OffRoad Trucks
Old-style rods, nostalgia rods and rat rods are increasing in popularity across America, and we are beginning to see a growing number of them at car shows outside California, where the movement seems to have set strong roots. These styles are generally seen in large numbers at shows such as NHRA’s Hot Rod Reunion (in Bakersfield), the West Coast Kustoms Show (in Paso Robles) and even the L.A. Roadster show (in Pomona). For the last two years there has been a special room for such cars at the Detroit Autorama (held at Cobo Hall), and this year was the biggest display yet.
While the factory cast-iron four-barrel Q-Jet intake manifolds have performed admirably on literally thousands of GM applications—and if you are picking your engine from a used lot to use in a swap, it will likely be so equipped—every last one of them should be torn off the car and thrown in the dumpster.
Most every pre-’48 car came with fender/body welting, consisting of a simple combination of a narrow strip of vinyl (or similar material) folded over a small-diameter woven cord and glued shut. Its purpose was, and still is, to insulate one piece of body metal from another when bolted together—not an electrical or temperature insulation, but essentially to eliminate squeaks and rattles, and to prevent paint from chipping (or cracking) as the two pieces flexed and vibrated together under normal road use. Generally referred to as fender welting, this product can also be found throughout certain car models; used to mount grilles, running boards and bumper gravel shields.
Time and time again, our advice to those interested in learning about stout-running engines is that it’s the total combination that makes it all happen—considering, of course, that components are prepped, cleaned and assembled as if in a “clean room.”
The small-block Chevy has enjoyed a long, happy life. Sure, the current LS1/LS6 version is quite far removed from the original, but thousands upon thousands of little mouse motors continue to provide the sole means of motivation to everything from stationary irrigation pumps to Le Mans-winning C5R Corvettes. Naturally, this list also includes all manner of boulevard bruisers, street stompers and resto rockets. Heck, we’ve even seen little Chevys under the hood of “Brand X” machinery. The continued popularity of the small-block Chevy is not surprising. Take a look at the combination of power potential and parts availability and multiply that by the cost quotient, and you have the makings of a real success story. Add to this equation the millions of project motors just sitting around junkyards throughout the world, and it is easy to see why enthusiasts continue to embrace the mighty mouse motor as the performance powerplant of choice.
Small-block water pumps are common replacement parts and are available at prices that are nearly impossible to beat. However, while getting a brand-new water pump for cheap is great, sometimes you need to keep the one you have. If it’s date-coded, or maybe you’ve installed a chrome steel or an aluminum water pump. You aren’t going to get those at the parts counter. In cases like these, rebuilding a water pump is preferred to buying a new one.
Okay, we weren’t quite that naive about what we read regarding upgrading to 1.6 rockers on our small-block Chevy for the first time, but it was close.
The engine in question was a decent runner with 30,000 miles on the mild-performance rebuild. The rebuilt engine was purchased used, and among its selling points were 0.030-over 9.5:1 pistons, moly rings, 1.5 roller rockers, a Performer RPM intake and a brand-new Holley 750cfm carburetor. The cam wasn’t a perfect match to the torque converter used in the previous installation nor was the final-drive gear ratio. As a result, the owner planned on stepping down on the cam chart to a Comp 286H-10 cam, which came with the engine in its original box. Also included were a brand-new factory Z28 oil pan and a factory timing chain cover to replace the cheap chrome pieces. For $300, the engine package was a deal, and one we couldn’t pass up. We sold the aforementioned chrome pieces and matching valve covers for $50, getting us the engine at the bargain price of $250, and we still had the new cam and lifters on our shelf.
In the eyes of the Chevy enthusiast, ultimate acceleration reigns supreme. Everything plays second fiddle in the performance-oriented minds of many enthusiasts, including handling, comfort and so on—besides, those things are tough to quantify. Acceleration and top speed are what we are into and unfortunately, all too often, last on the performance priority list is braking. Remember, no matter how quick or fast a particular Chevy is, and no matter how well that Bow Tie handles, no matter how plush it is, no matter how straight the body panels are or how crafty it’s built, eventually you have to get the thing to stop.
What makes more power: carburetors or computers? While the ultimate answer is that a sophisticated electronic fuel-injection system will virtually always outpower a carburetor, the real question may be whether the power gains are worth the extra expense and complexity of installing an EFI system.
