Hot Rod Lingo! Getting A Grip On The Rodding Lifestyle

We’ve always found the etymology of words and terms fun and interesting, and no other group has as many colorful and exotic terms as hot rodders.  We wanted to get an idea of what a hot rod dictionary would look like so a quick trip to wikipedia gave us some instant results.

Some of the terms surprized us, but there were others that brought a smile to our faces, like the mention of a three-quarter race cam. If you can remember going to the speed shop and having to ask for a three-quarter or full race cam, then seeing it mentioned in a dictionary will certainly bring out the cheshire grin.

Below are the rodding terms that we found on Wikipedia. While it’s a great start, there are some obvious terms missing, like “slammed” and the definition of Rat or Rat Rod could be refined a little more. It’s still just a start and hopefully we can get our readers to add to this list.

Certain linguistic conventions are followed among rodders and customizers:

The model year is rarely given in full, except when it might be confused, so a 1934 model is a ’34, while a 2005 might be an ’05 or not.

A ’32 is usually a Deuce and most often a roadster, unless coupé is specified, and almost always a Ford.

A 3- or 5-window is usually a Ford, unless specified.

A flatty is a flathead V8 (always Ford, unless specified); a late (or late model) flatty is probably a Merc.

A hemi (“hem ee”) is always a 426, unless displacement (331, 354, or 392) is specified;[9] a 426 is a hemi, unless Wedge is specified.

A 392 is an early hemi.

A 331 or 354 is known to be an (early) hemi, but rarely referred to as such

Units are routinely dropped, unless they are unclear, so a 426 cubic inch (in³) engine is simply referred to as a 426, a 5 liter engine is a 5.0 (“five point oh”), and a 600 cubic feet per minute (cfm) carburetor is a 600. Engine displacement can be described in cubic inches or liters (for example, a 5.7 liter engine is also known as a 350 {“three fifty”}); this frequently depends on which units the user is most comfortable or familiar with.

Some other common terms:

3/4-race — high-performance flatty cam, suitable for street and strip use.

3 deuces — arrangement of three 2-barrel (twin-choke) carburetors; distinct from Six Pak and Pontiac and Olds[10] Tri-Power[11] (also 3×2 arrangements).

3-window — 2-door coupé; so named for one door window on each side plus the rear window.

5-window — 2-door coupé; so named for one door window and one quarter window on each side plus the rear window.

97s — “ninety-sevens,” a reference to the model number of Stromberg carburetors.

A-bone — Model A coupé.

Alky — alcohol (methanol) racing fuel.

Anglebox – British Hot rod slang for a 1959-68 Ford Anglia 105-123E.

Awful Awful (mainly North American) — AA/FA (“double A” Fuel Altered) drag racer.

Blower — mechanically-driven supercharger; excludes turbochargers. Commonly a Roots.

Blown — An engine equipped with a supercharger (a “blown hemi”); rarely used in reference to turbocharged engines. A vehicle equipped with a supercharged engine (a “blown higboy”). A wrecked engine or transmission.

Blue oval — Ford product (for the Ford badge).

Bondo — brand name for a body filler putty, often used as a generic term for any such product.

Bored — increasing the diameter of the cylinders in order to increase engine displacement.

Bottle — nitrous.

Bowtie — Chevrolet product (for the badge).

Bugcatcher (or bugcatcher intake) — large scoop intake protruding through hood opening, or on cars with no hood.

Bumpstick — camshaft (for the lobes).

Cam — camshaft.

Cammer — most commonly, the SOHC (single overhead camshaft) version of the 427 Ford V8. Sometimes, the Ford Racing Power Parts 5 liter. Rarely, any engine with overhead camshaft(s).

Cherry — like new.

C.I.D. (sometimes Cubic Inches or Inches) — cubic inches displacement.

Crank — crankshaft.

Cubes — CID.

Cubic inches — CID.

Deuce — ’32 Ford Model B (most often a roadster). Now commonly on A frame rails. Chevy II Nova.

Dual quads — two four-barrel carburetors.

Dragster — Broadly, any vehicle modified or purpose-built for use on strips. Specifically, specialized racers (early or recent types, in gas, alky, or fuel varieties)

Elephant — Chrysler hemi.

Fat-fender — 1934-48 (U.S.) car.

Flatty — flathead engine (usually refers to a Ford; when specified, the Mercury-built model).

3/8s by 3/8s — lengthening the stroke and increasing the cylinder bore 3/8 inch. A term only applied to flattys.

Frenched — headlight slightly sunken into fender or to install as such (“she frenched the taillights”).

Fuel — most commonly, nitro (or a mixture of nitro and alky); also, the top drag racing class. Broadly, gasoline (petrol).

Full-race — high-performance flatty cams, suitable only for strip use.

Gasser — car used in gasoline-only drag racing classes in the 1960s (as opposed to alcohol or nitromethane fuels), where the front end of the car is raised along with the motor. Characterized by a body that sits well above the front wheels. Distinct from hiboy.

Gennie — genuine.

Goat — GTO (not the Ferrari).

Hair dryer — turbocharger (for the shape of the casing).

Hairpins — radius rods.

Hopped up — stock engine modified to increase performance.

Huffer — supercharger.

Inches — CID.

Indian (also “Tin Indian”) — Pontiac (for the grille badge).

Jimmy (or Jimmy Six) — GMC straight 6. Any GMC product, such as a compressor used on 2-stroke diesels used as a supercharger.

Lakes pipes — exhaust pipes running beneath the rocker panels, after use by lakes racers.

Lunched — wrecked; caused to be wrecked (“lunched” the transmission).

Mag — magnesium wheel, or steel or aluminum copy resembling one such. Magneto.

Merc — Mercury.

Mill – any internal combustion engine.

Moons (or Moon discs; incorrectly, moon discs) — plain flat chrome or aluminum disc hubcaps, originally adopted by land speed racers. Smaller examples are “baby moons”. Named for Dean Moon.

Mouse — small-block Chevy.

Mountain motor — large-displacement engine. Named for their size, and for being constructed in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. In organized automotive competition, the term commonly references a V8 engine displacing more than 500 cubic inches; informally, a V8 engine displacing more than 560 cubic inches.

Nail – any car used as a daily driver.

Nailhead — Buick V8, so named because the relatively small diameter valves.

Nitro — Nitromethane, used as a fuel additive in some drag cars.

Nitrous — nitrous oxide.

NOS — Nitrous Oxide System (a.k.a. laughing gas, liquid supercharger, N2O, nitrous, “the bottle”): apparatus for introducing nitrous oxide into the air intake of an engine prior to the fuel entering the cylinder.

Pop — a mixture of nitro & alky. Also British shorthand for a sit-up and beg[clarification needed] Ford Popular.

Plod – British hot rod slang for body filler. Also slang for the traffic police (after PC Plod in Enid Blyton’s Noddy Series).

Pro Street — street legal car resembling a Pro Stock car. Some are very thinly disguised racers.

QJ — Quadrajet (Rochester 4-barrel carburetor).

Q-jet — Quadrajet.

Rail (or rail job) — dragster with exposed front frame. Usually refers to early short-wheelbase cars, and not usually to Altereds. In drag racing, also refers to the guardrail.

Rat — Chevy big block engine.

Rockcrusher — Muncie M22 4-speed transmission so called because of the audible differences in operation between the model M-22 and its lower strength but quieter cousin, the M-21.

Rocket — Oldsmobile, in particular their early V8s.

Rolled pan – Contured sheet of metal that covers the space where the bumper used to be.

SB — small-block (Chevy).

Shoebox — ’49-’54 Ford (for the slab-sided apppearance).

Souped (souped up) — hopped up, performance improved (more common in ’40s and ’50s).

Steelies — stock steel rims.

Stovebolt — Chevy straight 6.

Street legal — dual-purpose car, capable of performing routine duties as well as weekend racing. Some cars described as such, such as Pro Street cars, are very thinly disguised racers.

Street-strip — dual-purpose car, capable of performing routine duties as well as weekend racing. Some cars described as such have very marginal off-track utility.

Strip — Drag strip. More broadly, cars or parts used or intended for racing only. Thus “street-strip” is a dual-purpose car.

Stroked — increased stroke, to increase displacement; usually by adding a longer-stroke crankshaft.

Suicided — changed from front- to rear-hinged (“suicide door”) type.

Tin Indian — Pontiac (for the grille badge).

Toploader — Ford 4-speed manual transmission so named because access to the transmission internal was made via an access panel located on the top of the transmission housing.

Track T — Model T roadster built in the style of a dirt track race car.

Tunneled — deeply sunken into fender.

Wombat — A nickname for the General Motors W series engine 348-409 cubic inch, manufactured circa 1958-1964.

Wrinkle walls — drag racing slicks.

Zoomie pipes (or zoomies) — short exhaust pipes with no mufflers, used for racing, or just for show (not street legal).

By: Bobby Kimbrough

Thanks to: www.rodauthority.com
http://www.rodauthority.com/news/hot-rod-lingo-getting-a-grip-on-the-rodding-lifestyle/

About the author

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Power & Performance News is the source for news, tech and products that help you get more performance from your vehicle. If powertrain performance projects and hardcore technical content are your interest, Power & Performance News is the publication designed for you. Our acclaimed editorial staff covers all aspects of engine and driveline upgrades with a mission of presenting information that is both interesting and achievable for the “average car guy”.
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