Gauging Opinion
A reliable set of gauges lets you know exactly what's going on under your hood, as well as in your gas tank, and can help prevent expensive or awkward breakdowns. Dolphin Instruments has made a couple of changes and additions to its range, namely the removal of its jumping dolphin logo, replacing it with the company name, and the introduction of the new EZ Touch speedometer that features one-touch programming for trip, hours, and a maximum-speed alarm. The full range of gauges including five- and six-gauge sets, and quad-gauge designs can be seen on the company's Web site. For more information, contact Dolphin Instruments at (386) 437-1944 or www.dolphingauges.com.
Ego Boost
While many rodders opt to mount the master cylinder and booster under the floor in their cars, there are situations where that is impractical or it's just simpler to mount them under the hood. They've never been the prettiest components to have on show, but thanks to Tuff Stuff Performance Accessories, their appearance is now greatly improved. Featuring hand-polishing and triple chrome plating, they are assembled in the USA and vacuum-tested prior to shipping to ensure reliability.
Tuff Stuff offers the units in both OEM and universal applications, with 1- and 1 1/8-inch bore sizes, and with dual ports or driver-side ports. They'll work with many stock bracket setups, fit disc/disc and disc/drum applications, and pedal rod extensions are also available if required. For more information, contact Tuff Stuff at (800) 331-6562 or www.tuffstuffperformance.com.
Torque Show
Electronics are part of everyday life these days, but there are still some places you don't expect to encounter little buttons and displays. Like in your toolbox, unless it's a piece of diagnostic equipment. Well, Snap-on's new Electronic Quick Set torque wrench has both buttons and a display, and offers five pre-settings for the most common lug nut torque settings, making it an ideal tool for use in tire shops. Those pre-settings are at 80, 100, 120, 140, and 150 ft-lb. Accurate to 2 percent, a yellow-/ green-/red-light visual display lets you know when the pre-setting is reached. A lockout feature prevents unwanted changes.
For more information, contact Snap-on at (877) 762-7662 or www.snapon.com.
Force Feeding
GM's LS series of engines has firmly established itself as a performance motor in hot rods and customs. Its aluminum construction keeps weight down, while minimum modification can produce great horsepower gains. Forced induction is one of the simplest ways to do this, and it just so happens that MagnaCharger's universal MP 122 kit for LS1 and LS2 engines fits virtually any application and can produce more than 700 hp. Low in profile to clear most hoods, the inlet can be at either the front or the rear, while the supercharger itself is of a hybrid Roots design with an integral water-to-air intercooler on a patented equal-length runner intake manifold. All this culminates in a blower that makes more power between 1,500 and 6,500 rpm than any other system.
The MP 122 kit comes complete with all components necessary for installation, as well as a computer program to be uploaded to the factory ECU for optimum calibration. For more information, contact Magnuson Products at (805) 677-4897 or www.magnusonproducts.com.
Lightening Strike
Bomber seats have always been cool in hot rods, since the first pair was probably pulled from an aviation junkyard after WWII, but the availability has obviously decreased ever since. Speedway Motors solved the availability issues by introducing its popular bomber-style seats, but a number of rodders asked if they could get them with lightening holes. Well, Speedy Bill listened, and now they're available, offering an even more authentic aircraft appearance. The Lightened Bomber Seats are made from .090-inch aluminum with handformed beads, measure 16 inches wide and 21 inches tall, and are easily mounted using brackets available separately. For more information, contact Speedway Motors at (800) 979-0122 or www.speedwaymotors.com.
Cut It Out
Sometimes it's fun to run your car on open headers for short periods-such as cruising fairgrounds-but that fun quickly becomes a chore when you have to crawl under the car with a couple of wrenches and work around hot exhaust pipes. Simply flicking a switch from the comfort of the driver seat sounds much more civilized.
Noweeds.Net and Dakota Digital have combined their knowledge and particular product specialties-the former designs and manufactures weld and non-weld exhaust diverter systems while the latter designs and manufactures digital instrumentation and electronic accessories-to develop the new automated no-weld diverter system shown here, a product that won the People's Choice new product award at Goodguys PPG Nationals in Columbus this past July.
For more information, contact NOWEEDS at (605) 830-1146, or Dakota Digital at (800) 852-3228 or www.dakotadigital.com.
Pizza And A Six-Pack
There can't be many hot rodders who aren't familiar with the artwork of George Trosley, which combines humor with an intimate knowledge of the mechanics of the cars involved. "Large Pizza with Everything" is his latest creation. As Trosley says, "It's been a long involved build, starting with the frame and running gear, then the body and paint, wiring, upholstery, exhaust, then finally you know it's time for a large pizza with everything."
Signed and numbered by Trosley, and personalized if you wish, these 11x17-inch, limited-edition prints are reproduced on double-weight, acid-free paper and shipped flat by Priority Mail, with free postage and handling in the U.S. For more information, contact George Trosley at (610) 521-2377.
Slick Shifting
Are you running a vintage transmission, or want to but are scared off because of reliability or rebuild issues? Well, worry no more, as Gear Star can remanufacture any vintage trans to better than OEM standard with no leaks or slippage. A Powerglide is shown, but Gear Star is just as happy working on Slim Jim, Super Turbine 300, Dynaflow, Cruise-O-Matic, or TorqueFlite transmissions.
Each transmission is remanufactured using all-new bushings, sealing rings, gaskets, performance steels, high-energy clutches, double-wide carbon fiber bands, and shift kits. Torque converters are furnace brazed with tack-welded stators and hubs. Each Gear Star trans also comes with a 36-month warranty and includes ATF and a cooler. For more information, contact Gear Star at (800) 633-2353 or www.gearstar.net.
Shirt 'N' Sweet
Everyone needs T-shirts, right? It's the staple of every hot rodder's wardrobe! With nostalgia and anything connected with hot rodding's heritage at an all-time high, Fairlane's new T-shirt line is bound to prove popular.
The collection includes original artwork from Tom Medley and Chris Froggett, plus designs inspired by Rex Burnett and Tommy the Greek. To reproduce the artwork as authentically as possible, the shirts are printed on premium-grade shirts using up to 10 colors. For more information, contact Fairlane at (231) 271-3139 or www.fairlanegroup.net.
Sounds Good
We're still carrying a wallet of CDs from car to car (and even the occasional cassette!), but if you have a Custom Autosound USA-5, USA-6, USA-66, or Secretaudio, there's a much simpler way to take music on the road, thanks to the company's USB MP3 Decoder, CAM-USBFlash. Simply plug the CAM-USBFlash into the CD changer port of any of the above and insert any USB flash card and you can play any MP3s stored in the drive. The unit comes with an SD card reader. The CD control buttons can be used to select songs, and you can input sound through the 1/8-inch stereo jack if you have a satellite radio or other audio device. The CAM-USBFlash can be used with or without a Custom Autosound 10-CD changer. For more information, contact Custom Autosound at (714) 773-1423 or www.custom-autosound.com.
Benchmarks
A decent seat is a must if you plan to spend more time behind the wheel than just cruising fairgrounds, as proper support can keep fatigue at bay, making driving your car pleasurable as opposed to painful. Glide Engineering knows this, which is why the company is constantly coming up with seats for new vehicles and applications. The latest are front seats for '49-53 Chevy coupes and sedans, a bench seat for '41-46 Chevy pickups (as well as a dedicated seat riser), and all three rows of seats to fit '49-51 Ford woodies.
The Chevy and Ford front seats both come with side skirts and sliders and brackets to fit the stock holes; the woodie rear seats bolt to the stock holes with the rearmost featuring a hinge to remove the seat, while they all recline in 18 positions, are all-steel with non-sag springs, and are powdercoated black. Contoured foam is available for the seats, and with a large inventory, most seats can be shipped within two days, ready for your upholstery. For more information, contact Glide Engineering at (800) 301-3334 or www.glideeng.com.
One Sizes Fits All
They say the best ideas are the simplest, and the new Billet Piston fuel pump for Ford 289-351 Windsor small-block and 429-460 385 series big-blocks from Race Pumps is proof of that. With just one moving part, the new pump is virtually indestructible, and its patent-pending variable displacement design allows an identical pump to be used whether your motor is pushing out 200 hp or 2,500. Rather than bypassing excess fuel, the design allows the pump to adjust output depending on demand. Unlike other mechanical pumps that use a lever for activation, this pump is operated directly from the OEM eccentric.
Available in carbureted or EFI versions, the pump features a -8 AN outlet and either -8 or -10 AN inlet. A quarter-inch insulator plate and 12-point mounting bolts are included, and the pump is compatible with gas, methanol, or E85 fuel. For more information, contact Race Pumps at (336) 476-9720 or www.racepumps.com.