Table of contents for Volume 5, Issue 47 - August 2024 in Modern Rodding

If I may quote Pat Ganahl from his book Dry Lakes Hot Rods, he states, “You have to remember that most lakes racing—hot rodding—was a child of the Depression. The good part of that was that all kinds of ‘junk’ was available.” As such, it was fair game to build anything if you chased the elusive goal of faster speeds. Ganahl pointed out that lakes cars came in all sizes and shapes, “not just stripped-down Ford roadsters.” But there is no denying that the Ford roadster was the center point of much of this racing. We should point out that the “lakes-style” roadster build was originally done to achieve greater speeds. These roadsters were stripped of fenders, headlights, windshields, and so on, more for aerodynamics than weight loss. Weight was…

Even when Flatheads dominated in the early days of hot rodding, the side effects of a hopped-up engine meant that dealing with stripped ring-and-pinion gears, broken axles, and hubs with sheared keys was almost guaranteed. Things only worsened in the early ’50s as overhead valve V-8s pushed the Flathead Ford and other early engines aside. The cure for rearend woes was often those wide and heavy assemblies found under Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs (both were out of production after 1964) until Ford unknowingly came to the rescue. Since its introduction, Ford’s 9-inch rearend has become the preferred performance axle assembly for modified vehicles. Produced from 1957-86, the Ford 9-inch is Hotchkiss style, which is to say the case containing the third member with the ring-and-pinion assembly is removable as a unit,…

When Harold “Baggy” Bagdasarian and the Thunderbolts Car Club first held what would eventually become the Sacramento Autorama, the McCarthy era was born and Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts cartoon was first published. The year was 1950—some 74 years ago. The 73rd O’Reilly Auto Parts Sacramento Autorama, held at Cal Expo, featured plenty of its own special history. The nation’s premier award for custom cars—the Custom d’Elegance—was won by Vacaville’s Cliff Mattis and his exquisite ’57 Chevy Bel Air convertible. It marked the first time Mattis had won this prestigious honor. With the move-in starting on Wednesday of show week, it was clear that Cal Expo would be the epicenter of custom car culture the first weekend of May. Turbulent and wet Saturday weather did nothing to deter the hearty crowd…

It takes a true craftsman with an eye focused on design to even think about reworking the original lines of an iconic classic like the ’56 Mercury Monterey. From the moment it rolled into dealer showrooms, it was a winner with its first-generation (’55-56) styling showcasing a fresh look complete with a genuinely unique front bumper-grille, sweeping body side lines with full-length multi-tier chrome side molding, and stylish Flo-tone paint combinations. With Monterey production at just over 105,000 units, close to 43,000 models hit the streets as hardtop coupes, leaving very few surviving today. The ’56 hardtop coupe, which is laid out across our pages and belongs to John St. Germain of Goodwood, Ontario, Canada, showcases the talents of a true customizer with decades of experience. To envision the fusing…

Triple Crown of Rodding Offers Lots More! The Triple Crown of Rodding (TCR) was voted online by enthusiasts in USA Today as one of the top three events in the country. This year’s event is scheduled for September 6-7, 2024, at the Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. More is coming to the TCR, which already includes the new $70,000 Chevy Silverado pickup customized by Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop with its beautiful black paint. It also features one-off Billet Specialties 22-inch Bonneville wheels wrapped in Diamondback speed-rated Redline tires and a one-off Alumicraft billet grille. Aside from a chance to win this truck, all registered participants have a chance to win a brand-new BluePrint LS3 valued at over $10,000. The Celebrity Meet and Greet will be held on Friday and Saturday…

While LS swaps remain as popular as ever, LT swaps are gaining traction as the latest in technology and factory-engineered performance—with the supercharged LT4 emerging as a popular choice. Of course, it’s the engine that powered the C7 Corvette Z06 and sixth-gen Camaro ZL1, and it is available as a crate engine from Chevrolet Performance. With a little more than 9 pounds of boost generated from an Eaton 1.7L R1740 TVS supercharger spinning at up to 20,000 rpm, the LT4 cranks out an impressive 650 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. “Considering the technology and performance wrapped up in the crate engine, it would be difficult for the same cost to build something comparable from the ground up,” Dean Livermore, the man behind the name at Phoenix-based Hot Rods By…

Tim Bumgarner’s lifelong passion for cars began in a family where he stood alone in his love for automotive tinkering. Cars were his world, his sanctuary, his canvas for expression. From his humble beginnings in a Minnesota home lacking modern amenities, Tim’s journey with cars was as rugged as the roads he traversed. His automotive odyssey started with a modest ’37 Ford, a cheap treasure he drove hard and modified, much to his mechanic father’s apprehension. Money was scarce but Tim’s determination was boundless. College dreams deferred his car customizing ambitions, but they never faded. Responsibilities grew as a family man, necessitating practical vehicles over his cherished roadsters or pickups with limited seating. Yet, as the seasons of life turned, so did Tim’s fortunes. With retirement ushering in a newfound…

In the world of early hot rods, the ’32 Ford is the iconic year. Whether it be a roadster, coupe, sedan, phaeton, or truck, the ’32 Ford is one many, if not most, hot rodders would truly wish to own. For decades, the Deuce has faithfully withstood the test of time by retaining its desirability. Why? There are many reasons, but the one-year-only design is so darn good looking, and the introduction of the Flathead V-8 adds to the Deuce lore. In 1932, Ford manufactured approximately 275,000 units. (We aren’t sure what the number is, but that’s another story.) During this production run, Ford converted around 400-plus Tudor passenger cars into sedan deliveries, a light duty truck. It is reported that 58 of these sedan deliveries came with the new…

I get that things change. It’s part of a normal day; from sunrise to sunset, there is a lot that we come to take for granted, but we must also prepare ourselves for change. Any of us who have been around for any length of time in hot rodding live by change … most of which is of our own doing. But here is one change that I would imagine will “cut to the quick” for many of us. Come the last quarter of 2024 (November), Chevy lovers’ beloved model will cease to exist. The Malibu, introduced in 1964, has undergone a few stops and starts, but is now leaving the lineup for good. What started in 1964 continued until 1983, then it suffered a hiatus until 1997 when it…

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The Ford woodie, along with others, has a long and storied history as a “surf wagon” and is as much a part of the SoCal surfing scene as surfboards, baggy shorts, shore breaks, and bikinis. With that said, this month’s ’48 Ford woodie has the looks, but more is lurking under the “wood.” Owned by Ray Reinertson of the Bay Area, it should come as no shock that a good-looking Ford woodie is part of the surf and the hot rod scene he lives in. But what sets this woodie apart is the makeover he pursued with Jeff Schwartz of Schwartz Performance. What started out as the obligatory 350 small-block Chevy V-8 and Mustang II IFS would undergo a complete makeover at the hands of the builders at Schwartz Performance.…

The last article examined the outstanding chassis Roadster Shop built for Gerry Kerna’s ’30 Ford Model A Sedan. This time, we’ll look at the equally impressive body modifications by Roadster Shop. While the sedan has a traditional look, there has been a lot of attention paid to every detail, and a great deal of careful work was put into getting the proportions just right and sculpting the sheetmetal panels to a very high level of precision. Most of the roof above the windows was in such poor condition that it made sense to replace it with new metal. The original driprails were removed and a beautifully shaped bodyline was made to replace them, giving the roof a much smoother look. Model As were manufactured with a composite fabric roof insert.…

Adding a small detail to a car project, such as a recessed instrument cluster or taillight lens, will make a specific part of a car stand out from the crowd. These projects can be accomplished with basic fabricating equipment. Still, as with any job, the work needs to be done with a certain degree of care and precision since the human eye will quickly find any line that is even slightly crooked or out of alignment. In this episode, we’ll follow Jason Scudellari, part of the In The Garage Media team, as he adds these details to his Model A roadster project. Scudellari has many years of experience with metal fabrication, and there is much to learn with his no-nonsense techniques. He selected a Classic Instruments five-gauge instrument set, and…