1. Set for action was this Ford 7.3L Godzilla engine fitted with a nice bolt-on package that included a Holley intake, BTR camshaft, and pipes from Ultimate Headers.

BY EVAN J. SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY BY THE AUTHOR & COURTESY OF HOLLEY PERFORMANCE

ord’s Godzilla 7.3L V-8 gas engine is a prime candidate for engine swaps—but there’s an inherent problem that can stop you in your tracks. This issue lies in the stock intake manifold inlet, which is angled upward at a severe angle. And that 45-degree-angle inlet is basically a guarantee that you’ll run into hood clearance issues when fitting a Godzilla into a passenger car.

Thankfully, Holley Performance Products has a solution to resolve any hood clearance issues. As you probably figured out, Holley offers a unique Godzilla intake manifold—and swapping it for the stock unit is a breeze.

The Holley manifold (PN 300-900, and PN 300-900BK for powdercoated black) is a direct bolt-on aluminum manifold. It’s designed for high flow, and its sturdy construction allows it to handle high levels of boost or nitrous. Most importantly, it was designed with a straight inlet flange, so the throttle body now faces directly forward, and the overall height is 2 to 3.5 inches lower than the stock intake.

1. Rex Watson of Pure Choice Motorsports assesses the plumbing options on Brian Brennan’s Corvette. The choice was made to go with Watson’s line of Pure Stealth braided hoses and black fittings.

Plumbing Pointers

BY RON CERIDONO PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN BRENNAN

t may be hard to believe but, back in the day, the coolest way to improve the plumbing under a hot rod’s hood was to add some red plastic fuel lines and polish brass fittings. The problem was that the fuel lines became brittle, cracked, and leaked, creating disaster, and the brass fittings would turn dull overnight. Today, we have a variety of plumbing options from Pure Choice Motorsports that not only look great but are also safe and durable.

Rex and Annette Watson are the owners of Affordable Street Rods, located in the small town of Peabody, Kansas. When given the opportunity, they decided to expand their business by acquiring Pure Choice Motorsports. A leading supplier of automotive plumbing products, Pure Choice offers high-performance fittings, hoses, tubing, and accessories. The Watsons also carry the Pure Stealth line of plumbing products with the company’s proprietary black ceramic coating. In addition to fittings, the Pure Stealth line includes black braided hoses with 24 color options for accent braiding in a nearly infinite variety of patterns. The braid covering on these hoses isn’t a sleeve; it’s adhered directly to the hose so it will never slip or come apart.

To give us some pointers on plumbing, Rex stopped by Hot Rods By Dean to see what was needed to hook up the power steering, air conditioner, and heater in Brian Brennan’s C3 Corvette. While there are a variety of options for making all those connections, including E-Z Clip hoses and fittings, the decision was made to use a Pure Stealth reduced-barrier braided hose with Pure Stealth crimp fittings so everything would match.

1. Two of the coolest engines ever built, a Chrysler Hemi and a Chevy 409. These engines and their variations can be powerful, reliable alternatives to the more common, boring ones. Photo by Nick Licata

BY RON CERIDONO PHOTOGRAPHY BY THE AUTHOR & CHUCK VRANAS

isit any hot rod event and you’ll find yourself surrounded by cars powered by common mills—lots of small-block engines and a variety of modern powerplants hidden under plastic covers and coil packs. Of course, most of these usual choices are sensible, but who said hot rodding needs to be sensible? While it’s safe to say the LS series of GM engines is as popular as the small-block Chevy, neither typically makes passersby stop and stare. However, some engines have enough visceral impact to excite a gearhead into stopping and looking. Two prime examples are Chrysler’s Hemi and Chevrolet’s 409/348—the 1932 highboys of Gary Boler and Ray Thompson shown here certainly prove this point.

The Early Hemi Engine Family

To compete with General Motors’ post World War II OHV V-8s, Chrysler needed to replace its inline flathead six- and eight-cylinder engines. Therefore, in 1951, the 331ci V-8 Hemi was introduced in Chrysler and Imperial cars. In 1952, DeSoto started offering its Hemi, and the next year Dodge launched yet another version. Although the engine offerings across the three Chrysler Corporation divisions were clearly related, they were built on distinctly different blocks, each with unique bore spacing (Chrysler 4.5625 inches, DeSoto 4.3125 inches, Dodge 4.1875). Essentially, due to the differing block sizes, there is little to no interchange of internal engine parts among the three series. To make things more complex, all three divisions provided engines with various bore and stroke configurations, accommodating a range of displacements in two different deck heights (the distance from the crankshaft centerline to the top of the block). Chrysler’s 331- and 354ci blocks are low decks, while the 392 blocks are high decks; DeSoto’s 276 and 291 blocks are low decks, with 330, 341, and 345 blocks being high decks; Dodge’s 241 and 270 blocks are low decks, and the 315 and 325 blocks are high decks.

BY BRIAN BRENNAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY NOTSTOCK PHOTOGRAPHY & TIN MAN’S GARAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY JIMMY SMITH CONCEPTS

he fullsized Ford Ranchero was originally built in 1957 and continued through 1959. It was based on a two-door station wagon and had the full complement of engines and transmissions typical of passengers of that era. From 1960-65, it was reclassified as a “compact” and then from 1966-79 it was reclassified again as a “midsize” utility vehicle. (It prompted Chevrolet to build the El Camino in 1959 to compete with the Ranchero.) The 1957 Ranchero seems to be the most popular of the first three years and the only one with a single headlight. We are beginning to see more of the Rancheros (and El Caminos) at rodding events.

We spoke with Brian Limberg of Tin Man’s Garage (TMG) to ask what his customer wanted and what he thought would make for an improved version of the 1957 Ford Ranchero. Limberg pointed out to us that, “Thankfully, Mike Long, the owner of ‘Cool Ranch,’ owns a machine shop. TMG utilized this benefit to its fullest extent.” Turns out Long is a longtime hot rodder and has done a great deal of the custom machine work for the project, even going to the extent to make a custom set of keys for his Ranchero.

Before we unveil the feature on the Cool Ranch (1957 Ranchero), we will showcase in three parts how some of the sheetmetal underwent its transformation. This month, we are going to look at how the dash and accompanying interior trim were developed. Pay particular attention to the development of the one-off aluminum wrap around the trim.

When the “stars” come out to play, you must believe that Chip Foose will be present—and so he was with this 1956 Lincoln Continental convertible featuring a BluePrint LS Compatible with distinctive period-correct Ford air cleaner and valve covers.

By Johnny Hunkins Photography by Brian Brennan

ord’s presence at the 2025 SEMA Show carried its usual weight, with builders pushing both heritage and innovation across a variety of Mustang platforms. Early fastbacks, late-’60s SportsRoofs, and modernized interpretations of Shelby themes formed the backbone of the year’s most compelling Blue Oval builds, each one shaped around contemporary performance hardware like the Coyote, Godzilla, and even a Kaase-built Boss 429. The lone outlier was Chip Foose’s 1956 Lincoln Continental for BluePrint Engines—a car that stirred debate for its LS Compatible foundation but ultimately won over Ford loyalists through Foose’s unmistakable design language and long-standing connection to the brand. Together, these five vehicles capture the range of ideas, craftsmanship, and technical ambition that continue to make Ford projects a defining part of the SEMA landscape.

Godzilla-Swapped 1965 Shelby G.T. 350 Mustang

The Dynamat booth at the 2025 SEMA Show showcased one of the event’s most culturally meaningful Ford builds: a 1965 Mustang fastback redesigned as a Peter Brock–inspired modern Pro Touring Shelby G.T. 350. Built by Mike Staveski of Resto Mod Vette for owner Jay Verhulst, the car blends admiration for the original G.T. 350 with today’s high-performance restomod standards. Under its Brock-designed hood is a Ford Performance Godzilla crate engine upgraded with Mast Motorsports heads and cam, a BTR Trinity intake manifold, OBR engine management, and Holley’s mid-mount accessory drive—producing about 625 hp. A TREMEC TKX five-speed, Ford 9-inch rear, Tanks Inc. fuel system, and Pypes exhaust round out the drivetrain, while 18-inch Halibrand-style wheels wrapped in Nittos maintain a period-correct look without sacrificing grip.

t doesn’t seem like it was that long ago, but it was! The “Boydster” captured the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award at the 1996 Grand National Roadster Show (Oakland). Boyd Coddington was a hot rodder with a keen eye for what was “cool” and where to find talent. The Boydster was the sixth of nine AMBR awards Boyd carried home.

Many great fabricators, body and paint pros, and designers have passed through Boyd’s portal. This month’s Parting Shot subject is the original Boydster, designed by Chip Foose, based on a hand-fabricated concept body by the incredibly talented Marcel DeLey of Marcel’s Custom Metal. At the time of the GNRS, the Boydster was owned by John Clay Wolfe and Chip Foose. (Reports say that the car has been sold once again since the show.)

The “smoothy” look was coming into its own by then, with Fred Warren’s 1937 Ford coupe winning the Ridler in 1996. Several years earlier, in 1991, Tony Carlini’s 1933 Ford fenderless coupe won the Ridler. If my memories serve me, Boyd wanted the Boydster as his personal hot rod, and since Foose was working for him at the time, Foose took the timeless and time-honored 1932 Ford roadster that he and Foose envisioned that to enhance the “long, lean, and low” look it should be stretched 3 inches, lowered, and smoothed out to a level the hot rod world hadn’t heretofore seen. The chassis was built at Boyd’s shop and featured fully independent front and rear suspension with a Corvette centersection and rack-and-pinion steering.