How Does a Hot Rod Work?

1. 
   '72 Nova in Restoration Process - owned by Cheryl Bowman, picture by Cheryl Bowman
   A hot rod is an antique car that may or may not be souped up. These cars are generally from the '30s and '40s, but some people consider cars from the '50s, '60s and '70s to be hot rods. One of the more popular hot rods is the '32 Ford. Not all antique cars are hot rods. Hot rods are cars that were popular in their time, such as the '32 Ford, '40 Mercury Coupe and '23 Roadsters. Cars in the '60s and early '70s considered to be hot rods include the ever popular '68 Camaro, '69 SS Chevelle, and '68 through '72 Nova.
2. A hot rod works like any other car in that it has a combustion engine and a transmission. The engines are 4-stroke engines, and may have four, six or eight cylinders, but an eight-cylinder engine is the most common. The combustion engine works by taking in a mixture of fuel and air and burning it to create horsepower and torque. The horsepower and torque are transferred through the transmission and the driveshaft to the wheels, enabling the car to move.
3. The engine creates the power by taking a 14:1 mixture of air to fuel through the carburetor. The air and fuel is sucked into the intake manifold and then into the piston holes. The first stroke is a down-stroke. As the piston comes down, it sucks the fuel and air in from the intake manifold. As the piston comes up (stroke 2, or the first up-stroke), it compresses the air and fuel mixture, making it quite volatile. As the piston comes down the second time, the spark plug fires the volatile, compressed air and fuel mixture, setting off a small explosion. This is the third stroke in the process of a 4-stroke engine, and is known as the combustion stroke. On the fourth stroke, which is known as the exhaust stroke, the piston comes up a second time and ejects unburned fuel and air into the exhaust.
4. A hot rod may be "all-original" or refurbished. It is rear to find a 60-plus year old car that is in its original condition, but if refurbished, it is done to factory specifications, and New Old Stock (NOS) is used where at all possible. Hot rods are rarely driven on the street, and are commonly seen in car shows. In a car show, the car earns points based on originality of the interior, the paint color, the engine and transmission. The engine and transmission may be overhauled, but they must include parts that give them their original horsepower, torque and shift-point ratings. The paint must be replicated exactly as it came off the show room floor the year the car was produced. All stickers for the engine and car must be in place and in new condition.
5. A hot rod that is souped up keeps much of the originality of the car, but may have a different engine and transmission (usually with seriously upgraded horsepower and torque) and may have a "trick" paint job. While these hot rods still demand a high price, their worth is not quite as high as an all-original or refurbished-to-original car.