Hot Rod - February 2015

FASTEST STREET CAR IN AMERICA

FORD DODGE CHEVY: VS

VS

DOES BRAND LOYALTY STILL EXIST? Engine guru Kenny Duttweiler explains why smaller engines are better.

PG. 30

AK MILLER’S CABALLO II TROUNCES EUROPE’S ELITE ONCE AGAIN Evil Twins: Jeff Lutz’s twin-turbo street cars finish First and Fifth at Drag Week 2014.

PG. 40

300-CAR TORTURE TEST! HOT ROD

572CI FORD

VINTAGE BLOWER

FARM TRACTOR BIG-BLOCK BUILD

CARNAGE

ULTIMATE

RACETRACK MAP



.

.

JOHN DODGE

HORACE DODGE

AT D O D G E . C O M

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Contents

10] Why Drag Week Changes How You Think About 4Cars 0] Drag Week: 300-Car Street, Race, 12] Where It All Began and Wrenching Shootout 14] #HOTROD 72] 572ci Ford Built to Eat Rat Motors 18] World’s Most Powerful Farm Tractor 78] How to Spot: Titanium, Carbon Fiber, and Chromoly 20] Go 200 MPH, Make 700 HP, Run 11s— 80] Building a1958 Corvette From a Pile of Parts Keep Your Warranty Paint 84] 16 Steps to Properly Care for Modern 22] We Take You Inside Old Car City USA 88] How We Keep the RoadkillRanchero Running 24] Map ofthe World’s Greatest Racetracks 91] Is It Too Late to Learn To Drive Stick? 26] Brand Loyalty Gets Put to the estT 94] Don’t Make ThisMistake With our Y Air Cleaner 14,000-Mile Olds 442 28] You Should Have Found It! 30] Engine Guru Kenny Duttweiler: Why RPM and Boost Beat Displacement 32] Ak Miller’s Hemi-Powered Caballo II Returns

98] How To: Track DownTerminal TransmissionNoises 110] Mating a Muncie Four-Speed to an LS Engine Ru 122] Breaking Rules is Easier Than Makingles

HOTROD.COM EVERY DAY

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ON THE COVER:

There’s a philosophy in motorsports that campaigning a two-car team provides a competitive advantage. Jeff Lutz Sr. and Jeff Lutz Jr. put that to the test by running two 1957 Chevys at this year’s Drag Week™: the steel-bodied car that gave Larry Larson ™ a run for his money at the 2012 Drag Week , and an all-new composite-bodied 1957 Chevy named Evil Twin that won this year’s event and is HOT ROD’s Fastest Street Car in America. Photo by Larry Chen.

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L`] OGJD<K >AJKL in Premium Quality Custom Gauges AFFGN9L=& F=N=J >GDDGO& EDITORIAL Editor-In-Chief David Kennedy Managing Editor Phil McRae Senior Technical Editor Marlan Davis Staff Editor Thom Taylor Staff Editor Brandan Gillogly Staff Editor Elana Scherr Video Host and Producer Mike Finnegan Tech Center Manager Calin Head ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Creative Director Edwin Alpanian Digital Art Director Ryan Lugo Assistant Art Director Carlo Anacta

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LIFETIME WARRANTY L`] GFDQ Ymlgeglan] Y^l]jeYjc]l _Ym_]k lg `Yn] Y DA>=LAE= O9JJ9FLQ

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CUSTOM BUILD IT ;`ggk] ^jge L@GMK9F
ON THE WEB CarCraft.com CircleTrack.com ClassicTrucks.com HOTROD.com MoparMuscleMagazine.com MuscleCarReview.com StreetRodderWeb.com MANUFACTURING & PRODUCTION OPERATIONS VP, Manufacturing & Ad Operations Greg Parnell Sr. Director, Ad Operations Pauline Atwood Archivist Thomas Voehringer SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES Email [email protected], call 800/800-4681 (386.447.6385 international), or write to Hot Rod, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL32142-0235. Please include name,address, and phone number on any inquiries. For change of address, sixweeks’ notice required. Send old as well as new address to HOT ROD, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL32142-0235. Occasionally our subscriber list is made available to reputable firms offering goods and services we believe would be of interest to our readers. If you prefer to be excluded, please send your current address label and a note requesting to be excluded from these promotions to Source Interlink Media, LLC, 831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245, Attn: PrivacyCoordinator. Canada Post: Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to IMEX Global Solutions, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.

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ADVERTISING INFORMATION Please call HOT ROD Advertising Department at Car Craft, 310/531-9183. Related publications include Circle Track, Classic Trucks, Engine Masters, Hot Rod Deluxe, Mopar Muscle, Muscle Car Review, and Street Rodder. Reprints: Contact Wright’s Media at 877.652.5295 (281.419.5725 outside the U.S. and Canada) to purchase quality custom reprints or e-prints of articles appearing in this publication.Back issues:To order back issues, visit simbackissues.com. Any submissions or contributions from readers shall be subject to and governed by Source Interlink Media’s User Content Submission Terms and Conditions, which are posted at http://privacy.sourceinterlinkmedia.com/ submissions.html. Copyright 2014 by Source Interlink Magazines, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

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ADVERTISING General Manager, HOT ROD Network Tim Foss General Manager, HOT ROD Jeff Dahlin Associate General Manager Brian Cox Advertising Coordinator Patricia Ludi General Manager’s Assistant Mimi Hirata To advertise on this magazine’s website, or any of Source Interlink Media’s other enthusiast sites, please contact us at [email protected] WEST Los Angeles:831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245; Mark Dewey; Scott Timberlake; 310.531.9900 Irvine: 1733 Alton Parkway, Irvine, CA 92606; 949.705.3100 EAST New York:261 Madison Ave., 6th floor, New York, NY 10016; Jim Keplesky, 212.915.4000 NORTH Detroit:4327 Delemere Court, Royal Oak, MI 48073; Joe Didato, 248.594.2542 MIDWEST Chicago:Marc Gordon, 312.396.0620 SOUTHEAST Brit White, 813.675.3479 SOUTHWEST Glenda R. Elam, 626.695.5950 SOURCE INTERLINK MEDIA, LLC Chairman Peter Englehart Chief Executive OfficerScott P. Dickey EVP, Chief Financial Officer Bill Sutman EVP, Chief Creative Officer Alan Alpanian EVP, Sports & Entertainment Norb Garrett EVP, Chief Content Officer Angus MacKenzie EVP, Operations Kevin Mullan SVP, Enterprises Tyler Schulze EVP, Sales & Marketing Eric Schwab SVP, Digital Operations Dan Bednar VP, Sales Operations Matt Boice SVP, Financial Planning Mike Cummings SVP, Automotive Digital Geoff DeFrance VP, Editorial Operations Amy Diamond EVP, Aftermarket Automotive Doug Evans SVP, Content Strategy, Automotive David Freiburger SVP, Digital, Sports & Entertainment Greg Morrow VP, Digital MonetizationElisabeth Murray SVP, Marketing Ryan Payne EVP, Mind Over Eye Bill Wadsworth CONSUMER MARKETING, ENTHUSIAST MEDIASUBSCRIPTION COMPANY , INC. SVP, Circulation Tom Slater VP, Retention & Operations Fulfillment Donald T. Robinson III

STARTINGLINE

Drag Week Changes How You Think About Cars Hot rodding has two purposes: to place it finishes to really enjoy it. show whatyou can do to a vehicle, Nope, to get the full experiand to show whatyou can do with ence of a car, I say you needto a vehicle. I know we all spend combine the two: take it out on the open road, roll the windows countless hours and zillions of dollars on the projects sitting in down, get it dirty, push it to its our there’s joy performance limits, and come to bedriveways—and found there for sure—but home with stories that start with, to get the pride of ownership and“It was crazy, we…” craftsmanship you deserve, How hard do you need to I say you have to stop wrenching,push? Well, if you know what washing, and waxing it, and take day of the week it is,what town that vehicle to its very limits. But you’re in, and where you’re going where do you find those limits, to eat your next meal—you need what do you learn there, and at to push harder. It’s only under this kind of pressure that you get what cost? Road-tripping our cars used to experience living in the presto be the answer. A paper map, ent, and knowing your car by the some tools in the trunk, and a repair you’re making, the stretch buddy riding shotgun that liked of road you’re blasting down, or the same kind of music was all the staging lane you’re in. e Drag Week™ that David it took. But as A/C, GPS, and smartphones have proliferFreiburger has given us(and ated, the art of the road trip you’ll read about in this issue) has changed forever. Now you does just that. It’s five days of racneed to manufacture risk by ing and cannonballing across the seeking out the old roads with- USA that bridges the street and out cell towers and strip malls track worlds by measuring us everywhere. with time slips and inspiring us Racing our cars only gets us with road trips. Mixing the two leads to what is, at times,overpart of the way there, too, as motorsports have evolved with a whelming—when exhaustion sterility that can turn man versus takes over, the car breaks, or you machine into feeling like a tough desperately need a tool, part, or day at school. Racing also brings credit card you le back home— with it the specter of thinking thebut those are the moments we only way you can have fun is to beseek as hot rodders and the ones in First Place. e car you build that’ll change our lives forever. must be about more than the hHOTROD.COM/ David-Kennedy [I couldn’t tell you for the life of me what day, state, or gas station on Drag Week™ 2014 this photo of me, Freiburger, and Elena was taken at—and that’s a good thing in my book.

CONNECT WITH US:[email protected] 10 HOTROD.COM /2015/FEBRUARY /

IN MY OPINION

Great Advice I’ll Give, Not Take “Done is better than good.” HOT ROD’s Reach Is Bigger Than Ever Today HOT ROD reaches more readers, viewers, and fans than ever before in its 67-year history. How many more? Every month around 650,000 copies of the magazine are sold and there are more than 5 million pages views at HOTROD.com . More than 2.7 million of you follow HOT ROD on Facebook, 69,000 of you see us on Instagram, and 38,000 keep up with us on Twitter. Many of you get your HOT ROD fix from all five places. I’m Not Proud of It, But… Ten years ago, I got nabbed with two speeding tickets on the same day. One was at 7 a.m. in Nevada for going 85 in a 70-mph zone. The second came at 4:30 that afternoon in Utah for going 48 on a 35-mph stretch of road. My wife was with me, and still gives me s**t about that day.

hHOTROD.COM/ Brandan-Gillogly

Ford posed 50 Mustangs from all generations at the 2014 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The cars formed a massive “50” that Ford was photographing via drone. There might have been a year or two missing, but it looked like there was practically one Mustang for every year of production.

hHOTROD.COM/ Elana-Scherr

Brandan and I carpool to the office, and conversation is pretty much all about the other cars in traffic. It’s kind of weird now when I’m driving with someone else and they don’t understand that an excited grunting sound means, “Did you see that mid-year Vette go by in the other lane?”

hHOTROD.COM/ Thom-Taylor

The SEMA Show is the place where you can follow your hot rod dreams—and even try to sell them. Some things you’ll see are fantastical, and some need a little explaining.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

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Breaking and Thrashing atHOT theROD First Drag Week This is Justin Burcham on day 4 ofthe first HOT ROD Drag Week™ in 2005. He’s thrashing toreplace his 2005Mustang’s five-speed as time ticks away. Eventually, Burcham got the car to the staging lanes with only 15 minutes left and ran a10.301-second e.t. at 137.65 mph. Then he loaded everything needed for five days of pit and/ or roadside thrashing into his trailer, hooked it up to the Mustang, and made aninterstate blitz to the next track.Burcham finished that first Drag Week™ with afive-day average of 10.756 seconds at 131.378 mph. hHOTROD.COM/ Thom-Taylor

HOTROD.COM /2015/ FEBRUARY / 13

s e iv h c r A D O R T O H

RODDIN’ @ RANDOM

#HOTROD Scene by Readers: Featured Artist Ryan Schude

Ryan Schude’s interest in cars started in high school with an early 1980s Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royal— which was already an old car by the time Ryan ended up behind the wheel. He drove the Olds throughout his college years and credits it not only for getting him back and forth between Chicago and San Francisco during that time but for kickstarting an interest in automobiles that is heavily represented in his current photographic While manywork. of Ryan’s images feature architecture or portraiture, there’s a high ratio of cars that end up in his pictures too. All three of those interests come together in his current series, , in em and eirs which he photographs car owners with their cars in interesting or surprising locations. Sometimes the owners are people he knows and thinks are interesting, but just as oen he’ll leave a note on a car that catches his eye. Ryan says he uses colors and shapes as starting points for staging the photos and that the hardest thing about automotive photography is not getting caught in a rut when it comesto angles and innovative shots. A “ lot of times, Iget stuck in shooting the one angle I think the car looksgood in,” he told us, “but I thinkit’s important to trydifferent perspectives if you have the time. Oen you will discover how different the car looksfrom each of its vantage points.” When it comes to Instagram, Ryan says it made sense to start an account for his work. “I had been involved with many different photography sites like Flickr and Tumblr for a long time, so it wasa natural transition to a phone-based app.” He says he keeps up with his friends onthe app and gets a glimpse into the work of other photographers as well. ere is one car Ryan has yet to shoot a photo of: his own, a 1972 Jaguar XJ6 that he’s used as a daily driver for the last six years. “I’m still looking for the perfect location to shoot it!” he says. Want to see more of Ryan’s work? Look for him @ryanschude orRyanSchude.com. hHOTROD.COM/ Elana-Scherr

Ryan says this illustrates his ideas of color and form, and is one of his favorite photos. “The location we used was one I’d had my eye on for a few years, and this shot finally gave me the inspiration to build a scene around the unique staircase you see there.” 01]

02] This s hot almost got Ryan arrested. “Hanging the

tarp from the overpass was a significant challenge. The cops did come by in response to a call they got that someone was threatening to jump off the overpass, but the fact that we were shooting without a permit and hanging this massive tarp over Riverside Drive didn’t seem to bother them when they realized no one was jumping.”

SEND YOUR PHOTOS 14 HOTROD.COM /2015/FEBRUARY /

Do you have a collection of awesome car photography? Tips on how to take better shots? If you or someone you know should be featured in #HOTROD, let us know [email protected] at or tag us on Instagram or Twitter @hotrodmagazine.

01

INSTAGRAM NAME

@ryanschude

CAMERA

Canon 5D Mark III and 1951 Rolleiflex film camera

FAVORITE FILTER

None: “I usually use Snapseed or Afterlight to adjust the photos.”

BEST TIP

Try different angles.

CAR

1972 Jaguar XJ6

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RODDIN’ @ RANDOM

Hot Rod Anything!

Twin-Turbo, Dual-Blower Farm Tractor Randy Williams

Engine: 1,472ci V16 Detroit Diesel Fuel tank: 1,000 gallons Induction: Two superchargers, two turbochargers

t e e f 14 : t h ig e H

e d i w s e h c n i 6 . 9 3 ,l l tta e e f 8 : e iz s re i T

Transmission: Twin Disc 8FLW-1801 Wheelbase: 16 feet, 3 inches

Americans have grown accustomed to owning the biggest, the best, and the most powerful versions of pretty much everything. To the uninitiated, some of these lux-

powerful enough to work enormous parcels of land were in high demand. As these tractors grew in popularity , so did the power ratings and the size of the machines. Yet

cotton-farming outfit in Old River (near Bakersfield, California) that needed a machine capable of deep-ripping a third of its acreage once a year—and in a timely fashion.

there were still some farmers who needed more than what the big-name tractor manufacturers could provide. Ron Harmon, owner of Northern Manufacturing Company, a producer ofcustom tractors called Big Buds, had one such customer. e Rossi Brothers had a large

eusing Rossinine Brothers had entertained the idea of Caterpillar D9 bulldozers to do the job. e goal of building one machine that could outperform nine bulldozers tasked Harmon and his lead design engineer, Keith Richardson, to build something larger and more powerful than any model Big Bud

overkill

uries might seem a bit, —but whencan the ends justify the means, hot rodders always rationalize having bigger and more powerful stuff. During the 1970s, the size ofthe average American farm was expanding, and four-wheel-drive , articulatedfarm tractors

DO YOU HOT ROD EVERYTHING?

If you’ve hopped up anything that’s not a car, let’s see it! Hot leaf blower? Bitchin’ gas grill? Customized kitchen cabinets? Anything goes. Email pics and [email protected]. details:


WORLD’S LARGEST TRACTOR

Height: 14 feet Width 20 feet, 10 inches Length: 28 feet, 6 inches Weight: 100,000 pounds Power: 1,100 hp Engine weight: 4,500 pounds Injection: Mechanical, camshaft-driven, unit-injection Starting system: 24-volt Cost to build (1977): $300,000 Time it took to build: 6 months

[The 16V92T Detroit Diesel two-stroke engine sits on a subframe between the Big Bud’s 2-inchthick framerails. The hood and cab can be tilted backward to access and service the huge Twin Disc transmission.

Axles: Clark D-85840 (85,000-pound capacity) with planetary wheel ends

tractor the company had ever produced. At pounds at an 8-mph pace: impressive even the time, no one could’ve predicted that the by today’s standards. To simplify repairs and keepcosts down, final product would still hold the “world’s largest farm tractor” title to the present day. the Big Bud was built withreadily available “We looked at several engine options: components. “We believed in bolting inall the 3512 CAT engine, Cummins 1710, and the major components—not welding them,” even the 2300 series Cummins [1,150 hp in Ron told us. “We also designed the framB form],” Harmon told us. “In the end, we erails [made from 2-inch-thick steel] so you thought the two-stroke Detroit Diesel would could run almost any manufacturer’ s engine be a good option for the type of horsepower or transmission.” we were looking for.” e only component no longer readily But for a tractor that would weigh nearly available are the tires. e 8-foot-tall rub100,000 pounds (135,000 pounds fully bal- ber (which have “Big Bud” stamped into lasted), the strength of two engines would the mold) are the srcinals, and the manube needed to power it. Detroit Diesel made facturer is no longer around. “If we ruin a tire, we’re probably committed to building a V16 engine, which essentially coupled two 736ci V8engines together . Displacing another set of huge tires,” Robert Williams, 92 ci per cylinder, the 16-cylinder 16V92T current owner of the tractor, told us. displaced 1,472 ci. Mechanical unit-injection So will anyone ever build alarger tractor? kept the fuel delivery simple, and both V8 Maybe. But astoday’s four-wheel-drives portions of the engine utilized a turbocome with vastlyimproved transmissions, charger feeding a Roots supercharger . fuel economy, and 500- to 600hp engines as According to Ron, the V16 srcinally standard equipmen t, the same amount of made 760 hp. However, he also told us that work can be done with a more efficient and over time it was turned up to860 hp, folcompact machine. However , even with all lowed by 960 hp. Rumor has it that the trac- the advances in agricultural technology in tor can make as much as 1,100 hp if need be, the last 40 years, we wouldn’t count the Big but at the 900hp level it can pull an 80-foot Bud out of a head-to-head competition. cultivator weighing more than 35,000 hMike McGlothlin

Projects Readers’

Want to share your car with the whole world? Send photos and info [email protected] .

Justin Long// Arlington, Virginia

Barry Stewart// Granger, Indiana

Justin sent this pic of his 2012 Dodge Challenger RT, aka the “Beltway Bandit,” in front of the U.S. Capitol before he took a date to the Smithsonian Institution.

Barry’s 1970 ’Cuda was built with all the alphanumeric codes that Mopar guys dream of: TF727 three-speed auto, 93⁄4-inch ring gear Dana 60 rear axle, with 3.54:1 gears.

HOTROD.COM/2015/FEBRUARY/ 19

RODDIN’ @ RANDOM

Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield

n a g r o M e ik M

The 2014 California Hot Rod Reunion took over Bakersfield and the Auto Club Famoso strip just outside of town for the 23rd time. Of course, Famoso has been the site of the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championship, better known as the March Meet, since 1959. Art Chrisman won that first meet. It is very much like

Saturday night, with some new dragsters debuting—including Tom Hoover’s longtail “Fishbowl” dragster from 1966. Considered one of the most beautiful dragsters ever, it has made its way from Minnesota. A reception with Grand Marshall Mike Dunn and honorees Bob Brooks, brothers Ed and

it was then, which makes the perfect venue for this stepitback in drag-racing time. A huge swap meet is also included in the deal, along with the infamous Cacklefest on

Roy Doug Butler, HughCortopassi, Tucker, Dennis Varni, and Sid Waterma n were allhonored for the mark they have made on drag racing throughout the years. hHOTROD.COM/ Thom-Taylor

200 MPH and 707 HP For$63,995 QUICK FACTS Like the 2015 Ford F-150, the next generation Ford Super Duty will use a body that is constructed from aluminum. The 2016 Camaro has been spotted testing at Germany’s Nürburgring sporting swirly zebra vinyl camouflage. The sixthgeneration car retains theCoke-bottle rear fenders and the headlight/upper grille opening continues to be anarrow slit above a larger main grille. It looks like thenew car rides a wheelbase similar if not identical to theon Cadillac ATS, which is, 109.3 inches. The Current Camaro is 112.3inches, while the Mustang has been on a 107.1-inch wheelbase since 2005. Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat VIN #0001 sold for $825,000 at theBarrett-Jackson auction held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. All proceeds went to Opportunity Village, an organization serving those with intellectual disabilities in Las Vegas. George Poteet, driver of the Speed Demon Streamliner crashed and rolled at more than 370 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats. George is OK, but the car is atotal loss. Construction is already underway on Speed Demon II. David Kennedy

Dodge announced the 2015 Charger a 370hp 5.7L Hemi anda standard eightBrembo brakes, performance seats, unique Hellcat will have a starting price of $63,995, speed TorqueFlite automatic, making it the badges, and a spoiler allfor $39,995. which includes a $1,700 gas-guzzler tax. least expensive V8 sedan on themarket, Dodge Charger SRT 392 takes the Scat At 707 hp, world’ Dodge claims he t fastest, Hellcat Charger is “the s quickest, most powerful sedan,” We can’t think of any more powerful sedans, and we can’t think of many new sedans we would rather put in our driveway. e 2015 Charger Hellcat is abargain when you consider the performance, and so are the other V8-powered Chargers. e Dodge Charger R/T starts at $32,995, with

20 HOTROD.COM /2015/ FEBRUARY /

according Pack and adds 20x9.5-inch wheels over Next up to theDodge. performance ladder is the 15.4-inch Brembo brakes and SRT-tuned redundantly named Dodge Charger R/T high-performance adaptive damping susRoad & Track, which takes the R/T and adds pension and carries a starting U.S. MSRP of the Super Track Pak with track suspension $47,385. Purchase includes a day of driving at the SRT Driving Experience to teach drivand performance seats and a whole lot of sporty options for $35,995. ers how to get the most of theircars on the en there’s the Dodge Charger R/T Scat street and strip. e SRT Driving Experience Pack, and that’s where the 485hp 392 comes is also included withthe Hellcat. in. It also carries newfront and rear fascias, hHOTROD.COM/ Brandan-Gillogly

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RODDIN’ @ RANDOM

The Dodge Brothers Race On TV In Dodge’s new commercial, John and Horace Dodge engage in some time-traveling car chasery. Not bad for a commercial, but it has a rather glaring historical inaccurac y. The Dodge brothers go from their first car in 1914 to a stylish 1939 coupe, skipping the 1920s, but after that it goes for a few decades, the mid1950s Lancer, the late-1960s Coronet, and then—2015 Charger. Huh? Sure, there was a slight dip in glory after 1969, but we can think of number of carsyears that between could have filled in any the 30-something Coronets and the return of the Charger. Can’t you? hHOTROD.COM/ Elana-Scherr

Courtesy of Dodge

Old Car City USA is Full of Abandoned Muscle Cars and Classics You’ve probably seen images from this place before. Bigfinned Cadillacs sinking slowly in the loam, a 1967 GTO peering out from waist-high weeds, vines curling around the mirrors and in and out of hoodscoops, pre-safety glass windshields starred and fogged from decades of quiet resting in the woods. There are more than 6 miles of trails in and around the Georgia forest land that houses these picturesque scenes ofabandonment, and the owner of it all, Dean Lewis, knows exactly how striking it is. opened a small general store in ere is a sign on the fence White, Georgia, a tiny town only that reads “CARS, ART, formed a few years earlier. e NATURE, HISTORY.” at Lewis’ added a scrapyard busisums up Dean’s approach to his ness to the store, and Dean says 34-acre vintage car scrapyard his childhood was spent playing pretty well. Actually, calling with cars in that junkyard. His it a scrapyard might lead to folks had moved out of the junk the wrong impression; maybe business by the time Dean got “adventureland” would be bet- interested in taking over the ter. Dean calls it “Photographers property in the 1970s, but there Paradise,” and that works, too, were still some 1940s cars sitalthough don’t havewalking to be behind theyou lens to enjoy the wooded trails of Old Car City, USA O ( ldCarCityUSA. com). For a car junkie, it’s a bit like walking the Louvre, if that famous museum had le the Mona Lisa outside for 25 years. e business started back in 1931, when Dean’s parents


r r e h c S a n a l E

airplanes and other oddities in anyone? Gold Duster?) aswell and around the rusting frames of as high-performance cars that muscle cars and 1950s classics. we thought had all been restored Eventually, the place became by now (1968 Super Bee? Olds more of an art project than a 442?) it doesn’t even seem posworking salvage yard, and that’s sible that these cars ever ended when Dean realized he could up in a junkyard. make more money charging If you’re near White, Georgia admission like a theme park than (about 1.5 hours from Atlanta), parting out the displays. don’t miss a chance to go through Old Car City for yourOld Car City is loosely divided by make: here a row of self. We recommend showing

ting around in cars the woods. Dean the Fords anda Mercurys, around started buying from auctions bend clearing with AMCs and private parties and recycling and Chryslers, but you never yards. He expanded so much he know what you’ll find peeking had to buy more land to keep out from a blanket of leaves everything on. e area became a or tucked inside a weathered playground for Dean, his friends, wooden lean-to. e variety his children, and his grandchil- is staggering; we saw special dren. A creative group, they’ d use package options we hadforgotscrap metal to build towers and ten about (Hornet Sportabout,

with good walking shoes, aupbig memory card in your camera, and a lot of bug spray. Old Car City isopen Tuesday through Saturday and costs $25 for admission. Don’t forget to check out Dean’s art gallery in the upstairs section of the museum. hHOTROD.COM/ Elana-Scherr

#BarrettJackson

13TH ANNUAL PALM BEACH AUCTION

APRIL 17-19 | PALM BEACH, FL

1934 FORD CUSTOM WOODY WAGON

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Measure Up Famous Racetracks Drawn to Scale

20

31

16 10 14

Australian artist Matt Dunlop put together this visual comparison of some of the world’s most famous racetracks drawn to scale. Seeing the long line of Bonneville against the four short quarters of zMax, or the angry T-rex of Laguna Seca dwarfed by the 24 hours of Le Mans’ Circuit de la Sarthe and all of it enveloped by the 37 miles

01 07

of theto epic Man Snaefell reallytracks makes uscan want go Isle raceofeverything. Seecourse how many you recognize, and if you want a copy of Matt’s map for your own wall, go toRedBubble.com/people/sirdunny . hHOTROD.COM/ Elana-Scherr

01] BARBER

MOTORSPORTS PARK 02] BONNEVILLE

SPEEDWAY 03] CIRCUIT DE LA

SARTHE 04] CIRCUIT OF

THE AMERICAS 05] DARLINGTON

16]MILLER

17]NÜRBURGRING 18]PIKES PEAK

INTERNATIONAL HILL CLIMB

20]AUTO CLUB

RACEWAY AT POMONA 21]ROAD AMERICA

06] DAYTONA

22]ROAD ATLANTA

INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

23]SANTA POD

SPEEDWAY

24]SEBRING

INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

09]INDIANAPOLIS

25]SONOMA RACEWAY

10] MAZDA RACEWAY

LAGUNA SECA 11] LAS VEGAS

MOTOR SPEEDWAY 12]LIME ROCK PARK 13] LONG BEACH

26]SNAEFELL

27]SUMMIT POINT

MOTORSPORTS PARK 28]VIRGINIA

INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY 29]WATKINS GLEN

14] MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

30]WILLOW SPRINGS

SPORTS CAR COURSE

13

MOUNTAIN COURSE

STREET CIRCUIT

15] MID-OHIO

25

RACEWAY

08] EL MIRAGE LAKE

MOTOR SPEEDWAY

30

19]POCONO RACEWAY

RACEWAY

07] ELDORA

19

MOTORSPORTS PARK

INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

22 02

06

04

31] ZMAX DRAGWAY

08 24


23 09 12

17

03

26

15 27

11

05

21

28

18 29

HOTROD.COM /2015/FEBRUARY / 25

RODDIN’ @ RANDOM

Facebook Faceoff

Where Facts are Optional and Arguing is Mandatory Brandan Gillogly

We decided to do a little social experiment on our Facebook page. We posted head-on shots of three ponycars, a Camaro, a Challenger, and a Mustang, in the three matchups possible—and gave no further

PSYCH TEST: ONLINE BRAND LOYALTY

Most commonly misspelled ponycar name: Camaro. Whether they loved

them or hated them, a lot of people had trouble with the spelling. explanation. up on changing ups, everyoneOnly else one was commenter happy to castpicked their vote forthe their favoritematchponyMost likely to be mentioned even though they weren’t pictured: Muscar or bash their favorite rival. A few interesting trends were noted, tang. We’ve had a joke around our office that ifyou want Mustang fans to comment on Facebook, you have to post aphoto of a Camaro. It’s still and a whole lot of brain cells were lost reading fanboy bickering. hHOTROD.COM/ Brandan-Gillogly

true.

Least likely to suck according to our Facebook commenters: Challenger. Most frequently bench-raced car: Challenger Hellcat, quarter-mi le at a time. Most miles on the bench-racing odometer: Camaro Z/28 (the Nürburgring is 12.8 miles)

MUSTANG VS. CHALLENGER 18,000 LIKES// 550 COMMENTS

Challenger got the most positive comments, by a fair margin, although this group was the most decisive, with few commenters stating that they were fans of both cars. Thatort s of makes sense, as the Mustang and Challenger have the least in common.

MUSTANG VS. CAMARO 16,000 LIKES// 725 COMMENTS

The comments came in waves, with Ford fans piling on the positive comments, only to be caught again and again by the Chevy faithful who love their fifth-gens. This one was the closest rivalry among the three, with Ford winning the popularity contest with a little help from the Shelby mystique.

CAMARO VS. CHALLENGER 21,000 LIKES// 650 COMMENTS Challenger seemed to be a bit more popular than segmentleading Camaro. We’re thinking that it has a lot to due with the Hellcat, which has been the talk of the Web for months now.


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Automotive Archaeology

Olds 442 Body Shop Find In the back corner of a localbody shop sits years (maybe decades) and the srcinal a 1971 Oldsmobile 442 convertible, still owner finally sold it to be saved. e new wearing its srcinal bias-ply Firestone Wide- owner brought it to my friend’s body Ovals. Upon closer inspection, thedometer o shop so he could take a look to see what it reads a hair more than 14,000 miles. One of needed. only 1,304 convertibles built for 1971 and A er years of neglect, the car needed just with the standard 455—but backed by a four-about everything body-wise, and so it sits speed with Hurst Shifter—this car was a sight covered bondowhat dust,itswaiting for the new to behold. owner toindecide fate will be. I was told the car sat outside for a few hRyan Brutt

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Take 5 With

KENNY DUTTWEILER

How do you judge an engine ranged from his early days with builder? By the records he’s the Buicks to his theories on associated with? The amount of making horsepower . e easy horsepower his engines make? part was talking engines with The durability of those highhim. e hard part came later horsepower engines? However when it was time to condense it you make the judgment, Ken all down to fit thesepages. “Kenny” Duttweiler is going to sit hJeff Smith pretty high on your list. We found ourselves at Ken’s HRM] How did you get your start? shop at 11 a.m. on a Sunday KD] This is kind of a two-step deal. morning. He would have been The first part was just my interest in there even without theintercars. It’s all [I] think about. The second view—Ken works seven days a phase was when [former HOT ROD week. If he’s not at the racetrack tech editor] John Thawley tagged or other automotive event, me to help him with the Buick special you’ll find him at Duttweiler product guys. That was in 1984. John Performance. When wearrived, got me introduced into the magazine Ken was assembling a Buick V6 world. That’s when I met all the guys like John Baechtel, Marlan Davis, Jim engine for a customer, which is appropriate because it was a Losee, Pat Ganahl, and all the rest of turbocharged Buick V6 that first them. You know, when you need to put the Duttweiler name infront write fun things in the magazine, you of millions of HOT ROD readers go and find the guy who’s doing those back in the mid 1980s. weird things. I did a deal with HOT ROD Ken’s most recent notoriety where I got a 1984 Grand National from comes from a couple of small- Buick to run Stock Eliminator, and it displacement, small-block had a big HOT ROD banner on the side Chevy engines he built for the of it [“Super Regal,” Sept. 1985]. John Poteet and Main Streamliner, Baechtel drove it and my involvement aptly named Speed Demon. with the turbo world really started with ough the car was involved in that car and the Buick guys. A side note a devastating rollover back in to that is they had all these Stage II September 2014, it still holds the engine parts [NASCAR-spec cranks, FIA world record for a piston rods, heads, blocks, pistons, and cam]. I engine Streamliner at Bonnev- thought it would be really nice to work ille: 439.024 mph in the flying with these better parts. If I put these mile, with an exit speed in excess Stage II parts on it with bigger turbos, of 462 mph. we’d have hot rod Buicks. That’s how all got started. Turns out the Stage II Big horsepower numbers are itprogram a common occurrence at Duttwas a good building ground weiler’s shop. His dyno has seen for the turbo-sixes too. a Pro Mod engine make more than 3,300 hp. Of course, right HRM] How much power were you a er one of those there might be making back then? a turbocharged GM Ecotec or KD] It started out that if you could Mopar four-cylinder making a make 600 hp on the dyno, everybody quarter of the power. was ecstatic—they couldn’t believe it. Our discussion with Ken Then a year later, it was 1,200 hp and


[Why is Kenny Duttweiler smiling? Look at the horsepower figures up on the screen. That 2,464hp number is just an average day on his engine dyno.

20 years later or whatever it’s 1,900 hp. I’ve got one on the stand right now that made 1,930 hp. That’s from a 265ci V6 engine. The evolution is interesting because [I] started out with a stocker that made 200 hp and then we just kept adding better turbos and better everything.

208 mph, so that speaks well of the horsepower they would make.

NHRA car] makes 1,000 lb-ft at 7,000 rpm and 1,000 lb-ft at 9,400 rpm. If you look at the graph of this engine, you don’t have a torque peak—you have a torque plateau. This gives you is the ability to manage the power better and still end up making a good amount of power up high. The key to this is rpm. Anytime you can be volumetric efficient at high rpm with good cylinder fill, you’re gonna make a lot of power.

RPM IS THE KEY TO POWER

edges that by convention we say a 300ci engine theoretically displaces300 ci of air every 720 degrees of crankshaft revolution , but Kenny went on to say, “Then we have to [think about] what the swept volume is at all these various rpm the engine will run at. Like at 5,000 rpm, is this the point where the engine is 300 ci? But then if it’s efficient at 10,000 rpm, then is it 600 ci? That’s really what it is because if you pick the point at which it is 300 ci, every time it goes around [at a higher speed] it’s adding cubic inches. If the 300ci engine at 10,000 rpm has the same volumetric efficiency as a 600ci engine at 5,000 rpm, they should essentially make the same horsepower. That’s why a Formula 1 engine at 18,000 rpm makes so much horsepower . They’re 140 ci at some point. But the rpm makes them appear bigger. But you can’t force an engine to rpm unless it can breathe.”

HRM] How long have you been in this shop? KD] My dad owned the shop across the way and I’ve been somewhere

HRM] At first you were identified as a Buick V6 guy, but you expanded from there. KD] The Buicks were cool and I stayed involved with them, but we realized we needed to get involved with the Ford and Chevrolet market as well. I had a customer in New York, “Racin’” Jason [Betwarda], who wanted to do a twinturbo Mustang. Then Hurley Blakeney

in this alley since 1970. This shop was opened in 1990 when Thawley asked me if I had a flow bench. I said, “Yep,” and he said, “I have this head I want you to flow. It’s a Stage II Buick head.” Buick had done its homework on that piece, the head had big ports and big valves. Next thing he says is, “You want to grind on these things?” and I said, “I’d love to.” So here come six- or seven-cylinder heads and it went from there. I got a lot of notoriety from working with John. He was Buick’s point man and they had him hooked up with [Jim] Ruggles and a few other people and Thawley got this West Coast thing going because that’s where all the magazines were. He did a really good job of bringing me out of just playing with hot rods to an elevated position in the industry. We

came along and really put the NHRA thing into motion. It was an AA/Altered Turbo T-bird in the mid 1990s. I believe it was the Winternationals, and he went out there and laid down a 6.63 or 6.64 e.t. and 10 years later I chide some of these guys that are out there running 6.60s—Hurley did it 10 years ago! That was really a high-water mark because at the time, Fords were making about 1,600 hp and were really abusing the dyno. We were rebuilding [the dyno] four or five times a year. Those engines were 406 ci, and I think one was 414 ci, and were all Windsorbased small-blocks. At the time, we were trying different things and I would take a bunch of timing out of the map where the car staged and it scared the hell out of everybody because it was poppin’ and bangin’ and the starter

HRM] If you had one thing to say to a young engine builder, what would it be? KD] The best thing a young engine builder could do would be to associate himself with an older engine builder and take advantage of all the new equipment that can make you a much better engine builder. You look at this shop, there’s a complete machine shop on one end—there’s Magnaflux equipment, a tool for checking cam lobes, a really good dyno facility, and fabrication and engine working tools—it’s a big deal. When I came up, we were able to pick up stuff as you went along. Now we’re into the computer stuff where you can buy one of those [machines] that are out of date in a year. The evolution now is in fast-forward. I was lucky enough that when I came up

converted that Stock Eliminator car into a Super Stock car, and that’s the one that Billy Chaffin is still campaigning [it’s known today as the Sheriff car]. That thing’s been around a long time. We made a huge penetration into NHRA. You see all those NHRA records [Ken motions toward the far end of the shop] along the wall? They’re all by John and Marka Gallina. They ran Super Stock classes and set records in all of them. We went 7.81 seconds at 179 mph in Super Stock with a 215ci V6 twin-turbo in Super Stock/DX—and we had to run small turbos. I drove that car one day and it was unbelievable that a 200-inch motor would pull as hard as that thing pulled. At the time, it was the only Super Stocker in the 7s until finally

is standin’ right there. It sounded like a shotgun was going off, so that was a one-run wonder. Hurley came back and said, “Don’t do that anymore.”

it was moving slow enough that you could move at a more moderate pace and become somewhat proficient at it.

HRM] So is the key a small dis-

HRM] So whom do you call when you have an engine question? KD] The interesting thing is that the people I call when I have a question are usually the manufacturer of the part I’m concerned about. So I end up talking with the manufacturers like Total Seal or Billy Godbold at Comp Cams and telling them, “Here’s what I’m dealing with—what do you think?” If I wrote down everybody I call [about their parts], we would have a pretty good-sized list, but one thing I am guilty of is that I don’t communicate as much with my peers as I should. I don’t want to bother them. If you are truly

someone else did it. It was bound to happen because now you have all those supercharged Fords and Chevrolets running. We ultimately ended up going 6.75 with one of those Buicks at

placement where canwithout more easily manage theyou power spinning the tires as much? KD] Yeah, the 290ci engine in my Cutlass [Kenny’s BB/AT Olds Cutlass

an engine builder, should be able to build the engineyou [yourself]. If you have to source all the help, then you should probably be working for one of those people [you’re calling].

HRM] Where do you think the future of internal combustion engines is going? KD] I think we’ll continue to see downsizing simply because you can have a three-cylinder engine with a turbo that couldn’t burn enough fuel in a day to do any damage [for commuter cars]. The whole background to everything I’ve ever done is small engines with turbos. They are the best thing you can have because they’re durable and efficient.

It started out that if you could make 600 hp on the dyno, everybody was ecstatic. ”

The one question Kenny Duttweiler has always been fond of is, “How do you determine how big an engine is? What is the guideline for the displacement of a 300ci V8?” He acknowl-

Next Month: Pete Brock

RESTORING HOT ROD HISTORY: Elana Scherr

Wes Allison, Jorge Nunez, a nd t he T EN Archives


AK MILLER’S CABALLO II hIs

Ak Miller’s Hemi-powered Caballo II the world’s busiest hotrod? Its well-archived history leads one to believe it’s certainly in the top 10. Caballo was gracing HOT ROD covers in the 1950s before it was even roadworthy . When you’re AkWeek, Miller—who start Bonneville Speed was a helped key member of the NHRA, and a driver who humbled Ferraris by entering and finishing the famous La Carrera Panamericana Mexican race in a homebuilt, Olds-powered Model T monstrosity known as Caballo de Heirro—people tend to expect great things from you.


AK MILLER’S CABALLO II

[Tom Shaughnessy spent months researching historical details to accurately restore Caballo II. Here he tests the bare-metal car in his shop parking lot in 2014.

[Ak Miller (driving) and D oug Harrison testing the new Caballo II in the parking lot by Ak’s shop in 1957.

When Ak decided to build a sleek new car to run in the1957 Panamerican a, he brought HOT ROD along for the ride. [Ak is famous for his Oldsmobiles, but he wasn’t a make-specific kind of guy. If it fit and ran, it would our current penchant for garage go in his car. The 392ci Hemi in Caballo II is 10:1, with a mild Howard cam and Jahns pistons. FuelPerhaps goes drama has historical precedent, because in at a prodigious rate through a mechanical Hilborn injection. Power goes to the Lincoln rear, thanks to a Jaguar Mk VII Moss four-speed. Caballo II didnot come together easily . Plans beganchanging almost immediately. e Panamericana inits 1955 for safety concerns andwas thecanceled rumors of revival

1957 proved untrue. Undaunted, Ak We are not rich motor enthusiasts…we ask for decided to try a different dangerou s road the Mille Miglia inItaly, 1,000 miles only for accommodations where we might workrace, that had claimed more than 50 lives and had on our car…” never been entered, let alone won, by an

car. He began the difficult process — Le Roi “Tex” Smith in a1956 letter to the AutomobileAmerican of letters and telegrams to arrange entry. A Club of Brescia June 1956 letter from Ak Miller’s Garage to



the Automobile Club of Brescia asksfor entry fees and advice regard- headed to Italy. ing shipping the car from New York to Italy. It was followed by a e 1,000-mile Mille turned out to be an ambitious goal, as a dozen more before he finally heard back. With help from the NHRAcracked brake drum ended Ak’ s race 300 milesin. He kicked around European Headqua rters—which was basically just HRM editor and Italy for a bit withhis crew, reportedly terrorizin g sports cars with Air Force pilot, Le Roi “Tex” Smith—Ak set up a volunteer team his Oldsmobile-powered tow vehicle. When he got back to the states, made up of servicemen whowere stationed in and around Italy . he took Caballo salt racing, in D Modified Sports Car at Bonneville en Caballo burned in agarage fire. With mere weeks to go Speed Week. He ran 177.42mph, but competitors Barnes-Larsen & before the May race date, Ak rebuilt Caballo’s mechanical injection, Dauphin ran faster and ended upwith the record. Akdidn’t waste tracked down new rubber to replace the singedirestones, F and any time crying in the salt, he went road racing, running SCCA races

[The swoopy body was built by metalsmith Jack Sutton. Vents in the front cool the engine, while the vaguely Mercedes-inspired fender vent acts as an air extractor. The louvered vent was ducted to the footbox for some driver relief, and the rear scoop blows on the brakes.

[From the rear you can see Sutton’s experimental streamlining. The rear ribs raise into integrated rollbars, upholstered to match the seats. Beneath the taillights are vents to cool the Lincoln rear axle.

[The seats in Caballo were not the usual high-backed bomber seats used in most hot rods, but a rarer, lower-profile military piece. Shaughnessy ended up buying reproduction bomber seats and modifying them to match the old photos.


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in Palm Springs and Riverside. In 1958, he ran into Mickey ompson at Riverside Raceway, unfortunately, quite literally. He T-boned M/T in turn 5 and busted his knee. Somehow in those busy few years, Ak also managed to find time for building new cars, racing Pikes Peak and off-road adventures. e last connection we found with Ak and Caballo II was the 1959 B-movie Roadracers. Sometime aer that Ak sold Caballo, and it dried off into the desert,where it was discovered decades later by Bob Wildoner and made a brief in-progress appearance in ato2010 issue HRM.than When Bob decided sell the carofrather complete it, Tom Shaughnessy was ready to take on the chal- [The srcinal lettering and pinstriping was none other than Von Dutch. To recreate its hand-done lenge. He must have channeled the spirit of feel, Shaughnessy went to Dennis Ricklefs. “To be perfect, it had to be imperfect,” he says. Ak Miller, because he not only got the car running again but took it from bare metal to the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours, where it won Second Place in the Postwar Sports Racing class and went straight from that manicured lawn to the Colorado Grand rally. When we got our turn in the vinylcovered fighter plane seats, the car had just driven 1,000 miles through the Rocky Mountains and the shorty windscreen was so smeared with bug bits we could barely make out the 392 Hemi beneath the angled Hilborn stacks. You could sure hear it, though, shaking the sheetmetal and chortling out the sidepipes like Ak Miller laughing. is car’s journey has only just begun. [Ak’s friendship with the HOT ROD staff led to several articles covering the build and a “HOT ROD Special” designation on the car. Shaughnessy even reproduced those jackets.

[Here’s the destruction after Ak’s garage caught fire just months before the Italian road race. This is a bit of history that Tom Shaughnessy would rather not recreate.


[Caballo came to Shaughnessy in need of repair to its aluminum shell. Steve Beckman Metal Works did the delicate reforming, and sprayed the clean white and blue paint scheme.

I had to take this thing that had lost its soul, I had to put an intentional crudeness in it, I had to rebuild its soul.”

— Tom Shaughnessy on restoring Caballo II

[The Caballo is a hand-formed aluminum skin over a beefed-up Kurtis race-car chassis. You can see Ak’s srcinal Caballo de Hierro parked next to the frame.

[In keeping with Ak Miller’s history of bringing a homebuilt hot rod vibe to fancy events, Shaughnessy entered Caballo II in the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Following Ak’s habits of the last-minute dash, Tom and his son, John, were working on the car all the way up to the morning of judging. It paid off with a Second Place in class and an invitation to attend the 2015 Mille Miglia. Will Caballo finally cross an Italian finish line? HOTROD We sure hope so.


ADRENALINE AND ATTRITION HOT ROD Drag Week 2014 Was All About Survival Brandan Gillogly and Elana Scherr

PRESENTS

Larry Chen and the HOT ROD Staff

CO -SPONSORED

BY



ADRENALINE AND ATTRITION

hWe

knew early on that Drag Week™ 2014 was going to be big, but entries! we It turns out a glitch allowed entry forms to be started as long couldn’t have anticipated the close finishes, and the tales of hard work as the limit hadn’t been met, and any that had been started before the and triumph that led to an amazing finale at Tulsa Raceway Park. 260th registration was submitted were allowed to proceed. All told, afis was the tenth consecutive running of Drag Week™, where cars ter the dropouts and the waitlist and the die-hard racers who showed race and road-trip for five days in a row to crown HOT ROD’s Fastest up to the tech line at Tulsa just hoping to get in, 306 competitors Street Car in America, and all signs pointed to a packed field of thevolunteered to subject themselves and their cars to five days of racing fastest cars we’d ever seen. We saw the video of 2013 Drag Week™ winand more than 1,000 miles of crisscrossing roads through Oklahoma and Kansas, testing man and machine for bragging rights alone. ner Tom Bailey dyno-tuning his engine, we saw the composite-bodied 1957 Chevy Jeff Lutz planned to campaign at the PRI show in De- For this year’s coverage of Drag Week™, we’ve arranged the class cember, we knew Doug Cline was still looking to prove his all-metalwinners from slowest to the quickest, interspersed with some of the Camaro had what it takes to survive and run 6s, and we knew Larryfun that didn’t happen on the track. Larson was cooking up something special aer spending the 2013 Get far more photos, videos, and info HOTROD.com/events at Drag Week™ on the sidelines. en there was the sheer number of and stay tuned there for announcements about next year’s locaentrants. We our intended registering buthad aer only eight tions andtoregistration info, and voice your opinion on our ideas for minutes into onlineonregistration HOTROD.com at260 vehicles,we 351 changes the rules for 2015.


CLASS RULES AT A GLANCE

HOW DRAG WEEK WORKS

Unlimited:NHRA safety rules, nothing else. Pro Street:Back-half chassis with tires wider than 111⁄4 inches, stock front framerails. Modified:Non-stock-concept rear suspension, tires narrower than 111⁄4 inches or 325-series drag radials, stock front framerails. Super Street:Stock-concept, bolt-on-style rear suspension, tires narrower than 111⁄4 inches or 325-series drag radials, stock front framerails. Street Race:All stock suspension and frame, tires narrower 11 1⁄4 inches or 325-series drag radials, numerous restrictions to ensure these are strictly muscle cars with bolt-on speed equipment.

The goal of Drag Week ™ is to find the world’s quickest street-driven cars and trucks. Here’s how competitors earn that title:

Gasser:Limited to 1928–1967 American cars and trucks, with the exception of Anglias. Must run a pre-1967 engine family and appear period-correct. No turbo, no nitrous, no billet. Hot Rod:Limited to 1928–1948 American cars and trucks with a pre-1962 engine family. No power-adders, no EFI, definitely no billet. Daily Driver:No equipment rules, limited to 10.80 minimum e.t.

faster than speed you’ve been assigned per the tech inspection and pick up the a copy of the route directions. Step 4:Drive the 250 to 350 miles as the directions indicate, stopping at the checkpoints to photograph your vehicle. Step 5:Repeat steps 2 through 4 for the duration of the week without breaking too many parts and with at least a few hours of sleep each night if at all possible.

Power Adderclasses must use nitrous oxide, superchargers, or turbochargers. Naturally Aspiratedclasses may have none of those. Small-Blockclasses are 430 ci and less, Big-Blockclasses are 431 ci and more (or a Mopar Hemi, big-block Chevy, big-block Ford, or Ford FE of any displacement).

Step 1:Show up with a registered, insured, street-legal vehicle and pass tech inspection to verify it’s not only legal to drive on the street with lights, horn, turn signal, and so on, but that it also meets the NHRA’s safety guidelines for the e.t. and trap speed the car will be running on the track. Step 2:Race that car at the track as many times as you’d like until we close the lanes, which is usually late in the afternoon. Step 3:Turn in a timeslip of your choosing that is not quicker or

The cars aren’t allowed to be towed at any point during the week and are not allowed to have any support vehicle. In each of the 14 classes besides Daily Driver, the winner is the car with the lowest average e.t. over the course of five days. In Daily Driver, where cars are restricted to a 10.80 e.t., the 32 cars with the quickest five-day average e.t. are placed in a ladder for a bracket race on the final day of Drag Week™. This year’s venues were as follows: Day 1: Tulsa Raceway Park, Tulsa, Oklahoma Day 2:Heartland Park, Topeka, Kansas Day 3: Thunder Valley Raceway Park, Lexington, Oklahoma Day 4:S.R.C.A. Dragstrip, Great Bend, Kansas Day 5: Tulsa Raceway Park, Tulsa, Oklahoma

2014 DRAG WEEK BY THE NUMBERS

260 cars was the limit we set for largest field for the second year online registration, but a glitch in a row. allowed for 351 cars to sign up. 11 cars finished with five-day aver306 cars were inspected and age e.t.’s in the 8s. given a number; 72 did not finish and16 of those didn’t break the 33 cars finished with five-day beam on day 1. average e.t.’s in the 9s. Last year, only11 managed that feat. 119cars were in the Daily Driver class, marking two years in a row0.0272seconds difference in the that the class made up less than five-day average e.t. separated half of the field. Jeff Lutz and Doug Cline in Unlimited, making for this year’s tight31 cars in Street Race Small-Blockest finish. Power Adder made it the second-

PAST WINNERS 2005

YEAR CarSl cott

CAR 19 67Ch ev yNova

2006

Ed dieMille r

DRIVER

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2007

S te veRoth

19 67Ch ev yCam a r o

7.8 0

2008

L ar r yL ar s on

19 6 6C he v yNova

7.9 7

2009

L ar r yL ar s on

19 6 6C he v yNova

7. 5 4

2010

L ar r yL ar s on

19 6 6C he v yNova

7.07

2011

L ar r yL ar s on

19 6 6C he v yNova

7. 57

2012

L ar r yL ar s on

19 6 6C he v yNova

2013

TomBa ile y

19 69C he v yCa m ar o

2014

Je ffLu t z

19 57C he v yBeAl ir

8. 5 8 8.4 0

7.0 6 6. 8 3 6. 8 4



HOT ROD // WINNING AVERAGE: 11.879 SECONDS AT 110.42 MPH Tim Hall // 1947 International KB-1 Pickup

HOT ROD WINNERS N AME 1] 2] 3]

CA R

T imHa l l

19 47I nte r na t ionaPl ic k u p

T imPog u e

193 4For5d- w indow

Fr e dCu llonJr.

19 4 0Ch ev yCou pe

QU IC K E S TE .T. 1 1 . 8 09 12 . 8 15 13 . 8 12

Tim Hall won the Hot Rod class in2013 with a 1940 Ford Tudor sedan, and this year he showed up witha freshly built International pickup that had yet tosee a quartermile pass, only having tested at eighth-mile tracks. e severely rusted truck was pulled from the woods, where it sat for the last 30-odd years on May 1, just a fewmonths

AV E RA GEE .T. 11. 87 9 12 .9 15 14 .8 9 9

before Week™ was set toofkick Tim Drag told us the majority the off. parts used to build the truckwere leovers from previous builds he hadsitting around. e 1970s-vintage 400 Chevy small-block and Turbo 350 trans were thought to be in decent shape when Tim collected the parts required to assemble the truck, but the powertrain—alon g with the 3.73:1 limitedslip Ford Explorer rear axle—proved to be well worn. With just weeks remaining, Tim, his father and co-driver, George, and their friend, Bob Gable, thrashed to freshen up the engine, trans, and rear axle in time.

01

Tim Hall’s International uses a Chevy 400 small-block with AFR 220 heads, a Comp Cams hydraulic flat-tappet cam, a Holley Strip Dominator intake and Holley 850-cfm double-pumper. There are parts from Ford, Buick, Pontiac, and Dodge in addition to the International body. The hood and grille shell 01]

are two of more thatlost Tim to hadjust to make bythe hand to visible replacepanels what was time and nature. Tim Pogue’s 350ci-powered, Tremec-fivespeed-shifted 1934 Ford five-window is exactly the car that the Hot Rod class was meant to feature. It uses a 9-inch rear from an Edsel on a Dirty’s Speed Shop ladder bar suspension with split wishbones up front and chrome reversed steelies all around. 02]

Fred Cullon came in Second last year with the same Chevy coupe that got him a Third Place finish this year. He’d hoped the switch to a high-rise intake and the addition of a new transmission and torque converter would improve his times, but the trans just wouldn’t shift manually, keeping the high-revving Blueprint Engines 383ci small-block from reaching its potential. Fred finished the coupe in 1999 and told us he’s enjoying it more now that he’s competing with it. 03]

02

03


SUPER ST. SMALL-BLOCK NATURALLY ASPIRATED// WINNING AVERAGE: 10.6846 SEC. AT 123.712 MPH Mitch Horn // 1970 Dodge Challenger [The Challenger is a 420ci stroker backed by a TF904. It’s turning some revs, too, with 4.30 rear gears. “We run the tallest ET streets we can fit for the road, trying to keep rpm down.”

Mitch Horn is driving his dad Brian’s 1970 Challenger,one of the most perfectly stanced E-bodieswe’ve seen. Mitchand Brian told us on the first daythat this was the most fun they’ve ever had, and when we 1] checked in with them later in the week, they 2] 3] repeated that, despite the fact their wheelsup launches were destroying their stock front suspension, and they average about 6.9 mpg on the road. “We get 9 if there is a tailwind,” Brian said. Oh, and that’s race gas, by the way. strong thanks to a stroked 350 displacing 396 ci by way of a Scat forged 3.875-inch stroke crank. The top end uses AFR 195cc Street Competition heads, a Comp solid-lifter cam with 244 degrees of duration at 0.050, an Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap intake, and an 850-cfm Holley 4150. “This is the second time I’ve been running behind a Mopar engine,” Dave told us. “I lost last year to the Mustang with a Chrysler in it. If [Mitch Horn] wins this year, I’m building something with a Dodge engine.” Whoa, don’t do anything 02 drastic, Dave.

SUPER STREET SMALL-BLOCK NATURALLY ASPIRATED WINNERS N AME

CA R

Mit c hHor n

19 7 0Dod g eCh a lle ng e r

Da vBea r r y

19 6C4he vIyI

Conn ieHe ins e lm a n

19 6 9Ch ev yCa m a r o

QU I C K E S TE .T. 1 0. 5 7 2 10.7 3 3 1 0.8 1 5

AV E R AG E .T. 1 0.6 8 4 6 1 0.8 6 2 6 1 1 . 01 3 8

01] Dave Barry’s Chevy II runs

01

02] Connie Heinselman was on the brink of ™ breaking into the 10s each day on Drag Week , and the 422-inch Chevy small-block got her

Corvette-yellow 1969 The Camaro intonot thealways 10s on the final day in Tulsa. car has looked so good, however. When the Heinselmans got the car, it was on the verge of being scrapped. When it was returned to the road, it was powered by a 355, but it was replaced in favor of the much more potent 422 after a lot of racing. The engine uses a factory 400ci block, Pro Top Line cylinder heads, a Comp solid-roller cam with 252 degrees of duration at 0.050, an Edelbrock Super Victor 2 intake, and a Demon carb.



DAY 1

TULSA, OK, TO TOPEKA, KS// 257.5 MILES

[This was a great year for Mopars, we had four or five E-bodies, half a dozen B-bodies, and more A-bodies than you could shake a Hemi at. Not only were there a ton of Dodges and Plymouths, but Mopar’s sometimes cousin, AMC, had a showing here too. Sadly, the Unlimited Javelin of Bryant Goldstone went out before racing even started, but there were two Gremlins still in the running. Two Gremlins!


@hotrodmagazine: Oh deer. Mike Crow’s crowd-pleasing, bangshifting, white 1969 Dart got taken out not by mechanical issues, but by Bambi.

MIKE COX: “Hypothetically, if one needs a 3⁄8-inch water pump bolt, one could commandeer one froma streetsign…hypothetically. ”

Did everyone at Drag Wee k™ finish their car inthe pits seconds before tech inspection? We talked toosmany people who claimed they had yet to run their car on the track—let alone on the street—that we might need to change the name of this event to “Engine Break-In Week.” Every day started with action at the track, but once the quarter-miles were done, there were hundreds of street miles to go. Even when everything is running smoothly in these cars, you’re manually shiing, babying the brakes, and sweating off what has to be at least 15ounds p over the course of theweek. Of course,when things aren’t running smoothly, there are repeated side-of-the-road stops. You know you’re really a Drag Week™ expert when you try to time your breakdowns so you can coast to the shoulder in the shade of an overpass.

[These drives are tough. Two-lane roads with 30-mph speed limits, and directions that say things like, “Look for the big train car in the field.” If you leave the track in the afternoon, you’ll still end up getting to your hotel after midnight. If you leave the track around 6 p.m. because you were completely swapping the engine in your 1978 Malibu like Andrew McClelland, you might get to see the sun come up.


SUPER STREET BIG-BLOCK NATURALLY ASPIRATED// WINNING AVERAGE: 10.304 SECONDS AT 133.196 MPH Vincent Rasch // 1969 Pontiac Firebird Aer battling valvetrain and transmission problems for the past two Drag Week™ events, Vince Rasch had his big-inch Pontiac ready for 2014. He’d outgrown his 200-R4 automatic and switched to a Coan Racing Turbo 400 and Gear Vendors overdrive aer his initial fears that a 400 would rob too much power gave way to the memories of a Drag Week™ 2013pan. spent onhis back under the transmission When his factory block was past its prime, Vince stepped up to a Kauffman Racing Equipment (KRE) MR-1A aluminum block 01 with a 4.35-inch bore and a 4.5-inch stroke for 535 ci, despite many recommendatio ns to switch to LS power. “I’m a little bit nostalgic. I don’t have anything against an LS, SUPER STREET BIG-BLOCK NATURALLYbut I kind of grew up on Pontiacs.” He had to be talked out ofadding another 0.250 ASPIRATED WINNERS inch of stroke that would have netted 565 N AME CA R QU I C K E S TE .T. AV E R AGEE .T. ci; there was already a lot ofcrank and rods 1] VinceRas ch 19 69Pont ia cFir e bir d 1 0. 1 6 5 1 0. 3 04 to fit between the rails as it is. e block is 2] Ran dyHe ins e lm a n 19 7 0Plym ou t hBar ra cu da 1 0. 3 6 9 1 0. 6 2 1 8 topped with a set of ported KRE high-port 3] Mar kCov e y 19 7 0Bu ic kGS45 5 1 0. 3 6 4 1 0. 6 2 8 heads that use 2.20-inch and 1.70-inch valves controlled by a Comp solid-roller with 284/296 duration at 0.050. Long gone are the problem rockers, springs, and liers causing failures in the past. Vince now runs T&D rockers, bushed solid-roller liers from Crower, and PAC springs. Induction is handled by a BOP Engineering single-plane intake and a Pro Systems SV1 carb.

02


03

All of the valvetrain additions and new transmission/Gear Vendors seemed to have paid off, as Vince reported that this year, “I did not have so much as a light bulb burn out.” 01]

02] Using rozds, pistons, and

a 4.5-inch stroker crank from 440 Source, Randy Heinselman’s factory 440ci block in his Barracuda displaces 535 ci. A Hughes solid-roller cam with 246 degrees of duration at 0.050 works in concert with Isky EZ-Roll lifters and Hughes rocker arms mounted to Edelbrock Victor heads ported by Hughes engines. Mark Covey might have created some new Buick fans at this year’s competition, as the 464-inch engine competed well against Heinselman’s big Mopar. The stock Buick 455 block uses the factory crank, forged JE pistons, T/A Performance Stage 2 heads, a 260/266-degree Crower solid-roller cam, T/A Performance headers, and SP-2 intake. 03]



STREET RACE SMALL-BLOCK NATURALLY ASPIRATED// WINNING AVERAGE: 10.029 SEC. AT 134.398 MPH Paul Cornman // 1971 Dodge Demon 01

Inspired by the Drag Week™ performances of Mike Crow and Jake Stelter, Paul Cornman purchased this Demon three years ago with Drag Week™ in mind. It was a bit of a thrash getting the car together in time for the event, but the untested car was virtually trouble-free all week. “I lived in fear the first day,” Paul told us, as he and his son, Dustin, took turns driving the car while carefully watching the temp gauge. e one problem the Cornmans had was a faulty alternator that died rolling into under Valley. A lawnmower battery provided enough power to make one pass, and a trip to the local parts store came upempty. Race spectator James Johnson stepped up to help and drove Paul to an alternator repair shop, 70 miles round trip, in his1972 Dart Swinger.

02

STREET RACE SMALL-BLOCK NATURALLY ASPIRATED WINNERS N AME 1] 2] 3]

CA R

QU I C K E S TE .T.

AV E R AG EE .T.

Pa uCl or n m a n

19 7D1 odg eDe m on

9.9 67

1 0.02 9 4

S te veRe im a nn

19 7 2For dCa p r i

1 0.00 4 5

1 0. 2 9 3 1

Da nnyR ob e r ts

19 8 0Ch ev r ole tMa lib u

1 0. 5 6 8

10.9 02 9

Starting with a Mopar Performance R3 block, forged Diamond pistons, and K1 Technologies rods and 4-inch-stroke crank, Paul’s Mopar small-block now displaces 428 ci, just under the 430ci cap for the small-block classes. Ryan Johnson at Shady Dell Speed Shop assembled the engine using CNC-ported Indy 360-1 heads, a Bullet solid-roller cam with 275 degrees of duration at 0.050, and an Indy 360-3 intake. 01]

Steve Reimann and Mark “Arby” Arblaster traveled from Sydney, Australia, to compete again this year after a torque-converter problem kept them from contending last year. The Car Shop in Independence, Kansas, served as their garage away from home as they installed a new TH350 to rid them of their transmission woes. The 351 Cleveland uses a Scat 4-inch stroke to displace 410 ci and is topped with Yates C3 heads. 02]

03] This Malibu has been in

03


Danny Roberts’ family longer than he has; it was purchased new by his mother just days before he was born. After sitting for years, Danny and his brother, Wayne, rehabilitated the car with help from ™ Dave Daniels. Drag Week veteran Todd Maschmeier built the 383ci Chevy stroker and Danny painted the Malibu himself using Rescue Green, a factory Jeep Wrangler color for 2011.

GASSER & A/FX // WINNING AVERAGE: 9.666 SECONDS AT 134.506 MPH Dennis Taylor// 1962 Ford Ranchero is class has really heated up and is one of the crowd favorites, especially when two of the 10-car Gasser class would line up next to each other. Last year’ s Gasser class winners, Dan Chisholm and Ken Stasiak in their 1955 Chevy, improved their average e.t. from a crowd-pleasing, wheel-standing 10.545 to a 9.790. It still wasn’t enough to stop Dennis

GASSER WINNERS N AME 1] 2] 3]

D e nniTsaylor

CA R 19 6F2orRd an che r o

Chis hol m&St as iak

19 5 C5h ev2y10

MikCeox

19 5K1ais eHre nrJy

QU I C K E S TE .T. 9 . 08 5 9. 6 6 5 9. 8 2 1

AV E R AG E .T. 9. 6 6 6 9.7 9 0 9.9 32

01

Taylor from taking class inhis 1962 Ranchero built just the intime forwin Drag Week™ competition. e Ford showed up at Taylor’s shop more than a year ago and it reminded him of the first car he’d ever driven, the Ranchero that his father used as a work truck. “It was the right price,” Taylor told us. e plan to turn it into a gasser came months later when he pulled the drivetrain from his Chevy gasser to put in the newly christened R atchero. e primered gasser was one of the last cars to make it into the gates at Tulsa for registration, and it tookseveral passesfor Taylor to get a feel for the car. By the end of Drag Week™, the car was charging hard and was nearly in the 8s. e plan is to build adual-quad, tunnelram-fed 511ci big-block for the Ranchero and give it a proper orange paint job to match his daughter’ s twin-turbo1968 Camaro. at means it should stillbe Ratpowered, but not as ratty-looking when Dennis’ wife, Debbie, pilots the car next year. Meanwhile, Taylor is planning to build a car for himself for Drag Week™ 2015 to compete in a small-tire power-adder class. Dennis Taylor had one bad day, running a 10.824 in Thunder Valley, more than a second off his pace. It still wasn’t enough to let the returning class champions sneak by. Taylor’s Ford is powered by a Chevy 572 built using a Dart block and Brodix BB2 heads. The car is currently being rehabilitated after a wheelstand landing 02 bent the front axle. 01]

02] Dan

Chisholm and Kenny Stasiak dialed ™ the car in before Drag Week 2014, changing torque converters to one that better fit the car and coaxing a bit more power from the bigblock. The Chevy 540 uses a Dart block, Dart Pro 1 355 heads, and a Bullet solid-roller cam. A Rossler TH400 trans spins 4.10:1 gears in a Mopar rear axle. Mike Cox has been a Gasser class staple at Drag Week™, running each year since the class was established. A failed roller-lifter took him out of competition in 2013 after running deep into the 10s. This year, with a 555ci big-block Chevy using Dart Platinum Pro 1 heads, a Quick Fuel 1,050-cfm Q-series carb and a billet solid-roller cam from Comp, the Kaiser rounded out the Gasser podium that for the first time included all 9-second averages. 03]

03



MODIFIED NATURALLY ASPIRATED // WINNING AVERAGE: 9.323 SECONDS AT 145.384 MPH Brad Dyer // 1972 Chevy Nova

01 When we asked Brad Dyer how his week went, he was quick to reply: “It was brutal, ” with the long, taxing drives and aparticular high wheelstand landing that bent crossmember a , tie rods, and smashed the headers, leading to hours worth of repairs. Of ourse, c he was also quick to mention he’d be back with the Nova next year if at all possible, especially since now the car is done. In the six weeks prior to Drag Week™, Brad rebuilt the car’s ignition and fuel systems and installed the 598ci big-block Chevy built by Jimmy Lopez at J-lo Competition Engines.

02

01] Brodix Head Hunter heads helped the

MODIFIED NATURALLY ASPIRATED WINNERS N A ME 1] 2] 3]

BraDdye r

CA R 19 7C2he vNyova

QU I C K E S TE .T. 9 . 08 6

AV E R AGEE .T. 9. 3 2 3 2

Gle nS h e e le y

2 00 6Ch ev yCor ve tt e

1 0. 1 09

1 0. 3 2 2 4

JonS tone c ip he r

19 7 2Che v yNova

1 0. 5 3 9

1 0. 3 5

big Chevy make 1,060 hp and propel the 3,700-pound car to a best time of 9.0. Dyer is planning some changes this year to be back with an even quicker car for next time. Glen Sheeley’s 2006 Corvette Z06 is yet another LS7 six-speed road-racer that was converted into a dragstrip competitor. The factory IRS was rebuilt by RPM Transmissions, which also swapped in a 4L65E automatic with a Yank converter. The LS7 block was given a set of ELR sleeves, Callies crank and rods, Diamond pistons, a Comp cam, Mast Black Label CNC heads, and a FAST LSXR intake. 02]

Jon Stonecipher was thrashing to get ™ his 1972 Nova ready in time for Drag Week , completely rebuilding the car and stretching the wheel opening and cowl hood to fit both the tall engine and 315mm drag radials. The Nova runs a Dart Merlin III 565ci big-block Chevy with Brodix BB2 Xtra heads and a Dart intake built by Justin Landers at Shinook Racing Engines. 03]

03



DAY 2

TOPEKA, KS, TO LEXINGTON, OK// 326.4 MILES ™ [On Drag Week , small-town gas stations become impromptu car shows as the pumps fill up with vintage iron like Garrett Larson’s Galaxie.

If you talked to Doug Reh, he’d show you a broken rocker advice, and ordering parts next-day-aired to hotel rooms arm and a few busted fingers. In Tom Bailey’s pits, you’d see in the hopes they couldpush their battered machines one a cracked headsitting alongside what eventually turned out more day for a new chance. en they hit the streets, but to be a cracked block.e scene at LarryLarson’s pit was so the engine parts don’t know the difference. ey go when frantic we didn’ t even try to push in for an update. All day and where they please. you could hear people borrowing tools, asking for welding

@hotrodmagazine: HOT ROD, Drag Week Catch Phrase: That should be one piece @MIKEFINNEGAN999: Small fire forYost Camaro. Cable ground out. He’s fine, and the keg was unharmed.


PRO STREET NATURALLY ASPIRATED // WINNING AVERAGE: 9.305 SECONDS AT 144.996 MPH Eddie Miller // 1973 Plymouth Duster Eddie Miller made the w s itch to EFI in hisDuster, which was a Drag Week™ winner in2006. e twin-throttle-body setup was down from his 2013 average of 8.68 seconds, but it was still enough to dominate the five-car field and take home the title of quickest naturally aspira ted car. His best timeof 8.818 secondsshows that

the bugs are already being worked out of the system, although we’ve heard rumblings there are other Drag Week™ competitors who want to claim the title of quickest naturally aspirated. No doub t Eddie is already scheming on how toimprove his e.t. Rumors are he might build a whole new car.

[Eddie Miller built the 596ci Mopar big-block that saw duty in the Duster last year. It uses two GM 90mm drive-by-wire throttle-bodies and Holley’s Dominator EFI system to feed air and fuel to the Predator cylinder heads. There’s still some work to be done on the intake, as Eddie reported that on the last run in fuel Tulsa—his best of the15event—the improvised silicone intake elbows briefly sucked closed! The recent EFI convert also mentioned the improved economy tolaunch more than mpg.

[At 17 years old, Chance Reh is the youngest Drag ™Week competitor to [Darren Gebhart’s Dakota made us wonder why those scoops weren’t offinish in the top three of any class at this year’s event. Chance runs a 502fered from the factory. We dig it. When we asked Darren about any s pecial Chevy in his 1969 Camaro with a Crane solid-roller cam, lifters, and rocktricks on the truck, he pointed to several places he’d shed weight, with a ers. The Chevrolet Performance heads are topped by an Edelbrock Victor lot of the bed sheetmetal hitting the scrap pile. The back of the cab now intake and a 1,050-cfm Dominator. The combo was good for 704 hp at serves as the front of the bed, and the inner tailgate is gone. A lowered 6,500 rpm and 658 lb-ft at 5,700 rpm. curb weight combined with the thrust of a stroked Mopar 440 with Zeeker heads made him the faster of the two trucks the Gebharts brought to Drag Week™ 2014, edging out Brian Gebhart’s Gasser D100 by just 0.005 second. We’re sure that’s never going to come up at family gatherings filled with drag racers.

PRO STREET NATURALLY ASPIRATED WINNERS N AME

CA R

QU IC K E SET.T.

AV E R AGEE.T.

1]

Ed dMieille r

197P3ly m ouD t hus te r

8. 8 18

9. 3 0 5

2] 3]

C ha nRce h

19 6C9heCvaym a r o

1 0.6 8 8

1 0.8 8 2 4

Da r r eGne b ha r t

19 9D6odgDea kota

11. 07

11. 2 6 1



STREET RACE BIG-BLOCK POWER ADDER // WINNING AVERAGE: 9.303 SECONDS AT 146.87 MPH Robert Williams // 1976 Chevy Camaro Aer trashing a transmission at Gateway Motorsports Park on Drag circuit 1,150-cfm Dominator . Robert told usthe new 565ci big-block Week™ 2013, RobertWilliams spent the last year upgrading his “Pork Chevy is as quick naturally aspirated as it was last year on nitrous. Of Chop Express” 1976 Camaro . e big-block Chevyuses Dart Pro 1 course, he’s still running nitrous this year aswell, with atwo-stage 355 CNC heads, aCrane solid-roller cam with 278/284 duration at NOS Crosshair plate that Monte Smith helped map out andobB 0.050, and aWorld Merlin X intake topped witha Quick Fuel twoDiBoniventure helped tune.

[All of the new horsepower, plus the Transmission Specialties TH400, helped Williams break into the 8s on the last day of competition.

[Walter Herr’s 1969 Camaro uses a 475ci big-block Chevy with Edelbrock [It’s hard not to cheer for the big, stretched-wheelbase A-bodies, espeVictor 24-degree heads ported by Mike Stark, a Comp solid-roller with cially when it’s a Pontiac like Randy Belehar’s 1970 Grand Prix. Randy’s 275 degrees of duration at 0.050, an Edelbrock Super Victor intake, and Poncho uses a 0.030-over Pontiac block with a 4.25-inch Ohio Crankshaft a Quick Fuel 1,050-cfm Dominator. The rest of the drivetrain consists of crank for 467 ci. It’s topped with Kaufmann D-port heads CNC ported a TH400 with a Gear Vendors and a Strange 9-inch with 3.70 gears andto a flow 325-cfm on the intake, an Edelbrock Victor 4150 intake, and a spool. Proform 850-cfm carb. His power-adder comes in the form of a two-stage NOS Big Shot plate system.

STREET RACE BIG-BLOCK POWER ADDER WINNERS N AME

CA R

QU I C K E SET.T.

RobeW r t i l l ia m s

19 7C6he vCya m ar o

2] 3]

WaltHeer r r

19 6C9heCvaym a r o

9.4 4

9. 6 3 4 6

Ra ndBye le h ar

19 7P0ont iaGcr anPdr ix

9. 5 67

9. 8 3 0 8


8 .9 5 1

AV E R AGEE.T.

1]

9 . 3 03 2

ST. RACE BIG-BLOCK NATURALLY ASPIRATED // WINNING AVG: 9.015 SECONDS AT 115.192 MPH Curt Johnson // 1991 Ford Mustang Curt Johnson returned to defend his class title in his big-blockChevy-powered Fox-body, and the competition didn’t have any answers to the lightweight car that hooked up hard everywhere it went and carried a lead all week long. e 509ci Chevy uses Diamond pistons, Oliver rods, and a Callies crank inDart a block

topped with Edelbrock Victor heads ported by Race Flow Development and an Edelbrock Super Victor intake. Curt was back with the same drivetrain as lastyear: ompson Tra nsmission TH400 and a Gear Vendors overdrive.

™ [Curt Johnson’s big-block-Chevy-powered Fox-body is a back-to-back Drag class Week champion.

™ [Finished just in time for Drag Week , Charles Barber’s 2008 Corvette Z06[A class winner from 2007, Dominic Zvacek rowed his own gears with now sports a 454ci LS, thanks to a 4.18-inch bore and a 4.125-inch Callies a Long shifter on his Jerico RD4 to mid- to low-10s all week long. The crank. The LS7 heads were ported by Frankenstein Racing Heads to flow bored-and-stroked 454 under his Camaro’s hood now displaces 498 ci and

405 cfm on the intake. The T-56 trans is gone in favor of a 4L65E fromuses factory iron oval-port 781 castings ported by VortecPro Performance RPM Transmissions with a Yank torque converter. Engines.

STREET RACE BIG-BLOCK NATURALLY ASPIRATED WINNERS N AME

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MODIFIED POWER ADDER // WINNING AVERAGE: 8.742 SECONDS AT 151.92 MPH Kevin Clocker // 1977 Chevy Vega Kevin Clocker’s Vega is a 2,800-pound rocket, using its light weight currently uses Pontiac NASCAR 23-degree heads with an off-theto an advantage clocking 60-foot times in the 1.2-second range. Its shelf Comp XR286R solid-roller cam. Kevin’s power-adder of choice 400ci small-block has bottom-end parts dating from 1998, but Kevin is an Induction Solutions Real Street plate with a 0.125 orifice on the keeps improving on the top end, getting faster with each iteration. It nitrous solenoid.

[Staff Editor Brandan Gillogly tried to count Kevin Clocker’s Pontiac-NASCAR-headed Chevy small-block as a Pontiac. No dice.

[Using a stock block and a set of Steve Morris–ported factory GM heads, [Greg battled it out with Clark Rostenstengel’s Camaro in a back-andClark Rostenstengel’s LS-powered Camaro impressed us by improving forth effort of low-9-second passes. Greg’s personal Drag™ best Weekof each day, starting with a 9.2 on day 1 and chipping away into the high 8s 9.003 nearly got him into the 8s at Topeka. The Cougar uses a 430ci Windby days 4 and 5. The LS feeds on boost from twin Bullseye 66mm inducer sor with AFR heads, an Edelbrock EFI Spyder intake, and a Wilson 102mm turbos and an air-to-air intercooler through a Holley intake, and is tunedthrottle-body to ingest the boost from twin Precision Turbo 62mm using a Holley Dominator ECU. inducer billet-compressor-wheel turbos.

MODIFIED POWER ADDER WINNERS N AME 1] 2] 3]


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AV E R AGEE.T. 8.74 2 9.0 8 4 8 9 . 3 05 6

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@hotrodmagazine, via Brandan Gillogly: Did anyone else just watch Hemi a Super Beerace a 1967 427 Vette and have it come down to0.04 second? ’Cause I did. #dragweek14 @hotrodmagazine retweeted @patrick1468: @hotrodmagazine so Larson’s10 S-is nowkinda Honda powered?

DAY 3

LEXINGTON, OK, TO GREAT BEND, KS// 307 MILES

Someone came up alongside me and waved my taillight at me. It had fallen off! We didn’t even pull over, jus t handed it through the window.” — Keith Harrison, 1955 Chevy Bel Air Gasser ere’s really not that much difference between “at the track” and “on Power Adder class with a7.68 average until engine issues put it out the road” at Drag Week™. Days don’t start and end with the sun, orthe next day. Have you seen a 1970 Monte Carlo? It’s not what you’d the clock, or the calendar. It’s o en tomorrow while you still think expect it’s to be running 7.68.“Are you talking60-foot times?” Nope. tonight. Dig it? Full on quarter-miles at almost 200 mph. at’s what two turbos on a We hitched a rideto Great Bend, Kansas, withGeorge Gallimore Steve Schmidt big-block Chevy can do. in the black 1970 Monte Carlo that was leading the Super Street


[Alternator problems eventually led Larry Larson to strap a small gas generator to the back of the truck and charge the engine as he drove. He made it to the Thunder Valley track with 30 minutes to spare and swapped the truck from street to race trim in the staging lanes. It was one of the most dramatic moments of Drag Week™ 2014.



STREET RACE SMALL-BLOCK POWER ADDER// WINNING AVERAGE: 8.680 AT 162.566 Jarrett Faggart // 1972 Chevy Nova Jarrett Faggart brought his 1972 Nova allthe way from Porterville, California, and put his turbo junkyard motor to the test. He started the engine build with two late-model 6.0L LQ4 truck engines, disassembled everything, honed one of the blocks, ported the heads, and assembled it with LS9 head gaskets, reusing the best crank, rods, and pistons from both engines. It even uses the GM truck intake manifold and 78mmthrottle-body.From there, Jarrett installedone

of his custom JFR turbo acms with 218 degrees of duration at 0.050 and 112-degree lobe-separation angle. e power-adder issingle a 76mm inducer BorgW arner turbo with a1.25 A/R housing from Forced Inductions plumbed with a KB racing header. Jarr ett tuned the engine using Holley HP EFI. e car ran well most of the week until it broke a band inthe Powerglide, taking out First gear. A er that fix, it was smooth sailing for the rest of the week.

[Jarrett’s first junkyard LS engine he pulled for his 1972 Nova ended up having a spun bearing. “I don’t have luck when I go to the wrecking yard, I get junk.”

[Jon Wischmann’s Mustang uses a twin-turbo Chevy 383 small-block [Andy Williams made it to the podium using a junkyard 5.3L Chevy truck with AFR 210cc heads, an Edelbrock Victor intake, and a Comp solid-rollerengine. Like Jarrett, he too used LS9 head gaskets to temper the engine cam. It’s fuel-injected with a Big Stuff 3 ECU and Billet Atomizer 225-lb/ against boost. Andy runs an Edelbrock Pro-Flo intake with a Williams hr injectors. The drivetrain consists of a Rossler TH210 (TH400-based) 92mm throttle-body. The single 75mm inducer turbo was tuned by PCM transmission with a Gear Vendors and a RaceCraft fabricated 9-inch with For Less and made 805 hp at 7,100 rpm. a Strange spool and Moser axles.

STREET RACE SMALL-BLOCK POWER ADDER WINNERS N AME

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SUPER STREET POWER ADDER // WINNING AVERAGE: 8.424 SECONDS AT 167.878 MPH Eric Yost // 1968 Chevy Camaro Seventeen cars entered Super Street Power Adder, only nine finished. Last year’s runner-up, George Gallimore, had a 7.683 average a er three days, but avalvetrain failure put him out of competition, leaving the door wide open for Eric Yost, a perennial Drag Week™ competitor and a previous Hot Rod Top Speed Challenge winner. Eric’s engine is an oversquare Chevy small-block using a Bow 184A block with a4.174-inch bore and aTie 3.33-inch Bryant crank. e resulting 364ci short-block uses 18-degree 363 heads, an Edelbrock Victor intake, and a Nick Williams 102mm throttle-body. A Work Turbochargers 91mm inducer S500 turbo blasts in the air and Precision fuel injectors working at 100 psi makethe mixture.

[Eric Yost tuned the 364ci small-block using a Big Stuff 3 ECU with help from Don Bailey and Kevin Mullins.

SUPER STREET POWER ADDERS WINNERS N AME

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01

01] Gary Putnam’s Mustang is the third Mus-

tang that made it to the podium using Chevy power, not that we’re counting. The Merlin block uses Lunati crank and rods to displace 565 ci and has Dart 360 heads ported by Advanced Engine. A Procharger F3 centrifugal blower force-f eedsof airup in to through an Edelbrock to the tune 30 pounds of boost.Victor He wouldn’t relinquish cam specs, but he let it slip that it’s a Bullet solid-roller. He was more generous with info on the EFI system, which uses a Wilson 105mm throttle-body, Moran 325-lb/hr injectors, all run with a Holley Dominator EFI. The car runs an Aeromotive A1000 pump on the street and switches to a Magnafuel Outlaw belt-drive pump for the strip. Drivetrain is a Performance Racing Transmission TH400 with a Gear Vendors and a Racecraft Ford 9-inch with Strange 40-spline axles. Gary began the week with a 9.975, shaving time off on each day, finishing strong with an 8.015-second at 182.58 mph.

02

Shane McClelland became an instant hero when he drove his Crusty Nova like a pro on his ™ first-ever wheelstand on Drag Week last year. This year he held back on the launches until the final, when he unleashed a license-plate-bending sky shot. Kevin’s Nova uses a Dart LS Next block that combines the top end of an LS with the bottom end of a Gen 1 small-block. With 02]

a 4.125-inch bore and a 3.75-inch stroke, the 400ci V8 is a bigger foundation than the 370ci he ran with success last year, and the heads are bigger, too, moving from L92 to ported Mast LS7 castings. Twin 67mm turbos and a 412 Motorsports intercooler are mounted in front of the engine and blow through two 65mm GM throttle-bodies into a custom intake manifold from 417 Motorsports.



PRO STREET POWER ADDER// WINNING AVERAGE: 7.848 AT 177.706 MPH Mike Roy // 1970 Monte Carlo Aer peeking under the long hood of Mike Roy’s Monte Carlo, every other Monte seems like it’s missing a pair of 88mm Garrett turbos. ey just look like they belong there. Mike’s Monte has become a staple of Drag Week™, and we never get tired of seeing the monster

01

wheelstands the big car. It uses a 540 from big-block Chevy with Edelbrock Victor heads, a Profiler Sniper intake, and a 105mm Wilson throttle-body. 01] Mike tunes his

Chevy big-block using a Big Stuff 3 ECU and has seen a best of 1,967 hp at 7,500 rpm with peak torque of 2,000 lbft coming on at 6,800 rpm. You might remember Glenn Hunter’s 1956 Chevy from the May 2014 cover of HOT ROD, when he cruised it through Manhattan with his fellow Empire Stater 1] Frank Romano. Glenn tunes his 2] 8.3L-Whipple-supercharged 555 3] big-block himself using a Big Stuff 3 ECU, and he also painted the car on his own. Even cooler, Glenn has owned the car for 34 years. 02]

03]

PRO STREET POWER ADDER WINNERS N AME MikReoy

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Ronald Gibbany likes to do

things thebuild hardaway—why else an would he drag car using extended-cab, fullsize truck? The heavy GMC was srcinally powered by a 4.3L V6, but now uses a Dart Big M block to make 555 ci. Henson Racing Engines ported the Dart Pro 1 355 heads and World Merlin X intake sitting on top of the engine, while Ronald plumbed the NOS Pro Race Fogger system below the Pro Systems 1,100-cfm carb and 2-inch HVH Super Sucker spacer. If Ronald hadn’t made it to the podium, we might have given him an award just for how good the big-block looked.

03


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DAY 4

GREAT BEND, KS, TO TULSA, OK// 316.2 MILES

e weather wasn’t kind to usat SRCA Dragstrip inGreat Bend, ignition issues were plaguing him, so he rebuilt his points distributor Kansas, but that didn’ t stop the racing action. Mark Coveycut the on a diner table when he stopped for breakfast that morning. He also whole exhaust off his 1970 Buick GS (Buick-powered, you’ll be broke a shock mount, but he found helpful a weldor on the road to happy to hear) to save some weight. He also said he had clearance to Tulsa and got things back under control. some valvesprings on a belt sander in the hotel parking lot the previ- e road to Tulsa was a tough one. ere was much roadside ous night. At least Mark wasstill running. ere were afair amount carnage, and we heard a rumor that the VW wagon had to flat tow of damaged engines and other parts, so the wrenching in the pits Garrett Larson’s 1965 Galaxie at least 10 miles aer Garrett hit a big was pretty vigorous. Some hurts were fatal, like the seized-up cam chunk of deer and ripped the transmission cooler lines off his underin George Gallimore’s Monte Carlo. We were bummed to hear thatcarriage. We have no pictures of that. You’re welcome. the small-tire large car was out of competition, he was high upthe in e route had an unfortunate dearth of gas stations, and there was much sharing and swapping of precious race uel f amongst comlist of quicke.t. averages in Drag Week™ this year . Nick Plewniakin the wild rear-engine S-10 saidbut he’d been having some overheating e roads were roughatand the route dark. Tires were problems earlier in the week, it turned out to be an air bubble apetitors. common casualty, although least all thatwas stress kept the drivers in the cooling system. Jim Forbes in the 1962 Chevy II told us that awake.

hCatch all the racers online by searching #dragweek14 on Instagram andTwitter!


@hotrodmagazine: That’s what that clunkwas. #dragweek2014

Mark Sussino: Blown trans on registration day. No problem, an hit armadillo, no problem. Lost anti roll bar bolt, no problem. Freiburger and Lohnes stopped to eat bacon with us on the side of the road, then we forgot to put the hood pins in. Hoodrepair after Freiburger distracted us, no problem. Burnt the paint with our exhaust. No problem. We showed up with a car that had never been downhet track or more than a few miles from Gary Putnam’s house and we wound up in Second in our class. What a week.

@hotrodmagazine: Stay awake road game. How many car models are also destinations? Manhattan, Bel Air, Sebring, Yukon, Le Mans, Laguna...

[Before Joe Barry’s 1956 Chevy ran 200 mph, it ran out of gas on its way through Augusta, Kansas.

[Scott Brown burnt a piston in his LS-powered 1953 Chevy in the Daily Driver class, but through the help of fellow racers and locals, he managed to pull the bad parts, clean up the cylinder, find a used replacement, install it and reseal the engine, and wave goodbye to Great Bend, Kansas.



UNLIMITED // WINNING AVERAGE: 6.845 SECONDS AT 212.13 MPH

Jeff Lutz // 1957 Chevy Bel Air

[Jeff Lutz under the hood of his Evil Twin 1957 Chevy.

As always, the Unlimited class had more than its share of hypeand rumor, not that we did anything tostop it. 2013 Drag Week™ champion Tom Bailey and engine builder/ tuner Steve Morris were set to return in their 1969 Camaro, the first DragWeek™ car—or any car, for that matter—to make 6-second passes on five consecutive days. Five-time Drag Week™ winner Larry Larson, who was conspicuous in his absence last year, had beenJeff secretly cooking his killer S-10, while Lutz had been up completely out in the open about the fiberglass clone of his flat-black 1957 Chevy that came very close to taking the Drag Week™ crown in 2012. Tom Bailey changed little in his fiberglassbodied 1969Camaro; save for the billet-aluminum intake, the long-block had survived the three previous Drag Weeks and seemed


would pay dividends in thepower-to-weight ratio—provided it could get traction. e new car panned out, to say theleast. Jeff ran the fastest mph of Drag Week™ with a 225-mph run on the veryfirst day. Also, although it gets a bit confusing, his first-day pass of 6.69 is also the quickest run of Drag Week™ 2014, since Tom Bailey (who ran a quicker 6.54) was out of competition by day 2 and Larry Larson (whose 6.16 blew

ready to handle another. We spoke with engine builder Steve Morris, who told us the new intake and monstrous 5-inch throttlebody was goodfor more airflow and better distribution, and we’d seen a recent video showing the twin-turbo big-block maxing out a 2,500hp dyno. It looked like it was going to be a slugfest. Aer a 6.54 on day 1—the quickest pass ever on Drag Week™—Bailey followed it up

phone calls and a new cylinder head was en route to the track when they discovered the block, a three-time Drag Week™ survivor, suffered a crack. ey had to call it quits for competition, but continued to trailer the car for the remainder of Drag Week™ to offer support to othercompetitors. Jeff Lutz showed up not only with his steel 1957 that had battled Larry Larson so fiercely in 2012 but with a composite-body

with 6.61,ofputting himansolidly the lead at theaend day 2, but enginein teardown revealed a cracked cylinder head on the passenger side. Tom and Steve made some

copyaerodynamics of that car weighing all our didn’t manage to pullofoff his e of the only “Evil2,500 Twin”pounds. 1957 big runminds) until aer the completion Drag Chevy were still not inhis favor, although Week™ competition. In fact,teething issues Lutz calculated the reduction in weight with Larson’s S-10 forced him to break the

UNLIMITED WINNERS N AME

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beams on day 3 and take a 20-second e.t., ruining his chances of a sixt h Drag Week™ [Doug Cline told us he really just wanted to run 6s every day and survive, and his consistency putchampionship. ™ him in a position to win Drag Week outright using the Larry Larson plan of hitting the road as early e real achievement, though, is in the as possible each day. Midland Engine & Machine is responsible for building the 598ci big-block that work Lutz and his crew did to keeprunning breathes through Dart Big Chief heads and twin Precision Turbo 88mm turbos. The chassis is built by all week. e combination of high boost Larry Larson and is almost identical to Larson’s Nova under the skin, although Cline’s steel-bodied levels and an untested engine resulted in Camaro is almost 600 pounds lighter than Larry’s Nova and might pack a bit more power. repeated blown head gaskets and damaged parts. “e head-gasket thing was a real dis appointment,” Lutz told us when we called him for a post-race conversation. “I had to keep lowering the boost levels. On Monday everything was great, we had no problems. On Tuesday we made a hitand blew out the gasket. We changed it, heard that Bailey was out, and thought we were good. We hit the road. On Wednesday we popped a gasket and hurt the head. sent it out to aagain machine shop—that wasWe around 10:30 a.m.—and the lanes closed at 2:30. ey milled it and machined it and brought it back around 1:25. W e had it back on in20 minutes, and I made the 6.94-second run. We’d also had radiator problems, poking a [Joe Barry, who has had trouble with tire shake in 1956 Bel Air, made the switch to a Rossler-built TH400 trans and Gear Vendor overdrive. There was still some tire shake on the first few passes of that we had to repair. ought we were hole Drag Week™, sending chrome trim flying off the car at mid-track. By week’s end, Barry had the car good for ursday, but once we were on the dialed and made his first 6-second pass. This year also marked the first time Barry had made it into ™ road I kept noticing bits of rubber in the the Drag Week 200-mph club, earning him a jacket he can claim at Drag™Week 2015.


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car—the tires were completely coming apart. win. “He’s always been my little boy; he’s I had to baby it at Great Bend, that’s why watched me do this thousands of times, we ran the 7.03. Finally, we made it back to and I’ve never given him a chance to do Tulsa and got new tires, sowe finished with it himself. Seeing him bump it in and go the 6.78 at 207 mph.” down the track, that made the whole week worthwhile.” at, of course, isn’t even taking in to account all the fixing and fretting that JefDespite all his claims of this being a final fery Jr. had to do on the srcinal Lutz 1957. tour, and even though he’s finally achieved “It’s definitely noteasier bringing w t o cars, his Drag Week™ win—something he’s even if you get more people,” Lutz Sr. says. wanted to do since 2009—we don’t think Still, allowing Jeffrey the chance to drive we’ve seen the last ofthe Lutz family at HOT instead of just wrench was worth it in the ROD Drag Week™. ere are still records to end. e younger Lutz made his first ever beat, and Jeff and Jeffrey Lutz are the kinds 200-mph at pass during Week™ of men whoCamaro like a challenge. he’s got Shootout Tulsa, andthe Sr.post–Drag says that made a Pro Mod that mightBesides, not do so bad him even happier than his own Drag Week™ on the street.HOTROD

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The King and the Monster When it comes to big-block V8s, Meet theBig- Chevy’s venerable Rat motor has the lion’s share of attention Block Ford received over the years from hot rodders seeking plus-sized That Walked and torque, but thehorsepower a ermarket Away With Top has provided another big-block h

some attention: the Ford big-block,

Numbers Power at the 2013 AMSOIL Engine Masters Challenge Christopher Campbell Johnny Hunkins and Robert McGaffin

which been given the spotlight it hasn’t truly deserves. Known as the 385-series bigblock, these engines were built at Ford’s Lima Engine Plant in Lima, Ohio. ey debuted in 1968 as 429ci mills and were mostly known for powering fullsize family cars like the Lincoln Continental and Ford underbird. e 1970s emissions restrictions caused the 385-series engines’ horsepower ratings to fall down to the low200hp range shortly a er its introduction. e 429ci and 460ci engines were phased out of passenger cars in the mid 1970s and relegated to trucks and RVs through the 1980s before finally going out of production in 1997. Most of the 385-series engine’s legacy, especially the 460, was in low-horsepower and fairly unexciting vehicles. ankfully, that’s no longer the case. is particular 572ci beast walked away with both the Horsepower King and the Torque Monster awards at the 2013 AMSOIL Engine Masters Challenge (EMC) with peaks of 870 hp at 6,400 rpm and 816 lbof torque at 4,800 rpm, so the Ford big-block obviously has massive potential.


THE KING AND THE MONSTER

[The Schoenfeld headers are good, but Freelander feels a lot of power was left on the table for the dyno pull. He said in his experience, the more header the better on these big Fords.

[Cooling was controlled by a Meziere electric pump, while an Innovators West dampener handled harmonics. Freelander had this dampener made with the crank trigger magnets built in.

[Based on QFT’s 1,050-cfm Race Q carb, this one is basically a refined version. Freelander and Oakley traded carbs back and forth with QFT to help dial in the right combination. The ignition curve is handled by an MSD Performance Digital 7 with a Pro Power HVC coil, Pro Billet distributor, and Super Conductor wires.

EXCESS FROM SPARE PARTS Built as a joint venture between Freelander Race Engines and Oakley Motorsports, this behemoth really isn’t “anything all that special,” according to the team. It was pieced together mostly from parts the two builders had sitting around. Despite the expected power levels, Freelander and Oakley knew from the beginning they were concoct[Freelander uses Jomar Performance Products rocker girdles. He’s seen ing an engine too big to winhe t Engine Masters Challenge, which a solid 12hp difference in testing due to decreased rocker stud flex. “Any rewards power per cubic inch; they showed up with the intent to take time you start getting over 150 pounds on the seat, you’re probably going the top power prizes. “e whole idea was to build abig-ass engine, ” to start seeing a difference,” Freelander said. Freelander told us.“I saw Eric Weingartner [of Wein gartner Racing] [The 28cc dish Diamond at EMC and knew he built abig Chevy. I said, ‘Hey , whatcha build, Racing pistons sit in the buddy?’ He said,‘Brought a 540ci Chevy, gonna take Horsepower big 4.600 bore at zero King and Torque Monster.’ I told him I brought a 572ci Ford, and his deck with a 1.350-inch jaw hit the ground,” Freelander said with a laugh. compression height.

BRAWNY BOTTOM END e sheer size of the 385-seriesblock’s skirtless crankcase allows copious amounts of stroke in therotating assembly without the need to grind the blockfor clearance. Combined with a 4.900-inch bore spacing, thick cylinder walls, a 10.320-inch deck height, and a camsha positioned high in the block, these engines just scream that more size was in the plans for this engine family. Stock 460s used a relatively short 3.850-inch stroke, buthe t generous real estate effortlessly swallows up much longer-armed cranks;4.300-inch a crank will drop right in with ero z grinding for rod clearance, and a 4.500-inch crank requires only a very slight notch at the bottom of each cylinder. A 429 or 460 Ford can be built as large as 559 ci with production blocks andoff-the-shelf components. Ford Racing’s A460 block was developed for huge u c bic inches and big power numbers. It uses thecylinder same 10.320-inch deck height as a stock 460engine block, but its bores are siamesed for increased cylinder strength andstability. e bore range isfrom 4.360–4.600 inches, allowing up to 598 ci. Plus, rather than 10 head bolts per head, the A460 has 18. Below, the A460 blockis similar to the production 460 block, but gets splayed four-bolt, nodular iron main caps. ere’s also more material in the li er valley and onhe t pan rails to keep everything stable at high power levels. Maxing out those cubes used to require a very expensive crank,


“Not many guys build something this large while trying to keep a realistic street compression ratio,” Freelander said.

but fortunately, Scat has stepped up with a much more affordable option. Freelande r opted for a4.300-inch stroke and paired it with 6.800-inch Oliver rods. e pistons are custom parts from Diamond Racing with a 28ccdish to get the compression level down to 11.5:1.

P51 FIXES EVERYTHING Despite canted valves and huge ports derived from the 351 Cleveland program, there are no production 385-series heads truly worthy of the engine’s potential. ankfully, that’s a travesty the a ermarket would not let stand.ere are several great options out there, but Freelanderofisthe fond of Jon KaaseJet aRcing’ s P51 head. Developed as an evolution Super Cobra head Kaase R&D’d in conjunction with Ford Racing,Kaase’s revisioncreated a bolt-onhead addressing all of the srcinal design’ s issues and flows more than 350 fcm. e P51 took everything a stepfurther. Building upon the gains made in port development on the Super Cobra Jet head, the P51 was to be an “as-cast” head exhibiting the traits of a fullyorted p Super Cobra Jet. Flow out of the box is400 cfm at 0.700 inch of li but , Freelander and Oakley went even further withport work resulting in upward of 430 cfm at 0.700.

VALVETRAIN

VITAL SPECIFICATIONS 572CI FORD 385 SERIES

“ere’s a certain stigma in the 460 Ford community regarding hydraulic roller cams,” Freelander explained. “e rumor is that Ford never offered it in production vehicles because the tall li created er TEAM LEADER AND MEMBERS geometry issuescausing reliability problems. ” Because of that, you’ll mostly find flat-tappet cams or solid rollers in 460 builds, and plenty ENGINE TYPE of banter on message boards about whether or not it’s a good idea to make the hydraulic swap. Freelander has proven it can work just CLAIMED DISPLACEMENT fine. Using a Comp Cams billethydraulic roller with 0.817/0.817 BLOCK life and 266/272 duration at 0.050 paired with big3⁄8-inch pushrods BORE X STROKE and Morel 0.904 li ers, the 572ci pulled cleanly to 7,200 rpmall in COMPRESSION RATIO pretesting dyno runs and was just as issue-free at the EMC competiCOMPRESSION HEIGHT tion. Freelander the bigthe 0.904 Morel li ers critical to the project’s success,says enabling acceleration ratewere he was looking for. He also opted for bronze li er bushings since he planned to recycle CRANKSHAFT ENGINE BEARINGS the engine into hisdragster, and bronze isso much more forgiving. “I don’t know how long I would trust them on the street,” Freelander CONNECTING ROD said, “but the li erslooked brand new a er 80to 90 dyno pulls.”

THE MAFIA GETS INVOLVED e Trick Flow Mafia, that is. Actually, the correct name for this intake is the R-series, but in 460 circles it o en goes by “Mafia.” Freelander is close with the guys who worked with Trick Flow to

[Milled from ½-inch aluminum, the 4150–4500 adapter plate allowed Freelander and Oakley to run the intake they wanted while still meeting the EMC rules requiring a 4150-style carb.

[On the P-51 head, both valves are pulled back toward the intake side of the chamber and the valve angle was altered. The intake port measures 310 cc and uses 2.250[Here’s a closer look inside that inch valves, while the exhaust Trick Flow intake. Freelander ports measure 145 cc and carry swears they did almost nothing 1.76-inch diameter valves. The port to it other than light clean up and throats below the valves come port matching. machined and hand-blended.

Ford 385 Series 572 ci Ford Racing A460 4.600 x 4.300 in 11.5:1 1.390 in Scat ACL Race Series Oliver, 6.800 in

CONNECTING ROD BEARINGS

Clevite

PISTONS AND RINGS

Diamond Racing Pistons, Akerly & Childs

COMPRESSION AND SECOND RING

0.043 / 0.043 in

CAMSHAFT

Comp Cams

CAM DURATION AT 0.050

266/272 degrees

VALVE LIFT

0.817 / 0.817 in

HEAD GASKET

Cometic

CYLINDER HEADS

Jon Kaase Racing Engines

VALVES (INTAKE / EXHAUST)

2.250 / 1.760 in

VALVE LIFTERS

Morel

PUSHRODS

Smith Brothers Pushrods

[The Morel hydraulic lifters are special 0.904-inch-diameter units. ROCKER ARMS Though these lifters feature full ENGINE GASKET SET plunger travel, they worked flawlessly with high spring loads and INTAKE MANIFOLD 7,000-rpm pulls.

[Here’s a glance at some of the porting work on the intake side of the P-51 heads.

David Freelander, Phillip Oakley, Mike Miller, Jay Aokley, and Rob Orava

Crower, 1.8:1 Ford Racing Trick Flow Specialties

CARBURETOR

Quick Fuel Technologies

IGNITION SYSTEM

MSD Performance

SPARK PLUGS AND WIRES

Autolite and MSD Performance

FASTENERS

ARP

FLYWHEEL

PRW

ENGINE DAMPER

Innovators West

WATER PUMP

Meziere

HEADERS

Schoenfeld

VALVE COVERS

Ford Racing

HOSES AND FITTINGS

Quick Fuel Technologies

AMSOIL OIL VISCOSITY

5W-20

OIL PUMP

Jon Kaase Racing Engines

OIL PAN

Moroso

MUFFLERS

Flowmaster

Belting out a peak of 870 hp and 815 lb-ft, Freelander went home the horsepower king. — Steve Dulcich, editor ofEngine Masters


THE KING AND THE MONSTER

develop this intake and says sit’quite good right out of thebox for a big engine. In fact, it’ s so good they did nothing other than a touch of port matching before dropping on the carb. Working with Quick Fuel Technologies (QFT), Freelander and Oakley spec’d out a custom 1,050-cfm 4150 carb to sit atop an adaptor plate for the Trick Flow intake’s 4500 flange, but Freelander told us it’s really nothing crazy and QFT willhappily build you acopy.

ON THE DYNO: 572CI FORD 385 SERIES R PM

TQ

HP

3,000

7 13

4 07

3 ,10 0

7 09

418 . 6

3,2 00

697

4 24 .4

3,3 00

67 9

42 6 . 3

3 ,4 0 0

661

42 8

3 ,50 0 3 ,6 0 0

6 41 631

42 6 .9 43 2 . 5

3 ,7 0 0

637

4 48 .9

3 ,8 0 0

662

47 8 .7

3 ,9 0 0

69 3

5 15

4 ,0 0 0

7 24

5 51

4 ,10 0

74 9

5 84

4,200

773

6 18

4 ,30 0

791

648

4 ,4 0 0

803

67 2

4,500

8 10

69 4

4 ,6 0 0

8 12

7 11

4 ,7 0 0

8 14

7 28

4, 8 0 0

8 16

74 5

4 ,9 0 0

8 14

7 60

5 ,0 0 0

8 13

7 74

5 ,10 0

8 10

7 86

5,200

80 5

7 97

5 ,30 0

7 97

805

5 ,4 0 0

792

8 14

5, 500

7 85

82 2

5,600

7 81

83 2

5 ,7 0 0

77 5

8 41

5,800

770

8 50

5 ,9 0 0

7 63

8 57

6 ,0 0 0

7 53

8 61

6 ,1 0 0

74 3

863

6,200

7 33

865

6, 3 0 0

723

8 67

6,4 0 0

7 14

870

6, 5 0 0

69 9

865

6, 6 0 0

68 8

865

6,7 0 0

67 7

864

6, 8 0 0

666

862

6,9 0 0

649

853

7, 0 0 0

639

852

EXHAUSTING POSSIBILITIES

[The splayed four-bolt caps are the first giveaway this isn’t a standard for adding significant 385-series Ford block. Also note One favorite trick among 385-series racers the wider pan rails. Freelander sayspower is header selection. Rather than standard 429/460 headers, that it’s critical to watch clearan adapter is used to bolt on a set of big-block Chevy headers. For ances on long-stroke, big engines like this: “You have to loosen reasons only fully known to header-theory gurus, the oval-porteverything up a little bit, including to-round-port conversion always results in a large power increase. “I’ve seen it make as much as 30 hp,” Freelander said. Unfortunately, side clearances.”

that slick trick is illegal, per EMC rules, which states all parts must correspond directly to the mod el engine they are intended for, so the round ports were out. Instead, traditional 385-series headers had to be used. e2-inch primary Shoenfeld headers are good, but in hindsight, Freelander said he would have gone for more. “It seems 3 like big-block Fords just can’t get enough header. A 2-inch ⁄8-to 2 inch step would have been better at peak.”

MAKIN’ POWER [Oiling is provided by a Jon Kaase Racing oil pump. These iron versions are out of production now, but a new aluminum version is available.

[The Moroso oil pan is a standard Fox Mustang swap piece, since Freelander had planned to drop the engine into his car after the 2013 EMC competition. It hasn’t made it there yet, but we hear that may change after this year’s competition.

Of course, big cubic inches don’t mean anything if the engine can’t produce the number on demand, and it certainly did against the SuperFlow Powerm ark dyno at the2013 AMSOIL EngineMasters Challenge, where in terms ofraw power, the big Ford stomped all comers with 870 hp and 816 lbof torque—both within a nice usable power range. Freelander and Oakley may not have scored the highest via the EMC formula, but we have to verify that the Horsepower King and Torque Monster awards, both given to the contender with highest peak number, are handed out fairly. ey don’t want to let go of the title either. Freelander says the big Ford will be back at EMC even bigger—632 ci. How much horsepower and torque will it make? You’ll have to tune into the competition to find HOTROD out.

Contacts AEROFLOW;Sydney, Australia; +61 2 8825 1979;AeroflowPerformance.com AEROQUIP;AeroquipPerformance.com AMSOIL;Superior, WI; 800.956.5695;Amsoil.com ARP; Ventura, CA; 800.826.3045;ARP-Bolts.com CHI; Meridian, MS; 601.485.3355;CHIheads.com.au COMETIC;Concord, NH; 800.752.9850.Cometic.com CROWER;San Diego, CA; 619.661.6477;Crower.com EAGLE SPECIALTY PRODUCTS; Southaven, MS; 662.796.7373;EagleRod.com FEDERAL MOGUL;Southfield, MI; 248.354.7700;Federal-Mogul.com FLOWMASTER;Santa Rosa, CA; 800.544.4761;FlowmasterMufflers.com HOLLEY PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS; Bowling Green, KY; 270.781.9741;Holley.com JE; Irvine, CA; 714.898.9764;JEpistons.com KEVKO RACING;Fairmont, MN; 800.770.3557;KevkoRacing.com MOREL;JohnCalliesinc.com PROFORM;Roseville, MI; 586.774.2500;ProformParts.com SCAT;Redondo Beach, CA; 310.370.5501;ScatCrankshafts.com RCS RACING ENGINES; Pittsburgh, PA; 412.881.1000;RCSracingEngines.com SMITH BROTHERS PUSHRODS; Redmond, OR; 800.367.1533;Pushrods.net

[Meet the team that built this beast. From left to right: David Freelander, Elmendorf, TX; 210.635.7744,VPracingFuels.com Phillip Oakley, Mike Miller, Jay Aokley, and Rob Orava. VP RACING FUEL;


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Exotic Materials

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3 Y 16 L H ield S Fa ardn Str TAIN b br e en L Th ette icat ss: R gth ESS e 3 r w ion oc : 30 S 16 eld Pr kw ,0 TE is s ab op ell 00 EL lig ilit ert B9 ps h t y t i es 2 i ly ha : 3 m n 16 ag ot h ne he as tic r s les . ta s c in l a es rbo ss n te fo el s r . 41 Yie 40 H ld C F ard St HR a abr ne ren OM sp nd v icat ss: R gth EM Magnindles ery to ion Pr ockw : 85,0 OLY et , ax ugh ope ell 00 ST ic. le , rt C2 ps E s, a sui ies 6 i EL nd tab : H ot le f igh he or te r h ro ns igh llc ile -st age str res s, g eng s a ea th p p rs , lic at ion s.

T Y ITA Ha ield NIU F rd St M m abr ne ren G Go aki icat ss: R gth RAD sp o ng io o : 4 E us eed d we it m n Pr ckw 0,0 2 ing s ld or op ell 00 hig tee abi e co erti B6 ps h p l or lity rro es: 8 i G ressu carbidand fosion-r rade r e e r m es 2 an an a ist is 9 d l d s bil an 9 ot aw ity t t pe s o w . M h a rc f c ith ac n o ent oo b hi th ti lan im ne er tan t. N eta wit Ti a ium ot l bl h h llo , m ad igh ys. ag e ne t ic .


MATERIAL SCIENC E

Not all metals, or composites, are created equal. Most automakers and aftermarket companies must use what’s easy to manufacture in large volume, which means there are compromises. Parts are bulkier than they would otherwise need to be in order to add strength, or perhaps they corrode due to the harsh conditions. These are the materials that you might want to choose when building your car to make it lighter, stronger, and more likely to finish the race.


Start to Finish

Finishing Someone Else’s Start

Paul James’ restomod 1958 Corvette started as somebody else’s deadprojects under his belt, so he stepped up. The frame was set up with a project. Paul was looking for a 1958 Corvette to update when he came C5 front and C6 transaxle, which was a great start. Now it just needed across this stillborn project out of Canada that had been dismantled a new engine and thededication to put the myriad pieces back to the point of being a bare shell on a rusty Art Morrison chassis. Astogether, it and then be finished off to the level it deserved. Here’s how it sat, it would be daunting to most, but Paul had four previous Corvette came together.hHOTROD.COM/ Thom-Taylor Paul James

s e m a J l u a P

[Paul starts off by separating the bare shell from the Morrison frame. [With the body shell and chassis separated, a better assessment can It’s apparent that some of the suspension components have been be made of what the previous owner completed and where Paul needs exposed to the harsh Canadian winters. The first stage will be to cleanto continue the building process. up the chassis and settle on an engine.

[07.18.2011 ] [07.24.2011 ] [07.31.2011] [08.01.2011] [09.01.2011] [09.04.2011]

[The suspension teardown begins. At the same [The C6 driveline and transaxle are prepped for[Installation of the 454ci, LSX-block-based time, body attachment points are mocked up paint and plumbing. engine. on the chassis, and a new engine mount and crossmember is welded in place.

[With the chassis completed, it’s carted off to the painter for a shot of [Assembly begins on the chassis with the front suspension that features primer and then silver. Z06 brakes. Paul wanted to get the front and rear suspension in and the Asanti wheels and tires checked before installing the engine.

GOT PICS?

If you’ve built or restored your carand have documented it in pictures every step of the way, we might be able to use your storyin HOT ROD. Contact us to find out.Mail: HOT ROD Start To Finish, 831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245. [email protected] mail: E .


[Up on wheels and with the electrical proceeding, it will be almost a year before this stage of the project is completed.

[Detail of the Corvette C6 torque tube and bellhousing before coupling. [With the body sitting on the finished chassis, the Vette is wheeled into the body shop for some fixes and tweaks.

[This nice Billet Specialties serpentine belt system is from the company’s Tru Trac series.

[10.25.2011] [11.04.2011] [11.11.2011] [10.31.2012] [11.15.2012] [03.29.2013]

[At this stage, Paul has the Harrop Engineering Harrop.com.au ( ) “Hurricane” EFI intake, the exhaust has been constructed and installed, and wiring has commenced. He says packaging all of the electronics in a car never designed for them was the most challenging part of the build.

[Let’s just say that the body needed a lot of work, so while they were on it a little redesign of the console and dash was in order. [The final stages of plumbing and wiring are almost complete. Soon the body will be the next stage of the build.



[Modifications and reinforcement to the firewall and floor had to be completed. [In color for the first time in 30 years! [Clearcoat is on and assembly begins. Those chrome fins are one of the distinguishing features that separate the 1958 Corvette from its similar 1959–1960 brethren.

[With all of the bodywork done, the basecoat has been applied.

[04.19.2013]

[05.02.2013]

[08.02.2013]

[09.23.2013]

[07.24.2014 ]

[Routing and hooking up the wiring and installation of the interior go hand-in-hand on this build.

[The finished project took just under three years, not counting the initial chassis work and body disassembly. Sometimes it can be harder to take over a project than to start one from the beginning. Kudos to Paul for finishing somebody else’s dead end.

[Here’s the finished interior with wood accents and nice integration of classic Corvette with contemporary flair.


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Step by Step:Exterior Car Detailing 01 01] Here are all

of the Mothers products we’ll be using on Freiburger’s 1970 Super Bee. The paint is in decent shape, although it shows the scratches of every car wash it has ever had.

05] Rather

02] We

02

washed the car, taped off a section of the decklid to show the before-andafter contrast, and misted a small area with spray detailer to act as lubrication for the Mothers California Gold Clay Bar. The clay pulls particles from the paint’s horizontal surfaces and traps them, making the surface noticeably smoother.

05

than using a 90-degree handle that can lead to uneven pressure on the pad, we used the forward grip and kept the pad flat on the decklid. We used 50 percent overlapping passes and were especially careful near the vinyl stripes. We also checked periodically to see that we weren’t removing any color. 06] After two

03] We

03

worked in small areas to keep the clay gliding over the surface. When we were done with a section of the paint, the dirt in the clay was obvious. We folded the clay over a few times to reveal clean clay before moving on.

little bit of lube and to keep the compound from soaking into the pad too much.

06

in the muchdiminished scratches. We switched pads on the buffer, sprayed on some Instant Detailer, and applied Finishing polish. The process was the same as before, with overlapping passes.

04] This paint

had never seen a buffer, so we started with a rubbing compound and its matching Lake County foam pad mounted to a Flex dual-action orbital polisher. We sprayed the pad with Instant Detailer for a

applications of rubbing compound, the oxidized surface paint was coming off and all of the minor scratches were gone, with only a few deeper scratches remaining. We moved to the final polish and let our wax fill

07] For

07

04

wax we choose Mothers Synthetic Wax. It is applied using its own foam pad, and goes on just like the other compounds. A thin coat is left to glaze over before it is buffed off with a clean towel. You’ll know it’s ready when you can wipe it away with a finger without smearing. 08] With the

08 84 HOTROD.COM /2015/ FEBRUARY /

masking tape removed, it’s easy to see the dramatic difference. Nearly all of the scratches and swirls are gone.


Exterior Car Detailing, Cont’d

09

09] The Super Bee still has its factory chrome bumpers. To bring back the shine, we used 0000 steel wool and Mothers Chrome Polish. The ultra-fine steel wool knocks down all the surface contamination

and doesn’t oxidation but harm tough chrome as long as you’re careful.

10

11

10] A before-andafter shows how much oxidation was removed.

13] The R3 is clearly working, although we figured it would take several more applications for this much rubber. 14] We were impatient and decided the spray needed some mechanical help, so we used a plastic scraper from Eastwood to remove the softened rubber.

13

11] Hard water had built up deposits at the bottom of the rear window. Mothers has products for removing this from paint and glass, but on glass, careful use of a razor blade is as efficient. 12] Mothers R3 Racing Rubber Remover is formulated to remove bits of stuck-on rubber and grime without harming paint. Several years of burnouts had been caked onto the rear quarter, and it didn’t want to come off without a fight. We soaked the rubber and let it sit a minute.

Next Month: Safety Wire

14

16] The hoops are noticeably brighter. hHOTROD.COM/ Brandan-Gillogly

Contacts MOTHERS POLISH; Huntington Beach, CA; 714.891.3364; Mothers.com FLEX NORTH AMERICA; 877.331.6103; FlexNorth America.com

15

12

16 86 HOTROD.COM /2015/FEBRUARY /

15] We finally turned to the wheels, where we used aluminum polish on the wheel hoops of the Weld Star GTs. Rather than use a rag or even a buffer, we’ve found that a heavy pair of rubber gloves makes a great applicator because the polish doesn’t soak in. After the polish, a soft cloth is used to reveal the shine.

LAKE COUNTY MFG.; 262.367.395; LakeCounty Mfg.com

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888.200.9984 DAKOTADIGITAL.COM/HR


Project Car Update

The Roadkill Raunchero

The RoadkillRanchero, affectionately known as the “Raunchero,” has been an ongoing project since the verybeginning of the show. The 1968 Ford made an appearance in Episode 2 and starred in the ic y adventures of both Episodes 13 and 14, when Finnegan and Freiburger tried andfailed, and then tried again and didn’t fail to make it to Alaska for an ice race. Later it went ’round an autocross and did its best to crossthe finish line first in theRoadkillcar shootout in Episode 25. You can see all that and more at YouTube.com/user/MotorTrend . [It’s dirty becauseRoadkill, but under that grime is a 340-horse Ford 302 from Hawaii Racing coupled to a Level 4 C4 from Gearstar. It’s a mild roller-cam build topped with Edelbrock E-Street Aluminum heads. Joe Souza at Hawaii Racing assembled the mill with a full set of pulleys and brackets, which solved some problems from the previous engine swap. Never underestimate the importance of a matched accessory set. Plans are in the works for power steering. The boys are going to be spoiled!


Since it has a reoccurring role Roadkill on , and also since most things don’t make it through an episode unscathed, the Raunchero has been through several engines and on-the-road fixes. For its most recent appearance, which will be live by the time you read this (Episode 32), theRaunchero got a brand-new crate engine from Hawaii Racing and some fancy new suspension parts to help it handle whatRoadkillthrows down. It’s always the little things that trip you up. The new water pump exited on the passenger side, but the radiator fitting was on the driver 01]

side. A few trips to the auto-parts store scored this multi-angled lower hose. We don’t know what it’s for srcinally, a van maybe? To give the Raunchero a chance at handling, the stock springs and shocks were replaced with a Total Control Products bolton coilover conversion. The kit came with everything required for the swap, including the mounting plate for the shock tower. 02–03]

01

04] We won’t give you any

spoilers about the episode, but we will tell you that now the Raunchero has a new problem. Ant infestation. Let your imaginations run wild, or just go watch the show.

02

Contacts HAWAII RACING; Simi Valley, CA; 805.583.8880;HawaiiRacing.com

03

TOTAL CONTROL PRODUCTS; Sacramento, CA; 888.388.0298;TotalControlProducts.com

04


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Daily Driver Diaries

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you’ll ever be, if you can’t reach thesotop shelf now, you never will. There might be some excitement from finally figuring out how to work the office coffeemaker, but it’s not like learning how to play the clarinet oranything. That’s where hot rodding comes in. Working around cars, you learn lots of stuff. You have to, because you just can’t predict what is going to break, or become available through the aftermarket, or get found in a barn and restored. I’m always ® ™ learning new history, new technology, or new troubleshooting techniques. Sometimes I relearn something old that I Engineered with Thin Plate Pure Lead (TPPL) technology for more power,®ODYSSEY forgot, like “check the hoodpins.” Doh. ™ Performance Series batteries can handle the demands of powerful engines, extreme Sometimes the learning curve is quick heat and vibration, long storage periods and more. ODYSSEY batteries deliver long and impressive, like taking a dragster service life, high reliability and deep cycling capabilities that conventional batteries just driving class. Other times it’s a slow deal, and a little embarrassing, like when I www.odysseybattery.com can’t match. To find the right battery for you, visit . decided to finally learn how to drive a stick shift. It took about a year to stop stressing about every gear change, but ® man, it felt great when my friend Hannah looked over from the passenger seat of the Opel GT and said, “Hey, you can totally drive stick now!” Watch out, Ronnie Sox. I know there are endless things to learn ahead of me, I want to improve my © 2014 EnerSys. All rights reserved. Trademarks and logos are the property of EnerSys and painting skills, understand more engine its affiliates unless otherwise noted. Subject to revisions without prior notice. E.&O.E. assembly tricks, get even a clue about EFI tuning, and drive more than 200 mph. All of this is available to the eager hot rodder. What have you learned today?

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Breaking News

Blown-Up Blower Sitting Sideways For a brief second, forgetting everything you know about supercharging and crankdriven GMC blowers and how they function, you’re wondering if this is yet another exercise in

s e iv h c r A d o R t o H

“what if?”Upon closer inspection, your brain and eyes engage, and you see this for what it is. What is it? A Top Fuel 392ci blown Chrysler Hemi running a 6-71 GMC supercharger that has blown apart at its base, then reverently returned to saidbase from which it wasbolted—but 90 degrees off. Sort of a “we’re done for the weekend” statement seen at the 1965 NHRA World Finals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thom-Taylor hHOTROD.COM/

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HOT ROD TO THE RESCUE

[Mike Bees says his low-buck 1974 Nova was “built by me and my old roommate over dirt, rocks, broken concrete, and under a tree.”

[At some point after installing a salvage-yard [After eliminating all other possible sources, 4.8L LS-style engine and 4L60E automatic overthe drone was traced to an issue with the transdrive, Bees’ Nova was stung by a weird noise. mission, torque converter, and fluid lines.

There’s a Weird Buzzing Sound Coming From the 4.8L LS Engine/4L60E Trans in Mike Bees’ 1974 Nova.We’re Gonna Fix It. Marlan Davis

to look at anything that’s not stock.” The queen Be es—Mike’s wife—kept pushing him to sell it, “but I just want to drive it. Please help me get it back on the road to keep the gearhead DNA flowing!”

Jesse Kiser, Ron Rollings, and Mark Sanchez

the car on the stands without the wheels in contact with the road High school teacher Michael made no difference, either. SanBees has owned his 1974 Nova chez relates that “all the ‘experts’ had claimed it couldn’t be the hatchback for more than 10 years. Originally purchased as a trans—so next we physically searched for external sources. rolling shell without an engine or a trans, it went through sevWe wrapped the brake lines, the fuel lines, and the trans lines. eral small-blocks and 700-R4 THE PROBLEMautomatics. When the latest We tied loose cables out of the small-block developed a rod way. In short, we looked for and SOLVERS knock, Bees swapped in a Coincidentally , Bees lives only identified anything that could be salvage-yard 2004 Tahoe 4.8L about a mile away from Mark rubbing against the drivetrain EFI LS-type engine and 4L60E Sanchez’s Advanced Engineercomponents or the body. Still no automatic overdrive trans using ing West (AEW) shop in Mira THE DIAGNOSIS difference.” Street & Performance converLoma, California. Although Sanchez first test-drove the car At this point, it was time sion parts. Bringing up therear Sanchez is primarily a Ford to verify Bees’ complaint, quickly get out Sanchez’s go-to vibrais a 3.73:1-geared 10-bolt with an specialist, due to his proximity to establishing the problem seemed tion analysis tool: a Steelman Eaton Posi and Sierra axles. Bees (“We’re practically neigh- to occur during the 1–2 shift.It Wireless ChassisEAR remote bors!”), he agreed to evaluate was indeed intermittent if the carlistening device with clamp-on the car and perform the initial was allowed to upshift automati- magnetic sensors. “With the diagnostics. Later, Rollings cally in Drive. Butto consistently ‘ears’, I could tell that the noise THE PROBLEM Some time afterinstallation, Automotive got involved for replicate the problem, Sanchez seemed to be coming up from the bellhousing area,” Mark the car developed what Bees the heavy wrenching. A scarce says he “had to manually shift describes asan “intermittent holdout among a vanishing the car. Speed or rpm were not explained. “The intensity scale screaming noise. It makes the breed, Rollings is a full-service a factor.” To Sanchez, the nois e on the tool went higher when noise 80–90 percent of the time. shop capable of doing every“sounded like a constant tapping connecting to the bellhousing

THE COMBO

I thought wasthe transmisthing from late-model stocker sion, but aitlocal trans shop said repairs to complete frame-up it was not the trans but the brake custom street rod and hot rod booster. The brake shop said it projects. It also builds or rebuilds wasn’t the booster, but cou ldn’t complete engines, transmissions, figure it out, either. I am at a loss and rearends. Owner Norm since most shops don’t want Rollings says he’s “been doing

NEED JUNK FIXED?

this for 40 years now. We try to be the mechanic’s mechanic. ” Also brought in for a consult was Julian Nieto, owner of Four C’s Transmission Specialty. Nieto is a real problem-solver when it comes to late-model automa tic transmissions. Ultimately, TCI came to the rescue with a complete high-perf 4L60E trans and torque converter—but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

vibration or buzzing, almost like an extremely loud electronic solenoidbuzz.” Next, Sanchez put the car up on jackstands to filter out any road-noise feedback or surfacecontact harmonics. But driving

areaoil compared to the tailshaft, the pan, or the trans lines. To me, this indicated a problem with the trans, thetorque converter, or even a cracked flexplate.” With the scope of theprob-

If your car has a gremlin that just won’t quit, you could be chosen for HOT ROD to the Rescue. [email protected] Email us at and put “Rescue” in the subject line. Include a description of your problem, your location, and a daytime phone number.


TCI

[Norm Rollings of Rollings Automotive did the [TCI supplied a built, 725hp capacity, 4L60E heavy wrenching. He’s been working on stockersStreetFighter trans and Breakaway lockup and hot rods alike for more than 40 years. torque converter.

[Problem solved, Bees can now get busy buzzing the Nova around his Mira Loma, California, hive on a daily basis.

lem narrowed, the car went over to Rollings Automotive (also located in Mira Loma) for further inspection, analysis, and teardown. Rollings examined the Nova and saw that the trans cooler lines were poorly routed, bent, and kinked. Checking trans-fluid flow, Norm observed “virtually nothing coming out of the radiator.” He also discovered restrictive screen-style inline fittings installed at the radiator end. Restrictions can cause a hydraulic resonance condition that may have been a cause of the weird noise. But with inconsistent fluid circulation, the long-term longevity of the existing trans and torque converter—salvage-yard takeouts—now also became questionable. The failsafe move was to replace the trans and torque converter. We strongly recommend replacing these units as a pair because if one had a problem, odds are that it sent contaminating debris through the other. Who wants a Rescue replay? Not HOT ROD!

THE FIX: TCI TRANS AND TORQUE CONVERTER

[TCI’s 4L60E StreetFighter transmission assembly (PN 371016) is a direct replacement for 4L60E/4L65E transmissions installed behind 2000–2006 4.8/5.3/6.0L LS-style truck engines with the OE computer (like Bees salvage-yard retrofit), compatible aftermarket computer, or TCI’s own stand-alone controller.

For Bees’ near-stock 4.8L LS

transmission with an 11-inch Breakaway torque onverter. c W e say “mild” because the combo

that support upward of 1,000 hp roller clutches for increased in full-race trim if you need ’em. holding capacity . A modified TCI’s StreetFighter transmis- lubrication system increases

truckstepped motor,up theand good folks at TCI sent us its “mildest” StreetFighter 4L60E

supports 725 hp; theretransmisare TCI 700-R4/4L60E-based sions and converters available

sionsbands include clutches volume to the planetaries and forspecial increased durabil- fluid and other critical transmission ity, plus heavy-duty sprags and internal parts. TCI raises the line pressure for extra-firm shifts and greater torque capacity with less slippage. TCI Breakaway converters provide approximately a 2,400to 2,600-rpm flash stall without negatively affecting part-throttle

The TCI trans is beyond awesome! The noise is completely gone—and now it chirps the tires going into Second. It never did thatbefore.”— Mike Bees



driving. The result is aharder launch and quicker wideopen-throttle (WOT) acceleration even on mild engines without sacrificing partthrottle highway cruise-speed efficiency.As advertised, the trans and converter bolted right in place of Bees’ junkyard truck trans.

THE FIX:

01

The Nova had improper FLUID LINES tapered pipe-thread fittings in the trans case. Fortunately, the new TCI trans wasdelivered with proper fittings designed s i v a D n la r a M

02

03

04

05

01]

The Nova had been through several traditional small-block engine/03] AEW’s Mark Sanchez tied up, wrapped, and isolated any item that trans combos, but Bees finally took the plunge and dropped in a salvagecould rub against the drivetrain or frame—but it made no difference. He yard 2004 Tahoe 4.8 L EFI-style engine backed by a 4L60E electronic finally traced the noise to the transmission area by using this Steelman overdrive trans. He bought the mounts, headers, and trans crossmemberWireless ChassisEAR remote audible listening device. It’s like your Doc’s from Street & Performance, which also programmed the computer. stethoscope, only wireless and for a car. A makeover before that big first date: Bees was so excited HOT ROD 04] Besides the complete trans in the box, TCI set us everything needed approved his Nova rescue request that he prepped and painted the rustyto swap out the questionable assembly: a new Breakaway lockup torque old primered body. The Nova is a 1974 model, altered by Bees to cosmeticonverter, 3 gallons of Max Shift trans fluid, and two cans of trans flush. cally resemble a 1973. 05] Rollings and Sanchez uncrate the TCI trans. 02]


06

TCI

07

to mate with conventional SAE 45-degree inverted-flare tubenuts. Rollings new tubing and added bent shortup lengths of proper hydraulic hose up front going into the radiator cooler to compensate for engine rock.

D

THE FIX: FLUSH AND FILL

C

B

Rollings thoroughly flushed the trans radiator and cooler using TCI Trans-Flush. If the old fluid lines had been retained, they would also need a flush. Again, the object is to ensure whatever contamination remaining from the old trans and/or converter is not transferred over to the new installation.After flushing the system, it was filled with 3gallons of TCI’s premium Max Shift Racing Transmission Fluid.

B

A

A

08

09

10

TCI Breakaway converters’ durability and strength upgrades over 08] Compare TCI’s transright ( ) against Bees’ old salvage-yard takeout stock include furnace-brazed fins; needle bearings; a hardened, preground (left). As advertised, TCI’s trans and converter were a direct interchange. pump hub; and computer balancing. The separate bolt-on bellhousing and six-bolt extension housing are characteristic of most mid-1990s-and-later 4L60E/4L65E models. There are 07] The stock GM flexplate was not a contributor to the noise problem. many variations over the course of the 4L60E’s production run; we advise It wasn’t cracked, and all its mounting bolts were tight. If not, TCI makescontacting TCI directly before placing an order. You’ll need to transfer the SFI-legal flexplates too. dipstick and tube, the VSS switch A), ( and the shift-linkageB() to the new trans. The correct inverted-flate fittings C) were ( already on the new 09] The large, passenger-side, multiprong receptacle is another si gn it’s unit. Don’t use tapered NPT fittings D). ( a 4L60E. The “non-E” 4L60 and the 700-R4 still had a TV cable. Different pinouts have been used over the years—make sure the pins on the harness 10] GM has used different vehicle speed sensors (VSS) with varying samconnector match those on the receptacle. Bees’ plug matched. No ECU pling rates. Generally, an LS-type motor needs a “ 128K” (128,000 pulses/ recalibration was needed, either. mile) VSS. The 4L60E lacks mechanical speedometer cable mounting provisions. Bees had already upgraded to an electronic speedometer. 06]



01

02

03

04

05

06

RESULTS The noise is gone: Bees’ Nova no longer buzzes, and it shifts much firmer.“It’s awesome!” exults a satisfied Bees. Realistically, we don’t know if it was something in the trans or converter (later teardown failed to identify any specific “fatal” issue), the crudely mashed lines, the screen filters, or some combination of “all of the above.” What we do know is that the car is not only fixed for good, but overall it performs better than ever before.

Shift linkage varies per installation. Rollings and crew transferred 02] Torque converter pilot hub diameters have varied. Make sure the hub’s Bees’ Lokar shift-linkage rod and late-model OE Park/Neutral safety diameter is correct for the flexplate and crank. Likewise, the transmission’s switch onto the new TCI trans. input shaft tip configuration has evolved over the years. Be sure the shaft 01]

critical on the all-electronic 4L60E. Rollingsspline count and tip configuration matches the torque converter splines. 04] The Nova had a trans-temp gauge. Its sending unit screwed into an buffed off the paint on the new TCI tranny’s block mating surface to maxiinline tee installed on one of Bees’ srcinal fluid lines. “The sensor probe mize ground integrity. The ground side always follows the path of least resistance; if the circuit tries to ground out the trans’ back-end, it could was too short and didn’t go far enough into the oil path to get an accurate reading,” explains Norm. “We modified a universal drain-plug kit to accept arc through and damage the rear bushing, yoke, and driveshaft. the sensor, which now goes directly into a hole drilled in the side of the 05] Transmission temperature sensor kits are available from many transmission pan.” vendors. The adapter seals via a nut on the inside and a washer on the 06] The existing trans cooler lines from the srcinal late-model truck were outside, but Norm says it can come loose. Instead, he welded the fitting 1 into the pan. In this installation, the kit’s ⁄8-NPT draincock was replaced too long to properly fit in the Nova. They had been hacked, kinked, and trying to make them work. by the gauge’s sending unit. Just to be safe, Norm also installed a newtwisted pan 03] Ground-path integrity is

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02 01] Incorrect national pipe thread tapered (NPT) fluid-line fittings had

been installed in the trans. NPT threads are an interference fit. They may leak if screwed into nontapered female threads. Tapered fittings can also crack the trans case under heat-induced expansion.

01

02] The

fluid line fittings are a special “weird” thread straighttrans mechanical (NPSM) nontapere d thread thatnational seals vi apipe an aluminum crush-washer or thread-locking compound. The pressure-out line is the bottom port; the return line connects to the top fitting. 03] Bees’

late-model 4L60E would have been factory-equipped with Quick-Connects right ( ) that can be hard to adapt for retrofit installations. Earlier5⁄16 -inch inverted-flare adapters generally work better. TCI’s trans included 1992-and-earlier 700-R4 fittings with preapplied locking compound. Old TH350/TH400 gasketed fittings left)( also screw in properly. 5 Rollings bent-up new ⁄16-inch fluid lines out of 5-foot-long steel tubing sticks that come preflared with installed nuts. Rollings went for an exact fit, cutting one end off, then bending and reflaring. To prevent bend errors, the proper routing path was established with aluminum welding rod, which then served as a template for bending the actual tubing.

04]

05] A running

engine rocks in the chassis, so proper 400-psi SAE J1019 auto trans hydraulic fluid hose and adapter fittings connect the new steel lines to the radiator’s trans-cooler ports. The car previously had cheap, low-pressure fuel hose at this location. Not really compatible with trans fluid, fuel line can rot out from the inside.

03

LESSONS LEARNED

06] Rollings found screen fittings installed in both

radiator cooler ports. They’re restrictive and easily clog. With the engine running (trans front pump operating), Rollings reports “there was no fluid coming out of the radiator.”

Don’t skimp on the details. Be sure there are no restrictions between the trans and cooler that inhibit oil flow. Don’t shy away from making new transmission lines using the proper tubing, fittings, and/or hydraulic-rated hose. Never use screentype filters. Forreference, Four C’s Nieto says the lines, fittings, and cooler “must be capable of flowing a minimum of 1 quart of ATF in 30 seconds.”

04 05

06


01

03

02

04 01] Rollings flushed

the cooler with two cans of TCI Max Shift high-pressure cleaner. The kit comes with lines and fittings that connect directly to the cooler. Its patented high-pressure cleaning agent expands when it comes in contact with the air, backflushing the system to remove any harmful metal shavings and sludge. After flushing the system, Rollings installed the new high-pressure hose and fittings into the radiator. The trans outlet line goes to the lower fitting; the upper fitting is for the return line. 02]

Finally, the system was filled with 3 gallons of Max Shift race transmission fluid. Fully compatible with GM D exron and Ford Mercon fluid, Max Shift is fortified with ultra-pure base oils that resist viscosity breakdown to extend fluid change intervals. The formulation reduces internal friction and heat buildup while promoting quicker clutch lock-up for firmer shifts. 03]

04] While

05

he was bending up the new fluid lines, Norm noticed the dangling engine starter wire harness. “I couldn’t just let that lie,” remarked the meticulous mechanic. “I cut 1 foot out of the wires, cleaned up the routing, and secured everything out of the way.” 05]

Rollings down the trans for inspection. Thisto requires special toolslater that tore the average home mechanic isn’t likely have. For example, just to remove the bellhousing from the mai n case requires a special T-1550-style Torx Plus socket with extra-long flutes left,(versus standard,right). 06] Four C’s Nieto

says the most likely internal trans culprit for a buzzing sound is bad i nput carrier assembly needle bearings. Check with an expedient tool that fits snuggly in the carrier’s center hole. (Sanchez says a Ford C4 extension housing bushing works). Press down hard while rotating the gears. They should turn glass-smooth. The carrier assembly is serviced only as a complete unit. Bees’ carrier was fine.

06

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01

02

Bad torque converter internal roller bearings can also cause a buzzing sound. Power-brake the Includes the major parts required to fix the problem. Does not include miscellaneous small parts, labor, shipping, or sales taxes. Priced 10/12/14 and subject to change. All car dimensions in Drive. An audible noise when are in linear inches or fractions thereof unless otherwise noted. you release the throttle indicates PRICE PART one or both torque converter bearB RAND PA R TD E S C R I P T IO N AMT. ings are going away. But the only NO. SOU RCE CO ST AT P GA SK ETt , r a n s m is s ionoilp a n ,m ol d edr u b b e r /ste e lcom p os ition J G- 1 0 7 1 R ock Au to $ 2 .8 6 way to know for sure is to cut the converter open. Bees old converter 1 9 DORMAN DRAI N PLUG KI Tuniversal, , ½-20 male ⁄x8 NPT female,⁄16w r e n c h in gh ex ¹ 6 5 12 8 1 R ock Au to $ 3 .6 4 also checked out OK. 5 5 01]

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ADAPTER,straight, SAE 45° IF female ⁄16 tube ½-20 x⁄16 h os eb a r b 5

8 245 5 0

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5

EDELMANN

ADAPTER,straight, SAE 45° IF male ⁄16 tube ½-20 x⁄h16 osbe a r b 82 1 5 5 0 1 A u t op l i c i t y $ 2 . 5 2 02 ] The most serious wear in clutch 5 Bees’ old trans was the 3–4 ELBOW,90° swivel, SAE 45° IF male ⁄16 tube ½-20 x5⁄16h os eb a r b 8 22 5 5 0 1 A u t op l i c i t y $ 12 . 2 8 TUBING ASM.,mild steel,5⁄16o d x 0 .0 2 8 w a l l x6 0 OL ,w / S A E4 5 ° I Fn u ts a n d d ou b l e fla r e s 5 60S T 2 A u t op l i c i t y $ 6 . 2 6 pack teeth (left, versus brandnew,right). Nieto and Rollings 5 GAT ES H OSE,hydraulic fluid, SAE J1019, I⁄16 bDu, l k 270 58 F4t ² O’ R e il l y $ 13 . 5 6 agree this amount of wear is not MAST ERPRO³ CLAMPb, a n d ,st a in l e sss te e l ,S A Es iz e4( 0 . 2 5 –0 .6 2 5r a n g e ),4/p a c k MP6 2 0 2 V 1 O’ R e il l y $ 2 .9 9 an immediate deal-breaker and 1 4 FT 2 0 0 0 1 Nook&Tr a n n y $ 14 .0 0 NOOK & TRANNYADAPTER KIT, SAE 45-degree IF5⁄16 tube ½-20 female to ⁄8-18 NPSM male (2/pack) probably wasn’t the cause of Bees’ 5 ⁄16fiIF t tin g s ,2 /p a c k 883 004 1 S u m m it $ 2 5 .97 noise, either. Go figure. CLEANER & FLUSH KIT,transmission, Max Shift High-Pressure, SAE 45° FLUID,t r a n s mis s ion h y d r a u l ic, Ma x Sh if t r a c e , De x r on/ Me r con- com p a t ibl e , 1- g a l. con ta in e r 9 5 06 0 1 3 S u m m it $71 .9 1 TCI TORQUE CONVERTER, B r ea kawa y, 4L6 0E/4L65 E, 11" od w/ TCC loc ku p, ’99–’06 4.8/ 5. 3 /6.0L tru ck 242 938 1 Su mm it $39 4.97 TRANSMISSION ASM.,S tr ee tFigh ter 4L 60 E/4L 65 E, ’0 0–’0 6 4.8 /5 .3 /6.0 L tr uc k, 72 5 hp cap ac ity 3 71 016 1 Su mm it $2 ,49 5. 27 TOTAL $3,049 NOTES:¹Used to mount trans temp gauge sending unit. ²Usually sold as a 25ft roll; 4 ft were purchased from the bulk reel at the local O’Reilly outlet. ³Master - .87 4Kit converts trans fluid-line hook-ups from late-model Quick-Connects to traditional SAE 45-degree inverted-flare fittings. Pro is O’Reilly’s “house brand.”

Contacts Mira Loma, CA; 626.222.4648;[email protected] ADVANCED ENGINEERING WEST (AEW);

ATP AUTOMOTIVE; Elk Grove Vlg., IL; 847.967.6790;ATPautomotive.com AUTOPLICITY.COM; Morton Grove, IL; 800.299.1028;Autopllicity.com Colmar, PA; 800.523.2492 (customer service) or 866.933.2911 (tech); DormanProducts.com DORMAN PRODUCTS INC.; Santa Fe Springs, CA; 562.946.9272;Plus.Google.com/111809713254603251938 FOUR C’S TRANSMISSION SPECIALTIES;

NOOK AND TRANNY LLC; Coral Springs, FL; 954.227.9207;NookAndTranny.com O’REILLY AUTO PARTS; Springfield, MO; 888.327.7153 (customer service) or 417.829.5727 (general info); OReillyAuto.com PLEWS & EDELMANN;Dixon, IL; 800.545.1689 (general) or 800.323.6294 (tech); Plews-Edelmann.com Madison, WI; 866.ROCKAUTO or 608.661.1376; RockAuto.com ROCKAUTO LLC; Mira Loma, CA; 951.361.3001; Plus.Google.com/+RollingsAutomotiveIncMiraLoma ROLLINGS AUTOMOTIVE INC.;

STEELMAN (JS PRODUCTS INC.); Las Vegas, NV; 800.255.7011 or 702.362.7011;JSproductsInc.com STREET & PERFORMANCE; Mena, AR; 479.394.5711; HotrodLane.cc SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT; Akron, OH; 800.230.3030 (orders) or 330.630.0240 (tech); SummitRacing.com Ashland, MS; 888.776.9824 or 662.224.8972;TCIauto.com TCI AUTOMOTIVE; Denver, CO; 303.744.5651;Gates.com THE GATES CORP.;


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S.C. Griffith Asks…

Will a Legacy GM Manual Trans Work Behind an LS-Style Block? Marlan Davis

John Kiewicz

Can I use a three- or four-speed manual tranny with the new 5.3L LS-style blocks? Do

Q: A:

they have the same bellhousing as an older small-block?

B On any LS-type engine (not just the 5.3L), there are two ways to make this work: mechanical clutch linkage or hydraulic linkage. A traditional Chevy V8 bellhousing going all the way back to 1955 more or less bolts up. “More or less” because the LS block’s rear-face (bellhousing) bolt pattern is close, but not 100 percent identical, to the old pattern. Locating dowels are effectively the same size and remain in the same location, as are five out of six bellhousing-to-block mounting holes. Using just five holes to attach a traditional Chevy V8 bellhousing is fine. On the all-metric LS engines, you must attach the ’housing using M10 x 1.5 x 35 (metric) bolts (such as ARP PN 134-0901) in place of the srcinal 3⁄8-16 x 13⁄8 U.S. fasteners. Just because a traditional bellhousing “bolts up” doesn’t mean the longitudinal stack-up is correct. Except for a few rare truck LS engines circa 1999–2000, LS cranks are 0.400-inch shorter relative to the block’s bellhousing mounting face compared to a traditional Chevy V8. A special GM pilot bearing (PN 12557583) is available, which compensates for the difference and allows the use of a standard-length transmission input shaft. McLeod offers a functionally similar bearing under its PN 1094-4. GM has an LS-type flywheel (PN 12561680) suitable for use with traditional fourspeeds. This flywheel has an LS six-bolt metric mounting pattern and flywheel dowel-hole location. McLeod offers a special thick LS flyw heel (PN 460535) that, combined with the extended pilot bearing, allow the transmission’s relative location to remain in the same location, allowing the use of a GM factory or aftermarket traditional V8 bellhousing. Unlike the GM ’wheel, McLeod’s version is dual-drilled for both the LS 10mm metric mounting bolts as well as the traditional 3⁄8-16

[ger-side Compared tohole theAtraditional V8the bellhousing LS blocks lack one upper passenbolt (), but add aChevy hole at 12 o’clockbolt-pattern, position B).(You can safely attach a classic V8 bell using the five holes that line up using metric bolts. Trivia: Some rare OE 409 Chevy bellhousings had the “extra” seventh 12 o’clock hole, but good luck finding one!

bellhousing that moves the trans forward to properly mate with the LS’s shorter crank without the need for a special thick flywheel or extended pilot bearing. QuickTime by Lakewood bellhousing PN RM-6036 is designed to achieve the proper “stack” with traditional Chevy V8 manual trans input shaft lengths (as well as aftermarket analogues), but there are potential issues with using this ’housing on an early Chevy II with mechanical clutch linkage. All LS engines use 168-tooth flywheels (including the units referenced above). However, to better clear the early car’s tight floorpan, an srcinal 1963–1967 Chevy II/Nova bellhousing was smaller in diameter and clears only 153-tooth flywheels. The bulkier stock and aftermarket bellhousings capable of accommodating the larger flywheel

issues, usually serves as a baseline for engine positioning. And the shifter handle must be properly located relative to the floor or console hole. Additionally, the engine oil pan needs to clear the steering linkage. A Pontiac GTO LS pan works best in an early Chevy II. Besides basic larger bellhousing clearance, you also need to deal with the exit location of the mechanical shift fork relative to the bellhousing. On non-Chevy II bellhousings, the fork exits at approximately 9 o’clock, but the correct (and rare) small-diameter Chevy II bellhousing exit is at approximately 7 o’clock and requires a special clutch fork that’s only 6 to 7 inches long, compared to 12 to 13 inches for most other Chevy forks. Installing these parts in a standard 9-o’clock-exit

U.S. fasteners. (The bolt threads all the way to the top ofmetric the bolt hole, whileextend the U.S. threads are recessed about 0.200 inch below the surface.) Note that some performance passengercar LS engines use cranks that require eight- or even nine-bolt flywheels. An alternative is a shorter aftermarket

are a tight fit in a Chevy doable: Since engine installation itselfII,isbut a custom job, youthe canLS fudge a little as needed by slightly repositioning the new adapter mounts in the chassis (forward/ backward or higher/lower)—but don’t forget to consider the transmission crossmember location, which in the absence of other critical clearance

bellhousing andChevy’s clutch fork mods, which tendsrequires to screwlinkage up the old already marginal mechanical-linkagegeometry. The previously referenced “short” LS-compatible QuickTime bell also has a 9 o’clock exit. There’s an old-school Lakewood Chevy II scattershield (PN 15050) that accepts large flywheels with the

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correct fork exit angle, but—as with most oldschool heavy steel scattershields that sought to provide more room to accommodate some racing Long and B&B clutches—its 6½-inch length is said to be about ¼ inch longer than an srcinal OE traditional V8 GM bellhousing. With the Lakewood, you’d definitely need that special longer pilot bearing, or maybe even a longer-yet-custom-machined unit, plus a longer mechanical throwout bearing. Yet another complicating issue is that LS-style blocks lack mechanical linkage cross-shaft (aka Z-bar) mounting provisions, which even on an srcinal Chevy II V8 small-block was also located in a different location than on standard, non-Chevy II, traditional V8 blocks. The installer must therefore fabricate a custom mounting bracket using whatever expedient holes are available on the LS block (see the photo on the next page for one owner’s solution). [No more clutch linkage issues with a hydraulic conversion setup like this McLeod setup in John What a pain! This is why, in my opinion, the smart Kiewicz’s 1966 Chevy Nova. McLeod’s hydraulic conversion kit includes all necessary parts except move is going to hydraulic clutch actuation. Propa hydraulic throwout bearing. The proper bearing will vary according to the combo’s bellhousing, erly engineered, they’re glass-smooth with much clutch design, and trans. less pedal effort. There are many aftermarket hydraulic solutions available. McLeod, for example, offers a direct-fit early Chevy II hydraulic clutch conversion kit (PN 1434003) that includes the new firewall-mounted clutch master cylinder and pedal-adapter parts. At the trans end, select a hydraulic release bearing that’s both compatible with the transmission and has the correct travel to correctly interface with the clutch/pressure-plate/flywheel stack height, as well as the bellhousing length. Generally, diaphragm-style clutches work best with hydraulic linkage. The smart move is to go with a clutch-flywheel-hydraulic throwout bearing setup from the same manufacturer. If you are using a Muncie trans (or other classic trans with the same 4.680-inch pilot-collar, input shaft-length, and1⁄1 8-inch-od x s i v a D 10- or 26-spline input shaft), McLeod offers two n a rl integral hydraulic throwout bearings: PN 1400-20 a M (slip-on) or PN 1300-1 (bolt-on). According to McLeod, the slip-on is usually preferred if the mea[This is the critical measurement dimension needed for proper hydraulic release bearing selection. sured Although an old Ford Top Loader is shown here, the concept is the same for any trans. You need to distance from the bellhousing’s rear transmock everything up just as if you were measuring pushrods for a custom cam. mounting face to the top of the pressure plate’s release fingers (photo, middle) is 2.500 inches or less. If the distance is 2.500 inches or greater, the bolt-on bearing usually works better. The bolton bearing replaces the transmission’s bearing retainer collar; on the Muncie trans specifically, that tranny’s narrow slinger nut must be modified/ ground-down for clearance. With hydraulic linkage, bellhousing fork exit-angle becomes immaterial, although for the case of this installation a shorter bellhousing (like the QuickTime) given serious consideration because it should would be likely permit use of the easier-to-install, slip-on-style bearing. If running EFI and the computer, there are also [An LS has no clutch linkage pivot-ball boss. [The owner of this Chevy II modified mechanivehicle speed sensor ( VSS) interface considerThe owner fabbed a custom bracket from cal linkage to try to get the QuickTime, 9 o’clock ¼-inch steel plate to mount a factory-style fork exit, early trans-to-LS block, bellhousing to ations. An old-school trans like a Muncie isn’t set clutch crossbar pivot ball (Classic PN KW201 orwork. He used a standard-length GM unit sold up to run a standard VSS. A functional VSS is more equivalent). On an LS block, it mounts to two by Classic Industries listed for a Camaro and critical for an automatic trans application than it is existing and unused holes, but it’s shown here later Nova (Classic PN C926321); the heavy-dunext to a traditional big-block V8 that lacks ty throw-out bearing is from Hays (PN 70-101). in a retrofit early manual trans installation, but not having one could still adversely affect idle quality these holes.


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V59

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Lakewood

[Original early Chevy II bellhousings accom-

QuickTime By Lakewood

[QuickTime By Lakewood bellhousing PN

McLeod Racing

[Like other McLeod “direct-fit” hydraulic clutch

modated only 153-tooth flywheels. LS engines RM-6036 is shorter than a traditional Chevy V8 setups, its early Chevy I I conversion kit develops use 168-tooth ’wheels. If you insist on retaining bellhousing. It allows bolting up classic-era GM a straight push on the master-cylinder pushrod mechanical clutch linkage, the srcinal Chevy II trannies (including a Muncie) without the need (no lost motion). It’s engineered to develop the clutch fork exits at 7 o’clock instead of the stan-for a special thick flywheel and longer pilot right pedal ratio for the kit’s ¾-inch-od–bore dard 9 o’clock location. The only large-flywheelbearing that is otherwise required to compen- clutch master cylinder. Key in establishing the bellhousing with a 7 o’clock angle is this oldsate for the LS engine’s different crank stick-outproper ratio and rod angle is an adapter bracket school Lakewood scattershield (PN 15050). dimension. (arrow) that connects the pushrod to the pedal.

[The LS flywheel bolt pattern is similar (but not identical to) the [The stock Chevy II cross-shaft was too long because an LS block is wider 1986-and-later traditional one-piece, rear-seal, small-block bolt pattern. than the traditional small-block. A 1-inch section was cut out and the unit Also unlike the one-piece seal classic small-block, the LS ’wheel is neutralwelded back together. balanced and uses ISO bolts (such as ARP PN 330-2802, M11 x 1.5 x 22). With two dowel pins, an LS flywheel can go on only one way.

and coast-down to idle smoothness. Normally, an LS computer is set up to accept a “128K” (128,000 pulses/mile) VSS. Dakota Digital offers a 128K VSS that screws into the old speedometer drive cable-hole in the transmission tailshaft (PN SEN4165), but it has no provisions for a pass-through to permit hooking up the stock speedometer cable required to drive the factory speedometer.

unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, no one makes a 128K VSS with a cable pass-through. The computer can be reprogrammed to interface with an old 8K (8,000 pulses/mile) VSS as used in early-to-mid-1990s (pre-LS) computers. Since you would need to have the computer reflashed anyway to remove the vehicle antitheft system (VATS) lockout, you could have the VSS signal

Contacts

One solution is installing an electric speedometer: Auto Meter, Dakota Digital, and other aftermarket gauge manufacturers offer a multitude of styles that can interface directly with the VSS and/or computer. Another workaround available from these outfits are speedos driven by the GPS satellites. Some people have even crutched by with apps available for their Android or Apple mobile phones. But if you want to keep that stock speedo,

changed at the same time. With a manual the trans in a over retrofit, non-late-model, application, courser 8K VSS input should be sufficient. Dakota Digital’s 8K VSS with cable hookup provisions is PN SEN-01-4160. Street & Performance is one reprogramming source and it also carries Dakota Digital products, as well as mounts and headers for the LS-into-Chevy II engine swap. You can reflash the GM computer yourself using aftermarket software; HP Tuners is one leading program.

HP TUNERS LLC;Buffalo Grove, IL; 847.465.8863;HPtuners.com


AUTO METER PRODUCTS; Sycamore, IL; 866.248.6356 (sales) or 866.248.6357 (tech); AutoMeter.com AUTOMOTIVE RACING PRODUCTS (ARP); Ventura, CA; 800.826.3045 or 805.339.2200; ARP-Bolts.com CLASSIC INDUSTRIES; Huntington Beach, CA; 800.854.1280 or 714.847.6887;ClassicIndustries.com DAKOTA DIGITAL INC.; Sioux Falls, SD; 800.593.4160 (sales) or 605.332.6513 (tech); DakotaDigital.com

Cleveland, OH; LAKEWOOD—QUICKTIME—HAYS; 216.658.6413; LakewoodIndustries.com Placentia, CA; MCLEOD RACING LLC; 714.630.2764; McLeodRacing.com Mena, AR; STREET & PERFORMANCE; 479.394.5711; HotrodLane.cc

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FINISH LINE

The Guy Who Makes the Rules I’ve read all the oldstories about Don Garlits and the bumpy relationship with Wally Parks, and now I totally get it. Not that I’m anywhere in the league of Wally, but I’ve found myself in the position of being the rules guy for HOT ROD’s street-legal racing events since 1992, and it’s a thankless job. These days, Larry

[My pick for best personal victory of Drag Week 2014: Doug Cline running 6 seconds every single day in a steel-bodied 1969 Camaro. His numbers

continue to allow Pro Mod bodies or restrict it to steel-bodied production cars. We agonized over it and made that painful decision well in advance of Drag Week 2014, as we wanted to make the call without being affected by anything we saw at the event. Unlimited remains unlimited. For those who hate

Larson is myisDon Garlits, and that becausecars youat want to Week, see real Drag Week my mini NHRA. production Drag we direct your attention to the HOT ROD Drag Week is a decade old, and the rules have other dozen-plus classes for amazing production-based cars. changed a few times along the way. In 2012, we had locked-in at leaves the conundrum of rules and promised to leave them how to handle the steel-bodied, unchanged for three years. at full-tube-chassis cars like that of means next year is the time for superhero Doug Cline and the first metal car to run in the 6s potential change, and people want to know now. ree weeks every day of Drag Week. en a er the 2014 Drag Week event, there are the concerns about how we posted a proposed set of rules tighten up some of the other and, unlike any sanctioning body classes to prevent them from we know of, asked racers to give getting out of control, and to us their input before we locked loosen up others to help them down final rules that we’ll again grow. And in all of that, we need to remember that Drag Week secure for three seasons. e result was lots of constructive is not “real” racing, and that it input, considerable anger from needs to cater to preexisting cars people who mistook “proposed” rather than expecting people to for “final,” and some forum build purpose-built cars for an ranting that le me wonderevent that happens once a year. ing how Don Garlits’ heyday No matter what we do, we anger would have looked in an Internet 50 percent of thepeople. I’m not world (screen name BigDaddy, sure we ever please the other half; people don’t write or post #WallyParksSucks). As of this writing, the deadline when they are happy. You can for Drag Week input has not yet decide whichgroup you’re in, passed, so I can’t tell you the finalbecause the rules will be finalized answers other than this: the huge by the time you read this. See ’em drama has been over the Unlim- at HOTROD.com. ited class and whether we should hHOTROD.COM/ David-Freiburger

even beat his friend Larry Larson’s forever-famous 1966 Chevy II performance from past years.

CONNECT WITH US:[email protected] 122 HOTROD.COM /2015/FEBRUARY /

BEHIND THE SCENES At the 2014 SEMA Show, where this is being written, I’m being shot for a TV show on Velocity that will reveal the first-ever SEMA Battle of the Builders. The judges are myself, Sam Du fromSuper Street, Fred Williams from 4-Wheel & Off-Road, and the builders themselves. Our SEMA coverage on HOTROD.com resulted in the two mostviewed days in the site’s history so far. We’re hoping to grow enough to be larger than MotorTrend. com. Speaking of MotorTrend. com, that sister site has launched a deal where content from our company—TEN, The Enthusiast Network—is available on MSN Autos. HOT ROD gets some stuff posted there. Car I Most Wanted to Build on the Day I Wrote This My F-Bomb Camaro finally performed! After fighting trans problems and ignoring the car for almost seven years, we finally got it working. On the first track day, it went 9.08 at 154 mph with an embarrassingly weak 1.56-second 60-foot time. Now I’m motivated! We are changing a few things and heading back to really launch it. Into the 8s, I hope.

Best Instagram Pic This Month

[To me, this is the most memorable vehicle of SEMA 2014. It’s a Jeep Forward Control (FC150) by Daystar ProductsDaystar ( Web.com).

Coming Month: Next

The Race of Gentlemen

COMING 01.09.15 HOT ROD (ISSN 0018-6031), February 2015; Vol. 68, No. 2. Copyright 2014 by Source Interlink Magazines, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Published monthly by Source Interlink Media, LLC, 261 Madison Ave., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Subscription rates for 1 year (12 issues): U.S., APO, FPO and U.S. $20.00. Canada $32.00. AllPossessions other countries $44.00 (for surface mail postage). Payment in advance, U.S. funds only. *Trademark registered. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 707.4.12.5); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: sendaddress corrections to HOT ROD, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL32142-0235.

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