Innehållsförteckning för February 2013 från Hot Rod

Someone dented my Super Bee. It’s not huge—just a flat spot, but it’s on the bodyline of the right-rear quarter. It’s about the size of your palm, which is telling, because I suspect someone did it while pushing the car sideways on our GoJaks. I hate it when people damage things that have survived pristine for 40-plus years just because they didn’t take one second to think. Now I get to live with it forever. Many people have no idea how to treat old vehicles; I’ve even known car guys who could wreck a steel ball in a rubber room. So, as a public service, I offer this list to share with your friend, coworker, girlfriend, child, or passenger of choice. How to push: Gonna help push an old car?…

SEND YOUR PHOTOS To be included in Scene by Readers, send low-rez photos and some information about them to HOTROD@HotRod.com. If we elect to use your photo, we will email back with instructions on how to send us a high-rez photo for publication.…

This is HOT ROD’s 65th anniversary issue. To celebrate the landmark in 2013, we’re planning the HOT ROD Homecoming, a gathering of all the old HRM feature and cover cars we can find. We’ve been promoting this in the magazine for a few months, and so far we’ve come up with about 200 former magazine feature cars from several decades. Now we have more details, and we’re ready to really crank this once-in-a-lifetime deal. When and Where: Saturday, March 23, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, March 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fairplex in Pomona, California. Feature Cars: If you have a car that has been featured in HOT ROD or if it has been on the cover, you are eligible for a free spot in…

Every day at HOT ROD is a new day to make mistakes! Some mistakes—like killing off a Top Fuel driver in print who is known for having survived some devastating crashes—can be fun. Take my apology to Top Fuel legend Jim Nicoll. In the Dec. ’12 “Progress From Pain” article, I wrote that Nicoll was mentioned numerous times for surviving spectacular clutch explosions that cut his dragster in half—at least twice—and escaping the complete burndown of his Vega Funny Car in 1973. But one caption mistakenly said he was killed in his clutch explosion at the ’70 Nationals, a scene best remembered as one of the fail sequences of the opening for ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Don Prudhomme, who watched the front half of Nicoll’s dragster dart in front…

Corvette purists get a little irritated when a ’56 Corvette owner ditches his original 265ci small-block for something with more cubes. It really irks them when the car is painted anything other than one of the eight original colors. And they really lose it when one of them throws concours-perfect restoration out the window and turns a rare copy of America’s Sports Car into a big-block-powered, solid-axle drag racer. On the other hand, we are totally OK with it. Twice, even. It’s amazing. For this month’s cover, we found two ’56s so similar in design from two Californians who had never met until the day of the shoot. Both cars run big-blocks and mechanical injection stacks, and both are in the style of the ’60s drag racing class called Modified…

GERBER SHARD Gerber // 800.950.6161 GerberGear.com A pocketknife is the most expensive, least effective screwdriver you’ll ever use. To curb your temptation, the Gerber Shard has a Philips screwdriver, a couple of flathead screwdrivers, and a pry bar. Oh, and a bottle opener, if you’re into that. Price: About $8 COBRA TAG Cobra Electronics // Cobra.com The Cobra Tag keychain works with your Android or Blackberry smartphone (iPhone version coming soon) to locate your keys and vice versa. Use the free app on your phone to make the tag ring, or tap the button on the Cobra Tag to make your phone ring. Price: $60 COMPACT THERMOMETER Snap-on // Buy1.SnapOn.com This Snap-on infrared compact thermometer has a temp range of -7 degrees to 248 degrees F. Simply point at target,…

Higher, lower, taller, shorter, more, less…how do you have any idea what guys are talking about when it comes to rear-axle gears? It’s confusing, because the slang seems to contradict the math. Let’s start by explaining the function of the ring-and-pinion gears in your axle. First, they change the direction of the power by 90 degrees, taking rotational force from the engine/trans/driveshaft (inline with the car’s centerline) and sending it out to the axles and the wheels (perpendicular to the car’s centerline). Second, the gears provide a mechanical advantage, acting like a lever to multiply work (torque). Parasitic losses aside, a 3.0:1 ratio multiplies torque three times and a 4.0:1 ratio multiplies it by four. Go to our example of a simple lever (right), and you’ll see that, any time…

Is there a better time than now to drive a hot rod? I don’t think so. There are so many options for flogging your car: open-road racing, drag racing, autocrossing, land-speed racing, and standing-mile contests are all insanely fun venues for testing your driving, building, and tuning skills. Drag Week™, LS Fest, and the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational take it a step further by testing cars in multiple disciplines. There’s plenty to do besides polishing your rims at the Lawn Chair Nats. All you have to do is decide how much cash you’re willing to regularly drop on tires. Stick with me. Once your project is done and you start driving it like you stole it, tires become a major impediment to continuing the fun because they are expensive,…

Q: Can I take a naturally aspirated 231 Buick V6 block and use it to build a turbo engine with 16 to 20 psi of boost? I know I would need to upgrade the internals. My main concern is the block itself. The engine is going in a ’69 Cutlass, not a later Grand National. A: Boost is merely one means to an end: making power. What you really need to ask is, “How much horsepower can a stock Buick V6 block withstand?” The consensus of Buick V6 experts such as Ken Duttweiler (Duttweiler Engineering) and Mike Tomaszewski (TA Performance) is around 550 to 600 hp. “They’ll take that amount for a good while,” Duttweiler says. “A street guy I know put 80,000 miles on one before a main cap…

Young California car buff Evan Burgess received a new car for Christmas and proceeded to wear the tires off it. Hmmm, excessive tire-wear on a kid’s first car? That’s hardly newsworthy—until you realize Evan is five years old, and his car is a Fisher-Price Lightning McQueen Power Wheels. The headlines may be blaring “Young People Not Buying Cars, Not Driving,” but we are here to assure you that at least one young person will be getting his driver’s permit the second he turns 15½ years of age—in 2022. Evan Burgess is a full-blown carguy, even though he’s years away from being full-grown. Evan has mechanic’s genes. His father, Sean Burgess, is the founder of a performance shop and parts manufacturer called FFTEC Motorsports (FFTEC.com) in Haywood, California, and says Evan…

Many guys said Max Rockastansky’s Interceptor from Mad Max, and the TV cars from Adam 12 and Andy Griffith. Of course, any mention of cop cars brings on the famous quote, “It has a cop motor—a 440-cubicinch ’plant—it’s got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks…” about the famed Dodge Monaco Bluesmobile. Here are some of the others. // Any Mopar with the 440. Back in the ’70s, the Colorado State Patrol had the Gran Furies, and it took us a little bit to get going, but we knew no one was going to outrun us.— Jim Smith // I think the new Charger is about the best looking. They just look mean.— Tony Blowers // As long as it’s not behind me, I don’t care what they drive. I prefer…

In the story “900 HP on Propane” in the Dec. ’12 issue, we covered the feats of the Mothers ’70 Chevelle that makes that kind of power on that kinda fuel with a 454ci LSX engine and a Magnuson 2300 supercharger. In a follow-up note, Jim Holloway of Mothers felt that we’d made an error of omission that failed to credit two companies that made a big impact on the ability to make huge power on clean fuel. The first is Propane Edge Group (PropaneEdgeGroup.com), which manufactures the complete liquid-propane fuel-delivery system, from tank to engine, using its Dual Jet Pump. PEG also handled the programming required to operate the twin banks of injectors for an improvement of 33 percent in power and efficiency. Next, Jim pointed out that our…

Turbochargers were a novelty 50 years ago, but today you can find turbocharged gasoline engines in everything from the 40-mpg Chevrolet Cruze to the 365hp Ford F-150 EcoBoost V6 in F-150 trucks. More factory turbo applications are on the horizon, too. Cadillac has a twin-turbo V6 in the works, and rumor has it that it’s only a matter of time before the Mustang has another turbo four-cylinder on the option sheet. With all of these boosted engines becoming available, we thought it would be a good time to take a quick look back at the 50-year-old roots of factory turbos from the Big Three. [1962] The 150hp turbocharged flat six in the ’62 Corvair (shown) beat the Turbo Jetfire Oldsmobile 215 to market by a matter of weeks to claim…

Editor’s note: HOT ROD staffer Thom Taylor is a renowned designer of custom hot rods. He prefers to keep a low profile, but I asked him to write this story from the unique perspective of a guy who dreamed up a car from scratch, then watched as it became reality. —DF If you want to design cars, and your talent, drive, and sense of humor are sufficient to get you into design school, instructors will warn you that the opportunity to design an entire car—as you see it in your mind—will not happen. There are myriad obstacles that wedge themselves into the process of creating a car, whether it be a one-off, such as Ashley Webb Taulbert’s roadster before you, or a car to be mass produced. The list of…

Travis Gilpin lay flat on his back behind the burnout box at Memphis International Raceway in total silence, just a few feet behind Todd Maschmeier’s wounded ’68 Camaro. His driver suit was pulled down to his waist, and the racing logo on his hat was almost unrecognizable beneath the dirt and chemical stains. He had a defeated look on his weather-beaten face, the lines of his cheeks caked with oil and aggravation. Except for a puzzled track official who stood over him repeatedly asking whether or not he wanted the Camaro pushed or pulled off the track, there were few people around to witness the dismal scene. Most of the other competitors had already hit the road, looking for victories large and small on the last leg of HOT ROD…

GoPro GoPro // GoPro.com A NEW HERO The Hero2 is the latest version of GoPro’s camera. According to GoPro, it’s twice as powerful, hence the name. It allows for 10 photos per second, more frames-per-second options, and more time-lapse options. It has more LED indicator lights and it’s twice as sharp. The most significant upgrade is the ability to change the field of view to wide (170 degrees), medium (127 degrees), or narrow (90 degrees). Price: $299.99 GOPRO REMOTE CONTROL The one upgrade that got us the most excited is the Wi-Fi remote combos. You can control up to 50 cameras at once (who would ever be using 50 GoPros at once?) and up to an unbelievable 600 feet away. There is a small LCD screen on the remote mirrors…

Joe Lutz, owner and founder of Hot Rod Dynamics (HotRodDynamics.com), in Lenoir, North Carolina, started with what at first seemed like a very clean ’57 Bel Air and built a ground-up restomod for Roy and Betty Adams. Tri-Five fan or not, you’ll find a lot of great fabrication work from Joe Lutz and Larry Hamby that would look good on any car. Aside from the obvious quality of the build, what stands out for us is how quickly Joe and Larry were able to make such a startling difference in the car’s performance and appearance. Here’s how the car progressed from semi-restored to show-stopping in less than a year. [02.03.2011] After a thorough disassembly, the body was lifted off the stock engine and chassis. Joe and his crew discovered some…

An Injected Olds Mondello Performance // 805.237.8808 MondelloTwister.com Have an Olds you really like to drive? Check out this new bolt-on fuel injection conversion kit from Mondello Performance, the longtime source for Oldsmobile performance. The kit includes everything you need including the return lines and fuel pump. Each one is made to order, so you can request pre-tuning designed to let you turn the key and drive. Mondello uses a variety of parts to assemble this kit; some parts they make, others come from companies like Holley and FAST. They are available for the 400, 425, and 455 Olds engines. Price: Start around $3,900 Bigger Clutch, Lighter Feel Quarter Master // 847.540.8999 QuarterMasterUSA.com If you’re driving around in a late-model GM with 1,400 hp, you’ll probably know it. But with…

It’s amazing how no money, some spare time, and a passion for racing can amount to big things. From just before World War II to the late ’60s, jalopy racing was a staple of fairgrounds and dirt tracks across the country. On any given night, old heaps were flung in the mud for excited, paying spectators, with meager purses hopefully—but rarely—covering the participants’ night of racing. Rules varied, but the effort was to keep tabs cheap for both entrants and fans, with safety in mind. The bulky old coupes and sedans combined with slow speeds kept incidents to a minimum, in most cases. Junkyard cars and parts were the weapons of choice, and if the rules weren’t enough to keep you from raiding the cookie jar, claimer racing clamped the…

Gene Hentkowski // Macomb Township, Michigan This ’08 Dodge Challenger features a 6.1L and is No. 3,070 in the first model year of the new Challenger. Gene has been on two HOT ROD Power Tours®. Rodney Beach // Marne, Michigan We dig this Sequoia Green ’72 Chevelle. The 350 features Edelbrock heads, an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, and a Tremec five-speed. Rodney says he gets 18 miles to gallon. Tom Smart // Trenton, Ontario, Canada Tom’s ’99 30th anniversary edition Trans Am echoes the original white-and-blue color scheme of the model’s debut in 1969. Jim Blackwood // Longmont, Colorado The sickos British American Deviant Automotive Sportscar Society (B.A.D.A.S.S.) stuffed a Buick 455 into this MGB and called it the MGBGT-V8. Marvin Finfrock III // Clinton, Illinois Marvin bought this ’59…

I heard stories about a guy in Iowa who had squirreled away a few rare Mopars, so I hopped in my car and drove out there seven hours straight on a Friday evening. I tracked down the house, showed the owner the Sept. ’12 HOT ROD with my story about a ’69 Daytona barn find, and the guy was excited to show me what he had. He said, “I have one of the cars that makes the Daytona sitting out back.” I thought he meant a ’69 Charger. I was partially right. First he showed me a ’66 Dodge Coronet belonging to his sons, then a ’66 Charger, and a ’70 Dodge Coronet R/T sitting off the driveway in the weeds. In the north workshop was a ’67 Plymouth GTX—a…

Bob Bondurant started his racing school in 1968. His first student? Actor Paul Newman. Today, the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving (Bondurant.com) employs more than 50 people—10 of them fulltime driving instructors—at the school’s purpose-built training track in Chandler, Arizona. We spoke with chief driving instructor Mike McGovern, who knows what it takes to teach newbies and professionals how to properly hit an apex. Instructors at Bondurant must have racing experience and people skills. Students at the school range from teenagers to NASCAR stars, so instructors must be able to communicate across the whole spectrum, explaining car control, heel-toe driving, and vision skills, all while zooming around tire barriers in the passenger seat. McGovern has been teaching for 28 years and has taught some big-name racers, but he says…

In 2009, fabricator Thomas Patsis built a metal sculpture of an eight-legged Hemi engine during his free time and posted a photo on Facebook. Overnight he had requests for other metal sculptures, and soon a friend gave him a Miller welder to keep up with demand. Earning a spot as a finalist in one of Miller’s welding contests garnered his Cold Hard Art even more exposure. Since then he’s built race cars, street cars, boats, bikes, trophies, and mechanical monsters. For more of his work, check out ColdHardArt.com. “I love the challenge of it. No piece is ever identical.”— Thomas Patsis…

10 Practice-Tree Apps Computers will eventually take over the Earth, and you’ll be woken by the sound of your smartphone laughing as it deletes your bank account, but that’s in the future. For now, iPhones and Androids do our bidding, and we bid them to help us win drag races. Drag races are won and lost at the starting line, and professional drag racers spend thousands on starting-line simulators so they can hone their skills in search of that rare perfect light. If you want to improve your reaction times but don’t have $700 for a fullsize Port-A-Tree (if you do, see PortaTree.com), there are tons of apps that offer a chance to practice. We’ve limited this list to programs for iPhones for less than $3 at the App Store.…

Auto Meter // 866.248.6356 // AutoMeter.com ULTIMATE DL Ideal for the Sportsman racer, the Ultimate DL is a tach and data logger. What makes it unique is the included driveshaft senor that keeps track of driveshaft speed. The tach has a channel for a pressure signal, air/fuel ratio, and, of course, rpm. You can play back data on the LED display on the tach or plug it into the USB port and use it on the supplied DataPro software. It will record up to six runs worth of data at a time. Price: $699 A SHIFT LIGHT AND SO MUCH MORE Auto Meter’s Digital Pro-Shift system takes shift lights to the next level by infusing multiple-color LEDs with a digital tachometer into a small package. The LEDs are used to…

For at least the past three years, rumors of the C7 Corvette’s powertrain have been circling the Internet. In 2010, Corvette’s C6.R team moved from a 6.0L to a 5.5L V8 in the GT2 racing class. Meanwhile, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) targets continued to climb. Powertrain prognosticators put two and two together and predicted that the future Corvette powerplant would be downsized to 5.5L. Others noticed Chevrolet’s twin-turbo 3.6L V6 that was installed in Jay Leno’s Camaro at the ’09 SEMA show and assumed that would be the future of Corvette. Both camps were wrong. On October 24, 2012, Chevrolet officially announced that a direct-injected, 6.2L V8 with 450+ hp and 450 lb-ft of torque will be the base engine for the next generation of America’s sports car, set…

Next Month: How to Install Hoodpins GET THE BOOK Jay Stone, who helped us with this project, first learned from Ron and Sue Fornier’s book called Metal Fabricator’s Handbook. There are a tremendous amount of metal-fabrication books available from CarTech (CarTechBooks.com) and Motorbooks (Motorbooks.com). Contacts MITTLER BROS MACHINE & TOOL; Foristell, MO; 800.467.2464; MittlerBros.com J STONE DESIGNS; Winston-Salem, NC; HubGarage.com/mygarage/damifino…

THE COMBO Trevor, Wisconsin’s Pat Ryan owns a ’95 Ford Mustang Cobra. Two years ago, Ryan replaced its stock 5.0L EFI engine with a 347ci stroker built by a Texas shop recommended by a friend. The new engine came equipped with Pro Comp aluminum heads, an Edelbrock Victor 5.0 intake manifold, exhaust headers, and an off-brand hydraulic roller cam with associated valvetrain parts sourced from a variety of “Brand-X” vendors. The engine is shifted by a Tremec TKO five-speed manual trans that transfers the torque back to a 3.73:1-geared, 8.8-inch, Ford rearend. THE PROBLEM Ryan hadn’t put 1,000 miles on the new engine before a pushrod cracked; “1,000 more miles or so, and another one went,” Ryan says. “One of those times I may have missed a shift.” At this…

Caption Contest As seen during the 24-hour filming of the Rat Rod vs. Lamborghini episode of Roadkill on YouTube.com/MotorTrend. We can’t get any dates with this Lambo, let’s just take a nap.— Mick Tomlin Needs open headers to keep them awake.— Tucker Kenneth Lee Sorensen Lambo V12, six-speed, 620 hp, 0–60 in 3.4, and sleeps two.— Bruce Fuscaldo Taking a nap in “Tupperware.”— Adam Leigh Did you read this article in Car Craft magazine?— John Burns Year? Make? Model? A: It’s a piece of trim on the trunk of a ’58 Lincoln Continental. The largest car sold in America between 1958 and 1960. HOT ROD TRIVIA Q: 1 PPG (aftermarket automotive paint) originally stood for? 2 What movie recently beat The Blues Brothers’ record of destroying the most cars? 3…