Table of contents for Volume 4, Issue 38 - November 2023 in Modern Rodding

Every hot rod is different but some are unique. At first glance this ’30 Ford sedan belonging to Gerry Kerna of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, while very cool looking, appears to be a build style you’ve seen before. It’s only after much closer examination that you realize this lightly channeled Model A sedan is so much more. Gerry is a longtime hot rodder, but this latest effort speaks to her desire to have something different but well within the sphere of what any hot rodder can appreciate. The ’30 Ford sedan was a “barn find” (sort of), was found in a storage garage, and it had the obligatory bullet holes. It was the “holes” that Gerry found interesting and tipped her over into wanting the Model A for her next project.…

In February 2018, the NHRA Museum in Pomona, California, was packed with folks who were there for one thing: to honor the memory and life of Bob Bauder. Outside the facility the parking lot was full of the legacy Bob was so well known for: An exceptional group of cars he had built (fully or had-a-hand-in/on) over the previous five decades. Though the collection was as varied as their current owners, they all had one thing in common besides Bob’s handiwork: They were all pure hot rods. Real-deal hot rods aren’t as prevalent nowadays as there may be too much emphasis placed on creature comforts but, rest assured, when Bob built a ride for either himself or a customer, each car was going to be a handful, and it was…

There are often some adjustments needed when cramming modern powerplants into early cars. In this article we will follow Jason Scudellari at the In The Garage Media Tech Center as he modifies the firewall, toeboard, and floor of his Brookville ’29 Ford roadster body (sitting atop a Speedway Motors chassis) to accommodate a small-block Chevy engine and a TREMEC TKX five-speed. The back of most V-8 engines is knobby and convoluted, so it often makes sense to take an incremental approach, nibbling away at the firewall, toeboard, and floor until sufficient clearance is created. It’s usually a good idea to position the engine as far back as practical. This gets more of the weight transferred to the rear, and on early cars, extra room is often needed between the engine…

There’s nothing more stunning than a custom car crafted with baselines from Chevrolet, Ford, or Mercury. Massaging and finessing panels while also reimagining the use of various body parts fused with stance and style are some of the most critical elements that bring a custom to life. It takes a special group of talents to make it all come together, as seen here with the seductively mild ’54 Chevy Bel Air laid out across our pages, owned by John Hall Jr. of Chesapeake, Virginia. The build embodies everything cool, bringing it to iconic status, regardless of whether it’s on the show field or racking up miles cruising down the highway. Thanks to a lifelong fascination with chopped tops, leadsleds, and hard-core hot rods, it was easy to see that a…

It’s been a long time (1970) since the first Street Rod Nationals in Peoria, Illinois. Louisville, or one of its southern speak derivatives, has acted as home for the NSRA Nats at the Kentucky Expo Center since the late ’90s. The Nats is now the keynote event hosted by the National Street Rod Association while also serving as host to eight additional regional events. This year was the 54th running of the Nats (remember we are near the home of the Kentucky Derby). From the numbers the NSRA tells us, there were 649 swap spaces—and we must confess it did look very busy—and 224 exhibitors. The truly big numbers are a direct result of the 9,112 registered street rods and a spectator gate (including participants) that was a tick over…

They may not make ’em like they used to. But they sure never finished ’em the way we can now. The quality of contemporary body- and paintwork is truly unprecedented. More than straighten a panel, we can straighten an entire body from tip to tail. Of course, nobody said it was easy. Prepping a straightened body for paint is a labor-intensive process of raising low spots with fillers and milling the surface to a consistent level. And historically speaking, it was a rinse-and-repeat process of filling and sanding interspersed with long cure times. The act will always eat up time, money, and energy, but today’s techs figured out ways to minimize the investment. Rather than incrementally build up the surface of a panel bit by bit, they discovered that they…

This incredibly beautiful ’55 Thunderbird is not the first one Gary Coe has owned. He still owns the “driver” ’56 that spawned the dream that you see here. He wanted to build a really nice car but knew it would take years, and he didn’t want to be without it. It’s a 30-foot car, but a fast one, with a 392ci Windsor motor. But, it would never stand up to the Coyote power he planned for the new one. Gary started with a body with no frame that he picked up at Bird Brains in Aurora, Oregon. Loading the body in his own custom-made car hauler, Gary took it to Steve’s Auto Restorations (SAR) in Portland, Oregon. SAR sent the measurements of the body to Art Morrison Enterprises for one…

The death of Andy Brizio, The RodFather, is a powerful and deeply felt loss for all of us, but the Celestial Rodding Hall of Fame just welcomed one of the truly great ones. Andy, who has long served the hot rod world in many capacities, will no longer be gracing the hot rod world; he died on August 1st of this year. A great deal has been written on and about Andy throughout his famous career. He was a regular on the pages of car magazines going back to the ’70s and pretty much any hot rodder around today knows the story about his time as a flag starter at Half Moon Bay, which led to a job at Champion Speed Shop and then a partnership with Cub Barnett in…

1. FITECH SUPPORTS DAKOTA DIGITAL FiTech now offers a new BIM module to add to their list of supported aftermarket EFI manufacturers. The BIM-01-2-FTCH fits new FiTech LS, TBI, and TCU applications. The BIM-01-2-FTCH is designed to read the engine information from new FiTech EFI kits. This module is connected to the units with a supplied 2.5mm “Y” harness, allowing the handheld controller to remain functional. It will collect and output the following information to Dakota Digital Instrument Systems. For more info, check out FiTech by calling (951) 340-2624 or visit fitechefi.com. 2. EXHAUSTING SOLUTIONS ARP has developed a number of solutions for properly securing headers and eliminating exhaust leaks. These include a series of application-specific kits for most popular engines, plus “universal” kits to cover the rest. Stud kits,…

The availability of complete custom frames has changed the game for hot rodders, especially those in the Pro Touring segment of the hobby. Chassis and suspension technology has come a long way from the days of hacking the front suspension out of a Mustang II or Chevy Nova in a junkyard. These days, a full frame makes a lot of sense, but make no mistake—a full frame swap is a lot of work, no matter how you slice it. In the case of this ’67 Chevy II Nova, it goes a step further, thanks to the extreme fabrication efforts of Divers Street Rods (DSR) located in Sultan, Washington. DSR ordered a new reproduction of the ’67 Chevy II Nova body from Real Deal Steel and a custom chassis from Art…

When speaking with Gary Upton, of SoCal, it becomes obvious of his lifelong fascination with ’40 Fords. Just prior to owning this potent ’40 Ford coupe he owned and drove a hot-rodded ’40 Ford pickup. However, the hopped-up Merc Flathead and modified stock chassis, while having served their purpose, had come to the end of its usefulness. Gary felt it was time to move onto something more in keeping with his relocation from the back roads of Oregon to the SoCal freeways. He sold off his pickup and opted to put together a ’40 Ford coupe that had the best in performance and craftsmanship all in one package. The coupe you see on these pages started its hot rod life in Abilene, Texas. While it changed hands several times over…

In this installment, we’ll wrap up our coverage of the outstanding build on Danny Shaffer’s ’57 Ford Ranch Wagon that’s being constructed at Ironworks Speed & Kustom. One-off wheels were designed for this project, inspired by Halibrand racing wheels of the ’50s. As with many other components on this car, the wheels were rough sketched by hand, then final design was done in CAD, and they were printed in plastic to make sure everything was spot-on before machining from billet aluminum. The wheels were machined by EVOD then polished to perfection and chrome plated for durability. A huge amount of work went to the underhood area, with the goal of cleaning up every surface while keeping an OEM flavor. After exploring several variations, the inlet tube for the fuel injection…