Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2014 i Hot Rod

Ah, the tax refund. To us, April 15 isn’t a deadline—it’s an industrywide calendar event that marks the time when car guys have cash to finish old projects or acquire new ones. A time to buy the speed parts we’ve put off purchasing since the “holiday shopping season” began around Halloween and lasted until right after Valentine’s Day. Regardless of whether Uncle Sam is going to return $100 or $10,000 of your hardearned income, I’m guessing much of that cash is going toward your automotive and mechanical passions—as it should. Taxes are a fact of life. They pay for roads we drive on, many of the schools we’ve learned from, and the first-responders who protect our national interests. There’s no getting around them, and I’m OK with taxes as long…

01] Done in the traditional fashion and driven daily, DON JELLISON built the Model A truck and ’30 Ford hot rods on the left and Paul Chandler built the red Model T. 02] That’s MIKE NOBLE doing an amazing burnout in Honky Tonkin’, a Tri-Five gasser competing in the Gasser Circus class in the U.K. Spotted at the Santa Pod Raceway in England last year, the photo was taken by Stuart Mitchell Photography; look him up on Facebook for more cool photos. 03] This ’61 Rambler Classic, nicknamed Olive, belongs to MATTHEW DARNELL from Romulus, Michigan. He and his twin brother Clifton run the Downriver Knights car club. The brothers said the car club keeps them out of trouble. 04]WAYNE TIREY of Shepherd, Texas, said he built this ’97 Pontiac…

“There is little that can rival the experience of driving our hot rods across this beautiful country with such a great bunch of people.” Those were the words I printed in the Sept. ’95 issue of HOT ROD magazine to sum up what the inaugural Power Tour® meant to me, and I feel just as strongly about the event today as I did then. Let me take you back nearly 20 years to the Petersen Publishing building at 8490 Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, to share what went on behind the scenes of creating a timeless event that has stood strong through five presidential terms and the hardest economic downturn this generation has ever seen. It really started in 1994. This was a completely different era of hot rodding than…

The name Ed Pink is synonymous with Top Fuel racing, even though his last official duties at the quarter-mile were completed in 1980. His dominance of Top Fuel racing is legendary, and within that category he is most widely remembered for his mastery of Ford’s wild 427ci, single-overhead-cam (SOHC) “Cammer” motors from the mid ’60s. Pink weaponized Dearborn’s complicated and heavy SOHC engines to make them competitive in Top Fuel against the 392 Hemis of the time in less than three months. That success is probably why Pink considers himself a hot rodder and drag racer, though he confesses his most interesting and rewarding projects came after his dragracing days. Pink went on to develop two different Midget racing engines that dominated upon their introduction. Pink teamed up with another…

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has made a name for himself as a blues guitarist and a Mopar fan, and the two seem to go hand in hand. His success as an artist has allowed him to indulge in his love of American muscle cars and build a new car just about every year, while his appearances at car events have led to new opportunities in his career. “My two passions have collided and feed off one another,” he told us. If you’ve seen any of Kenny’s other Mopars, you’d notice that many of his cars have a Pro Touring theme, with low-profile tires and sturdy sway bars. This car has neither. It’s a throwback to quartermile speed, creature comforts be damned. Kenny first talked to Mopar about building a ’64 Dodge…

One of the largest gatherings of land-speed-record vehicles took place in January, but not at Bonneville. The occasion for this unprecedented assemblage was the 65th Grand National Roadster Show (RodShows.com) and its celebration of 100 years of the pursuit of land-speed records. More than 100 vehicles were on display in building 9 of the L.A. County Fairplex (Fairplex.com) in Pomona, California. From early attempts to cars just now ready for Bonneville, there was a vast and impressive array of failed and successful LSR cars, and here are some of the highlights from this once-in-a-lifetime event. 01] This ’92 Firebird of the Kugel and LeFevers team became the first stock-bodied car to break the magic 300-mph barrier in 1999, driven by Joe Kugel. When original owners Dave MacDonald and Lionel Pitts…

While the ZR1 option package code was first used on a road-race edition of the ’70–’72 Stingray Corvette, it was the ’90 ZR-1 model that really brought the alphanumeric option package into the mainstream. Its exotic LT-5 engine, wide stance, and supercar performance landed it on the cover of enthusiast magazines and on posters in dorm rooms across the country. For the C4 Corvette, ZR-1 was more than just an engine package, yet its 32-valve LT-5 V8 is what most enthusiasts remember. A collaboration between Chevrolet and Lotus Engineering (which was owned by General Motors at the time) the LT-5 was tasked with providing a giant leap in power in an era when imported Porsche 911 turbos had yet to breach 300 hp and the Viper was still on the…

01] We’ve carefully disassembled this Garrett TP-38 turbo, making sure to clean all the parts before reassembly. 02] Turbocharger journal bearings are made from a soft material, the surfaces are the first to show damage. An inspection of the original bearings (two outer parts) showed no wear from dirty oil. 03] Inspection of the thrust collar and thrust bearing (C-shaped one) show these are also good. Oil flows through the canal (A) in the thrust bearing shown in the picture, and if there was a problem it would show up on the raised pads toward the center (B). Scorched pads indicate heat issues, while line grooves show dirty oil. Carefully remove and inspect the piston ring in the collar (C). 04] With the piston ring removed from the turbine wheel’s…

We write a lot about Drag Week™ because it’s our event and because it’s an amazing example of human suffering and achievement. Men, woman, and children practically live in ridiculously fast and high-strung automobiles for five days to prove they have legit street cars by laying down passes at four different dragstrips while driving from track to track. Finish Drag Week™ and you’ll find out what kind of person you really are. Breaking down in the middle of nowhere with your car teetering on a jackstand on the shoulder of the road while 18-wheelers blow by three feet away as you duct tape and zip-tie your way to the next track tends to separate the doers from the whiners. You can’t call AAA. It’s just your wits, your stamina, and…

Q: I see a lot of modern engines, such as the new Hemi or the LS-series, getting custom bigbore sleeves. Can a similar process be done to, say, a flathead Ford? Everyone I ask about this says you can’t bore a cylinder completely out of an engine, as it will distort and remove the support of the deck. Is that correct or can someone get a huge bore in an old engine? A: It depends on the specific engine architecture, the type of sleeve, and the engine’s intended use. With traditional press-in “dry” sleeves, there must be enough structural material remaining in the block casting to still support the deck, maintain press-in sleeve integrity with the proper interference-fit, and isolate the sleeve from direct contact with the water jacket. (That’s…

Great Advice I’ll Give, Not Take: It’s far better to pay somebody to work on your car than pay somebody to store it. Best Quote from an Online reader This Month: “As the cop put me in the back of his car, he said, ‘That was one of the best burnouts I have ever seen!’ yet I still went to jail.”—Jacob Krimmer from York, Pennsylvania, in response to our Facebook question: “Have any of you given or received a #burnout nomination?” Car I Most Wanted to Build the Day I Wrote This: Something fast, lightweight, and that handles better than I can drive.…

Larry Pattie’s friend bet that he couldn’t build a man cave that was macho, cool, and looked as good as one of his hot rods. Larry won the bet. This was his answer: a 5-foot-tall metal monster of a speaker system that launched Larry’s Mancave Metal Company (MancaveMetal.com). He built this amazing speaker system using old transmissions parts, scrap metal, and a lot of fabrication talent. Larry opted to make his stereo just as functional as it is outlandish. “I’d walk through these audio trade shows and see these killer speakers. I’m sure they sounded great, but the boxes they’re in, why do they need to be so boring? Larry asked. Though much of Larry’s work is handmade, you’ve no doubt spotted a few familiar parts. The hand on top…

When I heard a rumor from a friend of an old Barracuda stashed in a garage by his Mom’s house, I knew I had to investigate. We met up with my friend’s associate at his home and made our way to the nearby garage. As the doors opened up, the car was quite a sight to behold. Sitting under a pile of discarded building scrap was a Vitamin C Orange ’70 Plymouth Barracuda. The car was sweet, only some minor rust in the fenders and quarters—nothing too horrendous. It was a basic Barracuda with a 318ci small-block V8. The car was an automatic with a floor shifter, powerdisc brakes, no A/C, and a moldy steering wheel. That’s not a factory option. The owner said the odometer should be right at…

Much like raising a child, it takes a community to create a hot rod—so you know this Ford was built with a lot of help. The chrome plating came from a shop that needed an axle fixed, a friend traded the Strombergs to repair a roof on his ’59 Chevy, and the interior came from an upholstery shop that needed a transmission fixed. When Tom Leonardo couldn’t do something himself, he traded, bartered, or swapped services to build this blue ’32 for $4,800—less than we’ve paid for non-running heaps. Tom, a tall, slim Southern California native who’s always dressed in a clean white shirt tucked into blue jeans, has worked as a plumber most his life. He doesn’t have a lot but takes pride in what he has. His passion…

“How much is it worth?” That has always been my least favorite automotive query. How much is it worth to whom? To me? To you? To the man who worked the weekend at the Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson auction selling hot dogs? He was lovely, by the way. We had a nice conversation on the shuttle bus in from the dirt parking lot seven miles from the entrance gate, where we were stopped for a security bag check, in case we were trying to smuggle in bootleg ignition keys, or flasks of moonshine. Putting value on a collectible or custom car is a tricky business, but clearly a profitable one. Barrett-Jackson says the 2014 Scottsdale auction moved more than $113,000,000 worth of cars and carish memorabilia, and that’s only the stuff that…

This is what makes an AVS an AVS. The spring here is adjustable to help with the secondary tuning—where the AFB had virtually no adjustment. Make sure the adjustment screw or locking screw isn’t stripped, the case isn’t busted from overtightening, and that the spring hasn’t been tampered with. To the uninitiated, the Holley 4 bbl may seem to be the only carburetor ever offered on a muscle car, but the Carter aluminum 4-bbl (AFB) and Carter airvalve secondary (AVS) carbs were also common. The ’68–’71 AVS (shown) used on many Mopars were an evolution of the AFB offered on Chrysler, Ford, and GM vehicles from ’57–’71. Carter AFB and AVS carbs are often confused with one another. The AFB uses counterweights installed above the throttle plates. When the secondaries…

Major Adam Barlow of Ashe County, North Carolina—a husband, father of two, and member of the 82nd Airborne—has always wanted a Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am. His wife bought him a well-worn ’77 Trans Am Special Edition. He drove it for a year with its cracked bumpers and faded graphics before he visited Miller Brothers Hot Rod Barn in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, for fresh paint. Owner Scotty Miller promised him a good paintjob and that he could cut some corners to save Adam money. A couple of days after Adam left for his yearlong tour in Afghanistan, his father Jim arrived at Miller Brothers Hot Rod Barn. “He told me, ‘we aren’t painting it, I want this thing to be a new car when Adam gets home’,” Scotty…

There’s considerable controversy over whether it’s best to hook up the master-shutoff (“kill”) switch to the battery’s positive or negative side. NHRA rules still mandate a positive-side hookup, but most stock-car sanctioning bodies want the kill switch on the negative side. I vote for the negative side if it’s legal. On a switch connected through the positive side, the exposed terminals on the back of the switch or a broken positive cable could contact the sheetmetal or frame during a crash, creating a short to ground and safety hazard. The negative cable connects to the body ground already—so there’s no additional danger if it rubs. It’s the same principle as why you should always disconnect the battery’s negative side first before performing electrical service. HOTROD.COM/Marlan-Davis…

The other day at lunch, a conversation started about car-themed tattoos. Automotive interest and ink seem to go hand-in-hand. I’ve met a man who has his entire car collection inked on his back, including some empty bays in the garage for vehicles yet to be acquired. He says when he’s out of room, he’ll stop collecting, but I bet he’ll just move on to full sleeves. I think it’s pretty cool when someone loves this hobby enough to mark it on their skin, and I’ve got a few auto-tats myself. There’s a Shelby on my left ankle, and a Dodge truck on my right wrist. If I shaved my head, you’d be able to see the Challenger, and on my lower back is a Snap-on toolbox. Now, I must admit,…

Rod Column Speedway Motors // 800.979.0122 // SpeedwayMotors.com If you’re building a street rod or a custom creation and don’t have an existing steering column, Speedway Motors has a no-frills version (hence, affordable). The stainless steel Nostalgia Steering Column combines a simple, clean design and is 30 inches long with a 1¾-inch main tube in either a brushed or polished finish. A 3-inch-diameter bell at the top of the column contains the turn signal assembly, hazard light switch, and horn components, while the ¾-inch steel steering shaft has a 36-spline end to accept common ’69–’94 GM-style steering wheels and adapters. Price: $249.99 unpolished, $299.99 polished One Cleveland Block McKeown Motorsport Engineering, Inc. // 301.932.9292 MMEracing.com The Ford Cleveland engine has been out of production for decades, yet still retains a…

Qualifying at the ’64 Indy 500 in the STP pits of Andy Granatelli (standing next to the fire-extinguisher dude) and his brother Vince (pushing the right rear tire) with their Novi-powered Indy roadster driven by Art Malone. You can almost feel the anticipation, emotion, and suspense in this Bob D’Olivo image as Malone rumbles out of the pit. Both Granatelli and Malone died this past year. More info on them and other heroes lost in ’13 can be found in the May ’14 issue. 1964 was the last year a front-engine roadster would win the 500, driven by A.J. Foyt. Malone, with this Novi-powered roadster, would complete this year’s 500 in 11th place, thus adding to the legendary “Novi Jinx.” First as a front-wheel-drive race car, then through many iterations,…

If you’re going to crash a domestic supercar, doing it directly in front of our HOT ROD office might not be the best plan. None of us are sure exactly what happened here: we heard a bang, and the next thing we knew, there was a Ford GT on the grass. “Hey you kids! Git off mah lawn!” The driver wasn’t hurt, but he sure must have been smarting when the 25 different editors and photographers who rushed out of the office all put up their images on Instagram. Hashtag, #doofus. Accident at the ’14 Grand National Roadster Show One of the contenders for the ’14 Grand National Roadster Show was approaching the viewing area to be judged when the roadster ran over GNRS judging chairman Vic Cunnyngham, resulting in…

Episodes, that is. Our Roadkill adventure series on YouTube.com/MotorTrend went live on February 17, 2012, and on February 21, 2014, we posted our 25th show. We’ve been amazed and flattered by fan reactions over the past couple years: 13 episodes have exceeded a million views, and two more will likely hit that number by the time you read this. The largest one has 28.5 million views and the smallest is 490,000. So if you haven’t seen Roadkill, where have you been? In truth, we can’t blame you, because it’s been many months since we caught you up on the show here in the pages of HOT ROD. Roadkill has only one premise: stupid fun with cars and no fake reality show BS. Follow along with the photos to catch up…

John Walker purchased this ’65 Ford Galaxie in 2010 with the intention of restoring it. His father had owned a ’65 Galaxie 500 coupe, and John owned a Fox-body 5.0L convertible. This drop-top combined two of his favorite aspects of both cars, the clean lines of the ’65 that had always resonated with him and, at well over 6 feet tall, the convertible roof offered unlimited headroom. In his first two years of ownership, John had turned the car into a reliable cruiser and installed a fresh white top with a glass back window, but he really wanted to push the car to a higher level in both form and function. A meeting with Dave Kindig, at Kindig-It Designs in Salt Lake City, Utah, resulted in a rendering that used…

“Well, they’re pretty confident, aren’t they?” So started a HOT ROD staff meeting that would result in us flying to Birmingham, Alabama, in the middle of a snowstorm, bringing a Mustang to a Chevrolet track test, crashing the legendary Big Red ’69 Camaro, nearly overpowering a dyno, and seriously considering bank robbery as a way to afford the new ’14 Camaro Z/28. It began when we received an invite from Chevrolet to come test the ’14 Z/28, and not just test it, but bring whatever we wanted to challenge it, and whomever we wanted to drive it, on the 2.38-mile Barber road course in Birmingham, Alabama. We knew the Z/28 would be a fearsome adversary, videos of a test car running a 7.37.47 around the famed Nürburgring in Germany (faster…

ROCKWELL HARDNESS Rockwell Hardness is the rating of a particular metal’s hardness, and directly correlates to the material’s ultimate tensile strength. The Rockwell harness of a material is determined by a physical test of a sample, where a test material (typically, a steel ball or diamond cone) is pressed into the material to be tested. The Rockwell Scale is broken down into 15 sub-classes with the prefix “HR” (A, B, C, D, E, and so on), the letters designate the substance used to press into the material tested. The number that follows it is a relative scale that denotes harder and harder materials. When comparing two materials (or bolts, in this case) with the same letter class (HRC is the most common in our chart), the higher the number the…

This project began with a screaming deal on an engine we’d have to build an entire vehicle around. Yet what do you do with a mechanically injected motor that weighs a ton, runs on everything from used 10W-30 to jet fuel, and is capable of making more than 100 hp per liter? You build a doomsday escape vehicle. Well, at least that was the plan leading up to the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012, but as you’ve no doubt noticed, life has carried on and zombies have yet to overrun the planet. Which is great, because we’re still wrenching on the truck. The Doomsday Diesel project was born from the idea that owning a diesel truck makes you more prepared for all the worst-case scenarios life throws at…

What whines, breathes, has ribs, and blows up like a poodle in a microwave oven? If you said supercharger, you win a cookie. Superchargers are the magic boxes atop many a drag-race engine forcing a pressurized combination of air and nitromethane into the cylinders and creating huge amounts of “added” power. So far, so good. But stuff happens. In the case of our exploding blower, the 500ci big-block over-revved, with the valves contacting the pistons. That bent some (most likely all) of the valves. With the bent valves allowing an opening for flame to enter the intake manifold with its pressurized nitro, the resulting explosion pushed up on the rotors spinning in the blower case. Once the explosive force and the blower rotors tangled, the blower stripped the gears at…

THE COMBO Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, Cecil Murray has, in his words, “owned many different makes and types of muscle cars, but I’ve always had a special spot for Mopars.” So back in 1994 when a friend of Murray’s who’d moved to Los Angeles latched on to what appeared to be a basically straight and original ’70 Plymouth Road Runner coupe equipped with a big-block 440 engine running the relatively rare 6-BBL induction system with three two-barrel Holley carbs, Murray couldn’t resist its $1,500 asking price. He and a buddy flew out to L.A. and drove it back to Chitown following the path of Route 66, stopping several times to repair a bunch of glitches. The years rolled by; the car was in and out of storage. The…

No, I mean it this time. Having far too many cars and way too many speed parts rotting in the garage has been integral to my editorial schtick for as long as you’ve known me, but it’s bankrupting me financially and mentally. I’ve got to clean house, yet it’s hard to let go. It seems a lot of car guys are pack rats, and those tendencies go back to the beginning of hot rodding: Ed Iskenderian is famous for stacking his buildings with assorted stuff, and when Wally Parks died, he left behind several storage units crammed with memorabilia. Thanks to the legacy created by guys like those, motorheads of the past several decades have been brainwashed with the notion of “collectability.” T-shirts, dragstrip passes, speed parts, petroliana, toys, signs,…