The Official Hot Rod Thread

[thunderchicken]

I think there are cars from all of our pasts that we wish we had. Too bad most of us will never realize the dream of having the cars we shoulda kept or someone else had that was one of the reasons we enjoy hot rods to this day. But we most of us can pick one of those car or trucks and invest the time and resources to actually enjoy it

 

[Gluemanz28]

Hybrid Ford Mustang.

It jus ain't right!

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vi...sdale's most anticipated and a Baldwin Camaro

 

[thunderchicken]

I agree that's just not right

 

[RustyHornet]

Sign me up for a fully electric muscle car.

 

[Jeff]

Well until last year they had been under dang near the same rules for years. Everything ties together, they just continued tweaking cylnder heads by changing valve angles, intake and exhaust port designs, cam shafts..guys buy 4 or 5 different cam designs and beat motors to death on the dyno to find what works, and of course they played with carbs. But also everytime a good gain is made in HP it effects chassis set up so that has to be tweaked on. Everything has to work together. Lots of test test test. Then last year pro stock went to EFI and had most people scratching their head and butts trying to figure out how to tune it effectively. Also shock adjustments are HUGE in making a car go down the track

If the Pro Stockers can do this why can't the Street Outlaw guys? I would think they would have the means and know how.

As you can tell I am not a big fan of power adders. I remember the days when BG, WJ and the like would build their own with the knowledge they had/have.

 

[churchmouse]

If the Pro Stockers can do this why can't the Street Outlaw guys? I would think they would have the means and know how.

As you can tell I am not a big fan of power adders. I remember the days when BG, WJ and the like would build their own with the knowledge they had/have.

If you have ever been around a power search on a serious dyno you would understand the extent they go to in the search for power.
The funds involved are extensive and the knowledge required is the same.....extensive.
To build a very strong long block....hang on the boost/Nitrous and get it tuned, get it hooked up and reliable is about the extent of a working mans time.

In my younger years I was involved in the Indy car racing series and mainly the 500 as I live/grew up 10 blocks north of the track. Many many many friends involved professionally in the sport. When I was helping out at the Menards shop Butch always ran the top secret stuff in the evening. We would gather (those allowed) and help hang the engines and watch the slaughter take place. The search for qualifying power in a Buick (Spewic) V-6 was an endless and ultra expensive undertaking.
The engine has to live properly for at least 10 solid laps. 1 warm up and a couple at semi-speed for set up checks.
Put the short fuse in line. Roll it into the box, light the fuse and cross your fingers. 1 lap to get it rolling and 4 more flat out.
If you have done your job the work will net you a pole or at least a front row. If not you will be in the front 5 rows or you pull the car and put in the next short fused bullet. Back out and try again.
Just to get here there will be crates and buckets of shattered parts and pieces. Not cheap by any measure. I have ducked flying parts on several occasions.
Twist one of those beasts up to 9,500 R's and wow.

It was the same thing with the Hendricks GTP Corvette. Google the car. It was amazing. They claimed (depending on who) 850HP.
I personally saw 1250 at 110"s of boost. That was after 3 solid weeks of work. Then we had to make it live.......

All the easy stuff has already been found and you can buy it off the shelf. Making those pieces better or building your own is endless.

 

[Gluemanz28]

Does anybody know if the speedometer cable from a TH350 will work on a 700R4?

 

[churchmouse]

Does anybody know if the speedometer cable from a TH350 will work on a 700R4?

If not is there an adapter...???

 

[Gluemanz28]

If not is there an adapter...???

Not sure about the adapter. The guy from Monster Transmission said I would have to replace it with one from Jegs or Summit. I can't seem to find one. All I found was a kit to make your own. The guy at Monster Transmission wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. He had to keep asking others questions.

 

[thunderchicken]

If the Pro Stockers can do this why can't the Street Outlaw guys? I would think they would have the means and know how.

As you can tell I am not a big fan of power adders. I remember the days when BG, WJ and the like would build their own with the knowledge they had/have.

Let me explain it like this..I have spent several hours hanging out in an engine shop where the owner was killing parts on a dyno trying to find a little something extra in a N/A pro stock engine that cost lets say in the $50k range and make somewhere about 1450HP. And then when he loaded up his car he couldn't even qualify. Now those cars are super light weight 2400lb (if I recall correctly).
Our Pro Street car weighs 3150lb (minimum for class) an engine like our costs in the range of $35-40k makes in the ball park of 1250 N/A (not exact number...it's classified lol). We installed a nitrous kit for $1,000 and took small steps in tuning and BOOM our engine makes in the ball park of 2,000- 2,200HP. Now keep in mind pro stock is running 1/4 mile which = more time to build steam so to speak. We race (as do street outlaws) 1/8mile which means less time to build steam. Power adders make big HP without countless hours and tens of thousands of dollars in broken parts

 

[thunderchicken]

Also, back in the day Bob Glidden and WJ didn't have acess to parts with the same quality we have today. They had to work tirelessly to make those parts work as well as they did. Mostly because they had to

 

[churchmouse]

Also, back in the day Bob Glidden and WJ didn't have acess to parts with the same quality we have today. They had to work tirelessly to make those parts work as well as they did. Mostly because they had to

Did you read my post. I have spent untold time watching the very same process.
We would always have a cooler of beer to crack open when the mess was cleaned up and yes, we made a lot of very spendy messes. Conversation was deep and critical of what we all saw. The chief would always say most advances are made by accident while looking in another area.

 

[churchmouse]

The 1st engine I saw spill its innards sent parts bouncing off the walls and left a hole in the block. Actually took a chunk out of the block that was the center main webs. ................."Boom" and the oil was everywhere. Even a dry sump held a bit of oil.

 

[thunderchicken]

Did you read my post. I have spent untold time watching the very same process.
We would always have a cooler of beer to crack open when the mess was cleaned up and yes, we made a lot of very spendy messes. Conversation was deep and critical of what we all saw. The chief would always say most advances are made by accident while looking in another area.

Yep my experience has been parts annihilated on the dyno followed by the own telling everyone get the F out while he inspected everything. But he would twist a pro stock engine up 10,000 RPM. They sure do scream...or beg for mercy

 

[thunderchicken]

The 1st engine I saw spill its innards sent parts bouncing off the walls and left a hole in the block. Actually took a chunk out of the block that was the center main webs. ................."Boom" and the oil was everywhere. Even a dry sump held a bit of oil.

I had a car come in once with a broken connecting rod and the piston had blown the spark plug out..so boss said wanna see how I put the nails in the coffin and proceeded to hold it to the floor until rods were hanging out the side of the block....then I got to clean up his mess

 

[churchmouse]

Yep my experience has been parts annihilated on the dyno followed by the own telling everyone get the F out while he inspected everything. But he would twist a pro stock engine up 10,000 RPM. They sure do scream...or beg for mercy

Butch would put the brake on them and make them pull through it. It was a real experience. These were boosted to 55"s
The Chev. V-6 we ran in the GTP Vette was a serious piece. Being in the room with that engine pulling a solid 9500 at 110"s of boost was visceral.
I would tell you about the recip. components but there is an open end statute of limitations on this.

 

[churchmouse]

I had a car come in once with a broken connecting rod and the piston had blown the spark plug out..so boss said wanna see how I put the nails in the coffin and proceeded to hold it to the floor until rods were hanging out the side of the block....then I got to clean up his mess

"BOOM"

 

[Leadeye]

The gardener came in yesterday with some artifacts from her forest explorations. I don't know much about older Chevrolet models, but the caps look smaller than anything I've seen, sort of like dog dish caps on Mopars. Thoughts from the Chevy aficionados?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gary119]

Top are 1964 Bel air / Biscayne (409)

Bottom are 1959 chevy

 

[Leadeye]

Top are 1964 Bel air / Biscayne (409)

Bottom are 1959 chevy

Thanks for the info!