pens cars for Uncle Boyd, and he confirmed that he’s the…

Mopar Performance News magazine always has something interesting, and a recent issue had some neat trivia we thought might blow your socks off. Check it out: The fuel pressure for Top Fuelers and Funny Cars is between 400 and 500 psi. The nitro cars consume four to five gallons of fuel during a quarter-mile pass, which is equivalent to between 16 and 20 gallons per mile. The fuel pumps deliver 58 to 60 gallons per minute. When both parachutes are deployed simultaneously, a Funny Car is slowed by a braking force more than seven times that of gravity. It takes just 00.15 second for all 5000 horsepower to reach the rear wheels on a Top Fueler dragster. The dual carbs on a Pro Stocker suck more cubic feet of air…

James Rivera built this ’64 Mercury Comet by the time he was 24 years old for less than $3000, but you’d never know to look at it. The emblems and the door handles have been shaved, and the suspension was slammed by cutting three coils out of the front springs and using 4-inch lowering blocks in back. The wheels were found at a swap meet. The 302 is all stock except for a Duraspark ignition, and the outside color is pink. It was a daily driver until recently, when James sold it to finance his next project, a Pro Street ’64 Galaxie 500 with a fuelie 427 and big Budniks. He hopes to have that one done by the time he’s 25. If you re under 25 years old and…

Bill and Chip Miller (not related), co-owners of Carlisle Productions, received the Meguiar’s Award for Collector Car Person of the Year. Chosen by a committee that includes our own editor Drew Hardin, the Millers received the award because, in the words of committee chairman Ken Gross, “the Millers exemplify the qualities our committee sought to celebrate. They are keen enthusiasts who’ve managed to combine pleasure and business in a way that benefits all car collectors and their community.” The award was developed “to honor those individuals who have significantly influenced the collector-car hobby.” In the early days, the term “collector car” was only bestowed upon prewar antiques, but from their first Carlisle Collector Car Show & Corral in 1974, the Millers created Carlisle Productions and produced events at the Carlisle,…

While he was marveling at the header work being performed on the Pavement Pounder ’57 Chevy at Kevin MacKenzie’s shop in the Detroit area, Cole Quinnell wandered around the shop and noticed this under-construction ’69 Camaro tube-framed Pro Streeter. This is the first of what MacKenzie hopes will be many more prefab (for lack of a better term) Pro Street ’67-’69 Camaros and Firebirds. He has built a jig and can pop identical copies of this car out on an on-demand basis. The plans are to build and sell chassis and/or complete rollers with the body mounted, which is the better way to go. His personal ’69 Camaro will have a non-nitrous 557ci big-block sucking pump gas and a four-speed, as well as having full street manners and air conditioning.…

The second hand on my watch timed the mile markers passing by at 20-second intervals. Even with the poor audio track of the videotape, I could hear and feel the 440 straining to gain rpm and push the 3600-pound brick through the air and down the road. After watching great Charger flicks like Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, Bullitt, and “The Dukes of Hazzard” (OK, maybe not the Duke boys), who hasn’t had a Walter Mitty fantasy about running flat out on the open road in a ’68-’69 Charger? The HOT ROD staff certainly has, so you’ll understand why we went completely bonkers over Dave Engle’s ’68 Charger the minute we saw the videotape of the car running an honest-to-God 180 miles per hour at the Pony Express 100 open-road race.…

Here’s a study of what it takes to go ultrafast. Both of these cars were built to break records in the top-end club, but one is racecar rough while the other is show-car shiny. One has proved itself on the open road of Nevada, while the other has yet to turn a wheel at speed. Take a look at the similarities and differences in achieving warp speed.…

Big power numbers from 500ci-and-larger engines aren’t surprising anymore. In fact, they’re expected. But there is usually an equally high price tag that goes with these great-power figures. Which leaves the question of whether you can build a street/strip engine to make impressive power on a reasonable budget. Flowmaster’s Kevin McClelland explored this quest while building an engine for race-muffler development in the dyno cell and on the race track, and that engine offers an excellent recipe for affordable big-dog power. McClelland started with a GM Mark IV Marine 502 crate engine, but you can use a GM Performance Parts 502 crate engine to duplicate this engine. He then carefully selected the minimum number of parts needed to produce more than 650 horsepower while maintaining a durable package that runs…

Regular HOT ROD readers count on us to help them solve their high-performance technical problems through our how-to stories, special sections, and our monthly question-and-answer column. The combined experience of our crack editorial staff is usually all we need to field your inquiries, but believe it or not, even we are sometimes (OK, make that often) stumped by the questions you send in. When that happens, we turn to any of a number of professionals we have come to know in the automotive aftermarket industry. These people specialize in various aspects of performance, from fuel chemistry to camshaft grinds, and we count on them to keep us, and you, in the know. This month we decided to cut out the middle-men and send a selection of your tech questions directly…

Edelbrock is no stranger to Harleys, and the engineers there know that the way to wake up a sleeping Evolution is with a good set of heads and a cam. So it’s no surprise that the company recently introduced a Performer Power Package for these engines that consists of a pair of cylinder heads, a single-carb intake manifold, and a camshaft. We wanted to see how much power the package was worth, so we borrowed painter Bernt Karlson’s mostly stock-engined ’93 Softail, rode it over to Edelbrock’s Torrance facility, and watched while Matt Compton spun the wrenches and churned the dyno. The results were quite impressive. SOURCES Edelbrock Corp.HR082700 California St.Torrance, CA 90503310/781-2222 HP Racing EnterprisesHR0813820 Polk St.Sylmar. CA 91342818/368-7181…

While most of us are just griping about how screwed up the government is, the members of the Minnesota Street Rod Association (MSRA) are actually doing something about it, and a tireburning ovation is due them for their efforts against the methanol fuel battle that has been raging in Minnesota. The agricultural lobby and the environmentalists have been pushing for year-round ethanol-blend gasoline (which is not the answer to the pollution problem and can wreak havoc on performance), but the MSRA made a “run to the hill” and helped lobbyist and MSRA member Bill Strusinski fight to have the bill amended to allow gas stations to carry one tank of ethanol-free gas for use only by collector cars, boats, snowmobiles and lawn mowers. The governor signed the bill on March…

The winner of the Director’s Choice award at the Knott’s Berry Farm Handcrafted Auto Show last April was Henry Caroselli’s Rodster, a kit car with a different spin. The big problem with kit cars is that they’re a pain in the neck to register, but the Rodster composite body sits on an ’82-’94 Chevy two-wheel-drive S-10 Blazer chassis and uses the truck’s powertrain, smog controls, windshield, doors, and interior parts. This means that it retains the Blazer’s registration, eliminating that headache. A Carson-style top is in the works, and plenty of parts are available to slam and modify an S-10 Blazer, so there’s a lot of hot rodding room here, especially when you consider that it removes 600 to 700 pounds of vehicle weight. For more information, contact Caroselli Design…

When Sandra Bullock wasn’t grimacing at her costar’s bad acting in the action thriller Speed, she was probably wishing she were driving something neater than the plain-jane city bus. Here’s what should have been used in the movie. This flamed mode of public transportation shuttles people around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, and makes the bold proclamation on its sides that it’s faster than a Porsche—in rush-hour traffic anyway. A race has been held the last two years between this bus and a 911 Porsche across town during the peak of rush hour, and wouldn’t you know it, the bus won both times. The Porsche was not allowed to get in the carpool lanes or freeway shoulders. Now let’s see the bus go up against a…

Fastest Street Car racing is where it’s at these days. While the Pro Street stars grab the glory, Super Street has become the hot new place to compete. A “10.5-inch” rear tire, thumper engines, and no rear tubs constitute the new level of excitement in Fastest Street Car racing. So what does it take to build a Super Street car? Can anyone with a little drag racing savvy and wrench-spinning experience build a quick car? Yes! Since HOT ROD helped spawn this craze, the next logical step would be to follow the buildup of a streetable yet plenty-quick street blazer. Rather than build an ultra-competitive, take-no-prisoners car, the concept was to build a normally aspirated big-block Super Streeter that could run in the nines. In the ensuing months since that…

Imagine this: You’re told to look at 250 accolade-worthy cars and pick a handful as the coolest of all time. Well, that’s what happened here. Since 1967, HOT ROD has featured about 250 Camaros. What you see in these pages is what we consider to be the best. Some are cool ’cause they are quick or fast or pretty, and some are admirable just because. Essentially, they’re all cool, it’s just a matter of which ones are the coolest. Of all the Camaro race cars, the Mark Donahue/Roger Penske ’68 Trans Am Camaro has to rate at the top. Having won 10 out of 13 races in 1968, this study in engineering refinement helped Donahue to dominate Trans Am with eight straight wins! This car was restored in the ’80s…

Titanium rods, billet wheels, aluminum swirl-port heads—thoughts of these exotic parts can elicit a Pavlovian response from even the most refined hot rodder. Unfortunately, these parts are also expensive! And since the majority of us don’t have an automotive budget the size of Steve Forbes’ campaign fund, we decided to focus this month’s buyer’s guide on getting the most go for the least dough. The following pages contain items that don’t require a credit approval for purchase but still provide quality and performance. If you’re a regular HOT ROD reader, you already know our philosophy of maximum-performance bang for your buck. Additionally, if you save enough money on engine parts, you can reinvest in some other high-dollar aspect of driving a hot rod—like gas. KANT OVERHAUL Save both time and…

You might call me Long-Way Corrigan. Instead of tripping out from our hallowed editorial offices in Los Angeles to the Goodguys Rod & Custom Show at the Pomona Fairplex (a scant 64-mile round-trip), I flew to the Bay Area and journeyed south with street rodding’s equivalent of Chip ’n’ Dale: Captain Fun and his sidekick Mister Molester. Captain Fun (aka Dennis Varni) and Mister Molester (aka Steve Moal) were planning a joint effort, with Varni in his “Stinkin’ Lincoln” and Moal behind the wheel of his new “California Special.” Unfortunately, the California Special’s flathead developed water pumpitis. So we switched to Steve’s fat-block four-speed highboy and made the Gilroy-Coalinga-Taft-McKittrick-Mariposa-Ojai trip sort of sideways, which is what I thought street rodding was all about. Still, spending two days at Pomona checking…

The story of this phantom Merc convert reads like a Hollywood script: A fading movie actress past her prime gets a last chance at stardom by undergoing extensive plastic surgery. Virtually unrecognizable in her new skin, the old gal makes a stunning return and, at her debut, captures the hearts of all who see her. You can almost hear the applause, can’t you? In this case, the fading actress is a ’40 Mercury coupe, tired and worn after a film career at Universal Studios. Her savior is Dick Wallen, a video and book producer from Escondido, California, who saw street rod potential beneath the Merc’s thinning paint and rough sheetmetal. There’s even a cameo role in this story: Famed designer Pete Brock, who penned (among other things) the Cobra Daytona…

SHOP FOR MODELS VALUE-PRICED PROJECTS The Model Shop has put together two packages containing all you need for a great modeling experience. The kits are only $12, plus shipping, and include glue and a complete paint set with brushes. These kits are a great way to enjoy our hobby alone or with a young person. Information: The Model Shop, HR08, P.O. Box 68, Onalaska, WI54650, 608/781-1864. ON A ROL TORQUE MASTER GASKETS ROL Gaskets has introduced a full gasket set for small-block Chevys that includes nitrile-rubber valve cover gaskets. Covering ’55-’94 small-block Chevy engines, set FS31000R is available under the Pro-Torque and Torque Master brand names. Information: ROL Manufacturing of America, Inc., HR08, 154 F St., Perrysburg, OH 43551,800/233-6272. FORWARD MARCH GROOVY PULLEYS These billet alumium pulleys from March Performance…

Detonation is probably a hot rodder’s worst enemy. It’s also been called ping, the death rattle, or just plain spark knock, but by whatever name, detonation is a big killer. When you hear a noise that sounds like five rocks in a coffee can, that means your pistons are rattling in the cylinders—and that’s not good. For nitrous or supercharged engines, the cylinder pressure spike will kill a piston before you even hear a knock. Besides retarding the timing at the distributor, there is a better way to chase those detonation blues away. J&S Electronics has created a new mousetrap that’s just too slick. We used the J&S SafeGuard Individual Cylinder Knock Control Ignition on our Mighty Mouse supercharged 302 small-block Chevy (Jul. ’96), and this system works. Here’s how.…