ork continues on Greg Heinrich’s outstanding ’35 Chevrolet coupe being built by Ironworks Speed & Kustom. This time we’ll focus on the extensive body modifications. The body is lengthened, chopped, wedge-sectioned, and all the fenders are extensively reworked to conform to the big ’n’ little wheels and tires.

When doing extensive modifications, it’s important to know when to stop. If you chop a top too aggressively, the result is not likely to be well proportioned. Every element of a car’s body must work with the whole ensemble, so it’s a constant balancing act to keep everything flowing harmoniously. Rodger Lee and his crew at Ironworks have a long track record of getting it right.

By “Rotten” Rodney Bauman Photography by The Author

very now and then, even old hot rodders come upon a car that we’d agree just shouldn’t be modified. Even so, we can’t help ourselves, can we?

Out here in Northwestern Montana we’ve had The Flathead Ford Museum to enjoy for many years. Its curator, Lyle Aklestad, is a knowledgeable hands-on restorer, preserver, and collector who’s kindly shared his passion with likeminded Ford fans and curious passersby alike. Long story short, the Flathead Ford Museum’s recent liquidation was an opportunity for buyers. If by chance you were already a friend of Aklestad’s, there were noteworthy bargains on tap.

ur ’64 Ford Galaxie (named “Project Lara Lor-Van”) belongs to Eddy Cebreco and has a great deal of sheetmetal work that is needed. We have already begun by replacing the firewall, now comes the upper and lower cowl areas. This is going to give us all fresh metal underhood at the firewall/windshield area. It should be noted that Auto Metal Direct (AMD) makes a great number of sheetmetal pieces for not only our ’64 Ford Galaxie but any number of other buildable material from the ’60s.

The project continues with Auto Metal Direct (AMD) freshly stamped sheetmetal. These upper and lower cowl pieces will fit both the ’63 and ’64 Ford Galaxie. The upper cowl carries PN 360-8963 while the lower cowl carries PN 360-8963-1. To achieve our efforts, we relied on AMD for the sheetmetal and then Craig Hopkins of The Installation Center to perform the work along with Jubee Mays of aMAYSing Metal Works.

hen it comes to traditional customizing techniques, sectioning a car is arguably the most complicated. The process involves removing a horizontal band all the way around the car’s body to thin the profile—kind of like chopping a top, only you’re chopping the whole body. Done right, the results can be dramatic. Done wrong, you can wind up with an expensive collection of vintage scrap metal.

Cody Walls has been hard at work building a unique, sectioned ’49 Buick custom for his wife, Erin, at his Delaware-based shop, Traditional MetalCraft. What started as a low-mile original destined for a small-block swap and some mild modifications quickly turned into a full custom concept car. By the time you read this, it will have debuted at the 2023 Grand National Roadster Show where it was invited to compete for the vaunted Al Slonaker Memorial Award.

he late Bill Carter is a custom painting legend. Standing on the shoulders of giants like his mentor, Larry Watson, “Wild Bill” invented processes and forged styles that evolved to fit countless Funny Cars, boats, choppers, and dragsters over the decades that followed.

When it came to building a cruiser for him and his gal Linda, Carter went to his roots. In 2009, he bought a ’59 Thunderbird and set about building a homage to the Squarebird that defined his mentor’s career about the time they met.

Now, if you’re not familiar with Larry Watson’s ’58 Thunderbird, just know this: it wore a generation-defining candied panel paintjob over a pearl-metallic base. Carter set out to copy the car, but in his own colors (his Billy Brew, as he famously called them) and with a few of his own techniques.

hen I think of a ’40-41 Willys the first image that generally comes to mind is the nose-high gasser with the storied names on the doors, such as Stone, Woods, and Cook (although it says “Cookie” on the door, sometimes), the Big John Mazmanian gasser with its blazing Candy Apple Red color (which influenced my ’29 Ford roadster), and the K.S. Pitman bright orange machine. It’s what I grew up with. In fact, for many years I thought the ’40-41 Willys came with a blown Chrysler V-8. These A/GS cars typically had a large-bore Olds, or what would become the more popular Chrysler Hemi powerplant with a blower firmly mounted to the intake.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that the ’40-41 Willys also makes an impressive custom. One of my all-time favorites is the Emerald Green ’41 Willys belonging to David Trent and built by Jason Graham of Jason Graham Hot Rods & Cool Customs. It screamed “kustom” all the while letting the world know that it is a ’41 Willys.