RPM Magazine April Issue 2013 by RPMMAG

Meet Your RPM Magazine Team EDITOR IN CHIEF: CHRIS BIRO, editor@rpm-mag.com V.P. MARKETING/CUSTOMER RELATIONS: TRISH BIRO, trish@rpm-mag.com DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING: BRIAN HANSEN, brian@rpm-mag.com SENIOR DRAG RACE EDITOR - IAN RAE ian@rpm-mag.com EVENT MEDIA DIRECTOR - TONY WEBER tony@rpm-mag.com

WANT YOUR CAR IN RPM? RPM Magazine has been a world leader in motorsports publishing for 14 years and has support locations in Ontario, Canada, Alabama, Wisconsin & Virginia, along with contributing writers and photojournalists worldwide. If you have a story that may fit within the focus and scope of RPM Magazine’s coverage, please email our Editor In Chief at:

EVENT SUBSCRIPTIONS COORDINATOR - SHERRIE WEBER sherrie@rpm-mag.com

editor@rpm-mag.com

Photographic Contribution: IAN RAE, JANIS RAE, TONY WEBER, SCOTT

Submission of an article does not guarantee that it will be published.

SINGLETON, TIM LEWIS, BRIAN HANSEN, PETE “BOOMER” ORES, PAUL SCHMITZ, DALE BOERU, LOGAN WEBER, MARK goDragRacing.org, TOMMY LEE BYRD, www.DragStory.com, TOM OWENSBY, BRIAN TYLER, GEORGE PICH Editorial Contribution: IAN RAE, SCOTT SINGLETON, TONY WEBER, TIM LEWIS, CHUCK SCOTT, TOMMY LEE BYRD, BRIAN HANSEN, ROBERT WEATHERS, BEN STRADER, MARK goDragRacing.org, RAY KNIGHT, BRIAN TYLER, AL HEISLEY, GEORGE PICH Technical Writing Contributions: CHUCK SCOTT, BEN STRADER, SHANE TECKLENBURG, ROBERT WEATHERS, TOMMY LEE BYRD

Advertising Sales: For advertising information contact: BRIAN HANSEN: 262-325-3926 brian@rpm-mag.com

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www.rpm-mag.com RPM Magazine is a REGISTERED TRADEMARK of RPM Classifieds Inc. RPM Magazine is a worldwide motorsports publication distributed in 33 countries and can be found on popular newsstands in the USA, Canada and select newsstands in the UK. If you cannot find a copy near you please call 519-752-3705 or email circulation@rpm-mag.com To subscirbe to RPM go to www.rpm-mag.com or email Trish Biro at trish@rpm-mag.com, or call 519-752-3705. The focus of RPM is to bring a diverse mix of high performance street and race automobiles to life within its pages including; Race cars, Musclecars, Hot Rods and Street Legal machines with an emphasis on the “EXTREME”, including Fast Doorslammer and Outlaw forms of Drag Racing. Not familiar with these types of cars? They are considered to be the top-shelf of the industry and are on-the-edge with regards to design and power! RPM Magazine does not sell its mailing list or share any of the confidential information regarding its subscribers.

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EDITOR’S RANT -- RPM MAGAZINE EXTREME EVENTS FOR 2013 ANNOUNCED A few weeks back RPM, along with event sponsors Lucas Oil Products and Mickey Thompson Tires, announced that we will again bring racers and fans two completely different horsepower-heavy events in 2013! What is an Extreme Event? High Power Family Entertainment That Won’t Break The Bank! RPM/Lucas Oil Extreme Events presented by Mickey Thompson Tires are focused on bringing top quality value-added entertainment to motorsports fans of all kinds. “These events are about big, bad, on-the-edge horsepower! ...and, of course, having lots of fun! Whether you follow drag racing, circle track, hot rods or even checking out the cars at local cruise night, you will love the Extreme Events!” Exclaims RPM Editor Chris Biro. “We build them with you in mind and bring the highest quality action in to give you an exciting experience that is affordable for the entire family!” Extreme Events ALWAYS offer an energetic, unique race experience often adding “special” or “first time” attractions to the entertainment roster. Also unique to Extreme Events are the many giveaways to both fans and racers over the course of the weekend, and our special guest announcing staff will make your Extreme Event race experience unforgettable. These events are great for the hardcore enthusiast or the casual weekend fans! TWO COUNTRIES — 2013 will again see an Extreme Event held in the United States and one in southern Canada. The Canadian stop will be an all-out Drag Race Festival featuring everything from Alcohol Funny Cars to Pro Doorslammers, Jet Car, Stock/Super

Stock and much more. The United States Extreme Event (July 19-20th in Wisconsin) will be focused on the world’s wildest (and fastest) REAL street machines coming together for a good ole fashioned cruise night, then grudge racing the following day! The traditional first stop is in Canada for their May long weekend and for 2013 will be May 17-19th at Grand Bend Motorplex, Grand Bend Ontario, Canada. This event started as the RPM Magazine Media Weekend over 12 years ago and offers racers and fans from Canada and Northern USA an early start to the excitement. Once again a total package high-power event has been created for the May “Victoria Day” holiday weekend in Canada! “We’re thrilled to have the RPM Magazine/Lucas Oil/Mickey Thompson Extreme Event for Canada back at GBM in 2013. The event brings a caliber and level of competition and excitement that really “Ices the Cake” on our season’s big Kick-Off event,” explains Grand Bend Motorplex General Manager Ron Biekx. CHECK OUT THE LINE-UP OF TALENT!! The Wild PRO DOORSLAMMERS of NDRA (formerly H.U.R.A.)! Over 2,500HP, 6 second 1/4-mile runs, and on the edge! www.ndra.ca The RETURN of the NDRA Top Alcohol Funny Cars! The NDRA brings you INSANE 5 second Funny Car Action! www.ndra.ca THUNDERING, FIRE BREATHING “DOUTHIT” JET DRAGSTER! Can-Am STOCK/SUPER STOCK Series 2013 opener! PLUS... EVEN MORE fast doorslammers, dragsters, bikes and sleds in the Extreme 32 and Thunder Series classes! Live Music On Stage At Grand Bend Motorplex on SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! Visit www.grandbendmotorplex.com or www.rpm-mag.com and watch your email for further details on this first stop for 2013 as well as more information on the second Extreme Event, JULY 19th & 20th in Wisconsin, to be released soon! Chris Biro, Editor In Chief, RPM MAGAZINE

ADVERTISER INDEX Advertiser Name Page # Accufab Inc. 29 AFCO Racing 41 AJPE - Alan Johnson Perf. 23 ARC - Applied Racing Components 50 ATI Performance Products 83 Autoglym 75 Bad Attitude Engines 36 Baer Brakes 28, 64 BES Racing Engines 50 Bill Mitchell Products 17 Blower Shop 12 Boniferro Speed and Custom 8 Boteler Racing 32 Browell Bellhousing 49 BTE Racing 68 Calvert Racing Suspensions 26 Coan Engineering 34 CN Blocks 13 Crower 69 CVR Products 20 DART 11 Design Engineering 21 DIY Auto Tune 73 D.U.I. Performance Distributors 39 Dynotech Engineering 10 Ed Quay Race Cars 45 EFI University 25 Engine Research & Development ERD 47 Fast Eddie Racewear 60 F.A.S.T. - Fuel Air Spark Technology 37 FastMotorsports 9 FORD Racing 63 FONSE Performance 33 4

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Frankenstein Racing Heads G Force Racing Transmissions GZ Motorsports Harland Sharp Holcomb Motorsports HoleShot Wheels Holley Ultra Dominator Holley Ultra Double Pumper Holley Ultra Street Avenger JB’s Power Centre JEFFco Transmissions JE Pistons Jesel JET Performance Joe Gibbs Racing Oil Leash Electronics Lokar Performance Products LUCAS Oil Products Lunati M&M Transmission Mahle Clevite Inc. Manton Pushrods Meziere Precision Manufacturing Mickey Thompson Tires Midwest Converters Mile High Crankshafts Neal Chance Converters New Century Performance Nitrous Supply NOS - Nitrous Oxide Systems OASIS by Corlor Ohsweken Speedway Outlaw 10.5 Racing Association Parts Pro Performance Centers

46 74 64 8 14 45 40 10 71 70 22 77 17 74 48 20 44 2 72 39 9 78 80 7 62 22 30 47 38 51 46 18 23 84

Performance2Way Racing Communications Performance Improvements Performance Plus Connection Powermaster Performance Proformance Racing Transmissions PROLITE Batteries Pro Systems Carburetors Pro-Werks PRP - Philadelphia Racing Products PTC Converters Racequip Racepak Race Shop Converters Racing Radios Randy’s Ring & Pinion Remflex Exhaust Gaskets Ross Racing Pistons RPM MAGAZINE SUBSCRIBE NOW! Scotty’s Racing Engines Shafiroff Racing Engines Smith Racecraft Steve Morris Engines Summit Racing Equipment Taylor Cable Products Ti64 Trailer-Alarms.com Trend Performance Trick Flow Valvoline VP Racing Fuels WC Enterprises Weldon High Performance

79 33 40 24 36 28 15 78 32 71 62 5 65 7 24 80 5 82 34 31 66 19 35 61 13 79 16 27 67 73 70 21

Support Those Who Support YOUR Sport!

ATTENTION! Check out our

EXPANDING “Performance Directory”

pg. 52 - 59 For A Complete Listing Of More Products & Services To Help With Your Racecar, Street Machine or Hot Rod FREE Classified Ads online at rpmclassifieds.com Still No Gimmicks, Still No Pop-ups!!

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Who’s In This Issue of Often Imitated, Never Duplicated-- RPM Mag IS The ORIGINAL Voice Of Extreme Drag Racing & Wild Street Machines WORLDWIDE... Don’t Settle For Less! We DELIVER Insane Fast Cars And Bring You NO POLITICS... JUST ACTION! Your ONLY “Real Time” “Real World” Car Mag... PERIOD! April 2013

So Much Horsepower Packed Into One Place... That Place IS RPM Magazine! THE

BIG BAD BARRY MACHINE pg 42 Let’s take a ride around town in a twin turbocharged, fuel injected 2,500-plus horsepower 1956 Chevy street machine, then blast the quarter-mile in 7.00 seconds! That is exactly what Joe Barry has planned for you!

THE BIRD

pg 8

Ruffling Some Features Wherever It Goes Charlie Johnson’s latest and baddest version of his 1977 Firebird serves up 565 cubic inches of fuel injected, nitrous oxide sipping big block power, and is one bad machine!

HAND

MADE IN AMERICA WORLD CLASS 1,000 HP SUPERCAR

pg 24

A Hand Built Street-legal Monster... The Shelby 1000

Brothers In Horsepower Without Borders

pg 70

When Tim Lewis is done taking you along for a look at some of the world’s fastest doorslammers in drag racing, you will have a whole different take on the Import/Sport Compact scene! That’s right, we said imports... the REAL deal!

PLUS: Pro Street Revival

Read COMPLeTe RPM MaGaZINe baCk Issues O N L I N e F R e e a T www.RPM-MaG.COM 6

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pg 16 RPM Project Green Machine - Intro pg 32 Getting Back On Track pg 62 ...and more, ONLY in RPM!

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THE BIRD Ruffling Some Features Wherever It Goes

Story By Tony Weber, Photos By Tony & Logan Weber

WTD? You can probably figure out what two of those letters stand for, but the D is probably throwing you a bit of a curve. These three simple letters have become the motto of a team of friends that seem to have just as much fun tearing down the strip as they do tearing through a bucket of homemade pudding (yeah, that’s one of those things you just had to be there for). But isn’t that what this is all about, food, fun and fellowship while smelling the smoke and fumes of fast cars? Well if you ask Team WTD then you will certainly get a rousing round of approval. For the past twenty three years Grand Ridge, Florida’s own Charlie Johnson has been working on improving his racing program, but that

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isn’t the sole focal point of his life. While he does have a tremendous passion for horsepower laden weekends, it’s his family, friends and faith that fuel his passion for life. “We have been so blessed.” Johnson says. “It just seems right to be able to help others whenever we are able to.” Whether on the track, in business or in the mentoring of those less fortunate, Charlie always gives one hundred percent. Carrying on the family business can’t be as easy as he makes it seem, but Charlie is very proud of the fact he is the third generation of Ducky Johnson Housemovers. “We travel a lot and put in a lot of hours but it’s worth it to continue the business my grandfather started,” Charlie

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stated. That dedication and work ethic has certainly paid off, as Johnson is at the point where he is now giving back to the sport he loves as more than just a driver. Charlie and his wife Nicole have mentored kids over the years, taking the opportunity to share some of the blessings they have been given with others. One of the young men that stands out the most is Trint Sayyou, who has progressed to the point of being put in the seat of some of Johnson’s cars. Not only did Charlie trust him to race, but Trint has actually brought home some wins, which only fueled the young man’s desire to succeed. If this mentoring had not taken place, the direction some of these kids would have taken is very questionable, so the Johnson’s keep it as a focal point of their lives, even while raising their own daughters Ireland and Carolena. Starting out bracket racing, Johnson remembers his very first car being a ’55 Chevy hardtop with his first pass being an 11.75 in the eighth-mile. That’s a far cry from the 4.70’s he has been cranking out lately, but that is the natural progression of the game. After years of dragsters and door cars of all shapes and sizes the latest endeavor is this cool ’77 Firebird currently campaigned in either 5.70 Real Street, X275 or Ultimate Street. What’s interesting is the transformation of the ‘Bird since it was born in 2009. Charlie Johnson’s big block, fuel injected, small tire 1977 Firebird is one bad machine! Charlie and Patrick went to great lengths to maintain the Firebird as close to its original appearance as possible. After the last 3 years of wagin war in the index classes, Charlie has continued his need for speed and with some “winter modifications” The Bird will now be seeing additional action in some of the quicker Ulitimate Street and X275 style races.

MAHLE Clevite products have been on board every single NASCAR® race winner since its beginning in 1948. But even we realize the true lifeblood of auto racing is on any short track on a Friday or Saturday night across the nation. This is the arena where today’s gladiators battle for supremacy - and we are proud to support them. As long as grassroots racing continues to breathe life into asphalt or dirt, our commitment to quality under the hood remains strong. www.mahleclevite.com

PROUD SUPPORTERS OF THE

“HEART”

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WHEELS UP! Squaring off at Panama Beach Raceway, Johnson launches the Bird during first round competition against Melvin Pfiefer in the Mopar who turns on the red light allowing Charlie the opportunity to advance to the next round.

With their newly wrapped stacker pulling a double duty of advertising the family business and celebrating the three generations of continuing pride, the team took a break to pose for a picture. Pictured from left to right are team owner/part time driver Charlie Johnson, driver Patrick Clenney, Chuck Shelton and Matt Porter.

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When local 5.70 warrior Patrick Clenney could not bear to part with his ’68 Firebird, Charlie picked up the ’77 at an auction. Clenney was the man who Charlie delivered the ’77 to when the time came to transform it from street legal to strip lethal. “I know what kind of work Patrick can do, so I said here it is build me a car to dominate the 5.70 class,” Charlie says with a smile. And build it Patrick did, often working late into the morning after getting home from his full time job. The only condition Charlie put on the build was that it had to be ready for the RPM Birthday Bash back in 2009. After months of thrashing the car roared into the finals at the Bash for a battle of the birds, going down to the final against the Thunderbird of Casey Smith. Not a bad showing for its first time out, a further testament to the workmanship of Clenney. What a lot of folks don’t know is that Patrick finished the car and delivered it to Charlie mere hours before the birth of his son. “I cut it a little too close,” Clenney laughs. “We got done about three that morning and it wasn’t long after that my wife Jennifer was telling me it was time to go to the hospital.” So after debuting at such a large event and making such a grand showing, it was only natural that a big bullseye was planted firmly in the center of Johnson’s back.

Dart’s LS Next™ Block Unleashes the Potential of the LS Engine Platform!

It did not take long before Johnson and Clenney teamed up, pooling their resources and creating team WTD. Patrick won a 5.70 track Championship behind the wheel of the ’77 in 2011, and while they split the Charlie and crew worked endlessly getting the Firebird ready to debut at the RPM Magazine 10 Year Birthday Bash back in 2009. It has certainly come a long way since then, transforming into a formidable machine.

• • • • •

9.240” Deck Height Cylinder barrels extended .375” – 9.615” eīecƟve deck height Stock and aŌermarket LS components uƟlized Standard 4.000” and 4.125” bore sizes – 4.200” max Manufactured in the U.S.A. – Premium Cast Iron

By utilizing conventional style main caps and oil pans with LS rotating assemblies and related components, Dart has addressed the windage and oil control problems which result from the LS engine’s separated crankcase bays.

Same car, lots of “go quicker and faster” parts and upgrades, and a new look. Below, heating up the Mickey Thompsons with a big burnout, Charlie prepares for Chuck to guide him into the beams.

For more information or to locate a dealer contact us at:

www.dartheads.com (248) 362-1188 Not intended for use on pollution controlled motor vehicles.

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A look underneath and you immediately see the trick PTC bolt-together billet torque converter. Note the transmission blanket to keep parts from coming through the floor in the event of a catastrophic transmission failure.

The Jay Kite built 565 big block Chevy dominates the majority of the engine compartment. A Wilson Manifolds throttle body works in tandem with the Magnastar Pro Star EFI fuel pump to ensure proper fuel delivery for maximum horsepower. The new 9" Ford rear differential has provided some much needed peace of mind. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s braced for the job and eliminates another potential weak link. The handy work back here was completed by 5th Avenue Chassis. A fresh set of coil over shocks help in the hook area considering the substantial increase in power needed to step-up to Ultimate Street and X275 heads-up racing.

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driving duties, aside from the championship, their win loss ratio is almost dead even, just as their shared seat time is. “I know what kind of driver Patrick is, his record speaks for itself,” Johnson explains when asked about their partnership. “Plus, he puts so much time and effort into the car, I feel he has earned the chance to drive it.” With the work schedule Charlie keeps, about ninety percent of the work maintaining the car falls on Patrick. “I see the car once or twice a month at the races, the rest of the time Patrick is keeping it up,” adds Johnson. Either one behind the wheel is formidable, as teams across the Southeast have been learning the last few years. But despite their success, the need to go just a bit faster never faltered, and the car was destined for more makeovers. During the off-season, it was decided they were going to build the car to run in the ever popuJohnson kept the factory dash, several of the existing gauge bezels and even the door panels to maintain the “street” in street car. The wonders of modern technology! The Racepak Sportsman datalogger makes it possible to monitor rpm, voltage, acceleration, lateral G’s and more. The Nitrous Management Systems NMS 1000 controls every aspect of nitrous delivery. Both controllers are mounted securely behind the front passenger seat.

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RPM Quick Tech Sheet 1977 Pontiac Firebird

lar X275 division. The car was sent to Kevin Neal for some upgrades and from there it kind of made the circuit, ending up in shops across the States for improvements here and tweaks there. A new 565 cubic inch big block Chevy built by longtime friend Jay Kite provides the power, while chassis repairs and upgrades were handled by Laverne Ferraulet and his Mobile, Alabama based 5th Avenue Chassis crew. Once completed the ‘Bird returned fully capable of competing and dominating whichever class the team decided to run. “Depending on what the required weight is, we can change out the doors from steel to fiberglass,” Johnson says. “That was part of the work Laverne and his guys did over the off season. Those guys made a lot of improvements that made the car just that much better.” As Charlie said, the car is just like the team. It’s made up of a bunch of good parts, nothing special, just good parts that all come together to complete the package. Food,

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Owner: Charlie Johnson Driver(s): Charlie Johnson & Patrick Clenney Engine: 565 ci Jay Kite BBC, GRP rods, Diamond pistons, Dart 355 heads, Dart intake Fuel Delivery: Fuel injected with billet fuel rails and throttle body. Billet Atomizer 160lb injectors Power Adder: June Bug Nitrous Ignition: MSD HVC II Transmission: Bradco Turbo 400 with PTC converter Rear end: 9" Ford, braced. Suspension: Rear - ladder bar set-up with fabricated 1 3/4” chromoly bars and QA1 shocks, Front - Mark Menser AFCO shocks Chassis: Factory, upgraded by 5th Avenue Chassis Wheels: Holeshot Brakes: Wilwood Tires: Mickey Thompson Pro 275 rears Weight: 3,250 with driver Best ET and MPH: 4.68 @ 152 in the eighth-mile

fellowship, fast cars and fun is what binds this team of friends together, and it shows not only in their ontrack antics but in their personal lives as well. They take their racing program seriously but they don’t forget to stop and laugh. Remembering they are here to enjoy themselves not beat themselves over the head for not being the best. If it happens, they are happy, but if it doesn’t they go home knowing they did their best and had a blast doing it. And they simply say...WTD...or, What The Duck.

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PRO STREET REVIVAL Story by George Pich

Photos courtesy Full House Motorsports

ometimes in life, you just have to say “Why Not”! Case in point – take a basket-case ex race car from the 70’s and turn it in to a ground pounding street/strip monster!

was building one. During the Monte teardown, a friend approached Brian about a Nova that was an ex-drag car, and since quite a bit of the “hard work” was already done, the plan quickly changed to selling the Monte and turning his attention to the Nova.

A number of years ago a car crazed Brian Lutz was wrenching on a 1981 Monte Carlo in the process of building a Pro Street cruiser. This was when Pro Street was all the rage and everyone who was anyone

The Nova was by no means an easy ride though, it too needed quite a bit of help considering the condition it was in. “Why not”, was Brian’s answer to the challenge, after all, he’d always loved the look of

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the Pro Street cars while growing up, but back then most them had just that… the Pro Street look, with little or nothing under the hood to back it up. So the plan here was to build something that had the look, but also the power to go along with it. As with any project car, they are never really done, and that was the case through each different phase of the Nova’s life to date. The first motor made a rather quick exit by way of finding some nasty metal particles in the oil. Shortly after, the decision was made to have something a little more adventurous created, something that would hit home with the Pro Street theme of the car. Now, with today’s technology, getting 1000 horsepower out of a motor is fairly “easy”, a few years back it wasn’t. Nonetheless, that was Brian’s target and he had a pretty solid plan up his sleeve to get there. “There’s just something about the look of a Roots blower poking its snout through the hood that has always kept me on my ‘Pro Street Path,’” tells Lutz. “Most people have seen this car indoors, propped up on blocks with glistening hand polished aluminum, mirrors reflecting a spotless undercarriage and the hood propped up with all panels open for judging,” continues Brian. “But once it’s down on the ground and put back to its normal state of ‘Street Machine’, the details that set it apart from many others are noted at the turn of the starter.” It’s that sound that Brian refers to, the unmistakable sound of some pretty serious real street machine horses under the hood! The paint is over 7 years old and to this day shines like new. A Best Paint award was just won in 2013 at the Cavalcade Of Cars car show in Hamburg, NY. A requirement of any Pro Street car is the steam rollers. A set of Hoosier QTP are not only street legal, but also give the required traction when needed. The license plate also lets you know that what lurks up front will likely “disturb the peace”. It’s time to tune up the chassis with all these new parts and get to the drag strip so Brian can get his 9-second time slip!

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Power comes from a Ray Barton Racing Engines mill. “Yes, you read that right, the Mopar guy built a Chevy,” adds Brian. The 540 big block Chevy is filled with all of the required go fast goodies, starting with a Merlin II block. Swinging the JE custom blower pistons is a near bullet-proof combo from Scat featuring a steel crank and rods. Bullet was tapped to custom grind a full solid roller dual pattern camshaft with lift of 732/716. A set of heavily massaged Pro Topline cylinder heads with a compliment of Jesel rockers keep the valve train in check. To meet the power requirements but keep things running on pump gas and remain streetable, a BDS 8-71 blower was the choice. Pumping out a very mild 5 pounds of boost ensures that frequent trips to the gas station won’t drain the wallet as fast as the gas tank. Plus, keeping the power in

check when tooling around town sure is easy on parts! Nickerson Performance put the final touches on the pair of modified Holley 850 carburetors. After all is said and done, on the dyno this combination produced a very stout 950hp at 7500 rpm, just shy of the 1,000hp goal, which could be easily rectified with upping the boost ever so slightly. The balance of the drive train is all racecar inspired. Transmission Specialties provided one of their TH400 transmissions along with a 9-inch 3800 stall torque converter. A full custom ladder bar rear suspension and adjustable coil over shocks ensures that the sheet metal rear stays put. Stuffed with 4.11 gears, a full spool, and 35 spline axles, it’s ready to take a beating when Brian hits the drag strip. The front suspension features tubular control arms from Fat Man Fabrication, Moroso drag springs, and Competition Engineering shocks, all attached to the stock front sub frame. A 4” exhaust system rides below and A 540 cubic inch big block Chevy with 8-71 BDS blower add the power to support the Pro Street look. Yes, by today’s standards it is more common to see 1,000HP street cars, but it is still nothing to take lightly.

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unfortunately, with Pennsylvania roads, keeping it from getting the occasional ding is a daunting task. All four corners are supported by Billet Specialties wheels (15x4 fronts; 15x14 back) with giant Hoosier QTPs in the back (31 x 18.5 x 15) and the required “skinnies” up front.

On the exterior, the body was kept to appear as Chevrolet had designed it in 1969, with the exception of the fiberglass rear deck lid and of course, the 4 inch fiberglass cowl induction hood to partially hide what lurks within. For paint, a factory Chevy color (to make those rock chips and scratches easy to repair) was used from 2005, Indigo Blue Pearl.

The interior cabin is a combination of custom mixed with factory that does dual duty on the street and strip. A full 8.50 certified cage protects both driver and passenger along with the RJS 5-point harnesses. Aside from the comfy seats, it lacks the creature comforts of a radio, but who needs that when all you want to do is listen to that blower whine, that is if you can hear it over the massive blown big block exhaust note exiting from under the car.

This car was built with a certain criteria in mind; build a street car that could be driven to local car shows, but if the impulse arises, take it to the track and beat the living daylights out of it. Unfortunately, time hasn’t really permitted much of the latter. But Brian was able to bust off a 10.06-second quarter-mile run leaving lightly, and

A color matched aluminum fuel cell, big wheel tubs and dual Taylor stainless battery boxes reside in an ultra-clean trunk. The cockpit provides for race and some comfort on those long drives!

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getting off the gas at 1,000 feet, during some shakedown runs. This quickly told him that his original chassis and suspension ideas wouldn’t handle the power and torque of the blown big block. With a new set-up Brian plans a return to the 1320 to collect his 9-second time slips. “As with any car build, the ‘what if’ and ‘why not’ questions always come up,” continues Brian. “What if I did this, or what if I did that? I think that building a car is always a learning process, especially when you do most of the work in the home garage. You learn by making mistakes, and move on to correct them. If we all knew what we were doing right out of the gate, there wouldn’t be any need for the great shops across the country. My build is no different. Without plenty of mistakes made along the way, the quality finished product

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Photos, below from left: Talk about home built! Clean, fabricate and paint... then move on to the next part of the car. Back many years ago in the dyno room of Ray Barton Racing Engines getting the motor dialed in and 950 horsepower/760 lbs of torque is achieved. The motor is in but still some assembly to go. Working in a cold home garage, things seem to take a little longer.

RPM Magazine, THE Voice Of Fast Cars WORLDWIDE

wouldn’t be possible! And seriously, I don’t think any of us are ever ‘finished’.” Lutz goes on to say, “It takes drive and determination to accomplish what you want. Sometimes you just have to say “why not” and face your challenge head-on. So why not just get in the garage and start turning wrenches and fulfill your own dream car build?” Brian intends to keep competing in the show car circuit, while maintaining his own Northeast Rod and Custom Car Show, now in its third year and already climbing to the top of the car show world. Being a promoter of local shows, he insists on doing everything possible with his Pro Street revival Nova, including weekly cruise nights, Super Chevy shows, and you guessed it, the drag strip! If you happen to see the name “Full House Motorsports” promoting a car show, you know it is Brian Lutz behind it, and that it is a family affair. “Full House Motorsports is an automotive event production company,” explains Brian. “We run the NorthEast Rod and Custom Nationals that takes place each March at the Expo Center in Oaks, PA. I also run and consult on numerous other outdoor shows. New this year, we will be handling all aspects of the car show portion of Super Chevy at Maple Grove on July 19 & 20. Full House Motorsports is made up of my wife, Jean Lutz, Lonny Hamilton, Bill Salter, and my family.

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The name actually came from having a “full house” at home… 3 sons (making up the kings in a poker hand) and my wife and daughter (the queens in a poker hand).” “There is always a certain unexplainable gratification that comes with creating and building your own street or strip car,” says Lutz. “If you’ve done it, you know what I mean, if you haven’t, you need to”. Brian Lutz, at age 42, has his motivation in both racing and shows, and his own self-built Nova serves as notice that people of all generations are still in the mindset that something you take part in building personally is something special, something you can take pride in. So, if you’re ever in the lane beside the whistling blown Nova, beware, it might be a long night explaining to your buddies how you got smoked by a “show car”!

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Securing Your Valuables PART II Protecting Your Trailer From Thieves!

e are always open-minded when looking at new ways to help people keep their valuables from being lost, and being that it has been a few years since our first instalment, Part 2 of “Securing Your Valuables” seemed to be a good idea. If you missed it, Part 1 can be still be viewed at http://www.traileralarms.com/article.htm Probably one of the most frequent discussions I have is about a suggestion I often make about placing a number or some type of large identification on the roof of the trailer. This is not just for law enforcement to help locate it, but anyone at all. Remember, the thieves will not even know its there, and as they are driving down the road with your trailer, a large number or symbol on the top of it sure will make it stick out like a sore thumb! It can be seen from overpasses by just about anyone as well as lower flying aircraft such as news, police or casual flyers. And let’s face it, with all of the “big brother is watching” stuff going on in today’s world, there are cameras everywhere that might have the capability and possibility of seeing your rig going down the road. For a fresh theft where you have lost a trailer, the car inside and all of your tools and equipment, you might also consider renting a pilot and aircraft at your local airport, it’s actually pretty inexpensive. It might take 30 minutes to an hour to comb the immediate area roads and highways, so why wouldn’t you do it to help recover your trailer and it’s contents?

Words & Photos By

Lyle Clark

chain around the axle, essentially you have done nothing. With the lug nuts exposed, the thief can pull your tire and replace it, or even quicker they can cut the cheap chain in a matter of seconds with $30 bolt cutters from any hardware store. Wheel boots are great devices, and they warn the bad guy from a distance that you mean business. Good quality ones can be purchased for less than $200 from Trailer-Alarms.com. Say a thief isn’t after your trailer, just what is inside of it. As we discussed in part one, a good quality alarm is your best first line of defence, but there are a few other tricks and trinkets you can use to keep them out. A good and relatively quick way to keep the rear door(s) from being easily opened is to lock or secure them from the inside. One of the best ways to do this is using E-Track. Attach it to your door, and also to the ceiling or high point in the trailer. Then use a pull or ratchet style strap to connect the 2 tracks. If a side door is a bigger threat, then use something similar for it. Be sure not to over tighten the straps though and damage your trailer or doors.

There has also been much discussion about removable tongues on the trailer. This is a great idea, BUT, make sure that you still lock your safety chains together. As I mentioned in the first article, thieves will drag your trailer down the road by the safety chains just to get to a point where they can get inside and offload your stuff or hide the trailer indoors.

High quality cargo door locks are a must and give you that tough first line of defense.

What about putting chains through the wheels? Aside from being a pain to install every time you park your rig, honestly, if you don’t use a heavy duty chain, and you don’t wrap the

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For extra protection on cargo doors use E Track and cargo straps. A wheel boot works very well on the trailer and/or tow vehicle (fits 10”-18” wheels). Check out this trick DeWalt DS500 MOBILELOCK GPS Locator with Anti-Theft Alarm

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If you are convinced that your trailer is safe and won’t be stolen, and you already have all of the best locks, installed an alarm, but you want that last little bit of security then check out some “trip wire” devices. These can be connected inside the trailer or to the doors and are available with goodies like pepper spray, or even 12 gauge shotgun blanks. These are very effective, but must be used with CAUTION. From personal experience, I can tell you that the blank going off inside a trailer is very loud. And DO NOT use them near flammable materials. Pepper spray inside a trailer is also not fun if you set it off yourself by accident. Be sure to check your local laws about the use of pepper spray and/or shotgun blanks. Alarms that flash the lights, sound sirens, and lock the brakes are still some of the best defences. With today’s technology adding GPS or pager/cellular notification is great, but may The PRO-TEC System is designed to monitor and protect the also increase trailer and it’s contents. Any movement of the trailer will be the upfront detected by the built in, adjustable acceleromter, or the opencost and some ing of a door. This will cause the electrical brakes of the might add a trailer to be applied in addition to the sounding of the 128db monthly fee. waterproof siren provided, and the flashing of your trailers Some insurrunning lights. This unit has an optional paging system. ance companies however do offer discounts for the alarms as they are theft prevention devices, and GPS is sometimes even considered a theft recovery device. The choice is yours, the equipment, information and techniques are available to protect your valuables. Don’t end up like the people who call me that “HAD” $200,000 worth of cars and equipment in their trailer and think that $1000 is too much to spend to protect it. Lyle Clark is the owner of Trailer-Alarms.com, a theft prevention website created to help people protect the investments they have worked so hard to acquire. Lyle and his company are licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety – Texas Private Security Bureau. Trailer-Alarms.com was started in January of 2005 when Lyle saw a need for trailer security after a friends trailer was broken into twice. “I am a firm believer in what I sell, and will NOT sell anything that I would not place on my own trailer.” – Lyle Clark For more information visit www.Trailer-Alarms.com or call 877-604-7381

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WORLD CLASS 1,000 HP SUPERCAR

a C I R e M a N I e Mad

HaNd

1,000 Horsepowerâ&#x20AC;Ś A Hand Built Street-Legal Monster The Shelby 1000

Story & Photos By Al Heisley

Additional Photos Courtesy Shelby American Inc.

or years, Carroll Shelby wanted an affordable 1,000 HP Mustang. In the past, however, there had always been reasons why it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t practical at the time. But now Shelby engineers thought the time was right. Technology and development have finally caught up with one another. And if the finished product is any indication, they have one badass car on their hands. The supercharged Shelby 1000 makes just under 1000 horsepower, and does so on pump gas!

Starting with a GT500 5.8-liter donor car (the 5.8 is new for 2013), the transition begins when the car arrives at the Shelby American factory in Las Vegas. On a lift, the radiator, K-Member, engine, transmission, rear end and suspension are dropped from the bottom.

The Shelby 1000 is designed to go straight, turn and stop. And while Shelby engineers designed the car primarily for road courses and the street, if you want to use it as a drag car it will definitely chew up the quarter mile.

As an engineered product, Shelby Mustangs are built using Shelby designed and manufactured components and parts as much as pos-

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Shelby also offers the S/C package. With its free flowing exhaust system intended for track use only, along with a host of other S/C package enhancements, this 1,100HP Shelby 1000 S/C supercar can blast a tenacious roar. The Shelby 1000 gets its colossal stopping power from massive brakes that include 6 piston front calipers and 4 pistons out back. The driveshaft is a stronger unit while suspension includes new struts, sway bars and bushings. Of course any Supercar needs to be tested, and proven. The Shelby American address at Speedway Blvd. in Las Vegas should tell you something... you got it, access to a full service speedway (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) for testing, and probably some fun now and again too.

sible. While the Shelby warehouses are full of those components and parts, the builds are much more substantial than simply having an employee pulling parts from stock and bolting them on, or “turning up the power”. In the words of Gary Patterson, Vice President, Operations, “no one goes deeper into the car than Shelby does.” VP Patterson is talking about the extremes the Shelby team goes to in creating every new Shelby 1000. The engine is torn down, machining is completed, and Shelby parts and equipment are used in the build. For example, Shelby Stage 3 ported heads, valve springs and titanium retainers replace Ford heads. Shelby Blower Grind Camshafts replace stock cams. The rotating assembly uses Shelby parts, too. The engine assembly is balanced and a high capacity 8 quart oil pan is bolted on the bottom end. Each build is done by hand in a Shelby clean room. To pump the massive quantity of air needed to make 1,000HP, a liquid-cooled Shelby/Kenne Bell Supercharger and twin blade 75mm RPM Magazine, THE Voice Of Fast Cars WORLDWIDE

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HAND MADE IN AMERICA

throttle body induction system is installed up top. Fuel is supplied by a specially designed high performance 1,000HP fuel system. Exhaust is handled with a Borla 3inch cat-back exhaust system. A high performance expanded capacity radiator, intercooler and heat exchangers keep it all cool, even on a drive to the local store or around town. Power is transferred to the high performance 9-inch rear through a Shelby Super Twin Clutch and flywheel kit and Tremec 6-speed transmission. Shifting is handled with a MGW short throw shifter. Completing the drive line is a custom aluminum driveshaft, billet transmission support and driveshaft loop. It even has a reinforced tunnel… just in case. A Shelby K-Member with control arms holds everything together up front while a custom Eibach R2 adjustable suspension is used in the front and rear with a Watts link system. The frame is strengthAbove, Technicians in the Shelby American Speed Shop prepare to drop the almost completed Shelby 1000 onto its fully rebuilt 1,000 horsepower motor. Below, soon-to-be Shelby 1000’s undergo special attention in all areas. The engine out of the donor Shelby GT 500 is sent to the Shelby 1000 engine team to make the magic number. If you know horsepower, you know that you can put all the parts you want in an engine, but if it can’t breathe and it can’t drink then it won’t make the power. That is why a special fuel delivery system and intake are designed for the 1000. All 1000’s are hand built in a “clean” room where proper attention to each car individually can be given.

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Trick Flow Specialties Engine and Fuel Delivery Components Deliver the Power You Need to Get Ahead on the Street and on the Track. Trick Flow produces engine parts for GM LS and LT1, small/big block Chevy and Ford, Ford 4.6L/5.4L modular, and Ford Cleveland series engines.

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HAND MADE IN AMERICA

ened for handling greater lateral G’s. Braking relies on Shelby/ Wilwood 6 piston brakes up front and 4 piston brakes in the rear. Now you get the picture of the work, quality, and dedication that goes into each Shelby product. And let’s not forget that the car gets Shelby billet forged 3 piece 20x9” wheels in the front and 20x11’s in the rear with “high performance tires.” Changes to the exterior are slight yet functional. The car is finished off with a Shelby custom fibreglass hood with heat extractors, front splitter and rear diffuser plus the Shelby 1000 graphics. The interior is pretty much left alone except for the Shelby 1000 logoed seats and an A-pillar gauge pod. It also receives the CSM serial number badge and there is a serial number plate with the unique Shelby serial number in the engine compartment. OK, let’s get it straight, even the “donor” Shelby GT500 mill that is used as a base for the Shelby 1000 sports a very commanding 662HP at the crankshaft! Now, totally rebuild it and trick it out with a boat load of Shelby go-fast bling including the Shelby 1000 camshaft option with CNC ported cylinder head package, along with a Kenne Bell huffer on top of it all, and now you are talking extreme horsepower. The 5.4 liter Shelby GT500 engines are used for pre-2013 models. Generous amounts of aluminum and carbon fiber are visible under the hood and a liquid cooled 3.6L Kenne Bell supercharger (with 10% overdrive pulley) tops off the masterpiece that now puts almost 1 , 0 0 0 horsepower towards the rear wheels of the Mustang!

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HAND MADE IN AMERICA Underneath, from front to back, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find more custom Shelby equipment alongside some of the best names in performance. Note the Tremec 6 speed transmission, aluminum driveshaft, billet transmission support and driveshaft loop. The trans tunnel is even reinforced on the Shelby 1000. To help dissipate the extreme heat put off by almost 1,000 horses, Shelby American revamps the engine cooling system with an additional heat exchanger. Above, a 2013 Shelby 1000 equipped with Fordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new 5.8 liter engine (that has undergone the Shelby 1000 upgrades) is ready to go make some serious noise. Left: To keep all this power in check, custom Shelby frame connectors are welded in place. The exterior gets a new hood and the Shelby 1000 graphics.

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So what’s the price tag of all this? That in part depends on the cost of the GT500 Mustang donor car. Then add $149,995 for a total of about $200,000 to $250,000. Which is actually fairly cheap when you consider that a new 1,000 HP Bugatti Veryon will run you $2.75 million. When I asked about fuel mileage Mr. Patterson told me that it should be in the 12 to 15 mpg range. Not bad, but then who’s asking. There’s also the track-only 1100 HP Shelby 1000 SC. This one carrying a Whipple supercharger, racing headers and a Borla 3-inch exhaust system for additional power. This version comes in at $154,995 on top of the donor car. The factory has begun accepting orders. Twenty units were sold the first year and sales continue being made into 2013, and no more than 100-units per year will be built. So hurry up and get yours! When completed, you can pick your car up at the Shelby Museum in Las Vegas and drive it home. Source: Shelby American, Inc. 702-942-7325 www.shelbyamerican.com 8755 Speedway Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89115

Three Shelby 1000 Mustangs wait patiently for delivery outside of the Shelby American headquarters in Vegas. Below: Designed to be a “sleeper” supercar, this classic and sleek red Shelby 1000 is the total package.

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RPM PROJECT

GREEN MACHINE

Oh yeah, we’ve found the perfect home for our 1,180HP Big Block Brawler! Story & Photos By Brian Hansen

Additional Photos Courtesy Nickey Chicago

Introducting RPM Project “Green Machine” Last year RPM Magazine teamed up with engine builder Tommy Eufemia from Bad Attitude Engines in Morriston, Florida to build a 489 cubic inch big block Chevy that would be a capable of making 1,000hp, have good street manners and not break the bank cost wise. The “Big Block Brawler” project (featured in June 2012-September 2012 issues of RPM) was pump-gas friendly with 10.0-1 compression JE Pistons and a fairly mild COMP Cams hydraulic-roller camshaft combination. Naturally aspirated, on pump gas, the Brawler made a stout 671hp. The real fun started when we put some VP Racing Fuels C16 in the dyno fuel cell and turned on the Nitrous Supply annular-discharge Pro Plate nitrous system. With Nitrous guru Mike Thermos providing the tune ups, our Brawler belted out 1,180 horsepower and 1,069 ft lbs of torque on the Voss Racing Engines (Live Oak, Florida) dyno! Having exceeded our initial goal of making 1,000hp it was now time to find a four-wheeled home for the Big Block Brawler.

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A match made in heaven! Above, the 1966 Bel Air awaits install of the Big Block Brawler in Nickey Chicago’s shop, located just down the road from where the original Nickey Chevrolet dealership once stood. Surrounded by classic Nickey musclecars from the 60’s and 70’s (along with lots of modern day Nickey Super Camaro’s) our Q-ship looks right at home.

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Like the old saying goes, “All the power in the world isn’t worth a darn if you can’t put it to the pavement”. With this in mind we set out to find a rolling-chassis that could handle the Brawler’s power. Knowing that we had 1,069 ft lbs of stump-pulling torque to play with we went down the path least traveled and started searching for a full-size Chevy (Biscayne, Bel Air or Impala) for our mill. After months of following up on leads we finally found exactly what we were looking for… and then some! We’re happy to introduce you to the newest RPM Magazine project vehicle. A 1966 Chevy Bel Air that we’ve nicknamed “Green Machine”! Sitting on a 119-inch wheelbase, our stock-suspension Chevy Bel Air is a big car no matter how you look at it. Originally built by a gentleman named Brad Brink from Sycamore Illinois, this full-size Chevy has been put on a diet and weighs in at a Camaro-like 3,300 lbs with a big block Chevy and Turbo Hydramantic 400 transmission. Designed to go fast, and be safe doing it, Brad had a 25.5 NHRA certified cage installed in the car by Dennis Equitz at Blitzkrieg Motorsports in Caledonia, Wisconsin. Not wanting to destroy the low mileage Bel Air’s original sheet metal the inner fender wells have not been touched (so we’re limited to a 10.5 x 29.5 Mickey Thompson tire on 11” Holeshot Wheels). Photos, from top: When asked what carrier we should use to transport the new RPM Magazine project car from Texas to Nickey Chicago headquarters in St. Charles, Illinois Stefano Bimbi was quick to respond, “We only use Reliable Carriers to transport our customers Nickey cars. We’ve been using them for years and they are hands down the best in the business.” Once a low mileage small block with a Powerglide automatic, the Bel Air was converted into a street & strip machine back in 2009. It has changed owners a couple of times since, but has now found a home as one of RPM Magazine’s wild project vehicles.

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GREEN MACHINE

We’ve teamed up with the legendary Nickey Chicago in St. Charles, Illinois on this build. They have a great deal of experience in building high horsepower so they are the perfect company to be involved in the project. We’ll be taking you step-bystep throughout the construction of the “Green Machine” Bel Air in upcoming issues of RPM throughout the year.

Nickey Chevrolet – The Original Supercar Headquarters If you lived in the Chicago area during the 1950-1960’s “Nickey”- spelled with a backwards “K” was most likely a name that you were familiar with (especially if you were into performance cars). The Chicago based car dealer Nickey Chevrolet was founded in the 1920’s and became the largest volume Chevy Dealer in the country in the 1960’s. Nickey Chevrolet was also heavily involved in all kinds of motorsports at the time including road racing, stock car racing and drag racing. Sponsoring such legends as Dick Harrell, Hayden Profitt, Ron Colson, Jim Jeffords, Freddie Lorenzen and Charlie Hayes, just to name a few. The name Nickey became synonymous with high performance!

Nickey Chevrolet’s Parts Department was the first in the country to advertise high performance parts nationally and sold more performance equipment over the counter than any other Chevrolet dealer in the country back in the 1960’s. Although having a Nickey badge (with a backwards facing “k”) on your car was the ultimate status symbol in the 60’s, some car owners actually took them off their cars to hide the fact that they were packing 427 power under the hood. Vintage B&W! Famed drag racer Dick Harrell oversees Nickey ace mechanics Lou Anzelmo and Mike Terrofina installing a 425hp 427 big block in one of the early 1967 Camaros at the Nickey Chevrolet dealership.

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GREEN MACHINE

With the release of the 1967 Camaro Nickey teamed up with Bill Thomas Race Cars (Anaheim, California) and began swapping the factory 350 cubic inch small blocks (the biggest engine available in the Camaro at the time) in favor of the much more powerful 427/425hp L72 big block. The Nickey/Thomas “Super Camaro” was born! General Motors was officially out of racing at that time but rumor has it that GM Vice President of High Performance, Vince Piggens, liked the idea of the 427 big block being offered in Camaros and helped the project along, every way he could. He was also the one that helped unite the two performance powerhouses, Nickey and Bill Thomas. Their alliance ensured that customers not only from the Midwest, but also from West Coast could order the 427 Camaro and take delivery at either location. If you wanted to order your car directly from Nickey, and drive it home, they would pay for a one-way flight no matter where you lived in the continental United States! How many of these Nickey/Thomas conversion cars were built during the 60’s and 70’s you may ask? The number has been debated many times but unfortunately nobody knows for sure. There is very little documentation about the Nickey/ Thomas conversion cars. Since most of the records burned in a fire at the speed shop in later years, the exact number cannot be verified. Although everyone seems to focus on the Nickey conversion cars, we must also remember that their service departPhotos: On the day when we did the photo shoot at Nickey Chicago, the place was packed from wall to wall with vintage musclecars and a bunch of new Camaros being transformed into genuine Nickey Super Camaros. With over 1,000hp on tap this is the view that most of the competition sees if they tangle with a new Nickey Super Camaro. OK, are we the only ones seeing a classic grudge match brewing? Here we have the Nickey Stage 3 1,000hp Super Camaro and earlier this issue we showed you the Shelby Mustang 1000 (with 1,000hp)....hmmmm

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GREEN MACHINE

ment was also busy installing headers, intake manifolds, slapper bars and carburetors on thousands of customer cars back in the 1960’s. It was not uncommon to see 1955 Chevys, Chevelles, Novas, Biscaynes and Camaros lined up in the service facility waiting to get hi-performance parts installed. Don Swiatek was Nickey’s High Performance Manager and he had a whole team of ace mechanics working for him that knew how to spin a wrench. In 1973 the owners of Nickey Chevrolet sold the dealership to Keystone Chevrolet. The Nickey Speed Shop (that was separate from the parts department) closed its doors. Many of the key employees who had worked in the Speed Shop opened the new facility down the street under the name “Nickey Chicago”. Hi-Performance parts were sold, and they continued to build Super Car conversions, until 1977 when the economic troubles of the times caused them to also shut their doors once again.

Nickey Chicago, Alive and Kicking! Fast Forward to 2002 and avid car guy Stefano Bimbi has the idea to bring the Nickey name back to its former glory. “I grew up not far from the original Nickey car dealership”, says Nickey Chicago CEO Stefano Bimbi. When I heard that GM was not going to build Camaros after the 2002 model year I ordered a 2002 GMMG ZL1 Camaro. Being a huge Nickey fan I thought it would be cool to take my Camaro and commemo-

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Nickey CEO Stefano Bimbi stands between two Nickey Super Camaros from two different generations. The 1967 model is powered by a 427 with three deuces and produces approximately 550hp. The black Camaro on the left is a 2011 Nickey Super Camaro with the Stage III treatment. Powered by an LS7 427 this bad boy makes over 1,000hp thanks to a Magnuson supercharger! The L89 aluminum headed 427 looks right at home between the fenderwells of the Tahoe Turquoise 1967 Nickey Camaro. This car is the “real-deal” Nickey and must have been feared on the street back when it was new.

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rate the greatest supercar dealerships of all time… Nickey Chevrolet.” Stefano continues, “Through the process of building this Camaro, I found out who owned the rights to the Nickey name. Initially I just had licensing rights for the one 2002 Nickey Super Camaro but eventually was able to acquire the complete trademarks that allowed me to build modern and vintage Nickey continuation Supercars. That is when the fun began!” Just like back in the late sixties and early seventies, Nickey Chicago offers their Camaros in three different flavors. The stage I package is a mild performance improvement that brings the power output up to about 500 horsepower. Modifications include 1 7/8” stainless headers, 3” exhaust with “X” pipe, F.A.S.T. intake manifold, an improved air induction system and Nickey interior/exterior enhancements. This is one rare Nickey car. One of just two second generation Nickey Super Camaros currently listed in the Nickey Registry. The original owner sold the car in 1985 and it was shipped off to Japan. The car was located in 2010 and shipped back to the United States. This Midnight Green, former record holder, Nickey Camaro was built to do one thing… go fast! Delivered on April 18th 1973, the first owner did not wait long before taking his new Camaro to the track. Running on the marginal tires of the day he recorded a best ¼ ET of 10.52 @ 129 mph! Under the hood scoop resides a highly desirable LS-6 big block. This car also had the Nickey Stage III treatment and must have been an absolute terror on the street and strip back in 1973!

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Stage II modifications bring power output up to 600 horsepower with an LS3 engine. Things get a little more interesting because the base power is bumped up to 600 horsepower without any power adders! Want 800 horsepower? No problem because the boys at Nickey can add a nitrous system, turbocharger or supercharger to make your Stage II Nickey Super Camaro a world class performer! The top of the line Stage III package is for the serious performance enthusiast. Along with all the goodies included in the Stage I and Stage II packages you also get a full tilt LS7 427 Corvette engine that puts out 700hp naturally aspirated and over a 1,000hp with a turbocharger or blower!

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GREEN MACHINE

Nickey Chicago also works on musclecars from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s at their 16,000 sq. ft. facility. Just like back in the 1960’s, a customer can have their Camaro, Corvette, Biscayne, Nova or Chevelle transformed into a Nickey Supercar! From mild to wild, the team at Nickey Chicago does everything from bolting on a set of headers to compete engine swaps.

Moving Forward The journey has just begun for RPM’s “Green Machine” Bel Air. Once the engine is installed at Nickey Chicago we’ll be bolting up a TH400 Transmission from Thompson Transmission (Roscoe, Illinois) and one of Midwest Converter’s (Rockford, Illinois) revolutionary Hydra-Lock torque converters to process the Brawler’s power. Next on our list of projects is the exhaust system. Since we plan on driving the Bel Air on the street and strip, Ron Wesley at Clocks Off Race Cars (Racine, Wisconsin) will be welding up a set of Stainless Works 2 ¼” headers and installing a 3 1/2” exhaust system with Dynatech Split Flow race mufflers and a Dynatech “X” pipe. This exhaust system should flow so well that there will not be any reason to take it off at the track, yet be quiet enough to drive it anywhere. Finally, we’ll be addressing the suspension, safety equipment and the data acquisition. To put the power to the pavement we’ll be using AFCO’s double adjustable shocks. They offer the adjustability that will be needed to make the stock suspension perform to its full potential. Since driver safety is paramount, we’ll be adding DJ Safety 5point cam-lock belts and a DJ Safety parachute. For data acquisition we’ll have AEM’s AQ-1, Wideband O2 sensors and their new Dyno-Shaft on board dynamometer. Then it’s off to the track for testing. Stay tuned because the fun has just started!

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A refresher course on our Big Block Brawler bullet. Packing 489 cubic inches, the RPM Magazine’s Big Block Brawler packs a wollop! Mike Thermos from Nitrous Supply flew in to help with the nitrous tune ups on his revolutionary Annular Discharge Pro Plate. Designed specifically for the Pro Systems SV1 carburetor this combination produced 1180hp at 5800rpm. The short block of the Brawler consists of GM 4-bolt main block, JE Pistons, Total Seal TNT Rings, Eagle 4340 forged crankshaft, Eagle H-beam connecting rods, ATI damper, Clevite bearings and a Canton oil pan. On the top end is a pair of Profiler “Sniper” aluminum cylinder heads, Scorpion roller rockers, Scorpion stud girdle, Scorpion valves, Manton push rods, Profiler “Sniper Jr” intake manifold, and Quick Fuel Technology regulators. Helping the big block breath is an 1,100 cfm Pro Systems SV1 carburetor. To light the fire a D.U.I. Performance Distributors HEI unit with Mini VIP was used. A GZ Motorsports vacuum pump helped keep the Brawler’s vacuum in check during all of the dyno pulls. A NS (Nitrous Supply) Extreme Series Annular Discharge Pro Plate was the power adder of choice and man did it make some serious horsepower! With 86 nitrous/74 fuel jets, and 19 degrees of total timing, this baby made 509hp on top of the 671hp that the Brawler produced naturally aspirated. Nitrous Supply owner Mike Themos has also recently come out with a “criss-cross” bar-style plate with large 3/16” inch tubes designed for Holley 4500 and 4150 series carburetors. These plates will also be able to produce over 500hp just like our Pro Plate.

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E N I H C A M Y R R A B D A BIG B Story & Photos By Brian Hansen Photography By Pete Ores

THE

. They ere Joe grew up ia to Colorado wh rn lifo Ca 00, but m $8 fro r fo ht away towed back d the ‘55 sold rig l time were al an of le sa rs r ca st hot fo c fir ni up s ico t both cars ded up as hi me of the most ’ Chevy, so it en to manu- pu 56 au e e” n the 1950’s so th re nt Th wa ig to e “B the r that I’v ever dy seemed sembly lines of e only classic ca world nobo th e th is s ng hi pi rolling off the as “T ee d, sw te ll was e commen ag racing craze igan. Rock & Ro tion. rod. Jo e street legal dr th rta po en ns wh tra facturers in Mich ’s of 90 rly a means shop backowned. In the ea and had a local g more that just it in r af m fo Gr co y n be ev ica re Ch er k we m oc e “A drag and cars small bl integral part of th t me hooked on started I built a ly becoming an at the time and go t came out ne le zo ro 0 ev .9 Ch 10 . e They were actual ol th co d being it. It ran in of having fun an rn. The half fiti” pop culture a legend was bo d an ws vie cin re el e ra g. ” dans to rave car to Jerry Bick come some of th be with their 55’ Se ve ha s) we delivered the el od 98 m 19 ’ 57 “In d I d, an 02 ue ’ rs in 20 56 nt ce the Joe co it today. In d drag ra 55’ (along with e car as you see s, enthusiasts an th or ct ild lle bu co em th by th wi d ry k rs ha luxu r ca g bloc Race Cars and most sought afte evys live a life of to have a 632 bi tone in California ng “Shoe Box” Ch ks ivi r ac rv ca Bl su l e na ike titive in the th M sio pe of d ca m y te contac alike. Man I could be co taken to an oc y at pl th sim so e ilt ar bu or gine I nitrous 210 llections three stages of et and strip 56’ the Blackstone En and end up in co Joe Barry’s stre sociation). With e As r lik rs Ca out ca et ar od e re ye go ar St e st ok st and lo ship the fir PSCA (Pacific show. Then ther class champion e thing….to go fa on et r re fo St ilt y ga bu av vin s He ha wa . We were won the PSCA Sport Coupe that y race I attended er ev at PH M d and set the ET an while doing it! the block!” g the new kid on lot of fun for bein PSCA Champiued to chase the in nt co e Jo ne s hi ar ac records. In xt few ye Big Bad Barry M in Over the ne the ET and MPH ck ng tti ba y, se re ev Ch ep 5 ke ‘5 and a able to onship and was picked up the ‘56, Joe and his Dad cars were flatth Bo s. ck bu few flip and make a the early 90’s to

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Joe Barry’s 1956 Shoebox Chevy sticks out among the 60’s and up Musclecars at the 2012 RPM Extreme Event in Wisconsin. The cruise night at Gus’s Drive In saw some of the finest, and fastest, street machines in the country in the “power line-ups” reserved for pre-registered badass street cars!

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The nickname “Big Bad Barry Machine” came from legendary announcer Al Tucci at one of the PSCA Races that Joe attended. It seems to fit the ‘56 nicely since it certainly is a big car, and one bad machine when unleashed at the track!

2006 Heavy Street was dropped as a class in the PSCA since there were no longer SFI rules for heavy cars going faster the 7.50 in the quarter mile. The ‘56 was actually parked for a few years until Joe met legendary engine builder Chuck Samuel and they discussed building an engine for the Nostalgia Pro Street Class. Chuck suggested that a twin turbo combination would be the best way to build the kind of power needed to make the big shoe box competitive. While the new engine was being built, Greg Orr at GFAB (a custom fabrication shop located in Pueblo, Colorado) was busy fabricating all of the components needed for the twin turbo engine.

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598 Big Block With Twins With a goal of getting in the sixes Chuck Samuel knew that he needed to produce some serious horsepower to propel the 3,800 heavyweight down the quarter mile. Starting with one of Dart’s aluminum block’s Chuck filled it with a Winberg crankshaft, GRP aluminum connecting rods, BME 10.0:1 forged pistons and a COMP Cams solid lifter bump-stick of unspecified dimensions. Dart 11 degree “Big Chief” cylinder heads are home to a set of jumbo 2.40 intake/1.90 exhaust valves and Jesel rocker arms. Moran injectors (16 of them) feed the hungry beast. On 25 pounds of boost the engine currently makes

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Above, the current Colorado tags prove that Joe intends to (and does) drive his â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;56 on the street. According to the odometer he racked up over 5,000 miles of street & strip driving in 2012 alone.

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Photos, left: 598 cubic inches of twin turbocharged big block Chevy! With Joe O at Hyperaktive Performance Solutions handling the tuning, this monster makes 2,500-2,600HP with only 25 pounds of boost! The body lines of the ‘56 look as good today as they did back in 1956, and the cars are just as popular! Joe’s son Joey might just be one of the luckiest kids around. Right: Pretty basic inside with lots of equipment tucked away out of sight. How would you like to ride in those seats for 1,000 miles on the street? It might not be the most comfortable ride but it certainly is one of the fastest real street cars you’ll ever encounter. Joe’s wife Michelle gets Joe in the grove at Great Lakes Dragaway during the 2012 RPM Extreme Event “Grudge Match” portion. Even though temps were in the 90’s he still ran in the low 7 second zone, much to the crowds delight! Joe cruises through Gus’s during the RPM Extreme Event Cruise Night in 2012. He’s already planning to be back for the 2013 Extreme Event with the ‘56 and will be running in the sixes!

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Photo Courtesy Dominick Damato

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2,500-2,600 horsepower but has the potential to produce well over 3,000hp with the boost turned up! It’s interesting to note that the GRP aluminum connecting rods that they recently pulled out of the engine had 7,500 strip/street miles on them (and those were a tough 7,500 miles to say the least). Over the years many debates have ensued about the issue of aluminum rods not being suitable on the street. I guess that Joe has shown us that if you use top-shelf aluminum connecting rods like the GRP’s, they can work in a street & strip application. Myth debunked!

Bonafide Street Car! In 2011 Joe decided it was time to enter his car in the endurance event of all endurance events…Drag Week. After a year of testing on the street, and track, he was ready for the big leagues. As Joe stated, ”Little did my co-pilot Joe Oplawski or I know that we were in for a grueling week that neither one of us will ever forget!” As Joe tells the story, “On the second night of Drag Week I was so tired that I asked Joe if he wouldn’t mind driving the ‘56 for a while so that I could get some shut eye. I rode shotgun in a Drag Week competitor’s car for a while and followed the ‘56 as we headed towards Liberal Kansas. After driving just a short distance the drizzle turned into a heavy downpour. Joe was clipping along at a pretty good pace ahead of us and all of a sudden the ‘56 slid completely sideways. The trailer whipped around and spun the car in the opposite direction from where we were headed! I was speechless as I watched the car heading

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Above: Smokin’ the hides is no problem once Joe gets the 91mm Precision turbos spooled up! Photos, Left: HEAVY DUTY! To handle the brute power a stout 4-link suspension lurks under the ’56, with a Pro Mod quality rear differential that is meant to take some serious abuse. The best 60’ to date is an incredible 1.10 seconds! And during the run the wheelie bars, rear wing and dual chutes all get a workout!

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Hook up and go! When Joe drops the clutch this 3,800 lb Chevy pulls 2.6 G’s on a good hooking track. Painted in PPG “Hugger Orange” and “Vanilla Milk Shake” this ride has show car looks and drag race boogie! The 1956 Chevy might not be as aerodynamic as the modern day Mustangs and Camaros but it certainly looks cool going down the track at 205 mph! It has been adapted to just about every form of drag racing known to man over the years, but rest assured that Joe Barry’s ‘56 is the baddest street driven machine in the world!

RPM Quick Tech Sheet 1956 Chevrolet 210 Sport Coupe towards a ravine. Luckily there was a curb there to stop it from going off the road and into that ravine. Needless to say we were rattled by what had just happened and decided to stay in a hotel that night until the storm blew over. Early the next morning we packed up the Chevy and were off to Amarillo Texas just in time to make a qualifying pass. It was just another day in Drag Week!”

Special Thanks Playing in the big leagues of street legal drag racing requires a talented crew and a very understanding family. As Joe stated, “I really have to thank my wife Michelle for supporting my passion for drag racing over the years. She, and my son Joey, are my biggest fans and I feel truly blessed.” Joe continued, “Without my tuner Joe Oplawski, fabricator Greg Orr and engine builder Chuck Samuels, I would never have been able to make the ‘56 as competitive as it is today. Special thanks also go out to my sponsors Precision Turbo, Weldon Pump, Hyperaktive Performance Solutions, 1320 Video, Jesel and J&S polishing for everything that you have done for me.”

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Owner/Driver: Joe Barry (Colorado Springs, Colorado) Engine: 598 cubic inches with Dart aluminum block filled with a Winberg crankshaft, GRP aluminum connecting rods, BME forged pistons, COMP Cams solid roller, Dart “Big Chief” aluminum heads, CFE intake. Fuel System: Weldon gear drive fuel pump and regulator. Two fuel injectors per cyclinder. 1 @ 100lbs and 1 @ 200lbs Power Adder: Precision 91mm turbochargers Transmission: Lenco CS-2 5 speed w/RAM triple disc clutch Ignition: MSD w/Power GRID Car Builder: Jerry Bickel Race Cars Data Acquisition: Racepak V-500 Exhaust: Burns stainless 2 ¼” headers and 5” mufflers Wheels: American Racing Torque Thrust Pro (front and back) Weight: 3,800lbs with Joe on board Best 60’ Time: 1.10 on DOT Tires Best ET and MPH: 7.02 @ 205mph (1/4 mile), 4.60 @ 164mph (1/8th mile)

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You Don’t Know ‘Squirt! PART 1 By Jerry Hoffmann Do you know ‘Squirt? At this point, most racers and performance junkies out there have probably heard of MegaSquirt EFI. If this is your first time, go ahead and get the chuckle about the name over with, and then let’s move on to the meat of the moment- MegaSquirt EFI is serious business, and has come a LONG way from it’s meager roots some 13+ years ago as the brainchild of Bruce Bowling and Al Grippo. If you haven’t taken a look, even in the last few months, you don’t know MegaSquirt EFI. The capabilities of this still-affordable system in it’s latest form, particularly the MS3-Pro, rival if not beat competing systems that cost two to six times as much. Why even bother with EFI? First off— what does a standalone engine management system do for you? Why would you want a MegaSquirt system for your motor? Here’s how I look at it. As a car-guy (or gal!) you all know having the right tool for the job makes what was an impossible job, easy in many cases. This is the most powerful tool you’ll ever use to get the most out of your engine. And I’m confident that once you use this tool, you’ll agree it’s the most powerful tool in your toolbox. Period. A Standalone EMS once tuned for your engine allows you to achieve the best of all worlds. Maximum performance, smooth and streetable manners, maximum fuel economy, and minimum emissions. You will have instant throttle response. You can reach in the window on a frigid below-freezing morning, turn the key, and listen as the engine comes to life without need of you pumping the gas pedal or busting out the starting fluid. Just like your modern daily driver, your EFI’d hotrod will idle up on those cold mornings allowing it to warm the engine up faster, then as it warms up it’ll drop down to the idle speed you’ve configured. You can STOP fouling spark plugs running around the pits. You can run ANY fuel you want to in your spark ignited engine- gasoline, methanol, E85, anything. Stop rejetting every time you go to a different track, as once you’ve tuned your MegaSquirt EMS to use real-time barometric correction, the ECU will account for the altitude differences at any track you go to, and your fueling can be spot on, every time. You will have the power to fine tune your fuel and ignition to meet the needs of your engine and any modifications you can ever dream up, now or in the future, and you can tune it to perfection in every situation. With EFI, it IS possible to ‘have your cake and eat it too!’ With the right engine/ power adder combo you can have a classic that makes in the ballpark of 1000hp, runs 8 sec 1/4-mile times, and gets over 25mpg! That’s exactly what the Huber boys have done with their little Fox Mustang. That car won it’s class at a national competition with 170 cubes of turbo fed and MegaSquirt EFI’d power. And their class displacement limit? 426ci plus power adder. These guys took out some of the big boys with a 4 banger. What will it do for your 8, 10 or even 12 cylinder? Dream big, we gotcha covered. No more ‘black boxes’ Ever run a ‘boost retard’ dial allowing you to pull timing when your power adder is active? Or a ‘Mass Air Sensor Adjuster’? Maybe a boost controller or a standalone datalogger? These and other ‘black

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boxes’ are like band-aids intended to let you trick your engine into running right or gathering the data you need. But they are far from being the most effective or efficient ways of doing so. That’s one more of the strengths of a standalone EMS such as the MegaSquirt. One box CAN and SHOULD do it all. One interface. The new MS3-Pro is the top of the MegaSquirt line, with a compact sealed case and the ability to run That’s it. Are you sequential fuel injection on a V12. turning the boost up? Don’t turn that dial and then ‘hope’ nobody bumps into it and stops it from properly reducing your ignition advance under boost, potentially damaging a motor. Instead, rip that sucker out of there and let your ECU command the perfect tune every pass! You tell it how much ignition advance you want at all levels of boost you’ll ever run, and then just go drive your car! You don’t need the dial, the MegaSquirt does it all. Same goes for boost control, you don’t need a little black box, tune your EMS to do this job for you and you can have exactly how much boost you want, and can have different configurations saved for running on different fuels if you’d like! But isn’t MegaSquirt something I have to build like a science fair project? Not any more. Though many still choose to, and we will always continue to provide those super affordable ‘ECU kits’ for the hardcore and even improve them further, we also have a myriad of plug and play options that install in under an hour in most cases, known as the MegaSquirtPNP, as well as high end ridiculously featurerich systems such as the MS3-Pro. Little did Bruce Bowling and Al Grippo know back in the late 90’s that they were birthing the The original MegaSquirt systems were build it yourmonster that today is self, “science project” type kits. These are still around, responsible for but now there’s more polished options as well.

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running tens of thousands of engines in race cars and enthusiast owned track day machines around the world. That ‘simple’ EFI system that B&G created back then has been expanded and improved exponentially over the 13 years since it first came to life. Starting as a simple fuel-only controller, MegaSquirt EMS products are now available as an insanely powerful weather-proof fully sequential fuel and ignition control system with individual cylinder tuning and a slew of other raceoriented features. Multiple rev limiters, launch control, no-lift shift, turbo boost control, progressive nitrous, and many other features are now standard practice, and yes, it’s still very affordable. Full Disclosure I’m Jerry Hoffmann, the founder and owner of DIYAutoTune.com. We are the leading manufacturer and Value-Added-OEM of MegaSquirt products worldwide. And yes, we manufacturer 100% of our Engine Management Systems and wiring harnesses right here in Suwanee, GA, USA! I didn’t invent the original MegaSquirt system, nor did I name it ;). I was a hot rodder just like you working through a custom turbo conversion on one of my own cars, and I came to a point where I needed better control of my fuel and ignition. I tried a ‘piggyback’ system that was available, and after much wasted effort found it just didn’t meet my needs. I then found the MegaSquirt community online. It was an amazing source of information and I was stoked that I had found thousands of people working through projects much like mine, some of which were running the exact same car/engine/ignition system combo as I was. I found that while B&G had an incredible product they had developed, they had not yet established a good manufacturing and distribution channel to put them in the hands of the masses, so I saw opportunity there. And in a spare bedroom after working a full time day job, that’s what I set out to do. Within a year I was full time, and now eight years later, with a staff of thirteen and 11,700 sq. ft. of office/shop/warehouse space, that’s exactly what we’re doing here just outside of Atlanta, GA. We’re making extremely powerful Electronic Fuel Injection and Ignition Control affordable for racers and hot rodders like yourself. And we’re doing it right here in the USA.

The TunerStudio tuning software lets you access all aspects of the MegaSquirt’s tune and allows for many wild looking custom gauge options. This is one of many included dashboards, and it’s easy to customize your own look! Below: James ‘Doc’ McEntire’s completely streetable and daily driven 1968 Camaro runs high 8’s in the 1/4 and has won it’s class at Drag Week two years in a row. MegaSquirt EFI can make a wild project like this daily driveable. Like a 1000rwhp version of your grandma’s Cadillac! Jerry makes some adjustments to the MegaSquirt EFI System in Gary Hart’s world record holding turbo Studebaker on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Check back for Part 2 of this article next month and we’ll tell you more about what MegaSquirt EFI can do for you. Some of you may like the hardcore DIY systems, others will enjoy the 1-hour install MegaSquirtPNP ECMs, and still others the top-of-the-line MS3-Pro which can sequentially control a V12 and allows you to tune each cylinder individually! We’ll help you figure out the best fit for your ride. In the meantime, take a look at DIYAutoTune.com, and look into some of these yourself if you’d like. Then make sure you pick up next month’s RPM Magazine and we’ll get into the details of these different systems and help you to determine the right fit for your needs! If you’re the star student type and would like to ‘read ahead’ in the meantime, check out our book titled “Performance Fuel Injection Systems” which is available through our website, as well as at Amazon and other booksellers.

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Getting Back on Track By Blake Robinson

Under Pressure - Part 2

ike many other high performance products, turbochargers can be modified or upgraded to provide us with the best quality part customized to our needs. Builders of such products all have their own personal tricks of the trade or techniques that make their products unique. These “trade secrets” are obviously never revealed. In Part 1, after the unit was disassembled, we went over the main components and their functions, and tion. With our parts ready to go Reed begins to check the balancing of the we’ll provide as much detail of the assembly as we can here in individual rotating parts. The balancer separates the turbine wheel into planes, specifically an inboard and an outboard location. The turbine wheel is spun at a Part 2, without entering the realm of “Top Secret”. speed that targets the turbochargers RPM range for its particular application. In We return to WORK Turbochargers where Reed Patridge our case, the turbocharger is being used in a drag car and will operate at 90is assembling our Borg Warner S400SX4-80 turbo. Reed started 110% of its intended RPM design from the factory. So Reed will focus on balancby cleaning and inspecting all of our parts. Any OEM parts that ing the parts at a higher target speed. A turbocharger that is mainly used on a will not be utilized in our high performance application will be daily driven car will have a different balance target, usually around 30-60% of its returned to inventory for use later in a standard rebuild applicamaximum speed. In such case Reed would then focus on balancing at that RPM for maximum reliability. The inboard plane was first checked. The machine utilizes a strobe light that flashes on the rotating wheel, showing the exact point at which Reed will need to remove the material to achieve the desired balance. Much like a timing light shows you where your timing is set in reference to your harmonic balancer. Reed then checks the outboard plane of the turbine wheel and removes the material around the hub as needed.

The Center Hub Rotating Assembly (CHRA) consist of: turbine wheel, the turbine heat shield, the turbine side piston ring seal, journal bearings, retaining clips, a thrust bearing, a thrust collar, a thrust flinger, an oil bib, compressor side piston ring seal, a seal plate, the compressor wheel, and the shaft nut.

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Once the turbine wheel is completed the compressor wheel is then placed in the fixture and balanced on two planes as well. All the rotating parts including the compressor wheel, thrust collar assembly, and turbine wheel are then placed on the fixture for a final balance check and corrections are made as needed. Each part will then be indexed before disassembling them so they can be installed in the exact same orientation during the final assembly. If any one part of this assembly is changed, WORK Turbochargers recommends that the unit as a whole be rechecked for a proper balance. Reed stated, “I cannot stress the amount of importance there is to the balancing of a turbocharger. You strive to keep the very best tolerances possible when you are dealing with a turbocharger that will rotate in excess of 100,000 RPM!”

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The compressor side piston ring, seal plate, and thrust flinger were fully assembled and ready to be installed in the bearing housing once it was completed. This section of the bearing housing is responsible for sealing up the intake side of the turbocharger. Depending on the turbo model and its use, the seal ring material and clearance specs will be adjusted for optimal durability. The journal bearings were installed in the bearing housing and held into place by their retaining clips. With the journal bearings in place the thrust bearing and thrust collar were then installed on the compressor side, followed by the oil bib, and the seal plate assembly. The piston ring was installed on the turbine shaft. The seal material and installed clearance are determined by the application, weather its drag racing, road racing, or purely for the street, it makes a difference. Even the type of fuel you run can be a factor. The job of the turbine piston ring is to keep unwanted exhaust gases from contaminating the engine oil. With the seal in place the turbine shaft assembly was in-

stalled. The compressor wheel was then torqued to specs to finish up our center section. Our new high performance cover was then installed to finish off our compressor side of the build. Reed explained that the cover was a good upgrade and is available for all the popular Borg Warner wheel sizes from 67mm all the way up to the largest 82mm wheel in our turbo family. It has a 5.5â&#x20AC;? inlet and a 3â&#x20AC;? outlet that will support up to 1250hp. That gives us plenty of room to build more power in the future. The upgraded 1.32 A/R T6 flange turbine housing was then installed completing our build. This twin scroll housing allows for each bank of cylinders on our small block Chevy to feed the turbine inlet independently, allowing for the least amount of turbulence and interference between the cylinder banks. By utilizing separate exhaust paths we will get quicker response from the turbo (spool time reduced), lower exhaust drive pressure, and more accurate control of the turbocharger.

Photos, from top left: The turbine wheel on the balancing machine fixture. Note the bright yellow stripe on one of the blades. This allows the optical tachometer on the balancer to have a reference point to pick up the rotation speed. Notice the pointer indicating the area of material that was removed from the turbine wheel inboard plane to achieve the desired balance. On the outboard plane of the turbine wheel, you can see where Reed has removed material around the hub of the wheel to meet the desired tolerance. The hand written numbers represent many things from internal tests for blade harmonics, part numbers for identification, inspectors numbers from the OEM manufacturer, and some are WORK Turbochargers customer build numbers that present on all of the parts inside their turbocharger to help them keep everything organized. The compressor wheel on the balancer fixture, and just like the turbine wheel this unit will get balanced in two planes. Inboard and outboard.

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Photos, above: The hand written numbers here are used as a reference when the strobe light flashes. If you look closely you will see the â&#x20AC;&#x153;xâ&#x20AC;? that marks the small area of correction needed to satisfy the balancing requirement of the inboard side of the compressor wheel. Next is the outboard side of the compressor wheel, along with the reference mark and balancing work. Shown in the far right photo is the compressor side piston ring, seal plate, and thrust flinger.

The journal bearings were installed in the bearing housing and held into place by their retaining clips. This picture shows the detail of a faulty journal bearing. Reed inspects every part in a build and even this small imperfection that is indicated by the pointer sent the bearing straight to the reject pile. After the thrust washer, thrust collar, and oil bib were installed. The compressor side seal plate was put in place with its retaining ring. Left: The piston ring is installed on the turbine shaft in the groove indicated by the pointer.

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Above: The turbine shaft assembly was installed in the bearing housing. Note the heat shield between the turbine wheel and the housing. It protects the back of the bearing housing as well as the turbine side piston ring seal from direct heat generated by the flow of exhaust through the exhaust housing. The compressor wheel was installed and torqued to specs to finalize the assembly of the center section. The compressor housing was secured with a V-band clamp. The design of the compressor and turbine clamp allow 360 degrees of rotational movement very easily. Right: With our upgraded turbine housing installed, the turbo is ready to help us produce some big power.

Join us next time when we complete our Powerglide transmission build. Source: WORK Turbochargers www.workturbochargers.com 205-516-3946

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Brothers In Horsepower Without Borders Story By Tim Lewis Photos By Tim Lewis & Courtesy of Article Subjects

hen you think of “Import” or “Sport Compact” racing, the first thing that comes to mind is probably visions of the “me generation” kids in their little “slammed to the weeds” cars with that high-pitched exhaust screaming around town, right? I guess that might compare to the mid 1980’s when all the musclecar guys went to their local Speed Shop for Cherry Bomb mufflers, Black Jack headers, a Holley double pumper carb and 4.11 gears. The big difference is that most of that musclecar bunch didn’t blast their car through city streets, racing and drifting with a half dozen other cars. When life started to imitate the movies, is when it all went bad and a pretty negative rap for the Import/Sport Compact scene as a whole, even in Drag Racing, started to develop. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the first of five Fast and Furious movies saw box office sales of $207,283,925 in 2001. In 2009, the fifth movie generated $363,164,265! And on May 24th of this year the sixth movie in this series will hit the big screen. And here is the rub… with the release of that first movie, almost instantly, every drag strip across America picked up car counts at their Friday or Saturday night test and tunes. The tracks were flooded with new people with a fresh interest, people who had never seen inside the gates of a drag strip before, and were only there because of a movie. More import cars were showing up and tons (and we mean tons) of money was flowing in the automotive aftermarket industry because of them. It was probably hard for some to stomach. After all, “these cars” caused havoc on our streets and were the reason many laws were created discouraging performance cars of any kind on our roads. Twist that in the other direction though and you’ll learn that much good came of it as well. The import craze hit hard and fast, and to the surprise

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Bruno Massel, USA: Chevy Cobalt Jerry Bickel chassis, GM ECOTEC 2.2 4cyl single turbo with Bruno BRT converter drive/Liberty 4 speed, 6.82 @ 201mph. 2012 NHRA Comp champion.

of some, died almost as fast (mostly the accessory side of it), but not after having a fantastic run and affecting millions of people. Many of the serious weekend warriors became hardcore enthusiasts and even professional drivers of some of the fastest cars in the world, and yes, they are imports! You can’t paint everyone with the same brush, the cream simply rose to the top during this new era of motorheads. Small bodied, small cubic inch powered compact style cars are actually not that new to drag racing, not by a long shot. Way back in 1956 European Motor Products Inc. (EMPI) was one of the biggest manufacturers of aftermarket Volkswagen parts anywhere in the world. EMPI was at it’s peak from the 1960’s through the late 1970’s. Joe Vittone, who owned a VW dealership in Riverside, California was the brains behind the company. VW owners became discouraged with valve guides wearing out and just plain being underpowered, but with an upgraded head, cam, header, carb and clutch kit, the VW guys turned their 40 horsepower “puddle jumpers” into lightweight hotrods that were making over 100 horses, and also making people start to take notice!

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Through the seventies right up to the present, whenever a new line of imported vehicles is introduced in America, they generally hit the market with a low price and meagre power in a smaller package. Remember those first Honda Civics, Toyota Corollas, Datsun 210s, or the Mazda line-up. Eventually manufacturers such as Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda would grow into large players in the American car market, and even start manufacturing in North America. Along with all of this came proving their horsepower prowess, and what better way to do that than in motorsports. Eventually, most any of the “import” models would spawn a following of performance and race enthusiasts, and in turn a full line of aftermarket performance and race parts. Even before the huge explosion of the Import/Sport Compact scene in the late 90’s through the 2000’s, there were the odd few that couldn’t keep from hopping-up their rotary powered Mazdas and piston powered 4 and 6 cylinder imports.

Rod Harvey, New Zealand: Toyota Celica RJ Race Cars Toyota 2JZ 6cyl single turbo with Lenco 4 speed, 6.40 @ 221mph.

Fast forward to 2013 and names like Carl Brunet, Gary White, Joe Signorelli, George Rehayem, Don Omar, Jesus Melendez, Rod Harvey, Carlos Montano, Krister Adeen and Jorge Juarbe make up just a very small portion of the rear wheel drive import scene that has caught on worldwide. And what they do with these cars is nothing short of amazing! With major players coming from the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia, its safe to say there could be a world war with these six countries fighting to see who is king of rear wheel drive imports! Toyota Starlets, Corollas, Celicas, along with Mazda RX2, RX3, RX7, RX8, R100s, Nissans and Datsuns, make up a big part of the body styles that one can easily pick out of the crowd, but there are also some very, well, unexpected players. How about an ex-Pro Stock Dodge Stratus body with a facelift to make it a Mazda 6. Or Mark Jacobson’s wild new Nissan Skyline and Scott Porters badass Infinity powered by a twin turbo VQ35 V6.

Cosa Nostra, Curacao: Mazda RX8 GRS chassis, Mazda 13B single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 7.30 @ 189mph. Quickest & fastest import in Curaco! Hailey Aruba: Aruba, Mazda RX7 3/4 Tito chassis, Mazda 13B single turbo, G-Force 5 speed, 7.04 @ 190mph.

Rod Harvey comes all the way from Auckland, New Zealand with his 3.2 liter Toyota powered Celica. With a Rick Jones built chassis the Pro Stock-like Celica was the first import to go in the 6’s in New Zealand. The Insane Racing gang has been a best of 6.40 @ 224mph and was the Jamboree winner in 2010 and 2011. He was also the ANDRA Sport Compact champion in 2010 and 2011. When it comes to rotary power, our drag racing brothers and sisters in Curacao Island have it figured out. The Cosa Nostra RX8 Mazda tuned by Pimar Performance with a GRS chassis and driven by

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Alessandro De Luca is powered by the little 13B turbo and been a best of 7.30 @ 189, making him the quickest and fastest import on the island. With more runs under their belt, look for this car to go low 7’s. Team Aruba has Frans Ponson doing the driving behind the controls of the Hailey RX7. The 3rd generation Mazda has a ¾ chassis built by Hector Medina of Tito Chassis and is powered by an alky burning single turbo 13B with a Liberty 5 speed. Frans has been through the big end of the track with a best of 7.04 @ 190mph. And leave it to the Aussies to make “wild” WILDER! Enter the up and coming class “Factory Extreme”, which is the hottest new gig for the import cars to race in down under. The class is open to post year 2000 full tube chassis cars with a maximum wheelbase of 115 inches. Power can range from 4 and 6 cyl combos to the wicked sounding 2 and 3 rotor rotary engines. The coolest part of this series, besides the insane looking cars and screaming engine combos, is the fact that it is a Chicago style shootout! That’s right the old school Chicago style races. Every driver has his or her shot at the track making six passes. Then the two quickest cars face-off in an all-out no holds barred fight to the finish. Elapsed times in this class have gone all the way down to the quickest pass ever by an import doorslammer at 6.26 @ 230mph! The team that ran that killer number is the GAS Motorsports out of Wetherill Park, Australia. GAS builds everything from high-end street cars to all out drag machines. GAS also has a 2JZ “Toyota Supra engine” powered BMW M3 driven by wheelman Zoran Gajic. Zoran has taken the BMW to a stunning 6.61 @ 211.

PAC Performance Australia: Dodge Stratus converted to Mazda 6 RJ race cars Mazda 20B single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.56@220 rotary, MPH world record MAZFIX, Australia: Dodge Stratus converted to Mazda 6 Jerry Bickel chassis, Mazda 20B single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.71 @ 205mph.

Over on the Rotary side of things down under, PAC Performance has their name on a lot of bad machines. George Rehayem along with brother Rocky Rehayem started PAC over 13 years ago. The one-time Rotary world record holders have been in a fight with the boys from Puerto Rico the past two years. PAC has reset the

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world record mph for the rotary cars with a solid 220.40 mph blast through the traps. The team also houses another 6-second ride in the form of a 20B rotary powered Mazda MX6. These guys say that the world record is heading back to the Aussies and they plan to keep it! And they mean business, wanting to be the first in the 6.40’s.

SIDEBAR: A Big Part Of The Ultra Fast Compact Scene

Another gang of rotary madmen are the guys at Mazfix. Their ex Chris Rini Dodge Stratus which has been converted to a Mazda 6 just recently ran its best of 6.71 @ 205 on a literally crazy out of control pass at Willowbank on February 9, 2013. Had the run been straight and tight, it would’ve been a mid 6.60 for sure, so keep your eyes on Mazfix in 2013.

RPM: First Jon, give our readers a little background on Microtech.

Jon Blanch, from Microtech Engine Management Systems in Louth Park, Australia, is no stranger to hard work and record setting rides. Blanch has a long list of customers racing in the Sport Compact scene which includes the world record holding New Generation Racing RX8 from Puerto Rico. The 20B monster holds the record with a stout 6.51. Also running out of the New Gen

It’s pretty obvious that Jon Blanch and Microtech are a large part of this form of motorsports, so we asked Jon for some insight into both his involvement and what he feels the future holds for the wild world of Import/Sport Compact Drag Racing. Jon: Microtech Engine Management Systems was founded in 1994 in Australia. The company started out with a very basic fuel only “screwdriver adjustable” system, then as technology started to evolve we moved onto more advanced digital systems with full fuel & ignition control. This is around the same time as the Sport Compact scene started to take off around the world. We had several cars running world record performances within Australia, which made a lot of people take notice & kick started the interest in our product worldwide. From the very beginning our main aim has been to make a system that is very simple & easy to understand for the average racer, yet have the features and capabilities to give them the precise control to reliably push an engine to the very limit in big boost drag racing applications. As we speak we have close to 30 sport compact customers running well into the 6-second zone. RPM: How did you become involved with Microtech & the Sport Compact scene?

Jon Blanch, Australia (center)/Jorge Rivera, Puerto Rico: Mazda RX8 3/4 chassis, Mazda 13B single turbo, G Force 5 speed, 6.82 @ 198mph.

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Jon: I have been a Mazda rotary guy since I left high school in 1990 and my love for the rotary engine led to me opening a Mazda Rotary Performance Workshop in the mid 1990’s. I spent a lot of time working with the early Microtech systems in my shop & by the late 90’s we had become one of the largest Microtech dealers in the world. Around that same time is when the internet really started to take off. My workshop was one of the first Microtech dealers to have a website which is what kick started everything. We went from being a small local business to having a worldwide customer base almost overnight. Instead of selling 30 odd systems a year we were taking orders for 30 in a single order. It was unbelievable. It got to the point where 90% of my day was spent taking orders & shipping Microtech products around the world. In 2004 I set up & ran the official Microtech website & have been working for the company doing sales, tech support, working with the dealers & racers ever since.

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SIDEBAR continued: RPM: What has been the most difficult combination you have worked with? Jon: By far the most difficult engine to work with from an engine management point of view is the Mazda rotary engine. Because they are such a fragile engine, the management system & tuning needs to be dead on accurate. There is absolutely no room for error. Once you have the rotary engine figured out, the piston engine side of things is a piece of cake. RPM: With the rear wheel drive compacts on the rise worldwide where do you see these types of cars going in the coming years?

Geohimer/New Generation, Puerto Rico: Mazda RX8 3/4 chassis by Gaby Chassis, Mazda 20B single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.51 @ 217. Rotary world record.

Jon: The sport has really come a long way in the last few years with ¼mile times now down into the 6.2 – 6.4 range at 220+mph. If the engine and turbocharger technology keeps improving at the rate it has been over the last 4 or 5 years then I think it will only be a few years before we see someone with a big enough budget break into the 5-second zone. RPM: In your opinion what part of the world has the best Import/Sport Compact scene?

New Ian/New Generation, Puerto Rico: Mazda 6 2 door RJ Race Cars, Mazda 20B single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.54 @ 213, 4.23 @ 177mph 1/8-mile. EL Humilde, Puerto Rico:Toyota Corolla 3/4 chassis by Timmy Chassis, Toyota 2JZ single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.48 @ 220, 4.26 @ 174mph 1/8-mile.

Jon: That is a very close call between Australia & Puerto Rico, but both scenes are so very different. The Australian teams tend to have better equipment, the latest technology, world-class tracks & good resources to work with. What the Puerto Rican guys lack in these areas they more than make up for with their racing experience & their passion for Sport Compact Racing. The majority of the top Puerto Rican tuners & drivers would clock up more hours at the track in 1 month than most Aussie guys would in 1 year. The teams from Puerto Rico always seem to do a lot more with a lot less. While the numbers everyone is running are all very close, the passion the Puerto Ricans have for the sport is second to none and that passion I think is the big equaliser. RPM: We know the “El Yankee” will find its way home down under this season with you behind the wheel trying to break the record for the world’s quickest 13B, but what else does Microtech have in store for 2013? Jon: We have a new system & new tuning software that’s been in the works that we will be releasing early 2013 called the LT-9C. This management system is a full fuel & ignition control unit complete with wiring loom that will retail for $795. With the world economy being in the position it is in right now, we believe this system will give better value for money than any other system on the market & be extremely popular. We are also planning on making a push into the turbo V8 drag racing market in 2013. We have proven ourselves in Sport Compact Drag Racing but need to get some runs on the board in the V8 arena for those guys to take notice. We are currently in search of some serious V8 turbo cars to form a long-term marketing partnership with. If there are RPM Magazine readers out there who think they might fit the bill shoot me an email at sales@microtechefi.com and we can have a chat.

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camp is Edwin Burgos from Naranjito, Puerto Rico behind the wheel of a 6.54-second Mazda 6. Blanch helps with the EFI set-up on both cars and has been a big part of both running their best numbers to date.

GAS Motorsports Australia: Toyota Celica RJ Race Cars, Toyota 2JZ single turbo, Lenco 5 speed, 6.26 @ 230mph, 4.12 @ 174 1/8th-mile. Import door car record holder. Mark Jacobson, Australia: Nissan R35 GT-R ITP Race Cars chassis, Nissan RB 3.2 6cyl single turbo, Lenco 5 speed, 6.63 @ 211mph.

The El Humilde “The Humble” Corolla has been on a mission ever since the Shakedown last year. Running 6.46 @ 220, this back-half car is one of the quickest and fastest in the world with its alcohol burning 2JZ single turbo power. At the MIR World Cup Finals the Lazcano team would march right to the finals of their respective classes with the Corolla and the 350Z. And both would take the win! The 350Z would run 6.52 @ 216 and the Corolla a 6.59 @ 215mph. Other teams posting some big numbers going with Microtech EFI are Carlos Racing 7.01 @ 210, Anais Racing 7.15 @ 188, G-Unit Racing 7.57 @ 175, EL Papa Racing 6.81 @ 198, MF Motors Racing 7.76 @ 182, Adriana is Back 6.98 @ 195, Briana Zoe 7.00 @ 194 and Jon’s very own El Yankee RX8, which has been a very solid 6.82 @ 198mph. Watch close though, as with updates in the works for the Jose Torres Major League RX8, some records may very well get jostled around. The Don Ness built car has been 6.81 @ 200 with it’s 20B powered rotary engine. There is also the bad little RX7 from Piolo Racing running on 28x10.5 tires and stock suspension. Piolo has been a very quick 7.28 @ 187mph! Gaby Garcia (GRS Motorsports) builds some of the finest chassis cars in Sport Compact racing. GRS seems to be the place to go if you want to keep track of compact racing worldwide. From Puerto Rico all the way to the Middle-East, GRS has been on top of event coverage and videos that can be seen all over the internet. Garcia can also be found helping customers with chassis set-ups and on the starting line with getting his works of art in the groove every pass down the strip. Racing in the year-round warmth of Puerto Rico gives these racers an edge on the competition with record runs and teams continually besting their bests.

Scott Porter, Australia: Infiniti G35 RJ Race Cars chassis, Nissan VQ35-DET V6 twin turbo, Lenco 5 speed, 6.34 @ 222mph. EL PAPA, Puerto Rico: Mazda RX8 3/4 Gaby Chassis, Mazda 13B single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.81 @ 198. 13B world record holder.

Ramon Lopez who runs Salinas Speedway in Puerto Rico gives drivers a number of races throughout the year where the piston powered cars face-off against the high revving rotary engines. There are also classes such as 8.90,9.90,10.90,11.90 Index, along with Top sportsman and Top Dragster, which are very popular in the States. We met Lopez for the first time at MIR (Maryland International Raceway) in November at the World Cup race and talked about racing at his track, which was quickly followed by an invite to come check it out in person. Ebrahim Kanoo of Bahrain is not a new name to be seen in the pages of RPM. You may remember “The Hulk” green Supra. RPM tech writer Shane Tecklenburg has been a big part of Kanoo’s racing program and success in the big numbers posted by the Titan built Supra. Kanoo wanted to see just how fast he could go with a Supra and so far has slammed

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Photos, above, from left: Your looking at the worlds quickest rotary engine in a door car. The New Generation team is looking to break into the 6.40s this season with this same engine but in a different chassis. Team Titan builds some of the baddest Toyota 2JZ straight 6’s. This same combo has run in the 3-second zone while racing ADRL extreme 10.5. Look for big things from their long line of customers this season. Below: There is no shortage of bad ass in Adeen’s Volvo 4cyl! The 91MM turbo looks like it could suck the christmas tree up as it blasts off the starting line.

down a wild 6.29 @ 222! Those numbers not only make him the 2nd quickest import door car of all time, but also put him at number three in the world for the quickest import powered car! The single Pro Mod 98mm turbo 2JZ backed to a Liberty Extreme trans just works! The Supra features a ¾ chassis and runs on 33x10.5W Mickey Thompson tires. You could also put this car in the top 10 quickest legal 10.5 cars with a 4.12 @ 177mph! When it comes to Compact racing across the ocean, John Bradshaw is a name that comes up often. Bradshaw is the quickest and fastest Compact door-car racer in Europe with his American built Nissan 350Z tube chassis ride. Powered by a twin turbo Nissan VQ35 3.5 liter V6 backed up with a Liberty 5 speed, the wild looking Z has tripped the clocks with a 6.63 @ 208! In the United States one of the biggest and baddest compact races is the Pan American Nationals held at Atco Raceway in NJ. Huge crowds and car counts make this one a must see. Cars from all over the east coast and Puerto Rico make the trip each July to do battle and in 2012 the big winner at the end of the weekend was Christopher Racing running 7.08 @ 198 to take home the $10,000 prize. The Pan Am Nats will be held July 19-21 this year, so if you’re looking to see some of the best in the world of Sport Compacts, check this one out.

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Above, from left: The 88mm turbo looks almost as big as the entire 2RJ Toyota 4 cylinder engine in Luis Corujoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s little Celica. Luis has been racing since 1997 and has even tried his hands in Outlaw 10.5 with the Toyota. The Caneca Racing Corolla is about as nice as they come. From the paint to how well built the chassis is. The 2JV powered Pepe Loco tuned Toyota has been a best of 7.06 @ 195mph. Right: Ebrahim Kanoo/Gary White, Bahrain: Toyota Supra, 3/4 chassis by Titan Motorsports, Toyota 2JZ single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.29 @ 222mph on 33x10.5W tires, 4.12 @ 177 1/8th-mile on 33x10.5W. John Brandshaw, United Kingdom: Nissan 350Z, Vanishing Point chassis, Nissan VQ35 3.5 V6 twin turbo, Liberty 5 speed with air shifter, 6.63 @ 208. Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quickest & fastest import car.

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NHRA Comp Eliminator is also a place where you will see a fair share of 4 cylinder to straight 6 turbos run along side small block and big block combinations. Cars like Bruno Massel’s 2009 Chevy Cobalt Pro Stocker are almost hard to believe. The engine is an ECOTEC 2.2 4cyl built by GM Powertrain in Wixom, MI. Here is where things get interesting. The Cobalt stock block was topped by a Saab cylinder head that has been worked over to handle the 76mm turbo from Precision that spools-up the little monster sending the power through a Bruno BRT converter drive and Liberty 4 speed transmission. The 2,210lb hotrod has run as quick as 6.82 @ 201mph, and took Bruno to the 2012 NHRA Comp Eliminator championship. Swedish racers Krister Adeen and Mattias Stenstrom hit the track with two of the baddest Volvos in the world. Yep, we said Volvos! Stenstrom’s Volvo 850 S90 is powered by a single turbo BMW M3 3.0L 6cyl backed by a Liberty 5 speed. The best to date for the bright orange 4 door is 6.72 @ 208. Adeen, who also races a 4 door Volvo 850 in Comp, runs a Volvo MDS rally block 16 valve 4cyl topped with a single turbo. This combination is also hooked to a Liberty 5 speed and has been 6.84 @ 200mph. These two guys are always banging heads with much bigger engines, and both held their own in 2012 NDRS Comp with Adeen finish 6th and Stenstrom coming in at 11th in the points chase. The United States and Canada have been sending out the call to the rest of the world that they are in this fight together! Gary White is arguably the best known Compact racer in the States and has been stepping up his game with the ex-ADRL 10.5 Scion. With a best elapsed time of 3.93 @ 190 in the eighth-mile on Mickey Thompson 33x10.5W tires, Gary and Titan Motorsports have proven that they are the titans of Compact racing! The Scion became the fourth car ever to run in the 3-second zone on 10.5’s, placing them as part of drag racing history. Running it out the back on the quarter-mile White has been 6.42 @ 219mph to date. But with an ADRL go-for-broke eighth-mile tune in the car it was set-up to run as hard as it could to the 1/8th, so you can

Photos, from top: Briana Zoe, Puerto Rico: Toyota Starlet 3/4 chassis by Gaby Chassis, Mazda 13B single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 7.00 @ 194mph. Krister Adeen, Sweden: Volvo 850 ME-Racing chassis, Volvo MDS Rally block 16V 4cyl single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.84 @ 199mph. Mattias Stenstrom, Sweden: Volvo S90 Stenstrom updated chassis, BMW M3 3.0 6cyl single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.72 @ 208mph.

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expect some bigger production in the quarter-mile department from this team. The Toyota 2JZ straight 6 powered Rick Jones built car can be a handful, but don’t be surprised if this car sees 6.20’s this year with more testing. EX NMRA racer Jeremy Martoella along with WWR “World Wide Racing” will be back in action this year with a redone 2008 Toyota Solara. Martoella is no new name to drag racing, especially with the Mustang crowd. The WWR Toyota is powered by a single turbo 2JZ 6cyl, and the super sleek machine has been 6.86 @ 199. This was done with an automatic transmission and was at one time the record holder for the quickest automatic import door car in the world. Another U.S. racer to watch is Edwin Burgos driving the La Otra Toyota Starlet. With a back-half chassis and 13B rotary power the little turbo monster has been 6.83 @ 201 and 4.42 @ 162 in the eighth-mile at E-Town. Latin pop/hip pop artist and Grammy winner Don Omar has his sites set on some records this season with his new R2B2 built Celica. His 1995 model became the quickest automatic import door car when he went 6.70 @ 204 back in November 2012 at MIR with his single turbo 2JZ powered Carmelo Chassis built hot rod. Tuning comes from Carlos Montano better known as Pepe Loco. Montano owns another 2JZ (lets equate the 2JZ to being the “small block Chevy” of the import scene) powered single turbo combo that has been 6.53 @ 209 in a 1994 Mazda MX6 chassis. But a nasty crash at Atco in 2012 saw that car written off and a new Celica is in the works. Paradise Racing’s Luis Corujo and his 2005 Celica back-half car have raced in Outlaw 10.5 in the past and also hit all the import races held at MIR during the year. Powering this car is a single turbo 2RZ –FE 2.4L Toyota 4 cylinder. A G Force 5 speed trans gets the power to the ground and the end results have been a sizzling 6.98 @ 200mph and 4.53 @ 160 in the eighth. Brunet brothers Nick and Carl operate Napierville Dragway in Quebec, Canada, giving them the ultimate testing grounds. Much like Massel, the brothers run a GM ECOTEC 2.1 4 banger backed up with a Liberty 5 speed with a clutch in a GXP Pro Stock chassis. The brothers hold the title for the quickest and fastest 4cyl door car, 6.46 @ 218 and 4.16 @ 171 in the eighth-mile! At the World Cup race at MIR a nasty top end crash put an end to this GXP but another Pro Stock chassis has been acquired and the brothers are back in business, and looking to go even quicker and faster in 2013. And with the US/Canada strike force, this side of the globe is looking to make big moves this season. This is just a small sampling of what is out there in the world of fast rear wheel drive Import/Sport Compacts. A pretty steep learning curve came along with our look into this form of racing, but the word is out and the Import/Compact scene, (the real deal, not the guys that burned up your streets 10 years ago) is heating up globally!

Photos, from top: Titan Motorsports/Gary White, USA: Toyota Scion TC RJ race cars Toyota 2JZ 6cyl single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.42 @ 219, 3.93 @ 190mph 1/8th-mile in ADRL trim. LA OTRA, USA: Toyota Starlet 3/4 chassis, Mazda 13B single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.84 @ 201, 4.42 @ 162mph 1/8th-mile. Paradise Racing, USA: Toyota Celica 3/4 chassis, Toyota 2RZ-FE 4cyl single turbo, G Force 5 speed, 6.98 @ 200, 4.53 @ 160mph 1/8-mile. WWR/Jeremy Martorella, USA: Toyota Solara, Vanishing Point Race Cars chassis, Toyota 2JZ single turbo, Powerglide automatic transmission, 6.86 @ 199, 4.40 @ 158mph 1/8th-mile. Carl & Nick Brunet, Canada: Pontiac GXP, Jerry Haas chassis, GM ECOTEC 2.1 4cyl single turbo, Liberty 5 speed, 6.46 @ 218mph. Quickest and fastest 4cly door car in the world. 4.16 @ 171mph 1/8-mile.

In 1905 Swiss engineer Alfred Buchi, the father of the turbocharger, got his patent. But the world would have to wait until 1962 for Oldsmobile to turbocharge its F85 JetFire with a single turbo 215ci V8. Chevy was also onboard with boost with their 1962 Corvair Monza “Spyder” option that would turbocharge their base flat 6 engine up to 150hp. Then, by the seventies, with the “oil crisis” upon us, turbos were dropped from pretty much all but diesel powered vehicles, and Formula 1 racing. How things have changed in the past 51 years. The turbocharger alone has allowed the compact cars to just keep getting quicker and faster, always chomping at the heels of the V8s. Will they one day win the battle? …Only time will tell. Don Omar, USA: Toyota Celica, Carmelo chassis, Toyota 2JZ single turbo with Powerglide automatic transmission, 6.70 @ 204mph. Quickest automatic import door car. Christopher Racing, USA: Mazda RX7, Tito chassis, Mazda 13B Cosmo single turbo, G Force 5 speed, 6.96 @ 197, 4.49 @ 168mph.

Fact or fiction, you decide, but it has been said that the amount of non-V8 race and performance cars in the world today well out number the V8s. So take notice of these high rpm screaming machines the next time you see them at the track. Pound for pound they are as impressive as any of their V8 brothers. Tim Lewis and RPM Magazine would like to thank the following people/companies for their assistance in developing this article: GRSMotorsports.net, Gaby Garcia, Ramon Lopez, Jon Blanc MicroTech, Jeremy Martorella, Wes Bourn @ Titan Motorsports, Patrik Jacobsson, Jason Gynn, Bruno Massel, Gas Motorsports, PAC Performance, Cacklingpipes.com, USA Auto Supply, Jamie Ruggier, Factory Xtreme and all the racers, chassis builders, engine builders and fans who love these types of cars!

STOP THE PRESSES! This news came in just days before this issue was going to press: On March 3rd at Palm Beach International Raceway Victor Flores driving the Major League Mazda RX8 became the first rotary powered car in the 6.40’s taking the world record back home to Puerto Rico with a 6.48 @ 217mph out of the 20B Mazda. Also on March 3rd the 13B rotary world record changed hands and this time Luis Rivera driving the Mech-Tech RX8 went 6.81 @ 202, and once again the Puerto Rican crew sits at the top of the pack.