onstruction is moving at a rapid pace at Rad Rides by Troy on Ross Myers’ scratch-built ’36 Ford fenderless roadster. In this installment, we’ll look at the construction of the decklid, the rear wheelwells, and the floor.

Building a complete body from new metal is a daunting project, but the crew at Rad Rides decided it was the best way to go; when you look at the caliber of the work being performed, we think you’ll agree. The work rivals the best you’ll see at any coachbuilding shop around.

Adam Banks, the main fabricator for the project, uses a somewhat unconventional technique for forming the panels from 18-gauge steel. Shrinking dies are used on a power Eckold machine, starting at the edge of each panel and working progressively toward the center. Once the shapes have been roughed out with the shrinking dies, the panels are further smoothed with an English wheel and then meticulously metal-finished to perfect the contours. Finally, each panel is painstakingly sanded to remove all tooling marks, leaving a bright satin finish on every exposed surface.

hen customizing originated, the goal was to refine the lines Detroit provided and, in some cases, restyle more common marques to resemble their up-model counterparts. When I bought my ’41 Buick Super I felt like I had a head start. Prewar Buicks were part of that up-model bracket to begin with, boasting sleek body lines, long wheelbases, powerful overhead valve engines, and some deluxe interior appointments. But there’s always room for improvement, and since I wanted to build a late-’40s/early-’50s–style custom, a chopped top was always part of the plan.

riginal or repro? It’s a longtime hot rodder’s battle with no one correct answer. On the one hand, there is something special about repairing that original tin. There just seems to be a bit more “soul” in 68-year-old fenders, but on the other hand, there is a strong argument for today’s high-quality reproduction sheetmetal. If that gennie fender requires too much repair you can fall prey to the old axiom: “The handle has been replaced three times, and the head twice, but it’s still Grandpa’s axe.” Likewise, be sure to buy quality reproduction sheetmetal so you don’t end up doing excessive work for proper fit. In the end, the decision comes down to a good, honest assessment, the availability of quality new tin, all mixed with just a bit of opinion for flavor.

When Jon Mannila and his team of craftsmen at MetalWorks Speed Shop in Eugene, Oregon, set about assessing the front sheetmetal on Dave Goodwin’s ’55 Chevy they knew almost immediately the driver-side fender had issues making a replacement fender the better option. The passenger side fender was a different story. The fender was remarkably straight and had no rust in the lower extremities or wheelwell, but there was the common problem of rust over the headlight and one other relatively small, damaged area. It is a rare ’55 Chevy that doesn’t have fender brow rust. But since that was the only real issue (along with the small repair and filling some trim holes) it was decided the passenger side was “a keeper.”

hen it comes to the final details of a project car, the trim can be one of the most tedious parts of the process. Even if the trim is in good shape, polishing it and reinstalling it can present challenges. Some applications have a huge selection of aftermarket replacement parts, but many purists would rather repair an original piece. In some cases, like our ’66 Chevy II project car, the trim pieces simply aren’t available, so you must repair the original parts if they are damaged or scour swap meets to find suitable replacements.

On the ’66 Chevy II, the trim is made from a variety of metals. The side trim is aluminum, while the hood and trunk trim pieces are diecast (pot metal) with chrome plating. Pieces like the rear window molding and upper door and quarter-panel reveal moldings are stainless steel.

We were unable to source new upper door and quarter-panel reveal moldings, so we needed to repair the four pieces. There are polishing shops and plating shops that take on jobs like this but we wanted to try our hand at repairing the trim in our garage. For this, we needed some specialty tools to make the job a little easier. We picked up a Dagger Tools Trim Repair Kit from Summit Racing (PN CTI-TR-KIT-II), which features multiple hammers, dollies, files, and other tools to help straighten the trim. After we pecked around and got all the dents hammered out, we moved onto polishing. We also used various grits of wet or dry sandpaper to sand out any scratches or imperfections and a bench grinder/polisher to bring it back to a nice shine. We used a Summit Racing Polishing Kit (PN SUM-905027), which comes with a total of three 6-inch buffing wheels of various constructions and four compound bars to allow us to perform a multistep polish.

e’ve been following along as Colin and Sue Radford’s ’57 Ford Del Rio Ranch Wagon has been undergoing the transition from a mild-mannered grocery getter to a legitimate pavement pounder. So far Colin and his grandsons, Tate and Caden, have replaced the stock suspension with components from Art Morrison Enterprises (AME). Up front is an AME bikini clip with a Flaming River rack-and-pinion, in the rear is an AME axle housing and four-bar kit, and at all four corners are Strange Engineering coilovers. For motive power, Team Radford replaced the 292 Y-block and Ford-O-Matic transmission with a Ford Performance Coyote V-8 backed by a Gearstar 4R70W automatic transmission.

It’s safe to say for most hot rodders who have a family and a full-time job, time for projects can be scarce. But perseverance will pay off in the long run; as time allows, the culmination of many small bursts of effort will eventually produce big results. That continuing effort in the Radford garage resulted in the chassis for this project being completed and ready with a fresh coat of paint and Wilwood disc brakes all around.

During its construction the chassis and body of the wagon remained intact so the necessary modifications to the firewall could be made to accommodate the Coyote V-8 and sections of the floor could be altered for the rear suspension to fit. With those tasks completed the body was lifted off the frame and all the suspension components were removed. The framerails were then sandblasted, primed, and painted gloss black. All the suspension components were prepped and shot with the same primer and paint. As this car will be driven, there will be no need for bling on the underside—clean and sanitary was the goal.

on Ceridono and I couldn’t pass up this story. One evening while swapping old photos taken by our mentor LeRoi “Tex” Smith, Ceridono and I began talking about the ’32 Ford panel truck displayed on this page. It might not be the most exciting hot rod you have gazed upon, but the backstory of its owner is most definitely one to read.

Before we get onto the Deuce panel, how about a little on J. Neal East’s background. Neal is a lifelong hot rodder, car show guy, magazine guy (freelancer and former staff member of Rod & Custom), owner of many hot rods, including some famous ones, automotive bookstore owner, and a Lifetime L.A. Roadsters Club member. Now, we don’t have the space to go into depth on Neal and his lifelong obsessions, as that’s a story for another time, but here’s a sample that should open your eyes, give you a chuckle, and downright know you are reading about a true hot rodder.

Before Neal was the “famous” hot rodder, he was another hot rodder working his way through school. The ’32 panel photos were shot by Tex Smith in front of a hangar at the Santa Monica airport. Not just any hangar, but one used by Howard Hughes Productions. Yep, that Howard Hughes. Here Hughes housed leftover goodies from his movie production days, including his personal aircraft. Neal tells us that he was the night shift back gate guard and in several years of being “on duty” no one ever passed through these gates. As such he had lots of time to do his homework. This led to him eventually becoming a chauffeur for Hughes, not for him but for Hughes’ dentist. When working your way through school you take the jobs you can find.