Preview Issue
Building The Ultimate 1955 Chevy … And Then Some
36 The Ultimate Plymouth
Kent Ladner’s 1935 Plymouth PJ Has Come A Long Way In 85 Years
54 Firecracker
Great Way To Describe Kristina Plumley’s Blown 1932 Ford Highboy Roadster
74 Rhodium–More Expensive Than Gold
Ryan Gates Unleashes His Pro-Touring First-Gen Camaro As Widebody Perfection
The 1955 Chevy Bel Air, “Brute Force,” owned by Bob Matranga of Southern California, was one of this year’s Detroit Autorama Great 8 finalists and clearly in the running for the Ridler award, but alas it didn’t win. Still, there can be no denying the level at which this Tri-Five is built. Photography by Eric Geisert
We Are Betting That This 1957 Ford Custom Performs A Tad Better Than The One Grandpa Had
42 Stop It!
Speedway Motors’ Kit Is Ideally Suited For Combining Lincoln Large Brakes And Early Ford Spindles
48 Coming Unhinged
Remove Vintage Door Hinge Pins And Never Touch A Hammer
66 Floored!
A Rusty Shell of a 1940 Ford Gets Some Much-Needed Sheetmetal Repair
80 How Hot Is Your Hot Rod?
Basic Tips On Temperature Gauges And Keeping Your Car Cool
84 Double Up
A CPP Brake Booster Kit Solves Two Problems With One Easy Install
The quintessential hot rod is the 1932 Ford highboy roadster. This East Coast version was artfully accomplished by Kristina Plumley, powered by the ubiquitous blown small-block Chevy. Photography by Chuck Vranas
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Rodney Bauman, Gerry Burger, Tommy Lee Byrd, Ron Ceridono, Michael Christensen, Ron Covell, Grant Cox, John Drummond, Eric Geisert, Joe Greeves, John Jackson, Barry Kluczyk, Scotty Lachenauer, Nick Licata, Ryan Manson, Josh Mishler, Gary Rosier, Chris Shelton, Mike Slade, Jeff Smith, Tim Sutton, Chuck Vranas – Writers and Photographers
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The Modern Rodding trademark is a registered trademark of In The Garage Media. Modern Rodding. July/August 2020, Vol 1, No 1 is published bi-monthly by In The Garage Media. 1350 E. Chapman Ave. #6650, Fullerton, CA 92834-6550
ISSN 2692-2371
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ou do something enough times and it becomes “familiar.” Take off your favorite sweatshirt and you find yourself looking for it. Pretty soon you begin to think about wearing those comfortable Levis when you don’t have them on! Your hot rod is no different. I’ve had my roadster on the road for 14-plus years. During this time, the roadster has assisted me in making countless friends for which I am eternally grateful.
Over the course of time I’ve changed very little on the highboy: a set of wheels and tires and freshened up the brakes. (Although I can’t say the same for myself.) I can tell you every time I drop behind the wheel there’s a certain “feel” and “comfort” that overcomes me. It’s my favorite jeans, sweatshirt, and Barcalounger all rolled into one. There’s no mistaking the bond between myself and my roadster.
The time has come where I find myself putting aside one magazine for another. Let me tell you that the old one (Street Rodder) had a feel I had grown comfortable with and thoroughly enjoyed. When I think back, I can remember sitting in LeRoi “Tex” Smith’s office talking about what it would be like to have a “hot rod” magazine. Those one-on-one conversations would go on for hours and each dream became grander than the one before. Those dreams gave birth to a rodding magazine that was a half a year shy of half a century of service to the hobby and industry many of us grew up with and shared.
And Beyond
ecember 2019 will forever go down in history for many—including myself, without a doubt—as the end of an era … the end of a magazine era as we knew it. But rather than cry over spilled sour milk and write the last chapter, as it were, myself and a few other would-be (should-be) bitter old magazine veterans took the high road to start the next chapter of hot rodding periodicals—print and digitally speaking.
It only took a quarter-century to figure out on behalf of the corporate world where we’d gone wrong all these years, and by eliminating the bureaucratic decision-making factor we had no other option but to go out on our own and once and for all make a magazine the right way—a print magazine AND a digital version … heavy emphasis on the latter.
I’ve been doing this whole magazine thing for literally half of my life—as have my fellow “garage mates.” It’s what we know; it’s what we do. So, when that fateful day in December came and the life we knew virtually came to a halt, the thought of not having the ability to continue that life as we knew it was too much to bear. That is, until we stepped back and remembered where it all began—in the garage—could we truly understand that’s exactly where we needed to be in 2020.
Art Morrison Enterprises (AME) has produced these bulkhead fittings for a while but they never get old, and now might be the time to get out in the shop and see if you can not only solve a problem but also enhance your hot rod’s look.
These bulkhead-type fittings are designed for use with standard 2-inch-wide framerails and available in three configurations: -3 AN male/-3 AN female, -3 AN male/-3 AN male, and AN-6 male/AN-6 male.
These fittings are manufactured in-house by AME from premium stainless steel material, making these fittings impervious to rust and corrosion.
Classic Instruments now offers this series in all-new size offerings of 2-5/8 inches (fuel, oil, temperature, and volt), while the speedo and tach are available in 3-3/8 and 4-5/8 inches. All Classic Series instruments are available as individual instruments or as part of a five- or six-gauge set. The series features polished stainless steel radial bezels, curved glass lenses, nostalgic crescent moon pointers, and rich black dial faces.
he idea started off simple enough for Bob Matranga. “Some people like to play golf; I like to build hot rods,” he says. “I enjoy showing these cars, I enjoy driving these cars, and that’s what’s driven me all my life.” But if building, owning, and driving a hot rod are at one end of the spectrum, then seriously competing in a car show setting for one of the nation’s highest honors in that field is something else.
he idea started off simple enough for Bob Matranga. “Some people like to play golf; I like to build hot rods,” he says. “I enjoy showing these cars, I enjoy driving these cars, and that’s what’s driven me all my life.” But if building, owning, and driving a hot rod are at one end of the spectrum, then seriously competing in a car show setting for one of the nation’s highest honors in that field is something else.
When Bob bought a Bel Air project years ago, all he wanted was “a real nice 1955 Chevy” with full independent suspension and a big motor. So, the chassis was sold and the body fitted to a new Art Morrison chassis with a Kugel Komponents IFS/IRS setup.
But Bob’s natural inclination to refine something until it’s “right” eventually led him to the idea that he’d like to compete for the Don Ridler Memorial Award at the Detroit Autorama. Easily one of the highest honors in the customized automotive world, the Ridler “emphasizes creativity, engineering, and quality workmanship. The vehicle that best represents those three areas will win the Ridler Award.” It’s really the ultimate challenge: to be recognized as the best in a group of exceptional vehicles.
Bob had taken his ride to some shops in the SoCal region that couldn’t perform the tasks he wanted—though they happily cashed his checks. Fed up with the lack of service, he formed Matranga Hot Rods, his own personal shop that would focus on the construction of this one automobile.
he tale of one car with 2-1/2 stories; one is technical, one is a feature, and the remaining is a bit of human interest. All of us have our reasons for why we build our hot rods the way we do. And, frankly, it doesn’t really matter to anyone other than ourselves why we build, what we build, or how we build it. The goal for all of us is to have fun with cars along the way.
George Poteet (member of the Memphis Street Rods) has pieced together many a project during his transition into “hot rod adulthood.” (I checked, by definition “hot rod adulthood” starts at prepubescence and we never outgrow it.) One of George’s all-time favorite rides is his 1957 Ford Custom two-door sedan that meets his hot rod adulthood goals. He has owned this particular Ford for 20-plus years and it also reminds him of one that his grandfather once owned in the same color. Given this 1957 Ford has lots of miles under its oil pan, George gave it some thought and decided it was time to upgrade. (This isn’t his first one. He had one many years ago fitted with a Ford 427 Cammer motor.) In his mind the current “upgrade” meant from bumper-to-bumper but beneath the patina’d sheetmetal. During the build he threw in a few enhancements readily accessible while driving, thereby yielding the perfect road car.
George tells us, “I really like this car and want to make long trips and cruise around.” We’ve surmised that he likes driving and from what we’ve seen of this 1957 Ford Custom as it continually racks up 10,000 miles a year we would agree. He drives it often and hasn’t hesitated for one “asphalt divot” from jumping in and taking off from the South to the West Coast attending rod runs along the way.
