Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2005 i Hot Rod

THE OTHER F-BODY ’68 PONTIAC FIREBIRD DAVID SCARLETT LENOIR CITY, TN Finally, someone who understands us. Says David, “Thank you HOT ROD for appreciating all types of cars regardless of their differences.” As the pictures reveal, restoring this Firebird was quite an undertaking that paid off in the end. Scooting it down the road is a 455 fitted with an Eagle crank, Speed-Pro pistons, a Comp cam, a Demon carb, and an Edelbrock intake and heads. The front suspension has been completely rebuilt, and with his brother’s help, David completed all the paint and bodywork himself. HOT ROD SINCE 1957 ’55 FORD THUNDERBIRD TIMOTHY O’NEAL VISALIA, CA Tim has a neat story to go along with his car, so well let him do the talking: “My father, Ray O’Neal, purchased…

PROFILE WIN ON SUNDAY, WORK ON MONDAY Gearhead engineers at Detroit’s Big Three have a term fortheir nonenthusiast colleagues: toaster engineers. These are the folks whose mechanical, electrical, or other engineering degrees are simply a ticket to a good-paying job, whether it’s building cars or kitchen appliances. Real car guys tend to not only find their way onto the coolest projects, they also tend to find each other, as is the case of Ford engineers Brian Tone, Mark Wilson, and Dan Kantrow, who met through a mutual passion for road racing and wound up building a spectacular NASA American Iron road race Mustang. Tone and Wilson campaigned separate American Iron Mustangs in NASA’s Ohio/lndiana region until this year—Tone with a ’93 Cobra, Wilson with a ’93 Cobra R—but the two…

“Jarek Molski accelerated my plans to retire on his terms ratherthan mine.”— Roger Patterson CLASSIC CRUISE SPOT BITESTHE DUST Salinas, California, isn’t one of California’s glamour cities, but a hardworking town that anchors the Salinas Valley—the “Salad Bowl of the World,” producing $3 billion worth of agricultural products every year. Roy’s Drive-In was a landmark there and home to car shows every other Tuesday night for the last quarter century. It was a genuine ’50s hamburger stand, not a franchised re-creation, that still offered carhop service and barely changed from the way it looked when it opened. “Car shows were an important part of my business,” explains Roger Patterson, 61, who had worked at Roy’s since 1964 and owned it since 1977. “Ron Hollan and Gene Harland from Salinas Valley…

POWERTRAIN Engine: Ron Ebert went for the jugular by buildinga blown and injected 426 Hemi. Based on an original block and heads, the Rex Hutchinson-machined and Jeff Kral-built engine runs a Kellogg crank, JE 9.0:1 pistons, and a Comp Cams hydraulic cam. Breathing comes via a Littlefield 14-21 blower with an Enderle Buzzard mechanical injection system with a Top Fuel barrel valve and a separate priming system built into the injector that allows the engine to be started from inside the truck (as opposed to squirting fuel into the butterflies from a bottle). Jeff Krai Racing built the 2½-inch headers that dump into dual Flowmaster mufflers, which then feed into huge 6-inch exhaust pipes. Power: It’s never been dyno’d, so power is your best guess. Transmission: 222 automatic from JR…

“It’s a fun car because no one expects it to run how it runs. I go run with the Ferrari guys and just amaze them.”—Peter Castellana It’s a wacky joint, this track called Pocono. Modeled after a scalene triangle—with three turns, each of different angles and hanking steepness, and three straightaways, each of different lengths—it’s by far the oddest track on the entire NASCAR calendar. Often referred to as the superspeedway that drives like a road course, in the words of Dale Jr., “It’s a weird, unique place, and it’s tough to get comfortable as a driver and for a team to find a fast and consistent setup.” It makes for intense racing and strange finishes, but its strangeness isn’t just reserved for stock car heros. Featuring an infield road…

There will only ever be one ’05 Mustang GT that was the first to make a 12-second pass down the quarter-mile, and this is it. So toss all the other rags in the trash and read along as we chronicle how Paul Svinicki and the crew at Paul’s High Performance in Jackson, Michigan, transformed a hot-off-the-assembly-line next-generation Mustang from a cush-riding, wheel-hopping, high-13-second stacker into a jaw-dropping strip stormer in barely a week’s time. As of this writing, the new Mustangs are just arriving at dealer showrooms, but the hype has been building for more than a year since Ford officially debuted the new model at the Detroit auto show last January. With retro looks and a three-valve SOHC 4.6L modular V-8 making an honest 300 hp, the new Mustang…

In the Official Lexicon of Automotive Slurs, you’ll find the term “ricer excuse.” It’s defined as the lamest of all lame excuses ever hashed out in refusal to admit inferiority. It’s when a spiky-haired adolescent miscreant brags about his 100 hp per liter before a race, only to resort to crying, “Yeah, but if my Civic had a V-8…” after getting stomped by a prehistoric pushrod engine. On the contrary, one needn’t be a ricer to spout a ricer excuse, and in fact, no one was guiltier of this than the LSI camp following the release of the ’03 Mustang Cobra. After finally being dethroned as the kings of factory bang-for-the-buck performance, they passionately whined, “Yeah, but if my LSI had a supercharger.…” While the LSI in our project ’04…

When we first saw Dave Milcarek’s shot of the ex Sox & Martin Pro Stock Hemi Duster riding the wall at Atco Raceway, we thought it was the same car we featured back in the Feb. ’04 issue of HOT ROD. But that was the car campaigned by Sox & Martin in 1973, now owned by Dean Klein, while this is the car built and raced in 1972 (and later re-bodied into a ’73), now owned by Fred Ristagno. Hemi Fred, as he’s known, should have left the wheelie bars on the Duster, as this shot from the Mopar Nostalgia Nationals at Atco demonstrated. The car hooked, went up on the bumper, and came down in a crunch on the Armco. We couldn’t get ahold of Hemi Fred to ask…

The new format of the Bench Racing column is seven months old and it’s been fun to see readers react with a ton of cool, new input. The resurrected vintage photos (including this month’s spectacularsnapshots of the ’56 NHRA Nationals) and Hidden Treasures of the Month alone would be enough to fill the entire column. It’s awesome. But, to be honest, we still need your help to spiff this thing up a bit: more Readers’ Rides, please. Not that we don’t get plenty, but man, even the HRM staff can only take so many’69 Camaros. We know there’s a ton of creativity in backyard America, and we want to see it. Don’t question yourself; just take a good snapshot and send info—and don’t leave out the power numbers and quarter-mile…

HOW THEY MAKEIT: AIRFLOW RESEARCH HEADS Modern aluminum-cylinder-head manufacturing is a curious blend of old school and new tech. Airflow Research (AFR) pioneered CNC [computer numerical-controlled] machining back in the ’70s, but 30 years later the process has evolved significantly beyond the basic machining operations possible in the disco era. Today, design and machining is entirely done on a computer, by a computer—the whole process has been digitized from start to finish. Even the valve job and bowl work is done by CNC. Yet curiously, the basic sand-casting procedure hasn’t changed all that much; while much refined and more consistent then a generation ago, the basic procedure is still a fairy-tale case of “bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble.” —MARLAN DAVIS THE PRI SHOW: MECCAFOR GEARHEADS The SEMA Show is bigger…

I know how to stay awake for 54 hours straight. I can build 820 hp, bangshift a Tex Racing T101, and loop a car at 100-plus miles per hour. I’ve mastered sleep deprivation, financial ruin, and self-flagellation, so I’ve got the required skills for the greatest glory in all of motorsports: The donning of the crimson ball cap that marks lifetime membership in the Bonneville 200 MPH Club. I’d craved it ever since Gray Baskerville ruined me with a maiden voyage to the Salt in 1992. Until then, I, like generations of HOT ROD readers, had experienced Bonneville only through the words and photos of Ol’ Dad himself, who painted Utah’s God-given racetrack as the historical foundation of all that’s relevant and the final outpost of hot redding purity. I…

Yes! The Pump Gas Drags is back. Last year’s competitors became legends with traffic on 93 octane then click off three heroic passes at the dragstrip. If so, step up. To do that, you’ve got to meet the rules, send in the application form by February 18th, and convince us that you’ve got a real street car. Not a wimpy daily driver, but a brawler that can hit you’ve got some big talkin’ to do to prove that your ride isn’t just a bogus Pro Stocker with headlights. The Pump Gas Drags is all about bringing reality back to the street-legal drags. Show us that your car is fast, legit, and NHRA legal and you could be one of 50 people invited by HOT ROD to partici car still meets…

As the shenanigans of each episode of Fear Factor draw to a close, host Joe Rogan enlightens viewers by announcing to the winner, “Evidently fear was not a factor for you.” That line has been repeated enough over the past five seasons to become a catch phrase of sorts that reflects the show’s success. In the cutthroat world of reality TV, that’s an awfully long time to survive, and it has no doubt imparted its host with some monetary flexibility with which to buy steel-crafted toys of hedonism. Most Hollywood celebs opt for blinged-out Hummer H2s, Bentleys, traditional wanker exotics, and (gag!) trendy gas-electric hybrids, but Rogan did the right thing and had Rad Rides by Troy build him a ’70 Barracuda. The car means more to him than the…

POWERTRAIN Engine: To keep the weight penalty of a big-block at a minimum, the 525ci Rat is based on a Donovan aluminum block with 4.500-inch bores. The internals consist of a 4.125-inch Lunati steel crank, Lunati rods, and JE 10.0:1 pistons. On the induction side, Brodixaluminum cylinder heads with titanium valves breathe through an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake and a Holley 1,050-cfm Dominatorcarb. Jesel rocker arms and a Comp cam round out the valvetrain, and a dry-sump oil system with a Stef’s pan keep things lubed up during extreme cornering. R&S Competition Machine Services (West Babylon, NY) built it. Power: 620 hp at 6,200 rpm and 598 Ib-ftat 4,500 rpm Transmission: With big-block torque, the four ratios offered by the Jerico trans are plenty. It mates to a Spec clutch…

“Is it there yet? Is it there yet?” After our fourth or fifth panicked call to Alex Mikkelson of American Roadster asking if our eBay Motors front-engine dragster chassis was back from the powdercoater, we knew he was sick of hearing the phone ring. But when the bare frame finally arrived at 5 p.m. on a Friday evening, leaving just over four days to assemble it into a running car, the panic seemed justified. The dragster absolutely, positively had to be on the track in Fontana first thing Wednesday or we’d all be fired. Pulling three straight all-nighters is a lousy way to spend a weekend, but when our dragster roared down the track to a 9.38 at 135 mph the following Wednesday with the front wheels three feet in…

SCAN TOOL KIT Actron 800/228-7667 www.actron.com With all the sensors and computer-controlled doohickeys on EFI cars, diagnosing problems without a quality scan tool is a good formula for wasting money on parts you don’t need. Investing in a scanner will save lots of headaches and maybe even pay for itself overtime. Actron’s CP9150 kit retrieves and reads OBDI and OBDII trouble codes in real time for Ford, GM, and Chrysler vehicles. It also reads and displays live vehicle data. The LCD screen displays the code, as well as what it means—for example, “Code P2195,02 sensor stuck lean, Bank 1, Sensor 1.” Included in the kit is the head unit, an 8-foot extension cable, a cigarette-lighter adapter, various ALDL adapters, and a hard carrying case. ALUMINUM 427 CRATE MOTOR World Products…

In your article, “Crate Camaros” (Oct. ’04), you asked for comments on the building of a project for HOT ROD. This illustration is my suggestion. Note the narrowed grille opening with projector-beam headlights behind a blacked-out billet grille. There’s a molded-in front bumper and lower air dam with circular brake-cooling ducts, plus a carbon-fiber hood with a triangular cowl scoop. The taillights would be LEDs, the rear spoiler is molded in, and there are dual chrome rollbars behind red Corbeau seats. I’d use ’04 Corvette Red with phantom flames, and the wheels would be 20-inch American Racing AR200s with satin spokes. Next I’m working on one of my favorite cars that will also be reproduced in steel: the ’68 Mustang fast back. Kevin EikelbergerHamilton, OH…

1955 THE FIRST SMALL-BLOCK CHEVYTHRASH As the small-block Chevrolet hits 50 years of age, it’s hard to imagine this engine scared hot rodders when it first came out. But real hot rodders looked past their fear of the unknown and saw huge potential, and HOT ROD was there. The first tech story we did on the small-block “Chev” was an in-depth analysis of the basic engine architecture by Racer Brown in the Jan. ’55 issue. Seven months later, Brown followed along as Frank McGurk coaxed an additional 85 hp out of the 265-inch small-block. But it was Vic Edelbrock Sr. and Jr. who really got down and dirty with the new Chevy, and Brown showed it in glorious detail in the Jan. ’56 issue of HOT ROD. The photo here…

DEVINE CHEVELLE There are gearheads at the top! John Devine, vice chairman and CFO of General Motors, has commissioned ourfriends at So-Cal Speed Shop in Pomona, California, to build the ultimate daily driven ’66 Chevelle. This will the first total makeover of a musclecar executed by So-Cal, and the company has already acquired a grannie gold hardtop that would make you cry. If you can chop the lid on a gennie ’32, why not hack a survivor Chevelle? We’ll be there when it happens. —DAVID FREIBURGER TURBO INLINER John Cunningham finished Third in the ’04 Pump Gas Drags, then we featured his ultimate sleeper’68 Nova in the Nov. ’04 issue. Now he’s at work on an entry for next year’s Pump Gas Drags. While it will still be a Nova,…

Engine Type: It’s a Dart small-block Chevy with a 4.165 bore and 3.750 stroke for 408.7 ci. Last-minute machine work and assembly by Dougan’s Racing Engines. Bottom End: The crank is a Pankl (formerly LA Enterprises) custom billet with full counterweights and gun-drilled 2.450-inch (350-size) mains and standard 2.100 rod journals. It features a big-block snout with dual key ways for durability with the blower drive. The rods are 6.00-inch Oliver billets, and the pistons are customs from JE with 42cc dishes. The rings are as far down the piston as possible for durability under extended periods of rpm and load. The compression height is 1.125 and the block is ground to 9.00 inches tall for a piston deck height of zero. All the bearings are Speed-Pro’s coated Duroshield units,…

FIRST IN THE 12S PG.90 One can never be sure, but we’re fairly confident that of Ur3 UHRM scooped the Mustang magazines with this story of how to whittle an all-new ’05 Mustang GT’s three-valve V-8 into the bottom 12s. And there was no nitrous and no blower. The car may be the salvation of performance, but not before the aftermarket figures out howto bypass the anti-burnout feature. THEHOT ROD HOTSHOT LIVES PG.96 last month, Senior Editor Matt King stretched the disas sembly of our eBay Motors-sponsored dragster into a marathon story. This time, the entire staff launched in with the crew at American Roadster, pulling an all-nighterlhe day before we got it to the track where we put the stink on all the other Primedia mags, dissing them with…

Of all the winners of HOT ROD’s Win Your Dream Engine Contest, none are as manic as Chris Williams, the Pontiac zealot from Sleepy Hollow, Illinois. But who can blame him? It’s been a over a year since we announced the deal. The contest involved 6,039 readers entering by designing an engine using any parts they wanted from the participating companies (Edelbrock, Comp Cams, Performance Distributors, Speed-Pro, Milodon, and ARP). We chose four winners with the Chevy, Ford, Mopar, and Olds or Pontiac combo we liked best. The four winners were named way back in the Oct. ’03 issue (yeah, it’s been that long). The Ford was tested and given away last month, and now we’re down to Chris Williams’ Pontiac. Chris’ ’75 Trans Am is already a hottie, running…

DIE-CAST FASTBACK The latest product of HOT ROD’S collaboration with Brooklin Models is arguably the coolest. This 1:43-scale rendition of a ’67 Mustang fastback is done up Pro Touring style with a dropped stance and big five-spoke wheels. All pieces are individually cast, plated, or painted, then assembled by hand. Contact Brooklin models at 574/206-1586 to order yours for $89.95. POWER TOUR ’05 STOPS ANNOUNCED Power Tour just keeps getting bigger and better every year, and the ’05 Tour will no doubt be another record-setter. This year’s route starts in Milwaukee and runs straight through the heart of Dixie. Once again, it’s presented by General Motors and cosponsored by Flowmaster. Here are the official dates and stops. Stay tuned to HOTROD.com for registration details. June 4: Painless Wiring Kickoff Party,…