Vintage Speed Parts: The Equipment That Fueled the Industry

ISBN-10: 1613256973
ISBN-13: 9781613256978
Category: Transportation
Pages: 193
Language: English
Published: 2022-10-10
Publisher: CarTech Inc
Author: Tony Thacker

Description

Follow the history of hot rodding through this nostalgic look at vintage speed equipment. When most people think of speed parts, they rewind a few decades and think back to the Ford flatheads that were so prevalent in the 1940s and 1950s. However, did you know that the speed parts industry began way back in the Model T era? It's true. As soon as vehicles were mass produced, manufacturers were looking for ways to make them faster. Manufacturers, such as Roof, Rajo, Winfield, Miller, Frontenac, and Holley, made speed parts for 4-cylinder Model T engines and accomplished speeds of up to 100 mph! In Vintage Speed Parts: The Equipment That Fueled the Industry, veteran hot rod historian Tony Thacker looks at the history of hot rodding through the eyes of speed equipment manufacturers. Covered chronologically, the book begins with the early 4-cylinder engines. In 1932, Henry Ford introduced the flathead V-8, which was slow to be adopted as the engine of choice in racing until the parts industry caught up. Once it did, the flathead, although interrupted by the war, was the engine to run until the automobile manufacturers introduced overhead-valve V-8 engines in the late 1940s. Chrysler's early-1950s Hemi and Chevrolet's small-block V-8 in 1955 spelled the end for the flattie. Both mills dominated well into the 1970s, and the speed industry was there to support all platforms in spades. During that period, every auto manufacturer made a V-8 worthy of modification, and the speed industry boomed. Eventually, the speed equipment manufacturers grew to the point of becoming corporate entities, as mergers and acquisitions became the much less interesting story. Parts covered include special cylinder heads, magnetos, camshaft and valvetrain upgrades, downdraft carburetors, headers, multiple-carburetor setups, and even superchargers. Everyone figured out how to make engines more powerful, upgrading with the type of parts that were being produced decades later, even to today. Join in the fun of reviewing the history of speed through this fascinating tale of vintage speed parts.

Get the book

Similar books

WINGS LIKE EAGLES PB
By Paul A. Schweizer
Directors : R. S. Barnaby , T. Boyer , G. Briegleb , S. Corcoran , J. S. Charles , A. Dawydoff , F. Compton , P. Leonard , W. Klemperer , A. Raspet , E. J. Reeves , J. Robinson , A. Schultz , E. Schweizer , P. A. Schweizer , B. Shupack ...
Barney Hall's Tales From Trackside
By Barney Hall, Ben White
He also witnessed the unforgettable '76 Daytona finish between Richard Petty and Pearson. In Barney Hall's Tales from the Trackside, he reflects on many memorable stories, including Bill Elliott winning the Winston Million in 1985.
Lost Sounds: The Story of Coast Fog Signals
By Alan Renton
... lens is still in daily use and though it no longer ... revolves in its liquid metal bed by clockwork 36 it seems likely that it will continue to revolve in its mercury bath after automation . ... Stone , John Harris op . cit .
American Auto Racing: The Milestones and Personalities of a Century of Speed
By J.A. Martin, Thomas F. Saal
But by the end of the season the hot combination was Mark Donohue in the Camaro . Cougar did not return but Donohue did , taking ten of the twelve 1968 races , including eight in a row . American Motors entered the series with the new ...
The Truck, Van and 4x4 Book: The Definitive Guide to Buying a Truck
By Jack Gillis, Karen Fierst, Scott Beatty
Gillis is a Contributing Correspondent for NBC's “ Today Show ” and has appeared on all three network evening news programs as well as local and national talk shows , including “ Donahue , " “ 20/20 , " “ Nightline , ” “ The Oprah ...
Human Factors for Naval Marine Vehicle Design and Operation
By Jonathan M. Ross
Miller , J. , M. Sanders , E. Fitzhugh , K. Plummer ( 2005a ) . “ Real or Self - Imposed : The Gap Between Cognitive Systems Engineering and Softward Systems Engineering , ” Human Systems Integration Symposium , Arlington , VA , June .
Locomotives of the Western United States
By Jonathan Lewis
St Maries River Railroad GP9s 101 and 102, both built by EMD in 1959 for the Milwaukee Road, are seen working a freight from St Maries to Tacoma Rail Switcher MP15 1521, built by EMD in 1983. Plummer, Idaho, beside Chatcolet Lake on the ...
Picture History of the Cunard Line, 1840-1990
By William H. Miller, Frank Osborn Braynard
134 PICTURE HISTORY OF THE CUNARD LINE 1840-1990 Frank O. Braynard. Adriatic, 63, 64 Alaunia, 51 Albania, 44 America 1 1848), ... 110.111, 112, 118 #fx,44 Russia, 4 Sagafjord, 130 Samaria, 25 Saturnia, 1 10 &«w»w(1900), ...
Karen Brown's England, Wales and Scotland: Exceptional Places to Stay and Itineraries
By Karen Brown
Map : 4 Eglwysfach Ynyshir Hall Ynyshir Hall shares its location on the Dovey river estuary with a 1,000 - acre bird reserve , home to herons , oystercatchers , curlews , and cormorants . Nestled in acres of gardens full of azaleas and ...
The Transportation Experience: Policy, Planning, and Deployment
By David M. Levinson, William L. Garrison
The Transportation Experience seeks to understand the genesis of transportation policy in America and the UK, along with the roles that this policy plays as systems are innovated, deployed, and reach maturity, and how policies might be ...