CATEGORIES

ROLE MODEL

Dad’s 1931 Model A Coupe Inspires Son to Build His Dream Roadster

Pushrod Length: To Spring or Not to Spring

Pushrod Length: To Spring or Not to Spring

LABOR OF LOVE

This 1970 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Gets Show-Winning Restoration

Does Your Mopar Need Bigger Brakes? Big Power Says Yes, You Do!

With the gentrification of old cars that began in the 1980s and continues today, many vehicles that were considered junk before are now—because of their affordability—are seeing the performance spotlight.

Get High on Cranking: Car Battery Specs StickerNumbers Explained

Car battery specs conform to standards developed by the Battery Council International (BCI) and the SAE.

Cheap Insurance

Build Fail-Safe LS Rocker Arms With This Needle Bearing Upgrade Kit.

Dress it Up

HOW TO MAKE AN LS ENGINE LOOK AND PERFORM BETTER

Solid & Striped

The Lokar/Street Rodder ’34 Ford 3-Window Coupe 25th in a Long Line of Road Tour Hot Rods

Is It Better to Change Oil Hot or Cold?

It seems intuitive that if time is not a factor, the most thorough way to change engine oil is by letting the car sit overnight, then next morning allowing the oil to drain out of the sump for several hours.

EBONY ICON

Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop Builds the Ultimate LSX-Powered Chevelle

WHEN CHEVROLET INTRODUCED THE “ALL NEW” 1958 IMPALA, IT REALLY WAS!

We take a look back at the introduction—and road test—of the 1958 Chevy Impala.

Classic Car Rust Prevention: How to Seal the Floor Pan of Your Ride with POR-15

So, you bought a “new to you” project car and want to start the build right. That means tearing out the interior and making sure the floor pans are sealed and rust free. If you find Swiss cheese, check out “How to Fabricate and Install Replacement Floor Pans” on hotrod.com on how to replace your floor pans. If you find minor surface rust and the occasional pinhole, keep reading and we’ll show you everything you need to know about classic car rust prevention.

COYOTE COUPE

This 1967 Mustang Is the Perfect Blueprint for an Engine Swap

California Coastal Road Trip

Like many people around the country, we have had little occasion to travel this year. With car shows and events like the Power Tour and Drag Week postponed and rescheduled due to the coronavirus, we’ve mostly been stuck at home. I recently had occasion to travel to Santa Rosa, California, for a photo shoot with Scott Birdsall, owner/builder of Old Smokey, the Cummins-powered Ford F1 that beat the diesel-engine record at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. Motor Trend’s William Walker was the shooter, with me serving as assistant and camera car driver. It seemed like as good excuse as any to make a trip out of it.

25 Years of the Crusher Camaro

I’m gonna tell the story of the Crusher Camaro because it’s celebrating 25 years as a project and because it’s presented me with a fresh dilemma. The story begins in 1994 when California law allowed gasoline companies to crush older cars in exchange for smog credits that allowed continued polluting from wells and refineries.

What Is Cylinder Head Swirl and Tumble, and Why Is It Important?

We think of electronic engine management systems and multiport electronic fuel injection (EFI) as primarily responsible for the improved air/fuel distribution and performance as Detroit clawed its way back in the mid 1980s, but—good as they were for that day—initially the new electronics were just Band-Aids grafted onto carryover engine designs. The big change started in the 1990s, when the OEs started tinkering with cylinder head design to induce swirl and tumble in internal combustion engines.

SECOND TIME AROUND

After a shady shop pulled a huge scam restoring his 1969 Camaro, the owner ended up building the car of his dreams

Racing Success Story

On the midst of what can technically be called a pretty bad year, it’s encouraging to see professional motorsports persevering, which in this year should be seen as a raging success. Initially many NASCAR and Indy Car events were canceled or rescheduled, but as the year has progressed, it seems that those organizations have gotten pretty clever in how to complete their schedule by combining events at the same track on the same weekend or running double-header races.

RACING PEDIGREE

John McClintock’s simple, but effective 1967 Mustang was built to compete in vintage Trans Am racing.

STYLISH IN GARNET

1932 Ford Coupe Built by Brizio for a Sixties Hot Rodder

New Lid

How to Replace the Roof on a 1970 ’Cuda Rusted from the Top Down

The HOT ROD Archives

Tried and true, a budget small-block Chevy build made the cover of this issue.

AFFORDABLE TRACK DATA LOGGER CAN MAKE YOU FASTER!

ONCE THIS TECH WAS ONLY FOR PROFESSIONAL RACERS, BUT NOW GETTING FASTER TIMES BY ANALYZING YOUR PERFORMANCE IS AFFORDABLE FOR WEEKEND WARRIORS.

Birth of a HOT ROD Nation

One of the reasons I’m so proud to work for HOT ROD is the legacy of accomplishments of the staffers who came before me. I recently wrote about how HRM was “The Original Influencer” for readers, but the magazine has had incredible impact on the industry as well.

1968 Chevelle SS396 Vintage Drag Test!

As the lights come down, you squeeze the engine toward six grand, slide your leftfoot off the clutch, stab the loud pedal between the last yellow and the green, and bang!— 375 horses (a 425 Performance Rating via NHRA’s new system) launch you off the line for a near record run. Right? Wrong! At least that’s the way it was on every run we made with this month’s drag test vehicle, a ’68 Chevrolet SS396 Chevelle hardtop.”

Fuel Delivery Showdown

Dyno battle between LS Swap 5.3L direct-injected L83 and LM7

Cool It!

SOMETIMES THE SOLUTION IS A BIGGER RADIATOR, NOT JUST A BETTER ONE.

UNEARTHING A TIME-FORGOTTEN FLEET OF RARE MUSCLE CARS

Check out this exceptional find, recently exhumed in Tucson, Arizona.

Reclaimed

This 1972 Chevelle Malibu is Finally Out of Storage!

STINGING SNAKE

THIS 1951 HUDSON WASP HAS VIPER POWER