V.P. MARKETING/CUSTOMER RELATIONS..........TRISH BIRO trish@rpm-mag.com E-MAGAZINE ASSOCIATE EDITOR................................IAN RAE ian@rpm-mag.com EVENT MEDIA DIRECTOR...........................RAYMOND KNIGHT events@rpm-mag.com EVENT SUBSCRIPTIONS COORDINATOR.....SHERRIE WEBER sherrie@rpm-mag.com SPECIAL PROJECTS DIRECTOR...........................TOBY BROOKS toby.brooks@rpm-mag.com Photographic Contributions: TONY WEBER, TIM LEWIS, BRIAN HANSEN, PETE “BOOMER” ORES, PAUL SCHMITZ, LOGAN WEBER, MARK goDragRacing.org, TOMMY LEE BYRD, STEVEN BUNKER, GEORGE PICH, TOBY BROOKS Editorial Contributions: IAN RAE, TONY WEBER, TIM LEWIS, CHUCK SCOTT, TOMMY LEE BYRD, BRIAN HANSEN, BEN STRADER, MARK goDragRacing.org, RAYMOND KNIGHT, CHUCK GREEN, STEVEN BUNKER, GEORGE KLASS, GEORGE PICH, TOBY BROOKS, BRIAN WOOD, PAT McGOWAN Technical Writing Contribution: CHUCK SCOTT, BEN STRADER, SHANE TECKLENBURG, TOMMY LEE BYRD
ADVERTISING SALES For advertising information contact
TRISH BIRO .............519.752.3705.......trish@rpm-mag.com Art & Graphics Director: Toby Brooks Special Events Managers: Chris Biro, Raymond Knight events@rpm-mag.com Special Events Sales: Trish Biro: 519-752-3705 trish@rpm-mag.com Subscriptions/Address Changes: Circulation circulation@rpm-mag.com General Inquiries: 519.752.3705 info@rpm-mag.com
MEET THE RPM TEAM
EDITOR IN CHIEF.........................................................CHRIS BIRO editor@rpm-mag.com
RPM Magazine is a REGISTERED TRADEMARK of Revolution Publishing & Media Inc. RPM Magazine is a worldwide motorsports publication distributed in 34 countries and can be found on popular newsstands in the USA, Canada and select newsstands in the UK. If you cannot find a copy near you please call 519-752-3705 or email circulation@rpm-mag.com To subscribe to RPM go to www.rpm-mag.com or email Trish Biro at trish@rpmmag.com, or call 519-752-3705. The focus of RPM is to bring a diverse mix of high performance street and race automobiles to life within its pages including; Race cars, Musclecars, Hot Rods and Street Legal machines with an emphasis on the “EXTREME,” including Fast Doorslammer and Outlaw forms of Drag Racing. Not familiar with these types of cars? They are considered to be the top-shelf of the industry and are on-the-edge with regards to design and power! RPM Magazine does not sell its mailing list or share any of the confidential information regarding its subscribers.
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RPM Magazine has been a world leader in motorsports publishing for 15 years and has support locations in Ontario, Canada, Alabama, Wisconsin, Texas & Virginia, along with contributing writers and photojournalists worldwide. If you have a story that may fit within the focus and scope of RPM Magazine’s coverage, please email our Editor In Chief at: editor@ rpm-mag.com. Submission of an article does not guarantee that it will be published. Revolution Publishing & Media Inc. (RPM) / RPM Magazine IS NOT Responsible for errors or omissions in ANY advertisement or article. Advertisements may be rearranged or altered at the sole discretion of RPM to allow the ad to fit in the space purchased by the advertiser. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE ANY ADVERTISING WHICH WE CONSIDER TO CONTAIN MISLEADING, OFFENSIVE OR FALSE INFORMATION. REPRODUCTION OF ANY INFORMATION HEREIN IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT.
Publication Return/Address Change Information USA RPM MAGAZINE (USPS Periodical #023474) is published monthly 11 Times/year, except for a combined issue in January/February by USA Publisher’s Agent, 10387 Main Street, Suite 300, Fairfax, VA 22030. Periodicals Postage Rate is Paid at Fairfax, VA and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: RPM Magazine P.O. Box 24020 Brantford, Ontario CAN N3R 7X3 CANADA PUBLICATIONS MAIL INFO AGREEMENT NO. 40045044 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CDN ADDRESSES TO RPM MAGAZINE P.O. BOX 24020 BRANTFORD, ONTARIO N3R 7X3 OVERSEAS RPM MAGAZINE P.O. BOX 24020 BRANTFORD, ONTARIO, CAN. N3R 7X3
EDITOR’S RANT
by
Chris Biro
JANUARY ISSUE: WATCH FOR IT!
O
ver the course of our 15 year evolution at RPM we’ve never published a January issue, but that is about to change! Because RPM is the world’s only “REAL TIME� car mag (we actually invented it) and is not published several months in advance then shipped out to readers with a totally bogus cover date (usually two months ahead of when you receive it, meaning you’re reading six month old info & stories), we’ve been searching for the correct formula to get you that 12th issue of RPM (which would actually be the first issue of the year – January, as we’ve always started a new year with a combined Jan/Feb issue). It had to be done in true RPM form, without compromising our standards in content and quality, and not short change our RPM team on quality family time when they need it most – after a long, hard, fast-paced year of creating each issue of RPM to be better than the one before it. The car magazine business is fast paced enough, but when you add in that “real time� aspect, things really get crazy! So we needed to figure out how we could get a January issue done properly without taking this valued break away from RPM staff.
IT’S GOTTA HAVE THE RIGHT STUFF – COOL CONTENT & VALUE! We’ve also preached time and time again at RPM that nothing is more boring for readers, and useless for advertisers, than seeing a so called
“January� car magazine (that probably came to you in November and was obviously produced back in September or October) where all it does is re-cap the articles published the past year. I’ll be honest—it really ticks us off when we see other mags trying to pull the wool over their readers eyes by doing this. While it’s cool to look back, we all want to see new stuff too! As always, at RPM we wanted to be innovators, not imitators and provide our readers and advertisers with true RPM value— fresh, exclusive content that you want rather than the same old same old that we want to try and shove in front of you just so we can have 12 issues a year... and by George, I think we’ve got it!
THE VERY FIRST
That correct formula was actually “time.� Taking the time to do things right and developing the team of professionals (read: people actually crazy enough about horsepower) that could make it all come together the way only RPM can—with our readers and advertisers best interests in mind. Watch for it! The RPM Magazine January 2015 issue packed full of exclusive RPM content with some pretty cool added bonuses put together by our team that will blow your mind! And, by the way, no, the cost of your subscription will not increase! Have a safe and happy holiday season and we’ll see you January 4th... in REAL TIME!
COMING NEXT MONTH: MORE EXCLUSIVE RPM Feature Cars.................................... We bring you cars you won’t find ANYWHERE else...at least not FIRST!
Project aPocalypSe Horse....................................................
After over a year elsewhere, Virginia Rod Company to the rescue to get our Pro Street steed on the ground and rolling!
Truck Tech........................................................... We show you how we improve your shop hauler with yet another installment of Trick Out Your Truck
4
THIS AND MORE IN THE NEXT RPM!
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
ADVERTISER INDEX ACC Performance................... 86 Accufab Inc.......................... 104 AFCO..................................... 42 Alan Johnson Performance (AJPE)................................. 60 Alston Race Cars.................... 38 Alston Race Cars Fast Glass.... 27 Applied Racing Components (ARC).................................. 35 ATI Performance Products..... 17 Auburn Gear.......................... 44 Autoglym............................ 112 AVAK/Ridgegate Tools........... 41 Baer Brakes....................10, 106 BES Racing Engines............... 89 Bill Mitchell Products............ 36 Blower Shop............................ 5 Borla..................................... 34 Browell Bellhousing.............. 67 BTE Racing.......................... 101 C&C MotorSports................... 14 Calvert Racing Suspensions... 39 CFE Racing Products.............. 32 Chassis Engineering.........26, 83 CN Blocks.............................. 11 Coan Engineering............. 15,52 Competition Products........... 33 COMP Cams........................... 92 Crower.................................. 51 CTEK.................................... 110 CVR Products......................... 64 DART..................................... 45 Design Engineering............... 30 DIY Auto Tune/MegaSquirt EFI..................................... 62 Drive Train Specialists (DTS)... 89 Dynotech Engineering........... 98 Earl’s Performance Plumbing.80 Ed Quay Race Cars................. 45 Edelbrock.............................. 19 Engine Research & Development (ERD)........... 22 Erson Cams............................ 80 Fuel Air Spark Technology (FAST)............................... 46 FastMotorsports.................... 11 Fast Times Motorworks......... 35 Frankenstein Racing Heads .. 33 G Force Racing Transmissions.36 GZ Motorsports..................... 32 Harland Sharp......................... 9 Holcomb Motorsports........... 99 HoleShot Wheels................... 12 Holley.................................... 90 Howard’s Cams...................... 86 Induction Solutions............... 87 Innovate Motorsports............ 57 JE Pistons.........................84, 97 Jesel...................................... 25 JET Performance................... 52 J&K Converters...................... 23
Lokar Performance Products. 94 LUCAS Oil Products.................. 2 Lunati.................................... 16 Magnuson Superchargers.... 102 MAHLE Clevite Inc................. 53 Manton Pushrods.................. 23 Meziere Precision Mfg........... 91 Mickey Thompson Tires........... 7 MIDCO Blue Maxx Rac. ATF.... 24 Midwest Converters.............. 82 Mile High Crankshafts........... 12 MSD Ignition....................37, 40 Neal Chance Converters....20, 43 New Century Performance.... 82 Nitrous Pro Flow.................... 84 Nitrous Supply...................... 47 Outlaw 10.5 Racing Assoc..... 26 Parts Pro Perf Centers.......... 116 PBM Performance Products... 91 Performance Improvements.. 10 Perf. Plus Connection.......11, 98 Powermaster Performance.. 106 Power Tank............................ 81 Precision Turbo/ProInjectors.. 63 ProCharger............................ 96 Proformance Racing Trans..... 21 Pro Systems Carburetors...29, 37 Philadelphia Racing Products (PRP).................................... 9 PTC........................................ 81 Quik-Latch Products............ 107 Racecraft............................... 93 Racepak................................ 22 Racequip............................... 49 Racing Radios.......................... 7 RAM Clutches...................... 105 Rev-X Oil Products............31, 65 Ross Racing Pistons................. 5 Rossler Transmissions............ 88 RPM Magazine Subscribe!.114 S&W Race Cars...................... 76 Scorpion Racing Prods....21, 102 Scotty’s Racing Engines......... 40 Shafiroff Racing Engines..84, 85 SM Race Cars......................... 49 Smith Racecraft..................... 23 Steve Morris Engines............. 66 Summit Racing Equipment. 115 Superchargers Online............ 14 TCI Automotive...................... 13 Ti64..................................... 110 Tom’s Upholstery................... 13 Trick Flow.............................. 77 TRZ Motorsports.................... 18 Two Guys Garage................. 113 V1 3BDJOH 'VFMT. ............. 54 VP Racing Fuels..............55, 111 WC Enterprises...................... 83 Weinle Motorsports.............. 89 Weldon High Performance.... 56 World Products..................... 25
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www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
5
DECEMBER 2014
Be sure to check out our Performance Directory on page 68!
Often Imitated, Never Duplicated—For 15 STRAIGHT YEARS RPM Magazine has been the ORIGINAL Voice Of Wild Street Machines and Extreme Drag Racing WORLDWIDE! Don’t Settle For Less! We DELIVER Insane Fast Cars and Bring You NO POLITICS... JUST ACTION! Your ONLY “Real Time” “Real World” Car Mag...PERIOD! RPM
THE
RIDES
COVER CAR
REMEMBERS
Monty Berney......................................................... 20
SO Much Horsepower Packed Into One Place... That Place IS RPM Magazine!
R.I.P. to my favorite Canuck
THE
ACTION
Handcrafted Horse.............................58
Don’t let the new body style fool you—this 2007 Mustang is the result of old school drag racing craftsmanship
A Race to the Finish........................................ 30 2014 Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Championship
2014 Top Guns...................................................... 40
RPM readers go online to select their favorite rides from the past year
A Shoebox full of Surprises......................... 8 Tim Harper’s bright blue ’55 Chevy is a combination of old school and ultra-cool
PROJECTS TECH
THE
AND
Products & Innovations............................................................................48 The story behind SM Race Cars new double beadlock wheels
Yes...........................................................................................78
Charles Leake’s decade-long reclamation effort to return a wild ’66 Nova to the streets proves that Pro Street 2.0 is all of the above
Trick Out Your Truck: Accessorize...............................................................50 Preparing our work truck for work, we add a BedTred, Roll-X & BAKBox
In the Clutch.........................................................................105 Street-strip clutches: Problems and solutions
RPM Hardcore Horsepower Garage: Part 7...............................109
We install organization products from Pit Pal and get ready to install a host of Trinity International stainless garage pieces
Farm Horse................................................................. 94
Randy Crow’s awesome family-built 1966 Mustang Fastback could almost be considered a barn find
READ COMPLETE ISSUES OF RPM MAG ONLINE AT WWW.RPM-MAG.COM
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
7
RPM FEATURE CAR HOOKIN’ UP Anyone can talk or type about their horsepower prowess, but at RPM we especially love fast cars that have a time slip to prove it!
story by
George Pich
W
photos by
ith the aerodynamics of, well, a shoebox, Tim Harper’s blown 1955 Chevy kicks butt and takes names most everywhere it goes, and the
8
Tia Elizabeth
wow factor of first seeing the car is quickly replaced by shock factor when Tim pops the hood, opens the doors, or pulls up to the pumps. “The 1955 Chevy has always been my favorite car,” explained
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
Tim. “My first car was actually a ’55 that I bought in 1980 when I was 16 years old. After experimenting with a couple of small blocks, I installed a 409 with 4-speed and a 12-bolt rear but ended up selling it in 1986
to get this one because the body was in a lot better shape.” Tim bought this car for just $1500 from the second owner who had it since the early ’70s. This shoebox actually came in boxes as the owner had com-
>> Tim Harper’s bright blue ‘55 Chevy is a combination of old school and ultra-cool
pletely disassembled it, except for the engine and driveline, and put all the parts in five boxes and then lost interest— but not before stripping all the paint off the car and installing two NOS (new old stock) front fenders and a power steer-
ing box. A 396 big block that wouldn’t start when Tim went to look at the car was installed and backed by a turbo 400 transmission. So with boxes of parts loaded in, Tim towed the Chevy home to start bringing it back to life.
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
9
SHOEBOX
Tim and friend Wayne Balch, Jr. back-halved the chassis to give it that cool Pro Street look of the time and he soon found that 396 to be a mishmash of parts that didn’t pack much of a punch, so out it came
10
to make room for a 454 that ran 13s in the Âź-mile. Another 396 a few years later would take the big bodied Bowtie into the 12s, and a shot of nitrous would get that motor into the 11s. Another 454 that was punched out to
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
468 and filled with a bunch of slick parts followed and would take the car into the 10s on just the motor and mid to high 9s with nitrous. By 1997 Tim sold the 468 and traded a 9MM pistol for a
salvaged 502 crate motor out of a sunken boat. After a full treatment of machine work, Dart heads, a roller cam, Lunati rods, and .030-over Wiseco pistons were installed, Harper had created a combination that would
TRIPLE THREAT TRI-FIVE Harper’s 1955 Chevy captures the essence of many things; street car, race car, pro street, and the fact that it still retains a lot of its factory body and chassis makes it the favorite of many everywhere it goes. Tim is also a Founders’ Club member of the National Pro Street Association, and the ‘55 proudly wears an NPSA windshield banner.
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
11
SHOEBOX
GRRRRRR There are few cars that look meaner than a ’55 Chevy from the front. Tim hit the nail on the head with the mix of factory chrome trim and little touches like the color keyed bumpers and bowtie signal lights.
12
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
OBJECTS IN REARVIEW ARE SLOWER THAN THEY APPEAR Tagged and fully street legal, the chute and wheelie bars are dead giveaways that this shoebox Chevy could hold a bunch of surprises once it’s opened up.
go 10.0s on pump gas and low 9s with a squeeze of nitrous. Then, in 2002, Tim made a huge change and bought an F-3 ProCharger. To match the engine to this new power adder Tim bored the same block to a 515, lowered the compression and changed the camshaft, and on his third pass ran an 8.80! After burning a piston,
a water-to-air intercooler was added and the car was instantly running 8.50s at 160+ mph on 93-octane pump gas, but was going through 16-20 lbs. of ice every pass! Tim explained, “After doing a bunch of research I opted to sell the F-3 and intercooler and get a more streetable F-2 as it was cheaper to get racing
To Run Like A Pro... Use The Best
HEAVY BREATHING RODENT Under the custom flip-off nose, Harper has installed a fortified 502 ci Rat motor with a killer blow-through ProCharger setup pushing 20 pounds of boost through the E-85 prepped Dominator carb.
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www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
13
SHOEBOX
FLIPPED OUT The recent onepiece flip front-end was among work completed earlier this year to trim some weight. Inset: Tim picks up new fans of the car everywhere he goes.
14
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
gas than it was to buy that much ice! The only problem was that the car ran very inconsistent - 8.50s when it was cool outside to 9.0s on a hot day. Then, about four years ago, I met Glenn Hunter Jr. from New York
who owns a ’56 Chevy and also runs in the True Street race. Our cars were very similar but he was running E-85 and told me how well it performed in boosted engines. I did some more research and bored my block .030 more to 522-cubes, popped in a fresh set of pistons, had Carb Solutions Unlimited recalibrate my carburetor for E-85 and ran a best of 8.07 @ 167+ mph! With a little more tuning I believe it will go into the 7s.” When asked about the most unique feature of his Shoebox Chevy, even Tim couldn’t pinpoint just one thing. “It‘s a tossup between the ProCharger , Bruno/Lenco transmission and E-85 fuel,” he said. “Because the ProCharger makes the power… the Lenco makes it fun to
SHOEBOX
RETR-OH-SO-COOL A peek inside and the individual Lenco shifter rods told us that this guy meant business. The retro Pro Street interior is kept as if it was just completed yesterday, but is often added to with the latest technology to improve performance. Love the fuzzy dice!
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
SIGNATURE SERIES ROTATING ASSEMBLIES Our Signature Series Rotating Assemblies represent the strongest package of rotating components you will find for your engine. The kit begins with a pulsed-plasma nitride heat-treated crankshaft that is formed on a specialized, non-twist 4340 steel forging and features gun-drilled mains, lightened rod journals, micropolished journals and windage reducing, contoured wing counterweights. Additionally, each kit comes with premium I-beam or H-beam rods, your choice of Diamond or Mahle brand forged pistons and premium King or Clevite engine bearings.
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drive…and the E-85 makes it inexpensive to race ($3 a gallon) and all of these things combined allow me to run low 8-second quarter-mile passes with dependability.” Since completion, Tim has racked up an impressive resume of wins including the Super Chevy Show True street events at Virginia Motorsports Park
in 2008, ’10, ’11, ’12 and 2014 (he lost in ’09 due to a broken turbo 400 input shaft and the event in 2013 was rained out). As most classes intended for real street cars, True Street consists of making a 20-30 mile cruise, coming back to the track for a brief cool-down period and making three back-to-back ¼-mile passes which are
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www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
17
1955 CHEVY STREET/STRIP Owner: Tim Harper Engine: 1997 Chevrolet Gen VI 502 crate motor block. Current displacement is 522 c.i. Owner assembled and tuned but machine work done at Randall’s Racing Engines in Chester, Virginia. (formerly Wally’s Precision Machine). Cylinder heads: Dart Pro 1 (345cc) Aluminum (ported and flowed by Wayne Hoehns), ARP Head studs, CV products one-piece chrome moly push rods, Jesel shaft-mounted rocker arms, Lunati Pro Mod rods with ARP 2000 bolts. Other engine internals: Diamond Racing pistons (8.5:1), Eagle 4340 internally balanced crankshaft, Bullet Racing Cams solid roller (Intake: lift .734, duration 266 @ 050; Exhaust: lift 714, duration 275 @ 050). Crower Severe Duty solid roller lifters w/pin oiling. Induction: Pro-Filer Sniper Jr. intake with CSU-prepared E-85 (blow through) Holley Dominator with dual needle and seat fuel bowls and Extreme Velocity Pro Series carburetor hat. Power adder: ProCharger F-2 with 20 lbs. of boost (52 tooth blower/70 tooth crank, 8mm cogged pulleys). Fuel system: Product Engineering PE4450 (460 gph) pump with Aeromotive A-2000 regulator. Ignition: MSD 7AL-2 w/ boost timing master and crank trigger. Exhaust: Custom exhaust with Borla XR-1 (multi-core) mufflers. Transmission and converter: Bruno/Lenco (CS-2 w/ 2.24 1st and 1.56 2nd gear ratios). Transmission Specialties spragless Tech 10 converter w/steel stator (3500 stall). Rear differential: Dana 60 housing with billet caps, Moser 35 spline axles, 3.73 gear and T/A rear cover. Chassis & suspension: Front chassis is stock GM (original) with Autofab Race Cars tubular control arms (bolt on) and adjustable coilovers (bolt on type). Rack and pinion steering from a 1986 Dodge K- car. Rear back-half using 2x3 box tubing and polished aluminum sheet metal (assembled in 1987). S&W .083 chrome moly 10 point cage. Suspension is Strange double adjustable coilovers with Hypercoil springs, Rapid Motorsports 36” double adjustable ladder bars and Chassis Engineering 2x3 cross member. 60” Chassis Engineering chrome moly wheelie bars with pro billet wheels. Body & paint: PPG Bright Blue Poly Deltron base clear (Installed fiberglass parts and repainted April 2014). Painted by Glenn Moore (Glenn‘s Body Shop Petersburg VA.). VFN Fiberglass front and rear bumpers, Unlimited Fiberglass tilt front end and carbon fiber deck lid. Wheels & tires: Billet Specialties Street Lite 15X 3.5 (1.75” backspace). Rear wheels are Billet Specialties Street Lite 15X14 (3.5” backspace). M/T Sportsman 26x7.50-15 front tires and Hoosier Quick Time Pro 31x18.50-15 rears. Performance: Best pass of 8.07 at 167mph in the ¼-mile.
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
SIMPLY SUSPENDED Up front is the original chassis with a bunch of trick bolt-on parts to improve street and strip performance. Out back, Tim added a custom rear back-half frame section to the factory front frame and a ladder bar/coilover set-up controls the blown big block power at the command of Tim’s right foot. A heavy duty Dana 60 rear differential transfers that power outward to the rather large rear meats.
SHOEBOX
NICE SHIRT Tim’s not afraid to drive the cool classic. He can be found regularly wheeling his creation at area cruises, shows, and test-n-tunes at the track.
averaged together for the winning time. “The three runs usually take approximately 16-18 minutes with a 25-car field and can really test the durability of your vehicle. My best average to date is an 8.166 at 167+ mph,” added Tim. “I have owned this car over half my life, it‘s my hobby and I love it. I am a mechanic by trade, but this is the only car I truly enjoy working on. I try to do everything myself but I am not good at body and paint work so that’s where my friend Glenn Moore comes in. But when you try to do most of the work yourself, it is way more satisfying, no matter what your car runs.”
Tim would like to thank: “My Dad (Earl) who went in halves with me to build our garage to work on the car in, and is always there to help. My wife Patty, son Brandon, and my mom Ann who support me with my hobby. My friends Glenn Moore (body and paint), Warren Wright (TIG welded the roll cage and fabricated the exhaust), Wayne Balch (helped me back-half the chassis, as well as body and paint back in ’87), Pete Bryant and the late Wally Duncan for giving me advise on the assembly and tuning of race engines.”
ail It! Vrbancic Brothers N ed a 548 cubic inch big-block
rio, California dyno test Vrbancic Brothers Racing in Onta with an Edelbrock 24° CNC cylinder heads matched or Vict usi k/M broc Edel Chevy with 0 horsepower 1,55 over combination resulted in Super Victor II intake manifold. This and 1,100 ft-lbs. of torque! -spring valve ure an extra thick deck, Manley dual Edelbrock/Musi Victor 24° heads feat or complete. bare up to .880” lift. They are available springs and titanium retainers for The Edelbrock Super Victor intake us manifold #29270 features a 3/4”radi cylinder port oval e larg ch mat in the ports to a variety for ble suita is ifold man This s. head ired for of custom CNC’d cylinder heads requ ent lacm disp e larg wer, epo hors modern high engines making 950+ HP.
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www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
19
RPM REMEMBERS
MONTY
BERNEY story and photos by
Ian Rae
>>R.I.P to my favorite Canuck
Y
ou meet all kinds of people at the racetrack, but it is rare to meet someone who you immediately bond and become great friends with. For me, that guy was Monty Berney, of ’55 Chevy fame. I have to admit that at the time I did not know much about the guy other than he had one killer blown ’55 Chevy that he raced in
Heavy Street. I first ran across him at The Strip at Las Vegas during the inaugural Street Car Super Nationals in 2005. It was a busy trip for both of us and I did not get a chance to interact with the Danville, CA resident. Berney would qualify number one with a 7.185 @ 195.62mph and would go on to meet number two qualifier Heath Johnston from Sierra
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN That infectious smile and a Monty Berney shirt! Last year, long before anyone knew Monty was ill, RPM Magazine decided to honor him by putting “Bertha” on their official T-shirt. Needless to say Monty was over the moon!
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
Vista, AZ who posted a 7.375 @ 194.16mph in response to Monty’s winning 7.192 @ 195.00mph. There was no doubt about Monty’s popularity, it was evident by the many well-wishers surrounding the Winner Circle. Everybody loved the guy and that super cool ’55 Chevy. I really got to know Monty at the 2006 PSCA event at Arizona while I was there recording the event and hanging out with Joe
Boniferro, a friend who had put together a blown alcohol program for Bob Griffiths to run in Pro Street. Bob got into a nasty accident where the car stopped with the driver’s side hard against the guardrail. Now I can look back on it with a smile but it was a comedy of errors that could have gone very wrong. The fire truck arrived and stopped ten yards short on Griffith’s Dodge Viper. He had no firesuit on and his young daughter was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck. Then, he had to run back to the truck and move it forward so the fire hose was long enough to reach the burning Viper. In the end Bob was rescued by crew members breaking the upper part of the door and Bob crawling through the opening.
Monty and I stood back shaking our heads, not believing what we had just seen. As we returned to the pits Monty put an arm around my shoulder and remarked that this was a lucky day. Bob was not hurt or burned and cars can be replaced. Monty always cared about the welfare of others. It was there that I found out he actually had been born in Canada, in Vanderhoof, British Columbia. From that moment on I called him “my favorite Canuck.” We are proud of our sports exports in Canada and Monty Berney is up there with names like Gretzky and Villeneuve in my book. And that was the start of a great friendship, we would eat breakfast at Zingo’s Cafe before heading out to Formosa for the WCHRA events, and would
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
talk regularly on the phone. I covered a few PSCA events at Vegas and remember asking him to carry the RPM Magazine decal on the car during the 2006 SCSN. I saw him later and he said, “I don’t normally run decals Ian Rae, but I’m running it for you, because you do such a good job of promoting drag racing on the West Coast.” I expected to see the logo, but not where Monty put it. It was on the very front of the hood, where everyone could see it.” “It was during one of my telephone discussions with him that he chose to go to Atchison Machine Service to build his new blower motor for Bertha 3 as he wanted to keep it a Chevy and not follow the Hemi route as so many others were doing. Bertha 3 when unveiled was a work of art! While he could have gone the slammed route with the car, Monty still wanted it to be recognizable as a ’55 Chevy, and it definitely was. Long time crew member Scott Ray remembered Monty, “Monty’s saying was ‘every day is a good day, just some are better than others.’ Monty never gave up. I remember the time we were in Florida for the
2006 World Street Nationals. We knocked the wheelie bars off the car on a launch Saturday night around 10pm. We bent the bars and smashed the oil pan. Everyone thought we were out. ‘The West Coast guys are done’ everyone said. Yeah right! We worked all night, made new wheelie bars, straightened the pan out and were ready for first round Sunday morning. We went on to win the race that day. Monty taught me to always live life happy, take care of others and work hard, always work as hard as you can. Be up early, go to sleep late. Anything will come with effort.” Noted tuner Shane Tecklenburg tuned for Ed Thornton and his sinister black turbo ’57 on the PSCA circuit and often raced against Monty. Shane explained how Monty was prepared to work for wins just like Scott mentioned above. “One time we were racing Monty with the ’57. We must have had him covered by about 3/10th so Ed and I went over to Monty and told him to pick
MONTY BERNEY “He really was a role model for all of us, both in life and in racing. I hope one day when I’m gone somebody feels the same way about me, the way that I felt about him. That is what life is all about.” -Shane Tecklenburg
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CLASS OF THE COMPETITION Ed Thornton and Monty squared off many times, with Thornton’s ‘57 favoring twin turbos. the lane he wanted as we didn’t care about lane choice. He said ‘I havn’t earned lane choice, you have. So you go out there and you give it your all as I’m going to do the same.’ We all had sort of a chuckle and went back to
get ready to run. With that sort of advantage we beat him and at the end of the track Monty crossed over to us and said, ‘I wasn’t going to have you give me a break. I wanted to race you guys fair and square. I’m so
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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MONTY BERNEY “Monty was a great racer and an even better person. Cool, calm and collected— but when it came time for eliminations you didn’t want to see that big shoebox in the opposite lane.” -Mike Carpenter
GAME FACE FIERCE COMPETITORS Known for their ‘55 Chevys, Charles Carpenter went the nitrous route while Monty was a blower guy. proud of all of you for what you have done and I love racing you guys.’ And then in typical Monty fashion it was all around Monty hugs. He really was a role model for all of us, both in life and in racing. I hope one day when I’m gone somebody feels the same way about me, the way that I felt about him. That is what life is all about” Mike Carpenter, son of that other ’55 Chevy icon Charles Carpenter, had this to say, “Monty was a great racer and an even better person. He always made it a point to speak with us at the SCSN events in Vegas or any other West Coast races
we happened to be attending. He stuck to the ‘55 Chevy when it would have been easier to switch to a more aerodynamic body. In many ways I saw him as the modern-day West Coast counterpart to my dad. Cool, calm and collected—but when it came time for eliminations you didn’t want to see that big shoebox in the opposite lane.” Another PSCA Pro Street regular was Mary Baltzell who—along with her husband Lee—campaigned an EFI nitrous-assisted Firebird in the series. “Lee and I have some great stories about Monty. We loved the guy. A few
When Monty got behind the wheel he got very serious.
years back at the PSCA Finals in Fontana, when the race was close to the Thanksgiving holiday, Lee fried up four turkeys in our turkey fryer. We were supposed to be racing and we made a few hits to get in the show on Sunday and then Lee and I started cooking. Some of the racers wives made the side dishes, like mashed potatoes and stuffing, etc. We fed most all the Pro Street racers and others that were hanging around in the pits on Saturday evening. Monty kept coming by and watching Lee fry the turkeys. He said he had heard about fried turkey but never had any
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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BERTHA 3 Berney’s wildly popular ’55 boiling the hides at Bakersfield. Monty definitely has a following of dedicated fans that will miss him greatly.
so Lee made sure he got a nice plate of fried turkey. He sat on the fender inside the Mike’s Transmissions trailer with Mike and Christy Stewart with a big smile on his face and in his best Canadian accent, Monty said, ‘This is pretty good, ehh?’ I can still remember his smile. It was contagious. Lee and I will miss him for sure.” Another PSCA racer
that gained a bit of infamy because of Monty is Rick Logsdon. Rick was another ’55 diehard whose car looks like a replica of Bertha 1. Logsdon would love to have a dollar for every time he was asked if his car used to be owned by Berney. Rick told us a story about Monty racing in Sacramento. “We were pitted together shortly after I became friends with
Monty and a guy I grew up with was just getting into the AA Gas class. They had some struggles with the car and broke the transmission. They were like a fish out of water—they had not a clue what to do. I brought them over to Monty’s pit purely to get some information on a possible fix and within minutes Monty was engaged in an in-depth conversation as to what
WINNER Monty the “Gambler” wins big at a WCHRA Gamblers Race, and had the hat to prove it!
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MONTY BERNEY
ATTENTION TO DETAIL Bertha 3 was unveiled in flat black and was pretty sinister looking! Even with a Racepak dash, the original factory dash was kept in place, as well. Monty was dedicated to the roots of street car drag racing when all the cars still looked like their OEM counterparts and liked to show that in subtle ways throughout his builds.
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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MONTY BERNEY they probably broke. He not only made the correct diagnosis but he loaned these guys who he just met about $2500 worth of parts to repair the transmission. He gave them his address and trusted them to send the money along later, which they did. That just goes to show the character of the man and his caring nature. He truly loved racing and his fellow racers and deserves all the good words that have been spoken about
him. He deserves all the respect heaped upon him and being called the Godfather of racing is perfectly suited for Monty Berney.” Mel Roth of the PSCA who knew Berney for over fifteen years said, “Before each race I asked him where he wanted to park, “Put me where you want Mel,” was his response. Monty was a people person and I knew he wanted to be in front of his many fans, so we put him front and center at our
Berney
MONTY
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
Vegas races. Even when he was struggling getting the legendary Bertha down the racetrack he always took the time to talk to anybody that approached him. That included taking time out while the team was thrashing getting ready for the next round. I never saw him rope off his pit or turn anyone away because he was too busy. He loved the fans and his fellow racers.” Monty is survived by his wife Karen, son Shane and
daughter Brenna. Everyone here at RPM Magazine would like to send their condolences to them, Monty’s many friends, fellow racers and fans. For me, I live with the fact that another racing buddy has been taken too soon but it is good to know ‘My favorite Canuck’ probably has already hooked up with the ‘Rockstar’ Steve Grebeck and they are working together on how to get Bertha down that slippery left lane.
DRAG RACING THIS ‘BIRD IS ON FIIIIRE! It came down to one round of racing separating Dwayne Wolfe from his closest competitors at the final 2014 event in Atco. This car is basically a Pro Street design running with purpose-built Pro Mods. The car and the team show how it’s done round by round with the big blown hemi pushing consistent 5.90’s - 6.0’s.
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A RACE TO THE FINISH >> 2014 Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Championship
A
fter a full schedule of intense racing over the course of the year in the Northeast Outlaw Pro Modified Association (NEOPMA) series, it was down to a single race to determine the 2014 Series Points Champion, the highest honor of the series. The exceptional rules developed by the Association President, John Mazzorana, between the three styles of power adders; blowers, turbos and nitrous oxide, kept competition close and nullified any one type’s advantage. What the fans got from this was heads-up fender-to-fender finishes in full quarter-mile competition at each of the ten scheduled races with ET’s in the 5.80’s and top MPH’s in the 250+ range. The journey started in early April and continued through the summer into the cooler fall months with a virtual tug of war between racers. No one racer was
dominating, but some clear possible victors were starting to show their strength in the waning months. Winning a race during the season is surely a benefit, but never count out the value of round win or qualifying points as a determining factor for moving forward in this highly contested battle.
THE MIR MAIN EVENT: GETTING WARMED UP FOR THE FINAL BATTLE
The NEOPMA series takes charge of the Annual Superchargers Showdown at Maryland International Raceway. While it is a nonpoints event, it allows the racers an exceptional track to hone their tune-ups and chassis settings for the final event at Atco Raceway. Just one year ago records were CRUSHED at this same event, so there was no doubt the teams were more than
excited to once again place the rubber on MIR’s incredible track surface. The headlining Pro Mods were billed as the “2nd Annual International Pro Mod Challenge,” where the USAbased NEOPMA would take on Canada’s Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA) in a head-to-head shootout created by Mazzorana. In 2013, Canada would take home the gold in what was now being dubbed “The Pro Mod Olympics.” However, the long awaited return of Canada didn’t happen, as many of the racers from the PMRA did not make the trek south of their border. The racers of the NEOPMA instead filled two full fields of insane Pro Mod race action with mostly their own cars and brought the win back Stateside. Royce and Jason Miller and their MIR team had the track prep down and the two day event was held under stellar racing conditions.
We all knew records were going to be placed in the books over this weekend. Warm temps during the day and a slight chill at night produced memorable runs starting with Robert Patrick’s 903ci nitrous-injected Super Snake Mustang out of Purvis Ford-Lincoln putting an incredible pipes-lit 5.81 @ 242mph on the boards right off the trailer, a run that left most of Patrick’s fellow racers watching from the pits picking their jaws up off the asphalt. Craig Pio finally got the well-known turbocharged ’53 Corvette to go straight down the track and picked up the top MPH at 248mph. With NEOPMA announcer Rockin’ Rob Cherkas almost exhausted from a day of fulfilling heads-up racing, the tone in the tower was heightened for the final pairing of Fredy Scriba vs. Steve Drummond. There was no catching Scriba though as he clicked off another
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NEOPMA 2014
FURIOUS FOURTH GEN The Quick 8 Championship in Maryland saw the team of Woods/ Kramer take top honors in the concession class. 6.20s are now commonplace with “Hitman” Steve Kramer pulling gears.
brilliant 5.91 @ 238 for the win—a win that was well deserved, as heading into eliminations Scriba had been searching for the reason as to why the car was literally not getting off the starting line during his last few races. It was found that the rear was separating from its welds and the chassis had suffered some damage from the sub-one second sixty-foot launches.
Scott Meyers of SM Race Cars was on hand to repair both areas in a frantic welding session that clearly fixed the problem and paid off big time! The Scriba team headed to the winners circle ecstatic as they had regained that missing form and promptly celebrated this win. The team opted to hand over the winner’s trophy to Shannon Groff; Shannon’s husband
GOLD MEDAL PEDALING Nothing short of incredible was the performance put on by the “Pro Mod Olympics” champion Fredy Scriba who drove his way through tire shake and a bunch of mechanical problems to take the win. Scriba recorded his best-ever time, manually shifting the nitrous big block Vette to a 5.91 in the quarter-mile.
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NEOPMA 2014 BETTER EVERY PASS
Doug Groff crews for the team. Shannon is now in an intense battle with lung cancer and is their biggest fan and cheerleader who under any circumstance, well or sick, is at each race. The Quick 8 portion of this event would see Steve Kramer in the Woods/Kramer 2002 nitrous Camaro face Derrick Townes in his 1968 blown Camaro (both are past RPM TECH-TASTIC feature cars). Kramer Track Technician extraordinaire Jason would simply have Miller returning from to break the beams and head on an easy the top end after pass down through an examination of the traps for the win. the ultimate ¼-mile The team of Woods/ surface of MIR and Kramer had been gives the okay to fighting tire shake all send down the 250 year and the outcome through short shifting mph pro mods. Just days before the race, this Mustang with Steve Drummond at the wheel, required a complete transmission change. Like they never changed a thing, the car responded by getting quicker with each pass into the five second zone.
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
produced ET’s in the 6.20s. This would be the last time car owner Paul Woods Sr. would visit a winner’s circle though, as he passed away on October 24th, 2014. We will miss this fine man.
THE SEASON FINALE AT ATCO RACEWAY
The points championship was winding down and Atco Raceway was the stage for the monumental final event as now four race teams were within striking distance with barely a round win of points between them. NEOPMA standout Fredy Scriba (Nitrous) was in the points lead over Dwayne Wolfe
SUPER SNAKE Always the top of the class is Robert Patrick in the Purvis Ford-Lincoln Mustang. This car was destined for a 5.70s pass at MIR as the night cooled off and the track just hooked harder and harder. His track record set earlier in qualifying at 5.81 @ 241mph just made the team thirst for more.
GREAT START... Craig Pio has been outstanding with bursts of speed on the back-half of the track to 255 mph in this ‘53 Corvette doorslammer, and makes it look easy. Craig was the number one qualifier, setting his personal best of the year with a 5.89 and backed it up with a stellar 5.86 as the team had plenty of power left for the rest of the show.
...HIGH-FLYING FINISH Craig had been on the mark to take the points championship in the final race of the year when the Corvette crashed hard into the wall at mid track at well over 190 mph, ending his run for the title. Craig walked away and the car is now being looked at for repairs.
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NEOPMA 2014 JUST HAVIN’ SOME FUN Track owner Royce Miller takes the cues from the fans in a heads-up battle with the Superchargers Showdown sponsor’s “Snap-On Truck” vs. a custom Volkswagen in a flag-drop match. The crowd enjoys this spectacle and the race was just too close to call.
(Supercharged) followed by Craig Pio (Turbocharged) who was coming on strong each race, and Steve Kramer was holding up the fourth spot. All power adders were now present and accounted for after a year’s worth of intense racing. The crisp fall air in the New Jersey pines of Atco Raceway and their prime facility was perfect to produce a champion. Right off the trailer, Craig Pio would put fear into his peers competing for the title as the boards lit up with an amazing 5.89, and he backed it up with a 5.86 @ 255 mph! Fredy Scriba would then stun everyone by not qualifying. To say this was a shock would be an understatement, but toward the end of the year more gremlins arose and the car was simply
not hooking as it should. This would leave the team at the mercy of Dwayne Wolfe who would have to lose first round to keep their title shot alive. The nail biter was not over yet though, with Wolfe deadly consistent in his blown Firebird, as was Craig Pio in the ’53 twin turbo Corvette. Both Pio and Wolfe won their first round races when a strong, damp headwind started to blow over the asphalt causing safety concerns and the question was asked if the rest of the event should be run 1/8th-mile instead of 1/4-mile. The majority ruled and, to keep speeds down and allow for a quicker turnaround of cars, the second round commenced in 1/8thmile format. With Scriba out, Craig Pio needed to win the
GOING FOR BROKE Standout racer Ed Burnley’s crew was working hard to get their Camaro pro mod back into the game with an almost complete teardown and rebuild in the pits. Many racers pitched in to help but ultimately they lost their last two qualifiers to part of a broken connecting rod being wedged behind the camshaft. “There was no way this engine should have run. We used rods with 50 rounds on them and some back-up parts for the damaged heads, but it did,” team member Bobby Holtzner stated.
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
STONE COLD KILLER Jeff Rogers in the “Executioner” Mustang Pro Mod is flat out firing on all cylinders at the hit—this is night time Pro Mod action at its best! With Mach Racing Engines power, it is a tough competitor, running in the 6.10 zone on any given day.
race to take away the points lead from Dwayne Wolfe. Pio was matched up with Steve Kramer and when the lights went green Kramer was out strong on Pio when the unthinkable happened as the gorgeous Corvette, under full power, crossed the lane behind Kramer and struck the wall with tremendous force,
catapulting the front end well into the night sky and spinning the car wildly into the darkness. Craig escaped unscathed from the wreckage but all hopes for a points title were gone. This left Wolfe Racing as the 2014 NEOPMA Points Champions. If you have followed them this year you
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POTENT PONCHO Allan Juhasz is having a blast in the pro mod ranks with his nitrousinjected Grand Am. A pleasant switch from the always featured Camaros, Corvettes and Mustang’s, Allan has been a contender in the points chase all year.
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WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN’ GOIN’ ON... Rob Hunnicutt’s fantastic first showing with the NEOPMA group was a good one featuring huge flaming nitrous passes and low six second ET’s despite tire shake. The Legion Of Doom crew had this car set to please the fans, and they certainly accomplished that!
GLAD TO HAVE YOU BACK, FRANK Once gracing the cover of RPM, Frank Patille launches off the starting line on his comeback tour. Frank has been out of racing for nearly two years since he fell gravely ill with Guillain–Barré Syndrome. He’s regained his strength and is back in the driver’s seat.
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
WELD ME UP, SCOTTIE... Scott Meyers of SM Race Cars does everything; from crewing for The Miller/ King 57 Chevy to helping when it counts, even on a competitor’s race car such as Fredy Scriba’s heavily cracked rear axle and chassis. Scott’s welding allowed them to be in the hunt and ultimately capture the win at MIR.
AREA FIFTY-ONE Jason White in the screwcharged 1951 Chevy from Old Man’s Garage/White’s Auto & Speed put on quite a show, spinning the “D” rotor blower to a blistering 5.99 pass. This car quickly turned into a fan favorite busting out huge burnouts and wheels-up launches.
HOW YA LIKE THEM APPLES? The “Bad Apples” team is back and taking on more races. The Scott Shafiroff powered Camaro is a stunning machine. Vinny Budano handles the wheel with his eyes always laser focused on a win. Though the team experienced traction woes, their early numbers were quite strong with a 6.07 in the heat.
NEOPMA 2014 know that they run hard and strong each race, able competitors in Pro Modified and well deserving of this ultimate goal. “We have been racing for many years in various classes at local tracks, but only moved into the Pro Mod ranks in 2011,” said Wolfe after the win. “Over the last few years we worked extremely hard to go from a consistent firstround loser into a championship contender and now champions of one of the premier Pro Mod series in the country. This championship is a huge accomplishment for us and is something that we have dreamed about for so many years. We don’t have major sponsorship, nor do we have a lot of money, but we make up for what we don’t have with hard work, dedication and a lot of perseverance. We faced significant challenges over the course of the season, many of which looked insurmountable at the time. With a lot of help, we got over those hurdles, ran consistent 5.90s and 6.00s all year at every track we raced on, won two events and closed it all out with the series championship. We can’t put into words just how gratifying it is to see all of that hard work pay off!” “We have a lot of people to thank for helping us, including everyone on the team that worked so hard on this car, all of our
families and our fans that cheered us on. We owe a gigantic thanks to all the guys at Jan-Cen Racing Engines/Mike Janis Superchargers for the horsepower and their tireless work in fixing the issues that we had this year so we could make it to every race. We have to thank Jerry Bickel for building a car that will run 5.90s even though it was designed in 2002 to run 6.50s, and for the knowledge on how to setup the chassis to make it work. We also have to thank all of our local sponsors for the support throughout the year: Wolfe’s Garage, South Fork Auto & Body and J.R. Hill Construction, all of Moorefield, WV. It would not have been possible for us to win this championship without all of you!” Visit www.neopma.com and find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/NEOPMA NEOPMA Associate Sponsors: ATI Performance Products, Jesel, Stupid Fast Racing, USA Auto Supply, Performance2Way, Switzer Dynamics, Resolution Racing Services, Jeff Miller Performance, American Racing Headers, RPM Magazine, Goodyear Racing Tires, Star Transporters/Renegade, VP Racing Fuel, Barker Racing, Split Racing, Scriba Welding, Star Cab Co., T&F Racing, Ram Clutches, Action Audio App.
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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RPM EVENTS
>>RPM readers go online to select their favorite rides from the past year BRACKETS BUSTED
after two rounds and two weeks worth of voting, we have our First Annual Top Guns honorees. Some matchups were decided by just a handful of votes, with some very deserving rides just narrowly missing the cut. We’ll continue voting all the way through until we declare an overall 2014 RPM Top Gun Shootout Champion, but for now we hope you enjoy this chance to honor the rides you selected as the best we had to offer this year!
Our first web-based system proved to be a problematic, giving many folks error messages on their devices in the opening hours of the tourney. We promptly corrected the error and voting kicked off just slightly later than scheduled. The random bracket seeding resulted in some tough early round matchups, leaving a number of deserving rides on the outside looking in. With the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals still to be completed at press time, it is anyone’s guess which of our eight Top Guns will walk away with the Overall #1 title next month.
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ast month in our opening column, we unveiled our new annual awards for the eight favorite feature cars from the past year. This is our first time attempting such an award, so we weren’t really sure what to expect. We selected the top 32 cars featured during the 2014 calendar year then randomly assigned them to a single elimination bracket. After chasing out some technical gremlins, we managed to get voting up and running, and
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
JOHN
Caruso
>>1961 Chevrolet Corvette
July feature car
photos by Mark@GoDragRacing.org/Tara Bowker
J
ohn Caruso’s cool Vette was featured in our July issue. Probably most remarkably, the Shafiroff-powered beauty has been completed for over a decade, but that doesn’t mean our readers thought it was anything other than contemporary cool. Caruso handily defeated Ken Costella’s 1970 “Lost Boss” Mustang in Round 1 and also pulled a bit of an upset in similarly defeating the legendary 1988 Thunderbird of Matt & Debbie Hay in Round 2 to take one of this year’s Top Gun awards.
>>1969 Dodge Dart
RONALD
Bookman
July cover car
photos by Louis Fronkier
R
on Bookman’s ultra-smooth “Dart Vader” took our July 2014 cover and is one of a growing crop of new-school pro street builds we are seeing more and more of at events nationwide. The blacked-out theme and ProCharged mill give it sinister good looks with killer performance to match. Bookman enjoyed the highest vote total of the entire tournament in defeating Frank-o Harder’s Nova wagon in Round 1, and nearly doubled up vote totals against Bret Voelkel’s ground-breaking Mustang pro streeter in Round 2 to streak away with a Top Gun for 2014.
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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RPM TOP GUNS
ROBBIE
Langford
TIM
Arkebauer
>>1969 Chevrolet Chevelle
O
ne of only two small tire rides (Greg Dudash’s C10 being the other) to advance to claim a 2014 Top Gun is Robbie Langford’s gorgeous blue ’69 Chevelle, featured in our February issue. RPM readers again showed their preference for cars with time slip cred by tabbing the Chevy to defeat Flip Riley’s Tempest in the first round, but Mick Bodigon’s blown street/strip Nova gave him a run to the finish in Round 2, as Langford won by just 18 votes after trailing most of the week. With the win, the blue Bowtie took a deserving spot as a 2014 Top Gun.
September co-cover car
February feature car
>>1969 Chevrolet Camaro
photos by Chris Kays
A
screw-charged big block and a bevy of pro mod inspired touches in a “street legal” (see what we did there?) package may be one of the few ways left to build a ’69 Camaro that hasn’t been done before. Kim Gough, Robert Carrasca, and Jason Allen fab work coupled with Josh Lester paint and body helped “Metal Craft” a car, featured in our September issue, that can safely boast this year’s tallest induction system. The black outlaw defeated Matt Vinson’s 1966 Fairlane in Round 1, then rolled to victory against Doug Box’s 1969 Chevelle in Round 2 to capture a ’14 Top Gun.
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
photos by Tim Lewis
RPM TOP GUNS >>1962 Chevrolet C10 Pickup
GREG
Dudash
November feature truck
STEVE
Hall
photos by Louis Fronkier
A
ginormous turbo and countless cool touches make Greg Dudash’s ’62 Chevy truck, featured in last month’s pickup double feature issue, a worthy candidate. Dudash entrusted Virginia Rod Company, the shop we’ve taken our Project aPocalypSe Horse, to assist with the truck’s construction. Dudash defeated Marty Dabney’s flamed Nova in Round 1 before beating another Nova, this time Ray Tumbry’s ’68, to snag a Top Gun.
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
photos by Matt Woods
H
>>1955 Chevy Pro Mod
all’s wicked pro mod took our March 2014 cover, and the wild ride features a number of incredible touches including a partial carbon fiber chassis “skeleton.” The car is far from all go and no show, sporting a beautiful paintjob with incredible airbrushed graphics and numerous personal touches throughout. Hall had a particularly tough draw, matching up against cover rides in two consecutive rounds. The Shoebox took down the November cover truck of Ricky Ashworth in Round 1 before beating the May cover car of Randy Dolenseck in Round 2 to capture a ’Gun.
July cover car
>>1966 Chevrolet Nova
CHARLES
Leake
P
erhaps one of the biggest surprises of the tourney was the popularity of Charles Leake’s 1966 Nova—not because Leake’s sinister black big block isn’t deserving, but rather because we hadn’t yet featured it at the time the tourney began (check it out in this issue on page 78). We plan to tweak our system next year to give all our participants an equal opportunity, but such a disadvantage didn’t keep the nasty Deuce from disposing of Billy Meadows’ 2004 Grand Am in Round 1 and crushing Gary Kelican’s cool green Maverick in Round 2 to snag a Top Gun.
December feature car
photo by Louis Fronkier
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
RPM TOP GUNS
STANLEY & WEISS
Racing
October cover car
T
he newest ride in the tournament was undoubtedly Stanley & Weiss Racing’s wild 2014 Caddy, our October cover car. The slippery silver bullet features a number of high-tech touches, but most assuredly it is the unusual carbon fiber silhouette of the radical blown and injected Caddy shell that is most memorable to readers and competitors alike. Stanley took down this month’s cover car, Ralph Rowland’s 2007 Mustang, in Round 1 before moving on to defeat Jerry Sanguinetti’s second gen Camaro in Round 2 to claim a 2014 Top Gun for himself. photos by Mark@GoDragRacing.org/Tara Bowker
>>2014 Cadillac CTS Pro Mod We hope you enjoyed our first annual RPM Top Gun awards this year. Participation online was tremendous and we will undoubtedly do it again next year (with a few tweaks to help things run even smoother and encourage even more
readers to take part). Thanks for participating and sincerest congrats to our winners. Be sure to tune in next month as we announce our first ever Top Gun Shootout Champion!
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
47
RPM TECH
PRODUCTS & INNOVATIONS >>The story behind SM Race Cars new double beadlock wheels photos by
HORSEPOWER IN HIS BLOOD
A
s a 17-year old in vocational classes at Chantilly High School, Scott Myers was always intrigued by motor racing. “We come from a long line of motorsports enthusiasts. My father would take our family to sprint car races in P.A. and drag racing events throughout my childhood. As a teen, I would spend Friday and Saturday nights street racing and at that point I knew I wanted to be involved in drag racing in some fashion. I built my first car, a back-half 12-point cage Mustang powred by a big block Chevy with a Lenco in 1991.” Scott told us.
FROM RACER TO BUILDER
The evolution of SM Race Cars followed Scott’s hands-on experience in the pits and behind the wheel. “In 1990, I was fortunate enough to be taught a craft that I picked up like it was second nature to me. I worked for Warren Frank at ARC, Automotive Racing Chassis in Cockeysville, MD and also worked with Bill Mathis— a.k.a. Mathis and Burkett Top Alcohol funny car champions. Over those years I worked on various drag cars and street cars,” continued Myers. During a brief hiatus from drag racing, Scott began designing and fabricating his own line of Freestyle BMX
frames called AirRaidBikes, however, costs of American made versus overseas costs and manufacturing became overwhelming and Myers returned to the drag racing scene. “I remember having a conversation with my father about opening up a shop full time because I was scared whether or not it would work. We talked about it and I went to Bill Mathis and asked him for help,” continued Scott. “And he believed in me enough to help. Fast forward to today and I have been in the same shop for 16 years.”
DEVELOPING NEW PRODUCTS
SMRC’s new double beadlock rear drag wheels are made from only the highest quality materials and at only 18.8lbs they could be the lightest in the industry.
With the devastation of losing his father in 2007, Scott strived to make SM Race Cars better and have it evolve into something his father would have been proud of. “I have worked to come up with creative ways to build my own hand-crafted parts and started working with titanium and the best German 4130 tubing money could buy. For the past eight years I have been hand crafting every part that leaves on a customer’s car. We build everything in house—all of our complete Pro Mod chassis, sheet metal rear end
A new SMRC 2014 Mini Camaro Top Sportsman taking shape.
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Tara Bowker
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
Here, an SMRC 2013 mini Camaro is nearing completion while a 2014 starts to take shape.
Qualifying Jeff Miller’s Pro Mod ’57 Chevy at MIR for the International Pro Mod Challenge. Scott has worked with the Miller team for the past two seasons and regularly tests new products on the car.
A complete set of SMRC wheels waiting to be boxed and shipped. Matching fronts (as shown) are also available and all SM Race Cars wheels are proudly made in USA!
An example of SMRC sheet metal 9-inch Ford housing welds.
Scott watches the Miller/King ’57 Chevy at the starting line as it prepares for the first round of eliminations.
At the same event, Scott helped rival competitor Fredy Scriba by welding up his rear housing in the pits. Scriba went on to win the event!
housings, gas and brake pedals and various other parts. We even hand make our own 2015 mini streamlined Camaro bodies. Over the last two years I have had the pleasure of teaming up with Jeff Miller and Steve King and their 1957 Chevy blown Pro Mod that runs in the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association. Jeff is currently testing some of my new products on the ’57.” Over the last two years Scott has also found the time to design and manufacture his own line of double beadlock wheels. “Our 15x15 wheel weighs just 18.8 pounds and is the lightest wheel we know of,” he said. “My wheels are proudly made in the USA and are available in a polished or gloss black finish with gold grade 8 hardware,” Scott added. The new SM Race Cars double beadlock 15x15 wheels are $1,700 per pair for the rears. New 15x 3 ½ front runners are also available and come to match the rears in a polished or gloss black finish with gold grade 8 hardware and sell for $1200 per pair.
SOURCE SM Race Cars
Ph.571-239-9672 www.smracecars.com
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
49
RPM TECH >> Preparing our work truck for work, we add a BedTred, Roll-X & BAKBox
TRICK OUT YOUR TRUCK ACCESSORI ZE
story and photos by
M
George Pich
ost of us have trucks, or at the very least borrow a buddy’s or neighbor’s at some point to haul, load or tow. At RPM, we’re always looking for new ways to help Trick Out Your Truck by sharing toys, tips, and tricks we’ve done to spice up our haulers for power, performance, to be more user friendly, or for just plain good looks. Heading into winter—where in most parts there will be at least a month or two of less than favorable weather—we decided we’d add a few things to one of our plain-Jane company rides to help it suffer less during four or five months of winter while hauling parts, trailers, and who knows what else. First, we had our RPM Vehicle Project Team hit the net for some research on what we needed to add to the Ecoboost V6 equipped 2014 F150 SuperCrew 4x4 you see here (read – spend some time surfing the web looking at cool stuff). Since all parts are not created equally, we were looking for quality and positive feedback rather than the least expensive. We’re thrifty, but smart, and learned a long time ago that there is a lot to be said for
50
getting a better product at a fair price than settling for cheap part/ cheap price. To go one step further, good customer service is a must for us and you really can’t put a price on that. As far as your own research goes, trust us, what once was “buyer beware” in today’s world has transformed into more “surfer beware” (web surfer, that is). You can do all the research you want and sooner or later you’re going to find somebody whining about something on the web, we guarantee it. Just a word to the wise: know enough to put all that into perspective and work, as we do, on the “majority rules” concept. In other words, if 100 people love it and two hate it, chances are those two are pretty hard to please or have hated everything they’ve ever owned at some point. With this in mind, we came down to a final short list of products and called on our own real-world experiences over the years to guide us to our final choices. Our initial goal was pretty straight forward: protect the truck and our cargo, and to do that we needed a bed/box protector and some type of tonneau cover. You may recall last year when we
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
1
1: Installing the Roll-X couldn’t be much easier unless it came with the truck! All in all it was about a half-hour install for one person. This advanced tonneau cover has a tough aircraft aluminum channel underside covered with high quality all-weather vinyl.
2
2: Simply line-up then spring-clamp the rails in place and install the three rail clamps on each side.
RPM TECH installed a cool BedRug (www. bedrug.com) along with an Extang Revolution tonneau cover (www.extang.com) on one of our pickups. Happy with both products, this rig was more of a foot soldier and, as such, needed to be toughened up a bit over that “pretty” truck. We knew we’d be loading heavy— and sometimes dirty—parts in the box and we also wanted a secure, weight-bearing tonneau cover for shows and track events. Our choices were pretty easy, as BedRug offers their BedTred bed liner. Built on the same concept as the BedRug “…a bed
3 3: After liner that won’t damage your tightening the truck, isn’t permanent, and three supplied won’t lower your resale valrail clamps on ue,” the BedTred Pro Series each side and liner offers all the qualities of removing our the BedRug, but with a heavy spring clamps, duty TPO composite surface that is tough, really easy the rails are to clean, and won’t absorb ready for the anything. cover. For a tonneau cover, we wanted to stick to a roll-type, but wanted something that wouldn’t buckle under some light loads if we wanted to toss a few tires or setup a small display on top of it. After a lot, and we mean a lot, of searching and calling we
5 4
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
4 & 5: Roll the cover from the back to the front, line it up for proper fit and fasten it down as per the instructions. Don’t forget to install the supplied rubber seal on the top front (bulkhead) of the bed, as well as the front straps for securing the rolled cover (see photo 5).
6
7
6: The properly installed cover, when rolled back out to cover the bed, should match-up with the trick Roll-X latches which require a simple push to latch down. What’s even better, once you lock your tailgate there is no way for anyone to get into the bed without some extra effort. It’s not Fort Knox but it keeps the honest people out, and anything you can do to make the thieves work harder increases the chances they’ll move on to the next easier target. 7: The lightweight BAKBox, while smaller than the traditional “truck tool box,” will hold a good load of tools and equipment (up to 250 lbs. evenly distributed). Plus, it can’t weigh much more than 15 lbs. and comes out in seconds!
ACCESSORI ZE decided on BAK Industries’ Roll-X tonneau cover. It’s strong (can support 400 lbs. evenly distributed), is lockable, easy to install and easy to clean, sits flush with the top of the bed, and won’t block your view out the rear window when fastened in place or rolled up, which was a must for us. When comparing prices, quality and options, remember that the Roll-X totally
eliminates the need to have the local accessory shop install it, and, as “time is money,” it took us all of half an hour to put in which cost us a coffee and sandwich for the guys in the shop. Plus, the added strength and security are awesome! Ok, we are weak sometimes. We admit it. Since we were installing the BedTred and Roll-X, we thought we’d add the BAKBox Tonneau
mahle hV385 goes
supersonic
with all steel 1mm, 1mm, 2mm rings
MAHLE has a long and storied history of leading the way in developing technology for the finest engine builders in the world. This technology continues to breed success on tracks around the world, and MAHLE has done it again. The engineers at MAHLE revolutionize performance piston ring technology with the introduction of HV385 performance ring sets. A MAHLE patented high-tech process employing supersonic application technology leading to improved part consistency, greater bonding, and reduced drag. www.mahle-aftermarket.com
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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SHINE. FOR LONGER.
Achieve perfect paintwork with teamwork. At Autoglym we’ve been developing car care products that work seamlessly for over 40 years so you could say we know a thing or two about paintwork. Your 3-step cleaning routine for bodywork combines Autoglym Bodywork Wash & Wax our award winning Super Resin Polish and Extra Gloss Protection. It’s a winning combination that provides a superior shine, is quick and easy to use and more durable than ever, which means you and your car get to look good for longer. Clean, Polish, Protect for perfect results. That’s the Autoglym way. Always has been. ≤≤≤≤≤
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RPM TECH
8
8, 9, & 10: Again, this is a simple assembly that takes under 15 minutes. Be sure to leave everything finger-tight until your final fit of the BAKBox. The front panel of the BAKBox is held in place by hook and loop straps and folds down easily when needed.
10
9
11
Toolbox to the mix. I mean why not, right? We’re not fans of the traditionally big, heavy, cumbersome pickup tool boxes that take up half of your cargo space. However, this trick, lightweight little toolbox fits UNDER our Roll-X cover, will hold all of our tools (and junk), will still allow a stack of 4x8 sheets of plywood to be loaded under it without a problem. It can also fold up or be removed in seconds. 11: The BAKBox side brackets fit into the Roll-X siderail and fasten to a second bracket (shown in the tray in photo 10) via supplied hardware that holds it in place. Don’t forget to tighten the box assembly as required once you get a proper fit. We tested removing the BAKBox with a cordless screwdriver and it took less than a minute.
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www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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12
14
12: The finished product. When BAK Industries says low profile, they mean low profile!
13
15 13: The BedTred Pro Series Bed Liner unboxed. In case you haven’t noticed yet our Roll-X cover and BAKBox came in a week before the BedTred, so we went ahead and installed them knowing we’d have to loosen a few things here and there to install the liner.
14: Our company wagon came with a factory installed plastic bed liner which we turfed the minute we got it back to the shop. The first order of business with our BedTred Pro Series install was to lay out the hardware and properly clean the box area to prevent scratching under the liner and also help ensure proper adhesion of the hook and look fastener system. We then removed our four cargo hooks from the bed.
15: As per the instructions, with the panels disassembled, we attached our hook fasteners (the underside of the BedTred itself is the loop part of the fastener system) then zipped the four panels (sides, floor and front /bulkhead) together inside-out.
Designed to meet the demanding BOOTH #2229
rigors of racing. Engineer ed to WIN.
FUEL YOUR
PERFORMANCE
8 7 7. 9 3 5 . 3 6 6 1 W E L D O N R A C I N G . C O M
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
RPM TECH
16
16: We placed the assembled BedTred in the bed and turned it over to fit in place with the appropriate TPO Composite surface side up.
17
19: After our BedTred was cozy in its new home, we reinstalled our cargo hooks, tightened the tonneau cover clamps back up, slid the tool box in place and then installed the tailgate portion of the BedTred. Check it out…pretty nice setup!
19
17 & 18: We checked our hook fasteners first and actually moved a few from our original locations on the sides before cleaning all the areas where they would be located on the truck bed with the supplied alcohol wipes. Then, starting with the floor, follow your instructions for proper installation. For our particular application, we had to remove the BAKBox and loosen our Roll-X tonneau cover clamps in order to tuck the BedTred behind them, but that took all of a few extra minutes.
18
Since all this cool stuff comes with good instructions (the Roll-X instructions have just been updated) and is pretty easy to install, it was hard for us to get enough photos to fill the space here. We’re pretty confident that most anyone could do this set of installs over the course of a few hours or at most one afternoon, depending on the help you invoke and your beverage selection.
SOURCE
BAK Industries
www.bakindustries.com 818.365.9000
120
AFR change (%)
100 80 60
DIGITAL MTX
40
COMPETITORS “UEGO” ANALOG O2 SENSOR CONTROL
20 0 -20
50
100
150 200 Time (msec)
250
300
INNOVATE'S DIRECT DIGITAL TM TECHNOLOGY IS 180 MILLISECONDS FASTER THAN COMMON "UEGO” ANALOG SENSOR CONTROL. AT 8000RPM,THIS DELAY EQUALS AN ASTONISHING 24 ROTATIONS OF THE CRANKSHAFT! IF YOU'RE STILL USING ANALOG TECHNOLOGY, YOU'RE IGNORING CRITICAL CHANGES IN YOUR ENGINES AIR/FUEL RATIO. DON'T BLOW YOUR ENGINE, UPGRADE TO INNOVATE!
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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story by
Toby Brooks photos by
Louis Fronkier
HANDCRAFTED
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
T
hrowback. Old school. Nostalgia drags. Call it what you will, but whatever you choose to label it, you can rest assured that Hampton, Virginia’s Ralph Rowland embodies it. The 30+ year drag racing veteran comes from an era when parts were built and not bought and there was no greater satisfaction than knowing that the car you raced was the car you built yourself. Case in point is Rowland’s cool new 2007 Mustang Cobra. As nice as the car might appear on first glance, it is even more impressive when you realize that pretty much everything you see is the result of Rowland’s tireless efforts out of his modest two car garage. It is guys like Ralph who give drag racing’s next generation hope that not everything on the strip needs to be a six-figure turnkey build CNC machined in a high dollar shop. Using ingenuity, creativity, and good old
fashioned drag racing wherewithal, Rowland’s Horse proves that the roots of hot rodding aren’t dead yet, not even close. The build started in 2009 when Rowland decided it was time for a new car. At the time, the likeable Virginian was piloting a 1990 Probe in Top Sportsman, but the new Mustang bodies that had begun popping up in the Pro Stock ranks captured his attention. “I saw cars like Rickie Jones’ and decided it was time to build one for myself,” he said. Rowland promptly contacted Hairy Glass, who had been sourcing carbon fiber Mustang shells for professional race teams. “I was on a budget and I also knew that repairing fiberglass was way easier than repairing carbon fiber, so I requested the same 2007-2008 Mustang body in fiberglass,” he added. After the body arrived, Rowland began fabrication on an all-new scratch-built chrome
moly chassis. In traditional hot rod fashion, he tapped a friend for help and the two of them promptly cranked out an SFI 25.1 spec chassis complete with Strange aluminum struts, an ART 9-inch housing with back brace, Koni double adjustable shocks, and a custom 4-link setup. “I handled all the tubing cuts and bends, but my friend Harvey Rowe handled the TIG welding,” Rowland said. The late Rowe, in his 80s at the time of construction, was a lifelong fabricator who spent three decades in a Naval shipyard and another three decades at nearby Modern Tool and Machine as a machinist. Every tubing union on the car serves as a visible testimony of a man who was as comfortable with a TIG as most are with an ink pen. Drivetrain for the build was a no-brainer, as Rowland’s consistent Probe already sported a powerful Blue Oval mill
and a rock-solid transmission. The 598 ci Ford SVO block has been fitted with a 4.500 stroke Sonny Bryant crank and GRP aluminum rods. Pistons from Ross Racing round out the rotating assembly, while A-460 Trick Flow aluminum heads keep the intake and exhaust flows properly directed. Further fortifying the build are a set of titanium intake and exhaust valves, a Jo-mar stud girdle, ARP head studs, and Crower roller rockers. Topping it off is a Trick Flow tunnel ram intake with a pair of 1050 Holley Dominators. Many of the parts and pieces on the 1150 horsepower mill don’t sport logos or look immediately familiar. The reason is simple: they were hand-made. A sheetmetal oil pan, holding tank, dry sump pump mount and drive, and the headers were all made from scratch, as was a custom dual layer Kevlar engine diaper. Not only does
BUILT, NOT BOUGHT Rowland knows his way around a race car. In fact, other than the TIG welds on the chrome moly chassis tubes that he cut and bent himself—a task he entrusted to late friend Harvey Rowe—Rowland handled every other aspect of the car’s construction himself out of a two car garage, including the engine build, body and paint, and the install of the fuel, electrical, braking, and safety systems.
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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HANDCRAFTED
FIRST ON RACE DAY 598 cubic inches of Blue Oval grunt reside beneath the one-piece Hairy Glass front end. With twin 1050 Holley Dominators and a TFS tunnel ram, the naturally aspirated mill produces 1150 horsepower. such practice help keep costs down, it also avoids the obvious me-toos associated with utilizing a long list of store-bought parts. Ignition and electronics for the car are handled by MSD. An MSD distributor and box handle sparking duties, while the Racepak data acquisition system helps Rowland keep track of what’s working and what isn’t. Backing the naturally aspirated powerplant is a bombproof 4-speed Lenco trans. The unit has been fitted with a push-button air shifter system and employs a RAM 6-finger
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
dual clutch assembly. A titanium bell housing helps mate the engine and trans while maintaining the critical SFI specifications necessary for a seven-second drag car. The big Lenco sends the power rearward to a Moser aluminum third member that has been fitted with Richmond gears. “Most of the tracks around me are 1/8 mile, so I have to adjust my gearing depending on where I am racing,” Rowland said. A Mark Williams conical spool and a pair of gun-drilled Moser axles round out the fortified Ford differential. Rolling stock for the wild Mustang consists of a set of Weld Wheels
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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rolling on Goodyear tires. With the requisite 15x3.5 skinny fronts on frontrunners and massive dual beadlocked 16x16 rears with 33.5x16 slicks, the car has all the looks of a modern pro stock ride. Moving inside, the car is all business. A full complement of Ford Motorsport gauges helps keep track of all the car’s vital signs, while a host of RJ Safety equipment— including harnesses, window netting, and an on-board fire extinguisher system ensures pilot safety. The theme
continues inside, where owner-fabbed tinwork and wheeltubs help keep the outside outside and the inside inside. Lastly, Rowland turned his attention to the car’s paint and body, where he meticulously prepped the all-’glass shell, doors, trunk lid, and one piece front clip for paint. After more hours than he cares to recall prepping and sanding to a dead flat surface, he sprayed the car himself using a rich burgundy PPG/Axalta basecoat/clearcoat
cvrproducts.com For more information visit
64
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
www.cvrproducts.com
HANDCRAFTED
PURPOSE BUILT The no-frills interior is home to a funny car cage and a big air shifted Lenco trans. The cockpit also houses a full complement of Ford Racing instrumentation.
!!! www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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HANDCRAFTED
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
...OUT BACK The ’Stang sports a beefy fabricated rear and a massive pair of Goodyear slicks. An ownerfabricated pro stock-style deck spoiler and wheelie bars combine with the Stroud parachute to round out the view from behind.
color. Rowland then masked the car and shot the iconic gold Shelby-style stripes along with the gold Hairy Glass hood scoop. Although the car has been recently buttoned up and the build complete, Rowland has not yet been able to make any solid passes in the car. However, based upon the fact that his new ride sports the same engine and transmission as his old Probe yet weighs 200 pounds less, he expects to imcontinued on page 76
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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Page 68
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RPM Connections Performance Directory... Connecting YOU With The Industry
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Page 73
Race Orgs, Tracks & Events
Power Adders Incl. Nitrous Oxide Blowers/Superchargers Turbochargers, Systems/Parts/Service
Page 74
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Tires & Wheels
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Transmission Converter Clutch & Driveline
RPM Connections Performance Directory... Connecting YOU With The Industry
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Page 75
MISC.
Incl. Buildings, Flooring, Insurance, Tools, Canopies, Tents, Graphics
Tuning & Electronics
Incl. Ignitions, Control Systems, Parts & Service
HANDCRAFTED prove upon the old car’s best of 7.96 at 173 mph and be deep in the sevens by the time he gets the new Horse fully sorted. One glance at Ralph Rowland’s 2007 Mustang simply isn’t enough for a casual passerby to fully appreciate the magnitude and significance of the car. An owner-built chassis fitted with an owner-built engine and trans covered by an owner-prepped and painted shell just isn’t seen much these days. So call Ralph old school. Call him a throwback. Heck even call him nostalgic. Just don’t call his new ride cookie cutter or store-bought, because it is anything but.
BUILDER. TUNER. DRIVER. Rowland proudly stands beside his newest creation.
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DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
Win Big.
Trick Flow’s new PowerPort® 365 aluminum cylinder heads were created for you to win races. These new extreme performance race heads for big block Chevy engines flow a massive 424 cfm @ .900" lift. The high-strength castings can withstand enormous amounts of compression and rpm. Rectangular-shaped 365cc CNC Competition Ported runners, 119cc heart-shaped chambers, CNC bowl blended valve seat transitions, 24° intake valve angles with 4° side cants, and the highest quality valvetrain components help make PowerPort 365 heads the best choice for your car. Use PowerPort 365 heads on your engine and turn your goal of winning into reality! Airflow Results PowerPort 365
Lift Value .100" .200" .300" .400" .500" .600" .700" .800" .900"
Intake Flow CFM 78 155 239 301 349 385 411 418 424
Exhaust Flow CFM 63 134 198 246 277 301 318 328 337
Tests conducted at 28" of water (pressure). Bore size: 4.600"; exhaust with 2" pipe. To view more airflow charts, go to TrickFlow.com and type the part number you want to see into the Search box and then click “Search.”
1409RPCT
Some parts are not legal for sale or use on any pollution-controlled motor vehicles.
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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story by
Toby Brooks
photos by
Louis Fronkier
YES.
I
t has been said that once a car has been cut up and relegated to full-on race duty, the odds of it ever returning to the street are next to zero. After all, any racer knows that the best ways to increase speed and decrease elapsed times are more horsepower and less weight. Building horsepower gets expensive, but ditching unnecessary factory parts, cutting wiring, removing lighting, and swapping steel and glass for lightweight alternatives can be particularly cost effective. When cabinet maker Charles Leake came across this now-sinister, low-slung street bruiser on eBay back in 2004, it was a pretty typical consistent strip
performer that had been fully converted to drag duty. Minimalist interior, next to no factory lighting, and an open header exhaust were but a few of the obstacles preventing most from even considering returning the car to the street. However, Leake saw potential. He soon worked a deal, headed to its location in Long Island, New York, and towed it home. It would be one of the last times the nasty Deuce would ride on a trailer. “I wanted a wild street car, and the Nova had all the basics already,” he said. High-dollar and high-effort items like a full 2x3-inch square tube chassis with an 8.50 cert and a 1000+-horsepower big block were already in place.
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WICKED QUICK All Leake had to do was bring the car back to street legal status while retaining the wild race features and he would have the best of both worlds. Add in show-stopping good looks and he’d have the total package. And that, friends, is what Pro Street 2.0 is really all about. The car’s previous owner/ builder provided scant details on much of the build before Leake took possession; however, what is known about the car is visible on inspection. The svelte 2500-pound ride rolls on a custom-fabricated chassis
with a 12-point cage with full funny car-style fortification. A Bickel 4-link with anti-sway bar and adjustable coilovers handle the suspension duties out back, while an A-arm front suspension and matching coilovers manage the bumps up front. Custom aluminum tubs and floorpans are complimented by a carbon fiber two-piece removable trans tunnel. Leake replaced the original less-than-practical two-gallon fuel cell with a 16-gallon unit from JAZ and also replaced the rolling stock but otherwise left the chassis essentially un-
The sinister little Deuce is frightningly nasty from any angle. The sano trunk features race-built tinwork and tubs, a 16-gallon Jaz fuel cell, and a pair of Optima blue top batteries. The twin Stroud chutes punctuate the “you don’t want any of this” sentiment experienced by most would-be challengers at the drag strip.
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changed. The car currently rides on a pair of 32x17-15LT Mickey Thompson ET Streets in the rear with MT 25x5 Sportsman S/Rs in front. Wheel choice was inspired by NHRA pro stock driver Jeg Coughlin, one of the first drivers to sport black wheels on his ride. Leake sourced a set of double beadlocked 15x15-inch Weld Magnums for the rear and matching 15x3.5-inch fronts and promptly sent them for anodizing. “Tires and wheels are to a car what shoes are to most women. I’ve ran six or seven sets on this car, but I’m most happy with the set I have now,” he said. The sinister all-black look provides the perfect complement to the
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car’s undeniably nasty sound and stance. That sound comes from a details-limited 540-cubic inch Rat motor that features Brodix II Plus aluminum heads on a Chevy cast iron block. When fed a steady stream of 110-octane race fuel, the JE 14:1 compression slugs are happy to help push in excess of 1000 horsepower—not bad for a naturally aspirated mill with a single four-barrel. The engine features an MSD distributor and crank trigger along with a 7AL-2 box. A CSI electric water pump handles coolant circulation duties and has been paired with a vastly larger Cool-It aluminum radiator—an
“Tires and wheels are to a car what shoes are to most women. I’ve ran six or seven sets on this car, but I’m most happy with the set I have now.” -Charles Leake
(NOT QUITE) RUN OF THE MILL The 540-cube Rat might look pretty pedestrian, but one push of the button and it emits a percussive, lopey shockwave that puts all on notice that this is no typical big block.
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YES. upgrade from the tiny race-only system that appeared on the car when initially purchased. Harland Sharp roller rockers and a Weiand Team-G intake topped with a monstrous 1050 Holley Dominator round out most of the known parts on the build. Mild steel 2 3/8inch headers and NASCAR four-baffle boom tubes handle exhaust chores, and the exhaust pulse is probably better described as a sensation of pressure than of sound. The lopey thump of a mystery camshaft results in an erratic shockwave that relentlessly
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concusses the chest while also assaulting the eardrums. “I had planned to tear the engine down and rebuild at some point, but it runs and sounds great, so there has really been no need for it yet,” Leake said with a laugh. Backing the stout big block is a TCI Racing 2-speed Powerglide. The trans mates to the engine via a 5500-stall 8-inch converter and has been fitted with an aluminum trans cooler and trans brake. Moving rearward, a narrowed Ford 9-inch differential has been equipped with a Strange Ultra alu-
BRACED FOR RACIN’ The narrowed 9-inch has been braced and suspended via coil overs and a 4-link to make room for the fat MT meats and Weld wheels.
minum center section, 4.11 gears, and Strange axles. The Pro Series 67-inch wheelie bars add a measure of safety and attitude all at the same time. Stopping chores for the Nasty Nova are managed by Wilwood disc brakes all the way around. When stomping the big pedal isn’t enough at the big end, Leake can pull the cabin-mounted lever to drop the laundry out back where a pair of air-launcher assisted parachutes are ready and willing to assist. The black lacquer paint covers a combination of factory steel and lightweight fiberglass body panels that have been lovingly massaged to ensure straight lines
LOW. NOT SLOW. The Nova sits nice and low thanks to the adjustable full tube chassis installed by a previous owner. The added lower valance further improves airflow up and over the Harwood fiberglass cowl induction hood.
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and a mile-deep finish. The original stamped GM roof and quarters remain, but they have been joined by a Harwood ’glass frontend with custom 6-inch L-88 cowl hood and a matching fiberglass deck lid. Fiberglass bumpers, lift-off doors, and Lexan front and rear windows also help keep the Deuce at her fit-and-trim 2500-pound fighting weight, and a low profile front spoiler and rear deck wing help improve the admittedly brick-like factory Nova aero package. Moving inside, the car is far from luxurious but offers passengers more comforts than years gone by on the strip.
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www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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NEVER TO BE MISTAKEN FOR A LEXUS... Although Leake has made the Chevy II a bit more practical, there’s still plenty of evidence of her past strip-only days. A pair of Corbeau seats now occomodate more than just a lone pilot, and the car does now feature a 9-inch in-dash monitor. Check out the headliner-less roof and the custom “air conditioning” system...the drag racer’s familiar clip on 12-volt fan. Anything more would just weigh down the radical lightweight, and Leake prefers them fast rather than fluffy!
Leake changed out the lone driver’s seat for a pair of FX1 Pro Corbeau seats fitted with Corbeau 5-point harnesses. Looking outward, the lucky pilot sees a full complement of Auto Meter gauges mounted in the sightline just behind the quick-release Grant GT steering wheel. A Precision KWIK Shift II shifter tells the Powerglide what to do, while an on-board Halon fire suppression system
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YES.
and Stroud safety net provide an added measure of safety. The electrical system of the car has been completely replaced and upgraded since its drag strip only days. A Painless Wiring control panel and Optima Blue Top batteries have been added, and the barely-serviceable 50amp alternator has been upgraded to a rock-steady
180-amp unit. The Nova required a full upgrade to factory headlights, marker lights, headlamp switch, and taillights and now also features a 9-inch in-dash monitor and an Audiovox back-up camera that can also be used to see the rapidly shrinking view of yet another would-be challenger as the Nova streaks to victory.
(800) 208-1755
A true triple threat, the car is equally capable at a show, a cruise, or at the strip, frequenting local events such as the Southern Fried VA Car Show, the Ocean City Cruise, and local test-ntunes. To date, the black beast has posted a best of 8.50 seconds at 183 mph through the mufflers— and was driven to and from the track to do it.
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www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
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BLACK SHIRT...BLACK SHOES...BLACK NOVA Seen here posing beside his pride and joy, Leake shows, cruises, and races his nasty little Deuce as often as possible. Judging by the car’s paint, trim, wheels, and his attire, we’d be willing to bet we have a pretty good idea what his favorite color is.
Charles Leake’s wild Nova is proof-positive that not every fast car needs to forfeit its license plates and practicality, and that not every drag car is forever sentenced to life on the strip. Over the course of a decade, he’s managed to do what few
would and put a drag car back on the street, and in the process breathe new life into a car—and a trend— that refuses to be defined by a single dimension. Show? Street? Strip? In a word… YES.
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RPM FEATURE CAR
>>Randy Crow’s awesome family-built 1966 Mustang Fastback could almost be considered a barn find by
George Pich photos by
L
Tia Elizabeth
et’s be honest—if you want to read about mega-big buck Pro Tour or street car builds, there about a dozen mags on any given newsstand you can flip through and get page after page after page of that. At RPM we’re different, and like our saying goes, “we innovate, not imitate!” We choose to forge our own path based on
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what our readers tell us they want: “high power,” “unique,” “race,” “street,” “real world,” and most of all, cars and stories that we can all identify with on some level. So when we came across Randy Crow’s ’66 Fastback Mustang and the story behind it (which fits almost all of the above) we knew we had to get this car some ink.
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
Although Randy’s car looks the part, it was not one of those super big-dollar projects where everything was farmed out to the trendy shops. At least not “farmed out” in the typical sense. Instead, it was a substantial undertaking by a close-knit family to build a
cool, fast, driveable musclecar-era street machine, but do so at a very high level, matching most any TV show groupie or cookie cutter builder out there. Believe it or not, this car is actually homebuilt, with most of the
work completed by Randy’s brother Jeff Crow with help from his dad Larry Crow. And interestingly enough, both are full-time farmers. So not only do “farmers feed families,” but they also build cool cars! And yes, I guess you could say that Randy actually did “farm out” the work on his Mustang. “We’re a farming family from Illinois and I always like to refer to this car as farmer built,” explained Crow. “I actually found the Mustang while my parents were visiting me from Illinois. I’d been looking for a 1965-66 Fastback for some time and picked up a local trader paper where I happen to see a ’66 for sale in nearby Moyock, NC. My father and I jumped in the truck to go look at it and a few hours later it was in my driveway. Of course we had to trailer it over,
as it was just a rolling shell and in pretty poor shape. Everything but the roof needed to be replaced or have work done to it.” There wasn’t always a Ford in Crow’s future though, as his dad was a Chevy man for the longest time. “My oldest brother Jeff grew up with Dad having Chevys all the time. Then, for whatever reasons, Dad switched over to Ford before I was born. Jeff stuck with the Chevys though,” laughed Crow. “I’m the youngest of five kids and the first Mustang I remember was my dad’s 1968 GT coupe in need of restoration. We all had Mustangs, Camaros, and
Firebirds thanks to dad being able to fix them up after we bought them cheap.” Randy’s brother Jeff works full-time on the farm with his dad and in their spare time they play with cars. Jeff is a self-taught paint and body guy plus does all his own mechanical work. “It blows people away how good he (Jeff) is,” continued Randy. “And his fabrication and mechanical skills are equally as good. I guess he learned from dad early on and then by trial and error after that, and all while working on the cars in a barn.” “Now came the time to make a deal with my brother to restore the ’66 for me. We
came up with a trade where I bought him a ’69 Camaro drag car for his time and labor. Don’t tell Jeff, but I made out like a bandit on the deal!” With his team assembled and the deal struck, Crow sent the car off to his brother in Warsaw, IL. And so began a seven year project with every remaining nut, bolt and whatever else that would come apart being taken apart to start with a clean slate for the build. Jeff got right to work rebuilding everything starting with a complete overhaul on the body and preparing the rear section for a mini-tub. “Everything except for engine machine work and the custom interior was done by Jeff,” added Randy. The frame is pretty much stock 1966 Mustang with custom frame connectors and bracing installed, but suspen-
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FARM HORSE
SO VERY CLEAN All original style trim and bodywork keep this iconic musclecar true to its roots and an unbelievable paint job applied by a self-taught do-it-yourselfer set the entire package off. The big 18-inch shoes in the rear make it obvious this is no bone stock resto.
sion wise, the ’66 rides as good as any new iron out of the Big Three and when needed will hook those meaty 305/35-18 drag radials out back. Up front, this able steed rides on a trick TCI front sus-
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pension system with tubular upper and lower control arms, coilover shocks, and rack-andpinion steering. Out back, an equally cool Martz Chassis 4-bar rear suspension system with adjustable coilovers was
DECEMBER 2014 | RPM Magazine
used, allowing Randy to go with the mini-tub mentioned previously and thus the wider wheels and tires on the rear. As well, he’d now be able to tune the rear suspension to hook as needed.
Now that Randy had some room to work with, a Ford 9-inch was narrowed and filled with a Moser center section with Detroit Locker, 3.50 gears and 35-spline axles. The install is so clean that once the large
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1966 FASTBACK MUSTANG Owner: Randy Crow Chassis: Stock with custom made sub frame connectors made and installed by Jeff Crow . Suspension (front and rear): TCI front suspension with Qa1 coilovers. Wilwood disc brakes. Rack and pinion steering. Martz Chassis 4-bar rear suspension with Qa1 coilover shocks and Wilwood disc brakes. Engine: 351w-based using Dart Iron Eagle block with 4.125 bore and 4.00 stroke, forged Eagle crank and 4340 H-beam rods, JE inverted dome pistons with Hell Fire rings, Isky custom ground solid roller camshaft (Intake valve lift .656, Intake duration @ .050 260 deg, Exhaust valve lift .657, Exhaust duration 268 deg., 114 lobe center). AFR 225 full cnc cylinder heads, Harland Sharp roller rockers, Edelbrock Victor Jr. Intake (polished), Holley 850cfm blow thru carb by CSU fed by an Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump running 110 race fuel. Custom 2-inch headers (ceramic coated) with full custom exhaust and dumps off of headers. Power adder: ProCharger F1R cog drive. Electronics: MSD 6BTM. Transmission and converter: C6 built by Advance Transmission in Knoxville, IA with Transmission Specialties 3500 stall converter. Rear differential: Narrowed Ford 9-inch, Moser center section & 35 spline axles, Detroit locker with 3.50 gear. Interior: Custom interior by Jerry Kensinger at A1 Upholstery in Pekin, IL. Shout outs: “Special thanks to my brother Jeff Crow and dad Larry Crow for building this car for me.” -Randy Crow
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diameter full exhaust system is installed, at first glance, you would think this is all a factory set-up—but the monster Aeromotive fuel pump and lines feeding this horse are a dead giveaway that it’s not. When it came to building the motor for the ’Stang, Randy admittedly wanted to have more power than the average street machine (and his dad’s car), and he wasn’t kidding. With over 700 horses and 553 ft. lbs. of torque on tap (and the dyno sheets
CLEANLY CONNECTED For a car that is driven, and sometimes driven pretty hard, Randy keeps it clean everywhere.
to prove it), you can bet he’d smoke most anything that pulled up alongside him and gave the nod. The engine is a small block Ford 351 Windsor based mill that works out to 427 cubic inches after all is said and done. A Dart Iron Eagle block with 4.125-inch bore and 4.00-inch stroke
FARM HORSE
CLEANLY FUELED Check this out—you would swear it was factory equipment when you look under the back of the Mustang, until the monster Aeromotive A1000 pump stares you in the face.
METICULOUS CRAFTSMANSHIP One of our favorite little details under the hood is the cutout in the left inner fender to allow for the ProCharger F1R body. The quality of work here is amazing.
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PROVEN POWER The 351W based 427-inch ProCharged Ford small block makes over 700HP with 553 ft. lbs. of torque. Randy always displays his dyno sheets to back that up.
SIT PERFECT. GOOD HORSE. Low slung, fats on the back and skinnies up front—Randy accomplished a nice mix of old school hot rod and new world technology.
CANYON CARVER Up front, a trick TCI front suspension, adjustable coilover shocks and rack and pinion steering were installed by Jeff to help get this horse running smooth and safe.
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FARM HORSE
STUNNING COCKPIT Inside is as if Ford designers had the technology and materials of today, back in 1966. There is “just enough” modern influence without going overboard. The billet Hurst ratchet shifter with cup holders in front of it tells us there has to be a mix of serious and pleasure in a street machine you drive everywhere. As was factory on a lot of cars from the same era, there is no radio installed in the dash.
was the base for the project and a forged Eagle crank was used with 4340 H-beam rods. Because Randy knew he’d be going with forced induction, JE inverted dome pistons with Hell Fire rings were added to the bottom end that brought the compression in at 8.5:1, perfect for a blower. AFR 225 full cnc heads were used with Harland Sharp roller rockers and an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake with 850cfm
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Features
TSV Technology
blow-thru carb by CSU sits atop the highly detailed creation. Now for the power adder. A ProCharger F1R was set-up out front and piped to the CSU carb via an Extreme Velocity Air Intake System. If you look closely, you will see more of Jeff’s handiwork where
the body of the supercharger is inset to the left inner fender. Jerry Kensinger at A1 Upholstery in Pekin, IL re-worked the interior to complete the total package for Randy and inside the Mustang looks like a newer performance car, but it is by no means
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FARM HORSE
overdone. It’s more along the lines of something that Ford might have actually done with the car given today’s market for comfort and style. We particularly like the Billet Specialties steering wheel that matches the wheels outside, along with the use of the factory dash and gauge panels with a full array of Autometer Pro Comp gauges installed. Outside, this horse catches your eye from the very first second you lay eyes on it. The car just looks so clean but has that “I’m not messing around” stance to it. Once the body was arrow-straight, Jeff expertly applied PPG base-clear Brilliant Silver with Kona Blue Shelby stripes, and the result is stunning. Randy and Jeff decided to go a little old school and stuck with the big-’n-little/fat-’n-skinny
theme for wheels and tires with wide 18-inchers out back and narrower 17s up front but mashed it up with new-school lower profile tires; 215/45-17s on the front and 305/35-18 drag radials on the rear. “I’m the reason the Mustang took Jeff seven years to build. I just couldn’t afford to buy parts any faster.” Randy went on to say, “My father had just finished his ’69 Mach 1 before they started on my car so many of the build ideas came from that. Plus, I’ll admit that I wanted to outdo him, so the build became more extreme than first intended. Once we started, every Christmas I would go back to Illinois and see the progress and help out with what I could. Looking back, my wife was probably bored out of her mind while we were
there because I only wanted to do car stuff and there’s not much else to do in the winter up there.” “The project seemed to go on forever but when I got the word that the car was done, we drove 17 hours straight to Illinois, and once we got there, I jumped in the truck with my brother to go pick the Mustang up from the exhaust shop. Wow! When I finally laid eyes on it completed it
was as if a big load was taken off us all, and it turned out far better than I ever expected.” Randy Crow’s ’66 Fastback is anything but your typical show pony or trailer queen as he built it to drive it, and admittedly, pound on it once in a while. After all, with looks that kill and over 700 horses under the hood, it sure would be hard to hold back all the time.
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RPM TECH
IN THE
Sam Logan
S
moldering, ruined clutch parts are often the result of increases in engine power without similar increases in clutch power. By necessity, the upgraded clutch system must possess sufficient clamping force to transmit the additional engine power without clutch slippage. As for street use, it should
CLUTCH
>>Street-strip clutches: Problems and solutions require no more than moderate pedal pressure to operate it and demonstrate smooth action while being operated. But even new clutch-flywheel upgrades can fail prematurely, sometimes immediately, if exposed to abusive conditions—usually at the drag strip. Happily, such conditions are easily identified and can, therefore, be avoided.
FOUR TIPS ON HOW TO DODGE CLUTCH TROUBLES AT THE DRAG STRIP
First, disable the traction control and eliminate the risk of introducing extreme loads to the clutch system. Some traction control systems apply the brakes while others use rapid
ignition retardation that affects the clutch. Second, remember to select low gear. Even professional racers have launched in second or third gear. Third, ensure the rear tires are positioned in the water during burn-out. As you exit the wet surface, depress the clutch pedal before they reach the dry track. Following this
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RPM TECH SIGNS OF WEAR Flat spotting on the lever tips suggests driver error (riding the clutch pedal) or poor adjustment of the release bearing. Insufficient bearing clearance causes the fingers to move back or become taller as the disc wears. Ultimately they can bottom-out on the bearing, causing it to unload the clutch.
advice protects the clutch system and drive train from abrupt and severely damaging forces. Fourth, when you release the throttle pedal at the finish line, depress the clutch pedal at the same time and keep your foot on the pedal as the car slows. Leave the car in high gear and keep the clutch disengaged until you stop. If the clutch pedal is not depressed during braking, tremendous load reversals are exerted
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throughout the engine—particularly the connecting rods—transmission input shaft, driveline and clutch. In fact, excessive deceleration forces are so destructive they can break the drive straps on diaphragm-style clutches. Though stress reversals are less threatening to race clutches, (a Long-style or a billet setup), severe deceleration forces still pull ruthlessly upon the clutch disc hubs and input shaft.
FOUR OPTIONS: USEFUL ADVICE ON HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT CLUTCH
The first two clutch options, the single-disc and dual-disc systems, are versatile—they operate admirably on the street and also at the drag strip. The remaining two are designed chiefly for drag racing purposes.
TIME TO RENEW Hot spots on the steel insert of this aluminum flywheel indicate slippage. Curiously, one portion is unmarked which suggests the finger heights of the pressure plate differed or the cover bolts may have loosened.
Single-disc clutches transmit significant power, but as power increases driveability decreases. At 650hp most single-disc units have reached their limits and switching to a dual-disc arrangement is advisable. The dual-disc maintains greater holding power and demonstrates smoother engage-
ment. If the vehicle’s priority is devoted to drag racing rather than street driving, select a metallic friction disc. Ram calls it their 900 series and it withstands heat and abuse better than the organic alternatives. Long-style and billet are the names that identify the two racing clutches. Long-
If street-driving takes priority over drag racing, an upgraded singledisc conventional strap-driven clutch assembly is hard to beat. Inexpensive, practical and civilized, its shock absorption qualities exhibit greater smoothness on the street and they will reliably transmit up to 650 hp at the drag strip...if you follow the rules.
For racers with under 1,000hp in Stock, Super Stock and single-clutch classes using Liberty, Jerico, or Lenco transmissions, the Long-style is the sensible choice. They accept all formulations of disc materials from organic to sintered iron and facilitate centrifugal and static adjustment.
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RPM TECH The dominant clutch in all premier drag racing classes, here a Ram triple-disc billet clutch is being assembled.
minimum dimension of 8.625in. Single-disc and dual-disc arrangements cost around $460 to $540 and $1,500 respectively; Long-style $925 and billets $3,600 for twin-disc and $4,000 for triple-disc.
FINALLY, THREE CONDITIONS THAT DEMAND CAREFUL CONSIDERATION
style clutches often make the best compromise for race vehicles generating up to 1,000hp. The pressure plate features three sets of lugs that reside snugly inside three metal windows of a robust steel stamping. Though installing the Long-style in later model vehicles can require some detail planning, the task is not too arduous and all formulations of disc materials from organic to sintered iron are available. In higher horsepower applications where some clutch slippage is desirable to encourage a smoother launch, the sintered-iron Long-style system is pref-
erable. In common with the billet clutch, the Long-style also facilitates adjustment, both static base pressure (360 to 2,200psi) and centrifugal. Race vehicles delivering above 900 -1000 hp require a billet multi-disc arrangement. These contain two or three clutch discs and are significantly stronger. To accommodate billet-style racing clutches, deep bellhousings are required, made by firms like Browell. The twin-disc billet racing clutch operates in a housing of 8.250in minimum; the triple layout requires a
First, don’t over-gear: Higher gear ratios (lower numerically) severely overload the system. For example, a 3.55:1 rear gear will introduce a significantly greater load on the clutch than a 4.10:1. Second, tire selection: Drag radials have a tendency to hook the tires rather than spin them. As a result they, too, will impose a greater load on the clutch system. Third, a note on Power Adders: Adding nitrous or a supercharger or a turbocharger also imposes an instant burden on the clutch system. Accordingly, always select a clutch system that’s rated higher than your current power level or your anticipated level. Selecting a clutch system that is underrated ensures premature wear. Moreover, larger diameter clutches or clutches with more aggressive friction materials (higher coefficient of friction) like metallic will address increased loads better—as does the dual-disc clutch.
Widely regarded as the best all-round design for high performance street and strip activities, the dual-disc flywheel-clutch assembly is engineered as a direct fitment. Compared with the single-disc clutch, the dual-disc system functions better. It also lasts longer and is indispensible when power adders are used. They transmit higher torque loads, dissipate greater amounts of heat yet provide smooth drivability. Generating clamping pressure of 2,400psi, the dual-disc system facilitates organic and metallic clutch discs and transmits up to 1,000hp and beyond. In all these areas they excel.
SOURCE
Ram Clutches
Columbia, SC www.ramclutches.com 803.788.6034
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RPM GARAGE
RPM’s continuing do-it-yourself shop series shows how you can put together your own modern workspace, too! 1
Toby Brooks
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products from Pit Pal and get ready PART 7: >>We install organization to install a host of Trinity International stainless garage pieces
ast month we brought you up to speed on our RPM Hardcore Horsepower Garage and started the install of a few of our new Pit Pal Products aircraft aluminum storage components. We’ve been working hard to complete the insulation and interior wall paneling in the shop space portion of our 1,500 square-ft Nucor Building Systems utility building. In future installments, we’ll also show you our efforts to build a small office and bathroom space on one end of the shop along with a super versatile storage area above the office. Meanwhile, with two of our four interior walls actually complete and painted, this month our goal was to install the Pit Pal Products and start
figuring out what else we would need in terms of storage and work surfaces in order to maximize the utility of our new work area. As we shared last month, we contacted the friendly staff at Pit Pal Products for help in identifying the parts and pieces from their expansive 800+ item strong product catalog that would be best for our application. Pit Pal has been building top quality storage and organization products since 1982, and many racers have used their products in the tight confines of race trailer installations. However, the combo of versatile function, bulletproof Made in USA welded construction, and killer good looks make the Pit Pal components perfect for shops, too.
1: Last month we worked hard to get our walls ready for cabinet install. After insulating all exterior walls and installing OSB panelling, we primed and painted the installed surface. Having done it before, trust us: don’t tell yourself you’ll install items now and paint later. The difference in how much brighter and cleaner our shop looks after paint is remarkable, and five gallons of primer and five gallons of paint at a local home improvement store totalled just around $125, so it was the perfect time to do it. We’ll eventually install trim and paint items such as that massive handrail, but such will not require removal of installed items on the wall as painting those surfaces would have. Seen here installed on the back wall is a Pit Pal #220 electric cord bracket, with the stair wall features (left to right) a Pit Pal #158 fold-down trailer table, a #1112 aerosol & oil cabinet, and a #320 trailer door cabinet wall organizer with roll and towel bar. The folding work surfaces are perfect for tight spaces.
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2 2: This is where we left off last month. With the walls primed and painted, we were ready to mount up our various Pit Pal Products cabinets, storage, and work surfaces. It is far easier to paint now than later, so we decided to go ahead and get it done. We’re glad we did, as the entire work area is brighter, cleaner, and just looks more finished and professional.
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RPM GARAGE
3 3: Pit Pal ships most items ready for install, however, since every installation is unique, most items require drilling prior to installation. Here, we prep our 5 lb. fire extinguisher holder (#352) and get it ready for wall mounting.
5
4
4: The sight of flames is a poor time to start to try to remember where you put (or if you even have!) your fire extinguisher. Now thanks to our Pit Pal holder, that thought will never cross our minds, because we always know exactly where we left ours.
5: We also grabbed one of Pit Pal’s #520 vertical box holders, a perfect place for putting your nitrile gloves. Just like our fire extinguisher holder, we needed to first drill a few quick holes prior to attaching it to the wall with drywall screws. 6: For items that hold more weight such as our folding table, lag bolts or other more substantial fastners are necessary, but for lightweight organizers like this, standard drywall screws will suffice.
With that in mind, we got right back to work an installed cabinets and other storage items to improve the efficiency of our workspace. The thing we like best about our new work space is the fact that we are FINALLY developing the proverbial “place for everything with everything in
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RPM GARAGE 7: We opted to install our #320 trailer door cabinet wall organizer with roll and towel bar near the office entrance to the shop. This has proven to be a wise decision, as the paper towels have come in handy, it is a perfect spot for our car detailing products, and the flip down door serves as yet another space-saving work surface for holding parts and pieces when the bay is empty but closes up and out of the way when the shop hauler is parked there.
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9: How cool is this?? This super-handy #RT2 cable tie holder provides a perfect storage location for five different lengths of cable ties. No more digging in the bottom of the tool box!
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8: No more kicking over trash cans out in the workspace! The #595 trash bin mounts to the wall via a quick release bracket (inset), and the wall-hugging design preserves floor space. We used toggle bolts to secure it to the wall to prevent heavy loads from pulling regular screws out. Mounted just above it on the same wall is a #329 aerosol and oil cabinet that will be used for storing oil and filters.
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10: The #220 extension cord holder is useful for, well, holding your extension cords. The bracket attaches with two screws and further completes our “place for everything” theme and looks cool doing it. its place.” Gone (or at least fleeting) are the days of spending valuable shop time looking for parts, tools, and supplies. Now with our organizers in place, a quick glance is all it takes to quickly determine what we have, what we need, and what’s missing.
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RPM GARAGE
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12: This #405 dual towel bracket is a great place for hanging towels after use.
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14: Here’s a little tease for next month... look at this incredible Trinity roll away tool chest! We will show you how we assembled it and stocked it to keep the shop clean and uncluttered. Tune in next month as we show you our install of a pair of Trinity International stainless work tables as well as our new 41inch tool chest.
SOURCES
11: Although we love it all, this Pit Pal folding table is one of our favorites. The space-saving design folds out of the way when not in use, perfect for a tight fitting garage bay where walk space around a parked car is minimal. 13: Our metal fab area is really starting to shape up with some additional storage items.
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Pit Pal Products
www.pitpal.com 888.748.7257
Trinity International Industries
13
www.trinityii.com 800.985.5506
The Ghost of Christmas Fast. Want Santa to deliver some horsepower this year? Fill your wish list with performance parts and gear from Summit Racing. From tires and tools to T-shirts and toys, rely on us to fuel your high-octane holiday.
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Air/Fuel Ratio Meters Built-In Data Logging! Keyword: FST Ratio
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International Sales: USA 1.330.630.0230 Tech: USA 1.330.630.0240 • SCode: 1412RPC Call by 10 pm EST: In-Stock Parts Shipped That Day! Find it at Prices good through 1/1/15 • Typographical, description, or photography errors are subject to correction. Some parts are not legal for sale or use on any pollution-controlled motor vehicles. ©2014 AUTOSALES, INC.
www.rpm-mag.com | DECEMBER 2014
115
Elite II Series
Air Cleaner & Valve Covers
4262 Chevy 262-400 V8 '59-'86, Low Profile 4263 Chevy 262-400 V8 '59-'86, Tall Profile 4264 Ford 289/302/351W (exc Boss) Tall Profile 4266 14" X 3" Air Cleaner
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Made from heavy-gauge, die-cast aluminum. Finished off with a show quality high luster polished finish. The raised fins are accented by a contrast gloss black finish between the fins for the definitive Elite Series look
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Twist-Lok Hose Ends Easy to assemble and require no special tools. Constructed of lightweight aluminum and are 40% lighter than conventional AN hose ends. Designed with the traditional 37° AN angled sealing surface for that positive antileak seal. For use with Twist-Lok hose only.
Stainless Steel Flex Fans Flex-a-lite Flex Fans move considerable air at idle and the blades flatten out at higher engine RPM to reduce engine drag for better performance and improved fuel economy. Must be used with Flex-a-lite spacer. Ask your Parts Pro sales person which fan is right for your vehicle.
Vibe-Lock
Vibration Proof Locking Fasteners
Utilizes a patented locking washer and clip to lock the bolt in place. The ease of installing and removing the Vibe-Lock beats the competition hands down.
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Saving money on your gauges doesn’t mean you have to compromise on quality. Auto Meter’s Auto Gage line is one of the best values in performance, bar none. These instruments pack all the features you want and the accuracy and reliability you need into a package that won’t break the bank.
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Steel Flywheels
Manufactured from high quality billet steel and match closely to the original equipment flywheel weight. Billet steel flywheels are available for popular import and domestic vehicles, including trucks. Centerforce steel flywheels are CAD/CAM-designed and CNC-machined from billet steel for precise, nohassle, bolt-in installation. SFI-certified
Competition Headers One of the best values on the market. Premium header features at a great price. Perfect for stock to mildly modified engines. Made from durable 16-gauge steel, Hooker Competition headers feature 5/16 in. thick flanges that are heavy enough to maintain header integrity, yet pliable enough to seal each exhaust port. Available in Black, Silver or Titanium Ceramic Coated, Stainless Steel and Black Painted
Reducer Kits Complete that custom exhaust installation with confidence. Made of high quality steel and are offered in a range of sizes either with or without the O2 sensor bung.
Xtreme Energy Cam & Lifter Kits
Xtreme Energy Cams™ provide increased torque, vacuum, response, and power while still providing quiet operation of the valve train and the durability required in daily driven vehicles. Ask your Parts Pro sales person which kit is right for your vehicle.
Classic Double Pumper Carbs
The original Double Pumper. World famous for its tire-turning power and classic good looks! • Optimized street/strip calibration • Manual choke for precise cold start control • Mechanical secondaries • 4 corner idle. Precisely control your idle system • Dual accelerator pumps for additional fuel under initial acceleration • Dual feed fuel inlets for high volume fuel delivery • Intended for lightweight vehicles w/ manual trans or automatics with high stall & low gearing • 100% wet-flow tested by Holley technicians to assure it arrives ready to run! Available in 600-800 CFM flow with either Shiny or Dichromate finish
8mm Spiro-Pro Universal Wires
Wire is the top choice of racers and enthusiasts due to its affordable value and overall high performance features. Spiro-Pro's two-layer 100% silicone inner core & outer jacket keeps the wires flexible for the life of your vehicle maintaining its vibrant color with heat protection to 600º F. • Applications for 4, 6 or 8 cylinder engines • 90º, 135º and 180º spark plug boots available • Available in 11 vibrant colours
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