Innehållsförteckning för January 1985 från Hot Rod

Good times are here again! In fact they could be the best times ever for car enthusiasts. Chevrolet blew us all away at this year’s SEMA Show, first by announcing their involvement with an all-new V8 Indy engine. They followed that with an incredible display of cars for all types of motorsports—and most of them would do any hot rodder proud. Finally, they instituted an awards program called the Legends of Performance, which honors those who have made a major contribution to motorsports. Chevy did even more at this year’s show, but I think those things I just mentioned demonstrate a commitment to performance cars, and more importantly, a commitment to “our” sport that has never been equalled at any time. Our sport of hot rodding and motorsports in general…

Street roller cams can actually considered the forerunners of variable valve timing cams and lifters because they are capable of accomplishing nearly the same results. Granted, a street roller cam encourages a certain performance mystique, but there are genuine performance advantages to be derived from a roller configuration. Detroit automaker have already been convinced that there are gains to be made in friction reduction, and this is the chief reason for the use of rollers in some new performance applications like the 5.0L Mustang GT. This is essential from a fuel economy standpoint, but more important is the fact that you can put a more aggressive profile on a roller cam without necessarily losing important characteristics like good engine idle vacuum, a smooth idle, and low-speed driveability. Street rollers can…

Last month we revived the venerable HOT ROD ’Sketchpad,” issuing a challenge to four of our best automotive artists to make us wake up! and get fresh! with new ideas for hot rods, street machines, customs, or race cars—mild to wild. We asked each artist to draw something that really turned him on, something he’d love to build or drive himself, with the only stipulations being that he considered it a hot rod, and that the drawing be actually buildable. It could be high-dollar or low-buck, a hand-built creation or a mild re-work of an overlooked model… . This month we’re back with another four artists who have answered our call triumphantly. They show us a full spectrum of hot rodding as seen in a refreshing new light. Are we…

As we mentioned last month in “Roddin’ at Random,” the genesis for Dave Van Alystine’s low, chopped, custom ’47 Ford was a Dave Bell street rod cartoon. This caricatured cruiser from Beverly Shores, Indiana, was begun by Dean Bordner and Jerry Charvat, who adapted the early Ford to a ’69 Chevelle chassis, but present owner Van Alystine finished it off with … plenty of little tricks in a surprising blend of early and contemporary styles. Starting under the skin, the Chevelle rear axle rides on oval track-type Cobra adjustable coil springs, to allow raising or lowering of ride height at the turn of a screw. The front suspension is stock Chevelle. To make the frame fit, it had to be narrowed 13 inches and lengthened 3 inches. Motorvation comes from…

If you’re like most hot rodders, at one time or another you’ve probably been involved in a bench racing session (more often called a B.S. session) with your hot rod buddies-and the subject often turns to: “Hey, wouldn’t it be bitchin’ to build a far-out genuine hot rod street roadster….” “Yeah, one with lots of horsepower.” “Oh yeah, man, and super low…” “Yeah, and it would hafta’ have the latest high-tech I state of the art design.” “Yeah, that’d be great, except no red paint!” “That would be trick, but it would still hafta’ have the traditional hot rod street roadster look, ya know, ’ Deuce shell, Model A body, stuff like that.” “You bet, and to make it truly one-off, how bout putting the engine behind the driver?” “Super,…

MORE GO FOR THE CART Q I own a 5 hp Briggs and Stratton go-kart. It goes about 35 mph. Can you give me any advice on adding more horsepower without changing the engine? Clint BellMemphis, Tennessee A Unlike most go-kart engines, the Briggs and Stratton is a 4-stroke; thus, much big-car engine tech applies to them, too. In fact, it’s a flat-head, so if you know any over-40 hot rodders…. Seriously, depending on how far out you want to go, there are available hot cams, larger valves, high-compression pistons, special con rods, stroker cranks, juiced ignition systems, and improved induction pieces—not to mention fully ported blocks. While there are a number of individual parts suppliers scattered around the country, Horstman Mfg. (730 E. Huntington Dr., Monrovia, CA 91016, 213/359-2578)…

DRAG BOAT COURSE SHORTENED While the NHRA continues to “evaluate” the possibility of a 1000-foot dragstrip, the Southern Drag Boat Association, headquartered in Texas, actually did shorten their quarter-mile to 1200 feet for the last three meets of the ’84 season. SDBA president Buzzy Boase said the problem was boats “flying” in the last 100 feet of the course: “We didn’t know what to do, so we thought we’d try this and see what happened.” A couple of racers, including Eddie Hill, boycotted the SDBA finals in Monroe, Louisiana, because of the short course. The SDBA also initiated radar-controlled starts for drag boats this year (boats, unlike cars, take a running start), a system which worked very well. Meanwhile, the board is debating whether to continue using the 1200-foot course…

REAL GOAT I’m in heaven! First Tiger Beat GTO convention and a whole article on Pontiac engines and swaps! This is my first time writing, after 20 years of faithful HOT ROD reading. I’m enclosing a real Poncho freak’s awesome altered off-road, hill-climbing, rock-stompin’, true Goat. It’s actually a ’70 GTO 350, A/T, P/S, 12x15 Goodyears all around, and will go anywhere! Please show it for all Goat lovers to see. They never die! Keep up the great work. Rock ArviewPrescott, Arizona SIZING UP I am asking you to end all arguments between your readers and misinformed individuals. Please reinform us on the largest engine (cubic inches and horsepower) sizes available in the new musclecars. These are very disputed facts. I know that all real car enthusiasts know the answers,…

Pickups are hot. They’re the number one vehicle in a fourth of the states in this country. They’re practical; they’re simple; they work hard; they last. But pickups are built for farmers, cowboys, painters, and plumbers. Why have hot rodders and customizers always loved them? The answers may be less incongruous than you think. In the first place, because there are lots of them and they last so long, they’re readily available for young rodders—siftin’ out behind the barn, forgotten in a field, wherever. Because they’re simple machines, they’re easy to learn on and easy to fix up: body parts unbolt, engine swaps are a snap, there’s hardly any upholstery, and spare parts are plentiful. Veteran hot rodders are attracted to pickups because they’re so useful: for chasing parts, picking…

A Mopar motor that runs well At into the nines, with a single 4-barrel: it has to be a Hemi, or at least a 440, right? in years past, whenever long-time Chrysler racer Paul Rossi wanted to go fast, that’s what he built. The 440’s, especially, were dependable and affordable Super Gas motors (“Magnum Mirada, Part 2,” HRM May ’81; “Part 3,” HRM June ’81). Put times change. Mopar no longer makes 440 motors, or the chassis to receive them—but they still offer inexpensive small-block (A-motor) components. The W2 race heads for the Chrysler smallblock are the equal of the best smallblock Chevy castings, yet can be had for only $250 a pair. Best of all, they’ll bolt on to the millions of blocks littering the junkyards. So. with big-block…

Sal Gonsalves takes street machining seriously—and this blown, injected, alcohol-burning ’70 Hemi ’Cuba pavement polisher speaks well for the intensity of his efforts. Now, a lot of readers may say this car is not really streetable, but for Sal, streetable is a nebulous term. He drives the car strictly for pleasure and revels in the sheer wretched excess of his creation; the gut-busting ladder bar ride, a massive appetite for alcohol, and a torque converter with a stall speed higher than the rddline in our average Camaro are all turn-ons., With the blower singing in his ear and the sweet smell of alcohol wafting through the cockpit, he cruises with authority—and the muscle to back it up. Built from a $600 grandma refugee, Sal’s ’Cuda represents the absolute high point…

It takes some intestinal fortitude, not to mention some spare pocket change, to tear into a brand-new car and hot rod it before it’s even broken in. When Roger Rison of Sabetha, Kansas, bought this charcoal gray .83 Camaro Z28 he drove it straight from the showroom to Automotive Engineering in Kansas City for a full frame, narrowed Dana rear with Strange axles, Koni coil-overs, wheel tubs, and a roll cage. Then he brought it home and dropped in a .030-over ’70 LT-1 350 with TRW 7½:1 pistons, solid lifter cam, Crane springs, ported and polished heads, Mallory ignition, Cyclone headers, and a Dyers V6-71 blower with chromed 750-ctm Carter AFB’s. If that isn’t enough, Roger has a Miller nitrous unit on tap. The trans is a Doug Nash 5-speed…

Special thanks to Bruce Bethel, Phil Bauman, Carl Huboi, and Ted Lakoski for cars and story information. The GTO marked the beginning of the production musclecar era, and was quickly followed by the Olds 4-4-2, Buick GS, and a long line of Rodent Chevelles. Pontiac had created the formula, and the rest is history. In future editions of this HOT ROD feature we’ll get into later GTO’s, including the Ram Air and SD-engine versions. The cars went through the inevitable evolution facing Detroit; legislation wasn’t favorable to the original mix of high-performance and moderate weight. Pontiac never seemed to lose the gusto built into the first GTO, except maybe during the mid-Seventies, when the marque suffered the maximum legislative impact and appeared on cars that only loosely emulated the real…

BRAKE BURNISHING Often I receive letters requesting help in upgrading vehicle brake systems. While it’s true that stock brake systems at times may prove marginal under extreme high-performance driving conditions, in most cases exceptional street-braking performance can be achieved by properly burnishing-in new brakes. Virtually all test cars we receive have been factory-burnished, which is why they stop so well. The following burnishing procedure is used by John Calles, Pontiac’s chief performance engineer. Since it specifies exact deceleration rates, a decelerometer is required. These units are available at reasonable prices from your local aircraft surplus outlet. 1. Brake from 60 to 45 mph at 20 ft./sec. deceleration rate. Accelerate one mile to let brakes cool. Do this 150 times. 2. Brake from 75 to 45 mph at 25 ft./sec. deceleration…

The bumps and grinds business has gone scientific. Camshaft technology has advanced dramatically in recent years, and nowhere is this newfound sophistication more readily apparent than on the street. While race cam profiles have undergone substantial refinement, street cam science has evolved via spin-off technology and a broad combination of social circumstances which have forced camshaft manufacturers to respond with innovative approaches to street camshaft design. As with racing cams, many of these refinements have been made possible through the application of what might be termed “enabling technologies"; i.e., computer-aided design procedures, extremely precise manufacturing equipment, computer-linked dynomometer test facilities, and the advent of electronic air and fuel management systems in modern performance cars. Moreover, these aids have prompted designers to consider more carefully the mechanical and physical events occurring…

When roller cams are used in the Amotor, the oil feed to the tappets must be blocked while still maintaining the oil feed to the main and cam bearings. The cheapest method is to use the DC Drill and Ream Package (P4120602), and Tube and Peen Tool Package (P4120603). (Equivalent local-purchase substitutions are acceptable.) With the parts at hand, do the following: 1 Remove both front oil galley plugs and the right rear oil galley plug. 2 Starting at the front, drill the RIGHT galley ⅝-inch o.d. Go in approximately 10 inches, past four tappet bores. Repeat from other end. 3 Press the supplied ⅝ o.d. x ½ i.d. tubes into each end of the right-hand galley. 4 Drive the peen tool into each righthand lifter bore to ensure adequate…

Take a good look at what could very well be the most bizarre street machine of its type ever built. Chris Cherry’s outrageous 1950 Thames panel truck might appear to be just another one of those seldom driven mind blowers, but the truth is that Cherry hits the streets of Boston to the tune of about 150 miles each and every working day. That logo on the side, so deftly lettered by J. Warren Allessi of Spray Graphics in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, isn’t just there for show. This is the machine Chris uses to check on the numerous painting jobs that his crews are working on. “I always wanted something really amazing,” he says, “and this is definitely it.” You’ll get no arguments from us Chris! Starting at the top,…

It’s been a tough week. The pool man backed over the nose of your Countach, your Eldo’s computer had a brownout, and the Dino needs still another clutch. The real problem, though, is picking up the hundred pounds of Brie being flown in by the Concorde for your bash at the villa tonight… what’s a fellow to do? Get on the blower and call Tony Nancy, that’s what. Tony has seen the need for a vehicle with a blend of style and practicality—and crafted a pair of examples that can go stylin’ without sacrificing too much of their work capacity. The basic concept was to build a pair of GMC’s S-15 and Jimmy trucks into understated, low-key/high-style smoothies that would look at home next to the Countach (when you get…

CARS ’69 BARRACUDA FASTBACK. 340, Formula S suspension. 87,000 miles. $2395. (206) 271-1067, Renton, Washington. REAL I ROC CAMARO. Full tube by Banjo Mathews. Penske-Signori-prepared. $14,000. Delivery available. Easy to make street-legal. Trades considered. Jim Whitmer, 2521 N.W. 114th Ter., Oklahoma City, OK 73120, (405) 7514627, work; (405) 751-4521, home. ’69 Z98 CAMARO, factory-original except engine and paint. 396: TRW, Isky, balanced and blueprinted. Muncie 4-speed. 5000 miles on driveline. Black cherry-pearl with pearl-white Z stripes. Many extras. $8950. Joe Hatch, 2148 Miracle Mile, Bullhead City, AZ 86442, (602) 758-1336. ’70½ Z98 CAMARO midnight blue, light blue stripes,-Rallye wheels, Ziebarted. Car is immaculate; prefer to sell to serious collector. $8000. Send SASE for details. Ed Goss, 13107 Golden Oak Dr., Laurel, MD 20708., ’76 TURBO CORVETTE, most options, 19,700 miles,…