When you work for a car magazine, especially with your sister magazines right down the hall, boasting among staffers is an everyday occurrence, and bench racing is elevated to a high art form. The big-budget boys over at Hot Rod are to the left of us, while the notoriously conservative Chevy High Performance gang is to our right (usually seen going to lunch in a pack), and a rare day goes by in which jabs aren't exchanged about whose car went faster or which motor made more power on the dyno.
Determined to put some of the trash-talking into action, we organized our very own inter-magazine grudge match shootout at Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale, California. The invitations went out, and accepting were Steve Magnante from Hot Rod magazine driving his '70 Duster and Scott "Scrouse" Crouse of Chevy High Performance running his '65 Mercury Comet, along with our own lineup of project cars featuring SuperNova with The King behind wheel and our '86 Mustang with driving duties handed over to FNG Marko Radielovic-who we learned needs some practice behind the wheel of a four-speed car (hey, Centerforce, we think we need a new clutch).
Since all four cars are built with similar parts and have run e.t.'s in the mid-12s or faster, we ran a heads-up, run-what-ya-brung format with no real rules or restrictions.
After the ambulance and fire crew were on the scene, we scheduled an hour of testing proceeded by three rounds of qualifying. We're humbled to admit that Hot Rod's Steve Magnante won the Shootout by holeshotting the Car Craft staff, but at least we posted the fastest e.t.
Chevy High PerformanceCar: '65 Mercury Comet 202Owner: Scott "Scrouse" CrouseEngine: 347 ci, production block, 10.0:1 compression, Edelbrock Victor Jr. heads, Victor Jr. intake manifold, Holley 750-cfm HP series carb, 151/48-inch Hooker Super Comp headers, MSD 6AL ignition
Cam: Comp Cams solid roller with 242/248 degrees duration at 0.050-inch lift, 0.609/0.616-inch lift, 112-degree lobe separation angle
Drivetrain: Tremec TKO five-speed, 9-inch rearend, 4.11:1 gears, 31-spline axles
Chassis: Stock leaf springs with Cal Tracs bars
Body: Wimbledon white, Crites fiberglass hood
Interior: Factory stock, bucket front seats, lap-style safety belts
Wheels: 15x6 Center Line Tel Star's with 165R15 runners, front; custom 15x8 rally wheels with 26x10-15 Mickey Thompson ET Drags, rear
Favorite racers: Mr. Four-Speed Ronnie Sox, Dyno Don Nicholson
Free time: Wrench, research engines, surf, girlfriend
Nicknames: Scrouse, Scotty, Seaweed head, Mr. Five-Speed
Thanks: Andy Leeka, Don Crouse
Sponsors: Himself
Racer ProfilesLog on to www.carcraft.com for much more detailed buildup sheets for all four of the cars.
Hot RodCar: '70 Plymouth DusterOwner: Steve MagnanteEngine: Mopar Performance 10.0:1 360 crate short-block, Edelbrock Performer RPM closed-chamber aluminum heads, Comp Cams 1.5:1 Magnum roller rockers, Isky 31/48-inch chrome-moly pushrods, Edelbrock Torker II single-plane intake manifold, 800-cfm Edelbrock Performer carburetor, Hooker Super Competition 151/48 headers, ACCEL 300+ ignition, Jacobs Energy Core plug wires, Milodon high-volume water pump, Milodon high-volume oil pump, Milodon 7-quart oil pan
Cam: Isky 280 Mega hydraulic flat-tappet, 232/232 duration @ 0.050-inch lift (280/280 advertise), 0.485/0.485-inch lift, 64-degree overlap, 108-degree lobe separation angle
Drivetrain: TCI full-manual 727 TorqueFlite, TCI 3500 Street Fighter converter, TCI externally balanced 360 Mopar flexplate, 831/44 Sure Grip with DTS 3.91 gears, Chrysler 7290 yoke, Green nonadjustable axle bearings, Moser 31-spline alloy axles
Chassis: '74 Dart front disc brakes, 10x131/44 rear drums, Slant Six front torsion bars, M.P. Super Stock rear leaf springs, M.P. adjustable pinion snubber, Competition Engineering adjustable front drag shocks, M.P. 50/50 extra-length rear shocks
By Henry De Los Santos
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