Tabla de contenidos para Volume 5, Issue 45 - June 2024 en Modern Rodding

There are a handful of awards that cause any rodder to stop and look. America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) trophy, awarded at the Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS), is both prestigious and is the longest running. The 2024 show was once again filled with cars that could have easily won. But there can be only one winner, and that was the ’32 Ford lowboy phaeton belonging to Beth Myers out of Pennsylvania and built at Roy Brizio Street Rods (RBSR) in South San Francisco. We should also point out that Beth is the first woman to win the AMBR … good going, Beth. Where to start? It’s not often that we see a phaeton in AMBR competition. The last one was Wes Rydell’s ’35 Chevy phaeton (Rad Rides by Troy)…

Miss it or not, the all-American vinyl roof has gone the way of eight-track players, wire wheel covers, and ignition points—a once-ubiquitous feature from another automobile era. Although simulated convertible tops, padded tops, and other roof decor treatments date back to the 1920s, the classic vinyl roof didn’t really take off until Ford offered it on the ’62 Thunderbird and Falcon Futura. It blossomed after that as a premium option, peaking in popularity in the ’70s. Upholsterer Bob Stedman has been in business for about 25 years and admits he doesn’t get many calls these days to install them. “One or maybe two a year; that’s about it,” he says. “But there’s still a call for restoration work, and that’s keeping the craft going because it’s a unique task to…

It has been stated time and time again: “It’s the backstory”—the story behind the story is often what is most interesting about any hot rod or custom build. Such is the case for Southern California’s own Peter Chifo Jr.’s custom ’60 Ford Thunderbird. This generation is often referred to as a “Square Bird,” which encompasses the ’58-60 Thunderbirds. A collaboration of the thoughts and efforts of Peter and Troy Ladd of Hollywood Hot Rods (HHR) with a healthy bit of inspiration from Eric Black of e.Black Design and this custom ’60 Ford Thunderbird would come to life. Initially, Peter thought of restoring a ’60 Ford Thunderbird for his ailing mother as it was the first car he remembered his father giving her. He accomplished his goal and presented Mom with…

Some might call it entry-level customizing. Around the turn of the 20th century there was a regional trend peculiar to Orange County, California, called “OC Style,” and all it took to participate was to find a fullsize car from the mid ’70s and slam it into the weeds. For around $500, a mid-’70s barge could be found for sale in the Recycler, and for around $2,000 more you could lay it out on air ride suspension. The barge gracing these pages is a ’77 Ford Police Package LTD II S sold new to a traveling salesman named Frank. It was around Christmastime 2001 when we met Frank and Mary. Our veterinarian told us Frank and Mary’s Boxer had just died from cancer, so we gave the elderly couple one of…

The Last Of The Road Tours Ends At The Triple Crown of Rodding While we think of the Triple Crown of Rodding as a new beginning, there will be a great ending happening, too. What began as a “what if” discussion between then Street Rodder editor Tom Vogele and writer Jerry Dixey at the 1995 SEMA Show turned into one of the longest-running and most popular magazine projects in the hot rod hobby. The concept was simple: build a street rod using quality products and common-sense safety features and then drive the wheels off it. What started as a one-and-done program ultimately continued for almost 30 years. Street Rodder commissioned the top builders in the industry to construct a state-of-the-art hot rod that reflected the current trend in the hobby.…

This is the last in the series of articles about the “Fenderless ’36 Roadster” being built at Rad Rides by Troy for Ross Myers. The metal fabrication is nearly finished at this point, and in this article, we will focus on a couple of very special details: the innovative headlight and shock absorber mounts and the custom-built dashboard. On any fenderless car, it helps to minimize the visual complexity of the front suspension. The crew at Rad Rides developed a way to conceal the top portion of the shock absorber inside the headlight bucket and use one sturdy bracket for both the headlight and shock. This detail requires a great deal of careful fitting, and all the parts must be strong enough to withstand the hammering of the shocks as…

When you have a ’66 Ford Mustang convertible in your family for as long as you can remember, you never part with it. But you do make changes to ensure it will last another generation. Buddy Biever of Pennsylvania was gifted his father’s Mustang back in the ’90s. It was a special car for Buddy, as he had learned how to drive stick shift in it. In the day, it was a three-speed ragtop with a red and black interior and a black drop-top. It was during the ’80s that it underwent some alterations, but when Buddy’s father died he thought it was time to redo the Mustang drop-top. This time, he upgraded it to something Dad would have liked and that represented their love of dirt track modifieds. We…

Sometimes, Ole Henry had a tough time with change. In the Ford world, if something worked well, he was known to stick with it. Mechanical brakes and wood-framed bodies are two examples that come to mind. Today we’ll deal with the latter of those two. Our project car is a ’36 Ford phaeton that remained largely a wood-framed body with stamped steel panels nailed over the wood frame. The inner door panels were stapled and nailed into place, using a unique trim that provided a covered slot to hide the fasteners. For our project car, we wanted a vintage feel, a look that may have been possible in the ’30s-50s. Our lack of sewing also prompted this simplistic design. All the materials used in this project were available prior to…

While we all have ideas about what’s cool and what we would build, there can be no denying that the concept cars from the major auto manufacturers were great sources of exciting ideas. As a budding hot rodder, I couldn’t wait to see and read about the GM Motorama concept cars. Often, I would see them at the new car shows that came to the towns around my home. It was amazing. Joe Bortz is a longtime car collector who has amassed some very interesting pieces over the years, not the least of which are two dozen former Detroit concept (show) cars. His collection is currently on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in a compilation titled “GM’s Marvelous Motorama” and will be on display until 2026. Bortz had an…

1. SPEEDBOX The Speedhut SpeedBox allows your cable-driven mechanical speedometer to benefit from GPS and modern transmission signals. It’s the simplest and most versatile speedometer conversion for any vehicle. Requiring only 12 V and ground, it’s a hassle-free plug-and-play solution that eliminates the need for tedious calibration or subscription services. With a Drive Output Thread of ⅞-18 and a square of 0.112-inch, the SpeedBox offers flexibility. Its calibration range from 170-1,650 turns per mile ensures precision for diverse speedometers. With its versatile design, the box can be efficiently installed either on the dashboard or under the hood. The default is calibrated for U.S. speedometers at 1,000 turns per mile, and it adapts effortlessly to signals from GPS or VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor), automatically calibrating with the included GPS antenna. For…

One of the most iconic awards in the automotive world is the Don Ridler Memorial Award, which is offered to the winner of the Great 8 competition at the annual Detroit Autorama. This year, the 71st presentation of the show had an impressive list of competitors. The Great 8 is as good as we have seen in years, making the competition much more difficult to win. Along with the prestigious award represented by a distinctive trophy, there is a check worthy of $10,000 for the winner to accompany the highly sought-after jacket and other goodies. There is more to the Detroit Autorama than the Great 8 and Ridler competition, but clearly everyone knows this is the pinnacle. While there is much, much more to see, all those who visit the…

Part of the allure of traditional hot rodding lies in its utter simplicity. As my latest project takes to the road, it is time to deal with those pesky little details that make such a big difference. My ’36 Ford phaeton is pure vintage hot rodding. Super Bell I-beam up front, split bones, with a 9-inch rear on parallel leaves out back. Under the hood is a vintage ’47 59AB Flathead built with Sharp heads and intake sourced from the Flattie gurus at H&H Flathead. We even stayed with a 12V generator from a ’56 Ford mounted directly in front of a pair of Stromberg carburetors. The motor was built here in my home shop using ARP fasteners. The Stromberg electronic ignition fired the Flat motor to life on the…

There can be no denying that the muscle car era of the ’60s fashioned some amazing adrenaline-fabricated Detroit Iron. Near the top was the Dodge Charger, specifically the ’68. Had the ’68 been blessed with the powerplant that now resides in the Hollywood Hot Rods (HHR)-built ’68 Dodge Charger, we suspect it would have clearly been number one within the muscle car crowd. “What’s under the hood?” is typically the first question asked when walking the walkways of any car show or rambling the aisles at any Friday night burger joint gathering. Of course, today, the sophisticated rodder has his coffee and doughnuts with a healthy dose of high-octane gas fumes, the crackling of a potent V-8, and the early morning chill. No matter how good-looking a particular car may…