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

12

495-INCH
PONTIAC
MAKES
600 LB-FT!
LOUD.FAST.REAL.

DS • AWESOME CARS
2017 DRAG RACING • AUTOCROSS • AWAR

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

HANDS ON:
HIGH-TECH HEAT INSULATION INSTALLED
THE SCIENCE BEHIND DRIVELINE ANGLES

CarCraft.com
DECEMBER 2017
 CONTENTS
DECEMBER 2017
➔UP FRONT ➔ON THE COVER
04 SHOP TALK Midnight Drags and Summer 500 HP ON SPRAY: FORD 302 VS. CHEVY
305 SHOOTOUT PG. 12

College isn’t for everyone. Nationals coverage by Wes

Allison and Dominick Damato.
495-INCH
➔HANDS ON PONTIAC
MAKES
600 LB-FT!
08 HORSEPOWER!
495-inch Pontiac that delivers 594 lb-ft of torque.
➔FEATURES LOUD.FAST.REAL.
AWARDS • AWE
SOME CARS
58 KRASS & BERNIE • AUTOCROSS •

8
2017 DRAG RACING

A new kind of barn find.

64 CAR CRAFT SUMMER

NATIONALS 2017 PLUS:
MIDNIGHT
DRAGS
Showdown at Beech Bend. COVERAGE
8-SECOND STREET
CARS
BEECH BEND
TAKE OVER
RACEWAY

HANDS ON:
72 CCSN MIDNIGHT DRAGS HIGH-TECH HEAT INSULATION INSTALLED
THE SCIENCE BEHIND DRIVELINE ANGLES

Action and results!

CarCraft.com DECEMBER 2017
$5.99

➔BACK OF BOOK
78 WHERE’S THE FUN?
Check out the restored Ford tractor.

10 SPEED PARTS 82 REAR VIEW

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

64
The Bennett family has a pretty great garage.

38 BEAT THE HEAT!

Make more power with better heat control.

12 72
48 PROJECT CC UNDERBIRD
Cutting, welding, and melting together parts.

DECEMBER 2017 CARCRAFT.COM 3

 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 Pitts-
burgh, Butler County is a mixture of sub-
urbia 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 Automo-
tive, 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 produc-
tive 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 dealer-
ships 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 special-
ized 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 prob-
ably 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 some-
what 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 technol-
ogy 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 col-
lege 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 posi-
tions. Automotive repair is a highly
technical job now that computers
monitor or control nearly everything
your car does. Some of the most tal-
ented 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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Richard Holdener, Steve Magnante,
Rocky Rotella, Geoff Stunkard, Kevin Tetz,
George Trosley, Tina Vervoorn
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 HORSEPOWER!
495-INCH PONTIAC THAT DELIVERS A recurved Pontiac HEI provides 22 degrees
of mechanical advance by 3,200 rpm. With
594 LB-FT OF TORQUE a base setting of 10 degrees, the 32 degrees
Lou Rotella / Omaha, NE of total spark advance perfectly comple-
ments the fast-burn combustion chambers
This month’s installment of Horsepower! might be better of the Edelbrock cylinder heads.
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?

By Rocky Rotella / Photos: Rocky Rotella

A custom-ground Howards Cams hydraulic-

roller camshaft was designed to maintain
good idle and superb low-rpm street man-
ners. The specs are 219/229 degrees dura-
tion at 0.050 inch, 112-degree
lobe-separation angle, and an intake center-
line degreed at 108.5. Valve lift when com-
bined 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 multi-
angle 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. Combus-
tion-chamber volume measures 72 cc. The
custom pistons feature a 25cc dish, which Four-tube Dynomax headers feature 1.625-inch
effectively reduces rotating-assembly primary tubes and 3-inch collectors. A custom-
weight and yields a compression ratio of bent, 2.5-inch exhaust system featuring a trans-
10.5:1. verse-mounted Flowmaster muffler completes it.

8 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

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 cross-
over 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 connect-
ing 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 dam-
age. Available now in a compact, fully
enclosed housing to fit a wide range of
applications with 4L60E or 4L80E trans-
missions, it can be installed on the carbu-
retor or mounted directly to the firewall.
How much: $149.95, available from
TCI Automotive.
Learn more: TCI Automotive,
888/776-9824; TCIauto.com

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 big-
block Chevy oil pans (PN
24325) accommodates Moroso PERFORMANCE
PN 22149, 22159, 22150, 22160, BATTERY CHARGER AND
and 22162. In addition, it is MAINTAINER
compatible with Melling What it is: The Optima Digital 1200
77/77HV-style oil pumps. 12V performance battery charger and
How much: maintainer.
Approximately $50, available Why you care: The new Digital 1200
on Moroso.com. charger from Optima Batteries
Learn more: Moroso Performance Products; 203/453-6571; Moroso.com enhances the performance and life of
12V Optima and other high-performance
AGM batteries, can enhance and condi-
PERFORMER RPM CYLINDER HEAD FOR GEN III tion all lead-acid batteries, and revive life
HEMIS into deeply discharged batteries. Offer-
What it is: Edelbrock Performer RPM cylinder head for Gen III Hemi ing one of the best user interfaces on
powerplants. the market, advanced features of the
Why you care: The Performer RPM cylinder head is cast from A356 aluminum Digital 1200 charger include a USB
and heat-treated to T6 specs, reinforced rocker bosses deliver improved stability changing port, onboard storage for
and strength, and CNC-machined combustion chambers provide optimal air flow. cords, and a convenient handle and hook
The Eagle intake- and exhaust-port location allows for compatibility with the 5.7L that enhance its portability. The LCD
Eagle and later stock intake manifolds, exhaust mani- display has a convenient fuel-gauge-
folds, valve covers, rockers, spark plugs and style meter that displays analytics and
accessories, and Dodge Hellcat alerts users to the status of voltage,
components. amps, fill rate, mode settings, and
How much: $1,095.87 for the fault messages. An extended battery
bare unit (PN 61199) or warranty is offered with charger
$1,299.87 for the complete purchase. (See “Tested,” right.)
unit (PN 61109), available How much: $199.99, available direct
from authorized retailers like from Optima Batteries or authorized
Summit Racing. retailers.
Learn more: Edelbrock; Learn more: Optima Batteries,
310/791-2222; Edelbrock.com 888/867-8463; OptimaBatteries.com

10 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

 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 STARTING FROM

795
ONLY

$
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 400HP GO STREET EFI
could combust or explode
should they make a spark. Fol-
low instructions from the manu-
facturer and use common sense. LS INDUCTION KITS PORT EFI KITS
Remember to always connect
the positive lead to the battery
STARTING FROM
1 95
1495
$ STARTING FROM
1795
$

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 SYSTEMS FOR NEARLY EVERY TYPE OF APPLICATION, FROM
1933 Ford Factory Five coupe kit 150 TO 1200 HP…ASK OUR EXPERTS ABOUT STREET RODS,
car was a snap. We found the MUSCLECARS, OFF-ROAD, AUTOCROSS AND MORE!
operational functions of the
Optima Digital 1200 to be easy MASTER KITS AVAILABLE: TBI + FUEL SYSTEMS
and straightforward. This unit
will also accommodate optional
STARTING FROM $
994
AGM styles, flooded batteries
(with liquid electrolyte in the
cells), small engine batteries,
and deep-cycle types.
HANDS ON
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 fist-
fight 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 fuel-
injected 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 carbure-
tion 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 compa-
rable 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 pos-
sibility of fitment in the small-bore
305. Cylinder-head availability is defi-
nitely 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 situa-
tion, 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.

CARBURETED 305 CHEVY: NA VS. ZEX

vs.
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 ses-
sion, 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 pis-
ton-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 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
to the head ports, designed to maximize combination produced 376 hp at 6,000 rpm and 355 lb-ft of torque at 5,300 rpm.
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 signifi-
cant 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 The Chevy received similar treatment, with Trick Flow Super 23 heads, a Comp XR276HR
heads previously installed. Since Trick 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.
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

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HANDS ON
Trick Flow offered a set of its new CNC-
ported, 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 jet-
ting 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 car-
bureted 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 The position of the injectors required us to run a 2-inch Wilson tapered-combo spacer to
engagement, the higher the torque clear the throttle linkage. We relied on the same 650 XP Holley carburetor on the 305 Chevy.
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.
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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Prices subject to change without notice. Please note that kits and prices may vary between certain applications.
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 Speedmaster; 909/605-1123; Speedmaster79.com

Trick Flow Specialties; 330/630-1555; TrickFlow.com
Comp Cams; 901/795-2400; Comp.com
Edelbrock; 310/781-2222; Edelbrock.com Wilson Manifolds; 954/771-6216;
Holley; 270/782-2900; Holley.com WilsonManifolds.net/wm/ecart/
MSD; 915/857-5200; MSDignition.com Zex; 888/817-1008; Zex.com

20 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

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 DRIVELINE ALIGNMENT
HANDS ON

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 consid-
erations 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 drive-
line angles may be changing in the pro-
cess 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 drive-
shafts, yokes, and bearings.
There is now a good amount of infor-
mation available about driveshaft tech-
nology and geometry. This technology
Driveline Terminology
had initially been developed for produc-
tion cars, but high-horsepower applica-
tions 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 com-
ponents 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 drive-
shaft will be the same and opposite.
And when a UJ operates with any sig-
nificant amount of driveline angle, it
creates a problem. The bearings speed
up and slow down twice per revolution
of the driveshaft. This causes an oscil-
lation in the powertrain. The more
angle we have, the higher the peaks of
oscillation we see, and therefore the
The component names for the drive-
line 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 rota-
tional connection between the drive-
shaft 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.

22 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

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HANDS ON
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
CHANGING
DRIVELINE ANGLES
You can change either the front (trans-
mission-output shaft angle) or the
back (pinion angle) height of the drive-
shaft. 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 Driveshaft alignment is critical to reducing
power loss and vibrations that can kill

3) Looseness in the fit of any

need to check to see if the overall components. Basically, the transmission-
driveshaft to pinion or transmission output shaft and the pinion shaft need to
of the parts angle is excessive. In almost every be parallel to one another, and if they are,

4) Unbalanced parts
5) Component deflection
6) Reaching critical speed.
case, the transmission shaft is higher the angles they make with the driveshaft
will be opposite. Modern, high-performance
than the pinion shaft. To reduce the
angle to the driveshaft, you would
cars should have near-zero pinion and
transmission angles measured in relation to
need to drop the transmission-mount
height and angle the engine/transmis-
the driveshaft.

We will examine some of these sion down to the rear.

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 mea-
sured from a side view but also from a
top view. Some designs can have a lat-
eral displacement of the rear of the
driveshaft from the front. That creates
a driveshaft angle at both the trans-
mission 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 drive-
shaft 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 stand-
point, the angle
of the driveshaft
to both the
transmission-
output shaft and
the pinion shaft
should be equal
and also
opposite.
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 avail-
able in different degrees of angle.
YOKE DESIGN
The only attachment design for holding
the UJs in high-performance applica-
tions is the strap design. The U-bolt
attachment that is commonly used on
passenger cars and trucks is not con-
sidered acceptable for several reasons.
One reason is that it has less
strength than the strap design; two, it
may distort the bearing caps if over-
torqued; 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.
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, stan-
dard zerk designs are used for produc-
tion 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 fit-
ting and therefore a solid core. This unit
has precision seals that keep the lubri-
cant 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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HANDS ON
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 measur-
able degree of run-out. You can test the
run-out after the installation of the UJ
in the pinion-yoke by using a dial indi-
cator 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 reduc-
ing driveline vibration.
BALANCING THE
DRIVE ASSEMBLY
The only true way to balance a drive-
shaft is through the use of a two-plane
balancer, one that simultaneously bal-
ances 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 bal-
ancer 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 criti-
cal 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 pinion-
shaft 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 collaps-
ing and falling out of the ring groove. Be
sure that the snap ring is seated com-
pletely 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 horse-
power range you will be running in your
type of car. Check driveline parts peri-
odically 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-perfor-
mance automotive enthusiasts.
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 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 high-
performance 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; 800/556-
6126; 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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 ASK ANYTHING
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 lift-
ers) 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 Chev-
rolet, Ford, and Chrysler sat down to
design the first wave of overhead-
valve, 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 manu-
facturer 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 small-
block (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 machine-
station 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 diam-
eter 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 non-
issue. 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) lift-
ers 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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 ASK ANYTHING

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 lifter-
face surface area is counterpro-
ductive. 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 aggres-
sive acceleration rates.
Over the years, more progres-
sive 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 after-
market camshafts are designed
just for their particular favorite
engine, the fact is many com-
monly 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
Classic Alloy Wheels 471 W. Imperial Hwy. Mopar engines and is known for
Vintage Style with La Habra, CA 90631 its “start-from-scratch” cam
Modern Performance designs. The company makes full
(714) 278-1600 use of the larger Chrysler
MUSTANG • CAMARO • FAIRLANE • CHALLENGER BARRACUDA • CORVETTE • CHEVELLE • GTO • NOVA 0.904-inch-diameter lifter face to
allow more active cam lobes than
V40 certain cams based on the indus-
try-standard 0.843-inch Chevy
lifter diameter.
While on the topic of machin-
ing the lifter bores of non-Chrys-
ler blocks to accept the Chrysler
 Technology
lifters, it’s up to the customer/
engine builder to determine if
Inside and
the sub-10-percent gain in lifter
working diameter opens the
Outside
door to a worthwhile boost in
additional cam movement.
Unless you’re racing in some
class that demands standard-
ized cam-lobe specs, the mod-
est 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; 309/745-
9558; HughesEngines.com ARP Fasteners Make Today’s
High Tech Engines Even Better
BENCH-BLEED BLUES One of master engine builder Ken Duttweiler’s latest
Randy Flick; via CarCraft. projects involved a DOHC Ford Coyote, which has been
com: In just about every article treated to a full compliment of ARP fasteners. On the
concerning swapping out a outside, ARP polished stainless steel 12-point bolts
brake master cylinder, we are are employed to attach everything with total security.
told to bench-bleed the unit And on the inside, ARP head and main studs, plus rod
before installing it (for obvious bolts (which come from the factory in Aluminator crate
reasons). It has always been my motors) allow Duttweiler to work his magic with total
practice to bolt the master cylin-
confidence. From Coyotes to flatheads, ARP has what
der in place—leaving the brake
lines unattached—attach the you need for performance and reliability.
bleeder lines, and use the brake
pedal to pump and bleed the cyl-
inder. 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, 800-826-3045 Get a FREE copy of the
or have I been doing it wrong for w w w.arp -bolts.com new 2017 catalog online
50-plus years?

Steve Magnante: Good ques-

tion, Randy. I’ve also taken to
mounting the brake master

KEEP IT COOL, REFLECT

cylinder to the car and rigging
temporary shorty lines from the
pressure ports back into the res-
ervoir. As long as care is exer-
7 ) # +
$



cised and paint-friendly
synthetic fluid is used, it gets
the job done. However, this
doesn’t answer your core ques-
tion as to why bench-bleeding
has been recommended for
decades. I think there are a few
answers. First, before the 9 

ZZZ á 
         
 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 snap-
in cap seals the floor after
service.
Some products are NOT Legal for Sale or Use in California on Any Pollution Controlled Motor Vehicles.
Refer to the Emissions Code in the Manufacturer's application and part number listings.
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 mas-
ter-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 sus-
pended 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 groundbreak-
ing 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 under-
hood 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, through-
the-floor brake pedals into the
early 1960s.
If we focus on those pre-1955
cars with their awkward, hard-to-
access, underfloor brake master
cylinders, bench-bleeding prior to
installation was virtually manda-
tory. 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 auto-
mobile was sold, by the mid-1950s
more than a half century of
momentum existed. Mechanics
with years of experience of pre-
bleeding 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
HARD TO FIND?
through quality control. If a single
lip seal is installed on the piston
backward or if a drilled passage
isn’t complete, the master cylin-
der 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 manufac-
turers 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 accom-
plished. 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 per-
centage of the reservoir empty
since a wedge-shaped air void is
created when the cover is
secured in place. Does this non-
horizontal 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 7207 CC MMMM SSSSSS • BSSBSB, NC 27812 • SMBSSΜGBBBBPMSSS..B. • 252-825-3293 • FMF 252-825-3295
care, in-car master cylinder pre-
bleeding is just as effective as
bench-bleeding. However, in that
rare instance when a manufactur-
ing flaw renders the unit inopera-
tive, isn’t it better to discover this
fact before you’ve expended the
time and effort to mount it? Oil leaks?
Tuning Problems?
ASK ANYTHING—
WE’VE GOT SOLUTIONS!
CarCraft@CarCraft.com Find out why
CarCraft.com stock PCV valves
Car Craft Mag won’t work on
831 S. Douglas St. modified engines.
El Segundo, CA 90245

Go to: www.mewagner.com
or call 570-899-4544
 THIS GUY’S GARAGE
A fourth-generation farmer who “The memorabilia is sort of my hobby,” Fred says.
has lived on this same homestead “I’m a farmer. I don’t play golf or have a boat, so I just
for most of his life, Fred’s cruising got into collecting it. I’ve been doing this type of
time is spent in this 1965 Plymouth stuff for seven or eight years. When I am thinking
Fury III, now fortified with 440 about buying something, the main thi ng to me is
cubes of Mopar iron lung. After all, that I like it. I don’t collect it just to own something.”
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.

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 per-
sonal 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 hun-
dred 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 clean-
est 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 extin-
guishers, 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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 BEAT
PROJECT GARAGE

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 Dom-
inator 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.
Excessive heat prematurely wears out
components too. For example, the trans-
mission, 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 experi-
ence, heat is not your friend. Nobody
wants to be cooked out of the cabin
while driving, so heat control is impor-
tant 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.

38 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

 Vintage
GAS Pump
Replica
s
Measure
a BIG
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12" High

Celebrates the 50th Anniversary

of the F d Mustang!

Globe
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Real rubber hoses and more realistic

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approval. Three AAA batteries required; not included.
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.
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.
40 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017
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.
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.
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PROJECT GARAGE

The finished
installation looks
great, even though it’s
almost completely invisible
from the top. The magic is in the
insulation factor, and Heatshield
With the plastic backing removed from the adhesive, I-M Shield Products claims as much as a
sticks permanently to the manifold, and we made several relief 15hp gain for LS engines due to
cuts to wrap the shield around the runners. the cooler air charge

Lava Boots can withstand 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit continuous heat Stealth Shield is a lightweight fabric, roughly 1⁄8-inch thick, that is
and will protect your plug wires from header heat and spark loss due designed to be installed under the carpet and between the headliner
to deterioration. Plug boots are mandatory if you’re using headers. 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.

www.BlasterCorp.com

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,
Here you can see the top and bottom of the mufflers, and you can which significantly reduces
see what the attention to detail creates. This DIY kit looks like a engine-bay temperatures
production product and will insulate the interior against heat and (we measured a reduction of
also reduce some of the exhaust noise entering the cabin. nearly 50 degrees) as well
as delivering performance
gains due to more efficient
evacuation of exhaust gases
from the cylinders.

PARTS LIST
I-M Shield $45.00 kit
Lava Shield Spray Plug Booths
Muffler Armor Kit
$155.00
$109.00
➔SOURCES
Heat Shield Products; 800/750-3978;
Stealth Shield fabric $67.95
Hooker Super Comp Headers $740.00 HeatShieldProducts.com
Spray Adhesive $8.00 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

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 PROJECT CC UNDERBIRD:
PROJECT GARAGE

CUTTING, WELDING, AND

MELTING TOGETHER PARTS
By John Gatliff / Photos: John Gatliff

We Weld Up Our Axle Brace, Fabricate Some Dirt-

Cheap 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,” hun-
dreds 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
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, attrac-
tive, high-impact, street/strip machine
and slop-ups such as 1990s sport com-
pacts 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

48 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

PROJECT GARAGE

Instead of cutting up the trailing-arm
brackets on the Lakewood Lift Bar kit,
Matt Myers sliced off the thinner gauge-
mounting 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 trailing-
arm 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 compromis-
ing strength. He volunteered to fit and
weld the CHE axle brace to the Fox
Mustang Lakewood Lift Bar brackets.
The result is brilliant.
While we were tempted to address the
The initial mock-up of the finned gauge
problem with a hacksaw and a file, Myers
panels showed a distracting parting line
milled the panels for us with the precision
between them. The corner radius fits well
GAUGE PANELS AND with the late Turbo Coupe dash contour.
of a proper machinist to reduce the parting
line and improve fit.
AIR-CONDITIONING
VENTS
The hot trend, from NASCAR to Street
Outlaws, is to replace traditional analog l gauge
We disassembled the mechanica
es for
gauges with expensive electronic data- set and cut apart two of the gaug
rings.
acquisition panels. We decided adding their outer housings and mounting
a trick 21st-century digital dash to the
CC Underbird would seem as out of Our eBay-sourced RV vent louver
place as Lady Gaga at a VFW picnic. panel featured rotating vents that
While some 1980s cars infamously are small enough to fit into a 2 1⁄8-
featured early digital-dash technology, inch gauge hole.

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

50 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

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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.

Thunderbird Turbo Coupes were “transit stages.” Replacing the space-

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.
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 entertain-
ment (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 mis-
sion requires keeping some air-condi-
tioning function for the highway
wasting factory clock and center-stack
HVAC vents with smaller 21⁄8-inch
vents and gauges mounted in double-
stacked, 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 detail-
ing 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 center-
stack 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 sel-
dom attractive. But eliminating them
completely or relying solely on a NAS-
CAR-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 We removed the electric mirror mechanism Our first test fit of the mirror electric works
surface area than the ugly, stock sideview from a Lincoln Mark VIII sideview mirror we into the disassembled Talbot housing
lumps. But they make up for it in timeless had on hand. Other available electric mirrors revealed that the mechanism needed
competition style. appear to have similarly sized internals. substantial trimming to fit.

52 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

PROJECT GARAGE

The electric mechanism nestles much lower into the mirror housing
We cut away the factory retaining ring with the Dremel Rotary after the modifications. We modified the mechanism further to
Tool and removed other, nonessential portions of the housing that allow the mirror to bolt together, being careful to preserve the
interfered with reassembly of the Talbot-style mirror. 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
We de-soldered the head. After final
factory electrical adjustments on the
connections CC Underbird, we
because they will waterproof the
interfered with the mechanism with
mirror housing. silicone and “pot
We soldered on in” the wiring for
new wiring that we protection.
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.
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 fis-
sures to repair.

54 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

 Leah Pritchett
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 The Padded Dash Filler
needs Filler Prep to
PROJECT GARAGE
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

The Polyvance repair system is based on its of the sanded dash filler to restore
Padded Dash Filler. Although similar in smell and texture. Spray-gun settings control
application to autobody filler, it stays flexible to the roughness of the finish.
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 The Padded Dash Filler worked well filling

DESCRIPTION PN SOURCE PRICE in a test spot. However, the CC Underbird’s
Axle brace CHE9A CHE Performance $199.00 dash surface is so brittle that virtually the
entire pad would need to be replaced with
Body filler spreaders 69564 Harbor Freight $7.99 filler.
Double air vent louver panel Euramtec eBay $10.99
Filler prep
Finned three-gauge panel
1060FP
247-6124
Polyvance
Speedway Motors
$9.99
$39.99 x2
➔SOURCES
CHE Performance; 814/580-1147;
Flextex VT quart 3803-4 Polyvance $42.95 CHEperformance.com/
Hose clamp assortment 61890 Harbor Freight $5.99 Dremel Rotary Tools; Dremel.com
Mechanical triple auto gauge eBay; ebay.com
41017 Harbor Freight $17.99
set Lakewood Industries; 866/464-
Padded dash filler 2050-9 Polyvance $21.95
6553; Holley.com/brands/lakewood/
Plastic welding kit 96712 Harbor Freight $69.99
Harbor Freight Tools Co.;
Polyurethane 1⁄8-inch-diameter
R01-01-03-NT Polyvance $25.95 800/423-2567; HarborFreight.com
welding rod
Polyvance; 800/633-3047;
Tony D. Branda
Polyvance.com
Talbot-style mirror MIR7 Shelby and $39.99 x2
Tony D. Branda Shelby &
Mustang Parts
Mustang Parts; 800/458-3477;
Three-gauge pod NA eBay $27.99
Lakewood Cobranda.com
Traction action lift bars 21900 $250.95 Speedway Motors; 800/979-0122;
Industries
SpeedwayMotors.com

56 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

 CLEAN UP YOUR ACT
WITH AIR-OIL SEPARATORS
Why have your engine compartment an oily mess, Universal Large Body
or have the smell of oil come in through your HVAC Polished Finish
vents when there is a solution? A MOROSO Air-Oil
Separator installs between the PCV valve and the
intake. The Air-Oil Separator captures the excess
crankcase vapors, residual oil mist and moisture
before they reach the intake manifold. Keeping the Universal Small Body Available
inside of the engine clean and unlike traditional With Polished or Black
breathers, the outside of the engine clean by not Anodized Finish,
allowing the oil mist to escape. With or Without a Clear Bottom

PART# UNIVERSAL AIR-OIL SEPARATORS

85474 Large Body, Polished Finish, 3/8" Fittings
85495 Large Body, Polished Finish, -12 AN Fittings Installed Part
85496 Small Body, Polished Finish, 3/8" Fittings No. 85683
85497 Small Body, Black Anodized Finish, 3/8" Fittings
85682 Small Body, Polished Upper, Clear Bottom, 3/8" Fittings
85683 Small Body, Black Anodized Upper, Clear Bottom, 3/8" Fittings

phone: 203.453.6571 / tech line: 203.458.0542 / www.moroso.com

58 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017
 VIBRATION DAMPING MATERIAL A MU
M
MUST
SSTT HAVE
UST
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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, time-
less 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 automo-
tive 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 indus-
try’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 com-
petition; 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, tear-
ing up the autocross course with nephew Robbie in the
Speedway Motors Camaros. We had several local drift-
ers 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 week-
end 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.
 ro.
Cama
’ 1971
Goins
M atthew
how:
S
st of
➔ Be

DECEMBER 2017 CARCRAFT.COM 65

 PRO BUILDERS SHOOTOUT
SUMMER NATIONALS

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 tucked-
in 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 off-
center 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 four-
point 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 right-
hand-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 mobil-
ity 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-and-
coming 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 JACK’S SPEED SHOP /
days, but an unusual engine FT. WAYNE, IN
swap was thrown in to make Owner Ross Nichols brought his 1941 Ford pickup.
things interesting. This Subur- He bought it as a roller at the Street Rod Nation-
ban surf wagon was powered als, dropped in a 429 big-block with Holley EFI,
by a 5.4L Modular Ford that and slammed it on the ground with air suspen-
Josh grabbed from an old shop sion and big steel wheels.
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

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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 tz’s
dozens of worthy cars in attendance. ➔ Best BOP: Jeff Schwar
1966 Tempest.
Congratulations to this year’s winners!

BEST OF SHOW Matthew Goins 1971 Camaro

BEST PRO STREET Matthew Goins 1971 Camaro
BEST CHEVROLET Michael Goodman 1969 Nova (Midnight Drags winner)
BEST FORD Chris Slee 1966 Mustang
BEST BOP Jeff Schwartz 1966 Tempest
BEST MOPAR Daniel Janke 1964 Savoy
BEST PAINT Larry Barnaby 1968 Camaro
BEST PRO TOURING Chris German 1970 Camaro
BEST INNOVATION Tony Netzel 1961 Belvedere
BEST 1969 CAMARO Jeff Lutz “Mad Max” Pro Mod
CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE AWARD Larry Dixon 1966 Nova

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-Chevy-
powered 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

THANKS! :
Many thanks go to our show sponsors
,
Chevrolet Performance, Holley, MSD
QA1, and Gear Vendors Under/Over-
on
drive—we couldn’t have put the show
without you! Make plans to join us next
the
year at Beech Bend Raceway Park for
2018 Car Craft Sum mer National s; it’s
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 rdrive, and Car Craft Editor John McGann.
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 Good-
man showed up with his show-car-
quality 1969 Nova SS and flattened
the field with an 8.01 at 163 mph on a
“small tire” ET Drag Radial Pro. Mike Hadley snuck into the game at the last minute and failed to divulge his combo.
Midnight Drags Presented by Gear Typical for small-tire guy in a fast street car.
Vendors Under/Overdrives is Car
Craft’s annual grudge-style, minimal- Right: This is
what it takes to
rules drag race, held in conjunction win the Midnight
with the Chevrolet Performance Car Drags in front
Craft Summer Nationals Presented by of thousands of
Holley and MSD, and the car counts screaming fans.
Mike Goodman’s
continue to rise as the racing on track combo is a
gets closer every year. simple, high-
After Bryant Goldstone ran deep into compression big-
the 7s last year at the 2016 Car Craft block with a big
shot of nitrous
Midnight Drags in his 200-mph Drag oxide.
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 Goodman’s Nova looks better in person than any photo can reproduce. And it’s fast.
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 Above: You might recognize Adam Hodson’s 1973 Camaro from
Ram intake and EFI. The Camaro has run 8.80 previous events. Each year it gets a little bit faster.
at 157. It’s simple and fast.

74 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

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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 big-
block Chevy running nitrous and EFI. It
was in the mid-8s all night with a los-
ing 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 Doug Flynn brought his trusty 1972 Nova jetted out of its mind on nitrous. With
1969 Nova. Goodman bought his Nova bottles and warmers spread all over the grass, Flynn and his son, Bobby, went
for $200 more than 25 years ago and round-by-round to the top, operating out of a basic open trailer and pickup truck.
has been working on it ever since. The
combo is a 557-inch Chevy engine with Flynn’s combo
a Merlin block, 14.0:1 compression, and is a 582-inch
a pair of Dart Pro 1 345cc cylinder Chevy with
a Dart Big M
heads. On top of the Edelbrock Super block, Dart
Victor is a Monte Smith nitrous plate Pro1 440cc
and a 1,400-cfm Dominator carburetor. 20-degree
Backed by a Coan TH400 and a Dana heads, and an
unconventional
60 with 4.56:1 gears, the Nova has run Holley High
as fast as 7.80 at 176 and 5.01 at 141 in Ram lid on
the eighth-mile. an Edelbrock
Don’t think you can compete? With EFI base. The
drive-by-wire
$50 and a 9-second car, you can be throttle-bodies
right in the mix with these guys fight- are mounted
ing for the Car Craft winner’s jacket, vertically on the
$1,000, and glory. Look for us next lid. This car is a
different kind of
year at the 2018 Car Craft Midnight sleeper.
Drags Presented by Gear Vendors
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SPONSOR INFO
Beech Bend Raceway Park;
270/781-7634; BeechBend.com
Chevrolet Performance;
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Holley; 866/464-6553; Holley.com

76 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

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
LIVE! Lamborghini Super Trofeo North British Touring Car Championship,
SEPT 22 OCT. 9
America, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Silverstone
Auto Mundial ENGINE MASTERS, EPISODE 27
BEST DRIVER’S CAR GP Confidential, Post Malaya + Preview
FIM Motocross World Championship, Japan GP
France Mobil 1 The Grid
Motorsport Mundial OCT. 11 HEAD 2 HEAD, EPISODE 95
SEPT. 23 LIVE! DTM Championship, Red Bull Ring OCT. 12 PUT UP OR SHUT UP, EPISODE 4
LIVE! FIA Formula 3 Championship, Red OCT. 13 LIVE! Formula D, Irwindale, CA
Bull Ring Auto Mundial
LIVE! FIM Speedway World
Championship, Sweden
Motorsport Mundial
Real Road Racing, Scarborough Gold
ECLECTIC COLLECTION
LIVE! VLN Endurance Racing, Cup
Who: Chip Haines
Nürburgring LIVE! DTM Championship, Where: Loris, SC
OCT. 14
SEPT. 24 LIVE! ADAC GT Masters, Hockenheim Hockenheimring Why: This picture proves that a true
LIVE! British GT Championship, LIVE! Formula D, Irwindale, CA gearhead’s passion transcends all
Donington Park LIVE! Intercontinental Challenge Series,
LIVE! FIA Formula 3 Championship, Red Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
boundaries of make, model, or
Bull Ring LIVE! Pirelli World Challenge, Mazda genre—look at the variety here! Chip
LIVE! Lamborghini Super Trofeo North Raceway Laguna Seca bought this 1970 GTX brand new
America, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca LIVE! FIA Formula 3 Championship, when he returned from Vietnam and
OCT. 15
SEPT. 25 LIVE! European Le Mans Series, Spa Hockenheim
Mobil 1 The Grid LIVE! FIA Formula 3 Championship,
restored it 12 years ago. The tractor
SEPT. 26 DIRT EVERY DAY, EPISODE 69 Hockenheim is a 1951 Ford 8N he finished restor-
SEPT. 27 Goodwood Revival, Goodwood, UK LIVE! Pirelli World Challenge, Mazda ing five years ago. The C10 is a 1967
GP Confidential, Post Singapore + Raceway Laguna Seca shortbed he bought three years ago
Preview Malaya GP OCT. 16 IGNITION, EPISODE 185
SEPT. 28 HOT ROD GARAGE, EPISODE 57 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany,
and is still working on.
Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, Hockenheim
Sachsenring Real Road Racing, Scarborough Gold
SEPT. 29 Auto Mundial Cup
Motorsport Mundial GP Confidential, Post Japan + Preview
OCT. 18
ROADKILL, EPISODE 70 USA GP
LIVE! Blancpain GT Sports Club, MODIFIED, EPISODE 6
SEPT. 30
Catalunya, Spain OCT. 19 Ferrari Challenge Europe, Imola
LIVE! Euroformula Open, Monza ROADKILL GARAGE, EPISODE 23
LIVE! International GT Open, Monza LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Gold
OCT. 20
LIVE! Blancpain GT Series Endurance Coast 600
OCT. 1 Auto Mundial
Cup, Barcelona
LIVE! Blancpain GT Sports Club, Motorsport Mundial
Catalunya, Spain LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Gold
OCT. 21
LIVE! Euroformula Open, Monza Coast 600
LIVE! International GT Open, Monza LIVE! VLN Endurance Racing,
OCT. 2 IGNITION, EPISODE 184 Nürburgring
OCT. 3 THE HOUSE OF MUSCLE, EPISODE 12 LIVE! European Le Mans Series,
OCT. 23
OCT. 4 MODIFIED, EPISODE 5 Portimao
OCT. 5 Ferrari Challenge Europe, Silverstone British Touring Car Championship,
FIA World Rallycross, Germany Brands Hatch
OCT. 6 Auto Mundial Mobil 1 The Grid
FIM Motocross World Championship, OCT. 24 DIRT EVERY DAY, EPISODE 70 FLOODED THEN FIXED
Great Britain OCT. 26 HOT ROD GARAGE, EPISODE 58 Who: Steve Roth
Motorsport Mundial Porsche Carrera Cup Australia,
Sandown
Where: Franklin, TN
OCT. 7 LIVE! Euroformula Open, Jerez
LIVE! FIM Speedway World OCT. 27 Auto Mundial Why: Steve bought this 1966 El
Championship, Poland Motorsport Mundial Camino about 10 years ago. It was
LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, ROADKILL, EPISODE 71 damaged and subsequently totaled
Bathurst 1000 during a flood in 2010. Undeterred,
LIVE! VLN Endurance Racing, The program information provided is subject to
Nürburgring change. he rebuilt the car anyway, stripping it
OCT. 8 LIVE! Euroformula Open, Jerez KEY ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING Racing events 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
MotorTrendOnDemand.com the polisher.

78 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

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1973 Duster in the background. He had to Copenhagen CV3
sell the car after getting married years ago Ctech 63
and always wanted to have it back. 5.0L LOVE Dakota Digital 59
Though he couldn’t buy his original car We have received several letters Design Engineering 59
back, he built one just like it. He started praising our 302 vs. 305 series, Drive Train Specialists 81
with a slant-six-powered Gold Duster and which is surprising because Fitech Fuel 11
GBodyParts.com 33
added some modern touches, including a online comments tended to be
Gear Vendors 63
2003 5.7 Hemi, MSD’s Atomic EFI, A518 negative. Keep in mind, this Golden Hippo 81
overdrive automatic from a Ram pickup, series is about working with Gorilla Glue 67
bucket seats from a 2004 Sebring, and what you’ve got. Millions of Great Neck Saw 69
the console and shifter from a 2005 1980s- and 1990s-era cars Hagerty Insurance 5
300C. He took this picture with the new came with these engines. Not Hamilton Collection 39
car parked in front of his old car. all of them need to be uncere- Hankook Tire CV4
moniously replaced with 350s. Harbor Freight Tools 36–37
—JM Holley Performance 30
Products

BLOWN-UP
Jon Kasse Racing Engines 69
“I love the series and can’t wait Koolmat Insulation 69

PART
for more. It’s nice to see down- Leader Industries 81
(of the to-earth articles on everyday Lincoln Educational Service 29
month) engines that many of us have in 67,
Live Cell Research 75
our rides!”
—Greg Chandler, via email M/E Wagner 33
MacNeil Automotive 47
Mondello Performance 81
“I am very happy about the 302 Moroso 57
vs. 305 articles by Richard Hold- Motor Trend OnDemand 79
ener. Using the TPI engine was NHRA 55
inspired. I am excited about fol- Optima Batteries 21
lowing this build.” Original Parts Group 45
—Steven Horosko, via email Performance Automatic 69
Performance Online 53
“I am part of the pit crew for a Performance Suspension 59
Technology
friend’s Formula Atlantic team.

BURNOUT!!
Pertronix 32
The engines in these cars are QA1 Precision Products 67
1,600cc twin-cam Toyota engines Quick Performance 61
that make about 270 hp at Ratech 69
9,000 rpm. Here’s what hap- Red Seal (SUB regional) 27
pens when they drop a valve Rhoads Lifters 33
at those engine speeds!” Rock Auto 77
—Darrell Brenner, Fremont, CA Rockland Standard Gear 61
Scat Enterprises 51
SEMA 79
➔SEND STUFF TO Shaftech 81
CAR CRAFT! Spectre Performance
Strange Engineering
51
41
email: CarCraft@carcraft.com Summit Racing 15
online: CarCraft.com ing
social media: Facebook.com/ “My 1991 Mustang. I just got it runn Thermo Tec 31
s. Vintage Wheel Works 30
CarCraftMag after sitting in my garage for two year Wilwood Engineering 49
The Traction-Lok isn’t working, so a
mail: 831 S. Douglas St. a
El Segundo, CA 90245 rebuild is on the horizon, but it does
el-pe el.” The ad index is published as a service to our
don’t forget: Include your make/ good one-whe readers. Due to last-minute changes, we
—Terry Schriver, Festus, MO cannot guarantee correct page numbers or
model of car and your city/state.
accuracy of listings.

80 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017

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82 CAR CRAFT DECEMBER 2017
WEIV RAER

PONTIAC BONNEVILLE AT BONNEVILLE

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 Pon-
tiac 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 plumb-
ing—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 “153-
mph Bonneville,” which would be 4 mph shy of the class record, set in 1960.

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,

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.
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

email carcraft@emailcustomerservice.com, call 800/800-7697 (386/447-6385, international), or write to Car Craft, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL
$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
By Thomas Voehringer / Photo: Car Craft Archives
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