ack Chisenhall is probably best known as the founder of Vintage Air, but he is also a hands-on hot rodder who drives the wheels off the cars he creates. His ’39 Ford sedan has racked up close to 200,000 miles and he’s gone 240 mph at Bonneville in his ’53 Studebaker with the air conditioning on. Chisenhall’s automotive interests are best described as varied, his collection has included everything from vintage race cars to a French Facel Vega sports coupe. But it’s safe to say that the inspiration for his latest creation, and the winner of the 2023 Grand National Roadster Show’s America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy, came from Chisenhall’s fascination with the Indianapolis 500.

Interestingly, the name “Champ Deuce” was bestowed on Chisenhall’s ’32 long before winning the AMBR trophy. The origin of the name is from what many consider the heyday of the Indy 500, the front engine roadster era from 1952 to 1966. The term “champ car” came from the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned open wheel events in its Championship racing division, which included everything from dirt ovals to the bricks of the Indianapolis 500. (Two-time Indy winner, Bill Vukovich, came up with the term “roadster” to describe a front engine race car with solid axles on both ends, and it stuck). Chisenhall combined history, his passion for Indy, and love of hot rods, and the result was named the Champ Deuce.

n the early days of forced induction, almost all the blowers adapted by rodders were ingeniously based on compressors not designed for pumping more power out of the Ford Flathead. In fact, not even the famous “Jimmy” Roots-type blowers were designed to increase output of the diesel engines on which they were originally fitted.

The GMC 71-series blowers were developed as air compressors to pull in fresh air and push out exhaust gases on Detroit Diesel two-stroke diesel engines. A 6-71 blower was a compressor on a six-cylinder engine, while a 4-71 was a four-cylinder application. Hot rodders adapted the GMC blowers to their four-stroke engines. It should be noted that the number “71” represents the number of cubic inches per cylinder.

MASK(ED) MAN

By Chris Shelton Photography by Brian Brennan, Glenn Sinon, & Chadly Johnson

f you’re like me, you learned that masking keeps color from going places where it wasn’t supposed to go. If that’s the case, we have great news: You’re right.

But if that’s all you thought masking was good for, you’re only half right. Masking also protects the surfaces that you’re painting. If you’ve ever blown dust into a freshly painted surface while spraying rockers or ’jambs, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

“So, masking has two folds to it,” collision-tech instructor and former PPG rep Glenn Sinon says. “One is that you do not want the paint that you are spraying to go where it shouldn’t go. You’re trying to mask everything off so that none of it gets on any other surface. But masking also prevents the sprayed paint from dislodging dust and debris that settles in a vehicle during construction,” he adds. “I don’t care how much cleaning and scrubbing and blowing out that you do, you never get it all. Whatever you don’t get ends up in the paint you just sprayed.”

We reached out to a few shops renowned for their finish quality to show us just how they employ masking to protect painted surfaces. They include the Hot Rods By Dean crew (Ken Hill and Ken “Spike” Ackman) who prepped the ’65 Chevelle, Tony Curiel at MetalWorks Classics and Restoration in Eugene, Oregon, who prepped the ’55 Chevy, and Sinon who showed us how he masked his ’72 Maverick for graphics.

“By doing a lot of very effective masking and taping you can minimize the amount of debris that ends up in your paint,” he maintains. “The less debris that lands in your paint, the better the job will turn out and the less work you’ll have to do.”

here is no doubt that complete chassis swaps have become commonplace in the world of street rods, but oftentimes that doesn’t fit budget or driving requirements. The basic concept of street rodding is to improve the power, handling, and braking of a vintage car. To that end this old ’34 Chrysler had already seen plenty of road miles with the original suspension upgraded to a late-model steering box, tube shocks, and disc brakes. (In an upcoming issue we will show you how to repair the frame damage on this Chrysler. We followed along as Ken Denney and the team at Hot Rod Specialties repaired some frame damage on Terry Thompson’s ’34 Chrysler Fordor Sedan. This repair was in preparation for a complete front suspension swap.)

Thompson wanted an improved stance and more modern suspension for his Chrysler, which included power rack-and-pinion steering, tubular control arms, and a better spring rate. Denney and his team at Hot Rod Specialties (HRS) decided a Fatman Fabrications stub would be just what the doctor ordered. A straightforward front frame clip that would effectively do away with the old and in with the new and result in better handling, better stance, and an overall safer hot rod. As an added bonus there was a substantial weight savings.

his month I thought it would be fun to look back at a few “keeper” shots from bygone National Street Rod Association Nationals, back in the days when each summer we traveled to a different city, traveled familiar highways, and met up with our summer friends.

One thing that this trip down memory lane has proved … yes, we are getting older, but we still appreciate hot rods; they always look cool and the friends we made early will always be our friends whether they are here or not.

Take a drive down memory lane and see if these photos bring back any early memories of where and when our hobby really began to “take off.”