Innehållsförteckning för April 1984 från Hot Rod

MoPar Street Rod Engine With Chrysler planning the use of their gutsy little 2.2L 4-cylinder engine in pickups, some design work has gone into the development of manual transmission bellhousings, automatic transmission cases, and the appropriate motor mounts for north/south engine orientation. This means that hardware will soon be available for mounting these engines in street rods and hybrid street machines. Few rodders could get interested in running a transverse-mounted engine, but with the appropriate transmission adapters forthcoming from the factory they will be able to install these engines in the traditional location. And now that Direct Connection has made available complete supercharger, turbocharger, and dual Weber kits for them, the 2.2L engine becomes a viable alternative for street rod powerplants. Any of these options will pump out about 150…

Performance Test In its sixteenth year, the Hurst/Olds is an enigmatic automobile. Its seats are not buckets, although they appear to be at first. They are merely sections from a bench seat, bolted to either side of the console. The suspension is betrayed by nearly worthless shocks; the steering wheel has a thin, smooth rim that would be no help in a high-speed situation. On the other hand, the car is a strong performer, with the 307 Olds producing a lusty note reminiscent of an early Stingray. The 85-mph speedo is only a token; a laughable concession to the Feds. The car will easily twist the needle into the 6 o’clock position. The marketing people have convinced the accountant to let them use Goodyear Eagles, stating they are a visible…

Dennis Wood’s big-block Chevy-churned ’65 GTO two door is “rat in.” Like other goat lovers who have decided to trash those original detonator eights and replace them with ’porcupine” motors, Dennis’ Blaine, Minnesota, menace is cloaked in stock garb-save for its Imron pearl and flame job, ’81 Grand Prix wheels, and Chevy disc/drum brakes. This particularly potent .040-inch over, Jack Wheeler-prepared 454 rodent has been “ratified’ by the addition of a forged steel crank, blower-type pistons, Crane cam and valvetrain, reworked cylinder heads, and an induction system featuring a Weiand intake manifold supporting a 6-71 Jimmy stuffer drawing through a pair of 390 Holley carburetors-getting the goat of GTO purists in more ways than one.…

Indy '84 is already heating up! This summer's Super Nationals will be much bigger than ever since we are adding 2000 post-'48 street machines to the participants' list to mix with the 2000 pre-'49 street rods. But the one thing that won't change is the thing that has made HOT ROD'S Super Nationals world famous-prizes galore! We are now beginning to receive confirmations from several of the manufacturers who will be participating in our grand giveaway, and it already reads like any rodder's wildest wish list. Ford Motor Company is delivering two complete engines: an SVO turbocharged, interceded 4-cylinder for the rodders and a 302 H.O. V8 for the machines. Chrysler is shipping out a complete 360 V8 with Torqueflite, while Hawk Engineering will hand out a Mr. Goodwrench Buick…

Pull the stock body off Dave Basa’s short-wheelbase ’68 AMX from Elkhart, Indiana, and you’d have something akin to those Awful Awful/Altereds of the ’60s. Actually, Dave’s close-coupled sport coupe is mostly restored factory original. The big 390 V8, T-10 4:speed, and 3.54 posi rear are all AMC parts. Dave put even more ponies under the perforated hood by adding a 6-71 Dyer blower, twin 660 Holley carbs, ported and polished heads, and headers. A Hays clutch hooks up the M50-14 rear rubber, and Cragar SST’s and wheelie bars reinforce the performance image (as if that were necessary). Inside Basa added a four-point rollbar, cut-pile carpet, and Dodge Colt reclining seats. External touches include smoked windows and headlight covers, set off by icebox white paint covered with green flip-flop pearl…

UP ON TWO WHEELS Two months ago, I in the “1984 Muscle Bike Buyer’s Guide,” HOT ’ ROD suggested ’ that the Kawasaki Ninja, at 900cc, might not be a contender for No. 1 against the bigger 1100’s and 1150’s. Well, we were wrong. Suddenly every other superbike on the planet is scared to death of the Ninja. Their fear comes from a private testing session conducted by Kawasaki at Carlsbad Raceway where the 900 banged out an incredible 10.55 quarter-mile with Pee Wee Gleason riding. That’s not an officially sanctioned time (HOT ROD ran 10.95), but no one doubts a 10.5 can’t be repeated in front of proper witnesses. This e.t. joins positive reaction to handling and power by 62 motorcycle magazine editors from 13 countries during a press…

SELL—427 AC Cobra replicar, red, all new. LS7-454, Doug Nash 5-speed, Corvette rearend. Original body parts, spare body, black leather interior, unbelievably nice. $35,000. Dana VanDersarl, 10420 E. 124th Ave., Henderson, CO 80640. (303) 654-1131. SELL—State-of-the-art injected 313-inch flathead dragster, perfect for Bracket 1 (9.90 @ 136). 150-inch wheelbase, C-4 trans, Halibrand mag quick-change. Car, trailer, spare parts, sold as package only. $5000. Bob McKray, (714) 4931249. 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…

Ch-ch-ch-changes Editor’s note: Get out your little black book, we have some updated addresses and phone numbers for you. The new address for 10,000 R.P.M. Speed Equipment (Jan. ’84, page 28) is 1922 Gladwick St., W. Compton, CA 90220, (213) 6387780. We also have two new addresses since our “SEMA” new parts article (Feb. ’84). Ram Automotive has moved to 201 Business Park Dr., Columbia, SC 29203 (803) 788-6034; Cam Dynamics is now at 4031 Winchester Rd., Memphis, TN 38118, (901) 794-2870. Zora Story I’ve always been curious about the fastest stock Chevrolet from the factory. My dad has worked for Fox Chevrolet for almost 20 years and says the fastest was the 1968 302 Z28 4-speed, but I’ve also heard about the L88 Vettes and ZL1 Camaros. What do…

Santa Cruz, California, is a small resort town nestled along the beaches and sea cliffs on the northern shores of Monterey Bay. Clean streets and well-kept parks and beaches are the hallmark of this community, one that breeds fierce loyalty and town spirit among those who consider it their own little corner of the planet. And for one weekend each fall this loyalty and spirit are extended by the local hot rod contingent in its re-creation of the atmosphere of the Fifties cruise—the Beach Street Revival. The result is one of the best and most successful cruisin’ events anywhere. Local realtor Rick Petersen and T-shirt baron Dennis Reinero are the perpetrators of this unique gathering of car nuts dedicated to reliving “the good ol’ days.” Under the inspired leadership and…

Sporting a supercharged small-block, Vince Impastato’s shiny blue ’68 Camaro graced the August 1977 cover of HOT ROD when it was the proud possession of Dr. Louie Franks. Years later Vince purchased the car from Louie and flat-towed it from Southern California back to Michigan, where he began a complete rebuild. He intended to install a 325 hp 396 that the car was built with, but along the way it became something more than your typical restoration, as he began to consider the car’s potential as a show ’n’ shine street machine and a formidable drag racer. His paramount concern was to preserve the stock body in absolute cherry condition. That meant no cutting on body panels or chassis components to fit bigger tires, no outlandish flares or scoops, and…

Relatively speaking, rebuilding a chassis is easy. Assuming that the frame and suspension components haven’t been tweaked or bent in a collision, all you need to do to refurbish a “late-model” chassis, such as the one under our Flashback ’57 project car, is replace the various rubber bushings, grommets, and joints at the few points where the front and rear suspensions move. This is a basic remove-and-replace (R&R) operation that most rodders can accomplish at home with hand tools. If the frame, A-arms, or other parts have been bent in a wreck, you are going to have to enlist the aid of a well-equipped shop with a frame straightening “rack” and someone who knows where to pull with the Port-a-Power to make it right. But the frame on our ’57…

Parts Chaser I own a 1966 Chevy Chevelle. I purchased and built the 396/375 hp engine from scratch. A friend of mine has a ’67 Camaro and has three sources to find factory reproduction parts. There are ads for Mustang and GTO reproduction parts in your magazine, too. But where can I find reproduction parts for my Chevelle? Wally Schwetz Jr.Chicago, Illinois An outfit that already serves as a sort of “one-stop” repro parts house for Camaro, Firebird, GTO, and Mustang upholstery, carpeting, and sheetmetal items is planning to expand its offerings this April to include ’72 and earlier Chevelles. Known as “The Paddock,” they have two locations: The Paddock Inc., 38 W. Warrick, P.O. Box 30, Knightstown, IN 46148, (800) 428-4319 except Indiana, (317) 3452131; and Paddock West, 446…

Tool Crib Eastwood does it again with another forehead slapper (Why didn’t I think of that?). This one’s an accessory for your arc welder and does spot welds painlessly. You connect the cable from the pistol grip to your electrode holder and the ground clamp to the work and you’re ready to go. Squeeze the trigger to retract the carbon element and plant the tool where you want the spot, then release the trigger to move the electrode toward the work…blamo! Two seconds later you’ve got a solid spot weld from one side of the work. This one’s a natural for quarter panel repairs or light panel work anywhere with 18 to 26-gauge sheetmetal. (Like any other type of welding, you must wear a face shield because of the intense…

Move Over Merc Kjell Gustafson from Sweden sent us these photos with the following note: “If you are into real low customs, this 1954 Volvo PV 444 may be what you’re looking for. The Volvo has been chopped 6 inches by owner Leif Anderson of Vasterhonsa, Sweden. Wheels are 13-inch-diameter German Ford Taunus (original Volvo wheels are 15-inch) to make the car even lower. “Leif drives his primered custom year-round because it’s his only means of transportation. Somehow he manages to find space for his cowboy hat, too, ’cause he is always wearing it. ’Only problem,’ Leif says, ’is when mother wants to go for groceries.’ The car is only 3 feet off the ground, and some days his mom’s body just doesn’t want to fold into it. Otherwise, the…

For most hot rodders, looking good is nearly as important as running good. Along with that trick candy apple paint job, a well-detailed “high-tech” engine compartment has become de rigueur in contemporary rodding. This means lots of trick clamps and brackets, lots of chrome, lots of color, lots of expensive AN braided stainless steel hose and aluminum fittings—and, in the past, lots of cash. Notice we said “in the past.” That’s because recently high technology has priced itself into the market with new synthetic braided plastic hose sheathing that duplicates the high-buck look without the high-buck tag. Originally developed to both organize and provide anti-chafe protection for computer systems’ myriad miles of wiring, this inexpensive material is now readily available to automotive enthusiasts from several sources in a variety of…

Missouri is known as the “show me” state, and Bob Chandler has definitely got something to show you. Bigfoot III is the latest in a nine-year parade of amazing four-wheel drive vehicles built at his Midwest Four-Wheel Drive Center in Hazelwood, Missouri. The first, built initially to promote the products and engineering services offered by Midwest, appeared in a movie called Take this Job and Shove It, and the rest is recent off-road history, so to speak. Bob Chandler’s Latest, Third, in a String of Ford. Frankensteins The name Bigfoot comes from the nickname given to Chandler by his general manager, Ron Magruder, who was responsible for resurrecting broken trucks after Bob had driven the wheels off. When the show trucks were built, the name stuck. Bigfoot II was different…

If you collect old HOT ROD Magazines, dig out October 1953 and look at page 44. There you will find a black ’29 roadster pickup highboy built by Gene Underwood. The 30-plus years certainly haven’t dampened Gene’s hot rodding enthusiasm, nor his car-building skills. The “new” roadster is a black lacquer ’glass ’29 on gennie ’32 rails, wearing traditional parts like a filled Deuce shell, three-piece hood, ’39 teardrops, chopped windshield, and a dropped and drilled I-beam with split hairpin wishbones. It’s got that good old-timey look. But Gene isn’t one to shun progress, either. So, with the eager assistance of his son Jeff (shown with car) and son-in-law Pete Bergel, he included modern components such as a Jaguar independent rearend, four-wheel disc brakes (VW Type III), and polished Center…

One way to cut the high cost of racing is to go racing on a smaller scale. Now in most cases that means campaigning a stocker instead of a modified car or a Formula Ford instead of an Indy car, but for Anthony Swain and Darrell Butts it means Vs-scale Pro Stock racing with realistic-looking, radio-controlled, home-built race cars that will blow your mind when you see them run. Radio-controlled racing has been around for years. From time to time there have been some serious efforts to form a national drag racing sanctioning body for this type of car, but for a variety of reasons it never got off the ground. Most of these efforts centered around cars that were built with conventional radio-controlled car technology, but Anthony and Darrell…

Lee Picket, ’66 Nova SS For a guy with a lot of time on his hands, you’d think watchmaker Lee Picket would have a more worldly hobby than collecting antique pocket watches. Actually, he does. Lee is the sucker, er, uh, all-around good guy who annually donates a special antique watch engraved with HOT ROD’S Stroker McGurk to the long-distance entrant at the HOT ROD Super Nationals. All he gets for it is a pair of free tickets and a lot of verbal abuse from the staff because he doesn’t have a street machine. So he finally built one—a bonafide, straight-as-an-arrow 66 Nova SS street machine. He built it the same way he builds watches: with meticulous care. He stripped it bare and rebuilt the entire car from the ground…

Non-Glare Gauge I’ve found a simple solution to the problem of glare that makes it impossible to read my car’s gauges. Using the original glass in the gauge as a template, I cut out a piece of non-glare glass of equal size. The gauge can still be read since the glass is close enough to the dial to prevent distortion. Non-glare glass is easy to find (it’s used in picture frames), and an 8xl0-inch sheet should supply three to four faces. Angela ReckerBuffalo, New York Unpiped Piper When installing headers, one of the big problems is how to get the car from the backyard to the local muffler shop to weld the exhaust pipe to the collector reducers without getting a ticket for loud pipes. I solved the problem by…