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David Vizard MotorTec Magazine - Loads of DV articles. Start here.
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Before you even start thinking about
building an engine, especially a Chevy 350, you really, really need to
read the David Vizard books. (Especially How To Build Horsepower, Vol. I -
III. Essential!) There might be people out there who build engines
with more horsepower, or so they claim at least, but at what cost? If
you have $30,000, 750HP is easy, but what if you only have $4,000? The difference between David Vizard and the rest of the crowd is that he is independent and he actually do the research before he talk. He will tell you what works and more importantly what does not work. Of course this does not really make him a big friend of the Hot Rodding magazines; they live on advertisment from the bolt-on companies that Mr. Vizard may say produce junk (if they do). Apart from that, one can get some fantastic ideas from him (since he has probably by now tried them all...). Bet you hadn't thought about this one: Q: What can be done to reduce turbocharger lag on a street car? A: Install a Nitrous oxide injection system. [Reasoning here] [1] I have so far not been able to locate any personal home page of David Vizard, but I have collected some of his articles/comments/etc. on the left. (Well, maybe MotorTec can be considered as his current online home.) More can be found via a Google search. It is difficult to find that many articles, especially since David have written thousands of them, but that is of course over more than 40 years as well... Called an Engine guru by many, does he have the experience to back it up? I'll close with a quote from the Critical Cam Event Criteria article: "I just know someone is going to ask what qualifies me to write on this subject so let’s get that out of the way up front. During a large portion of 1985 I dyno tested more than 4,000 cam and rocker combinations in three differently spec’d SB Chevys for Crane. The following year I did a similar but larger exercise on 2.0L Pinto motors and the "A" series Mini Cooper motors for Kent Cams in England. Between 1987 and now I have done a number of similar, if somewhat smaller, exercises for other well-known cam companies including Isky and Comp Cams. All this amounts to a stack of dyno sheets that I would estimate at over six feet high! Now that’s out of the way let’s get down to business." [1] The Nitrous oxide book David mentions is now available. I have not read it, but I would assume it holds his usual high standard. |
| Carburetor Tuning the Scientific Way | Excellent and very comprehensive Holley tuning guide. Besides if you are a complete novice like me, it teaches you a lot about how the darn things actually work. Read this before shelling out mega bucks for that imported Holley book. |
| Torque and Horsepower | Now this should not really be such a difficult concept, but for some reason it is... |
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Performance Trends Inc. or |
How does one design that wild 600HP 350 will get one into the 10's without problems? One could listen to the marketing speak from bolt-on manufacturers (yeah, right...), read magazines (and that will separate you from the rest how exactly?) or what could actually try out thousands of combinations without even getting dirty. Ok, it is cheating but with the software they sell here you can virtually design your engine and see what ET it will get you. Approximated of course, but still. (Note: I haven't used any of these products, but they have a good reputation as far as I can tell. Well, David Vizard recommend them. Good enough for me.) |
| The Pioneers of Hot Rodding | Now this is a very cool list of websites from all the real pioneers within hot rodding. Here you'll find Ardun, Smokey Yunick, Hilborn, etc., etc. A real goldmine! |
| Bowtie Overdrives | As I mentioned on my Camaro 71 page, I am very tempted to order a TH700-R4, and then probably from these guys. I have no experience with them, except e-mail contact, but they seem very professional. |
| Summit Racing | I don't need any other supplier for general bolt-ons, they have it all. And at good prices as well. Only shame is they are in the US and I'm in Europe: Shipping, Tax, Sales Tax, more Tax, Pest, Cholera, The Plague...ah well, you get the picture. |
| Speed Crafter | Some pretty nice general theories about building high performance muscle cars. |
| CarMath | Some basic calculators like ET & Trap Speed from HP & Weight or optimum carburator size. Note that all these calculators are approximations, but they're usually good ones. Stop guessing and use these for initial estimates instead. |
American Hot Rodding Magazines
| Chevy High Performance | Great Magazine in the dead tree version. [I'm a subscriber.] |
| Hot Rod Magazine | The Original which I personally think has become a bit too self-concious over the years. [I'm a subscriber.] |
| Popular Hot Rodding | Don't know about the paper version, not a regular reader, but the site is quite nice. |
| Super Chevy | Decent magazine. Just don't know how many more Pro Touring Gen 1 Camaros I can take. |
| Rod & Custom | Well, like the title says, rods and customs this way. Good break when I see yet another Mark Stielow wannabe. |
Corvette Stuff
| Corvette Fever | The (I think) biggest Corvette Magazine. I tried to subscribe to the paper version, but thanks to their brilliant site, that did not work to well. e-mail communication was..."interesting" as well. In general it is a bit funny for us Europeans to deal with US companies. Some of them have understood that twice the market could mean a wider circulation, but some others just don't seem to care. Ah well, I'll read the online version instead then... |
| CorvetteMagazine | Seems to be an internet based magazine (I have never seen a paper version at least.). Updated monthly. A bit too much C5's for me though. |
| Corvette Action Center | Loads of Corvette news and information with specifications, production codes, reviews, forums and a database of repair/resto shops and Corvette clubs. |
| Eckler's | The biggest (?) supplier. Decent prices, quick shipping and good service. Recommended. (They'll send you their catalog free of charge even to Europe.) |
| Corvette Central | Supplier. Can have good prices, but beware for things not in stock. I waited for months. Their online shopping cart sucks though. |
| CorvetteForum.com | Despite the slightly cheesy name, this place is brilliant. The forum is well visited and contains numerous experts who really take their time answering your questions. Highly recommended. |
| '70 Corvette Registry | Well...it's a registry over 'Vettes from 1970. Mine is in there as well. Only for the truly devoted. |
| Corvettefaq.com | Excellent resource. Check here before heading over to the CorvetteForum. |
Localized Stuff
Swedish
| Nitroz Säljes | Bästa säljes siten för generella prestanda/race delar. Lysande oergonomisk och helt utan överblicksmöjligheter. Bör kollas varje vecka minst. |
| Affes USA-Bilsida | Mer Pontiac än detta kan man väl knappast bli. Klart coolt garage (men var är lyften?) och schyssta bilar. |
| Osby Skroten | Jag har aldrig handlat hos dem, men de ska ha störst sortiment. Vet inte riktigt om de lärt sig utnyttja moderna kommunikationsmedel korrekt dock; ring helst. |
German
| Mike & Franks | Verkäufer von Ersatzteilen & Zübehör für Amis. Gute Preise, toller Service. Empfehlenswert. (Viel günstiger als KTS...) |
| Dragsterracing.de | Übersichtsseite von Deutsche Dragracing. |
Collection of funny, mindless, resourceful and most defenately time wasting car related links.
Now, as far as originality goes, I would rate this page as a ** (out of ****).
It has all been done before, and will be done again, probably with better style and content, but I think the mixture is at least mildly original.
