hot auto review

Ed "Isky" Iskenderian And Robert "Bones" Balogh Named Recipients Of
2008 Wally Parks Motorsports Statesman Of The Year Award

Ed "Isky" Iskenderian, legendary founder of Iskenderian Racing Cams and his lifetime friend and associate Robert "Bones" Balogh have been named as 2008 co-recipients of the Wally Parks Motorsports Statesman of the Year Award by the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame.  Iskenderian and Balogh, both of Southern California, will receive the Wally Parks Motorsports Statesman Award during the annual Hall of Fame weekend in Henderson, NC, October 17-18-19, 2008.
    "We are excited to name these two men who have meant so much to the racing and performance industry as our 2008 co-recipients of the Wally Parks Motorsports Statesman Award.  Isky's name is synonymous with racing, and Bones Balogh has worked alongside Ed since both were teenaged dry lakes racers as well as having a distinguished career as a race driver", observed Executive Director Nancy Wilson.
    "I'm confident that both these individuals would be heartily approved of by the man it's named for, the late Wally Parks.  It's even more special that Wally knew Isky and Bones personally, and only recently Wally and Isky appeared together for a question and answer session at the Wally Parks-NHRA Museum of Drag Racing, in Pomona, California", added Ms. Wilson.
    The legend of "The Camfather" extends to the birth of hot rodding.  A pioneer racer and innovative industrialist, Isky was deeply involved in the formation of the industry.  In 1963 Isky joined with a handful of fellow speed products manufacturers and distributors to form SEMA.   Ed also served as its first President, in 1963-64.  He was named to the SEMA Hall of Fame in 1978, and honored in 1985 as a member of the Chevrolet "Legends of Performance" group.  Ed remains active in the operation of his famous company, Isky Racing Cams, now managed by Ed's sons, Richard and Ron Iskenderian.  Among the "firsts" credited to Isky is the screen printed racing t-shirt, paying cash contingency awards to racers, numerous ingenious marketing programs to promote his newest racing cam grinds, and many engine valve train component innovations.
    Robert "Bones" Balogh has worked closely with and for Ed Iskenderian for decades, and is known as the tuning and dyno testing wizard of Isky Racing Cams.  Balogh is perhaps more famous as the driver of "Big John" Mazmanian's famed supercharged Gassers from the 60's, including Mazmanian's B/Gas Supercharged Corvette and the strikingly beautiful, awesomely fast, candy apple red, '41 Willys that was one of the era's most famous race cars.  Together with Stone-Woods-Cook, K.S. Pittman and "Ohio George" Montgomery, Bones Balogh's "Big John" 392 Chrysler powered '41 Willys was one of the top-tier of nationally popular, A/Gas Supercharged match racing.
    The East Coast Drag Times Hall Of Fame(r) happens each year in Henderson, NC.  Festivities include  Friday's free barbeque and car show, an enormous and growing, 1,500+ entry, all-types Show & Shine car show on Saturday, and on Sunday, the annual Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
    Wally Parks, for whom the award is named, was the founder of the National Hot Rod Association and a primary mover in the formation of the NHRA-Wally Parks Museum, in Pomona, CA.  January 23, 2008, the date on which the award recipients are announced, would have been Wally's 94th birthday.  
        Previous honorees include Bret Kepner, drag racing journalist and historian, 2007 recipient, and Linda Vaughn, "America's First Lady Of Motorsports", in 2006.
    For information on attending or participating, contact:  Vance County (NC) Department of Tourism, 946-T, West Andrews Avenue. Henderson, NC 27536, or call (866) 438-4565, or see the web site at eastcoastdragtimeshalloffame.com.
    The Hall Of Fame Weekend, October 17-18-19, 2008, is sponsored by The Vance County Tourism Department and co-sponsored by Superior Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep of Henderson, NC.

Behind the scenes of the greatest covers of HOT ROD Magazine.

 The cover of the June 1965 issue of HOT ROD Magazine showed Bill Burke dropping
a Chrysler Hemi with a crank-driven blower into the engine bay of his latest creation, a
Bonneville streamliner targeted for 300 mph. (Photographer Eric Rickman captured the
classic garage scene.)  Burke was a hot rodding pioneer. He virtually invented the belly-
tank lakester back in the ‘40s and was also one of HOT ROD’s early ad managers. Inside the mag Dick Wells’ feature on the new ‘liner included a retrospective on Burke’s career, which even then was already long and storied.
    The June ’65 issue also supplied the first close look at Chrysler’s altered-wheelbase
factory FX drag cars. HRM staffer Eric Dahlquist delivered the full dish on Dick Landy’s wild Dodge, which HOT ROD called “the most controversial stocker ever built”. It
certainly was that. The strange Coronet with its rear axle in the back seat helped give
birth to the Funny Car.
    Other notable car features included the gorgeous Davis & Ingram Fiat Altered, Jim
Zakia’s period-perfect ’55 Chevy Charley Gasser, and a build update on the Summers
Brothers Goldenrod complete with a cutaway illustration by C.O. LaTourette. There’s a
2 page photo feature on the ’65 Oakland Roadster Show, but oddly enough, that year’s
AMBR winner – Carl Casper’s Ghost – gets scant mention.  This month HOT ROD also strip tested the ’65 Marlin, the weird yet weirdly attractive fastback 2+2 from American Motors. With its 327ci V-8 and Flash-O-Matic transmission, the Marlin blazed through the quarter-mile in 17.43 seconds at 79 mph. Thud.

Synthetic oil can improve engine power and longevity.

Today many professional racers run synthetic oil. Compared to conventional mineral-based oils, a good synthetic oil better resists high-temperature breakdown and provides a little  more insurance against severe conditions such as low oil pressure at high rpm. An engine built from the ground-up to run modern low-friction, low-viscosity synthetic oils can develop a 0.5-1.0–percent power gain. Synthetic oil is particularly well suited for boat  engines, long-course oval-track engines, and endurance applications. If you can afford the  cost, most professional engine builders highly endorse good-quality synthetic oils.

Behind the scenes of the greatest covers of HOT ROD Magazine.

 The cover of the June 1965 issue of HOT ROD Magazine showed Bill Burke dropping
a Chrysler Hemi with a crank-driven blower into the engine bay of his latest creation, a
Bonneville streamliner targeted for 300 mph. (Photographer Eric Rickman captured the
classic garage scene.)  Burke was a hot rodding pioneer. He virtually invented the belly-
tank lakester back in the ‘40s and was also one of HOT ROD’s early ad managers. Inside the mag Dick Wells’ feature on the new ‘liner included a retrospective on Burke’s career, which even then was already long and storied.
    The June ’65 issue also supplied the first close look at Chrysler’s altered-wheelbase
factory FX drag cars. HRM staffer Eric Dahlquist delivered the full dish on Dick Landy’s wild Dodge, which HOT ROD called “the most controversial stocker ever built”. It
certainly was that. The strange Coronet with its rear axle in the back seat helped give
birth to the Funny Car.
    Other notable car features included the gorgeous Davis & Ingram Fiat Altered, Jim
Zakia’s period-perfect ’55 Chevy Charley Gasser, and a build update on the Summers
Brothers Goldenrod complete with a cutaway illustration by C.O. LaTourette. There’s a
2 page photo feature on the ’65 Oakland Roadster Show, but oddly enough, that year’s
AMBR winner – Carl Casper’s Ghost – gets scant mention.  This month HOT ROD also strip tested the ’65 Marlin, the weird yet weirdly attractive fastback 2+2 from American Motors. With its 327ci V-8 and Flash-O-Matic transmission, the Marlin blazed through the quarter-mile in 17.43 seconds at 79 mph. Thud.

Behind the scenes of the greatest covers of HOT ROD Magazine.

 The cover of the June 1965 issue of HOT ROD Magazine showed Bill Burke dropping
a Chrysler Hemi with a crank-driven blower into the engine bay of his latest creation, a
Bonneville streamliner targeted for 300 mph. (Photographer Eric Rickman captured the
classic garage scene.)  Burke was a hot rodding pioneer. He virtually invented the belly-
tank lakester back in the ‘40s and was also one of HOT ROD’s early ad managers. Inside the mag Dick Wells’ feature on the new ‘liner included a retrospective on Burke’s career, which even then was already long and storied.
    The June ’65 issue also supplied the first close look at Chrysler’s altered-wheelbase
factory FX drag cars. HRM staffer Eric Dahlquist delivered the full dish on Dick Landy’s wild Dodge, which HOT ROD called “the most controversial stocker ever built”. It
certainly was that. The strange Coronet with its rear axle in the back seat helped give
birth to the Funny Car.
    Other notable car features included the gorgeous Davis & Ingram Fiat Altered, Jim
Zakia’s period-perfect ’55 Chevy Charley Gasser, and a build update on the Summers
Brothers Goldenrod complete with a cutaway illustration by C.O. LaTourette. There’s a
2 page photo feature on the ’65 Oakland Roadster Show, but oddly enough, that year’s
AMBR winner – Carl Casper’s Ghost – gets scant mention.  This month HOT ROD also strip tested the ’65 Marlin, the weird yet weirdly attractive fastback 2+2 from American Motors. With its 327ci V-8 and Flash-O-Matic transmission, the Marlin blazed through the quarter-mile in 17.43 seconds at 79 mph. Thud.

Coming to a newsstand near you on March 18, HOT ROD Deluxe. It’s 100% Retro and
celebrates hot rod heritage, honors tradition, and pinup hotties.

The second issue in the rebirth of HOT ROD Deluxe brings kustoms front and
center complete with Cassia Coffin with Erik Warner’s ’36 Ford that haunts the
Westergard style.

Other highlights of the May 2008 issue include:
* History: Road Knights Reliability Run, 1956
* Concept Cars: Ford’s Italien
* Time Forgot: San Fernando Drags
* Kustoms: John D’Agostino’s Eldorado
* Tradition: ’40 Ford Tribute
* Engine Tech: 390 Cadillac Build
* Fabrication: Building Fender-Wall Headers
* Pin-ups: Parts with Appeal
And more!

Look for it now on a newsstand near you.

The big news is that HOT ROD Deluxe is now bi-monthly. Six fresh issues
annually.

Tell us what you like, hate by writing to us at this blog as a reply or e-mail us at
hotroddeluxe@hotrod.com
 

Guys who eschew the norm are cool, but the ones who tap-dance all over it and bring a sense of style and nastiness to uncommon cars are our Dare to Be Different heros. Just about everything has been drag raced at some point, but the elite club of cars that have been prepped for severe road racing is much more selective. All the more reason to break out of the routine of expected platforms and create something new, we say. But there is a delicate balance to strike when treading into that territory. A phantom car is cool and is a great way to let your imagination run wild, but it has to give off the right hard-core vibe or it's just another poser.

When we first happened upon this little Ranchero at a SoCal car show, it caught our eye with its striking two-tone paint, but we nearly passed it by as just another nice surfboard hauler. Then we noticed the re-arched and flared wheelwells covering what appeared to be really wide PS Engineering wheels wrapped in Hoosier slicks. And is that an airscoop below the front bumper? A glance inside at the Spartan NASCAR-esque interior with a full rollcage passing through the back glass and through an aluminum bedcover definitely piqued our attention. Right about that time, owner Larry Miller walked over and popped the hood, revealing a full-race Ford small-block. Larry smiled wryly and explained that he'd always been a fan of NASCAR and vintage Trans-Am, and he'd always wondered why no one road races the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks. One day it dawned on him that he could mash up the two and create a vintage Trans-Am truck, something that never was raced but conceivably could have been.

That immediately threw out regular pickups, but Larry didn't have to look any farther than his own garage to find the right platform-a '65 Ford Falcon Ranchero. Falcons have been road raced since the '60s and share a great number of components with Mustangs, but he'd never seen a Ranchero decked out in full Trans-Am battle trim.

But Larry didn't want the Ranchero to just look like some phantom road race truck; he wanted the real deal. To make it happen, he took it to Mike Eisenberg and his crew at Maeco Motorsport of Northridge, California (www.maeco motorsport.com). Maeco is well versed in vintage road racing and campaigns a host of very successful Trans-Am Mustangs, Cobras, and Camaros. Mike was intrigued by the project and had no doubt that he could make the truck handle.

Since there is no sanctioned vintage truck racing series, and the Ranchero could only be driven at open-road track events anyway, Larry and Mike agreed that they wouldn't attempt to adhere to any weight, tire, or horsepower restrictions. The plan was to keep the original lines of the Ranchero and to keep it streetable with wipers, horn, lights, and so on, but the goodies to make it go, stop, and turn would be the best modern race parts Mike could round up.

Larry's dream was to get a legitimate NASCAR engine between the shock towers, but that was thought to be financially unfeasible. Then, one morning early in the build, Mike called Larry and told him that he had inside information on a Busch NASCAR team that was defecting from Ford to Dodge and was liquidating its leftover engines. A new Cosworth-built Ford small-block was available for a mere fraction of its worth. Larry says, "Mike told me I did not even have enough time to go ask my wife; I had to decide then. So I went for it." Larry was giddy over the deal because he figured that since the engine is based on a Windsor design, it would drop right in. Wrong! With a 9.2-inch deck height and Yates heads, major cutting, welding, and adjustments were required to make it all fit. The rest of the truck received Maeco's standard full-race, vintage Trans-Am prep front to rear.

After several months of work, Larry took the Ranchero to Willow Springs Raceway for its first real shakedown run to see if it could handle a road course. When he arrived, a Ferrari race team was just finishing up its practice session but was fascinated enough by the noisy little truck to stick around and watch. One of the Ferrari team members offered to time the Ranchero, and after a couple of warmup laps Larry was clocking lap times in the 1-minute, 30-second range-which were the same times the Ferrari race team was turning that day. Not bad for a former lawn truck.

On his next outing Larry went out to run with the Shelby American Automobile Club at its national meet at California Speedway in Fontana, California. This time Larry expected to surprise a few drivers, and as an added poke in the ribs he had attached a lawnmower handle (complete with ripcord) to the rear downbars on the rollcage. "My favorite comment of the day," Larry tells us, "came from a guy in a blown 427 Cobra. He said he was annoyed enough that there was a Ranchero chasing him down, but that when I passed him and he saw the pushmower handle, well, that was just plain embarrassing."

The little Ranchero did a verified 170 mph down the front straight that day and handled the infield in perfect fashion, pissing off more than a few Cobra, Mustang, and GT owners along the way. Larry couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

But interest is capricious, and for reasons known only to him, Larry recently decided to move on to things that are propelled by the wind rather than combustion, so the keys to this little Ranchero have been passed into the eager hands of Rick Hamilton. Rick doesn't care for vehicles that aren't exciting to drive, as evidenced by a collection of toys that includes a low-production-number T-Bolt. Even he admits it's a bit of a learning curve to drive this Ranchero anywhere near its potential-but he assures us he's willing to put in the seat time to get it right.

Quick Inspection:'65 Ford Ranchero
Rick Hamilton . Tulare, CA

POWERTRAIN
Engine: The 358ci Ford Cosworth NASCAR engine uses a Ford SVO siamese-cylinder block, a Sonny Bryant crank, and Carrillo rods with CP pistons to create a 12.0:1 compression ratio. Ford Yates-style aluminum heads feature Jesel roller rockers pushing titanium 2.130 intake and 1.900 exhaust valves, titanium retainers, and locks. ARP head studs and hardware hold it all together. The Ford Motorsport valve covers have internal oil sprayers for valvespring longevity. The dry-sump pump and pan are Cosworth parts, and the pulleys, brackets, and fuel pump are all from CV Products (www.cvproducts.com). Up top is a Holley 4150 with drilled butterflies.

Power: The engine is capable of 825 hp at 8,800 rpm but is detuned to 710 hp in road course form.

Transmission: A Tremec T56 six-speed uses a McLeod Mag IV road racing clutch. Rearend: The Ford 9-inch is stuffed with 4.10:1 gears and Speedway floater axles.

CHASSIS
Frame: The original Ranchero unibody was braced and strengthened in key areas by Maeco Motorsport.

Suspension: Up front the Ranchero uses standard Shelby and Boss Mustang Trans-Am tricks including relocated and boxed control arms. Springs are Boss 302 race spec, and Koni adjustable shocks are on all four corners. A Global West steering box increases responsiveness. The rear is just as simple with heavy-duty leaf springs paired with a Panhard rod.

Brakes: Wilwood six-piston calipers are up front with four- pistons in the rear. Full-race brake pads put the squeeze on Coleman Engineering 12.125- and 11.75-inch curved-vane, stress-relieved, and gas-vented rotors.

Wheels: Custom 16x10 kidney-bean racing wheels are built by PS Engineering in Torrance, California (www.psewheels.com).

Tires: The Ranchero uses 25.0x12.0x16 Hoosier road race tires for the track and Hoosier P275/45ZR16s on the street.

STYLE
Body: Other than the obvious re-arching and flaring of the font and rear wheelwells, the Ranchero's body remains stock. The bumpers and 6-inch cowl hood are fiberglass pieces from Unlimited Products of Corona, California (www.up22.com). The aluminum bed sheeting and spoiler were done by Rick "The Tin Man" Nelson in Sylmar, California (818/367-5853).

Paint: Scott Guildner of Custom Painting (818/709-2139) sprayed the Dodge Viper blue and silver.

Interior: The dash fitted with Auto Meter carbon-fiber gauges is a custom piece by Scott Gregory of Maeco. The rollcage was bent up by Ross Murray from Exoticraft of Marina del Rey, California (310/821-7289). Black powdercoated aluminum Kirkey race seats and Simpson harnesses keep driver and passenger planted. A Safecraft Halon 1301 extinguishing system was installed with nozzles in the engine compartment, passenger compartment, and bed. A collapsible steering shaft with a removable steering wheel adds an extra measure of safety. The trans tunnel can be removed for access.