8dfvdfv

500 HP ON SPRAY: FORD 302 VS. CHEVY 305 SHOOTOUT PG. 12

LOUD.FAST.REAL.

2017

495-INCH PONTIAC MAKES 600 LB-FT!

DS • AWESOME CARS AR AW • S OS CR TO AU • DRAG RACING

PLUS:

MIDNIGHT DRAGS COVERAGE CARS 8-SECOND STREET BEND TAKE OVER BEECH Y RACEWA

HANDS ON:

HIGH-TECH HEAT INSULATION INSTALLED THE SCIENCE BEHIND DRIVELINE ANGLES

CarCraft.com DECEMBER 2017

CONTENTS DECEMBER 2017 ➔ON THE COVER

➔UP FRONT

Midnight Drags and Summer Nationals coverage by Wes Allison and Dominick Damato.

04 SHOP TALK College isn’t for everyone.

➔HANDS ON

08 HORSEPOWER! 495-inch Pontiac that delivers 594 lb-ft of torque.

➔FEATURES

500 HP ON SPRAY: FORD 302 VS. CHEVY

495-INCH PONTIAC MAKES 600 LB-FT!

LOUD.FAST.REAL.

58 KRASS & BERNIE A new kind of barn find.

8

305 SHOOTOUT PG. 12

2017

64 CAR CRAFT SUMMER NATIONALS 2017 Showdown at Beech Bend.

DRAG RACING

• AUTOCROSS •

SOME CARS AWARDS • AWE

PLUS:

MIDNIGHT DRAGS COVERAGE CARS 8-SECOND STREET BEECH BEND TAKE OVER RACEWAY

HANDS ON:

72 CCSN MIDNIGHT DRAGS Action and results!

HIGH-TECH HEAT INSULATION INSTALLED THE SCIENCE BEHIND DRIVELINE ANGLES

$5.99

CarCraft.com

➔BACK OF BOOK

78 WHERE’S THE FUN? Check out the restored Ford tractor.

10 SPEED PARTS New parts for your ride, plus a product gets tested.

82 REAR VIEW Pontiac Bonneville at Bonneville.

12 THE 5.0 FISTFIGHT Part 3: Carb and nitrous combos.

22 DRIVELINE ALIGNMENT Eliminating driveshaft vibration failures.

28 ASK ANYTHING Are bigger lifters better?

➔PROJECT CAR

34 THIS GUY’S GARAGE The Bennett family has a pretty great garage.

38 BEAT THE HEAT! Make more power with better heat control.

48 PROJECT CC UNDERBIRD Cutting, welding, and melting together parts.

12 72

64

DECEMBER 2017 CARCRAFT.COM 3

DECEMBER 2017

SHOP TALK COLLEGE ISN’T FOR EVERYONE

I

recently spent a week in Butler County, Pennsylvania, covering the build of Jeff Lutz’s new race car.

Located about 45 minutes north of Pittsburgh, Butler County is a mixture of suburbia and small-town Americana, and apparently, an area in desperate need of skilled labor. While there, I met at least a dozen people who told me that their businesses either couldn’t find enough help or couldn’t retain employees.

Jeff Thompson runs Pro 1 Automotive, the shop that painted Jeff Lutz’s car. He has one employee in his 20s and just hired his 70-year-old uncle, Harvey, to work three days a week because Uncle Harv is more productive and reliable than any of the other 20-somethings he’s hired. Several of Jeff’s friends stopped by to see the car being painted and all had similar stories about their jobs. One friend said the body shop he worked at had a six-week backup due to a lack of help. A second friend told me dealerships and independent shops from around the county have been trying to send him work on a freelance basis because they’re short on help. He was so busy that he had to turn down half the work and sent it to a third friend’s shop, which also can’t keep up with its

4 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

workload. I asked if this was specialized work like electrical or driveability repairs, but was shocked to hear much of the work was routine maintenance: oil changes and brake jobs.

Absolutely floored, I joked that I should fly to Pittsburgh once a month to do oil changes for a week. I’d probably come home with some extra money in my pocket, even considering flight and hotel costs, and all the guys there encouraged me to do just that.

This was alarming to me, because I believe it’s the leading edge of a problem yet to reveal its full impact on our society. Lots of people are quick to blame technology. I heard words to the effect of, “All kids want to do these days is stare at their damn phones,” all week long. While I think this is somewhat true, it’s a superficial assessment of the problem. I believe the bigger problem is a lack of training programs for skilled labor jobs.

Fewer high schools and community colleges offer shop classes and technology programs. The ones that remain are woefully underfunded, and our culture seems to have embraced the pedantic and misguided notion that you need a college degree to get a good job.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

College isn’t for everyone, and for people who like to work with their hands fixing or building things, a college degree is probably a huge waste of time and money. While it’s true and unfortunate that this country has lost a lot of manufacturing jobs to the global market, there are still high-quality jobs going unfilled, and the U.S. still excels in CNC manufacturing. There is a huge demand for people to fill those positions. Automotive repair is a highly technical job now that computers monitor or control nearly everything your car does. Some of the most talented chassis and engine builders I’ve met in my time with Car Craft don’t have college degrees. They started by changing oil or sanding primer. If you think you want to work on cars, get training (either through a program or as an apprentice), learn your craft, and the work will come to you.

—John McGann CarCraft@CarCraft.com Facebook.com/carcraftmag CarCraft.com Car Craft Mag 831 S. Douglas St. El Segundo, CA 90245

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CARCRAFT.COM EDITORIAL Network Content Director Douglas R. Glad Editor John McGann Managing Editor Phil McRae Contributors Wes Allison, Anu Athanikar, Bob Bolles, Dominick Damato, Jacob Davis, John Gatliff, Brandan Gillogly, Richard Holdener, Steve Magnante, Rocky Rotella, Geoff Stunkard, Kevin Tetz, George Trosley, Tina Vervoorn ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Art Director Roberta Conroy ON THE WEB CarCraft.com CircleTrack.com HotRod.com MoparMuscleMagazine.com SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES Email carcraft@emailcustomerservice.com, call 800/800-4681 (386/447-6385, international), or write to Car Craft, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Please include name, address, and phone number on any inquiries. For change of address, six weeks’ notice required. Send old as well as new address to Car Craft, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235.

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HORSEPOWER! 495-INCH PONTIAC THAT DELIVERS 594 LB-FT OF TORQUE

Lou Rotella / Omaha, NE This month’s installment of Horsepower! might be better served to be called “Torque!” Lou Rotella of Omaha, Nebraska, owns a 1967 Firebird 400, and he recently enlisted T&M Automotive to repair and/or upgrade several areas. Taking the tired 400’s output well above its original 325hp rating was among them. Rather than bastardize the original engine, Willard Auto Machine (also in Omaha) assembled for T&M a potent 455-based stroker combination designed to operate on pump gas and provide Lou with the stellar driveability and plenty of tire-spinning torque. The result: How does 474 hp at 5,000 rpm and 594 lb-ft at 3,700 rpm grab you?

A recurved Pontiac HEI provides 22 degrees of mechanical advance by 3,200 rpm. With a base setting of 10 degrees, the 32 degrees of total spark advance perfectly complements the fast-burn combustion chambers of the Edelbrock cylinder heads.

By Rocky Rotella / Photos: Rocky Rotella

A custom-ground Howards Cams hydraulicroller camshaft was designed to maintain good idle and superb low-rpm street manners. The specs are 219/229 degrees duration at 0.050 inch, 112-degree lobe-separation angle, and an intake centerline degreed at 108.5. Valve lift when combined with Crower’s cast-alloy, 1.6:1-ratio, roller rocker arms is more than 0.550 inch.

Manifold vacuum at idle is 19 inches!

Edelbrock’s cast-aluminum, D-port cylinder heads ( PN 61595) were treated to a multiangle valve job and the bowls were blended to increase airflow above the peak values of 260 cfm (intake) and 160 cfm (exhaust) at 0.600-inch lift at 28 inches of pressure that Edelbrock boasts in as-cast form. Combustion-chamber volume measures 72 cc. The custom pistons feature a 25cc dish, which effectively reduces rotating-assembly weight and yields a compression ratio of 10.5:1.

8 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

Four-tube Dynomax headers feature 1.625-inch primary tubes and 3-inch collectors. A custombent, 2.5-inch exhaust system featuring a transverse-mounted Flowmaster muffler completes it.

FAST’s EZ-EFI provides precise fuel control in all operating conditions.

Its ability to continually learn and adjust for optimum performance ensures the 495 is always operating at peak efficiency, regardless of load or rpm. The throttle-body system is capable of delivering 1,000 cfm and is rated for all applications up to 500 ci, pulling at least 8 inches of vacuum and producing up to 600 hp. Because the EFI system was previously installed, WAM used its 650-cfm HP-series Holley for the dyno pulls. The additional airflow associated with the EZ-EFI system could increase peak horsepower by as much as 15 units with peak torque remaining much the same.

An Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold distributes the combustible cocktail. Its runners were checked to ensure a smooth transition into the cylinder-head intake ports. The water crossover was separated from the manifold body for easy removal, if required.

A 1970 455 block with two-bolt main caps and ARP main studs serves as the foundation. The cylinders had previously been bored 0.030 inch. They were taken an additional 0.005 inch to a total of 4.185 during this rebuild. Custom forged-aluminum pistons from Diamond Pistons fill the cylinders. A forged-steel crankshaft boasting 4.5-inch stroke length and 6.8-inch forged-steel connecting rods from Eagle Specialty Products complete the short-block.

Total displacement measures 495 ci.

DECEMBER 2017 CARCRAFT.COM 9

SPEED PARTS

COMPACT, REMOTE-MOUNT TPS

What it is: Adjustable, remote-mount throttle position sensor (TPS) from TCI Automotive.

Why you care: TCI Automotive recently updated its remote-mount TPS to keep moving parts from malfunction or damage. Available now in a compact, fully enclosed housing to fit a wide range of applications with 4L60E or 4L80E transmissions, it can be installed on the carburetor or mounted directly to the firewall.

How much: $149.95, available from TCI Automotive.

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BIG-BLOCK CHEVY OIL-PUMP PICKUPS

What it is: Moroso’s oil-pump pickup designed for big-block Chevrolet oil pans.

Why you care: Designed for specific use with a Moroso small-block Chevy wet-sump Sprint Car oil pan (PN 21330), this oil-pump pickup for bigblock Chevy oil pans (PN 24325) accommodates Moroso PN 22149, 22159, 22150, 22160, and 22162. In addition, it is compatible with Melling 77/77HV-style oil pumps.

How much: Approximately $50, available on Moroso.com.

Learn more: Moroso Performance Products; 203/453-6571; Moroso.com

PERFORMER RPM CYLINDER HEAD FOR GEN III HEMIS

What it is: Edelbrock Performer RPM cylinder head for Gen III Hemi powerplants.

Why you care: The Performer RPM cylinder head is cast from A356 aluminum and heat-treated to T6 specs, reinforced rocker bosses deliver improved stability and strength, and CNC-machined combustion chambers provide optimal air flow.

The Eagle intake- and exhaust-port location allows for compatibility with the 5.7L Eagle and later stock intake manifolds, exhaust manifolds, valve covers, rockers, spark plugs and accessories, and Dodge Hellcat components.

How much: $1,095.87 for the bare unit (PN 61199) or $1,299.87 for the complete unit (PN 61109), available from authorized retailers like Summit Racing.

Learn more: Edelbrock; 310/791-2222; Edelbrock.com

10 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

PERFORMANCE BATTERY CHARGER AND MAINTAINER

What it is: The Optima Digital 1200 12V performance battery charger and maintainer.

Why you care: The new Digital 1200 charger from Optima Batteries enhances the performance and life of 12V Optima and other high-performance AGM batteries, can enhance and condition all lead-acid batteries, and revive life into deeply discharged batteries. Offering one of the best user interfaces on the market, advanced features of the Digital 1200 charger include a USB changing port, onboard storage for cords, and a convenient handle and hook that enhance its portability. The LCD display has a convenient fuel-gaugestyle meter that displays analytics and alerts users to the status of voltage, amps, fill rate, mode settings, and fault messages. An extended battery warranty is offered with charger purchase. (See “Tested,” right.)

How much: $199.99, available direct from Optima Batteries or authorized retailers.

Learn more: Optima Batteries, 888/867-8463; OptimaBatteries.com

People ask us why our systems cost so much less… we ask why others cost so much more!

TESTED! When charging the battery in your car, always follow the basic safety rules and use a charger that’s designed and equipped to best charge and maintain your type of battery. Car Craft chose to use the Optima Digital 1200 12V charger (product info, left) to recharge a depleted Optima Red Top battery in a 1933 Ford Coupe replica kit car by Factory Five.

Before starting, we noted safety precautions and basic rules to handling a battery, as some may contain gases that could combust or explode should they make a spark. Follow instructions from the manufacturer and use common sense.

Remember to always connect the positive lead to the battery first. Next, for a negative-ground system, attach the negative lead to a part of the chassis—not the negative battery post. Plug the charger in after the leads have been hooked up properly and remove it from the unit when fully charged.

Bringing the Optima Red Top battery up to full charge on our 1933 Ford Factory Five coupe kit car was a snap. We found the operational functions of the Optima Digital 1200 to be easy and straightforward. This unit will also accommodate optional AGM styles, flooded batteries (with liquid electrolyte in the cells), small engine batteries, and deep-cycle types.

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THE 5.0 FISTFIGHT, PART 3 Carb and Nitrous Combos

By Richard Holdener / Photos: Richard Holdener

➔

Loyal Car Craft readers will remember that our 5.0L fistfight adventure started back when we compared the 5.0L Ford against the LB9 305 TPI Chevy in stock trim. The Chevy won round 1, thanks primarily to the condition of the two test engines. The TPI 305 was basically brand-spanking-new, while the used Ford—an LKQ pick-your-part special— had previously logged at least 150,000 miles. In round 2, we subjected the dynamic duo to the usual array of fuelinjected modifications, including heads, cam, and intake. The 5.0L Ford received Trick Flow Twisted-Wedge heads, a Comp XE274HR cam, and a Trick Flow Track Heat intake system. The Chevy received similar components, including Trick Flow Super 23 heads (designed

12 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

for the small-bore 305), a Comp XR276HR cam, and a Holley Stealth Ram EFI intake. When the dyno smoke cleared, the 5.0L Ford won round 2, but only by the smallest of margins. Here in round 3, we decided to ditch the fuel injection in favor of carburetion and added a little shot of nitrous. The Ford also received new cylinder heads, but more on that later. Keyboards at the ready, Chevy guys?

Having run both 5.0Ls with fuel injection, we decided to give carburetion a try. As luck would have it, the gang at Trick Flow offered a set of new 11R 170 heads for the Ford. Naturally, we asked if there was anything comparable available for the Chevy, but the small bore size used on the 305 reared its ugly head once again, and the

answer was no. The boys as Total Engine Airflow had a program for the TFS Super 23 heads used on the 305, but that took the intake-port volume to 205 cc. The port volume wasn’t really a problem, but the CNC program also dictated installation of a 2.02 and 1.60 valve package that eliminated the possibility of fitment in the small-bore 305. Cylinder-head availability is definitely an issue that 305 owners will have to face, while Ford guys have no such problems with the 4.0-inch bore on the 302. Given this real-world situation, we snatched the 11R heads. We were excited about the prospect of the full CNC porting, the revised valve angles to 11 and 13 degrees, and restructured and resized combustion chambers down to 53 cc.

CARBURETED 5.0 FORD: NA VS. ZEX

Run with the Trick Flow 11R heads and Speedmaster Funnel Web intake, the carbureted Ford produced 415 hp and 365 lb-ft of torque. After adding the Zex Perimeter Plate nitrous system, the peak power output jumped to 515 hp.

The Zex Perimeter Plate was set up with jetting to provide an extra 100 hp, and that is exactly what it did. It’s amazing how easy it was to add power with the Zex system.

vs.

CARBURETED 305 CHEVY: NA VS. ZEX

The modifications to the TPI 305 were less elaborate. The Chevy received an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake, Wilson carb spacer, and the same Holley 650 XP carb run on the Ford. Run in this configuration, the little Chevy produced 376 hp at 6,100 rpm and 343 lb-ft of torque at 4,600 rpm. These numbers jumped to an impressive 505 hp once we added the Zex nitrous. We got a little more aggressive on the tune with the Chevy to help make up for the 11R heads on the Ford, but we now have a pair of 5.0Ls, with each making more than 500 hp. I guess the only thing left is boost!

DECEMBER 2017 CARCRAFT.COM 13

HANDS ON

In preparation for the next dyno session, the 5.0L Ford was stripped down to the short-block, and the new TFS 11R heads were installed using fresh Fel-Pro 1011-2 head gaskets and ARP head bolts. Once again, we relied on the TFS 1.6:1-ratio, aluminum roller rockers and hardened pushrods. We retained the Comp XE274HR camshaft from the previous test, as there was limited piston-to-valve clearance with the factory pistons. Topping the 11R heads was a single-plane Funnel Web intake from Speedmaster. The high-rise Funnel Web featured lengthy, straight-shot runners to the head ports, designed to maximize power production over a broader range than a typical single-plane. To that, we added a Holley 650 XP carburetor, an MSD distributor, and Hooker headers for this carbureted combination. Equipped as such, the 302 produced 415 hp at 6,500 rpm and 369 lb-ft of torque at 5,600 rpm. That represented a significant jump in power compared with the EFI combination with the standard Twisted Wedge heads.

Unfortunately, the Chevy did not receive a cylinder-head upgrade. While Chevy guys may call foul, the reality is that the larger bore on Ford’s 302 allowed it to run any of the 30 different cylinder heads currently available. By contrast, the 3.736-inch-bore 305 is limited to just a handful of cylinder heads available in the aftermarket, with the best option being the Super 23 heads previously installed. Since Trick Flow did not offer a ported version of

In preparation for the new mods, the Ford was once again stripped down to the short-block, but we retained Comp’s XE274HR cam.

14 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

In our last installment (Part 2), we subjected the 5.0L Ford to upgrades that included Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads, a Track Heat intake, and a Comp XE274HR cam. The combination produced 376 hp at 6,000 rpm and 355 lb-ft of torque at 5,300 rpm.

The Chevy received similar treatment, with Trick Flow Super 23 heads, a Comp XR276HR cam, and Holley Stealth Ram intake. The little TPI Chevy produced 370 hp at 6,100 rpm and 349 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm.

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HANDS ON

Trick Flow offered a set of its new CNCported, 11R 170 cylinder heads, which are fully ported and feature revised valve angles and a spring package that allowed our hydraulic roller cam to rev cleanly to 7,000 rpm.

these heads, we elected not to treat them to custom porting, though this would be an option for a diehard 305 owner. The better choice would be to build a 4.0-inch-bore 302 Chevy or just step up to the larger 350 and be done with it. If you choose to stick with the 305, know there are limitations.

For this test, our 305 received a single-plane Victor Jr. intake (one previously converted for EFI use).

This necessitated the use of a 2-inch, Wilson tapered-combo spacer to clear the fuel rail. Run with the same 650 XP carb, the 305 Chevy produced 376 hp

at 6,100 rpm and 343 lb-ft of torque at 4,600 rpm. Now that we have suitably alienated the Chevy contingent, here is how we leveled the playing field: nitrous oxide.

Not content to just run our dynamic duo with carburetion, we decided they both needed power-adders, so we set up each one up with a Zex Perimeter Plate nitrous system. Each engine was equipped with the same plate, with jetting to provide an additional 100 hp at the push of a button. For the Chevy guys, we put a little extra time in to dial-in the tune and managed to close

We installed the heads onto the awaiting 5.0L Ford short-block using Fel-Pro 1011-2 head gaskets and ARP head bolts.

Feeding the new intake and cylinder heads was a Holley 650 XP carburetor.

The Trick Flow 11R heads were topped with a single-plane Funnel Web intake from Speedmaster.

16 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

HANDS ON

Both the Ford and Chevy relied on MSD billet distributors and a 6AL ignition amplifier.

the gap considerably on the Ford. Run on the Ford, the Zex Perimeter Plate increased the power output of the carbureted combo exactly 100 hp, with a peak of 515 hp at 6,500 rpm and 486 lb-ft of torque at 5,400 rpm. The torque was more a function of how early we engaged the nitrous: the lower the engagement, the higher the torque number. Running the same jetting on the Chevy (with 2 degrees more timing and a slightly leaner mixture than the Ford), the Chevy posted peak numbers of 505 hp at 5,600 rpm and 488 lb-ft at 5,400 rpm. What’s next for our little 5.0Ls? Boost, baby—boost!

With this setup, the 302 produced 415 hp at 6,500 rpm and 365 lb-ft of torque at 5,600 rpm.

The position of the injectors required us to run a 2-inch Wilson tapered-combo spacer to clear the throttle linkage. We relied on the same 650 XP Holley carburetor on the 305 Chevy.

Run on the dyno with the carbureted induction system, the little 305 Chevy produced 376 hp at 6,100 rpm and 343 lb-ft of torque at 4,600 rpm.

Below: Next up, we installed a Zex Perimeter Plate nitrous system on each engine, starting with the Ford.

Lacking available heads for the small-bore 305, we simply installed an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake. This intake had previously been modified (externally only) to accept fuel injectors, but we ran it in carbureted trim.

18 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

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HANDS ON

Below: The Chevy got the same treatment, with installation of the Zex plate on the Wilson carb spacer.

Above: Run with 100hp jetting, the Zex kit provided exactly that on the Ford, upping the peak power output to 515 hp at 6,500 rpm.

A little more aggressive tune on the Chevy nearly made up for the ported heads, as the Zex kit increased the power output of the 305 to 505 hp.

➔SOURCES

Comp Cams; 901/795-2400; Comp.com Edelbrock; 310/781-2222; Edelbrock.com Holley; 270/782-2900; Holley.com MSD; 915/857-5200; MSDignition.com

20 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

Speedmaster; 909/605-1123; Speedmaster79.com Trick Flow Specialties; 330/630-1555; TrickFlow.com Wilson Manifolds; 954/771-6216; WilsonManifolds.net/wm/ecart/ Zex; 888/817-1008; Zex.com

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DRIVELINE ALIGNMENT Eliminating Driveshaft Vibration Failures

By Bob Bolles / Photos: Bob Bolles

The driveline in our high-performance cars includes the transmission-output shaft, the driveshaft, the pinion shaft, and the U-joints that connect these three. All of these components need to be in proper alignment and designed to withstand the stress of high-performance driving. We’ll tell you how to do that.

➔

When putting your car together after an update or building up a car from the frame off, you need to consider the driveline alignment when mounting the engine and rear end. Because this is one of the basic design features of the car, it can and must be done initially to save a lot of work later on. The quality of the final product depends on this.

As far back as the mid-1960s, this topic was discussed in car magazines as one of the most important considerations for hot rodders in general. It was firmly impressed upon the readers that if you didn’t get this right, there could be plenty of problems down the road. That fact has not changed over the years.

When working with high-horsepower applications and making modifications, you need to consider that your driveline angles may be changing in the process and that each part will be taking much more force and must be upgraded if you don’t want to run into serious problems with broken driveshafts, yokes, and bearings.

22 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

There is now a good amount of information available about driveshaft technology and geometry. This technology had initially been developed for production cars, but high-horsepower applications require a closer look and a slightly different approach. The advantages of this technology are in the areas of reduced power loss and increased component life. To begin with, we need to know what to call the various components related to our driveshaft.

DRIVELINE ANGLES Basically, the transmission-output shaft and the pinion shaft need to be parallel to one another, and if they are, the angles they make with the driveshaft will be the same and opposite.

And when a UJ operates with any significant amount of driveline angle, it creates a problem. The bearings speed up and slow down twice per revolution of the driveshaft. This causes an oscillation in the powertrain. The more angle we have, the higher the peaks of oscillation we see, and therefore the

Driveline Terminology The component names for the driveline parts are as follows: Slip-Yoke: The yoke at the front of the driveshaft that goes into the transmission and can slip to take up the slack of chassis movement.

Weld-Yoke: The yoke at each end of the driveshaft that attaches to the pinion-yoke at the rear end and the slip-yoke at the front. These are welded to the shaft tubing.

Universal Joint Kit or U-Joint (UJ): The actual part that forms the rotational connection between the driveshaft and the transmission and rear end.

Tubing: The metal tubing between the weld-yokes.

Pinion-Yoke: The yoke that is attached to the pinion shaft at the rear end.

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Controlling Driveline Vibration The following are the sources of vibration in our high-performance drivelines, in order of importance:

1) Run-out 2) Improper driveline angles 3) Looseness in the fit of any of the parts 4) Unbalanced parts 5) Component deflection 6) Reaching critical speed.

We will examine some of these causes and see how we can cure many of them just by using better parts that are designed for the high-horsepower environment.

greater chance of vibration.

Driveshaft angles are not only measured from a side view but also from a top view. Some designs can have a lateral displacement of the rear of the driveshaft from the front. That creates a driveshaft angle at both the transmission and the pinion. So you can align the driveshaft from a side view to zero angle and still have some degree of driveshaft angle present.

There is the theory that the driveshaft must have some angle to the pinion and transmission-yoke so the UJ bearings will rotate to help lubricate them. This is true, but you should keep the driveline angles as low as possible, and most importantly, keep the angles equal and opposite at each end of the driveshaft.

If your car must have driveline angles from a design standpoint, the angle of the driveshaft to both the transmissionoutput shaft and the pinion shaft should be equal and also opposite.

24 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

CHANGING DRIVELINE ANGLES

You can change either the front (transmission-output shaft angle) or the back (pinion angle) height of the driveshaft. The front may take more effort, so changes are usually made to the back, or pinion angle, to match the transmission angle.

To change the driveline angles, you need to check to see if the overall driveshaft to pinion or transmission angle is excessive. In almost every case, the transmission shaft is higher than the pinion shaft. To reduce the angle to the driveshaft, you would need to drop the transmission-mount height and angle the engine/transmission down to the rear.

More than 4 degrees could be considered excessive for transmission/ pinion to driveshaft angle. In this case, you will need to change the engine/ transmission angle first. This can possibly be done by changing the height of the transmission mount. This may or may not be possible.

You can then change the pinion angle by adjusting the lengths of any links in a typical four-link aftermarket system. For older leaf-spring systems, companies offer wedge inserts that go between the leaf spring and the spring pad on the axletube. These are available in different degrees of angle.

YOKE DESIGN

The only attachment design for holding the UJs in high-performance applications is the strap design. The U-bolt attachment that is commonly used on passenger cars and trucks is not considered acceptable for several reasons.

One reason is that it has less strength than the strap design; two, it may distort the bearing caps if overtorqued; and three, it grips the cap at three points whereas the strap design grips it in four places, which translates to less distortion of the caps.

Yokes that are specifically designed for high-performance applications are all machined parts and are built much stronger to reduce ear deflection. Note the reinforcing webs that help prevent ear deflection.

Driveshaft alignment is critical to reducing power loss and vibrations that can kill components. Basically, the transmissionoutput shaft and the pinion shaft need to be parallel to one another, and if they are, the angles they make with the driveshaft will be opposite. Modern, high-performance cars should have near-zero pinion and transmission angles measured in relation to the driveshaft.

The parts that make up a sealed UJ are shown here. The thrust washer shown at the ends are crushable to allow for a very tight fit that further reduces a source of driveline vibration. These are solid UJs that are much stronger than the ones with grease fittings.

U-JOINT KIT DESIGNS There are basically two designs of U-joints available. The popular, standard zerk designs are used for production vehicles and have a zerk fitting for lubrication. Inherent in this design are hollow shafts that provide the means for the grease to reach the bearings.

This hollow design also makes the part weaker than if it were solid.

The other design is called the sealed design, or solid UJ, and has no grease fitting and therefore a solid core. This unit has precision seals that keep the lubricant with the bearings while also sealing out dirt. Because it’s solid, the sealed design is therefore much stronger.

Proper lubrication of the sealed U-joint is simple, but can be overdone.

You always want to coat the bearings, but not excessively. You also need to fill the trunnion cavity with grease, but not overfill it. If too much grease is applied, the pressure from the grease trying to escape will literally blow out the seals and ruin them when you attach the caps.

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When greasing the needle bearings in the UJ caps, spread the grease to cover all of the bearings, but don’t apply too much. If you do, when you press the caps over the shaft, you’ll blow out the seals.

The U-bolt-type of attachment for UJs is considered inferior to the strap design (pictured) for several reasons. The strap is stronger, is less apt to crush the bearing cap, uses stronger bolts that cannot over-tighten the bearing caps, and it holds the cap at four points as opposed to the U-bolt that attaches at only three points.

This aftermarket, high-strength yoke has been drilled for balancing. This is obviously more important for higher rpm ranges, but the life of your UJ bearings and pinion bushings will be longer when you have everything balanced.

ADJUSTING RUN-OUT AT THE PINION-YOKE A major cause of driveline vibrations is when the pinion-yoke has a measurable degree of run-out. You can test the run-out after the installation of the UJ in the pinion-yoke by using a dial indicator attached to the rearend housing.

Measure at both sides of the U-joint, and if the offset is different, remove the pinion-yoke and rotate it on the pinion shaft to find a position that will index more correctly. This is a very important and necessary step in reducing driveline vibration.

BALANCING THE DRIVE ASSEMBLY The only true way to balance a driveshaft is through the use of a two-plane balancer, one that simultaneously balances both ends and has the capability to cross-talk between ends. This allows the equipment to derive a dynamic model of the force vectors causing the imbalance and formulate a solution that takes into account how both ends influence the shaft’s overall balance.

A simple automotive driveshaft balancer is fine for Grandma’s car, but for high performance and drag racing in high-rpm situations, greater precision is required. It would be a good idea to send off your driveshaft to a company with a proper balancer rig if there isn’t such a company in your area.

And remember that the higher rpm your driveshaft will encounter, the larger the diameter of the tubing you will need. In the above list of causes of vibration, the last one—reaching critical speed—means that if the tubing is too small, it will flex at high rpm and wobble. The larger the diameter of the tubing, the less chance this will occur.

26 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

To test for excess run-out at the pinionshaft yoke, you can attach a dial indicator to the rearend housing and measure to the end-cap surface. Then lift the plunger, rotate the pinion 180 degrees, and re-measure. If the difference is more than a few thousandths, you need to reposition the pinion-yoke on the pinion shaft and measure again until you eliminate most of the run-out.

SNAP-RING FAILURE A common failure in high-performance drivelines is when the retainer-snap rings come out of the yoke. A simple and easy way to reduce this occurrence is by applying a spot of epoxy to the ring. This prevents the ring from collapsing and falling out of the ring groove. Be sure that the snap ring is seated completely inside the groove in the yoke before applying the epoxy.

The important thing to remember for high-performance applications is to use driveline parts made specifically for extreme use when possible. Make sure you install the components correctly to reduce driveline vibrations and parts failures.

Check the alignment of your system and correct any issues. When buying the driveshaft, make certain it is up to task for the intended rpm and horsepower range you will be running in your type of car. Check driveline parts periodically for cracks or for signs of a bent or dented shaft.

The professional drag-racing teams that run the top series always use new driveline parts for each race. You don’t necessarily need to do that at the street level, but knowing they do that says something about the importance those teams place on the driveline components. That same concern should be shared by all high-performance automotive enthusiasts.

This assortment of yokes shows the evolution of high-performance slip-yokes.

The yoke on the far left is a standard truck-yoke that’s sometimes used as a replacement for the stock units for highperformance applications. The middle yoke is a modified unit that improves the performance over the stock unit. The one on the right is specifically made for high-rpm applications and is a stronger, lighter, and more efficient design that puts the UJ closer to the support bearing to reduce vibration and breakage. The driveshaft length may need to be adjusted when using these.

➔SOURCES

Classic Performance Products; 866/593-2423; ClassicPerform.com Drive Train Specialists; 800/5566126; DriveTrainSpecialists.com Energy Suspension; 888/292-1250; EnergySuspension.com Performance Online; 800/638-1703; PerformanceOnline.com Performance Suspension Technology; 877/224-1699; P-S-T.com QA1; 800/721-7761; QA1.net Quick Performance; 515/232-0126; QuickPerformance.com Strange Engineering; 847/663-1701; StrangeEng.net Summit Racing Equipment; 800/230-3030; SummitRacing.com

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Mopar lifters, is bigger better?

LARGER LIFTERS Jason Felber; via CarCraft.com: I’m a Chevy small-block guy, but I keep hearing from Mopar guys and a particular Mopar engine specialist that Mopar lifters are the best because they have a larger diameter. The word is they somehow allow for wilder camshaft lobe profiles. What’s the straight story here?

Steve Magnante: Assuming you’re discussing flat-tappet cams (and lifters) for traditional small-block (and most big-block) pushrod V8 engines, there’s a nugget of truth to the idea that Mopar lifter-diameter sizing offers a specific advantage over Chevy (and Ford) lifters.

Here’s the root of what your buddies are talking about: Way back when the various engine-design teams at Chevrolet, Ford, and Chrysler sat down to design the first wave of overheadvalve, small-block V8 engines, they naturally did so independently. In other

28 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

words, the Chrysler guys weren’t privy to what the GM and Ford guys were up to, and so forth all the way around. The usual climate of new-product secrecy was in full force. When it came time to specify the lifter diameter, each manufacturer arrived at a size that best fit into its overall design needs. Up first was the 1955 Chevy 265 small-block (0.843-inch lifter body diameter), then the 1962 Ford 221 small-block (0.875 inch), then the 1964 Mopar 273 smallblock (0.904 inch). Incidentally, these lifter diameters were also shared with certain subsequent big-block (and even a few six-cylinder) engine types in the name of inventory and machinestation efficiency. This explains why the Chrysler 225 Slant Six, small-block, big-block, and even the 426 Hemi share the 0.904-inch, lifter-body diameter and why the Chevy big-block and small-block also share the same 0.843 lifter diameter.

In the world of mass-produced engines designed for daily use on the

street—which includes performance legends like the 1970 LT1 350, 1965 hi-po Mustang 271, and 1970 Mopar 340 Six Pack (their cams were pretty mild in the big picture)—the different lifter-body diameters were/are a nonissue. But when enthusiasts add hotter cams to these engines in search of “11-10ths performance,” the larger lifters offer the simple benefit of having more surface area for the cam manufacturer to work with.

Here’s why: Though (non-roller) lifters look flat, there is actually a small beveled surface cut into the outermost region of the “flat” face. This is present to provide a gentle transition and get the lifter moving over the lobe. Without it, the edge of the lifter could dig in, act as a cutter, and rapidly wear the lobe.

Usually about 0.020- to 0.050-inch wide, this beveled area doesn’t move the valve, but it’s a necessary detail. Its presence reduces the working area of your Chevy lifter from 0.843 to about 0.800 inch. When camshaft-lobe

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designers go to work, they have to take into account the transition area. Since a key goal of any cam upgrade is to open the valves more quickly for a given duration value, losing any amount of lifterface surface area is counterproductive. By the same token, gaining surface area is a universal benefit. This is where the larger diameter of Chrysler (0.904-inch) and Ford (0.875-inch) lifters comes into play. The extra surface area gives cam-lobe designers more room to get acceptable transition rings and more aggressive acceleration rates.

Over the years, more progressive machine shops and racers have devised methods to enlarge Chevrolet small- and big-block lifter bores to accommodate larger cross-bred Ford and Mopar lifters. It’s a fairly straightforward machining operation, but here’s the rub: If the camshaft designer isn’t hip to the presence of the larger-diameter lifters and uses the standard lobe recipe meant for stock 0.843 lifters, it’s all for naught. As much as non-Chevy engine lovers like to think aftermarket camshafts are designed just for their particular favorite engine, the fact is many commonly available lobe profiles used on aftermarket camshafts were perfected with the small 0.843 lifter body in mind. Unless the cam manufacturer either starts from scratch knowing the greater surface area of a Ford or Chrysler lifter is available and going to be utilized or alters the existing Chevy-inspired lobe profile design to utilize the extra transition area, a small amount of potential is left on the table.

I cannot speak for the entire industry here, but I know that Hughes Engines specializes in Mopar engines and is known for its “start-from-scratch” cam designs. The company makes full use of the larger Chrysler 0.904-inch-diameter lifter face to allow more active cam lobes than certain cams based on the industry-standard 0.843-inch Chevy lifter diameter.

While on the topic of machining the lifter bores of non-Chrysler blocks to accept the Chrysler

Technology Inside and Outside

lifters, it’s up to the customer/ engine builder to determine if the sub-10-percent gain in lifter working diameter opens the door to a worthwhile boost in additional cam movement.

Unless you’re racing in some class that demands standardized cam-lobe specs, the modest gain likely isn’t worth the hassle of the specialized block machining and custom-ground camshaft.

Finally, in these days of ever more affordable roller cams, flat-tappet use is shrinking.

Shop wisely. The Hughes Engines website has a good tutorial on this topic.

MORE INFO Hughes Engines; 309/7459558; HughesEngines.com

BENCH-BLEED BLUES Randy Flick; via CarCraft. com: In just about every article concerning swapping out a brake master cylinder, we are told to bench-bleed the unit before installing it (for obvious reasons). It has always been my practice to bolt the master cylinder in place—leaving the brake lines unattached—attach the bleeder lines, and use the brake pedal to pump and bleed the cylinder. This always seemed easier than wrestling the unit while it’s in a vice and possibly spilling brake fluid when I transfer it to the firewall. Is there really any difference in my method versus bleeding the unit on the bench, or have I been doing it wrong for 50-plus years?

Steve Magnante: Good question, Randy. I’ve also taken to mounting the brake master cylinder to the car and rigging temporary shorty lines from the pressure ports back into the reservoir. As long as care is exercised and paint-friendly synthetic fluid is used, it gets the job done. However, this doesn’t answer your core question as to why bench-bleeding has been recommended for decades. I think there are a few answers. First, before the

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ASK ANYTHING This 1954 Plymouth Savoy brake master cylinder is typical of the old-fashioned mounting scheme. Once bolted to the frame under the driver-side floor panel, access is nil. Bench-bleeding is a must. In 1955, Plymouth switched to a modern, firewall-mounted master cylinder. The circular hole in the floor is where you add brake fluid. A metal snapin cap seals the floor after service.

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mid-1950s, most American cars had their brake master cylinders mounted beneath the floorboard— not on the firewall, where access is much easier. This underfloor master-cylinder mounting was a result of evolving vehicle architecture that placed the brake (and clutch when applicable) pedals on pivots mounted under the floor. If you see any older car with a brake pedal jutting up from the floorboard, you can bet the master cylinder is mounted under the car. Service isn’t fun.

As vehicle designers sought lower body profiles in the 1950s, they needed to squash cowl height. Once the cowl height was reduced an inch or 3, the hoodline, beltline, and roofline could follow suit. To compress the cowl height, designers turned to so-called suspended brake and clutch pedals that worked from pivots mounted under the dash. This opened the door to relocation of the brake master cylinder to the engine side of the firewall, where a simple rod could be used to meet the brake pedal in the car. The groundbreaking 1955 Chevy’s low profile was enabled, thanks to a switch from 1954’s through-floor brake pedal and undercar master cylinder to a suspended brake pedal and underhood master cylinder. By 1955, most Chrysler and Ford models had also made a similar switch, though many Rambler/American Motors and Studebaker offerings stuck with old-fashioned, throughthe-floor brake pedals into the early 1960s.

If we focus on those pre-1955 cars with their awkward, hard-toaccess, underfloor brake master cylinders, bench-bleeding prior to installation was virtually mandatory. Doing the job from under the car was far more difficult. And remembering that vehicle repair and maintenance regimens go back to the day after the first automobile was sold, by the mid-1950s more than a half century of momentum existed. Mechanics with years of experience of prebleeding master cylinders on the bench stuck to the process even after the 1955 revolution took hold.

So did the factory service manuals, likely as a fool-proofing.

While modern master cylinders are a virtually perfected art, once in a while, a blooper unit gets through quality control. If a single lip seal is installed on the piston backward or if a drilled passage isn’t complete, the master cylinder will malfunction. The process of bench-bleeding ensures closer, hands-on contact than in-car bleeding, and if a problem exists, remedy is quicker than if it is bolted to the firewall.

So I’d venture to say manufacturers are making the end user the last line of quality control by urging them to bench-bleed before final installation.

Finally, not every vehicle places the master cylinder in the expected horizontal position, where air-bubble chasing via bleeding is most easily accomplished. Take a close look at many rear-wheel-drive GM cars of the 1960s through 1980s, especially those with power brake boosters.

The master cylinder is mounted at a 17-degree angle with the front end positioned higher than the tail. Likely done to scoot the booster assembly up and away from the engine’s driver-side valve cover, the non-horizontal orientation renders a certain percentage of the reservoir empty since a wedge-shaped air void is created when the cover is secured in place. Does this nonhorizontal mounting complicate in-car bleeding? It shouldn’t, but psychologically it’s an oddity and, in some situations, could help hide reluctant air bubbles.

To sum it all up, if done with care, in-car master cylinder prebleeding is just as effective as bench-bleeding. However, in that rare instance when a manufacturing flaw renders the unit inoperative, isn’t it better to discover this fact before you’ve expended the time and effort to mount it?

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THIS GUY’S GARAGE A fourth-generation farmer who has lived on this same homestead for most of his life, Fred’s cruising time is spent in this 1965 Plymouth Fury III, now fortified with 440 cubes of Mopar iron lung. After all, Dover’s Monster Mile is close, and no less than the late Curtis Turner drove a couple of races back in 1965 using this exact body design.

The hardtop two-door replaced a similar example Fred had bought new when he was 18. Originally hosting a 383, this has been a great driver to local shows and cruises.

“The memorabilia is sort of my hobby,” Fred says.

“I’m a farmer. I don’t play golf or have a boat, so I just got into collecting it. I’ve been doing this type of stuff for seven or eight years. When I am thinking about buying something, the main thi ng to me is that I like it. I don’t collect it just to own something.”

FRED AND MARK BENNETT / Milford, DE The Mid-Atlantic region of the Del-Mar-Va peninsula is home to a lot of car guys, and we had a chance to go and see Fred and Mark Bennett’s garage during the cooler months this year. The Bennett family has been farming in these parts for two centuries—since the early 1800s—specializing in chickens and hosting one of the most comprehensive gatherings of vintage farm equipment on the eastern seaboard. The family’s farm museum is open to the public on occasions; however, since this is not Tractor Craft or Field Rod, we’re showing you their father-son personal rides and a few of the internal-combustion-related items in the garage.

Everything here has a story, and it’s primarily the real deal.

By Geoff Stunkard / Photo: Geoff Stunkard

34 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

A fifth-generation farmer, Mark picked out something a little more in line with getting it done quickly, a 1967 Satellite with two-tone paint, a white interior, and 440 big-block power as well (it started life with a 318, with the transplant coming from a similar-year Imperial). This car gets only a couple hundred miles a year on it and is the first and only vintage Mopar Mark has owned.

These gas pumps all came from stores in the region and have been restored to like-new shape. Barely visible from this angle is a gravity-feed-style pump that came from an early Southern States feed and equipment shop, a rarity that Fred is understandably proud of. Perhaps farming is dirty work, but the floor of this garage is among the cleanest we’ve seen. The Bennetts take pride in their professional work and in this collection, and it shows. Among the service-station items is a vintage tire on an island-type display stand with a Mobil gas sales notice. There are also soda machines, vintage fire extinguishers, and a table from a diner on display. The collection goes from floor to ceiling, with this Air Knight pedal car suspended overhead. Mark told us it was not his as a kid, just something his dad had picked up—literally. How do you know it’s a man cave? A pinball machine, of course.

DECEMBER 2017 CARCRAFT.COM 35

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PROJECT GARAGE

BEAT THE HEAT!

Make More Power With Better Heat Control

By Kevin Tetz / Photos: Kevin Tetz

➔

Heat robs power. With sophisticated aftermarket EFI systems like the Holley Dominator controlling ZedSled’s drivetrain and making decisions in millisecond increments, our ECU can actually dial back timing and fuel if sensors read excessively high temperatures.

38 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

Excessive heat prematurely wears out components too. For example, the transmission, coil packs, wiring harnesses, and cables all suffer when temperatures exceed normal operating conditions.

When dealing with the comfort level of your car and the overall driving experience, heat is not your friend. Nobody

wants to be cooked out of the cabin while driving, so heat control is important in other vehicle systems as well.

We’re going to walk you through some of the techniques and products we used on ZedSled, Car Craft’s 1978 Camaro project, to keep the heat under control and out of the car.

s Measure a BIG !

12" High

Vintage GAS Pump Replica Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the F d Mustang!

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HamiltonCollection.com/FueledforSpeed

Fuel Your Love for America’s First Pony Car! Few names in automotive history convey sportier style and performance than America’s Original Pony Car, the Ford Mustang! In honor of this legendary muscle car’s milestone 50-year anniversary, Ford Motor Company is fueling enthusiasm with its Special Edition 2015 GT Coupe in Kona Blue or Wimbledon White — the H[DFW FRORU RI WKH YHU\ Ă€ UVW Ă´ 0XVWDQJ HYHU VROG 1RZ FHOHEUDWH Ă€ YH GHFDGHV RI WKH 0XVWDQJ ZLWK WKH “Fueled for Speed — 50th Anniversary Ford Mustang Gas Pump,â€? a collectible replica sculpture only from 7KH +DPLOWRQ &ROOHFWLRQ )HDWXULQJ D FRRO FROODJH RI WKH Ă€ UVW HYHU 0XVWDQJ and WKH

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PROJECT GARAGE

I-M Shield is a thermal barrier that is customizable to fit almost any surface and is adhesive-backed for permanent installation to any clean, flat surface.

Cooler air entering the engine is denser and allows more fuel to be burnt and make ce more power. The underside surfa e of our Holley Mid Ram intake is prim real estate for a heat shield.

A (sharp) single-edge razor blade trims the backing and insulation easily, while leaving the aluminum exterior intact.

We start by making a template to transfer to the I-M Shield.

Below: We’ve left a half-inch extra to create a finished edge to wrap it around intake runners for better insulation—and create a tidy look.

The folded edge doesn’t do much other than look nice, but it’s easy to do and allows you to make a custom-fit shield that looks like a production piece.

The manifold gets cleaned with a wax and grease remover to ensure adhesion.

This cleaning step is particularly important if you’re using I-M Shield on a previously installed or used manifold.

40 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

9Ó HD PRO ALUMINUM CENTER SECTION HD Pro case and support (PRF180) ......$1,585

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PROJECT GARAGE

With the plastic backing removed from the adhesive, I-M Shield sticks permanently to the manifold, and we made several relief cuts to wrap the shield around the runners.

Lava Boots can withstand 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit continuous heat and will protect your plug wires from header heat and spark loss due to deterioration. Plug boots are mandatory if you’re using headers.

The finished installation looks great, even though it’s almost completely invisible from the top. The magic is in the insulation factor, and Heatshield Products claims as much as a 15hp gain for LS engines due to the cooler air charge

Stealth Shield is a lightweight fabric, roughly 1⁄8-inch thick, that is designed to be installed under the carpet and between the headliner and roof panel. It reduces cabin heat and won’t interfere with carpet or headliner fitment or add any substantial weight.

The mat is easily cut with scissors and ours gets laid out for test-fit before gluing down.

A headliner spray adhesive works great for locking the matting onto the floor. We’re gluing ours over a spray-on sound barrier that also functions as a heat-resistant barrier to a small degree.

42 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

Your knuckle busting days are over.

PB B’laster does what it says it’s gonna do. It penetrates like no other to break free rusted or frozen parts making any job fast & pain free.

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RUSTED NUTS & BOLTS • AUTOMOTIVE • LAWN EQUIPMENT • MARINE • INDUSTRIAL TOOLS

PROJECT GARAGE

Left: We’re wrapping our mufflers in Heatshield’s Muffler Armor kit, a job we start by making a template that wraps around the muffler case, then gets transferred to the armor. The aluminum shield is cut with a box cutter, and the straight edge ensures a precise cut.

The inside of the shield is not fiberglass, it’s a thermally stable matting that withstands tremendous heat while creating an air gap between the heat-generating muffler and the floor. As a side benefit, it’s not itchy like fiberglass.

We removed about 1⁄2 inch of the insulation off the back of the shield, which allowed us to form a nicely folded and finished edge.

We rounded the corners of the shield to have smooth transitions and clean looks.

These thermal ties are made from 304 stainless steel and are available in different lengths to fit a variety of components like our Hooker Mufflers.

After cinching the ties up, we trimmed the ends off, leaving about an inch that we looped with a pair of needle-nose pliers to lock it into place.

44 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

Order your FREE 1960-69 Corvair catalog today!

PROJECT GARAGE

Properly coated headers like these Super Comps from Hooker have ceramic insulation on both the inside and outside of the tubes, which significantly reduces engine-bay temperatures (we measured a reduction of nearly 50 degrees) as well as delivering performance gains due to more efficient evacuation of exhaust gases from the cylinders.

Here you can see the top and bottom of the mufflers, and you can see what the attention to detail creates. This DIY kit looks like a production product and will insulate the interior against heat and also reduce some of the exhaust noise entering the cabin.

PARTS LIST I-M Shield Lava Shield Spray Plug Booths Muffler Armor Kit Stealth Shield fabric Hooker Super Comp Headers Spray Adhesive

$45.00 kit $155.00 $109.00 $67.95 $740.00 $8.00

➔SOURCES

Heat Shield Products; 800/750-3978; HeatShieldProducts.com Hooker Headers; 866/464-6553; Holley.com/products/exhaust

Controlling heat in any vehicle is a layered strategy, with each step complementing the others. Being able to install heat insulation while we assemble this car makes the job easier, but it’s never too late to insulate!

46 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

FloorLiner™

Cargo Liner

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PROJECT GARAGE

PROJECT CC UNDERBIRD:

CUTTING, WELDING, AND MELTING TOGETHER PARTS

By John Gatliff / Photos: John Gatliff

We Weld Up Our Axle Brace, Fabricate Some DirtCheap Atomic Punk Trim Bits, and Take a Long Shot at Cracked Dashpad Repair

➔

Unless you’re building a stripped-down, minimalist rail such as Dick Kraft’s 1950 proto-dragster, “The Bug,” hundreds of overlooked details must be worked out when building a ground-up car. The CC Underbird is no exception.

Car crafting a 30-year-old junker into a grand touring, drag/open-track car on a real-world budget is about more than just big-cube, twin-turbo thunder and a wish list of bolt-on speed.

Modifying mostly unseen

48 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

aftermarket bits is not as glamorous as building enough tire-tearing torque to pulverize granite into dust. Repairing some of the common ravages of time and terrible design is not as thrilling as whipping up a crazy, make-a-statement power multiplier. And going mental for hours over some tiny, no-performance, “kustom” touch that 99 out of 100 people will never notice nor understand tests the car crafter’s shopworn “fast, cheap, or good” paradox in ways that approach mania.

But investing time, skill, and creativity in such detail is part of what makes the difference between a functional, attractive, high-impact, street/strip machine and slop-ups such as 1990s sport compacts with flapping, unpainted bodykits and coffee-can-sized bluey pipes or Dad’s thrown-together high school muscle that towered over ill-fitting N50s on overinflated Gabriel Hi-Jackers.

Besides, a series of smaller fabrication and restoration projects can provide something to tide you over while you’re

PROJECT GARAGE

Instead of cutting up the trailing-arm brackets on the Lakewood Lift Bar kit, Matt Myers sliced off the thinner gaugemounting tabs on the CHE axle brace.

Myers named his shop Area 31, but the frigid temperatures during the axle-brace modification made it more like Ice Station Zebra.

We are not dragging Car Craft back to its custom-car roots with Project CC Underbird.

However, even a 1980s Thunderbird can look better with vintage-style finned gauge panels and Talbot-style mirrors.

saving up for the headlining soup-ups we mostly dream of.

For those readers whose eyes glaze over at anything costing more than a monthly payment on a new Nissan Versa S, each of these mods is probably cheaper than feeding a group of your gearhead buddies for a week off of the dollar menu, not counting your time.

AXLE-BRACE MODIFICATION

The modified axle brace has more substantial attachment points than either the original Lakewood or CHE bracketry and is much stronger than our initial design.

Car Craft reader and Art Morrison Enterprises alumnus Matt Myers hated our plan to splice the mounting tabs of the CC Underbird’s CHE Performance CHE9A axle brace with the Lakewood 21900 Traction Action Lift Bar trailingarm brackets. He pointed out that the Lakewood brackets were thicker than the CHE mounts and that integrating them together would add complexity and fabrication time while compromising strength. He volunteered to fit and weld the CHE axle brace to the Fox Mustang Lakewood Lift Bar brackets.

The result is brilliant.

GAUGE PANELS AND AIR-CONDITIONING VENTS

The hot trend, from NASCAR to Street Outlaws, is to replace traditional analog gauges with expensive electronic dataacquisition panels. We decided adding a trick 21st-century digital dash to the CC Underbird would seem as out of place as Lady Gaga at a VFW picnic.

While some 1980s cars infamously featured early digital-dash technology,

Cheap mechanical gauges from Harbor Freight provided housings for the CC Underbird’s center-stack gauge pod vents.

50 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

The initial mock-up of the finned gauge panels showed a distracting parting line between them. The corner radius fits well with the late Turbo Coupe dash contour.

While we were tempted to address the problem with a hacksaw and a file, Myers milled the panels for us with the precision of a proper machinist to reduce the parting line and improve fit.

l gauge We disassembled the mechanica es for set and cut apart two of the gaug rings. their outer housings and mounting

Our eBay-sourced RV vent louver panel featured rotating vents that are small enough to fit into a 2 1⁄8inch gauge hole.

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PROJECT GARAGE

We cut the RV vent louver in half and cut away the excess bracketry. We were careful to preserve the rotating mount of the vents.

The vent, as installed into the finned gauge panel, will blend in fairly well with traditional black gauges. Epoxy holds the outer vent rings in place within the outer housings.

We cut out the plastic illumination ring with a Dremel Rotary Tool and removed the glass from the housing with a hammer.

We used our Dremel to edge the vent louver to the diameter of the gauge housing.

Thunderbird Turbo Coupes were celebrated back in the day for their factory analog gauge sets. So we concluded the best (and cheapest) plan would be to improve the stock instrumentation.

However, the late Thunderbird Turbo Coupe instrument panel has few voids for adding a Chinese Moon Lander quantum of extra lights, dials, and switches. An eBay-sourced, dash-top, triple-gauge pod will hold some of the most critical tuning monitors in plain view, but additional temperature and pressure instruments require altering the dash layout. Fox-body Mustang builders often use vent pods to add meters for between-rounds entertainment (gauges are mostly useless weight during a dragstrip pass). But none of the off-the-shelf Mustang vent pods fits Fox Thunderbirds, and our grand-touring endurance drag-car mission requires keeping some air-conditioning function for the highway

“transit stages.” Replacing the spacewasting factory clock and center-stack HVAC vents with smaller 21⁄8-inch vents and gauges mounted in doublestacked, triple-gauge panels seems to be the obvious solution.

Atomic Punk features, such as the CC Underbird’s “Shakerbolt” hood, clear the way for more eclectic detailing inspired by motorsports history.

Besides, if the new Hellcats can dip into the past for engine-turned dash appliques that recall the 1910s through 1960s, we ought to be safe with a pair of “street rod” cast-aluminum finned gauge panels from Speedway Motors as the foundation for our own centerstack vent pod.

Off-the-shelf 21⁄8-inch AC vents are scarcer than opium peddlers at a DEA convention, so we had to make our own by cutting up a dirt-cheap Harbor Freight mechanical gauge set and some plastic RV vents we found on eBay.

While not as infamous as a certain hose-clamped transmission mount, we used 2-inch hose clamps to retain the outer housings. This is necessary because the stock mounts attached to the backs of the gauges and were eliminated.

MAKING TALBOT MIRRORS ELECTRIC Giant, factory sideview mirrors are seldom attractive. But eliminating them completely or relying solely on a NASCAR-style, cage-mounted inside mirror seemed steps too far away from real street functionality.

During a junkyard crawl, we noticed a late-model electric outside mirror that had been smashed open. The mechanism was surprisingly small, and it’s diminutive size reminded us of the vintage-style Talbot mirrors that have

been fitted to everything from 1960s IndyCars, to handbuilt Italian exotics.

We wondered if modern electric adjusters would retrofit into dirt-cheap reproductions of Talbots. Now we know.

The Talbot-style mirrors have less reflective surface area than the ugly, stock sideview lumps. But they make up for it in timeless competition style.

We removed the electric mirror mechanism from a Lincoln Mark VIII sideview mirror we had on hand. Other available electric mirrors appear to have similarly sized internals.

Our first test fit of the mirror electric works into the disassembled Talbot housing revealed that the mechanism needed substantial trimming to fit.

52 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

PROJECT GARAGE

We cut away the factory retaining ring with the Dremel Rotary Tool and removed other, nonessential portions of the housing that interfered with reassembly of the Talbot-style mirror.

The electric mechanism nestles much lower into the mirror housing after the modifications. We modified the mechanism further to allow the mirror to bolt together, being careful to preserve the function of the adjusting mechanism.

The mirror assembly is not as compact as the original manual Talbot mirror, which suggests trimming may be necessary on the mirror head. After final adjustments on the CC Underbird, we will waterproof the mechanism with silicone and “pot in” the wiring for protection.

We de-soldered the factory electrical connections because they interfered with the mirror housing.

We soldered on new wiring that we fished through a hole we drilled in the mirror housing and base.

We are not imitating Max Siedentopf’s cardboard “Slapdash Supercar” mods here. We used the chunky stock mirror base to make a template for aluminum filler panels.

PLASTIC WELDING AND DASHPAD REPAIR

We made a test aluminum filler panel out of scrap from a fabricator’s recycling pile.

We will refinish it flat black and mount the electric Talbot mirror to it. The taxi-quality respray job will force repainting of most of the moldings.

54 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

The CC Underbird’s factory dashpad is nasty, and we made it a lot worse by dropping it and bashing it around in careless moving and storage. Unlike more common cars, repop 1980s Thunderbird dashpads are like finding glaciers in Death Valley. So rather than just covering up the damage with a used Dash Mat that we bought for $1 at a salvage yard, we decided to attack the faults with a Harbor Freight plastic welder and some plastic restoration supplies from Polyvance.

Although our shredded stock dash proved a little too far gone for complete repair, we found it useful for practicing the Polyvance system for if and when we find a good, used replacement dash with only an average number of fissures to repair.

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PROJECT GARAGE

The Padded Dash Filler needs Filler Prep to promote adhesion.

Without it, the Padded Dash Filler may peel.

Photography cannot show the full scope of the dashpad damage. Many areas of the surface are flaking off, and the internal structure is broken in several places.

Polyvance Flextex VT sprays on top of the sanded dash filler to restore texture. Spray-gun settings control the roughness of the finish.

The Polyvance repair system is based on its Padded Dash Filler. Although similar in smell and application to autobody filler, it stays flexible to replace missing dash surface material.

Larger voids and cracks in the dashpadding must be filled in with polyurethane welding rod and ground down to the proper thickness. A plastic welder is necessary for proper heat control.

We used our Dremel Rotary Tool to “vee” the cracks in the padding. Our initial plastic welding suffered from poor heat control, but the result seems structurally sound.

PARTS LIST DESCRIPTION Axle brace Body filler spreaders Double air vent louver panel Filler prep Finned three-gauge panel Flextex VT quart Hose clamp assortment Mechanical triple auto gauge set Padded dash filler Plastic welding kit Polyurethane 1⁄8-inch-diameter welding rod Talbot-style mirror

PN CHE9A 69564 Euramtec 1060FP 247-6124 3803-4 61890

PRICE $199.00 $7.99 $10.99 $9.99 $39.99 x2 $42.95 $5.99

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21900

56 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

SOURCE CHE Performance Harbor Freight eBay Polyvance Speedway Motors Polyvance Harbor Freight

Tony D. Branda Shelby and Mustang Parts eBay Lakewood Industries

$25.95 $39.99 x2 $27.99 $250.95

The Padded Dash Filler worked well filling in a test spot. However, the CC Underbird’s dash surface is so brittle that virtually the entire pad would need to be replaced with filler.

➔SOURCES

CHE Performance; 814/580-1147; CHEperformance.com/ Dremel Rotary Tools; Dremel.com eBay; ebay.com Lakewood Industries; 866/4646553; Holley.com/brands/lakewood/ Harbor Freight Tools Co.; 800/423-2567; HarborFreight.com Polyvance; 800/633-3047; Polyvance.com Tony D. Branda Shelby & Mustang Parts; 800/458-3477; Cobranda.com Speedway Motors; 800/979-0122; SpeedwayMotors.com

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By John McGann and Brandan Gillogly / Photos: Wes Allison, Dominick Damato, John McGann, Brandan Gillogly, and Jacob Davis

I

f you love hot cars, tire smoke, and blatant displays of horsepower, then Car Craft Summer Nationals is not to be missed. The official name of our show is the Chevrolet Performance Car Craft Summer Nationals Presented by Holley and MSD, which is both noteworthy and fitting because the show moved to a new location this year: Bowling Green, Kentucky’s Beech Bend Raceway Park. A hotbed of horsepower, Bowling Green is home to the Corvette assembly plant, the National Corvette Museum, the NCM Motorsports Park, and is the headquarters of Holley Performance Products.

Beech Bend has been a public gathering facility since the 1880s. The amusement park was built after World War II and a dragstrip was added in the 1950s.

The dragstrip’s iconic, covered grandstands and wooden stadium seats give the place a vintage, timeless look, and we feel like that’s perfect for an event like the Summer Nationals. This was the first time in more than two decades the Nats was been held at a dragstrip; it was a deliberate move, as we wanted the Summer Nationals to be an all-encompassing automotive event. Our main goal was to put on an event that offered something for everyone to do: a car show for the power-parkers, the QA1 autocross for those who like to brake and turn, a chassis dyno to measure your

64 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

car’s power, and drag racing all weekend sponsored by Gear Vendors. In addition, we had some of the industry’s finest vendors on the manufacturer’s midway, so you could get some shopping done while at the show.

Chevrolet Performance was set up next to the main stage, showing off its latest performance models and newest additions to the company’s extensive parts catalog.

Special guests Larry Dixon and Jeff Lutz were with us all weekend, greeting fans and signing autographs.

The NHRA Champ was the show’s Grand Marshal, and he entered his 1966 Nova in our Midnight Drags competition; Lutz made several exhibition passes down the dragstrip in “Mad Max,” his Drag Week–winning Pro Mod Camaro. Al Unser Jr. was also in attendance, tearing up the autocross course with nephew Robbie in the Speedway Motors Camaros. We had several local drifters on hand who wowed the crowd throughout the weekend with displays of excessive oversteer. Though they initially made solo runs, the drivers upped the stakes with more and more tandem runs as the weekend progressed. At times you could barely see across the course, because the haze of tire smoke hung thick in the air. Of course, the autocross and dragstrip were open all weekend for fun runs, so there was never a break in the action.

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DECEMBER 2017 CARCRAFT.COM 65

SUMMER NATIONALS

PRO BUILDERS SHOOTOUT

The Pro Builders Shootout remains an ongoing component of the Summer Nationals, and it’s a way to highlight cars built by some of the best shops in the country. The builders are selected and invited by the Car Craft staff, but the show-going public casts the winning votes via text message. This year, Jeff Schwartz took home the top prize for his beautiful 1970 ’Cuda. From our perspective, any of these cars were good enough to win!

CUSTOM SHOP / FLANIGAN, IL / 1962 CORVETTE First-generation Corvettes aren’t a common sight at the Summer Nats, so even after a few laps around the Custom Shop’s “Copper Topless” 1962 C1, we couldn’t quite figure out where factory fiberglass ended and the custom work began.

We were initially struck by the big-block Chevy that was shoehorned into the car’s compact engine bay. As if a 596ci V8 weren’t enough, it’s force-fed with a Vortech supercharger to the tune of 1,048 hp. Owner/builder John Wargo walked us through some of this car’s modifications. There’s no top at all, so this is a full-time roadster. The glass has been chopped 3 inches and has custom pillars. The biggest modification we didn’t notice is that the body has been widened 3 inches in rear.

Pro-Spray paint supplied the Mango Tango paint. The tuckedin bumpers were sprayed satin silver and the fenders feature custom twin vents. Look for the dark spots in the custom windshield pillars: those are the custom sideview cameras.

HOT ROD CHASSIS AND CYCLE / ADDISON, IL / 1967 CHEVELLE Chad Hill and the crew from Hot Rod Chassis & Cycle brought their recently completed 1967 Chevelle they call “Rush.” Built in a road-racing style, it has the right look with a front splitter, a rear wing, a Ridetech Tiger Cage, and plenty of LS horsepower and a Ridetech suspension to back it up. After several versions of renderings, the final color scheme used a factory Mitsubishi blue and an offcenter cream stripe with Chevy Orange accents. VFN built the fiberglass decklid with the custom spoiler designed by Chad Hill. A track-tuned suspension from Ridetech includes remote-reservoir coilovers, a Moser 9-inch, American Racing wheels, Wilwood brakes, and Nitto NT05 tires. Custom SS 376 emblems are from Billet Badges and have Chevy orange accents to match the stripe. An LSA V8 with a Camaro ZL1 charge-cooler lid put out a bit more than the factory-rated 580 hp. Recaro seats and fourpoint harness hold the front occupants in tight and a Ridetech Tiger Cage helps reinforce the chassis for consistent handling.

A Tremec six-speed was installed using a Hurst driveline kit that works with the factory four-speed console.

SCHWARTZ PERFORMANCE / WOODSTOCK, IL / 1970 PLYMOUTH ’CUDA One look at this ’Cuda and you can tell it’s not your ordinary E-body. ’Cudas are some of the most brash ponycars to come out of Detroit, with shaker hoods, bright paint, and unruly Hemi V8s. This particular build from Schwartz Performance has the striking pearl orange and a Hemi of its own, but sets itself apart with a righthand-drive conversion that took quite a bit of custom fabrication. If you’ve ever peeked inside a Mopar E-body, you’d notice the entire drivetrain and trans tunnel are shifted toward the passenger side to help with steering clearance. The car’s owner lives in India, where left-hand drive is a no-go, so Schwartz fabricated new floorboards, a trans tunnel, and steering that moved everything to the left to make room to move the steering to the right. A complete custom interior was built and Recaro seats were upholstered in matching leather. They feature cooling vents that route air through the perforated leather. The console shifter is linked to a GM 4L80E transmission. Arrington Performance built the 426ci Gen III Hemi that’s topped by Arrington’s Eaton supercharger. Whopping 345mm Michelin Pilot Sports are mounted to three-piece Foose Nitrous wheels.

66 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

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SUMMER NATIONALS

MUSCLE CAR RESTORATION / CHIPPEWA FALLS, WI / 1964 FORD GALAXIE Longtime Pro Builder participants Muscle Car Restorations brought this beautiful 1964 Galaxie. This tasteful build includes a Keith Craft–built, 460-based 514-inch engine making upward of 670 hp with a forged rotating assembly, a big hydraulic-roller cam, and ported Edelbrock cylinder heads and intake—all breathing through a Quick Fuel carburetor. A TKO 600 transmission connects to a 9-inch rear with 4.10:1 gears, and the suspension consists of Ridetech Shockwave air springs and a four-link rear suspension. We loved the car’s color, which the MCR guys called Brandywine and said was based off a Hoveround mobility scooter someone had in the shop.

AMSOIL UNDISCOVERED BUILDERS SHOWCASE

In contrast to the Pro Builders, the Amsoil Undiscovered Builders showcase brings in local talent from the ranks of up-andcoming builders—guys who don’t necessarily have a nationwide reputation, but whose work is deserving of just that—and this year’s Undiscovered Builders section mostly consisted of hot rodded trucks, a sign that early pickups have been fully embraced by the community as viable alternatives to the increasingly expensive and unobtanium status of 1960s-era muscle cars.

CHUCKLES GARAGE / SANTA ROSA, CA Scott Birdsall of Chuckles Garage brought a 1941 Ford pickup, but this one is just plain mean-looking, with its compound-turbocharged Cummins diesel that packs 1,200 hp and 2,000 lb-ft of torque. We first saw this build at the 2016 SEMA Show and were impressed with the quality and attention to detail. In the months since, it’s been featured on Motor Trend OnDemand’s House of Muscle and Hoonigan videos, as well as being written up in Road & Track.

GREEN MOUNTAIN GEARHEADS /

WILLISTON, VT

Josh Munson brought a 1966 Suburban. It had the rat-rod patina that’s all the rage these days, but an unusual engine swap was thrown in to make things interesting. This Suburban surf wagon was powered by a 5.4L Modular Ford that Josh grabbed from an old shop truck. If that wasn’t crazy enough, he plumbed in a pair of Precision turbochargers to really blow peoples’ minds. This truck was full of interesting details, like the homemade air-suspension controls, the air compressor hidden in an old cooler, and the Coyote intake manifold adapted to fit the Mod motor’s cylinder heads.

68 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

JACK’S SPEED SHOP /

FT. WAYNE, IN

Owner Ross Nichols brought his 1941 Ford pickup.

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SUMMER NATIONALS

EDITOR’S CHOICE

EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARDS

The show concluded Sunday afternoon with the Editor’s Choice awards; the cars were picked at the discretion of your author and were comprised of cars that best represented the Car Craft ethos.

This was no easy task, as there were dozens of worthy cars in attendance.

Congratulations to this year’s winners!

BEST OF SHOW BEST PRO STREET BEST CHEVROLET BEST FORD BEST BOP BEST MOPAR BEST PAINT BEST PRO TOURING BEST INNOVATION BEST 1969 CAMARO CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE AWARD

➔ Best BOP: Jeff Schwar 1966 Tempest.

Matthew Goins Matthew Goins Michael Goodman Chris Slee Jeff Schwartz Daniel Janke Larry Barnaby Chris German Tony Netzel Jeff Lutz Larry Dixon

BURNOUT CONTEST

MIKE WARREN / MODEL T The burnout contest was held on the autocross track Friday evening just before the show closed for the day. In a departure from the norm, we ran the cars in tandem, and the spectacle had an Australian feel as the cars spun around, doing donuts, rather than just spinning the rear wheels with the car remaining stationary. In the end, Mike Warren emerged victorious, as his turbocharged, big-block-Chevypowered Model T obliterated a set of Mickey Thompson drag radials for the win. Runner-up honors went to Jerry Kowalski, who used his 1965 El Camino to ruin a set of tires.

70 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

tz’s

1971 Camaro 1971 Camaro 1969 Nova (Midnight Drags winner) 1966 Mustang 1966 Tempest 1964 Savoy 1968 Camaro 1970 Camaro 1961 Belvedere “Mad Max” Pro Mod 1966 Nova

THANKS!

: Many thanks go to our show sponsors , Chevrolet Performance, Holley, MSD QA1, and Gear Vendors Under/Overon drive—we couldn’t have put the show next us join to s plan e Mak you! without the year at Beech Bend Raceway Park for it’s s; onal Nati mer Sum t Craf 2018 Car going to be great!

DECEMBER 2017 CARCRAFT.COM 71

OVERDRIVE

Michael Goodman Wins the Car Craft Midnight Drags 72 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

By Douglas R. Glad / Photos: Wes Allison

Mike Goodman, Rick Manager John Viscardo, winner Left to right: Car Craft General Editor John McGann. t Craf Car and e, rdriv Under/Ove Johnson, owner of Gear Vendors

DECEMBER 2017 CARCRAFT.COM 73

CAR CRAFT MIDNIGHT DRAGS

J

ust when we thought we had slowed down the competition using a tire restriction, Mike Goodman showed up with his show-carquality 1969 Nova SS and flattened the field with an 8.01 at 163 mph on a “small tire” ET Drag Radial Pro. Midnight Drags Presented by Gear Vendors Under/Overdrives is Car Craft’s annual grudge-style, minimalrules drag race, held in conjunction with the Chevrolet Performance Car Craft Summer Nationals Presented by Holley and MSD, and the car counts continue to rise as the racing on track gets closer every year.

After Bryant Goldstone ran deep into the 7s last year at the 2016 Car Craft Midnight Drags in his 200-mph Drag Week Javelin, race master Lonnie Grim backed off the tire size to a maximum of 315 or 11.5 inches to generally line up with current small-tire rules and keep the event competitive for the guys driving homebuilt street cars with mini-tubs and backseats. Goldstone showed up this year in his twin-turbo 1970 Chevelle on a Mickey Thompson 315 Radial Pro, but was put down when the car began to wheelie and

The powerplant in Hodson’s Camaro is a stock 5.3L LS with an 84mm BorgWarner turbo. He added a Brian Tooley cam and Holley’s High Ram intake and EFI. The Camaro has run 8.80 at 157. It’s simple and fast.

74 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

Mike Hadley snuck into the game at the last minute and failed to divulge his combo.

Typical for small-tire guy in a fast street car.

Right: This is what it takes to win the Midnight Drags in front of thousands of screaming fans.

Mike Goodman’s combo is a simple, highcompression bigblock with a big shot of nitrous oxide.

Goodman’s Nova looks better in person than any photo can reproduce. And it’s fast.

Above: You might recognize Adam Hodson’s 1973 Camaro from previous events. Each year it gets a little bit faster.

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CAR CRAFT MIDNIGHT DRAGS

The Midnight Drags is a random-pairing, heads-up shootout. If you qualify for the fast 16, your name is drawn from a hat each round and you race. Want lane choice? You make a deal or flip a coin. There is no time for crying. The winner gets a grand, a jacket, and a nice photo in Car Craft.

Goldstone wisely lifted to stay off the rear bumper. Former champion Chris Bishir hurt the engine in his 8-second S-10 and didn’t make the show.

Runner-up Doug Flynn’s combo was another legit street car. The 1972 Nova has a high-compression, 582-inch bigblock Chevy running nitrous and EFI. It was in the mid-8s all night with a losing 8.56, posting a chute-stretching 160-mph trap speed in the final round.

There were two other Novas in the final four that were not only fast but had show-car money in them. Mike Hadley’s 1968 Nova ran 8.37 at 156 mph that was, unbelievably, not enough to beat Mike Goodman in his 1969 Nova. Goodman bought his Nova for $200 more than 25 years ago and has been working on it ever since. The combo is a 557-inch Chevy engine with a Merlin block, 14.0:1 compression, and a pair of Dart Pro 1 345cc cylinder heads. On top of the Edelbrock Super Victor is a Monte Smith nitrous plate and a 1,400-cfm Dominator carburetor.

Backed by a Coan TH400 and a Dana 60 with 4.56:1 gears, the Nova has run as fast as 7.80 at 176 and 5.01 at 141 in the eighth-mile.

Don’t think you can compete? With $50 and a 9-second car, you can be right in the mix with these guys fighting for the Car Craft winner’s jacket, $1,000, and glory. Look for us next year at the 2018 Car Craft Midnight Drags Presented by Gear Vendors Under/Overdrive and maybe you can be next.

SPONSOR INFO

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76 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

Doug Flynn brought his trusty 1972 Nova jetted out of its mind on nitrous. With bottles and warmers spread all over the grass, Flynn and his son, Bobby, went round-by-round to the top, operating out of a basic open trailer and pickup truck.

Flynn’s combo is a 582-inch Chevy with a Dart Big M block, Dart Pro1 440cc 20-degree heads, and an unconventional Holley High Ram lid on an Edelbrock EFI base. The drive-by-wire throttle-bodies are mounted vertically on the lid. This car is a different kind of sleeper.

OVERDRIVE

This year, the final round had two turbo and two nitrous combinations all running between 8.00 and 9.00-second e.t.’s. The guys from Team 260 Motorsports helped Adam Hodson and his 1973 Camaro into the final four using a stock 5.3L LS bottom end, an 84mm turbo, and a factory 10-bolt. The car is good for 8.80s at almost 160 mph. Hodson managed to get in the semis with a string of low-9-second passes, then wicked it up and lost with an 8.98 against Doug Flynn’s 8.50

WTF? (Where’s The Fun?) What’s On Demand This Month SEPT 22

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SEPT. 30

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OCT. 7

OCT. 8

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British Touring Car Championship, Silverstone ENGINE MASTERS, EPISODE 27 GP Confidential, Post Malaya + Preview Japan GP Mobil 1 The Grid OCT. 11 HEAD 2 HEAD, EPISODE 95 OCT. 12 PUT UP OR SHUT UP, EPISODE 4 OCT. 13 LIVE! Formula D, Irwindale, CA Auto Mundial Motorsport Mundial Real Road Racing, Scarborough Gold Cup LIVE! DTM Championship, OCT. 14 Hockenheimring LIVE! Formula D, Irwindale, CA LIVE! Intercontinental Challenge Series, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca LIVE! Pirelli World Challenge, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca LIVE! FIA Formula 3 Championship, OCT. 15 Hockenheim LIVE! FIA Formula 3 Championship, Hockenheim LIVE! Pirelli World Challenge, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca OCT. 16 IGNITION, EPISODE 185 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, Hockenheim Real Road Racing, Scarborough Gold Cup GP Confidential, Post Japan + Preview OCT. 18 USA GP MODIFIED, EPISODE 6 OCT. 19 Ferrari Challenge Europe, Imola ROADKILL GARAGE, EPISODE 23 LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Gold OCT. 20 Coast 600 Auto Mundial Motorsport Mundial LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Gold OCT. 21 Coast 600 LIVE! VLN Endurance Racing, Nürburgring LIVE! European Le Mans Series, OCT. 23 Portimao British Touring Car Championship, Brands Hatch Mobil 1 The Grid OCT. 24 DIRT EVERY DAY, EPISODE 70 OCT. 26 HOT ROD GARAGE, EPISODE 58 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, Sandown OCT. 27 Auto Mundial Motorsport Mundial ROADKILL, EPISODE 71

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The program information provided is subject to change.

KEY ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING Racing events

MotorTrendOnDemand.com 78 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

ECLECTIC COLLECTION Who: Chip Haines Where: Loris, SC Why: This picture proves that a true gearhead’s passion transcends all boundaries of make, model, or genre—look at the variety here! Chip bought this 1970 GTX brand new when he returned from Vietnam and restored it 12 years ago. The tractor is a 1951 Ford 8N he finished restoring five years ago. The C10 is a 1967 shortbed he bought three years ago and is still working on.

FLOODED THEN FIXED Who: Steve Roth Where: Franklin, TN Why: Steve bought this 1966 El Camino about 10 years ago. It was damaged and subsequently totaled during a flood in 2010. Undeterred, he rebuilt the car anyway, stripping it to a shell, repairing the wiring, and rebuilding the car. He’s nearly done, too—he’s just waiting on some of the trim pieces to come back from the polisher.

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WTF?

➔AD INDEX

GOLD TO PETTY BLUE

Who: Jim Feist Where: Mankato, MN Why: Jim was the original owner of the 1973 Duster in the background. He had to sell the car after getting married years ago and always wanted to have it back.

Though he couldn’t buy his original car back, he built one just like it. He started with a slant-six-powered Gold Duster and added some modern touches, including a 2003 5.7 Hemi, MSD’s Atomic EFI, A518 overdrive automatic from a Ram pickup, bucket seats from a 2004 Sebring, and the console and shifter from a 2005 300C. He took this picture with the new car parked in front of his old car.

BLOWN-UP PART (of the month)

➔LETTERS 5.0L LOVE

We have received several letters praising our 302 vs. 305 series, which is surprising because online comments tended to be negative. Keep in mind, this series is about working with what you’ve got. Millions of 1980s- and 1990s-era cars came with these engines. Not all of them need to be unceremoniously replaced with 350s.

—JM “I love the series and can’t wait for more. It’s nice to see downto-earth articles on everyday engines that many of us have in our rides!”

—Greg Chandler, via email “I am very happy about the 302 vs. 305 articles by Richard Holdener. Using the TPI engine was inspired. I am excited about following this build.”

—Steven Horosko, via email

“I am part of the pit crew for a friend’s Formula Atlantic team.

The engines in these cars are 1,600cc twin-cam Toyota engines that make about 270 hp at 9,000 rpm. Here’s what happens when they drop a valve at those engine speeds!”

—Darrell Brenner, Fremont, CA

BURNOUT!!

➔SEND STUFF TO CAR CRAFT!

email: CarCraft@carcraft.com online: CarCraft.com social media: Facebook.com/ CarCraftMag mail: 831 S. Douglas St. El Segundo, CA 90245 don’t forget: Include your make/ model of car and your city/state.

80 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

ing “My 1991 Mustang. I just got it runn s. after sitting in my garage for two year a so ing, work isn’t The Traction-Lok a rebuild is on the horizon, but it does el.” el-pe good one-whe —Terry Schriver, Festus, MO

Airaid Intake Systems Amsoil Auto Meter Automotive Racing Prods Avid Pro Medical Baer Racing Blaster Corporation Bradford Exchange Brodix Chevrolet Performance Parts Classic Industries Classic Performance Products Copenhagen Ctech Dakota Digital Design Engineering Drive Train Specialists Fitech Fuel GBodyParts.com Gear Vendors Golden Hippo Gorilla Glue Great Neck Saw Hagerty Insurance Hamilton Collection Hankook Tire Harbor Freight Tools Holley Performance Products Jon Kasse Racing Engines Koolmat Insulation Leader Industries Lincoln Educational Service Live Cell Research M/E Wagner MacNeil Automotive Mondello Performance Moroso Motor Trend OnDemand NHRA Optima Batteries Original Parts Group Performance Automatic Performance Online Performance Suspension Technology Pertronix QA1 Precision Products Quick Performance Ratech Red Seal (SUB regional) Rhoads Lifters Rock Auto Rockland Standard Gear Scat Enterprises SEMA Shaftech Spectre Performance Strange Engineering Summit Racing Thermo Tec Vintage Wheel Works Wilwood Engineering

57 17 23 31 81 61 43 25 41 CV2 6–7 19 CV3 63 59 59 81 11 33 63 81 67 69 5 39 CV4 36–37 30 69 69 81 29 67, 75 33 47 81 57 79 55 21 45 69 53 59 32 67 61 69 27 33 77 61 51 79 81 51 41 15 31 30 49

The ad index is published as a service to our readers. Due to last-minute changes, we cannot guarantee correct page numbers or accuracy of listings.

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PONTIAC BONNEVILLE AT BONNEVILLE

CAR CRAFT (ISSN 0008-6010); December 2017, Vol. 65, No. 12. Copyright 2017 by TEN: The Enthusiast Network Magazines, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Published monthly by TEN: The Enthusiast Network, LLC, 261 Madison Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 707.4.12.5); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Car Craft, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Subscription rates for 1 year (12 issues): U.S., APO, FPO and U.S. Possessions $20.00. Canada $32.00. All other countries $44.00 (for surface mail postage). Payment in advance, U.S. funds only. For subscription inquiries please email carcraft@emailcustomerservice.com, call 800/800-7697 (386/447-6385, international), or write to Car Craft, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Six weeks’ notice is required to change a subscriber’s address. Please give both old and new addresses and label.

By Thomas Voehringer / Photo: Car Craft Archives

Bonneville Salt Flats, 1962: Like most contests of speed, history usually finds a place for the truly unique, the highly skilled, and the fortunate. The rank and file often have only their names in a program to mark their valiant efforts. In this case, it’s Bobby Cox out of Lynwood, California, with his 380-cid 1958 Pontiac Bonneville; running a 380 put Cox in the C/Gas Coupes and Sedans. This photo was one of four vehicles described by Car Craft Managing Editor Lynne Wineland: “In the constant search for power and a way to cram greater amounts of the rarified air into large-displacement engines, late-model sedans and sleeker sports cars sprouted appendages designed to trap the wind and force it to the engine.” The Cox car, however, was unique in its choice of ram air equipment: furnace pipe, flex pipe, and metal strapping, which fed the dual-quad setup on the normally aspirated engine. Check out the exhaust plumbing—literally. They look like cast iron with taper threads on the ends. Nothing goes to waste at the Cox household. Wineland describes the car as a “153mph Bonneville,” which would be 4 mph shy of the class record, set in 1960.

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