 |  | | | You've probably heard these obscure words bandied about at every car event. Old-time hot rodders have a language all their own and it's embarrassing to keep asking what they mean (nobody wants to be known as a rookie). Of course, there are thousands of engineering terms, slang expressions and abbreviations that you will learn over the years, but here are a few of the most common performance terms used by the fast-car crowd. Get familiar with them, and you'll be bench racing with hot rodders as quick as a 426 Hemi in the quarter. Just read on and you'll understand (in case you don't already).
Blower
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Slang for a supercharger. Also called a puffer, hair dryer or windmill. However, a blown engine may also refer to one that's been demolished by over-revving or oil starvation.
Bump Steer
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The amount the caster, camber and toe-in changes through the travel of the suspension. This must be adjusted for proper handling, i.e. "Have you adjusted the bump steer?"
Cammer
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A Ford 427-inch drag racing engine built in the 1960s with enormous valve covers. It had a single overhead cam on each bank, hence the nickname. For a brief time, it threatened the Hemi for Supercar supremacy.
CFM
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Cubic feet per minute, i.e. the amount of air a carburetor flows.
Chop
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To cut off and lower the roof on a custom car or hot rod. Example: "I chopped the top three inches."
Christmas Tree
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The light system used to start a drag race with green and yellow lights that flash to let the drivers know when to start, and red lights to show when a driver has left the line too soon.
Deuce
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A 1932 Ford (usually a hot rod), referring to the number two in the model year. 2. A 1960s era Chevy II.
Dry Sump
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A lubrication system where the oil supply is carried in a separate tank rather than in the oil pan. A series of pumps move the oil from a shallow pan to the tank, where it is de-aerated, cooled and returned to the engine. Adds power and keeps the engine from running out of oil in hard corners or under acceleration or braking. Opposite of Wet Sump, where the oil is held in the oil pan.
Flathead
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Technically, a type of engine design where the valves are located in the block. More commonly refers to a 1932-1953 Ford or Mercury engine of that design.
Front Steer
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A car with the steering assembly in front of the front wheel centerline. Rear steer is the opposite. Commonly used terms in stock car and road racing.
Funny Car
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1. A full-bodied dragster with a caricature of a production car body. First used in the 1960s when stock-bodied cars (called A/FX, or Factory Experimental) were sporting altered wheelbases and stretched noses. 2. An early 1960s Indy Car term referring snidely to a mid-engine Indy car.
HEMI
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A Chrysler V-8 with hemispherical combustion chambers. Popular in drag racing and, at one time, stock car racing.
Hole Shot
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Beating another car off the line in a drag race. Used when one driver gets a considerably better start than the others, i.e. "He got the hole shot and lead all the way."
Hot Shoe
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A fast driver. Same as Lead Foot.
In-Out Box
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A simple mechanical device for coupling an engine to a differential without a transmission. Used on some dirt-track racing cars.
Jimmy
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Slang for GMC. In the 1950s this referred to the popular GMC inline six-cylinder engine. In the 1960s it was more commonly used to describe the GMC superchargers that were used on many dragsters, i.e. "He's running a Jimmy blower."
Laid Down
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To lose power, i.e. "The engine just laid down at half track."
Line
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The fastest path around a track, i.e. "He had the fastest line through the corner."
Locker
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A type of limited-slip differential sold as the Detroit Locker. These are simple units that lock up when they are under power, and unlock when power is let off. Great on dry roads, scary on wet.
Log Manifold
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A primitive type of performance intake manifold popular in the 1950s. Consists of a pipe (or log) for each bank of cylinders, with pedestals to mount a number of carburetors on top. They were known for poor air flow at low rpm.
Loose
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The opposite of "push." The rear of the car loses traction before the front and wants to spin or come around. In road racing this is called "oversteer."
Mag
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An alloy wheel. When cast racing wheels first appeared in the 1950s, they were made from lightweight magnesium. Later most manufacturers switched to aluminum, but the nickname stuck. "Mag wheels" now means any cast or forged performance wheel. 2. Slang for a Magneto.
Moly
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A strong metal made from an alloy of chromium and molybdenum. Popular on racing cars of all types. Also called "Chrome Moly."
Mouse Motor
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Also SBC. A small-block Chevy engine. Although other companies make small V-8 engines, the term Small Block usually refers just to the Chevy version.
Nailhead
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A 1950s to 1960s Buick V-8 with small valves, hence the nickname. Popular hot rod engine in the 1950s.
On the Bottle
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A phrase describing a car using nitrous oxide, i.e. "That Supra is on the bottle!"
Pill
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A jet used to calibrate constant-flow fuel injection systems as used on dragsters and circle-track cars.
Posi
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Slang for a limited-slip differential. Chevrolet had one of the best-known limited slips, called Posi-Traction. Commonly used to describe any limited-slip unit, but properly used only a Chevy clutch-pack unit, i.e. "He's running a Posi rear end."
Pumpkin
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The removable center section of a rear axle assembly. This allows quickly changing the gear ratios at the track. Also Third Member.
Push
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A stock car term referring to the loss of traction at the front end of the car. The car will respond less to steering input. In road racing this is referred to as "understeer." Either way, you hit the wall nose-first.
Rail Job
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An obsolete term for a AA/Fuel dragster. In the early days the frames consisted of two simple rails running down each side of the engine.
Ram Stacks
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Round tubes, often flared at the ends, fitted to the top of carburetors or fuel injection systems to help pull air down into the engine. Can be an important tuning tool, and shape and length are performance variables.
Rat Motor
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The big-block Chevy engine. The first prototypes were raced by a few select teams, and nicknamed Mystery Motors.
Rice Rocket
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An indecently quick Japanese car. Was Rice Grinder until they got so fast.
Roadster
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1. Any car without a hard top, but traditionally without roll-up windows either. 2. A front-engine Indy car with the drive shaft passing beside, rather than under, the driver.
Sheep-In-Wolf's-Clothing
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A derogatory term for a car that is slower than it looks. Also known as a Boy Racer car.
Skirts
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1. The bottom part of a piston below the wrist pin. 2. An aerodynamic device that seals the bottom edges of a road racing car to the road to prevent air from escaping.
Slam
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To lower a car closer to the ground, i.e. "It's been slammed three inches." (Same as, "in the weeds.")
Sleeper
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A car that runs faster than it looks. In the 1960s this might have been an icebox white 427 Falcon with an "ask me about my grandbaby" bumper sticker. Today this might be a turbo Civic with no stickers at all.
Spool
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A solid rear end in which both axles spin at the same speed at all times. Can be made by welding up the spider gears in a production differential, or using a machined "spool" to replace the gear assemblies.
T-Bucket
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A hot rod based on a Ford Model T body and frame. Think: Kookie's Car from the TV series "77 Sunset Strip." If you can't remember Kookie, you probably don't want a T-Bucket anyway.
Three Deuces
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Three two-barrel carburetors. Popular on hot rods in the 1950s and 1960s. Dual Quads were two four-barrel carburetors.
Tunnel Ram
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A tall intake manifold with a plenum chamber on top, usually mounting two four-barrel carburetors. Popular in drag racing, but a real pain on the street.
Tunnels
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Aerodynamic troughs on the bottom of racing cars designed to pull them down onto the track.
This list should get you started at the next bench racing session, or the next time you head out to cruise night in your T-bucket with a blown, tunnel-ram rat motor.
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