January Hemmings Motor News?
 

With Hemmings Muscle Machines being dead (RIP), I am more incline to glance at the larger Hemmings mag - especially in light of some interesting articles contained within in recent years.

I bought the March issue because it has an article on a Ram Air V build (apparently it was the first part), and I came across this letter from a reader;
Now, ignoring his misunderstanding (mis-remembering?) on why his 1974 SD455 TA was delayed, it reads as though this sorry soul had an inflated assessment of his own wrenching skills - and missed out on what was surely one of the high power point cars of the 1970's...

But his letter was in reference to an article on the SD455 in the January issue of HMM;
Does anyone have that issue?
What was the article about?
Just a summary of the facts many of us know??

No idea on the article, I am sure I read it but tossed the magazine when I was finished with it. I like how the guy in the letter is putting the car down though. Which would you rather have today, a 1974 SD trans am or a 1974/75 corvette?

I can sympathize with the letter. I bought a white 1974 SD455 4-spd in the mid-1980s. The engine was apart because the owner was experiencing a rear main oil seal leak. I put the engine back together using the mildest SD455 camshaft that H-O Specialties sold. The cam was close to Ram IV specs without the 1.65 rockers. After a proper break-in period, I took it for a run down a 1/8 mile track. About 3/4 of the way down the track, it began sputtering, probably due to a fuel delivery issue. I talked to someone (Ken Crocie or Nunzi) and they told me the fuel bowl was too small in the Q-jet and I needed to add a pusher pump or switch to a Holley. I never modified it, but it was never intended to be a street racer or street/strip car.

Some of 74 TA's have fuel issues. I've never found a smoking gun but believe it has to do with the gas tank venting system. Installing a Holley with dual bowls usually doesn't solve this issue. The author of the letter could've ran his Super Duty down the track until it starved for fuel then back of the throttle, let the bowl refill, put the pedal to the floor and still get to the finish line before his replacement Corvette. Obviously more of a sports car enthusiast than a drag racer..... A lot of muscle cars off the showroom floor had a better chance of covering a quarter mile with a full tank of fuel.