Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2010 i Hot Rod

THRILLA IN CADZZILLA We’ve got three excuses for picking CadZZilla for this month’s Where It All Began column. First, 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of HOT ROD’s cross-country road trip in ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons’ landmark car. In 1990, staffers Steve Anderson and Rob Kinnan made that trek; when we saw the ’ZZilla at the NHRA Museum recently, Kinnan pondered if his bag of Gummy Bears was still stuck to the carpet under the passenger seat. The second reason is that CadZZilla appeared on the first HOT ROD cover (June ’89) to declare the Dare To Be Different theme we’ve subsequently run into the ground nearly annually, including in the issue you’re holding. This issue also includes the return of custom cars to HOT ROD, and in our minds, CadZZilla…

There are at least two ways we know of to pronounce Jaguar. Ordinary civilians pronounce the name Jag-whar. However, some folks will lift their chins, clear their throats, and say Jag-you-rrr in the British manner. If you hear someone employ the second pronunciation, you know you are speaking to a hard-core Jaguar enthusiast. HOT ROD offers this information as a public service to aid in identification. You’ll probably want to avoid showing this story to Jaguar purists, who tend to be very protective of their favorite marque. The sight of this car could cause them to totally wig out on you. Ken “Posies” Fenical built his XKE not as a thumb in the eye to Jag loyalists, but simply because he likes his cars to be different. While this is…

“I’M NOT 65 AND I’M NOT RETIRED. I HAVE DEBT. TO BUILD A CAR ON A BUDGET IS THE ONLY WAY.”—BRIAN THOMAS What makes this retro rod so memorable? Everything! I t’s the handmade body fabricated from a rusty cowl, two doors, and an F-100 hood. It’s the pattern created by the 1,300 stainless screws holding everything in place, from the chopped Lexan windshield to the hand-punched side vents. And it’s the engine: your basic everyday McCulloch-supercharged flathead Packard straight-eight. Oh, and did we mention it was built by one guy in a small garage in central Utah in less than 11 months? Luckily for Brian Thomas, he grew up in a car family that liked to trade parts more than buy ’em—the parts that spawned this car were picked…

Sure, Ralph Whitworth lost untold millions on his hot rod habit, but we shouldn’t feel too sorry for someone who managed to keep about 10 cool cars. Our favorite is an unrestored ’29 Ford on ’34 rails that is frozen in 1951, when Tom Cobbs set a two-way class record of 155.32 mph at Bonneville, then parked the blown-flathead Model A for half a century, until Ralph’s wallet opened wide enough to persuade the late racer’s family to sell, finally. Extremely successful on the lakes and salt as a coupe (when carrying a homebuilt, bolton roof) and roadster, the car was street-legal, licensed, and-driven from the mid-’40s through its retirement. Ironically, it is perhaps best known for one of the few races it ever lost: a grudge match against Vic…

“The driver can’t make the car any better. All he can do is screw it up.”—Alan Johnson Big-time drag racing is still hot rodding. Yeah, the NHRA seems obsessed with marketing: Every driver sucks up to Full Throttle energy drinks after every run, and the cars are so specialized they couldn’t make it up your driveway without burning through a couple of pistons. But winning and losing still comes down to some guys with wrenches doing a better job preparing their machine than everyone else. Being good with a wrench has always really meant being good with your brain. And Top Fuel crew chief Alan Johnson is really good with his brain. Driver error aside, a Fuel race is run and won before the cars get to the line—in each…

With its stock Roots-type Eaton supercharger, the DOHC 5.4L V-8 in ’07 to ’09 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustangs is rated at 500 hp—but no matter how much power one has stock, hot rodders always want more. For many Mustang owners, that traditionally meant hanging a Vortech centrifugal supercharger on the front of the engine along with its associated mounting brackets and ductwork. That upgrade path is somewhat cumbersome for an application that already has an intake manifold–mounted factory blower. Instead, Vortech has come up with an easy, bolt-on upgrade utilizing a 3.3L-capacity Lysholm VTS 3300 twin-screw supercharger that’s said to be more efficient than the stock Roots supercharger with less temperature rise. The base VTS kit allows running 14 to 15 psi of boost on 91-octane pump gas, compared with…

I’ve been issued a new automotive challenge. Being handed a set of rules and finding a way to stretch them for maximum effect is one of my favorite things about hot rodding, but this time the parameters are not from a race sanctioning body—they’re self-inflicted. Ya see, our office is moving. This will take my current 8-mile, 40-minute drive to work and turn it into 30 miles in an hour and a half. Welcome to Los Angeles road rage; yes, an average of 20 mph. That’s half an hour virtually parked followed by a half hour at 40 to 55 mph, then another 30 minutes of crawling. It’s not really driving to work—it’s just rotting at the wheel. Worse, it’s forcing me to admit that I’m too old and soft…

Welcome to the Hot Rods section of the mag, where all the car features live. Know of a great ride that should be here? Got killer photos of cars in action along with details about them? Tip us off: email HOTROD@hotrod.com or mail to HOT ROD Hot Rods, 831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245. Good news, HOT ROD readers. You just thought you were crazy. In truth, you’re only mildly colorful. Oh sure, you’ve often reflected on how your taste in transportation trends toward the outlandish, if not the extreme. And given all those long hours you’ve spent in the garage building such machines, friends and family have mentioned (frequently) how your behavior might be described as, well, obsessive. However, when it comes to over-the-top road vehicles and…

Dearborn birthed more than a million Mustang IIs. From 1974 to 1978, Mustang II production rivaled the blockbuster years of 1964 ½ through 1966. Econobox underpinnings and dismal performance didn’t stop Ford’s Pintostang from wheezing off dealer lots at a breakneck pace. But while you can’t sling a distributor cap without hitting a first-generation pony, Mustang IIs are a rare sight. Why? Because they’re all in a Midwestern garage. St. Killian, Wisconsin’s Jeff Scherger may not actually own all the remaining Mustang IIs, but he does have 14. A collector of orphans, Jeff is Dearborn’s Angelina Jolie. It seems he won’t stop until each of Ford’s forgotten offspring that hasn’t been poached of its front suspension is in his custody. Jeff’s family ranges from a few parts-only hulks to a…

Five years ago, when the word Winnemucca [pronounced Winah-muck-ah] started showing up in hot rodders’ vocabularies, Ralph Whitworth had already achieved his first objective: putting his remote hometown on the map as a tourist destination instead of a faceless fuel stop in desolate northern Nevada. Virtually no one had ever heard of this mystery man, yet everyone was talking about “the guy building a museum in Winnemucca,” whose agents were on an unprecedented shopping spree of significant rods, customs, muscle cars, dry lakes racers, show vehicles, and drag cars. In just four years, more than 200 valuable vehicles changed hands, several at prices approaching or exceeding seven figures. Ralph believed a major museum devoted to hot rods would entice outsiders to spend a day and perhaps a night in town,…

What’s this, custom cars in HOT ROD magazine? You bet. Since the ’40s, customs have been an integral part of the hot rod scene, though their popularity has waxed and waned over the decades. Beginning with the very first issue in Jan. ’48, HOT ROD prominently featured customs, and perhaps not surprisingly, several prospering custom shops—Barris’ Kustoms, Link’s Custom Shop, Carson Padded Tops, Runyan Custom Upholstery—were among the first advertisers. The deal was that when the hot rod jockeys who started racing their gow jobs on the streets and lakes in the ’30s came back from the service after WWII with some discharge pay in their pockets and perhaps a young wife eager to start a family, they wanted something a little newer and a little classier to drive (this…

With the advent of relatively affordable aftermarket blocks, Gen I small-block Chevy displacements have been growing ever larger. It used to be a 406 was considered a big small-block. But nowadays a 434 is a popular hot street/strip package, and there are even 454ci crate small-block packages available. That’s big-block territory—so it stands to reason that a head with big-block-like flow characteristics is needed to keep up with all those cubes, one that would be as compatible as possible with existing mass-produced small-block Chevy parts to keep costs under control. PORTS OF HAUL Enter the Air Flow Research (AFR) 235cc Eliminator, the highest-flowing mass-produced small-block Chevy head yet that still maintains the original intake port location and 23-degree valve angles. AFR invested hundreds of hours developing its current port and…

Ever back into, or over, something unintentionally? We’ve been there and done that more than once, unfortunately. Ever try backing a ’71 to ’73 Mustang fastback or a heavily chopped custom into a tight space? Back-up cameras are the convenient fix but are typically expensive and require professional installation. Plus, who wants a permanently mounted screen spoiling the vintage interior of a custom or classic? To address that concern, Peak developed its simple-to-install-and-hide Wireless Backup Camera System. There are really only three steps involved: mount the monitor, attach the camera to your license plate (with the included suction cup mount), then connect the reverse light trigger wiring. Even if you’re like us—solder and heat-shrink perfectionists who like to hide and secure all the wires—it only takes a few minutes of…

In the early ’70s, NASCAR was approaching the transition that irks us to this day: the change from beefed-up factory tubs to tube-frame, purpose-built race cars with body panels hung on them. The evolution was in full swing when Bobby Allison joined up with Junior Johnson’s team in 1972. Bobby and Junior notoriously didn’t see eye to eye on several points—the right choice of car being one of them. Bobby had built his own cars for years, even when driving for someone else. If he felt his design would perform better than Junior’s on a particular track, he wasn’t shy about it. During the single season they were together, Bobby turned down Junior’s modern cars several times in favor of a ’72 Monte Carlo of his own construction. The car…

When you think about what Studebaker styling chief Robert Bourke must have envisioned for his smart new line of ’49 Studebaker trucks, you can be sure it never would have included a guy like Norris Andersen. He’ll surprise you with a quiet demeanor, but going fast is ingrained in his character. He’s raced a long line of muscle, dirt, and drag machines, and when he got the land speed racing bug, he knew his experience building Sprint Cars would serve him well, as Sprint racers tend to be traditional hot rodders in disguise. Also, in the late ’60s Norris was one of the Air Force technicians working on the world’s fastest airplane—the top-secret SR-71 Blackbird. Norris knew that the Blackbird went 2,193 mph partly because of its tiny frontal area.…

Who’s got the coolest job on the planet? Right through the bitter end at the Petersen Automotive Museum, Dave Bengochea (left) and Ken Lutzow insisted that their respective gigs as Ralph Whitworth’s general manager and mechanic-assembler were not only the best car-guy deals in Winnemucca, but in the whole world. Dave, 57, was the first person hired by Ralph, a gearhead pal since both attended Winnemucca’s Lowry High and street-raced in the ’60s. In three crazy years, Dave directed the acquisition of either 205 vehicles (his figure) or 210 (Ralph’s count), most of which required tender, loving care that ranged from cosmetic to complete rebuilds. He simultaneously oversaw construction and operation of the Flying A, whose full-time staff peaked in 2008 with two mechanics, a machinist, a painter, a secretary/bookkeeper,…

The scene was the ’09 Glenmoor Gathering of Significant Automobiles held at the elegant Glenmoor Country Club in Canton, Ohio. A fancy-schmancy Concours d’Elegance, the Gathering is one of our favorite events of that type, first because the Glenmoor people are all so friendly and nice. Next, organizers Myron Vernis, Dave Schultz, and their staff go out of their way to attract a wider variety of interesting vehicles than you will find at the typical concours. Along with the usual Duesenbergs, Ferraris, and other high-hatting vehicles of that ilk, the show includes ’50s baroque American iron, ’60s muscle cars, historic rods and customs, and race cars of every stripe. If you are anywhere near Northeastern Ohio on the third Sunday in September, the Gathering is well worth a visit. This…

Internally, we’ve joked forever about a story like this one: how to install a small-block Chevy in a car that came with a small-block Chevy. What could be more self-evident? What could have been covered more times than that? As it turns out, it’s not as obvious as it may seem based on the number of tech letters we get with very basic questions. Also, from our informal industry polls, it’s clear that classic small Chevys are still the most-sold crate engines in the country despite the ever-growing popularity of the Gen III and IV V-8 swaps. That means there are still countless Mouse motors being bolted in place every day, perhaps by guys who have never done it before. This story is far from a complete blow-by-blow of the…

BATTERY-POWERED MIG WELDER Hobart Welding Products 877/HOBART1 (462-2781) www.hobartwelders.com MIG welders have advanced a lot in recent years, becoming increasingly more portable and user-friendly, but Hobart’s latest small MIG steps it up a notch by offering true portability. Now you don’t even need an electrical outlet, as a 17-volt DC battery in the welder will operate it at 120 amps (at 20 percent duty cycle) and weld 24-gauge mild steel up to ¼ inch thick in a single pass. A power cord is also included for traditional use, and you can recharge the battery inside a vehicle with a power inverter. Price: MSRP is $1,400.00 HEMI CRANK AND RODS KIT K1 Technologies 616/583-9700 www.k1technologies.com Looking for a top-shelf rotating assembly for your Hemi build? K1’s 4340 steel cranks are core-hardened…