cott’s Hotrods ’N Customs has built a reputation for creating unique vehicles, often showcasing intricate and superbly finished sheet metal work. This sleek 1965 Oldsmobile Cutlass, owned by Cecil Carder, exemplifies that craftsmanship. It features some of the most extensively redesigned and beautifully crafted details we’ve seen recently. In this article, we’ll closely examine the fully custom-built dashboard and center console.

The original dashboard was completely removed, and a sturdy header panel was built to support the leading edge of the new dash. To achieve the correct shape and ensure accuracy, a temporary brace made from square tubing was installed to position the rear edge of the dashboard. In addition to supporting the panels during fabrication, this brace kept the peak along the back of the dash perfectly level—something that’s hard to do when shaping metal while fighting gravity.

A template was fabricated to define the dash top’s contour. An oversized sheet metal blank was then shaped to match this profile, and trimmed to the precise edges where it meets the new header panel at the front and the temporary brace at the rear. With the panel accurately positioned, the bend layout along the rear edge was established. The lower dashboard section was laid out and formed using the same method, with all panels temporarily secured using Clecos.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY NOTSTOCK PHOTOGRAPHY & TIN MAN’S GARAGE

ARTWORK BY JIMMY SMITH CONCEPTS

he 1957 Ranchero body was derived from a basic station wagon. Specific roof sections on the quarter-panels were cut off, and other trim pieces were stamped to cap voids and conceal areas of the original body make. The modified stainless trim for this Ranchero’s bed was designed to cover the remnants of window tracks for the side windows and back glass. Most of these modifications were crude, to say the least, and the final fitment was of little concern or value.

It isn’t uncommon for major automotive manufacturers to “Frankenstein” or modify standard make-and-model vehicles to create new models. Not having to build separate stamping tooling typically saves time, which saves money.

Mike Long, the owner of this 1957 Ford Ranchero, presented the idea of making modified stainless trim to fit better rather than removing the seams and screw holes after being reminded of how poorly they fit and seeing an all-original, restored Ranchero at a car show. With numerous modifications made to this specific build to clean up the original factory design, Tin Man’s Garage dove headfirst into this project with a simple yet somehow complex process.

hen Harold Clay of Harold’s Hot Rods needed a 4L60E transmission rebuild for his personal project, he turned to fellow Enid, Oklahoma, resident Kevin Booker of Booker’s Transmissions for a GM 4L60E. Booker has decades of experience building transmissions and is well known for his high-performance drag-racing units. As well as he understands the modifications needed for a transmission to withstand the pounding it takes on a dragstrip, he also understands that a transmission with head-snapping shifts on the street can be a real pain in the neck, literally. For that reason, his focus for a transmission like this example, destined for a high-performance street application, is to eliminate any trouble-prone parts, make the shifts firm but not harsh, and ensure a long service life.

General Motors 4L60E is an electronically controlled version of the Turbo-Hydramatic 700-R4. The designation 4L60E stands for a four-speed, longitudinally positioned, 60-product-series electronically controlled transmission. While the 60 designation is often taken to stand for gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), GM rates the transmission to handle 8,600 pounds. Basically, all the numbers, 60, 70, and so on, are relative ratings; the larger the number, the more torque capacity the transmission has.

Unlike the GM 700-R4, which used a throttle valve (TV) cable to control hydraulic pressure and shift points, the 4L60E is controlled by an ECU (electronic control unit) that operates solenoids in the valvebody to cause shifts. While that may seem more complicated than a TV cable, many 700-R4 failures were caused by misadjusted cables—electronic controls eliminate that issue. Although shifting is handled differently, the 4L60E has the same gear ratios as the 700-R4—First 3.06, Second 1.62, Third 1.00, Fourth 0.70—along with a lock-up torque converter.

ime to perform the electric headlight door conversion. We are moving from vacuum headlight doors to electric on our C3 Project 1971 Corvette. We’ve addressed the suspension, brakes, and powertrain, and even restored the exterior color from its as-found yellow to the original classic white.

With the help of Phoenix-based Hot Rods by Dean, we’ve completely torn down the car and rebuilt it from the ground up. Every nut, bolt, wire, and hose has been replaced, restored, or upgraded. It’s all been more complicated than it sounds because just about everything on a vintage Corvette is more complicated than it sounds.

It may be a Chevy at its core, but a Corvette is different in almost every respect—including the headlights. The C2-C5 generations had pop-up headlight systems, and while the C2 models used straightforward, largely reliable, electrically operated doors, the C3 generation, including our 1971, inexplicably switched to vacuum-actuated doors. We’ve never heard a good reason for the change. Perhaps a few hoses and a pair of vacuum actuators were cheaper than electrical motors and the related wiring, but the results of the changeover could most generously be called “mixed.”

ord’s best-known mid-1960s DOHC V-8 was never meant for Main Street. It was built for the pinnacle of racing; the Ford 427 SOHC Cammer was a racing-bred monster developed in the early 1960s as Ford’s purpose-built answer to the era’s escalating performance wars.

The “Cammer,” as it was often called in automotive circles, paired a 4.230-inch bore with a 3.400-inch stroke for 427 ci of displacement. Rather than following Ford’s familiar pushrod formula, it used DOHC, four valves per cylinder, and high compression, typically 12:1 or more in race trim, along with single- or two-barrel carburetors to create an engine engineered for sustained high-rpm performance. The result was one of the most exotic powerplants ever to wear a Ford Blue Oval, widely associated with output in the 600hp range in period competition form, though exact figures varied by tune and application. It wasn’t unheard of during its heyday to hear (in speech and on the track) about 9,000-rpm runs and 800-plus horsepower, especially when using Hilborn mechanical fuel injection and running on something “more” than pump gas. It’s been reported that somewhere between 750 and 1,500 of these amazing V-8s were produced by Ford. The valve covers would soon become instantly recognizable, and to this day, any hot rodder can spot them from a distance and immediately know “what’s up.”