Innehållsförteckning för June 1989 från Hot Rod

Buick may be puzzled about how to use its great little 3.8L or upgraded 3800-series turbo motors, but another GM division has a grand idea that may just put all of us “boy racers’’ into GMC S-15 pickups. Recently unveiled at the Chicago auto show is the GMC Syclone, a 3.8L turbocharged and intercooled-enhanced version of the legendary Buick Grand National V6 engine with 270 horsepower and 370 lbs.-ft. of torque. Lighter than a Grand National Regal, the Syclone (Yes, it’s spelled with an “S.” Maybe it should be a “Slyclonel”) is designed to blast from zero to 60 in under six seconds, with an estimated quarter-mile performance in the 13-second range at about 103 mph! Its low-ridin’ profile is accented by ground-effects panels, air dams, a rear tonneau cover,…

Imagine for a few moments that you have unlimited funds and that you are about to build a dream garage—the ultimate environment in which to indulge your every automotive passion. Go ahead, pull out all the stops, THINK BIG, think fast and efficient, think clean, think impressive…. Now that you’ve built your dream shop, check out the facilities at Vince Granatelli Racing. Chances are your dreams didn’t even come close to the reality of this outrageous shop. This place is a hot rodder’s heaven if there ever was one. It has it all and then some. But let’s compose ourselves (roll up your tongue and put your eyes back in your head), we don’t want to look foolish in front of our host. Meet Ron Falk. He’s Vince Granatelli’s right-hand…

Whit Bazemore of Atlanta, Georgia, is a single-minded young man who refuses to give up, no matter what the odds are against him. Before he developed a heavy right foot, Whit was an extremely talented photographer whose work often appeared in the pages of HOT ROD Magazine. But it’s not likely that you’ll be seeing his byline in the foreseeable future. Whit was not only bitten by the drag racing bug, but also he’s become totally “infected!” After scraping together enough money to attend Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School, Whit graduated into the driver’s seat of a couple of less-than-competitive Top Alcohol Funny Cars—but he somehow persevered. He’s now made it to the top of the Funny Car ranks at the wheel of Ted Combis’ Trans Am. Racing out of…

A mong performance enthusiasts, it’s taken for granted that in order to optimize performance with an aftermarket camshaft, it should be “de-greed in,” or installed in the engine according to an exacting set of specifications and procedures. Often, savvy tuners advance or retard the cam in an effort to gain even a slight incremental performance edge. Why, then, do so many of us take wheel alignment for granted? Imagine the stress and strain at high speed on the wheels and tires if they’re not set properly. Unlike a camshaft, which will stay “in tune” as long as the timing chain holds up, the best alignment job can be knocked out by hitting a rut at only moderate speeds or banging the tire up against the curb while parking. Also, most…

Flow Bench Data on Dart II Heads The following charts reveal the flow bench data collected on a Super Flow bench at 28 inches of water depression for a typical three-angle valve job and then Traco’s enhanced low-and mid-lift flow valve job. As you can see, there is a distinct improvement in the low-and mid-lift flow of the heads, with the only change being a different combination of valve seat angles. Note, that the Traco valve job required less maximum valve lift, therefore allowing a significantly shorter lift (and therefore reduced duration) cam-shaft for better torque and driveability without sacrificing power. No other changes were made for the tests other than the valve job, and both tests used Traco’s stainless 2.055-inch intake and 1.600-inch exhaust valves. The typical valve job…

Ask Terry Dierks if you’ve seen his ’72 Dodge.Challenger before and he’ll tell you about all the magazines it was in during its first life as a street machine. After driving it to college for a few years, he built it up with a blown powerplant and made the pages of Car Craft and several other magazines. In 1984 he rebuilt the car to keep it contemporary. An Alston tube frame formed the basis for the current iteration, which rides on an 83/4-inch Mopar rearend with Super Stock springs, Koni shocks, and 15-inch Weld wheels sporting 15-inch-wide Mickey Thompson street tires at the rear and Tiger Paws up front. The current powerplant for this dandy Dodge is a 6:71 Dyers-puffed 340 small-block Dodge with an Offenhauser intake manifold, a 750-cfm…

Holy Stovebolt Attention, Chevy lovers: Tired of seeing “Fordnatics” getting their hair blown in ’glass-bodied ’40 converts? Well, fret not. Superior Glass Works is now offering a complete, steel-reinforced ’37-’38 Chevy Cabriolet body featuring hinged doors and deck lid, 1-inch chopped windshield posts, a floor pan, and a filled cowl vent, in addition to hoods, fenders, running boards, dashes, and window glass that is designed to bolt to a stock, late-’30s Stovebolt chassis. But don’t take our word for it—take theirs by contacting Superior Glass Works, Dept HR-06, P.O. Box 1353, Gresham, OR 97030, (503) 667-5639. Rotor Retrofit Super Bell has just announced an upgrade kit—comprised of new 101/2-inch vented rotors and four-piston calipers—that is designed to bolt right on to your existing Super Bell aluminum hubs. This rotor rebuilder…

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Joe Pisano of Venolia racing pistons and/or J.P.1 Chrysler-clone aluminum-blocks fame and his brothers have again broken their own NHRA Funny Car record with a “loose” replica of an ’89 Oldsmobile driven by Mike Dunn. The fact is that Dunn, the son of famed racer Jim Dunn, has put Joe “Pi’s” Olds through the eyes at 280.19 with an e.t. of just 5.281 seconds. But that figures: They have been breaking records for more than 25 years. The Pisano Bros.’ love of top end horsepower has been a part of their act since the early ’60s, when they and their Competition Orange ’53 Studebaker ruled the roost in the blown gas coupe and sedan class. But ’64 was the biggie for brothers Pisano.…

It’s “Déjà Blue” all over again. No, it isn’t a factory fiberglass ponycar. No, it’s not powered by a blown, gasburning, cast-iron hemi. No, it’s not intended for drag racing, and it won’t be driven by Doug “Cookie” Cook. But after a 22-year hiatus, today’s version of the legendary Stone, Woods, and Cook team have returned with yet another “Swindler.” Unfortunately, Fred Stone is no longer with us, but Doug Cook, his son Mike, and Leonard Woods (Tim’s son and one of the largest Ford dealers in Southern California) are hard at it hatching what may be the fastest Ford-bodied fowl in the world. Their “aero” is in the form of an ’89 turbo T-Bird, not a ’glass ’67 ’Stang. Hoss-pressure is still hemi-fied, but how about 426 inches of…

The right combination is what all hot rodders are after when it comes to performance. All the parts have to work together to get maximum performance from your machine. While we’re most concerned with teasing out as much horsepower and making our machines as fun to drive as possible, the powers of the state are concerned with how our fun is affecting the air we all breathe. A big part of that concern has focused on what combinations of parts we can run on our cars and still be allowed to register them for street use. And for good reason. The amount and types of emissions produced by an engine is directly related to its overall design and combination of intake, compression ratio, cam profile, exhaust system, ignition timing, and…

In order to be a hot rodder you gotta like cars. Mike Martin makes his living liking cars. He buys, sells, builds, and owns a collection that runs the gamut from a ’34 Chevy, ’40 Willys, and ’48 Anglia trio to ’67 Chevelles, ’70 El Caminos, and ’72 Dodge Challengers—and drives and races them. His latest strip ’n’ Streeter happens to be a hammered ’29 A steelie sedan. Mike is first to credit Wayne Dalton for the tender Tudor’s body (chopped five inches with all the seams filled, top insert removed, sun visor molded in) and paint work—Du Pont Centari Porsche Red. However, the 32-year-old resident of Youngstown, Ohio, built his own engine—a ’68 Chevy that has been poked.030-inch over and stroked with a 400 crank. And Mike fleshed those…

All too often there is an unwarranted notion that the early AB musclecars were real pavement rippers with performance that newer models could never hope to equal. That may be true of a few select models, but most of our highly revered musclecars weren’t appreciably faster than today’s electronically hot rodded performance cars, many of which currently haul the mail quicker, safer, and cheaper than 90 percent of the ’60s and ’70s supercars. One of the best-known progressions in performance car history is the 25year evolution of the Ford Mustang. Mustang was a performance car from the day it first rolled off the assembly line, and, with the exception of the ’74’78 Mustang II, it has always been one of the most coveted musclecars out there. Since 1979 it has…

Some cars are awe inspiring. There’s just something that sets them apart from the crowd. You can’t really put your finger on it, but you know it when you see it. You hear the word “Ahhh"—and suddenly realize that you’re saying it as you stand slack-jawed in front of an incredible Streeter. Bob Hickman’s ’69 Camaro is one of those awe-inspiring machines. What makes it so? Perhaps it’s the custom moly-tube Pro Stock chassis by K. Automotive that features a Dana rear-end sprung and damped by Koni, Strange front suspension, Wil-wood binders in the corners, a ’71 Pinto rack-and-pinion unit, with 18x15 solid aluminum wheels sporting 21.50 Mickey Thompson “bigs” and 135 Michelins, and 15x3 “littles.” Then again, it might be the Holley-fed, Weiand-blown-with-nitrous, Mallory-ignited, Venolia-slugged, Carrillo-connected, oversize-valved, ported and…

It is said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. That may be true, but this pair of Pro Street Novas shows that blown Mouse motors and free-breathing Rats are absolutely fun. In other words, sometimes you gotta be bad to be good—and both these Novas are good and evil. Dale Harrington of Miller, Missouri, has a white Rat-motored ’72 Nova that sports an Alston narrowed frame kit with a 12-point cage. Ron Woods installed the ladder bars and track locator bar, along with 12-bolts’ worth of Strange-axled narrowed Chevy rearend damped by Aldan coil-over shocks. The front suspension is stock except for the 2-inch drop and Monroe shocks. Weld Super lights spin in the corners, with Mickey Thompsons rear and Kelly tires up front. With such a tough stance an equally…

Fun truckin’ has taken over the world. The big rigs are shaking the salt at Bonneville. They’re yanking it out at the tractor pulls. Diesel tractors are circle-burning the oval tracks; mini-pickups are turning left and right at our road courses. And, of course, there’s a whole lot of rice-paddy parts bashing goin’ on. And so the truck drags at Englishtown, New Jersey, had to happen if for no other reason than that hauling has always been a part of drag racing.…

Jerry Moreland—the guy who has bought and sold such bitchin’ cars as his own black and blown ’40 sedan, “Ohio” George’s Malco Gasser, the only Black Widow ’57 Chevy in existence, and M/T’s hemi-Ford Thunderbolt—has Tom “the ’Goose” for a tenant. That in itself is a trip. But the ’Goose does have his good points, including his classical-blast ’57 Funny Car. To make a short story shorter, Jerry had to have one, too. So Moreland is fielding his own version of Mongoose’s “Class of ’57,” a super-detailed clone powered by a polished, alky burning McGee, which is destined to be the stable mate of McEwen’s nitro burner. Although McEwen’s mover is currently wowing ’em across the country, wouldn’t it be funny if Moreland’s missile proved to be the faster of…

Quay Quick Kits Ed Quay Race Cars, chassis builder for the ’86, ’87, and ’88 Super Stock World Champs, offers a welded frame assembly kit for ’82-up F-body cars. These frame kits are the same as those used in Quay’s factory-built race cars, giving the do-it-yourself hot rodder a high-quality piece at an affordable price. Contact Ed Quay Race Cars, Dept. HR-06, Rt. 100 & State St., Pottstown, PA 19464, (215) 323-9560. Seal Of Approval SoffSeal, Inc. has recently introduced an original spec clutch rod boot for ’68-’72 GM A-bodies. The clutch rod boot is an accurate reproduction with O.E. rubber detail. The boot can be purchased separately or as part of a full weatherstripping restoration kit To order parts or a catalog, contact A&M SoffSeal, Inc., Retail Sales, Dept.…

Building a hot rod is fun, satisfying, sometimes frustrating, and a lot of hard work. Anyone who’s spent a late night in the garage wrestling with the cold iron knows this too well. Ultimately, it’s worth it because there are very few experiences in life that compare with driving a machine that you’ve built yourself—especially one that looks and performs as a hot rod should. Our purpose here is to help you avoid some of the frustration and pitfalls inherent in working with and maintaining things mechanical. In order to make your hot rodding more fun, we’ve catalogued 101 tips and tricks that are sure to save you time. To get you into the spirit, let’s have a look at our cover car. Steve McCann and fellow hot rodder Kern…

There is an ol’ wheeze that says, “The only reason to build a Chevy is when you can’t find a Ford.” Randy High, the owner of Vintage Motor Works in Kansas City, Missouri, doesn’t fit that description. While Randy rides to work in a ’38 Chevy “shop truck,” he built his wife, Leslie, a ’35 Ford roadster powered by a 480-inch Rat, and he still had enough time to High-ball his ’34 Chevy Cabriolet into existence. Randy’s rod is based on a powder-coated and fully detailed ’35 Chevy frame, but that’s about the only old part on Randy’s dandy. For instance, the body—featuring owner-fabricated hidden hinges, stretched (five inches) hood and doors, bobbed rear fenders, and a lift-off tan top—is a fiberglass repro manufactured by Downs. Horsepower is in the…

Pete Chapouris, of California Kid fame and ex-chassis parts manufacturer, made this observation the other day: “I see hot rodding getting away from the AMG European look (painted wheels, bumpers, grille shells, handles, and moldings) and returning to the traditional American chrome and paint combos.” That makes sense, especially when one considers the vast and colorful array of protective/decorative coatings confronting today’s rod builders. Obviously, coatings (starting with those of the fur variety) have been with us since the dawn of time and have been applied by man to protect any naked surface, be it skin or steel. For early automobiles, though, coatings—aside from paint—generally consisted of nickel-plating bright work and porcelainizing for exhaust systems. This didn’t change much until the early ’30s, when a mil-thin layer of chrome was…

John Hoover originally got involved with his ’32 coupe to distract his son Jody from the looming threat of the drug culture. Hot rodding quickly proved more interesting to young Jody, as the father and son team assembled this show-winning ride based on boxed ’32 rails with a Super Bell dropped axle and a four-link, coil-over-mounted Jag rearend. They added a Saab rack-and-pinion steering unit, Chevelle front disc brakes, and set it all on polished Cragar SSTs with 33-inch McCrearys at the rear and Pirellis up front. The ’73 Corvette Yellow body is chopped and channeled and features a smoked Lexan sunroof. A 467-cubic-inch Chevy big-block pumps iron with help from a 6-71 BDS blower, twin 780-cfm Holleys, custom headers with block-off plates, a Comp Cams roller cam, and a…

The problem with owning a hot street car is that the definition of “quick” or “fast” keeps changing; what was once considered fast is now ho-hum. But the most interesting evolutionary change in quick street machines is that while not every car can run in the 10s, their street manners have improved dramatically. It’s no longer necessary to endure a sagging torque curve and plug-fouling idle characteristics just to have an asphalt-eating street car. As a result, the goal with this ’65 Chevelle test case was to run well into the 12-second quarter-mile zone without sacrificing stoplight civility. In our last episode (HRM September ’88, “Maxi-Mouse,” part 1, pg. 78), we left the Chevelle running a 13.17/103-mph best, just shy of the 12-second e.t. goal. Evaluating the results, it was…

CARS & TRUCKS ’34 BUICK VICTORIA COUPE. Restored, 454 Chevy, Turbo 400, 12-bolt Posi. $15,000 Steve Walczak, 719 Burritt Rd., Hilton, NY 14468, (716) 392-9540. ’49 CADILLAC FASTBACK. 62 series, stored since 1967, NR. $995 firm. Gene Kelch, 328 Lindenwood, St. Charles, MO 63301, (314) 723-7998. ’69 CAMARO PRO STREET. 350-cid, tunnel-ram. Turbo 400, narrowed 12-bolt, 4.88, eight-point cage, narrowed frame, aluminum engine compartment, custom paint, Hurst Lightning Rods, custom interior, show winner. Too much to list! $12,500 firm. Serious inquiries only. No collect calls. Chuck Vahldick, 1022 E. Newgrove St., Lancaster, CA 93535, (805) 945-3400, evenings. ’67 CAMARO SS. 350/RS, original “gennie,” air, discs, P/ W, P/S, tilt, much more. Mint. $12,900. C. Byxbee, S. 1630 Highland Dr., Coeur D’ Alene, ID 83814, (208) 773-3187, evenings. ’69 CAMARO SS.…

Ever wonder how much horsepower a blown fuel Chrysler makes? The squirt racers—such as Eddie Hillclaim that it takes nearly 4000 hp to run those “fours” at more than 290 in the quarter. Perhaps Eddie is right, but we’ve never seen a “Double-A” Fueler on the pump—with 95 percent in the tank, a 14-71 Jimmy wheezing out 34 pounds of boost that is being fed by dual pumps or fired with twin mags, not to mention shaking the ground, thundering the neighborhood, and blowing down trees. Suffice it to say, you can imagine my reaction when SCTA’s President Lester Leggitt invited me to witness his lump being dynotested on Ron Hammel’s pump. At last I got the opportunity to see a real ground shaker in action, although Lester’s lalapoloozas have…

Back in 1960, “New Orleans” Knot Farrington showed up at the salt with a blown, hemi-powered ’56 T-Bird and promptly set an A/Sports Car record at 200 mph. He returned in ’61 with what has to be one of the most awesome ’Birds of all time. Wrote Ray Brock in our December ’61 issue of HRM, “In 1960 the car looked like a ’Bird, with a large bubble in the hood for the blower. Butduring the past winter Knot added a streamlined nose and tail in addition to setting the engine back. Now it looks like a streamliner, and his speed jumped from 200 to 228… which is pretty fast for a ’Bird. A Bird?” Not content with 228, Farrington returned again and again. With 450 inches of 6-71 blown,…