ealing with the hot rods from the ’50s and ’60s is a lot easier nowadays given there is so much reproduction sheetmetal. This month we are going to look at a ’64 Ford Galaxie and the replacement of its firewall using an Auto Metal Direct (AMD) firewall (PN 370-8964). The work for this project was done at The Installation Center (TIC).

It should be noted that while our installation of our OE-style firewall (factory firewall is PN C4AZ-6201610-A) is on a ’64 Ford Galaxie, the AMD firewall shown here will fit the ’64 Ford Galaxie and the ’64 Mercury Marauder and Monterey. AMD stamps the firewalls, and other sheetmetal, from a high-quality 19-gauge steel. The firewall itself weighs 65 pounds. According to AMD, each firewall features the correct shape, size, bends, holes, ribs, and frame mounts like the original. All these sheetmetal pieces also feature EPD coating to protect against rust and corrosion.

f you’ve been following the construction of Colin and Sue Radford’s ’57 Ford Del Rio Ranch Wagon so far you’ve seen the installation of the Art Morrison Enterprises (AME) front bikini clip, a Ford Performance Coyote, and an AME four-bar kit with their 9-inch rearend housings. This time around we will get into the whys and wherefores of selecting the components from Strange Engineering to make the rearend complete.

Ford’s 9-inch rear axle was produced from 1957-86 (the 9-inch reference refers to the diameter of the ring gear). So, yes, our wagon did come with a 9-inch, so why did we change it? There were a number of reasons for the decision. The new housing came from AME with all the necessary brackets for the four-bar and Panhard bar welded on in a fixture, so we knew they were located correctly and didn’t have to worry about the warping from the original housing welding those items in place in our shop. It also came with the late, big bearing, Torino-style axle ends that provide more options when selecting aftermarket disc brakes. We should point out there are three distinct 9-inch axle ends: the late big bearing (Torino) and the early big bearing both take a 3.150-inch od wheel bearing (the difference is in the bolt spacing for the backing plates), the small bearing ends take a 2.834 od bearing with yet a different backing plate bolt pattern. Our final reason for making the change is the custom width housing will allow us to fit the wheels and tires we have planned without modifying the fenders or wheelwells—all things considered a new housing was the practical choice.

By Chris Shelton Photography by Brian Brennan

n the Dec. ’22 issue of Modern Rodding, our pals at Hot Rods by Dean (HRBD) started to show us a clever way to chop a top. To chop a top, most of us cut a band of metal from the entire top perimeter then tune the parallel edges to make a tight, consistent welding gap. And welding gap is everything in a top chop.

While time-honored and effective, the technique takes time. Nobody has a perfect hand, so the cut lines never line up perfectly for a tight weld gap. Tuning those parallel edges takes a long time.

Nick Sinioris chopped the windshield posts, doorjambs, and rear window with parallel cuts. But he made only one cut around the rest of the top. Then he slid the top section down into the body. The panels overlap, so drilling and pinning them turns the body into its own fixture.

ometimes a plan goes sideways. The first step to turning a tech article on how to stop rust on a mangy old Model A frame into a how to restore a 20-year-old car trailer is to temporarily redirect one’s priorities.

Originally, I was gearing up to use POR-15 products to stop the rust on “East Coast Graffiti,” my ’31 Model A. On the day I ordered everything I needed from POR-15 to begin the Model A project I mentioned to friends on Facebook I was thinking about thinning out my collection of classic trucks, starting with my favorite, a ’79 Chevy C10 Big 10. The trick to shedding a collection of vehicles without any regrets is to get rid of your favorite one first, then dumping the rest should be easy.

eaf springs are commonplace in the old car world. We’ve relied on them for more than 100 years but they’re not always the ideal platform for performance. In the case of this ’56 Chevrolet Nomad project car, it had a nice stance and already had a selection of aftermarket components, but the owner wanted to make big improvements. He commissioned Hot Rods by Dean (HRBD) to revitalize the suspension with a Heidts four-link rear suspension kit (PN RC-151-K).

The new suspension eliminates the leaf springs in favor of an adjustable four-link system, coilovers, and a sway bar. Additional options include a new 9-inch rearend housing, complete with pre-installed brackets. In addition to the rearend and suspension upgrades, this Nomad also received 12-inch Wilwood disc brakes and four-piston calipers, a huge upgrade from the original drum brakes.

When TV Paid Attention … the Ricky Nelson ’29 Ford Roadster Belonging to Tony La Masa

ow much television do any of us watch nowadays? I’m talking about weekly sitcoms or some form of television drama. I’m thinking not nearly as much as we once did. Nowadays it seems to be a lot of TV specials or shows we “cast” from our smartphone onto our “smart” TV. But there was a time when popular hot rods made their way onto regularly watched TV programming. Three that come to mind are Norm Grabowski’s T-bucket on 77 Sunset Strip (1958-64), another Grabowski creation was the made-for-TV-Touring in My Mother The Car (1965-66), and the Tony La Masa ’32 Ford channeled roadster that appeared now and then on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-66). One of my favorites was Route 66 (1960-64). The Corvette was the center of my attention every week! 

Nowadays I don’t seem to find much in the way of “hot rods” and television. That’s not to say that cars (and hot cars) can’t be found because they can, but I’m not seeing cars with a legion of young males (and some females) who follow a show because of the cool car(s).