A Mazda on HorsePower?

Is that the sound of horsepower to you? Well, maybe it should be.

No, we haven't lost our minds completely. At least you see, we just had to get our hands on one of these Mazda speed threes and

see what all the commotion is about. It's been touted as one of the fastest front wheel cars in the world. And

well, if you're one of those who thinks there's no replacement for displacement.

Sorry, dude, things have changed a bit

with some help from an intercooled turbo charger. This 2.3 L Ford Banger produces 263 horsepower at the motor. Of course, living up to our name, we want to see how much we can beat that.

Now, this pocket rocket belongs to Hyper tag and on their

dyno,

it made 242 horses at the front wheels before upgrading the exhaust to a magna flow cat package

to give the intercooler more air like it would get on the road. We're removing the cover and installing this fan on top of it.

Ok. At 251.6 horse power, we're right at 10 horses over stock with the exhaust.

Now, we want to give it a performance tune using hypertext's new Max Energy sport programmer. Now, the same programmer also tuned naturally aspirated Mazda threes, sixes and Rx eights. Now, just like all their other tuners. You just plug it in, follow the prompts and you're good to go

and go a little faster.

Yeah, there's some big numbers there.

You're looking at uh, 5052. No, I'm sorry, 58 to

200. Right?

But then after that, about 57

it starts picking up and there's as much as a 71 horsepower gain.

That is unbelievable.

Out of a handheld programmer.

71 horsepower.

Wow.

Ok. What would happen if we added a performance intake to this set up?

We're gonna find out by replacing the stock system with an A EM kit made especially for the speed three.

And the Hyper Protect programmer is designed with an upgrade just like that. In my.

It'll ask you if you have an aftermarket intake and let you scroll through a list of brands until you find the one you installed.

Well, there's our a em

that gave us eight more peak horsepower and at 6400 we got to gain a 76. Not bad for a four banger on Roids,

whatever it's on. It was quite a surprise.

Hey, I've never seen Gatley so eager to get a car out of the building

just to make sure we didn't dream those dyno runs. We were making a beeline to the back roads to a deserted stretch where we can see if this speed three can eat some asphalt.

This little

thing is fast.

Oh, it's real. All right.

And don't tell anyone that said this, but with the upgrades we gave it, this little modified grocery getter could put a few mustangs to shed

and if we could keep our foot out of it, great gas mileage should be a bonus with a new tune.

Yeah, that's a big deal.

The way it handles this hatchback might even make a decent road course machine,

nice features but nothing to compare with this four banger's surprising power. Especially down.

Maybe we ought to call this speed three, the speed freak.

All right. It's plain and simple. Joe and I both agree. This is one bitch and pocket rocket. And I bet we can get back to the shop as fast as we got out here.

I think we'll have a rubber when we get back.

So, what was so good about the good old days? Well, if you like cars, the answer is easy.

Hundreds roll into Beach Bent Raceway Park each year representing the good old glory days of hot rodding and drag racing.

It's all about the N hr A museum's mission of preserving the heritage of high performance through the cars, the people, the vintage racing

so far. I think you'll agree. Mission accomplished.

And for the eight year in a row. Holly performance has played host to this must see event

right here in its hometown.

The guys at Holly are a bunch of gear heads, a bunch of hot rodders.

Uh We love drag racing and this is a highlight of our year. Every year.

About 25,000 fans endured the heat to watch the vintage cars race

to trek through the miles of pre 1972 show and shine entries

and to stroll the amazing midway to rewind and reminisce,

these are modified machines that race their way into the history books

back when homegrown horsepower technology paved the way to quarter mile winds.

Of course, you don't have to be old enough to remember these cars to appreciate their pioneer performance and greatness. If I could go to one show a year,

this is a show. I like to go to

a group of factory race cars from the Ford drag team were on display,

including this impeccable untouched. 71 mach one. The beauty of this car is, it's still all original. It's never been cut or modified.

The last two cars that are uncut in original paint are this car

and the uh pro stock Mustang camera powered, which I own both of

lucky dog.

Of course, it's fun to find out what everyday car guys are doing in the way of restoration and modification of their show cars.

Well, like this Rat Rod truck

with a handy option, you won't find on any new or old production cars,

make no mistake. The real thrill of these reunions is witnessing the power and glory of vintage drag racing

and racing. A front engine, top fueler is a rush that attracts many younger drivers. Like two time reunion champ Troy Green. I saw a pair of these cars at my local track when I was about 15 years old

and it was just me and my dad there and I looked over at my dad and I said, dad, that right there is what I want to do.

About two years later, we thought we were smart enough to go top fuel racing. So we did it and, uh,

haven't looked back.

People are really intrigued with these cars

because this scares them to death that this, that this is in my lap,

you know, and that you're sitting on the rear end

and I tell you what,

I couldn't feel safer in one of these cars. You can't be any bigger than 450 inches and it's 4.6 pounds per cubic inch. So you kind of want to build a relatively small motor so you can build a light car. What's the secret to winning? Then

in the Bell housing, it's the clutch.

These things are gonna make a ton of power,

but it's manipulating that power to the ground through a 12 inch tire.

Troy's first qualifying run was hampered by a tricky track and new car nuances,

alcohol, funny cars are the other top stars of vintage racing.

Pete Gallen and his 74 vega called Poverty Stricken were celebrating a one year anniversary in the class. We ran alcohol car for years and I took a 19 year sabbatical

wanted to get back into racing. My son convinced me that I should build one of these cars. He's your crew chief, by the way. Right. He makes all the calls.

It's a 426 engine. Everything else is basically limited. The rules are restricted fuel pump and restricted blower to blowers produced by little field blowers. The money is certainly not the drive. The drive is, uh,

you know, I'm 53 years old and it was like, what do you, what do you want to do to have fun? And we're still going fast and winning and having fun.

Well,

hemi have their own special place in Hot Rod history

and their own special race.

We'll share that one with you right after the break.

Horsepower is back from the Hot rod reunion in Bowling Green, Kentucky

last year's nostalgia, top fuel champ. Troy Green wasn't able to make it two in a row.

Top qualifier. Brad Thompson would go on to take the trophy.

Pete Gallen was uncatchable on his way to the winner circle in his class.

B

the break a little bit.

Second light comes on tree flashes. Let go of the brake handle about three seconds to run. You shift it

off the throttle clutch in and hit the parachutes

coast on down.

So get off your couches and get out here and do this.

Back in the sixties mo

pas were the stars of super stock racing, especially when hemi

Power Darts and

Kas came along.

Now, they've got their own mini series. Thanks to a competitive bunch of N hr a Superstock Mopar

racers a couple of years ago at Indy. Some of the guys got together and decided. All right,

we're going to put money in kind of a winner. Take all pool and the winner takes home the dough

Mopar

got wind of it

a year or so later and thought, hey, we want to get in on this. And so they started to be the premier sponsor of the Mopar

hemi

challenge beginning in 2002.

And this race within a race is their season opener here in Bowling Green.

What's really cool about it? It's a heads up class. It's,

it's first to the finish line and I think people really appreciate that.

Not only the fastest

Kotas and Darts and Super stock, they're also gorgeous.

Now, these are show quality restored factory muscle cars

with just enough rules to keep it all real. It's a naturally aspirated. We won 24 barrel carburetors. They are vacuum secondary carburetors. It's the exact carburetors that were on it coming out in 1968. It's limited to four and 26 tubes uh steel block, steel crank,

uh steel heads.

Uh You are allowed to sheet metal intake as long as it will fit underneath your

uh stock hood.

Charlie Wescott Junior from the get go was the guy to beat

the number one qualifier. Does all the work on his 68 coa

called Warfish

and had the horsepower advantage.

I just feel that I have a real good feel for the car and how everything works because I put it all together myself. I understand how it works and it gives me an advantage.

Meanwhile, David Barton in another ka

was fighting his way through the finals.

You're beating Bales in eliminations

to beat him. I gotta

have almost a perfect light and

hopefully he's gonna miss a gear or something.

Now, in case you're thinking, oh, just a bunch of Mopar Frat brothers racing for fun. We'll think again.

We've never really been friends. We, we kind of butt heads a little bit. He's,

it's uh definitely a Westcott versus Barton race all the time. So he's, he's definitely the guy to beat once again.

Here we go. The finals of the Hot Rod reunion. Hemi

challenge.

Catch the better light. But West guy drives around him

to cross the finish line first with an 851. Et I was afraid that was the first time we'd really run in the dark

and I didn't want a red light, so I kind of backed off a little bit on the light. I had a 90 he had a 26

but he did a good job. He tried to do what he could do, but

this wasn't enough this time.

A great weekend for Wescott for sure.

Also a great weekend for all those who built the cars, whether for Show or Ghost,

they're all keeping the hot rod heritage flame burning,

especially when they light them up and run.

You're watching Horsepower for a DVD copy of this episode, just go to Power Block tv.com and order your copy for just 595 plus shipping and handling. Start your own horsepower collection delivered right to your door from the power block.

We're pretty lucky to have a shop outfitted with most of the equipment we need to tackle just about any job. Well, for example, if you're removing a transmission from a car on jack stands, we have a jack, especially for that from Matco tools.

We've even got an ultrasonic cleaning system from safety clean that uses high frequency sound waves and a special solution to thoroughly clean parts.

Then of course, there's our favorite tools the Dinos

we use to measure horsepower at the fly wheel and at the rear wheels.

But let's face it on a home shop budget. Sometimes you've got to improvise, let's say you've got a rear end swap to do and you just can't see spending the extra money on that special tool. Well, you could use a floor jack, but the rear end is gonna be unstable. If it falls off the jack, it may damage the rear end cover or even a freshly painted housing. Not to mention you may even crush it to.

So today I'm gonna show you how to make your own rolling rear end stand for not much work and better yet, not much money for supplies. All you need is some one inch flat stock,

inch and a half angle.

A can of black spray paint

and some casters that we got at a local hardware store. Now, the cost for all this, about 20 bucks

after marking off a 28 and 14 inch length of the angle iron

got two pieces of each length,

then cut every corner at a 45 degree angle.

Now, I'm using this date cold saw because it's quicker and easier. However, you can get the job done with a cut off wheel hack saw or even a chop saw. If you've got one,

the 45 degree angles will ensure the base is square. After tacking the top side, turn it over to fully weld. The seams

also drill four holes at each corner for the casters

using a vice and a 13.5 inch piece of flat stock. Start a 45 degree bend seven inches from the end,

use an angle finder to verify your 45 degrees.

Now, 3.5 inches from that bend make another 45 degree bend the opposite direction.

Now, we need to weld the two pairs together, making a V at the top

weld in some tabs from leftover flat stock to support the vs

and then drill some bolt holes.

I'm welding in these two tabs up front for opinion support.

Now, I wanna knock off the sharp edges with the grinder and go over all the metal with the sanding disk to get rid of all the welding slag.

Next, wipe it down with lacquer thinner

and spray on a couple of coats of dup color enamel.

When the paint's dry, go ahead and add the casters to make the stand mobile.

Now, we can add all the sports and tie them together with bolts and nuts and tighten them down.

Now you've got a handy home built stand, you can roll under your car any time to remove and install a rear end without risking a hernia or a broken toe. Now, I only spend about $20 in materials to build this thing. So if you're a do it yourself kind of guy, this is the perfect project for you

if premium gasoline has more octane. Well, I guess it stands to reason. Premium spark plug should have more spark energy. Right.

Well, the makers of these pulse star pulse plugs claim a peak power of 1 million watts for more horse power and fuel efficiency.

Here's a test on their website shot at 68,000 frames a second standard plug on the left pulse star pulse plug on the right

now you get that same technology and platinum and iridium, two metals known for durability and long life. The platinums go for 995 iridium, 1295. You can get them both at spark plugs.com.

Let me be up front with you a cool way to add some style to your right is with a billet grill like this one from T rex for the new Camaro. Now it installs over the factory grill in about 30 minutes with absolutely no cutting. It's made from high quality aircraft build aluminum hand assembled tig welded and this one has a black powder coat finish. It goes for about 380 bucks, but they got plenty of other applications with prices starting out at around 100.

So if you're one of those lucky owners of a 2011, Mustang, you might consider this for your first upgrade. Stainless works is the first to offer long tube headers for the new model one and 78 inch primaries feed into three inch slip fit collectors with integrated merge spike. Now down the line, you can also get a cat at mid pipe for your Mustang.

This whole assortment here goes for about 1450. You can use your factory cats and only spend about 1150. Either way your pony is gonna breathe better for it.

Well, better join us next time for another round of horsepower. See you then.