Innehållsförteckning för August 2022 från Hot Rod

@john.mcgann Folks, I’ve got to admit, I took the weekend off. Even though I had work to do, I skipped it all for the sake of personal care. I took a bunch of supplements, and now I have some recommendations that I can wholeheartedly endorse. Disclaimer: these may not be the supplements you’re used to seeing in commercials, on social media, or in health food stores, however. These are supplements of the gearhead persuasion and are probably better for you because of it! High up on my list is compound C10, especially if you can combine that with element T56. The combination of those two offer mental clarity and boost energy levels. You also get the benefits of leg day by working three pedals instead of two for maximum calorie…

When we met Jeff Wasserman in 2015, we were impressed by his five-car garage and the cars he had there that day. But even that super-sized garage wasn’t big enough for all his cars. Most of his collection was stored elsewhere at the time, but we did get to see his 1915 Ford Model T, his 1934 Ford three-window coupe, and the 1965 Chevelle two-door wagon, which was his daily driver at the time. A year later, Jeff moved from Los Angeles to Somis, California, in the middle of the Ventura County orchards. His house was built in 1978 with a three-car garage, a shop area, and an additional 45-foot-deep motorhome-sized garage. By the time Jeff moved in, the garage capacity had expanded to 18 cars, with commercial doors, lots…

Chuck Fisher is no stranger to the muscle car hobby. He has been fighting the good fight for most of his adult life, saving models from the heyday of factory muscle and preserving them at his place in rural Connecticut. All along, he has done it the old-fashioned way, collecting cars piece by piece through hard work. “I started collecting as a teen, and with limited funds, I used bartering, scavenging, trading, and some good ol’ plain luck. I’ve put together a small but eclectic collection I’m pretty damn proud of,” he says. His collection of muscle car rides from the ’60s and ’70s is nothing to sneeze at. Mostly made up of survivors, day-two rides, and some dusty drag cars, it’s a group of powered-up hot rods that would…

Following what was a difficult start of the season at Daytona, the Corvette Racing team came roaring back with a First-Place finish in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. This was the 70th running of the historic sports car race at the 3.74-mile Sebring International Raceway. Formerly known as Hendricks Army Airfield, Sebring is one of the oldest continuously-operating racetracks in the United States. The first race run at Sebring was in 1950, and the first running of the 12 Hours of Sebring was held in 1952. This year’s field included 53 cars in a total of five classes: three prototype classes (DPi, LMP2, LMP3,) and two GT classes (GTD PRO and GTD (pro/amateur). Things were looking up for the Corvette Racing team when driver Antonio Garcia qualified in…

Back when aftermarket electronic fuel injection first began appearing in the marketplace, HOT ROD published a story called “Smart Squirters” (Oct. ’88) that focused on an EFI system designed by the legendary John Meaney. The story intimated that with the coming of EFI, the carburetor was as outdated as a steam-powered threshing machine. To paraphrase a line attributed to author Samuel Clemons, the rumors of the carburetor’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. History and a century of metering improvements have proven this notion to be inaccurate. Now well into the 21st century, the carburetor’s image has probably been enhanced with Edelbrock’s recent introduction of a brand-new, highly-refined four-barrel they call the VRS-4150. There’s much to talk about, so the best thing is to dive right into the details. •Sizing Options…

The Hirohata Merc was built by Barris Kustom in 1952, sold in 1955, and then disappeared for decades. It was discovered in 1988 (in the most obvious location) and underwent a seven year rebuild. In January, the Hirohata Merc, arguably the most famous custom in history, sold at auction for more than $2 million. Younger hot rodders may not understand why a car with modifications that have been seen on countless traditional customs is an icon. It’s because those now-familiar mods were jaw-droppingly radical when we saw them 70 years ago on Bob Hirohata’s Mercury—and they set the standard for thousands of custom cars to come. Barris Builds a Beauty Hirohata was a young man when he purchased a year old 1951 Mercury Club Coupe and delivered it to Barris…

The most popular kit from Alden American for the 1970–1981 F-Body is part number 300108. It’s designed for a guy with a small-block and stock suspension who is looking for repairs and an upgrade at the same time. Is this you? The kit costs less than $1,000 and replaces the stock upper and lower control arms with tubular versions, the front shocks with adjustable coilovers, and the rear shocks with new adjustable shocks. In addition to improving ride and safety, the kit allows the car to be lowered as much as 2 inches in the front. We dropped by Alden American in Signal Hill, California, to watch the crew install this kit on pro skater Don Nguyen’s 1979 Pontiac. It’s a clean Firebird with a 301/TH350 combo and stock suspension…

After two decades of production, the third-generation 5.7 Hemi V8 has amassed a solid reputation as Chrysler’s bread-and-butter workhorse and high-performance platform. In that time, the company name on the Hemi V8 has changed several times (the Hemi is now a Stellantis product) but that hasn’t dented the third-gen Hemi’s destiny as the go-to heavy-lift reactor core for the Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and Chrysler nameplates. A continuous string of upgrades over the years has gradually improved performance and fuel economy, and now that many Hemis are reaching the end of their normal life expectancy, interest is high in repairing and refurbishing these future classics. Like all high-volume mass-produced V8 engines, the Hemi has its inevitable share of issues. As a self-professed Mopar fan, this author has owned four vehicles with…

Editor’s Note: Mick Jenkins is owner of Mick’s Paint in Pomona, California. His shop has restored and/or painted many high-end cars, from AMBR winning show cars to many prominent SEMA builds and HOT ROD magazine cover cars. Here is his advice on how to avoid buying a project car that will end up being a giant money pit. Buying the first example you find of your dream car, especially if it’s cheap, is almost always a mistake. Buying the wrong car will almost certainly cost you dearly in the long run. Over the years I’ve seen grown men reduced to tears when their dream machine is stripped, only to find a rusted out, poorly repaired heap of tin. Rule #1: Never buy a project in primer. Here at Mick’s, I…

“It will probably create more excitement and hard racing than we’ve seen in years; it’s one of NHRA’s better ideas.” That’s how Associate Editor John Dianna described Pro Stock, the new eliminator NHRA introduced for the 1970 season, when he wrote about the year’s new drag racing rules in the March 1970 issue of HOT ROD. Since news broke about the new class, “there have been more racers switching and building new Pro Stockers than any other single class that we know of.” The rules for this “heads-up Super Stock” class, as Dianna described it, “are relatively basic and are very similar to Modified Production regulations. However, only American-built cars with American engines and no less than a 97-inch wheelbase will be allowed to run.” The engine had to be…

Jarrod Frankum has been looking for a Mach 1 Mustang since he found a set of faded 3x5 photos in his dad’s tool chest in 2009. Then 16 years old, Jarrod got a good look at the 1969 that his father, Royce, had driven in high school back in 1982. That, and a 1970 Mach 1 he had bought a year later. Young Jarrod may have stared a little too long, as it woke his inner car guy. For the next 11 years, Jarrod searched for a decent Mach 1 that wasn’t either marked up through the roof or a total rust bucket. To ease some of the frustration, he built a Mach 1 styled skateboard to ride to and from classes through college. He was riding that very skateboard…

The Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI), presented by Advance Auto Parts, has been an annual tradition since 2008. The event was started with the goal of highlighting SEMA Show vehicles that didn’t just look great on display at the convention center but were also roadworthy and track-capable. When the SEMA Show was canceled for 2020, the OUSCI moved to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, where CB Ramey’s ’87 Corvette topped Jake Rozelle’s C5 Corvette by a single point to capture a surprise victory in this showcase event. When the SEMA Show returned for 2021, the OUSCI didn’t just come back to Las Vegas, it brought the competition to the very show where it was born. For the first time ever, the cars of the OUSCI showed the…

Jeff Ginter Racing Engines in Artesia, California, built this dynamo of power, which is disguised as a 581 cubic-inch big-block Chevy. They build a ton of engines for hardcore off-road racing, and this 581 is no exception. Dyno jockey and co-host of Engine Masters, Steve Brule, knows we love us some big-displacement big-blocks, so he made sure to send us the 4-1-1 on this race-ready brawler.…

Hopefully everyone reading this is aware that we brought Car Craft back late last year in a video format, with episodes you can watch on MotorTrend’s YouTube channel. No subscription required! We initially made three episodes highlighting the build of a 1972 Challenger that was the recipient of a Gen 3 Hemi Swap, a T56 Magnum from American Powertrain, and coilover suspension from AJE. Your humble author was a trepidatious co-host in that series, and as I’ve described in a previous editorial column, I’ve never had aspirations to be “on camera”, but I took on the challenge that was presented to me. If you’re not moving forward, you’re not moving at all, right? Well, it wasn’t a flop, so Car Craft Video is back with four more builds planned this…