Innehållsförteckning för March 1982 från Hot Rod

The cover blurb read “First Look! The Best Z28 Camaro Yet!” A bold statement, and one which started the letters rolling in from outraged Camaro owners. Kenny Mann suggested it was a “foreign-looking car” while Jim Pierce considered the new Camaro “a good new Monza but a lousy Camaro.” Bob Heywood got right down to the nitty gritty with “… that shrunken, gutless piece of tin … “followed by a more rational Earle Saeger who states “The Best One Yet is the ’70½ Camaro.” All of the above excerpts are from letters in this month’s Post Entry column. How are we qualified to make a judgement on Camaros 1967-1982? For openers, the combined staff of HOT ROD has driven, tested, modified, and restored just about every style of Camaro built.…

Chip Hornbeck’s 1970 Nova is a candy pearl orange crowd stopper. Whether people hear the rumble of 454 nasty cubic inches or the whine of the “Jimmy” huffer, or they see the flamin’ orange paint job, they are sure to take notice. It’s not every day you see a Nova with so much craftsmanship and charisma. Nova’s Are a Low Cost Way off Building a Super Streeter Chip’s car features a GMC blown 454 Chevy rat motor feeding horses through an A-1 converter to a quick shifting Turbo 400 trans. The fumes leave through a set of Hookers. The rearend is a 4.10 posi 12-bolt unit. The flawless body is enhanced by a set of Cragar S/S mags and Mickey Thompson rubber. Chip can be proud of this Nova because…

“Smokey Joe” Kessler’s ’23 T street rod is a mishty potent package. Not only does it look good with its Neil Madden-applied yellow pearl and candy paneled paint job, Unique Upholstery white crushed velvet stitch work, and Doug Kaufman top, it cooks as good as it looks. The “drag race” style is enhanced by a chromed and polished 427 rat, chromed wheelie bars, and snorkle scoop. The built 427 Chevy and Turbo 350 nestles between Total Performance frame rails. The 4-inch-dropped tube axle is hung suicide style, and uses early Chevy spindles and Airheart disc brakes. The rearend is a narrowed 9-inch Ford, running 4.57 Zoom gears and 31-spline axles and resting atop coil springs and traction bars. The roadster rolls on 18-inch Hallcrafts ànd “cycle” tires up front, and…

When Tim Mulligan isn’t playing with his ’40 Willys pickup, he is building “toys” for other people at his shop “Tim’s Toys” in Los Alamitos, California. Tim’s handiwork is apparent in his low and mean machine. A 3-inch top chop and 4-inch dropped axle are responsible for the low look, while a shortened bed and widened fenders give it that mean look. Supporting the car is a boxed ’40 Willys frame, and the suspension system was designed and built by Tim, Dale Kazarian, and Mike Kelley. When it’s not flying high, the front end is suspended by parallel leaf springs, while the 4.88-geared, 9-inch-Ford rearend is suspended by coil shocks and held in place by 42-inch-long ladder bars. A set of wheelie bars keeps the truck from doing back flips.…

Although “pop-up” hood scoops are by far the most popular plan for air grabbing, these alternate ducting arrangements offer additional low-profile advantages. Available from either hardware or appliance outlets, flexible “dryer” ducting comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. Round ductwork in most convenient diameters (2 to 6 inches) is probably the trimmest plumbing to use for this kind of underhood air fare. Hose clamps, large tie wraps, or, of course, duct tape can then be used to attach the tubes at each inlet and outlet. The trailing ends are traditionally secured to either an air box or an air cleaner mounted atop the carb(s). The air-grabbing opposite ends’ openings can be connected to any easy-to-plumb pick-up points at the radiator support, the headlamp openings, or anywhere there’s cooler…

A problem that must be resolved in any racing engine, whether stock or exotic, is control of oil blowing or breather discharge. This problem cropped up significantly when the over head valve V8 engines began replacing the flathead Fords in the mid-’5 Os in drag racing and oval track use. It was not uncommon for a dirt oval track engine’s bearings to fail through the loss of oil via the breathers. In drag racing, I recall a junior fueler (a small-block Chevrolet dragster using nitro fuel) that lost No. 6 rod every week for five races in a row. You can believe there was a lot of head-scratching and changes made to solve the problem (which included teardrop leads on the main bearing holes that feed the rods, higher oil…

HOT ROD will pay $25 for each item used in It Worked For Me. Send a brief description of the problem and your solution plus clear black and white photos or drawings to illustrate. Be sure to include all dimensions or assembly procedures, and don’t forget to send along your complete name, address and Social Security number. These items cannot be returned Payment for items used will be made on publication. Due to the overwhelming number of potentially usable contributions received for this section each month, selection often boils down to those with the clearest, most descriptive illustrations or photos. Mail your problem-solving idea to It Worked For Me, HOT ROD Magazine, 8490 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069. Bullet Holes When making your own gaskets for header connectors, water…

Lead’s Not Dead Enclosed are the pictures of my latest two cars. Both were junk yard status when obtained. Each took a year to complete. I have done all of the work myself. Each runs 289’s and Borg-Warner T-10 4-speeds. What prompted me to write was your lead sleds feature in the December issue. I started reading HOT ROD in 1959, while in high school. Those cars were what made the world go around back then. They still do as far as I’m concerned. The new cars might be okay but I sure miss the musclecars of the ’60s, a time I’m afraid will never be again. I sure would like to see more features on the ’50s and ’60s-era cars. John BrownSalina, Vermont No New Z for Me Today…

Fire Free The racing glove has been redesigned by Pyrotect Racing Equipment, Inc. (Dept HR-3, 3400 East 42nd Street, Minneapolis, MN 55406). Glove has a new design that allows each finger to flex independently, relieving troublesome bunching of material at the palm. Glove is made of one-piece Napa goatskin and Durette fabric, lined with a soft cotton jersey for sweat absorption. Available in long gauntlet style. Catalog: Free ID Auto Security Identicar International Inc. (Dept. HR-3, 4500 Campus Drive, Suite 420, Newport Beach, CA 92660) introduces a new theft deterrent system, Identicar/Prevent-A-Theft. Company will pay $500 if your car is stolen and not recovered. An ID code is indelibly engraved on all the windows of your car. Theft is discouraged because the cost of replacing the windows is too high.…

Water Injection vs. Water Vapor Injection There continues to be confusion between true water injection and water vapor injection among many enthusiasts, but take my word for it, they aren’t the same thing! Part of this mixing of terms seems to have occurred since both devices use water, and both devices have been touted as mileage improvers, carbon deposit eliminators, and even octane tolerance extenders. Not all of these claims are accurate, and at best they’re shaky; but there is a kernel of truth behind all the hype. Here’s what they really do. Water vapor injectors operate on the principle of bubbling or pulling a small amount of air through a reservoir filled with water (or a mixture of water and alcohol). As the air passes through the liquid, it…

Iskendarian, the world’s largest manufacturer of racing cams and valvetrain assemblies announces the availability of the new 1981½-’82, 34th edition of the famous Isky catalog. Included in this 136-page performance manual is the world’s largest selection of racing and economy camshafts (including Supercam® information) plus valuable literature from Isky’s technical library. For your catalog and a color jacket patch send $2 to Ed Iskendarian Racing Cams, Dept. HR-03, 16020 S. Broadway, Box 30, Gardena, CA 90247. I ECO, the Santa Monica, California, firm which calls itself “The Small Car Connection,” has just completed printing a complete and informative catalog for Chevette owners. The range of items runs from the simple to the exotic. A hint at some of the exotics are: a turbocharger system which increases horsepower by 75…

Illegal Underground Parking With next month’s historic return of the Sinai territory to Egyptian rule, Israeli police expect at least 200 stolen luxury cars to be promptly dug up from beneath the desert region, then sold to unsuspecting Egyptian customers. Last October and November, police uncovered 57 late-model luxury cars stolen from Tel Aviv, Israel, residents, then buried 6 feet under. “By planting cars now and harvesting them in April, the smugglers avoid the hazardous task of slipping stolen vehicles across the heavily-guarded border,” reports the Los Angeles Times. A new Mercedes-Benz currently costs about $200,000 in Israel, making new-model M-Bs the most popular target of thieves. Local Israeli troopers recently uncovered a black Mercedes sedan registered to the Swiss Embassy. They found a Swiss flag still attached to one…

HOT ROD has determined to take the “mystery” out of engine blueprinting, so last month we began a step-by-step “how-to” of the various machining and assembly steps involved. To prove that any average enthusiast can do the job, amateur “shade tree” mechanic Glen Sands was chosen to assemble a 355 Chevy for his Chevelle, making use of the skill, advice, and expertise of Valley Head Service (19340 Londelius St., Northridge, CA 91324, 213/993-7000), which also performed all machine and head work. If you somehow missed Part One, go back and read it; you can’t assemble before you “science out” the engine on paper and machine the necessary parts. We assume you are familiar with basic engine assembly techniques; if not, we’d advise you once again to go back and read…

Before NASA, our space program’s controlling organization, progressed beyond the atmosphere, the group had been known as NACA—the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. They dealt in all matters of aerodynamic interest to our government and back in those days before our regular hauls to the heavens in the truly ultimate hot rods, NACA was primarily concerned with the atmospheric speeds that are more in line with our ground-bound discussions here. One result of their earthside activities was the appropriately dubbed NACA duct, seen here as executed by the Ford Motor Company on their Shelby GT. Originally intended for high-performance aircraft rather than for overland speedsters, even this very scientific scoop plan has no basic standards other than its overall shape. The only characteristic shared by the wide variety of NACA-style…

A button brings the engine to life. Slip the throttle. You smile at the sound, knowing what awaits. Check the computer’s digital display. Everything reads “go.” Pull in the hydraulic clutch. Stab the gearbox and zip away. Twin cams whir, and 24 valves dance. Electronic fuel injection responds to the cold morning air with extra gas. There’s an opening. Time for the turbo. Bam, you’re gone. Now reach further, probing for limits, and the bike responds. A motorcycle was never like this. It’s true. This seems to be a breakthrough year in two-wheeled evolution—digital fuel injection, turbochargers, computers, anti-dive forks, aerodynamic styling, rich black chrome, Japanese V-twins and V-fours. This catalog shows you the creme de la creme of high-performance, super touring, and boulevard cruising in all displacements. These are…

Recently Chevrolet Engineering brought to my attention a problem frequently encountered by racers and enthusiasts when using reground nodular iron crankshafts. During the regrinding process, the grinding wheel tends to “smear” metal in the opposite direction to which the crank is rotated in the grinding machine. This “smearing” is virtually microscopic, but the tiny smears overlap like fish scales. The problem is that virtually all crankshaft grinding machines rotate the crank in a direction opposite to the way a crank rotates in an engine. Consequently, unless extra finishing steps are taken after regrinding a nodular iron crank the normal rotation of the crank in the engine goes against the grain of the metal smears and makes the “fish scales” stand up on end just like the teeth on a file,…

Address all HOT ROD Mart correspondence to: Dept. HRM, HOT ROD Magazine, 8490 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90069. HOT ROD Mart requirements: 25-word limit per ad, not including name and address. We reserve the right to edit copy or refuse ads. While not responsible for accuracy of description, we will reject misleading statements. No ads from commercial firms will be accepted. Only one car may be listed in any one ad, but this limitation does not apply to parts or equipment listings. Only one month may be paid for per ad. $20 per ad must accompany each insertion. When photo is included, the rate is increased to $32.50 per insertion. Photos cannot be returned. Due to normal publication schedule, allow at least six months from time ad is received…