ll of us want to be comfortable in our hot rod—it doesn’t matter the time of year or how much horsepower we have (or don’t). When cruising, comfort is king. That brings us to Flatline Barriers, an ultra-lightweight, easy-to-install material that blocks unwanted heat and noise. The two main sources of discomfort when driving are excessive noise and excessive heat inside where we are trying to keep our “cool.”

To help us achieve this level of comfort, there are a few things we can do. However, the one that is unseen and possibly the most important is the use of acoustic and thermal insulation. We thought we would give this product a try, so we stopped by Classic Industries and picked up a precut kit with some additional material for extra coverage for our 1969 Chevelle. This is a big-block–powered Chevy with a thundering exhaust, so heat and sound can be an issue. (Experience has taught us that!)

We stopped by Hot Rods by Dean and installed the Flatline Barriers product on a 1969 Chevelle we have and will continue to showcase stories here in Modern Rodding. We were able to nail down Dean Livermore and get a couple of hours of his time to try out the installation for ourselves. Everything went as advertised. Keep in mind that you will want your flooring, door panels, and headliner area to be well cleaned and ready to accept the adhesive-backed acoustic and thermal insulation. It is adhesive backed. The material, once laid down and pressed into position, is there. Make sure you are ready before installing.

iTech is a leader in electronic fuel injection (EFI), offering self-learning systems in a variety of configurations, including throttle body and port-injection configurations. Here, we will be looking at FiTech’s popular throttle body systems, specifically the Go EFI, Easy Street, and Go EFI Classic that use “four-barrel” throttle bodies, all of which are rated at 850 cfm (a Go EFI 500-cfm two-barrel is also available for single or really cool tri-power applications). With the exception of the Go EFI Classic, the ECU and all sensors, except the O2 and coolant sensors used by the Go EFI and Easy Street systems, are housed in the throttle bodies. The Go EFI Classic has the old-school look of a carburetor and uses an externally mounted ECU.

Over the years, there have been many bench-racing sessions at the Modern Rodding headquarters about the impact of technology on hot rodding. One such conversation began with Brennan telling yours truly that the love for a row of carburetors on any engine was a sign of being stuck in the past. Admittedly, the counter that carburetors can be fixed on the side of the road was lame, but that’s all that came to mind, and it was better than admitting he was right.

e kicked off our build series on the 1957 Ford Ranchero coming out of Tin Man’s Garage (Brian Limberg) in Part 1. Limberg enlisted Jimmy Smith of Jimmy Smith Concepts to illustrate what this highly modified 1957 Ford Ranchero would look like. Since owner Mike Long was on board with these upgrades, “Cool Ranch” started its journey to a rod run near you. From here, we can now see the 1957 Ranchero in metal finish through the lens of John Jackson of NotStock Photography. In Part 2, we will look at a popular modification to all sorts of hot rods—bumper tuck.

To recap in Part 1, we examined the interior and discussed several modifications that, through Jimmy’s artistic eye, provided a starting point for the talented team at Tin Man’s Garage, resulting in something spectacular. Now, in Part 2, we spoke with Limberg and he filled us in on what was happening.

In talking with Limberg, he has long believed that one of Ford’s most noticeable design flaws on the 1957 Ford passenger cars are the front bumpers. Limberg pointed out, “Specifically, the height they were mounted in relation to the ground when compared to the rockers. The amount of framehorn and lower radiator support visible is kind of peculiar; even after radically lowering these cars, it is still an eyesore.”

teven Nissen rolled his 1971 big-block Chevelle into Stellar Rod & Custom with a seemingly simple request: Swap the old carburetor for fuel injection. The Detroit-area shop obliged and installed an Edelbrock EFI system.

But there was a problem. As soon as Stellar connected the control system and turned the ignition key, the engine began popping and even backfiring through the throttle body. It wasn’t a tuning issue, and what Nissen previously thought was an out-of-tune carburetor or bad ignition timing pointed to a different culprit.

“We knew right away something else was going on,” Stellar owner Mike Brimm says. “The engine had been rebuilt and didn’t have many miles on it, but the exhaust pops seemed to suggest the valve timing was off. It could have been a sticking valve, but the engine also had a flat-tappet camshaft; the bigger worry was its lobes and lifters.”

otrods N’ Heroes hit Huntington Beach, California, March 29th with the kind of energy only a shoreline show in SoCal can deliver. The Pacific was calm, the sky was a perfect springtime blue, and the long stretch of sand behind the Pacific Coast Highway venue made the whole thing feel like a postcard that came to life. Modern Rodding was on hand as the 42 Foundation and QruisinPCH—creators of the Quarantine Cruise—kicked off the two-day gathering with a Saturday move-in of military and first-responder equipment. Marines positioned a pair of 5-ton M777A2 howitzers at the entrance, their long barrels angled skyward as Old Glory waved overhead. Police and fire agencies rolled in with patrol units, rescue rigs, and recruitment teams, turning the beachfront into a working showcase of the people who keep Southern California’s communities moving, safe, and stitched together.

As the sun dropped, the show shifted into party mode. Saturday night brought live music, food, and the kind of easy camaraderie that defines the region’s car culture—equal parts beachtown casual and dead-serious about the machines people build and drive. But the real surge came early Sunday morning before the first hint of daylight. By 6 a.m., classics of every era were lining up in the pre-dawn dark, headlights glowing in the marine layer as owners idled into position. The 42 Foundation’s mission—supporting law-enforcement officers and their families through outreach and community engagement—was woven into the fabric of the event, not as a slogan but as a lived presence. Their partnership with QruisinPCH has turned Hotrods N’ Heroes into something more than a show; it’s a gathering point where the public, the people who serve, and the region’s deep-rooted hot-rodding community meet on equal footing.

or the true hot rod purist, the 1966 Dodge D-Dart Super Stock isn’t just a car, it’s a bona fide gateway to weekend drag racing—and today, to the world of ultrarare factory builds. Born from Dodge’s Factory Dart program and built specifically for the strip, this Dart GT in disguise meant business from day one—and still does, decades later, spoken by Mopar lovers everywhere, but just not about its wins but rather about its rarity.

The car you’re imagining is rare by any measure. The stock-appearing white Dodge Dart GT (D-Dart) present on these pages was sold as part of the Ellis Collection at Dana Mecum’s 2009 Original Spring Classic Auction. It crossed the block for $40,000, a price that barely hints at the car’s pedigree yet speaks loudly to the collector who recognizes a genuine factory hot rod when they see one. This D-Dart was no mere performance badge; it’s a purpose-built drag racer packaged as a compact, street-leaning Dart GT. Dodge rated the 273 V-8 at 275 hp, a stout bump from the standard 273’s 235 hp. Weighing just over 2,900 pounds, the D-Dart carved out a legitimate NHRA D/Stock class presence, proving that horsepower in a light shell translates to real acceleration. As history would prove rather quickly, the D-Dart was a true lightweight, and that also carried over to somewhat of a “beat me if you can” appearance in the NHRA D-Stock category.

What makes the D-Dart’s performance believable (not to be confused with the Hemi or big-inch Wedge-head-equipped V-8s)? The D-Dart package was a well-thought-out presentation. The Dart came with true speed shop accessories, such as Racer Brown valvesprings, a 284-degree, 0.500-lift cam, Doug’s Headers, and a Holley 4160 bolted to the stock intake. Power flowed through an A833 four-speed operated by a Hurst shifter, while Weber clutch components formed the drivetrain’s handshake with the rear axle, which came via an 8-3/4 Sure-Grip with 4.86 gears. Clearly, the intent was to leave the line with brutal, retina-ripping acceleration. Well, for D-Stock, that may have been the case.