To produce all of that rumble from within this ride was going to need an intoxicating V-8 and a chassis to “hold it.” Making sure all of that horsepower got to the ground and the drive was everything it should be, the motorvation came by way of Don Hardy Racing (DHR). DHR stroked an LS3 to a forceful 418 cubes crowned with aluminum heads then capped with Clayton Machine Works by Lokar valve covers, sporting 10.8:1 compression, a custom-grind DHR cam, and the use of ARP hardware to keep all those big-ticket components tightly packaged. Lastly, all the reciprocating elements were painstakingly balanced by DHR.

t’s often said there’s a right way and a wrong way to do everything. While that may hold true in many instances, when it comes to building hot rods there is a third option, the Dennis and Matt Lesky way at Ionia Hot Rod Shop (IHRS).

We first met Dennis in 1994 at the National Hot Rod Association’s 40th U.S. Nationals. He had driven his chopped 1932 sedan to the event, the former B/Gas drag race car was unmistakable with its vintage orange finish and the name “Regret” emblazoned on both doors. Over the next few years we followed some of the hot rod projects Dennis was involved with while still working at General Motors as a journeyman welder and realized he was creative and immensely talented. Perhaps owing to his familiarity with production parts, Dennis was becoming known for creating early chassis components that looked like they were original equipment.

When Dennis retired from GM he decided to pursue his passion for creating unique hot rods along with his son, Matt. Evidently in the Lesky family tree this acorn didn’t fall too far away as Matt’s interest in hot rods started early in life. After high school his abilities were honed by working in tool and die and fabrication shops and those skills would prove to serve him well when he began working with his father in 1999. Together the talented father-and-son team opened IHRS in 2000 and quickly developed a reputation among hot rodders in the know for innovation and craftsmanship.

“Since I was young kid … in upstate New York, I had always thought the 1939-1940 Ford coupe was one of the best-looking hot rods there was. After I sold my 1940 Pontiac at the Street Rod Nationals in 1984, I decided I really wanted to build one—and it had to have a killer set of flames. I went to the NSRA Nats North in Detroit and found a somewhat-faded black coupe sitting by its lonesome with a small For Sale sign. The guy I bought it from was the second owner and he had owned it since 1970 and had turned it into a street rod in 1972 and driven it ever since. The black paint was shot over the original green. Despite being in the north its entire life, it was rust-free and still had all of its original sheetmetal.”

(Quick story from Modern Rodding freelancer Gerry Burger: I was with Rick when he bought the 1939 at the Nats North. It was black with burgundy velour interior—that faded to pink—but a very solid car. We looked it over carefully and Rick fretted about it all weekend before finally pulling the trigger. Now, Rick isn’t exactly famous for throwing money around so you can imagine what it was like to part with that large sum of money.)

f there ever was a hot rod that rodders wanted to alter, yet at the same time they know it’s probably best to leave it alone, it’s any year of the Tri-Five Chevy. It seems the more rodders tinker with the Tri-Five the more they realize that Chevrolet designers got it right the first time. And the same goes for the inside of these cars with their beautiful dashes; sometimes it’s best to leave well enough alone.

If you want to start an epic argument with other Tri-Five lovers, just make the statement: “The 1955 Chevy is head and shoulders better looking than a 1956 or 1957.” Interestingly this desire to touch or not to touch applies both to inside as well as the outside styling. The Tri-Five instrument cluster in the 1955 and 1956 Chevy are unique and were well thought out. Yet, today’s rodder is just itching to make his 1955 or 1956 personalized and more to his (or her) own liking.

To help with this desire we have come across a way to give rodders what they want—the ability to tinker and at the same time not screw up a good thing. Enter Classic Instruments (CI) and their Bel Era III gauges that are designed specifically for the 1955 and 1956 Tri-Five Chevys. The cluster and glass lens arrives ready to install in your bezel. Should you need a bezel, a great place to source this would be Danchuk. (The Bel Era III gauge has already taken home the gold from the American Tri-Five Association with a Best New Product award.)

uilding a hot rod of any era is a stream of choices—some big, some small—but they all contribute to the finished package. One thing we learned early on was to pick a theme and make every decision fit that style. My latest project is a 1936 Ford phaeton being built as an early ’50s hot rod/custom. Many cars of that era blurred the lines between rod and custom with performance under the hood and some custom touches and paint on the outside. That is the very theme of our 1936, with a built Flattie underhood and a conservative custom approach on the outside.

We’ve recently been doing the bodywork and while stacking parts on the shelf (all neatly marked for the memory impaired) we came across the original grille ornament. The ornament was in overall good condition with the V-8 emblem intact. However, two holes drilled in the piece told us a greyhound had once adorned the piece. While greyhound ornaments are cool, in keeping with the theme of the car, we thought a simple bullnose ornament from Speedway Motors would be a quick-and-easy solution. But then we began to think about making our own bullnose piece, but with a custom twist. We wondered about grinding down the finned portion of the ornament to a lower profile giving us a “semi-bullnose” look.

t’s always a chuckle when a non-car guy walks up to the owner of a recently restored or freshly built hot rod and remarks, “I didn’t know you could still buy one of those cars brand new.” Where does one start? Do you tell the guy he’s looking at five old cars cut apart and welded back together to create the car he’s admiring, or just smile and say thanks? 

There are a lot of different projects a first-time DIY guy can do without needing tons of equipment or expertise to make desired repairs or upgrades to his project car— but returning large, rusted-out areas into good-as-new sheetmetal isn’t one of them. 

That said, this doesn’t mean a DIY guy can’t stand half a chance taking a shot at doing his own sheetmetal repair if he doesn’t mind making a serious investment in the right equipment and learning how it’s done. Or for that matter the hot rod shop that wants to expand the services they’re doing in-house.