Innehållsförteckning för August 1968 från Hot Rod

Nova moves with two big V8’s for its SS version: one with 350 hp and the other with 375. Both Turbo-Jet 396’s feature four-barrel carburettors, molybdenum-inlaid piston rings, forged steel cranks, aluminum bearings and alloy steel connecting rods. The ultimate setup offers still more: mechanical lifters, a special cam and a mammoth Holley carb. Compression ratio is an ultra-high 1 1:1. And, of course, Chevrolet doesn’t just plunk in one of these without setting up a welcoming committee. Multi-leaf rear springs, dual exhausts, large ring-and-pinion gears and a high-capacity clutch come with these V8’s. So do wide ovals. Nova SS: a quick looking coupe you can order with the toughest block on the block.…

THE CALM … Dear Sirs: What can I say but thank you for a terrific magazine? I’ve been reading Hot Rod for nine years and your informative technical articles have helped me through building a ’27 ’T’ touring roadster, a Chevy-Healey, and now a 427 ’59 Corvette. Constructive criticism is very beneficial in producing an outstanding product (i.e., your magazine), but occasionally I feel that some of your irate readers could better spend their time searching the shelves of their local newsstand for a better magazine (good luck!) than writing you letters of pointless criticism. I hope some of your readers will stop and question the value of their letters before they send a nasty one. Bill Jarrott Firebaugh, California … BEFORE THE STORM Gentlemen: I have been an avid…

You can bet “Indy” winner Bobby Unser is casting his vote for the Tiger. Because the Enco Tiger powered Bobby into the winner’s circle at Indianapolis with an average speed of more than 152 miles per hour. And in a car with a conventional piston-driven engine, similar to the engine in your own car. Whichever way your sentiments lie in the great Tiger Election, we hope you’ll stop by your nearest Enco station soon. While you’re there, fill up with High-energy Enco Extra. The same people who blend Bobby Unser’s racing fuel and provide him with special lubricants also blend this great premium gasoline for extra power, cleaner engines at the Sign of “Happy Motoring."(r) Two more good reasons why Bobby Unser votes for the Tiger. Humble Oil & Refining…

owner: Tom Booth Lynwood, California car: 1914 ’T’ Pickup…

You’ve seen signs like these along the highways, but do you really know how to check out your car’s speedometer and odometer for error? A stopwatch, scratch pad and pencil are all you need. For mileage checks, note the odometer reading to the nearest half tenth just as you pass the “O” or “Start of Test” sign. At the end of the test, again note the odometer reading and subtract the original reading. If the test is five miles long and your car’s odometer reads 5.2 miles, it’s .2 fast in this distance. If it’s off this much in five miles, it will be off 20 times as much (20 x .2), or 4.0 miles in 100 miles. So, for each 100 miles indicated by your odometer, you must subtract…

The use of phosphor-bronze valve guide bushings as opposed to stock guide material in automobile engines is recommended where the engine is going to be modified for high-performance use, claims Gene Ohly of Evans Speed Equipment, located in South El Monte, California. A long-time hot rodder and machinist, Ohly’s business caters generally to the demands of racers and engine builders alike. The installation of bronze valve guide bushings in cylinder heads is only a small part of his business, albeit an important one. So, we thought we would bring you this little epic and explain the whys and wherefores. Initially, a reverse pilot tap is slipped into the stock guide bore from the compression chamber side. The tap shank pilots tightly in the guide bore, guaranteeing that the threads are…

Our June ’68 road test of Chevy’s El Camino included good words on its standard equipment Delco Pleasur-Lift rear shocks. Finding them adaptable to hot rod-type action, in addition to use as a load-leveling device, was all we needed to set about putting them to work on a 375-horse-power SS 396 Chevelle. In their normal function, the air-spring shocks are fed from a single air valve to raise or lower the car depending on the load. In all situations they retain their shock-absorbing action, but the air-spring feature provides a load-carrying capacity increase. And they are completely self-contained and only slightly larger in diameter than conventional shocks. They’re made for nearly every domestic car, truck, wagon or sports car built in the last decade, as well as many foreign cars.…

RACING STAR PARNELLI JONES has recently added two more “firsts” to his distinguished career. After a long association, and a mutual love for cars in general and racing in particular, Parnelli has joined forces with Vel Miletech to form a dealership in Torrance, California, bearing the name “Vel’s-Parnelli Jones Ford.” Functioning as both vice president and service consultant, this marks the first time a race driver of Parnelli’s magnitude has offered his automotive experience to the public in a Torrance dealership. In addition, he has unveiled the first of a limited edition of his customized Ford Torino GT. This “Parnelli Jones” Torino is available only at the Torrance dealership and offers, as standard equipment, many deluxe features not available on factory production models. Their policy is “Service is our First…

owner: Johnny Capels Albuquerque, New Mexico car: Super Modified…

It’s easy to make a shifter that looks like ours, but nobody can come up with one that shifts like ours, or lasts like ours, or carries a lifetime factory guarantee like ours. Hurst Performance Products set the standard for every kind of speed equipment. Hurst’s ace engineers spend months helping you shave tenths. Hurst’s switched-on manufacturing specialists build every shifter, Roll/Control (Line/Loc), Reverse Loc/Out, and Consistent Shift T-handle like it was going into their own cars. But the real experts, the people who put Hurst right on top, are you guys—the thousands of customers who run Hurst Performance Products on every street and strip in America. And it’ll be a long time before anybody copies that! Send a buck for our catalog, it’s the kind of book you can’t…

Back in ’54 and ’55, on the NHRA Safety K Safari, we noticed an interesting phenomenon as we passed through the Midwest; specifically, the midlands area in Nebraska and Iowa. Each small town and crossroad gas station, garage and wrecking yard had at least one jalopy-type race car parked in the yard. This race car thing became so common we began to suspect a place that didn’t have one in evidence. Conversation with the local populace brought forth the fact that the races were the biggest thing happening in the area on Friday and Saturday nights; that’s where the action was. It seems that everyone for miles around loaded up their racers and six-packs, and headed for the nearest vacant cornfield and had at it. Not too formal but lots…

owners: Farkonas, Coil & Minick Summit, Illinois car: ’68 Barracuda Funny Car…

Down a rough, narrow, pock-marked road on the out-skirts of Akron, Ohio, stand two giant tin buildings that look for all the world like old airport hangars out of yesteryear. Housed inside these buildings is probably one of the largest surplus jet engine stockpiles in existence, the private domain of Art Arfons. Arfons is one of a fast-dwindling breed of men — the men who challenge nature in their jet-propelled Land Speed Record cars. His many trips to the Bonneville salt flats and his resulting trials and tribulations with the long line of “Green Monsters” are legendary, and yet he keeps right on pushing, trying to come up with something just a little faster than the other guy. For an insight into the nature of one of the most colorful…

The fourth annual American Hot Rod Association Spring Nationals is now past history, and would you believe, it was undoubtedly the best-run meet this organization has yet held. Playing host to more than 600 entries, the ’68 race was held at Bristol International Drag way in the hills of Tennessee. A number of things helped make this meet what it was. Probably the foremost reason for its success was the professional drag team brought in all the way from New England Drag way in Epping, New Hampshire, to run the event. Headed by Bill Diggio, these talented guys kept AHRA prexy Jim Tice’s program running smoothly. An overcast sky and a few showers kept everyone on edge, but everything worked out OK. John Mulligan in the Beebe-Mulligan AA/Fuel rail from…

Alast few quick items as we wind up the Corvair series. Most of this goes in the “Grief-Saving Department” which we feel should be paid a visit before opening the “Hey, Let’s Race” door. The engine oil in a Corvair is a very vital element in transferring heat away from the working surfaces of the engine (like bearings and cylinder walls). An overheated lubricant breaks down and thus the protection afforded falls off. Soon the engine needs a set of rings and bearings and the cycle starts over. Get an oil temperature gauge. They are available from Chevy (since they were stock in the Spyder) or there are any number of quality accessory units on the market which seem to be under the price of the Spyder unit. Shoot for…

GREAT GETAWAY BIKE—If you’d like to get away from it all, right now. BSA has the answer—the Spitfire MK IV. It turns secret little back roads into turnpikes, and turnpikes into take-off pads. Spitfire’s big 650 twin pumps out big power, with cornering and stopping power to match. It’s unlikely that you’d ever use more than half of Spitfire’s capabilities, but isn’t it nice to know you’ve got that kind of a safety margin? The Spitfire MK IV is rapidly moving to the top of the serious riders’ most-wanted list. Try one, the rewards are beyond your wildest dreams. Write for description and mug shots of the whole gang. Specifications may vary East and West. BIG BSA POSTER BAG! Next best thing to a full set of motorcycles. Four groovy…

Ever been caught by cross fire? … Ignition cross fire, that is. That’s where one plug is fired out of time by induced voltage, causing engine roughness, backfiring, detonation or even spark plug or engine damage. Here’s how it works. With the V8’s, keep the bold numbered wires apart; on the four-bangers, keep both 3 and 4, and 1 and 2 separated. You’ll have no trouble if you run a straight eight or straight six. Buick and Jeep V6’s, keep all wires separated, perhaps cross numbers 4 and 5. Whenever high voltage appears on a spark plug cable, an electrical field is also present around that plug wire. If an adjacent cable is close enough and parallel to the cable carrying the high voltage, enough induced voltage may be absorbed…

This is one of the all-time most popular swaps: the small-block Chevy into a Healey. Just about everyone’s uncle on the West Coast has, at one time or another, helped someone make the swap. Each crew handles the job a little differently, and it may not be said that there is just one right way of doing the job. When we learned that some of the boys at Hurst (of shifter and motor mount fame) were going to try their hand at the swap, we asked to be clued in on how they handled the problem. Seems that after removing the old engine, transmission, gas pedal and all linkage, the first major operation is to remove a 2 ½ -inch section from the right-side firewall, from the floorboard to the…

Trail bike fever: It’s getting them all, from the fuzzy-chinned teens right on up to the furrow-browed top brass. The younguns don’t want to miss a trick, and the executive types have come to the conclusion that a “hard” game of golf isn’t much stronger medicine for their city jitters than pulling crab grass on a Saturday afternoon. But as suddenly as they decide that a trail rig is the answer comes the realization that maybe they haven’t been paying close enough attention to the rapidly advancing motorcycle game, bringing on a state of utter confusion as to size, engine type, brand and model. Fortunately, your scribe has been in close and, further, just concluded a test on a machine that will take a lot of you right down the…

The first go of the Mint 400 Del Webb Desert Rally proved it to be the toughest off-road race ever run in the U.S. From its Las Vegas start, the rugged rally course twists over sand dunes and across valleys, climbs mountains, and drops to the below-sea-level depths of Death Valley. Only 27 of the 99 starters made it to the finish line back in Las Vegas! Production Class winners Orrin Nordin and Bill Tweedell pushed their ’Jeep’ Universal through 400 tortuous miles over this course in 19 hours, 41 minutes, 33 seconds. Their Champion-sparked V-6 Universal was the only Production Automobile Class vehicle to finish this brutal race. That’s peak performance! Why settle for less in your car? Do as top competitive drivers do. Always specify Champion spark plugs!…

One of the best aspects of motorcy-cling is its contagiousness. Many a would-be enthusiast is primed and ready, waiting for one of the in-crowd to teach him the ropes, or in this case, the bars. Properly supervised, it is only a twenty-minute job, as proven time and again by that insatiable ambassador of the sport and former professional stunt rider, Skip Fordyce of Riverside, Cal. Skip’s got a little trick that seems to work wonders the first time around, and it is suggested here as a possible group activity inspiration for your gang should they want to round up all of the eligible and aspiring cyclists in the neighborhood for a day of instruction at the park. Safety helmets, proper footwear and gloves are recommended attire, always advisable on a…

This enterprising dragster owner came up with a simple, transverse-spring suspension system for his dragster, but the story goes further than that. Unless you really eyeball the situation, you’ll say “so what?” But take a gander at the hardware below the spring perch. This bracket is not only welded to the lower spring support plate, but two bolts join it to the axle. Hey, baby! Now you’re wondering how the spring can sprung if it’s bolted to the axle. Well, it’s like this. By zapping out about one-half-inch from the center of the axle, the owner ended up with two halves. Next, he inserted a couple of small tubes near the axle ends, welding them in a horizontal position, perpendicular to the axle beam. The pair of brackets welded to…

SELL — ’50 Cadillac. California custom. Won many shows, all new running gear, flawless condition, like new. Hydraulic lifts, wire wheels, chrome engine, custom upholstery. $1800. Eddie Moberg, 7747 Tampa Avenue, Reseda, California 91335. SELL — Kellison J-6. Chevy 327, 4-speed, Positraction, British Racing Green, black rolled and pleated interior, bucket seats. Just completed; never driven. Offers welcome. Robert Fuller, 9510 N.W. Golden Avenue, Vancouver, Washington. SELL — ’46 Ford. Five-passenger coupe, original. Same owner ten years. Good condition, driveable anywhere. $275. Fred Harte, Rte. 2, Box 140, Gillett, Wisconsin 54124. SELL — ’37 Ford coupe with ’56 Pontiac engine. Hydraulics, airplane shocks, new tires, pleated interior, undercoated throughout. $1800 invested, $950 or best offer. David Conn, 363 Grove Street, Pasadena, California 91105. SELL — Durso’s Dreamboat. Customized from ’48…

This Memorial Day, the first four cars across the finish line were all on Goodyear tires. Bobby Unser drove his Eagle-Turbo Offy car to a new Indy speed record of 152.882 m.p.h. He led for 127 of the 200 laps. And his Goodyear tires went the full 500 miles without a single tire change. Next came Dan Gurney in second place. On Goodyear tires. And Mel Kenyon in third. On Goodyear tires. And Denis Hulme in fourth. On Goodyear tires. Unser, Gurney, Kenyon, Hulme— all, just like last year’s winner, on Goodyear tires. You can win, too, with the Goodyear Polyglas Tire. It can give you up to double the mileage. The revolutionary new Goodyear Custom Wide Tread … the Polyglas tire … is winning more acclaim than any other…

The Honda Engine Honda’s basic four-stroke engine has been in continuous production for nearly 20 years. In that time, Honda has produced more than ten million four-stroke motorcycle engines. Honda engineers have improved and refined the design to a point where the engine today is recognized throughout the world as one of the finest pieces of machinery of its kind. Smooth. Rugged. Totally dependable. Double Overhead Camshaft Engine This superb engine is found only in Honda’s big 450 models. It is designed to minimize reciprocating and oscillating valve. train mass; turn an easy 9,000-plus rpm & to produce maximum horsepower for the displacement. Constant-Velocity Carburetors unique in the industry, this remarkable carburetion system maintains constant vacuum level in the venturi, which means an exact mixture is delivered to the combustion…

When a little old gray-haired lady in a VW beats you off a light. When a twenty-wheel tractor-trailer passes you going uphill. When some clown on a tangerine tank with 95 reflectors sneers down at you. That’s when you know you’re ready. But don’t get us wrong. We don’t want you to buy a Triumph just so you’ll go faster than anybody else. Buy it because the Triumph is the Triumph. And there’s no other cycle in the world like it. No other bike has the Triumph’s gutsy motor. No bike has the Triumph’s clean lines. Or the Triumph’s moves. And no other bike gives you the kind of feeling you get on the Triumph — like you’re national champ Gary Nixon. This year we’ve got six new cycles to…

If your share of family chores has in eluded irrigating the front lawn, and Jin the course of hooking up last year’s garden hose to a water faucet you discovered some sizable leaks, you probably also discovered that water pressure on the squirtin’ end left something to be desired. (And you thought this was to be an automotive-oriented story?) Well, consider what happens when valves fail to seat properly: Combustion chamber pressures ooze out during the combustion process, and compression is diminished. It may take a bit of imagination-stretching to relate these two situations but, in any event, the leaky hose and the leaky valves have this in common: They interfere with power delivery. Curing the valve ailment is the subject at hand. The following discussion of valve-job procedures, tips…

owner: Meril Smith Long Beach, California car: ’28 Ford Wagon…

owner: Marv Eldridge Gardena, California car: ’67 Corvette…

owners: Walker & Kent Sylmar, California car: ’52 Willys Gasser…

Spoilers, used aerodynamically for better stability and handling on race cars, are becoming more and more of a trend on production cars for the street. Shelby cars have had spoilers for three years and Detroit followed with spoilers for the Dodge Charger, Chevrolet’s Corvette and special versions of the Mustang (GT/CS, available only in California) and the Camaro “hugger.” Fiberglass manufacturers and their distributors have been marketing spoilers for Mustangs and Camaros as easy bolt-on parts. Spoilers are available in a variety of materials, however, including steel, aluminum and plastic. Heights vary from as low as two inches to as high as eight inches. While most are bolt-ons, some are molded into the rear deck lid. The cost of adding a spoiler to your car can be as little as…

Midget racing has always had a strong place in auto racing’s overall picture. The super driver who seems to appear overnight, catching the public by surprise, has nearly always fought his way up through the ranks by driving anywhere and anytime, and often for very little compensation. Midgets are still a starting point for a great number of talented pilots, just as in the days of Johnnie Parsons, Sam Hanks, Bill Vuko-vich, Rodger Ward and many more. And who can ever forget places like Gilmore Field and Carroll Speedway, along with dozens more that have been bulldozed into oblivion and replaced by housing tracts? Indoor midget racing, in most parts of the country, has replaced the old dirttrack-type activity, and TQ (three-quarter scale) midgets have replaced the full-size machines nearly…

Before we get to the hot tip of the month, we wish to announce the opening of Bob Nordskog Marine and Competition Center in Van Nuys, California. Bob got his start in racing back in the old Muroc Dry Lakes days in a recordsetting ’T’ roadster. Already a successful businessman, supplying over 75 percent of the commercial airline on-board kitchen facilities to the plane manufacturers, Bob is now combining his boat racing hobby and business experience to create a competition center. Nordskog has been a top competitor in the boating world for many years and a leader in the design and production of racing boats and equipment, as well as competition engines. The new competition center will offer complete engine blueprinting and rebuilding, as well as Nordskog’s competition engines for…

Shown here are two versions of dragster suspension systems that are similar, yet distinctly different. One unique feature about them is that they reduce frontal weight (if that is necessary; think about all of the barbell weights and lead bars you’ve seen bolted and clamped to axles). Anyway, let’s take the unit with the drilled (lightened) idler arm first. You will note there are short transverse tubes welded onto the front of each set of main frame tubes, or rails. The inner ends are capped off. A bolt runs through the transverse tubes, joining them together. Friction pads on the inside of these tubes permit the owner to adjust the rebound rate of the axle assembly. The chrome arm that you see clamped between the two transverse tubes and joined…