15 Best Hot Rod Engines at 2011 LA Roadster Show

Hot Rod Hemi’s, Flatheads and Bangers – Take Your Pick!

#1 Overhead Valve Conversion Banger Ford Flathead in a Slick looking Slingshot.

Best Engines of the 2011 LA Roadster Show
We tried this at the 2010 LA Roadster Show and it’s been a great story with interesting feedback. So why not try it again?

Everyone’s got their own style and as you can see from the engines I picked out, I trend towards nostalgic, blown, FAST looking engines. How about you? Take a look at these and choose which one your favorite! Hit the “Like” button above and call it out by number.

Or, if this is your car or you happen to be an expert on early Hemi’s or overhead valve conversion flathead motors, then let us know what we’re looking at. I hope I caught something to your liking!

#2 Another well executed Ford “Banger” Flathead – Think there’s enough carburetion?

#3 I’m a sucker for the black and chrome look with simple lakes style headers. This Ford Flathead engine’s got Harrell Los Angeles Racing Equipment on board. Learn more about Jim Harrell and the flathead parts that bear his name here: http://harrellengineshotrodding.com

#4 This bare metal hot rod had slight Jimmy Shine truck look to it… or maybe I just thought so because it was parked at the SoCal Pomona Show – they are totally different trucks. Either way, I got nothing for you on the cool flatheads on this V8, but I like it! (Any info out there?)

#5 My buddy Jim from the Throttle Kings has been fine tuning his hot rod pickup for several years now and showed very well in the 2011 GNRS Suede Palace. From here, we have to slip in the common, but tried, true and high performance small block Chevy.

#6 It’s the details around the engine that make it. I bet those pipes sound wicked!

#7 Loved the pinstriping and the engine turning work on the firewall. Classic and built for speed!

#8 Another great twist on the small block Chevy is the side draft weber induction.

Before we all Hemispherical on you, I want to throw out a few of the unusual finds from the LA Roadster Show:

#9 You see these all the time. I shoulda wrote down some info for you, but the WWI and WWII folks probably know this one. It’s a vintage airplane engine turned backwards that looked like an 8 cylinder, but it was only a four. The guy drove it to the show!

#10 With the valves, spings and rockers all exposed, I sure this old Buick Roadster didn’t use any oil.

#11 Look closely. This is cool. Wish I coulda heard it running.

And now, it’s time for the HEMI’s!

#12 It’s almost unfair to include a Hollywood Hot Rods built motor in a “best of” list. Getting the most Hemi power requires custom, hidden electronics fuel injection, 2 coils and practically no exposed wires. This is the benchmark.

#13 Just so you don’t think I’m totally adverse to billet, I give you this blown Hemi example. I heard this beast running and the surge and growl it made idling down the street turned every head. If you don’t love that, check for a pulse.

#14 Another fine blown hemi example. You pretty much can’t go wrong! I got a crazy fisheye lens picture of this engine here.

#15 Last but not least… Representing Desoto… another true classic including the six pack. Can you see how the engine’s been smoothed? This was the coolest hot rod in Pomona for the LA Roadster Show.

That’s it. 15 this year of the best looking, best detailed engines of the LA Roadster Show. Now’s your chance to say which is your favorite!

CLICK HERE for tons more LA Roadster Show Pictures

Want more “Best of” Engines?  Check out the Best High Performance Engines of SEMA 2010

13 of the Best Hot Rod Engines at LA Roadster Show

#1 Harrell Los Angeles Flathead with Harrell Intake

Best Engines of the 2010 LA Roadster Show

Walking the 2010 LA Roadster Show, I started snapping shots of the dazzling chrome works of four-stroke art found in the roadsters and hot rods in the show. Where else to place the prized and uber-rare speed parts for your flathead than out for the world to see in an open engine bay?

So let’s put it to a vote. Pick a favorite and MyRideisMe.com will send a T-shirt to the top 3 engines. Easy for me to say!  To do that, I’ll need help! If you know the owner or know the owners cousin or even want to know the owner… leave a comment and help us get in touch.

Owners of these engines: Please email to BestEngines@MyRideisMe.com. You might have won a t-shirt! Let us know the details of the build and how this engine shows why, “My Ride is Me”.

For every picture here, click on it for the full size image.

Starting with The Flatheads category: (don’t forget #1 above)

#2 Polished Offenhauser Flathead

#3 Jimmy Shine’s Truck – 1949 Ford flathead built by Mike Gilbert with Stromberg 97 carbs atop a S.C.o.T. blower with wide open zoomie headers

#4 Tom Cobbs Roadster Flathead: 1946 Mercury 268CI with Cobbs designed 3-ring pistons; Evans 8:1 heads and Cobbs modified GMC 3-71 blower on Navarro manifold supplied by 4 Stromberg Model 48′s.  Dig the cooper fuel plumbing too! (I cheated on this on and copied the show card. I also got a picture of “The Snake” Don Prudhomme starting this up. Yea! It runs!!)

#5 Edelbrock Flathead – Not as racy looking as the others, but finely detailed no doubt

#6 Blown Flathead. Who can tell me about the “Internal Syphon Gauge” mounted behind the blower. It’s made by GE and has a + and – 30 PSI range. The trick curved air cleaners really set this one off.

#7 Sharp Flathead

#8 Quad Carbed Offenhauser Flathead. I saw a NOS Beehive oil filter like the one shown here for $450 at the not-to-be-missed LA Roadster Show swap meet. Nostalgia ain’t cheap.

Next, representing the, Blown & Bad not a flathead category:

#9 “Steinegger & Eshenbaugh” Blown Hemi

#10 Twin Blown & Finned SBC Beauty

Next, representing the, Hell NO I ain’t a Small Block Chevy category:

#11 Gurney Eagle & Weber Carbed Big Block Ford? (Help me out here!)

#12 Thunderbird Finned Y-Block

#13 Tri-powered Caddy

That’s it. 13 of the best looking, best detailed engines of the LA Roadster Show. Care to pick a favorite?

And don’t forget to tell the owner to contact me with details of the engine. I’ll update the story. (Cause we love old school, but we’re we’re the dynamic NEW way to read about hot rods!)

-pikesan

CLICK HERE for More LA Roadster Show Pictures

Want more “Best of” Engines?  Check out the Best Engines of SEMA 2010

Demented Dodge – A Frame Draggin’ Ram by Demented Customs

Everyone gets into the truck scene differently. Some inherit the interest from their father, some get sucked in by their friends, and others, like Tony Saenz of Andrews, Texas, got into it by going into a convenience store to grab a tasty beverage. It was on that fateful day 3 years ago that he first saw a yellow Dodge in the parking lot of said store that was painted with ghost flames. A short conversation later, Tony had the number to the painter of that truck, Jamie Torrez, the owner of Demented Customs in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Hobbs isn’t known for being a big town, but for a city with just over 31,000 people, there’s a surprising number of custom car and truck guys. One of those shops is Demented Customs, who have slowly been building a reputation for themselves as powerhouses in the industry. Over the past few years they’ve put quite a few customs out on the pages of various magazines, so when Tony decided to take his car to them, it turned out to be a very fortuitous decision.

The first thing that Tony wanted to do was lay the truck out on the concrete. The 2004 and newer Dodge Ram is notorious for camber issues when the truck is bagged, so to rectify that, the crew decided to raise the upper control arm mounts and minimize the problem. Out back, an Ekstensive Metalworks 2-link kit was bolted to the stock rear end and the frame was notched. Between the parts from Ekstensive and the air supplies from Lowrider Depot, they got the truck dragging frame on 22-inch Bonspeed Tsunamis with 265/35 Hankook tires.

That was it for a while, as Tony took his truck back to Andrews and drug it around town for a few months, destroying his rollpan in the process. Over the course of the next year the Dodge went through a lot of changes, including an act of nature that caused some wicked hail damage across the truck. Between damage to the pan and the massive craters dotting the hood and roof, it was time for a new paint job, so it was back to Jamie and the posse at Demented for some bodywork.

Thing was, Tony didn’t want to pay a small fortune for his paintjob, so he did some negotiating. For months he’d call Jamie and ask for a price, Jamie would give him the same price every time, and Tony would say he’d think about it. Finally, Jamie gave him an answer he could work with. “If you let me do whatever I want with it, then I’ll give you a deal.” A quick handshake later and the plan was set.

The crew gathered around and discussed the build. It was just 5 months until the 2008 SEMA show, and they wanted to get the truck at the event to showcase their skills. The truck needed everything minus the suspension work they had already performed, so they had a lot of work ahead of them.

First, the door handles were shaved and then the doors were outfitted with GT Factory lambo-style doors up front and suicide doors out back. The handles were shaved at the same time, as was the tailgate handle, gas door, and antenna. A new Sir Mike’s pan was installed to replace the beat up and drug old unit, and the license plate was relocated into the tailgate. Then the whole thing was blocked straight, primed, and blocked again until the truck was straight as an arrow and every gap lined up perfectly.

Jamie is a big fan of bright colors – they’re kind of his thing. He had been experimenting with some of PPG’s Vibrance line of colors, and he hit upon this Key Lime Green shade that he really wanted to try out. The wicked flake and eye-blinding shade of neon green would make for a great base, but now Tony wanted to add some flames, so Jamie decided to lay down a cool flame job from stem to stern which fades from a purplish blue to a royal blue pearl. The end result is an amazing color change that really sets off the truck. The cool details abound here as well, like the underside of the Cervini’s hood that sports matching graphics to the exterior, or the doorjambs that have a flame strip of their own across the rocker. Details like that make this truck stand out above the rest.

Demented Customs is a one-stop shop, so when it came time to move to the interior, they decided to build the stereo themselves. The rear seat was removed and replaced with a half-dozen 12” subs and a trio of amps mounted in a custom fiberglass enclosure. An Eclipse AVX-2404 in-dash DVD player mounted in the factory location runs the system and provides video action at shows.

No one wants to sit on an egg crate, so the guys had to come up with a plan. They wanted something a little bit hot rod and a whole lot custom, so they called in Paul Reyes of Master Craft Interiors who reshaped the seats to have a lower back and no headrest. Then the interior was wrapped in granite Ultraleather and platinum Ultrasuede for a cool light gray look that looks clean and simple. Everything that wasn’t wrapped in fabric was painted the lime green, which really sets off the rest of the interior. The overall effect is exactly what they were going for, and turns heads.

It was down to the wire — as things usually are with the SEMA show — but the crew got it all done. There were a lot of people involved in the build, and Jamie would like to thank Scott Harris and Chad Fincher for all the phone calls they had to make, Aaron Lawson, Aaron Pina, Zach, Billy Titus, Paco and his son J.R. for all the long nights of sanding, scuffing, and doing anything that was needed. Keven at Hankook tires, Pat at Leer, Mitch at Ekstensive metalworks and Tom at Lowrider Depot. Special thanks to Andrew for the long nights of color sanding and buffing before the show and to his wife Veronica for her support. Also thanks to Tony and Lacey for allowing him to do whatever he wanted on the dodge.

Nostalgia Drag Race History from 2010 GNRS

You can almost smell the tires burning cruising through the “History of the Race Car” hall at the 2010 Grand National Roadster Show.  The exhibit, of course featured drag racer from the way-back-machine, especially my favorite: Nose in the air gassers!

Getting up-close and personal with the “Outer Limits” Mopar, I’m reminded of a buddy who saw his first altered wheelbase A/FX’r and asked, “Who’d do that?!”  That’s exactly why I love them! Make noise, look near ridiculous and have more fun than anyone! I want one, and some day I’ll get it.  I might have to build my 61 Rambler American wagon as a gasser. Low-buck, fast and loud = funner-mostess.

Continuing my stroll, I found the, “Fastest un-blown Ford V-8 powered dragster running in National Nostalgia Drag Racing.” …and it’s driven by a woman named Kathy Lloyd out of Castro Valley, CA. According to their show card, the car was built in 1969, then restored in ’85, then back-halfed in 1996, no doubt to return to racing. Safety rules have changed, juuuuussst a little since 1969. Running on a cocktail of 85% Nitro and 15% methanol, this 286 cubic inch flattie’s best speed is 158.337 mph at 8.94 seconds. Go Kathy!

Next up? Another sky-scraping injector stacked hemi in a 1941 Willys. The lettering on this old racer belonging to long time Willys racers, the Reinero Bros. out of Merced, CA is terrific! Did this car race at the same time as the flamboyant “Hippie” Corvette we covered? here’s a closeup of the lettering on the back…

Sticking with the Willyseze’ (plural of Willys if you’re wondering) this is the legendary Stone, Woods and Cook racer. I won’t say much about the “Gasser War” dominating car right now, but watch for a story about this with the help of the current co-owner Joe Troilo. Joe held onto the original race gear, undisturbed in his garage for over 20 years until it was all put back into this, the original race car.

Talking drag racing from the way back, it shouldn’t surprise you to find yet another Willys, this time the sedan variety, set next to something I don’t see enough of: A gasser styled model A roadster.  This is a race I would love to have seen.

You probably noticed the trophies next to the Reinero Bros car. Here’s a few more. Remember when the trophies were made of metal, marble and real wood? What looks like a spider web is a metal wire securing all the trophies. I’m sure they’re priceless to the owner.

Although not the gasser style, no talk of drag racing history would be complete without mentioning the earliest “rail jobs” that were nothing more than an engine, frame and wheels. With nothing left to strip out of it, they started cutting holes in said frame to lose more weight. Safe no, fast yes. There’s a special place in the driver’s compartment to store and protect the over-sized rollers the driver needed.

Finally, in all it’s beauty, “The Bug”.  This stripped down lakes race car built by Dick Kraft is as simple as it gets.  The Encyclopedia Britannica (yea, you read that right!) says, “Kraft’s obsession with weight extended to peeling of his T-shirt!” Good for 109.09 mph and top speed at Santa Ana in 1950, you’re looking at the birth of the dragster and the shock of moms across all of California!

Our friends at Speedhunters.com also got some great pictures from the “History of the Race Car” hall. Check out their GNRS coverage here.

Anything you like? Let us know in a comment below.

Cacklefest’n Nitro Burning 1930 Ford Coupe

Nitro Burning Model A Ford Coupe

Twin blown 1930 Ford Coupe ready to run Nitro as seen at the 2009 So-Cal open house in Pomona, CA

When Canada natives Ken and his partner Frank Bevacqua from Top Ten Hot Rods and Customs build a hot rod, they follow their motto: “Bad Done Good”. That exactly describes their ground pounding, nitro burning, fuel injected, hemi powered, twin McCulloch blown, tube frame 1930 Ford Coupe. Do I have your attention?

Built as Top Ten’s calling card of badness, Frank told me he loves the funny cars and front engine diggers you usually see at the popular cacklefest events, but where are the coupes? At drag races and for the first time at the 2009 LA Roadster Show, cacklefests are awesome. If you’ve never seen and more importantly heard a “cacklefest” then you’re missing out. Imagine 5-20 nitromethane or “fuel” burning beasts from the not-forgotten yester-year of drag racing’s lined up, and lit up, usually at night or just dusk to see the signature yellow flames shooting from the exhaust pipes. You know you’re in the right place when the push cars used are 1960′s vintage too. But that’s another story!

Top view of this Cacklefest ready, twin blown 392 Hemi Ford Coupe

This car’s built for show, but damn it would be fast! Featuring a 1957 392 Hemi with Enderle fuel injection force fed by matching, twin (yea 2 of them!) 1957 McCulloch superchargers modified to run without clutches to feed about 20lbs of boost, EACH… to the 7:1 Hemi. Frank says about 1000hp on gas and maybe 2 large on fuel. All that runs through a Chrysler 4 speed.

The talk of the SoCal Speed Shop’s Friday-before-LA Roadster open house, this car was heard by many. My friends and I all mistook the McCulloch blowers for turbos because of the ear piercing whine they made when Ken romped on the throttle for a grinning and growing crowd of onlookers. Anyone who heard it knew it was not ordinary “rat rod” as it barely idled, popped and whined begging for the nitro that would’ve sent us all gasping for air. Perfect!

All Business interior featuring a 1936 Olds wheel and Chrysler 4 speed

Construction on this fuel coupe, while rough-looking at a glance is all professionally done and appears race ready. The Hemi is supported by a custom full tube frame and cage built from cold rolled 20 gauge. A 9 inch trac-loc with 4:11 gears is found out back with a vintage army surplus oxygen tank that looks right at home. Walking from front to back, looking closely you’ll see the full length belly pan and get stopped in your tracks by the wild 22″ wheels up front.

Those 22′s are from a horse drawn International Harvester sickle mower. Highly modified to fit the Ford spindles and motorcycle tires, the Top Ten guys say they might make more. They must have answered, “What are those wheels from” about 10 times a minute! The back wheels are 19-inchers, also from a tractor (of course?!) widened with Ford Centers.

…the lovely Mimi La Minkz with her vintage gold metal flake helmet

Other cool details? Dig the1947 Canadian Cockshutt grill (yea, another tractor) and the 1936 Oldsmobile accessory steering wheel mounted on the swing away steering column. It’s a tight fit in there and it looks all business.

A great as this car looks with natural rusty patina offset by the polished fuel injection tubes and unmistakable Hemi valve covers, this will be a finished, painted car with chrome and polish enough to be a sure hit at any cacklefest.

I’d link to Top Ten’s website, but I can’t find it! I’ll be emailing Frank and Ken to tell’m about this story and beg them for regular updates. We’re close friends now see… I introduced pinup photographer Mitzi from Mitziandco.com who was there shooting with the lovely pinup model Mimi La Minkz (http://www.myspace.com/Mimilaminkz) and we grabbed a few shots. If I ask Mitzi nicely, maybe I’ll features all of those shots in our pinup picture gallery.

You dig’n this too? Let me know by leaving a comment and be sure to encourage the Top Ten guys to keep feeding us regular updates. Thanks for reading!

(Click on either picture to see this nasty twin blown hemi picture full size!)

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