Hot Rod Homepage

While not directly Hot Rod related I figured that it merited a mention here on the site. My daily driver is a 1990 Toyota Corolla with an automatic 3-speed transmission. Over the course of the last 2 tanks of gas I have been experiencing transmission slippage that has greatly reduced my fuel mileage. This is a major problem considering that good fuel mileage is all that the Corolla has going for it. What do I do?

I spent some time with google looking up prices for transmission rebuild kits as well as possible common issues with the Corolla transmissions. My search proved helpful, but not in the way that I anticipated.

After a flurry of different websites offering rebuilds and replacements I came across the Lucas Oil homepage. I was brought to the site be a customer testimonial from John Quinn of Springfield, Illinois that stated:

I was driving down the street and the transmission starts slipping. Can’t get it past 10mph and then transmission just whines. Had it towed to shop and started looking for used trany. Saw your ad on the internet and tried a bottle. Not only did it drive without slipping, I’m getting about 40 extra miles per fill up at the gas station. Thanks a million.

Normally I do not fall for “testimonials” on a manufactures website, but at this point I am desperate. I simply cannot justify putting a new transmission into a car that I bough for $1000, so this morning I picked up a bottle of Lucas Transmission Fix from the local AutoZone. It set me back around $10.

The back of the bottle states “Results are Usually Immediate” so as soon as I exited the store I popped the hood on the trusty old Corolla and added half a bottle to the transmission via the dipstick tube. As directed by the Transmission Fix bottle I added the fluid with the engine warmed up and running.

I let the car sit and idle for a few minutes while I cleaned up, then took her for a road test.

Initial Impression:
Before I had even exited the parking lot I could tell the difference. The transmission was noticeably smoother on shifts and I could no longer perceive any slippage. So far this stuff is working.

Long Term Results:
Nothing yet, but as I get some more time with the car I will update this article.

Sources:
Lucas Oil Products
302 North Sheridan Street
Corona, CA 92880-2067
951.270.0154
www.lucasoil.com

Article Overview:
The second article in the ‘66 Redux series of articles. Fortune smiled on me while I was at pick-a-part in Sunland, California looking for parts to finish off my electric fan conversion. I came across a 325i BMW with a pair of sport seats in pristine condition. Usually these sorts of seats are gone as soon as they hit the junkyard, but probably due to the overcast weather of the USC football game on TV these seats waited around long enough for me to snatch them up. Read along as I install them into my Chevelle.

The stock bucket seats in a 1966 Chevelle are hardly the apex of comfort or positive retention. Anyone who has taken steps to improve the handling of their classic muscle car is probably familiar with the “right hand on the wheel, left knee jammed into the door, left arm holding on to the window sill” technique for holding yourself in your seat will agree that there is much to be desired. I have spent considerable time browsing ebay, the recycler, and the summit catalog looking for a pair of seats that would strike a balance between comfort and performance. Most of what I came across was either in my price range or good, but never both. Fortunately while at the junkyard looking for electrical components I can across these seats out of an e30 BMW. They meet both the comfort and performance requirements and their covering material and color match the existing interior and the rear seat.

Follow along as I make some repairs to these seats then install them in my Malibu.



Front view of the seats after a light cleaning.



Rear view of the seats.



Close up shot of the damage on the rear of the passenger seat.

Article Overview:

The first in a series of articles detailing what I consider to be things that I have wanted to get done on my 1966 Malibu for a long time, but have so far been too busy to get around to. This article will show the process of switching from a belt driven 5-blade clutch fan to a dual 12″ electric setup. I also intend to do some before and after drag-strip tests at LACR to determine if there are any performance benefits to the conversion.

Parts that I used in this conversion:

• Derale Dual Cooling fan (DER-1928)
• Delta Control Control Controller (VC-1260)
• Delta Current Control Thermal Probe ( TS-104)
• 1/2″ steel tube and 2″ steel strap
• Various wire and terminals from around in the garage

The bottom line is that this conversion is not cheap and will run you around $400 when all is said and done. At least you will have me as a guinea pig to determine if the conversion is worth the time and money.

Said to be the “world’s oldest continuously operated drag strip” the Inyokern Dragstrip was opened at the Inyokern Airport in September of 1954. Federal Aviation Administration safety regulations now being imposed on the strip have forced its closure. The strip was operated by the Dust Devils Auto Club and its website is located at www.inyokerndragstrip.com.

It is sad to see such a long standing piece of hot rod history get closed down, but at least I can preserve a little bit of it here on the hot rod homepage.

I took a look at my website statistics for the first time in a while and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Hot Rod Homepage is listed as an external link on the Wikipedia’s hot rod page. I guess this site is moving up in the world.

I really need to hunker down and get some more stuff up here on the site. Right now the gallery section is by far the most popular area, so I guess that means that I need to have more pictures in my articles. I am going to DriftDay in Fontana this saturday and a car show in South Pasadena on sunday so I will be sure to snap a bunch of pictures to share with you guys.