Innehållsförteckning för April 1990 från Hot Rod

1989 Winston Cup Champion Rusty Wallace and the Blue Max Racing Team will run under the banner of Miller Genuine Draft for the 1990 Winston Cup series. NASCAR’s winningest driver during the past two years, Wallace is eager to prove that his team is up to the task of defending its hard-won championship. The ‘90 Pontiac Grand Prix will sport the black and gold colors of the Miller breweries. AWD MITSUBISHI 3000G LATEST JAPANESE MUSCLECAR Mitsubishi’s ‘91 all-wheel-drive, twin-turbocharged, grand-touring sports car set to debut next fall is billed as a firm contradiction to the established notion that true sports-car performance is a study in priorities and tradeoffs. The new ultimate performance car will compete with cars such as the Corvette and Nissan 300ZX Turbo for baddest musclecar status. In…

Professional gamblers are forever in search of a mythical “system”–a universal principle that predicts games of random chance. Similarly, hot rodders seek a “system” that will better reduce or regulate the myriad set of factors that influence an engine’s state of tune. Whether it’s all-around driveability or peak performance at the drags, the key is to eliminate the variables and arrive at “the combination” that consistently and repeatedly delivers the desired results. One such application that could stand considerable enhancement is the ignition and spark-advance system, heretofore controlled by relatively crude, mechanically actuated distributors that at best perform only marginally in optimizing the spark curve. We all know that precise spark timing is important to power, economy, and smooth driving—but why? An engine produces its maximum power and torque when…

Two years ago, Phil Riley brought home a ragged $200 Pontiac body and frame. Working after-hours and weekends, he cherried the body, squirted ’75 Olds Omega Red paint over it, and massaged the mechanicals to build himself this great ’68 Tempest. The ’71 Poncho 400 is fitted with a Crane cam, springs, and lifters. An Edelbrock aluminum manifold and Holley 750 double-pumper make up the intake, while Hooker headers exhaust the gases. The HEI ignition sparks the fire that punches the TRW slugs on this Quinlin Automotive-built Poncho with a 6-quart oil pan. Phil puts the squeeze on his motor with an NOS nitrous system. A ’68 M-22 Muncie close-ratio gearbox with Hurst Competition Plus shifter and 3000-pound-rated Zoom clutch backs the motor, while a ’67 12-bolt posi equalizes traction…

Reliable personal transportation doesn’t have to be boring. With the right moves and a good eye you car stage your own car show every time you hit the streets Take Skip Lewis’ daily driven, Danny Taylor-built ’78 Malibu, for example. Using Super Bell front spindles and cut springs, Taylor dropped the nose in the weeds. Then he cut the rear springs with a chop saw to equalize the ride height. The street-sweepin’ chin spoiler is from an El Camino and the rear spoiler is off a Pontiac Trans Am. Headlight wipers from a Mercedes-Benz add a certain continentaa flair to the Toyota MR2 white paint and Taylor belt-line sweeping graphics. Set the combination down on some painted Camaro wheels and tires that fit and you’ve got a car that people…

Real performance cars (those with their driving axles in the rear) are few and far between these days. You could go out and purchase a brand-new $13,000 Mustang, or a $15,000 Z/28, or maybe even a $35,000 Corvette. With a little tweaking, they’ll run low-14s—maybe even high-13s. For $5000 to $7000 more, 12-second e.t.’s are in the cards. That is, if the insurance or smog boys don’t get you first. On the other hand, if you happen to own a ’67-’76 Dodge Dart or Plymouth Valiant “A-body” derivative equipped with a 318 A-motor in good condition, for under $5000 you can have a car that will run at least high-12s and blow the doors right off those stock late-model pseudo musclecars. We know, because Mopar Performance (MP) recently built just…

Oddy Sight As you might have gathered by now, the blown/nitrous door-slammer class is predicated on an imaginative, run-what-you-brung formula. That’s why these mountain-motored, giggle-gas, alky-hauling, wheezer-stuffed, “Quick-8” classics are the hottest acts in organized drag racing. But Elma, New York’s Jim Oddy has the Southernstyle stocker clan talking to themselves. You see, Oddy, a veteran of the East Coast blown-gasser wars, stepped up last year with his ’89 Corvette and proceeded to blister Bristol, Tennessee’s dragstrip with a 6.69-second pass. Moreover, he did it with a relatively untested combination powered by a 14-71-stuffed, methanol-masticating, 572-inch steel-block Chevrolet. “When I heard that 6.69,” explained Oddy, “I was as surprised as anyone, especially since we’re still experimenting.” We also understand that Oddy’s contemporaries aren’t too happy over his performance, and there…

To understand just how fast Dave “Magoo” Megugorac’s ’71 24OZ really is, imagine over 500 horsepower in a 2400-pound car. We’re talking about 0-60 times of 3.8 seconds and quarter-miles in the low 11s at nearly 125 mph! Yet this killer Z was never intended for dragstrips but for straightening slaloms and opening canyons! It all began when Magoo decided to replace the stock overhead-cam inline-six with some all-American beef. A four-bolt 350 Chevy block, complete with forged crank and TRW pistons, was joined with slant-plug Bow-Tie aluminum heads complete with roller rockers, stainless valves, and a B&M Street Charger camshaft. A pressurized mixture is supplied by B&M’s Superjection and 12-psi supercharger. Next, MSD’s 7-Series crank-trigger ignition system, complete with Turbo Timing Master, Adjustable Timing Computer, coil, and rev-limiting spark…

Chevrolet’s anxiously awaited 454 SS Pickup arrives just in time to tantalize us with the promise of real muscle-truck performance at a time when the market still offers very little to enthusiasts who yearn for sizzling street trucks. The truck market is the hottest thing going today and there is plenty of running room for real performance trucks to emerge. At first glance, the 454 SS Pickup looks great. Decked out in monochromatic black—with encouraging restraint exercised in the placement and sizing of the 454 SS decals—the truck initially delivers that menacing appearance that many pickup buyers are seeking. There’s no denying the handsome profile of Chevrolet’s well-styled C1500 half-ton shortbed pickup body, and just the thought of big-block power lurking under the hood is enough to give you chills.…

In the January ’89 issue of HOT ROD, we explored the evolution of the Pro Street movement. As it stands, hot rodders have captured the look of the Pro Stock racers but, for the most part, have yet to crowd the bounds of the performance side of the Pro Street equation. We’ve got a mean look; now what we’ve got to do is make our machines perform in the environment for which they were intended—the street—not just the fairgrounds. What this entails is paying attention to the combination so that your car starts, stops, handles reasonably well, and won’t blow its cool in traffic. That’s precisely the issue we’ll address with Project Baby ’Bolt. This car is being built to be driven on the street and yet still have the…

Chuck Bennett took the keys to this ’67 Camaro 11 years ago, it was so ragged that his teenage friends wouldn’t ride with him. But over the next decade, changes began to take place. The old chassis was braced with subframe connectors, Koni shocks with coil-overs were installed in back, and Competition Engineering’s three-link suspension was added to support a narrowed Dana 60 rearend. Beyond the Wil-wood disc brakes, fat McCrearys apply traction around Center Line wheels. A matching set joins with Michelins for steering. On weekends, Goodyear slicks on Weld wheels work the local 1320! Chuck stepped up with a 460-cubic-inch Rat motor complete with TRW pistons, Competition Cams roller-cam kit, larger valves with improved porting, and MSD sparks. Oiling comes by way of a Melting performance system and…

If you own a body shop, like Collinsville, Illinois’ Jay Fleming does, you’ll ultimately need a parts truck. Now Jay also has lots of friends whose automotive tastes are Camaro, Mustang, and Mopar oriented. So one day, Jay bought a well-used S-10 with the idea of using the not-so-heavy hauler for toting tin. Well, that idea lasted for about three weeks before he tore it apart, built a 10-inch channel frame, retained the front suspension, added a 9-inch Ford rearend and all the necessary links, springs, and shocks, slipped on some Center Lines, swapped in a 6-71-stuffed small-block, cut a hole in the hood for compressor clearance, sprayed on lots of basic Brandywine with magenta purple and blue graphics, filled the insides of his petite pickup with velour, and then…

Okay, maybe this scenario is a bit far-fetched, but the combination of Twister Racing/Suspension Techniques’ handling kit and Turbo City’s Performance Package will make you believe that embarrassing Porsches is a definite possibility. But let’s start at the beginning. The S-10 Chevy/S-15 GMC mini-pickup is becoming an increasingly popular performance platform. Trucks aren’t seen as just parts haulers anymore. Twister Racing and Turbo City both have inexpensive bolt-on kits that really work and make GM’s littlest pickup a genuine kick in the pants to drive, especially in the twisties. Our particular test-”bed” was a blue GMC S-15 powered by the 4.3L Vortec V6. In stock condition, with a full option list, the pickup was straining to deliver quarter-mile times in the low 17s, with a best of 17.34. Not a…

The Pro Street culture has altered many hot rodders’ lives significantly, but perhaps none so much as Rich and Jacklyn Gebhardt, who went from a simple one-car hobby operation to a full-blown Pro Street chassis shop in a matter of months. Since March 1988, it’s become a thriving business, with customers from all over the country bringing their cars in for a potent dose of Pro Street science. Three years ago, Rich and Jacklyn were relatively content with their street-machining activities and the enjoyment they derived from working on their cars and attending various street-machine events with their friends. Then Rich whipped up a saucy little fat-tired Z/24 Cavalier that was quickly picked up by all the magazines, and life hasn’t been the same since. People started asking them to…

Kenneth and Bridget Derr of Warner Robins, Georgia, keep their street machining all in the family. Their bright aqua-metallic ’68 Ford Mustang was Kenneth’s first car, and while he’s owned numerous others, this one-of-a-kind mean street Mustang is the one vehicle that means the most to him. Kenneth did almost all the work himself, including hand-forming all the spoilers, air scoops, and flares out of sheetmetal and detailing the car with custom paint. With roughly 12 grand invested, the Derrs have preserved a family heirloom and brought it up to specs as a bona fide home-built street machine. Armed with Best Custom and Best Street Car awards from local World of Wheels car shows, Kenneth and Bridget can take real pride in their efforts. The chassis was lowered four inches…

I feel sorry for the lovers of late-models. They identify everything by numbers, letters, or both. I mean, they can only communicate with oddsounding names like Z-ll, or Boss 429, or Max Wedge. Do these designations tell you how many windows it has, or how many doors you’re dealing with, or if it’s got a top or not? No. So I’m going to show these lovers of lightweights, altered-wheelbases, and S/S Hemis how to spot sedans and not look askance when old hot rodders start to talk coupe, convertible, or close-cab pickup. And it’s my intention to provide the younger generation with a spotters’ guide to pre-’48 body styles in the hopes that after they’re finished, they can tell the difference between a phaeton, a four-door, and a fat fender.…

Musclecars are where it’s at, but most hot rodders agree that cars with real muscle are not built in factories. Bill and Suzanne Coogle’s Stone Mountain, Georgia-based ’69 Camaro is a homegrown collection of steroid delights guaranteed to deliver a “strong-man” performance that few can match. A 2-year effort with plenty of help from friends put this big-block-powered Camaro on the street with a complement of go-fast hardware that covers all the bases. Built on a custom 2x3-inch steel frame by Atlanta Performance Engineering, the chassis is outfitted with the obligatory 9-inch Ford rearend, Carerra coil-over shocks, ’72 Pinto spindles, Pinto rack-and-pinion steering, and Wilwood disc brakes. Monocoque Sport Star wheels of the 15x14-inch variety mount 19.5-inch Mickey Thompson streamroller tires at the rear, while the front rolls on Mickey…

KAWASAKI ZX-11 Stop the presses. Remember the K ultra-quick, liter-class sport bikes we’ve talked about in the last couple of years? The ones that will turn a quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds at around 130 mph? And top out at a mind-blistering 170? Now they feel slow. Kawasaki has raised the high-performance stakes in impressive fashion with the ’90 ZX-11. With a punched-out, hot-rodded version of Kawasaki’s already world-leading ZX-10 engine and a completely new rolling chassis, the ZX-11 now stands alone at the top of the straight-line performance mountain. The two top performers of 1989, the Yamaha FZR1000 and the aforementioned ZX-10, are still seriously fast motorcycles—but neither can match the soul-stirring lunge of the ZX-11 when the throttle hits the stop and the tach needle spins past eight grand.…