Innehållsförteckning för February 2002 från Hot Rod

Two words: Readers’ Rides. We asked for them in the December issue, and we’ve been getting them by the bags from the Post Office. Sheesh, and we still haven’t had time to tally all the results from the readers’ survey in the Sept. ‘01 issue! But we promise we ll eventually get to every one of them, and in the meantime, we ll continue to ferret out the Reaction Time mail to see what’s on your mind. E-MAIL: hotrod@primediacmmg.com MAIL: Hot Rod Reaction Time, 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. CA 90048 FAX: 323/782-2223 WEB SITE: www.hotrod.com…

Look Back to Look Ahead As we reported in our Dec. 01 issue, Chevrolet has done the unthinkable and pulled the plug on America’s other favorite pony car. While an exciting replacement is rumored to be waiting in the wings for a 2004 model year introduction, it looks as if there will be no 2003 Camaro—an unimaginable breach of far deeper significance than the suspension of Z28 production in ‘75 and ‘76. While digging through our magazine graveyard, we found a Camaro owner profile in the Aug. 70 issue of the now-defunct Road Test magazine. The 70½ Camaro had just exploded onto the scene, so the editors polled owners of first-generation ‘67 through ‘69 Camaros to see what made them tick and, perhaps, to gauge how successful the new model…

Check This Out! Anyone remember Petersen’s Car-TOONS magazine? Those of us from 20 to 40 grew up with it, setting our gearhead tendencies at an early age through the cartoons and twisted minds of artists like Dennis Ellefson and George Trosley. Our publishing company killed the magazine in 1991, but it has such a following that HOT ROD decided to pay tribute to this favorite of defunct titles. Here’s how: You’ve probably already seen the popular Muscle Machine die-cast toys in 1/64 and 1/18 sizes; they’re wild, cartoony Pro Streeters like the ones shown. They reminded us so much of the old CarTOONS doodlings come to life that we’ve teamed with the manufacturer to create special CarTOONS-edition toys. You’ll see ‘em in Target, Kmart, Toys R Us, Hobby Lobby, and…

Every month we get letters lambasting us for printing yet another 350 Chevy engine story. But we get even more asking for help building 350 Chevys. It’s been that way ever since 1967 when the first 350ci was introduced as an option only in the Camaro. HOT ROD glommed onto them, built a now-famous, red SS350 project car (later converted to a big-block), and helped the aftermarket secure the 350 as the world’s most popular engine. It’s been a love/hate relationship with readers and staffers ever since, but there’s no denying that the ubiquitous 350 is the most versatile, most easy-to-build, best bang-for-the-buck engine on the planet. So we decided to risk the reams of hate mail by glorifying the 35th anniversary of the engine that, arguably, made this industry…

“The 350, and more specifically the Ed Cole 265 of 1955, was the kiss of death as far as Almquist Engineering was concerned. Overnight the mail-order and walk-in flathead Ford business at my Milford, Pennsylvania, shop dried up. I quickly got together with Harry Weber on some new cam grinds for the Chevy and also some valve covers, intake mani folds, and an adapter that put dual two-barrels in place of the stock single two-barrel. By the 350’s arrival in 1967, I had sold the business (and was successfully running the Sparkomatic floor shifter company).” Almquist went another four years before going bankrupt. “Between 1946 and 1955, Almquist Engineering was the largest mail-order speed equipment supplier in the country. The small-block Chevy changed all that.”…

The L65 V-8 will forever teeter on the bottom rung of the power ladder as the most anemic 350 ever produced. It spread throughout the GM ranks like a cancer and was available in nearly everything the company built, including light-duty trucks and all other GM marques save for Cadillac. According to source books, the two-barrel-equipped L65 was first available with a rating of 165hp at 3,800 rpm and 250 lb-ft at 2,400 rpm and was carried through the 1972 model year. In 1973, the horsepower wars were but smoldering ruins. Insurance companies went apoplectic and slapped porky surcharges on anything that even sounded like it was fast. The feds mandated engine emissions equipment. Detroit contracted St. Vitus’ dance, went into spasms, and concocted band-aids of Rube Goldberg proportions. We…

It was 1973, the last time we saw a brand-new 12-bolt rearend in a passenger car, and man, the things are fetching untouchable green at today’s swap meets. Some have argued that GM’s 12-bolt axle has some performance benefits (primarily less frictional loss) compared to the Ford 9-inch, but even so, Chevy guys have been forced to throng to the 9er for reasons or sheer price and availability. Greg Moser and his cronies at Moser Engineering (the axleshaft guys) changed that about a year ago with the introduction or an all-new iron casting for the GM, 8⅞-inch-ring-gear, passenger-car 12-bolt rearend. Now four unique cases are available to cover four popular applications (see the sidebar “What About My Car?” for specifics). These new nodular-iron housings are even beefier than the originals,…

Attention all Mopar Maniacs: It’s time to install frame connectors, Dana 60s, and serious brakes. Nothing less will survive the relentless pounding of 605 ci of wailing wedge! Let Ken Lazzari, Indy Cylinder Heads’ guru of grunt, show you how to get 600-plus cubic inches and more than 800 hp in a (fairly) mellow, street-friendly package that’s sure to put a big, stupid smile on your face every time you mash the honker pedal. VITAL STATISTICS DISPLACEMENT: 605ci/9.92? PRICE: $19,000 ESTIMATED HORSEPOWER: 810 at 6,400 rpm ESTIMATED TORQUE: 770 at 4.600 rpm COMPRESSION RATIO: 10.75:1 BORE/STROKE: 4.500x4.750 BORE STROKE RATIO: 0.947:1 ROD/STROKE RATIO: 1.49:1 MAXIMUM SAFE ENGINE SPEED: 6,800 rpm RECOMMENDED SHIFT POINT: 6,200 rpm SHORT-BLOCK BLOCK: Mopar Performance Wedge Mega Block, PN P5007624 ($2,950) BLOCK PREP WORK: CNC bored,…

No—as in SCCA, not as in Pontiac. Which raises a good point: The Trans Am racing seasons of 1966-1972 affected the overall genre of gearheadedness far more than perhaps you know. Thank those glorious years for not just the namesake TA, but for the Boss 302 Mustangs, Javelins, and Mopar’s AAR and T/A E-bodies. Without Trans Am, neither the Camaro Z/28 nor its seminal 302 small-block would have existed. (The displacement was a direct result of SCCA rules.) It all came from a road-racing series that started at Floridas Sebring Raceway with the very first Trans American Sedan Championship held in March of 1966. By 1972 the rules had gotten out of control, and guys like us stopped caring. In the interim, though, legends like A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, and…

In his first year of military service, my brother Ouce bought a new kind of car made by GIVI, Chevrolet’s come-lately counterpunch to the phenomenally successful Mustang. To my non-car-enthusiast younger brother, it was pretty much a post-hypnotic suggestion from yours truly. It’s cool and you need one,” I gushed to him one summer afternoon in 1966. He withered me with a wicked glance, as if to say yeah, whore you tryin’ BS again? I had already gotten in trouble with him for insisting he buy a Lotus Cortina and four-carb, 140hp Corvair…. on my say so and without driving either. He disliked them both and reminded me of his disdain whenever I tried to scheme money away from him… which was often. “Well, it’s different,” I ventured, hoping I…

THE WORLD LAND SPEED RECORD It’s Back in the USA A mid controversy over Baskerville’s decision to limit the HOT ROD magazine speed trophy to only piston-engined vehicles, land speed racer Don Vesco stuffed it in our face with his turbine-powered, wheel-driven streamliner with a new average of 458.440 mph in the flying mile and 458.208 in the kilometer. Once certified by the FIA, the record will oust Britain’s Donald Campbell from his near-40-year claim to fame.…

Chevrolet Motor Division makes its return as Presenting Sponsor for Primedia’s 2002 Automotive Events stable. This marks Chevy’s fourth straight year of support for the Event series, widely considered to be the industry’s finest. Among the Events involved in the deal will be the 9th Annual HOT ROD Magazine Power Tour, scheduled to run May 24-31. Improving on last year’s Events “may be hard to do,” confessed Chevrolet Motor Division Special Vehicles Manager Jon Moss, “but Primedia has a great approach, and we are looking forward to building on the superlative relationships we’ve enjoyed in the past.” PRESENTING SPONSOR WE’LL BE THERE’ CRUISE NIGHT SPONSORS THE ROUTE AND DATES OF THE TOUR ARE AS FOLLOWS: May 24: Lincoln, NE May 25: Kansas City, MO May 26: St Louis, MO May…

35th 350 Two-Fer Great ideas come from indecision: We couldn’t decide which vintage cover image we liked best for this month’s tribute to 35 years of 350 Chevys, so we picked em both. One went on the newsstand issues, and the other was mailed to subscribers. If readers dig this, we may come up with more reasons to give HOT ROD two different covers each month. And no, this is not a scam to make subscribers go buy a second copy. Though we won’t mind if they do.…

Now Acceptin Resumes After five years of staining these pages with venom, saliva, drool (there is a difference), and his uniquely twisted views, former Feature Editor Jeff Koch has moved on to… “a better place.” Reports on his present whereabouts are sketchy. Some say he’s performing death-defying golf cart stunts with the Joie Chitwood Thrill Circus. Others say he’s on the road, recruiting unsuspecting audience members for a G.G. Allin cover band. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s become brand manager for the Johnny Lightning line of die-cast automotive collectibles. Wherever you are Mr. Koch, we wish you luck.…

“The 350 is God’s blessing to the aftermarket performance industry. It has been the backbone of our business since its introduction, and the number 350 is still magical to me today. It carries on the tradition started by the 265, 283, and 327, but on an exponentially larger scale. When you do things to a 350, it responds; that’s the key right there. When the user changes something, he feels it. He changes something else and feels it even more. He can step right up the ladder without spending a lot of money. That’s the kind of engine it is. The fortunate part for us in the speed-equipment industry is that we can make those pieces, satisfy the customer, and he’s very happy.” “THE 350 IS GOD’S GIFT TO THE…

“I love Chevy small blocks but think Chevy blew it by increasing the main journals to 2.45 diameter (from 2.30) and increasing the stroke to 3.48 inches (from 3.25) when they transformed the small-journal 327 into the 350. I’d rather have the revs than the cubes. The old 272 (0.060-over-size 265), 292 (0.060-oversize 283), and 301 (0.125 oversize 283) combinations had a short 3-inch stroke and would really rev if you put good rods in em. The earlier short-stroke motors are a little harder to find than 350s, but not that much. The 331 (0.030-oversize 327) in my ‘55 (shown) will go to 8,000 rpm, no problem. The small jour nals aren’t that weak; after all, they worked in Junior Fuel back in the ‘60s. To me, the increased stroke…

• The axle tubes are the same diameter as stock, so any aftermarket, clamp-on swaybar brackets should fit.• If you have a ’67 Camaro or Firebird with factory traction arms on the axle tube, the new Moser 12-bolt will not have the attachment brackets.• Moser’s cast-aluminum rear cover is large enough to cause interference with some crossover-style mufflers on early Camaro/Firebird applications.• You can’t use ’68 ’69 spring plates to convert a ’67 to staggered shocks because the floorpan stamping is different.• The multileaf rear springs caused our Camaro to sit about a ½ inch higher than the stock monoleaves, but we expect it to settle.• When reinstalling springs and bushings, do not fully tighten them ontil weight is on the car, or you may cause a bind or a…

Mamba comes from the Zulu word “imamba,” any of several tree-dwelling, highly venomous green or black snakes with grooved fangs. Small and deadly. Well, how about the black Mamba version with some really groovy fangs? We are forever beating the underbrush for that special treatment, that rare application, that special juxtaposition that makes a car stand out from the usual horde of lemmings. One of our criteria is the way a certain vehicle appeals to a broad audience. Though patently overlooked and ridiculed because it has six cylinders instead of eight, Pete Campbell’s Mustang represents a wealth of hop-up material. The ‘99 and later V-6 cars offer 190 hp and provide a solid foundation for serious modifications. The suspension pieces (springs, shocks, and struts) are the same as those in…

GOES FASTER: These things save us a lot of time digging in the used-bolt box for fasteners, but they don’t make the car any faster. Dang. RATING: N/A LOOKS BETTER: Using bolts with the same head style throughout an engine makes it look a bunch tidier, and any of the ARP fasteners look better than used bolts or new cheap-ies. We vastly prefer ‘em to chrome, too. RATING: 3 SAVES HASSLES: The main reason we started buying these kits tor nearly every engine we build is the time they save. We’re finally sick ot rifling through that old shoebox of grimy hardware. RATING: 4 BOLTS RIGHT UP: Unfortunately, we’ve yet to use an ARP Accessory kit that had every single fastener we needed, mostly because it’s impossible tor the company…

HRM’S 1957 STUDY IN ACCELERATION Been drag racing lately? Your timeslip had a sequential printout, with numbers for driver reaction time, 60-foot, 220-foot, 660-foot, and 1,320-foot times, and the ultimate trap speed. It wasn’t always like that, and I think the editors at HOT ROD had something to do with today’s sequential timeslips. Flash back to the time when timeslips were as rudimentary as the cars themselves. In fact, top speed was the main concern, a reflection of hot rodding’s land-speed roots. But then, as now, a drag race was nothing more than a sprint, and racers began to observe the obvious: The winner—the one who got there first—was not necessarily in the faster car. The secret was “gow,” the ancient term for instant acceleration. It soon led to rail-jobs,…

Tony Caorio Goes up on Two Wheels So far we’ve seen PT Cruisers, GT Cruisers, PT Bruisers, and PD Cruisers (cher-rytops in black and white). Now, professional exhibition drag racer Tony Caprio announces the Texas Bandit: the worlds first wheelstanding PT Cruiser. Cloaked beneath its truncated Cruiser shell is a supercharged 498-inch alky-guzzling Chrysler. The Texas Bandit is scheduled to appear across the nation this year but is also available for Bar Mitzvahs, car shows, and other special functions. For booking information, call 817/581-1234 or log onto txbandit@worldnet.att.net.…

Nasser Out, Bill Ford In Ford CEO Jacques Nasser, 53, resigned in late October, being replaced by William Clay Ford, 44, who had previously been chairman. A power struggle between he and Nasser had been brewing for some time, resulting in a power-sharing arrangement that was formalized last July. The company had been losing market share in the months leading up to this latest move. Ford lost money in the second quarter, and as of this writing, was expected to post losses in the third quarter. It’s been cutting management positions in an effort to return to profitability (Nasser had a reputation for cost-cutting that earned him the nickname “Jac the Knife”). Bill Ford is known for his strong pro-environment and pro-union views, and he plans to improve the company’s…

iCan!’s Heidi Van Arnem Last November, HOT ROD magazine lost a good friend when Heidi Van Arnem—founder, chairwoman, and chief executive officer of iCan! Inc.—died on November 11, 2001, of acute respiratory failure in Royal Oak, Michigan. She was 35. Van Arnem, a wonderful soul who touched everyone she met, (pictured below with Elliot Benson, GM Mobility; yours truly; and Jon Moss, manager GM Special Vehicles) was a true inspiration and advocate for persons with disabilities. Heidi, whom we had met two years earlier, touched our own HOT ROD lives with her vibrant, positive spirit. For all on staff and in our industry, it was a privilege to have met her. Heidi became an energetic supporter of the HOT ROD Power Tour and looked comfortable behind the wheel cruising Route…

STEVE COLE, THE TURBO SHOP Steve Cole is the modern equivalent of the only guy in town who could weld, or adjust lash with a P&G valve-gapper, or synchronize two four-barrels with a Uni-Syn. In the early ‘60s, the people who wielded such high-tech equipment were pestered by the ignorant and unwashed… like myself. Of course, Cole uses none of those ancient artifacts, but he does things with automotive computers that others cannot or will not attempt. He markets the Power Loader II and has built several special GM Toy Test hotties, including a 400hp LSI-powered Sonoma and a 4445hp 302 (destroker) LSI Z28. He is also germane to the next generation of Harley-Davidson engines. Steve spends a lot of time at TTS in Compton, California (310/669-8101; www.ttspowersystems.com). HRM: OK,…

Though the LT4 hosted by the final-year C4 Corvette is a scrumptious piece-what with Crane roller-tipped rockers, 10.8:1 compression ratio, and 330 hp—and the coolest fuel injected street 350 ever built, it’s not the ultimate of its type. So let’s pile into the way-back ma chine and peel away about 25 years of regulations and politics. The LT-1, as found in the 70½ Corvette and Camaro Z28, was a real ripsnorter, the stuff of leg end. Its spec sheet looks like something from a race engine, and its premium-quality parts still have a beautiful ring as you read them off in 2002. The LT-1 was the most potent in its first year of production, cranking out gross (flywheel) rat ings of 370 hp at 6,000 rpm and 380 lb-ft of…

“The numbers three-five-oh remind me of an obscure and forgotten Mopar big block from 1958, or the small-block from the other guys that seems to beeverywhere. The 350 Chevy is cheap to get, cheap to build, and can go fast. Admittedly, that’s enough to recommend any engine, and it can’t be denied that they work. Though it has its shortcomings, the aftermarket is there to make life easy for the Chevy guys and girls, with long rods to replace the stock pipsqoeeks, stout valvetrain components to replace the rickety stock stuff, heads that actually flow, and bottom end hardware to keep it all together. What does 350 mean to me? The guy in the other lane!”…

If you aren’t sure you want to tackle some of the specialized machine shop maneuvers required when building for massive, massive cubes, Bill Mitchell’s Hardcore Racing Products can set you up. Its preassembled, pre-tested 632-inch Rat motor belts out 760 hp and 790 lb-ft on pump gas and even comes with a two-year limited warranty. Plop one in your Camaro, tell your pals it’s a 396, and watch ‘em get real small, real fast in the rearview mirror. VITAL STATISTICS DISPLACEMENT: 632ci/10.4L, PN 216-86935 PRICE: $14,995 ESTIMATED HORSEPOWER: 760 ESTIMATED TORQUE: 790 COMPRESSION RATIO: 10.41 BORE/STROKE: 4.600x4.750 BORE STROKE RATIO: 0.968:1 ROD/STROKE RATIO: 1.41:1 MAXIMUM SAFE ENGINE SPEED: 6,000 rpm RECOMMENDED SHIFT POINT: 5,800 rpm SHORT-BLOCK BLOCK: Merlin II cast-iron. 10.200 deck height BLOCK PREP WORK: Bored and honed with…

Does your engine run hotter on the open road than in heavy traffic? Before you buy a bigger radiator, make sure the lower radiator hose is equipped with an internal stiffening spring like the one shown here. Without it, suction created by rapid coolant flow can collapse the hose, drastically reducing flow volume and cooling system efficiency. I saw this with my own eyes when I was adjusting ignition timing on two different cars. As I brought engine speed up to 3,000 rpm, the lower hose began to collapse, and by 4,000 rpm it was a third of its original diameter. You can make your own spring by winding a coat hanger in a spiral around any piece of round tubing and then feeding it into the lower hose using…