It didn’t stop here. The body was another “love affair” requiring profuse amounts of work to bring it to some form of recognition. Both of the rear quarter- and rocker panels were replaced, as they had been repaired in the past, and let’s say the decades-old workmanship left a great deal to be desired. At some point in the car’s life it had been hit on both sides, rolled upside down, and suffered from bent and twisted “B” pillars. This bucket of bent metal necessitated enormous amounts of metal- and bodywork to be performed by Jim. In an attempt to make “things right” he opted to chop the top (his first chop) 3 inches while only taking 2 inches out of the rear window. In the top chopping process the roof was stretched. This, along with the home-fabricated floorpan, trunk floor, driveshaft and trans tunnels, roof insert, door panels, battery box, trunk-located tool carrier and gas tank, and the notched firewall to handle the engine length are more of Jim’s handiwork. The underside was coated in Lizard Skin based on five coats of sound deadening and five coats of thermal coatings. Inside, plenty of Dynamat and Dynaliner were used to assist with the insulation and to enhance the quietness of the ride. As you can guess all of the painting was also performed by Jim, but this time in his driveway. He used a flat sterling silver with a satin clear to give the car its present look.

The front suspension utilized coil springs and shocks mounted above the upper A-frame–style control arms, while the lower control arms were located by strut rods attached to the front crossmember. In the rear, parallel semi-elliptic springs and tube shocks were used. While not a particularly inspired design, the Mustang’s suspension was simple—but even simple things don’t last forever. A case in point is the suspension under the 1965 Mustang 2+2 shown here. This particular car had spun the odometer more than a few clicks. It was then parked for an extended length of time. Like most hot rodders the owner’s first instinct once it was out of hibernation was to tear the car apart and start from the ground up, but thankfully sanity prevailed. A much more rational approach was to replace the suspension components that were worn and get the Mustang fastback on the road where it could be enjoyed, then make improvements and modifications as time allowed.

e’ve been following along with Troy Gudgel and the team at BBT Fabrications as they transform Bill Sather’s 1934 five-window coupe from a rough old hot rod into a state-of-the-art exercise in modern rodding. After re-chopping the coupe (see Modern Rodding Mar. ’21 issue) Gudgel turned his attention to building a better firewall.

After blasting the original firewall clean, it uncovered the original 1934 Ford five-window coupe firewall modified in typical hot rod fashion of years past. Actually, as original hot rod firewalls go, this one was in above-average condition. The typical notch had been welded in for distributor clearance. The four mounting holes told us at one time the car had a power brake master cylinder mounted to the driver side firewall over a reinforcing plate that had been welded in place when the distributor notch was formed. Once again we’ve seen worse modifications and many more holes, but this coupe was being completely transformed so this firewall had to go.

Three major differences would dictate the shape of the new firewall. First, the new chassis would incorporate an under-the-floor Wilwood master cylinder. This location facilitates 1934 Ford factory-style, through-the-floor pedals, eliminating the firewall-mounted swing pedals once fitted to this old hot rod.

n creating an iconic design powerful enough to retain its crown through the decades, Ford earned a devoted following as soon as its 1932 models rolled off the production line. Rich with a new flowing style deftly matched to the introduction of the Flathead V-8, Ford kept its engineers busy in creating a total of 14 different body styles for the model year. Many of the new looks, offered in either base or DeLuxe trim with a choice of a V-8 or a four-cylinder powerplant, gave the public plenty of potential combinations to choose from.

There was also the commercial side of the house, which received an infusion of fresh elements as well, including the rarely seen, cab-open (roadster) pickup. The updated version, thanks to Brookville Roadster, appearing across our pages is owned by Bruce Ceramicole of Willington, Connecticut. It fuses a crisp new look to the original style. Just how rare are cab-open pickups? As reported by RM Auctions on a recent sale of one from the Ralph Whitworth Collection, they advised it was 1 of only 593 produced, thus confirming its pedigree. With the roadster cab produced by Murray and known at Ford as body type 76-B, you can imagine how very few of them have actually survived.

For Bruce, growing up in the small town of Southborough, Massachusetts, certainly had its perks, especially since his dad’s long affair with new Buicks and Pontiacs cast a spell on him from an early age. It wasn’t long till an infatuation with magazines and model building passed, leading him to the real thing. Cruising the strip in a 1950 Ford custom convertible followed by a 1956 Ford convertible, he eventually moved to the high-performance side of the house with a number of modified Corvettes and never looked back. As time passed, he met with Dave Simard, owner of East Coast Custom in Leominster, Massachusetts, commissioning full builds of a 1934 Ford five-window coupe as well as 1929 and 1935 Ford pickup trucks.

onnecting all the components on a street rod build is a huge part of the final assembly process and one that can oftentimes leave many things overlooked. Safely shifting that automatic transmission, accurately accelerating that carburetor or throttle body, and economically engaging that emergency brake is a necessity not an option. The proper assembly of these items is part and parcel to a safely operating hot rod. A cheap shifter that drops into gear while parked or throttle linkage that doesn’t return to idle properly is not only a huge inconvenience, it’s incredibly unsafe. It was with the frustration of the components available and the unsafe elements that came with them that Lokar Performance Products was established.

Most hot rodders are no doubt familiar with many of Lokar’s products, as they’ve been a staple in the street rod world for over 30 years. But what many folks don’t realize is the number of products they manufacture that could find themselves at home on every street rod, muscle car, and classic truck, regardless of the year, make, or model. Throttle cables, return springs, brackets, emergency brake components, and transmission shifters are just a few items from their product line that can be used on nearly any build. These are products that every build requires, with few alternative options that work as well as Lokar’s products do.

You know what happened next, a few repairs turned into a full-blown rebuild. The grille was reshaped, the hood pie cut in the front, trim removed, and the latch redone to release from the inside. On the body the door hinges disappeared and “bear claw” latches took over from the originals. A recessed gas filler was made with an inside release, along with a new license plate inset in the deck with a custom frame. The rear wheelwells were widened just a bit, the bumpers tossed, and the body holes filled. Interesting you see 1939 Ford taillights on all kinds of other years of cars but this 1939 Ford has 1941 Hudson taillights molded into the fenders.

With all the rough bodywork done, two-tone Tangerine and Candy Orange paint was laid on the now-perfect body. A two-tone leather interior to match and the chopped top in Mercedes cloth by Karen Iparraquirre of Airsflare Upholstery of Independence, Oregon, set the tone.

oving along on our project 1936 Ford it is now time to take a serious look at its exhaust system and where we can run tubing—in fact, more importantly knowing where not to run tubing or locate the mufflers. Every hot rod lives or dies by the sound of its exhaust system. In fact, many hot rodders don’t even bother running a stereo as that’s considered “noise” likened to the “good vibrations” that come from a well-tuned exhaust note. It doesn’t really matter what type of car you build. If it doesn’t sound right, you will not enjoy driving it.

To aid project owner John Winter in making his custom exhaust system he opted for several items from the exhaust section of Speedway Motors’ (SM) catalog. He based his custom exhaust system on the SM universal mild steel dual exhaust kit featuring 2-1/4-inch tubing (PN 91013822), a pair of MagnaFlow mufflers from SM (PN 37613254), a pair of SM 10-inch-long weld-on exhaust hanger brackets (PN 91602018), and four SM 7-inch-long exhaust hangers with bushing kit. All of these components are used in conjunction with a pair of tubular block hugger–style headers. Since Winter is using the SM universal exhaust kit, he could have linked up to virtually any combination of exhaust manifolds, whether they be factory cast-iron or aftermarket tube header.

Anyone who has built a hot rod can tell you the vast majority of the time (that would be all) you are better off having an exhaust system made for your particular car than most any other option. One would think that a 1932 Ford is a 1932 Ford or a 1962 Chevy is a 1962 Chevy and oftentimes that’s the case, but when it comes to an exhaust system there are so many little things that can cause an exhaust system to change from one vehicle to the next it’s best to go with a custom exhaust system.

A visit with Paul Newman of Classic Muscle Motor Company (CMMC) in Florida set the wheels in motion, literally. A Roadster Shop (RS) chassis was used and matched up to the 1957 Buick Special wheelbase and from here the RS IFS and rear suspension were hung. In front, the basis for the IFS are Corvette C5 spindles with RideTech ShockWaves air suspension with polished Hot Rod shocks from RideTech. The steering is a bringing together of a Detroit Speed rack-and-pinion with an ididit steering column. In back, the suspension is based on an RS 9-inch housing supplied Strange 3.50 Truetrac gears and 31-spline axles, accompanied by a RideTech airbag system with shocks, an RS Panhard bar, and Wilwood six-piston brake calipers; red powdercoat with drilled-and-vented 13-inch rotors are used both front and rear. Bringing the stopping force to the forefront is a Hydratech braking system complete with a chromed Corvette C3 master cylinder and hydraulic brake assist. The rolling stock itself is comprised of a set of B-Forged wheels, 20s in front and 22s in back, wrapped with Nitto Extreme’s 245/35ZR20s and 285/35ZR22s.

n our humble opinion, the 1936 Ford phaeton has one of the prettiest rear panels ever to grace a Blue Oval car. In stock form this sweeping rear panel is hidden by a spare tire and often a luggage rack, too. Because the rear tire effectively extends the back of the car, Ford opted to form long sweeping taillights extending rearward even with the spare tire.

We just couldn’t bear hiding that curvaceous rear panel that led to the removal of the spare tire, and thus began yet another “one thing leads to another” modification sequence. After removing the spare, the taillights appeared to extend into another zip code, so the taillights had to go, replaced by a pair of 1940 Packard taillights (see the Feb. ’21 Modern Rodding). Since Ford decided to build the gas fill cap into the driver side taillight we must relocate the gas fill cap, but first we’ll install the new tank. Did we mention one thing leads to another?