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adrenalineguide · 4 years ago

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Jeep Wrangler Sport S and Mustang 2.3L Convertible: Two Fours for Summer Fun

Words and Photos By Michael Hozjan

No I’m not talking about cases of beer. I’m referring to the number of cylinders found under the hood of two American icons in the automotive landscape – the Jeep Wrangler and Mustang. Don’t scoff, four cylinders have been making a huge come back in recent years and no, these are not your grand dad’s four cylinders. Both the Jeep and the Mustang rely on turbocharging to get the extra oomph when needed all while delivering below average thirst numbers compared to their V6 and V8 counterparts. Let’s face it do we really need all that horsepower all the time and isn’t it nice to save some bucks at the pump.

Jeep Wrangler Sport: Back to its roots

“There’s something amiss here.” I tell myself as the engine comes to life. I hit the off button and check for the glow plug light, there isn’t one. For some reason the engine doesn’t sound the same, and yet there’s something eerily familiar about the sound. I mistakenly expected the Wrangler to be diesel powered, which it was not. The diesel mill is offered in the Gladiator that I was due to drive, but at a later date. Blame it on old age or just on my eagerness to get behind the wheel of one of my favorite rides.

Well one thing lead to another and another and before I knew it, it was several days later that I popped the hood to gaze upon the turbocharged inline 2.0L four cylinder. THAT’S what the sound was… somehow, the engineers at Jeep have managed to get the sound of the old familiar World War II era four cylinder Jeep into this modern, 80th anniversary edition Wrangler…or maybe it’s just me. One thing is certain, it doesn’t sound like the Wrangler I’ve been accustomed to.

Maybe it’s just coincidence, maybe it’s good corporate planning, with Jeep’s closest off-road capable rival, the Ford Bronco making its debut this year, Jeep has stepped up the ante, not only have they launched the Wrangler Xtreme Recon equipped with the first ever 35-inch rubber straight out of the factory, but are also offering a slew of powerplants to make any competitor nervous: beginning with this week’s tester, there’s the 2.0 L turbocharged four cylinder mated to the 8-speed TorqueFlite automatic, the trusty old 285 horsepower Pentastar 3.6L V6s remain and come with either a manual or automatic trans, there’s also a mild hybrid version mated to the 3.6L tagged the eTorque, a 3.0L EcoDiesel V6 with 442 lb-ft of torque and 260 horses and for the first time in four decades, the Wrangler gets a V8. Available exclusively (dare I say for the time being) in the Rubicon 392 trim, the 6.4L throws out 470 horses and the like amount of torque through the eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission and Selec-Trac full-time active transfer case. It blasts the Rubicon 392 to 100 km/h in less than five seconds making it the quickest Wrangler in history!

Well it appears the Jeep has come full circle with their mills, reverting back to four cylinder power to move their off roaders about. But don’t think for a minute that these are the old WWII flatheads. No sir, and not one but two count them, two four cylinders are offered. Aside from my Snazzyberry Pearl colored 2.0L turbocharged tester which pumps out 270 horses and 295 lb-ft of torque, capable of towing 2,000 lbs (907 kilos), that’s 35 more lb-ft of torque than its V6 counterpart, there’s also an electrified four cylinder that adds an electric motor. The plug in hybrid 4xe delivers 375 horses! Stay tuned for more on this one.

Above and below: There’s nothing missing in the four that you wouldn’t find in the six.

If you’re a regular reader of my posts you’ll know that I do NOT check performance numbers or price tags before I get a feel for what the vehicle feels like. Does it feel like 300 horses, does it feel like 400 lb-ft of torque? I tend to reserve looking at the stats until after my first, second and third impression. That said, despite having 270 horses, it still seemed a bit anemic from my previous Wrangler encounters (with the V6). There’s a noticeable difference at half throttle when leaving a red light or stop sign, but that quickly disappears as you build up speed. Punch the go pedal however to wake up the turbo boost and grab on to the steering wheel. The torque kicks in and bites the tarmac like a banshee. Suddenly Jeeps decision to go with this combo makes perfect sense.

On the highway the four delivers smooth, linear power and actually feels better mated to the 8-speed automatic than the six. Passing semis or climbing grades isn’t a problem and while I didn’t get the chance to go off-roading I suspect that the added torque would be able to let this Wrangler do some serious climbing prowess without hesitation.

Of course one of the other main attributes is that the Wrangler can shed its top when the weather turns warm. With two tops available it still remains the only convertible SUV in the market.

Above: A hidden cubby hole under the trunk floor comes in handy

One of the Wrangler’s Achilles’ heals has always been it’s thirst for fuel. My best has usually been around 12L/100 kms even when feathering my foot. Well the 2.0L netted me a 9.75L/100 average, on top of which a $200 saving over the automatic trannied V6 makes getting into a Wrangler a lot easier. The Sport S starts at $45,465, my fully loaded tester came in at a substantial premium, which leads me to want to see this mill in the 2-door Wrangler variant with a manual transmission. Now that would truly be full circle. If you’ve always wanted a Wrangler but weren’t crazy about their fuel consumption Jeep has just given you several reasons why you should reconsider.

Price as tested: $62,030 *

*Includes excise tax and destination fees

Mustang 2.3L Convertible: Is this the best Mustang ever?

It’s a balmy July afternoon, the kind we wait all year long for and fantasize about from December through to March. I’m in the left lane of the 401 heading west, passing semi after semi. The sun is beaming down on me and I get to thinking how nice this thing would be for a cross-country run. Indeed it doesn’t get much better than this. There are so many semis it reminds me of the rocking chair scene in The Bandit, only I’m not driving a T-top black Firebird with a roaring V8 and Sheriff Buford T Justice chasing me, but a drop top Antimatter Blue (yes that’s the hue) Mustang with a turbocharged 2.3L four cylinder.

For decades Ford has been grappling with the notion of having both a high performance Mustang and an economy Mustang, and yes when it first debuted there were trims that encompassed both. But over the years that concept got lost with muscle cars taking the limelight. It wasn’t until the gas crisis of ’73 that the economy car resurrected itself in the Mustang II, but in the process lost the muscle slice of the pie.

Well guess what, the 2.3L fits both bills easily. Yes diehard muscle heads may pooh pooh the thought of another four cylinder in a Mustang but they have no idea what they’re missing out on.

Pillaged from the darling all-wheel-drive Ford, the Focus RS, the 2.3L mill has been turned longitudinally to fit into the pony car. Although Ford has given the Mustang a larger twin scroll turbo, there are 18 fewer horses pulling the pony car over the RS. Torque however has been retained.

With 310 horses and 350 lb-ft of torque on tap mated to an optional 10-speed automatic my tester galloped along without so much as missing a breadth. Thankfully Ford has retained the 6-speed manual. My unofficial timing showed zero to a hundred kilometers shot in at 4.6 seconds! I have to say that as sweet as the four cylinder is, the exhaust note just tries to hard and gets annoying after a while. It’s like look at me, look at me. Oh shut up! Thankfully there is a shut off switch.

My ‘stang came with the High Performance Package, a $6,500 option inherited from the Mustang GT, which meant stickier 19” Pirelli rubber over the base car’s 17” units, larger brake rotors with four piston calipers, stiffer springs, a beefier rear sway bar, strut tower brace, a larger rad, a 3.55:1 limited slip diff. In other words, all the right stuff to make this a serious tourer.

Above and below: Top up or top down the Mustang looks great. Front spoiler is part of the High Performance Package.

Another plus for the four-cylinder argument is better balanced shedding 147kilos (auto trans) off its front axle. The result is a crisper handling ride with a nominal amount of body roll, less nosedive under hard braking. Switching driving modes from Normal to Sport mode for attacking the lakeside twisties shows the car’s true potential with the engine’s responsiveness hitting the sweet spot over 2,500 rpm and the fun factor sans V8.

This would make an interesting track car.

Inside you get all the usual fan fare of goodies including cooling and heated power leather seats. The hi-po package adds an oil pressure and turbo boost gauge and engine spun aluminum instrument panel. Fit and finish is spot on with comfortable buckets making the drive that much more enjoyable.

Above: Despite what it looks like my 6’ frame spent several hours back there in a friend’s convert for a three-hour trip to the Syracuse Nationals a few years back without a single complaint.

Like the Jeep the Mustang doesn’t come cheap. While the base price is a very reasonable $43,370, my tester’s option list added another $11,800 to the price tag. Stepping up to the $6,500 high performance package is a no brainer, especially if you’re a serious driver, but while the 10-speed is perfectly matched to the engine and responds wonderfully to throttle inputs I’d go with the 6-speed manual and trim $1,750 off the tag. Other options included $1,000 AM/FM/CD/HD radio, $2,300 for adaptive cruise, voice activated touch screen navigation and the Ford Safe & Smart package.

In a move I just don’t understand is the spare tire/wheel has been relegated to option status! In its place is a compressor - just the ticket for a bent rim, blow out or flat in the middle of nowhere on a dark rainy night. Come on Ford!

Yes the Mustang buyer has a number of trims and powerplants to opt for all the way to the 100 grand Shelby GT500 but really, wouldn’t you rather have a car that hits all the right fun buttons without breaking the bank while still passing a gas station or two ( I averaged 10.7L/100 km). Oh and let’s not forget the savings on the insurance premium on the four cylinder So shrug the V8 monkey off your back and hit the road in a four.

Price as tested: $56,970*

*Includes destination charges

#jeep #jeepwrangler #suv #four cylinder #2.0l #turbocharged #pentastar #mustang #convertible #pony car #muscle car #2.3l #high performance #mustang gt #car insurance

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itsworn · 7 years ago

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How to build a reliable, powerful Ford Y-block

What is it about Ford’s first overhead valve V-8 and our fascination with this red-hot slice of classic American iron? You know it has to be the sound alone with 16 mechanical flat tappets and that soft throaty bark at the tailpipes that holds our attention. It is also the sound of a vintage Ford starter and that spring-loaded starter drive followed by the sound of a vintage Y-block that gets us fired up to build one.

Gotta have it …

It isn’t what the Y-block is that excites us. It’s what the Y-block isn’t. It isn’t a high-tech, late-model overhead cam engine or a direct-injected LS you can spin to 6,500 rpm without breaking a sweat. The Ford Y-block is a stodgy old cast-iron American V-8 that has taken a lot of research and development to produce respectable horsepower and torque at the Engine Masters Challenge.

The Ford Y-block V-8 was never intended to be a high-performance engine in the first place. Yet there are those like Ted Eaton, Jon Kaase, and John Mummert who have committed their lives to making the most of this distinctive postwar mill. Both Kaase and Eaton have taken Y-blocks to the Engine Masters Challenge and made in excess of 600 hp with specially prepared Ford Y-blocks. For our streetable Y-block mill we will settle for less, yet with plenty of low-end torque for a Saturday night cruise.

Ford introduced the 239ci Y-block in 1954 in Fords and a 256ci version in Mercurys to replace its flathead V-8 introduced more than two decades earlier in 1932. Ford quickly grew the Y-block to 272, 292, and finally 312 ci in most of the lineups by 1956. Though the Y-block was revolutionary when it was introduced, it was cursed with limitations right from the get-go, mostly in the area of displacement and cylinder head design. It was a limited engine in terms of growth, which means there’s only so much you can do with this engine if you have a limited budget and resources. If you have the talent, resources, and capital, however, you can make real power with this engine.

Why build a Y-block based on what we’ve just told you? Because it’s the right thing to do if you’re building a classic Ford truck and want a real authentic sound and feel when you twist the key. Forget the 90-degree Fairlane V-8 known as the small-block Ford, and both the FE and 385-series big-blocks a lot of enthusiasts like to install in classic Ford trucks. If you’re building a vintage Ford truck, the Y-block is the only mill that will do from an emotional standpoint. It just feels right.

We’re building a stock 312ci Y-block. The downside to 312 blocks is they’re rare because they were produced in very limited quantities. And because the 312 is the most desirable Y-block, they’ve been used up over time.

John Mummert of John Mummert Machine tells us block identification numbers are generally found on the side of block above the oil filter on blocks cast at Cleveland (“CF” logo). Blocks cast at the Dearborn iron foundry (“DIF” logo) have block identification numbers near the distributor in back or above the generator. Most Dearborn foundry blocks were used in trucks, yet no Dearborn Y-blocks were produced after 1957. There were no special Y-block truck blocks. Heavy-duty trucks with steel cranks used C1AE or C2AE blocks produced for both car and truck lines.

Nearly all Dearborn blocks cast after 1954 were 272s. Most 292 and 312 blocks were cast at the Cleveland foundry. It is generally accepted that no 312 blocks were produced at the Dearborn foundry. Mummert confirms 312 block casting numbers as ECZ-6015A, ECZ-6015B, ECZ-6015C, EDB-6015E, B9AE-6015F. Of these the ECZ-6015A and ECZ-6015C are the most common. He adds some 312 service replacement blocks are numbered C2AE-6015C. What’s more, he tells us 312 main caps are always marked ECZ while all other Y-block main caps are marked EBU. He stresses this is the only positive way to identify a 312 block.

Although the 312 remains the most popular Y-block you can get by with a 272 or 292. John tells us nearly any 272, 292, or 312 block can be used for performance use with the right modifications. The 272 block can be bored the 292’s bore dimensions. And since all other internal components are the same across the board this gives you a 292ci Y-block. He adds that 292 pistons are easier to find, cheaper, and have a better ring selection.

John goes on to say the 292 blocks from 1955-1964 are easier to find. In fact, improvements were made to 292 and 312 blocks in 1959 with deeper drilled main cap threads for strength. The 1961-1964 C1AE and C2AE blocks have additional material in the main webs for added strength. These blocks typically don’t sonic check as thick as earlier blocks according to John. Therefore, he adds, if a good early block is found, drill and tap the main bearing cap threads deeper and use the early block.

On our workbench is a pair of ECZ-C cylinder heads for our build used across the board on the 272, 292, and 312. We opted for stainless steel valves and hardened exhaust valve seats for use with unleaded fuels. The most desirable Y-block heads for increased compression are the 1957 through early 1958 ECZ-G castings with intake valves sized at 1.927 inches, according to Mummert. Combustion chamber size is approximately 69cc. For slightly lower compression for today’s pump gas is the 1958-1959 5752-113 casting. These heads have the same 1.927-inch intake valves and a slightly larger chamber, which lowers compression. For low-compression engines the 1959 5750-471 truck head is also a good choice, Mummert tells us, with a 1.927-inch intake valve and 80cc chamber. It is the same head casting as the “EDB” supercharger head, yet with a different casting number.

Mummert offers the following build tips for your Y-block build project:

Never throw away your old camshaft until you’ve saved the thrust spacer. The new cam will not come with one. If you’ve already thrown it away you’re in luck because John Mummert may have some on hand.

There appear to be two different length head bolts in a Y-block—five short bolts near the spark plugs and five longer bolts under the rocker arm assemblies. The five short bolts near the spark plugs are identical but the five under the rocker arms are not the same. Two of these head bolts are slightly longer and installed at the outer ends of the cylinder head where alignment dowels are located. Lay all 10 long bolts (five per bank) next to each other and you should find four longer and six that are about 1/4-inch shorter. Installing the longer bolts in the center three holes can cause them to bottom in the block, which can result in a blown head gasket. Late production Y-block engines have only long and short bolts.

Both cylinder head gaskets are identical. It might seem that the same face of the gasket would go against the block and the opposite face would go against the head on each side. This is not true. What is critical is that the open coolant holes are located at the back of the head and the blocked portion of the gasket is at the front. Otherwise you will experience overheat. Look for the word “FRONT” on the gasket and place it at the front, even if it looks incorrect. This places one of the gaskets face up and one face down. Notice that there is a square corner at one end of each gasket. The square corner must be at the front of the engine. This can be checked without removing the heads. If you are having overheating problems check for these square corners at the top front corner of the head near the intake gasket.

If you’re using a camshaft with a cross-drilled center journal you must use 1955 through early 1956 cam bearings designed for cross-drilled camshafts. If you are installing a cam with a grooved center journal you must use the late 1956-1964 cam bearings. If your cam will not fit in the block check it for trueness. Mummert has seen cams with up to 0.010-inch runout, which is not acceptable. Another issue seen is the front cam bearing installed cocked in the bore. Install the front bearing from the rear to ensure proper alignment.

Mummert stresses installing rocker arm shafts right side up. Rocker shaft stands are identical and will bolt down either way. However, the oil hole in the shaft must align with the hole in the shaft stand and is at the bottom when the stands are bolted down. Get this wrong and you starve the rockers of oil and wind up with valvetrain failure and engine damage.

When Ford designed the 312 it made the main caps taller than the 292 cap, anticipating greater loads. However, the 312 rear main cap is at the 292’s height to clear the rear main seal holder and the oil pan rail. This makes it possible to install any of the longer main cap bolts in error from the first four main caps in the rear cap where they could bottom out. Some blocks are drilled deep enough to accept the longer bolts in the rear cap. This is not acceptable. There have been a few instances where the rear main saddle of a 312 cracked during assembly due to incorrect bolt usage.

Another problem has long been the incorrect torque specification of 120 ft-lb main cap bolt torque, which was printed in all 1956 factory and many repair manuals. This figure is excessive and has undoubtedly caused many of the cracked main webs in 312 blocks. Always torque main cap bolts to 95 ft-lbs. It is also critical to check the amount of thread that will be engaged in the block. Do not use main cap bolts in any Y-block that don’t reveal at least 7/8 inch of thread when placed in the main cap. This may require running a bottoming tap into the main bolt holes. Later 292 engines have significantly longer main cap bolts, an indication that Ford realized this need. Care must be used not to use bolts or studs that engage more than 1 1/8-inches of thread because the oil passage to the main bearing will be blocked.

Be sure not to use excessive-length bolts for the intake manifold. The intake manifold bolt holes in the head intersect push rod passages and too long a bolt can hit the push rods. Also be certain that the bolt holes in the heads at the rear of the manifold are plugged. These are the threaded holes that are unused but are drilled through into the push rod passage. Water, dirt, and other crud can enter the engine through these holes. Be sure to use short bolts, about 1/2 inch of thread so you don’t hit the push rods.

Check the 5/16-inch-diameter timing cover bolt length. If these bolts are too long they can contact the front cylinders doing extensive damage. Apply sealer to bolts that enter the water jackets. They are the two bolts above and below the water passages with four total.

Though all Y-block cylinder heads can be installed on either side of the block, after years of exposure to coolant the 0.906-inch holes at the front of the intake surface will not accept a freeze plug. When choosing heads be sure you have a usable left and right. And when installing heads be sure the corroded 0.906-inch hole is located toward the front of the engine. Be sure the hole at the rear of the head will accept a freeze plug or a temperature sender bushing. The corroded hole can be reamed to a larger size and an oversize plug installed. It is very discouraging to have two heads ready to install and find that they cannot be used as a set.

Remove all oil galley plugs and the oil filter adapter before having your block cleaned. John tells us he’s had the best luck by drilling out the center of the oil plug, leaving the hex. He adds after carefully heating the plugs with a torch they come right out.

Always have the block decks surfaced, main bearing bores align honed, and head decks surfaced. These castings distort after years of operation and heat-cycling.

Although most modern cylinder head gaskets are billed as not needing to be re-torqued always re-torque your cylinder heads. This should be done 500-750 miles after assembly.

Some people try to align the timing marks on the gears toward each other as is common on newer engines. This is bound to happen often because the replacement timing sets no longer have the pins marked for correct alignment with the gears. The marks on the Y-block timing gears aim toward the oil filter side with 12 pins between them. Please keep this in mind.

It appears that Ford used two different thrust washer thicknesses and cam plates. With the wrong combination there will be no camshaft endplay and failure is certain. Ensure at least 0.004-inch camplay endplay during assembly.

Replacement camshaft cores have a glob of metal between the last lobe and the distributor gear. On high lift cams this glob can be higher than the base circle of the lobe, which can do damage. Place a lifter on the last lobe base circle and be sure the lifter clears this excess material. These affected cam cores appeared around 2001-2003 and it is likely they’re out of the system.

Building a Y-block isn’t for the faint of heart because you have to be resourceful and know where to find parts and service. It is a numbers game because these engines have been out of production for more than 50 years. You’re going to need to source all of the castings or a complete unmolested engine in need of a little love. For a peaceful, fun-loving street engine you can build quite the 292- or 312ci Y-block and have plenty of power for the cruise. And torque is the kind of power you want on the street.

We’re at JGM Performance Engineering working with a circa 1956 ECZ-6015-C 312 block, which has been completely machined, including boring and honing, line-bore honing, decks milled, and bolt holes chased for ease of assembly.

The 312 blocks have the advantage of the 312 crankshaft without having to make modifications to clear the crank. The 312 block is quite expensive when you do find one and most have often been bored 0.040- or 0.060-inch oversize and must be sleeved. A good 292 block is your best bet. A 312 crankshaft must be modified to fit in a 272 or 292 block. Never use 292 pistons with a 312 crank and rods.

John Mummert, who is the most respected Y-block expert on the planet, tells us nearly any 272, 292, or 312 engine can be used for performance purposes. He adds 272 blocks can be bored to 292 ci. And, since all other internal components are the same this gives you a 292. The 292 pistons are easier to find, cheaper, and have a better ring selection. We’ve opted for cast pistons in this street engine.

These 312 rods have been reconditioned with new bushings on the small end and ARP bolts on the big end. Shot peening connecting rods also makes them stronger. For 272 and 292 engine builds use the best rods are the 1962-1964 C2AE forgings. For 312 engines use the 1961-1964 C1TE heavy-duty truck rods if you can find them. Cast pistons will work fine for most street applications. Opt for forged pistons if you’re going to spin it.

You’re probably not used to seeing tappets that look like this one. These “nailhead” mechanical tappets get lubed and installed from the cam tunnel. They get moly lube where they contact the cam lobes.

Tappets are installed in their bores like this from the cam tunnel prior to cam installation. You don’t want to forget the tappets and install the cam first. You will have to disassemble the engine and install the tappets.

This is how a Y-block camshaft should be prepped for installation with the journals smothered in engine assembly lube and lobes covered with moly-lube for proper break-in.

When Ford conceived the 312 it made the first four main caps taller than the 292 cap anticipating added load. The 312 rear main cap was left at the 292 height to clear the rear main seal holder and oil pan rail. Don’t get these caps and bolts mixed up.

The Y-block’s stock cam sprocket sports a counterweight to counterbalance the weight of the fuel pump eccentric.

Stock cast pistons are available from Speedway Motors. These are high-silicon alloy 0.040-inch oversize units. Ring sets are sold separately.

Pistons and rings have been bathed in engine assembly lube for a nice oil wedge on startup.

Rod caps are carefully fitted and torque to specifications one at a time along with a rotational check. Freedom of rotation is checked one cylinder at a time in order to isolate any problems that may arise.

The Y-block’s completed bottom end looks like this. Main caps were torqued to specifications one cap at a time, then checked for freedom of crank rotation.

When it’s time to rework the heads you have options. It is always good to touch base with a good cylinder head porter if you’re looking for real gains in power. Otherwise you will want to get a standard three-angle valvejob with hardened exhaust valve seat inserts. Stainless steel valves may be used as an alternative to the hardened seats.

The Y-block cylinder head is a head-scratcher to be sure thanks to these crazy stacked intake ports. They limit performance potential.

On the hot side, exhaust ports offer pretty respectable scavenging for a vintage iron head.

In an age of lightweight cast aluminum timing covers, a cast-iron timing cover offers its share of culture shock. It is heavy. There are bolt length issues with this timing cover and you must be very careful to get bolts in their proper places for face engine damage.

Mummert suggests bringing the pistons as close to the deck surface as possible to reduce risk of detonation. He adds detonation complaints have been noted with the pistons 0.030- to 0.040-inch below deck and the engine assembled with composition head gaskets. This increases the potential for detonation.

JGM’s completed 312 short-block is ready for heads and final assembly. Note the crisp machinework on top with clean decks. The message here is to have complete machinework performed in the interest of perfect mating surfaces.

The Y-block’s oiling system is set up where the pump is outside and the pick up is inside. Main issue here is potential leakage. Make sure all seals and sealing surfaces are clean and serviceable.

The oil pump is mounted here and driven off the camshaft mid-block. It is suggested you disassemble the oil pump and blueprint, checking all clearances before installation.

A weak spot on FE-series big-blocks is also a weak spot on the Y-block. There’s all kinds of potential here for leakage at the rear main seal cap because there are so many gaps. At each side of the cap where it mates to the block are seals. Bathe these seals in The Right Stuff from Permatex, which is available from Summit Racing Equipment. Dab The Right Stuff at the two top arrows where the gasket meets the pan. Do not overdo it.

The Y-blocks shaft-mounted rocker arms offer stability purely by design. Where you can get into trouble is installing the shaft upside down where rockers and valves become oil starved. Oil holes must line up with the pedestals.

Mummert shows us the wide variety of intake manifolds available for the Ford Y-block V-8. There are also multi-carb manifolds available. He adds the best Ford intake is the 1957 ECZ 9425-B single four-barrel manifold.

We like this bottom end stud girdle Ted Eaton of Eaton Balancing fabricated for his race-ready 375ci Y-block, which gives the Y-block the structural integrity of a cross-bolted main block.

The Mummert aluminum cylinder heads for the Y-block have netted as much as 80 more horsepower and comparable torque over the best stock iron heads. Look at the size of these intake ports over iron.

Exhaust scavenging is vastly improved over the oppressive iron castings.

High-swirl 60cc chambers and 1.94/1.54-inch intake/exhaust valves coupled with improved port design and the heat transfer benefits of aluminum make the Mummert head a great investment. What’s more, these heads are affordable.

Ted Eaton has proven the worth of a well thought out, constructed, and tuned Y-block stroker, netting more than 600 hp in competition. Of course to net this kind of power you must have an unlimited budget. For street use you can build a fiercely reliable Y-block capable of great usable low to midrange torque, which is exactly what you want for cruising and weekend racing.

This Eaton Balancing 374ci Y-block delivered 540.1 hp at 6,200 rpm along with 492.8 ft-lb of torque at 5,000 rpm, indicating a broad power curve from a very streetable engine back in 2010.

The post How to build a reliable, powerful Ford Y-block appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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jesusvasser · 7 years ago

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Inside the Treasure State Junkyard Trove Known as Rustless in Montana

Contrary to popular belief, classic trucks rust away in California, too. For yours truly, as a career body man in California, patchin’ up pickups was all in a day’s work for years. Still, all the while, I knew that others in other states were battling harder in the war on rust—in Montana, for example. But since packing up the shop and moving to that state, I’m surprised to find that hulks in the woods here aren’t really all that rusty. As it’s been explained to me, if they’ve been off the road, they’ve been kept clear of salt—or, worse yet, today’s magnesium chloride—and they do survive pretty well under snow. To illustrate the point, let’s take a photographic trip to a paradise for vintage pickup trucks, the Treasure State trove known as Rustless in Montana.

This corner of Hegle’s yard is only a tease and the total inventory is so vast that, toward the end of this outing, yours truly had truly had enough. No matter what you’re into, Rustless in Montana is an overwhelming adventure—and there’s no shortage of classic trucks.

In Montana’s Glacier County, the quaint little town of Cut Bank has been home to an inaccessible and constantly growing collection of old cars and trucks for years. But you know how these stories go: The part you need is in there, but sorry, stranger, it just ain’t for sale. The passing of time can change things, and health hiccups can change things in a hurry. Usually, when the collector’s kids become stuck with the mess, these types of things tend to end about the same, with everything sold by the pound and hauled off to the scrap heap. In this case, however, the previously private inventory won’t go straight to scrap, and the town’s scrap businesspeople are in fact playing an instrumental role in saving tons of tin that you just might like to know about.

With a small amount of minor surface rust showing through original paint—which could actually be repaired and preserved—this 1967 C10 could be a smart budget build. Since patina is in, it already has the look.

A year or so ago, Merle and Mona Shortman of M&M Iron, Shane Hegle of Hegle’s Sales & Service, and Dave Bell of Bell Motor Co. partnered up to purchase the good with the bad, and the long, arduous task of moving and sorting began. The initial idea was to hold a series of live auctions. When the first did not pan out as well as expected, the plan changed. At the time of this writing, Rustless in Montana is open by appointment to the public. Arranged in rows and covering 40 iron-rich acres, potential projects and parts are plentiful.

Still rolling and quite complete, this 1960 F-100’s horizontal expanses show bare metal where gray lacquer primer has broken down over time. From this angle and distance, rust-prone problem spots like the door corners appear solid.

From ground level it’s impossible to put this in perspective, but Rustless in Montana is kind of like a big, old outdoor orphanage with an overabundance of classic trucks in the mix awaiting adoption. With low-rust cabs, doors, fenders, and hoods standing in line around the outskirts of the acreage, this is an excellent source for real-deal steel—and in no worse condition than we’d find outdoors in California.

Rustless in Montana is overstocked with GM-brand 1/2-ton haulers. Most are longbeds, but that’s OK—we’ll find the fix in our Brothers catalogs. A shortbed conversion isn’t all that difficult, and this honest little 1964 Jimmy deserves one.

On that note, let’s continue with a little photo tour. Know that as we go, there’s an even wider variety of classic vehicles available here and that we’re focusing this time mainly on a small sampling popular pickups. Maybe you’ll see something useful for your current project, or perhaps the beginnings of your next build. If something catches your eye, give Rustless in Montana a call—and if you happen to remember, tell ’em I sent you.

Ford’s 1961–1963 integrated unibody pickups are rare finds today. This one is a 1962, in worn-thin original black. Nearby in the same row there’s another, in worn-thin original white. That one is a roller and a bit more complete but they’re both worth saving.

Equipped with ambulance/barn doors, this no-frills 1968 Chevy Suburban is almost certainly a former fleet vehicle. It’s just a rolling shell on a bent-up frame, but a parts-donor pickup would complete the package. There are several here to choose from, in fact.

By the push-button door handle and front fender shape, this Chevy panel truck is a 1952 or 1953. The Suburban next door looks to be a 1958. Here again, with parts trucks in abundance, these stripped but solid bodies are both attractive prospects.

Even without its original flathead mill, this little 1947 Ford should be snapped up quickly. Not today, however. The trailer in the background is here only for the 1959 Chevy Apache sitting next top it.

Among the less-popular, passed-over pickups we find a pretty honest 1963 Dodge. With engine room to spare, it’s worth consideration. Left unpainted and perhaps with distressed signage, this has the makings of a mighty-fine shop truck.

Since we’re drifting anyway, let’s brain-build another orphan. This short-and-sweet Studebaker is a 1949, and I’m pretty sure that Fatman Fabrication makes an independent front suspension kit for the application.

For those who dare to be different, older International Harvester pickups ain’t bad looking at all. It’s here on the other side of the fence that Shane Hegle’s personal yard is well-stocked with such trucks—and there’s even more to explore than this.

The post Inside the Treasure State Junkyard Trove Known as Rustless in Montana appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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jonathanbelloblog · 7 years ago

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Inside the Treasure State Junkyard Trove Known as Rustless in Montana

The post Inside the Treasure State Junkyard Trove Known as Rustless in Montana appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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eddiejpoplar · 7 years ago

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Cruisin’ with Jaguar Design Chief Ian Callum in a ’32 Ford on Woodward

If anyone else wore a grin anywhere near the size of the one on the face of Jaguar design chief Ian Callum at this year’s Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise, we didn’t see them.

“Fun!” he exclaims. “It’s fantastic to drive a ’32 Ford, which is a car after my own heart,” he says of the 1932 Highboy borrowed from Carl and Jeanne Booth. Callum has pulled off of Woodward Avenue to wait for his younger brother, Moray, Ford’s design vice president, to meet up with Ian’s makeshift entourage.

“First thing he did was try to catch up to the Jaguar I-Pace by laying down a good patch of rubber,” Carl Booth says of Callum and his Ford’s V-8 engine and its sensitive throttle. “He said, ‘Wow! That pedal is quick to respond.’”

Ian Callum drives his perfect Dream Cruise car: Carl and Jeanne Booth’s LS3-powered ’32 Ford, built by Brothers Custom Automotive.

Callum has attended the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, an event usually held the same weekend as the Dream Cruise, for decades. But Pebble moved back a week for 2018 to accommodate a golf tournament, so we conjured up this fish-out-of-water meeting by arranging Booth’s hot rod for Callum, who has a 351 Windsor-powered ’32 Ford coupe of his own back home in England. Woodward, however, turns out to be Callum’s natural habitat.

The makeshift entourage includes Bill Jagenow, driving his Flathead Ford Model T roadster; Autumn Riggle, driving Jeanne Booth in a lowered, custom 1956 Lincoln Premier—Jagenow and Riggle are partners in Brothers Custom Automotive, which built the Booths’ and Moray’s hot rods—and Bill’s 12-year-old son, Louis “Liam” Jagenow VII, riding shotgun in our Jaguar I-Pace photo car. I briefly imagine Liam participating in the Dream Cruise silently in such an EV in a quarter century or so.

Ian catches up with his brother, Moray.

Moray Callum arrives in a Lincoln Navigator, and we take a couple more laps of Woodward before gathering in front of Pasteiner’s Auto Zone Hobbies (car models and books).

“He’s got a goatee beard,” Ian says of Moray. “It’s most peculiar.”

The two brothers don’t see each other often enough. That may change.

I’ve retired from being a judge at Pebble Beach,” Ian says. “I’ve done it for 18 years. So I’ll probably be here next year,” when the events are again on the same weekend. “I’ll probably go to Pebble on Thursday and come back here Friday and Saturday.”

As Ian and I go to leave Pasteiner’s classics-jammed parking lot, a woman steps forward.

“Excuse me? Hi, my name is Catherine Johnston. I was told that you designed my car, the Jag F-Type.”

“Yeah, I did!” Ian allows, adding that he did it with a team.

“I have it here.”

“And you’re in tears!”

“I love that car. It is my most favorite car in the world, and I wanted to thank you.”

So far, the Dream Cruise isn’t that different for Callum than meeting prominent Jaguar owners at Pebble. And there are other designers to catch up with: Peter Davis, who worked for Fiat in Italy in the ’90s when Ian Callum was there for Ford; Wayne Cherry, General Motors’ sixth design chief; and Howard “Buck” Mook, a colleague during Ian’s 12 years at Ford. When the designers split up, Ian finds a 1941 Willys Gasser a block away.

“A friend of mine in England has got a Willys like that,” he says. “He actually drives it on the road. He’s got a cage in it; it’s a complete drag racer. It’s quite interesting because it makes a lot of noise. … Wow. Look at that! That’s a blower and a half.”

“I used to work on Corvettes,” says Bob Kinzer, owner of the Willys. “That’s an ‘outlaw’ fiberglass body.”

“The engine’s remarkable,” Callum tells Kinzer. “Do you know how much horsepower?”

Although he’s not one for green cars, Ian Callum is drawn to Keith Collins’ personally restored ’65 Ford Mustang 2+2.

“At least 750,” Kinzer replies. Like the cars on the Pebble grass, Kinzer trailered his car from Utica, Michigan, to 14 Mile Road, a couple of blocks away, then drove it the rest of the distance to his parking slot just off the curb.

Next, Callum studies a dark green ’65 Ford Mustang 2+2 fastback with a 289 V-8 and “Special Edition” painted on the rear quarter-panels. It’s not the sort of paint job that would earn it a space on the 18th fairway, but it’s the kind of homespun work that speaks to the spirit of the Dream Cruise.

“When it came out, I was struck by this very strong, powerful face,” Callum says. “That lovely shaped grille. It was very purposeful. And I really fell for that, it is really in some sort of way a kind of European car, which is a nice balance.”

Owner Keith Collins reveals it was white with blue stripes—the classic “A Man and a Woman” paint combo—when he bought it in Florida. “I’m still working on it,” Collins says. “Actually, it took a year to do all the major stuff on it.”

Callum is impressed with all these do-it-yourselfers and shade-tree mechanics on Woodward.

“I do appreciate a lot of the owners of the cars at Pebble Beach who do it because they love the cars, but it’s as much about the investment as it is about building them, which is fine,” he says. “I’ve got a few such investments myself. But everybody here is here because they love the car. They’re not interested in what it costs, what it’s worth. It’s worth more to the soul than to the wallet.”

Callum spots a ’56 Chevy with a crate motor, not unlike a car he sold recently. He did much of the work on his ’56 Chevy, including modern mechanical upgrades. Aesthetically, he’s fine with retro rods, not so much rat rods.

“I like honest cars,” he says. “But cars that have been patinaed and scratched intentionally, I don’t have a lot of time for that.”

As we continue walking, Callum says he’d like to have a 1963-65 Buick Riviera and considers the Bill Mitchell design era, at least up to the early ’70s, the pinnacle of American design. He likes post-Virgil Exner Mopars as well, pointing to a ’69 Dodge Dart GT convertible.

Let’s make a deal: Ian Callum tries to buy Carolyn Peters’ Super Bee at the Halls’ Dream Cruise Party.

“See, I like that. The simplicity of them. After the failings of the ’50s, they discovered this thing called ‘elegance.’”

Callum also points out a passing Meyers Manx and a 1969 Pontiac Firebird.

“The ’68, ’69 Firebird is one of Mr. Tata’s favorite cars,” he says, referring to Ratan Tata, who as then-chairman of Tata Group bought Jaguar Land Rover for Tata Motors from Ford in 2010.

Speaking of Ford, we encounter Mook again, who leads us to a wild yellow Mustang II, a V-8 with chrome SVT valve covers under the hood, owned by Greg Sauve. Mook is also responsible for the ’66 Pontiac GTO-based “Monkeemobile.” As for the Mustang II, Callum isn’t enamored with his friend’s most notorious design.

Ian with Jaguar PR’s Stuart Schorr and the author.

“[Lee] Iacocca said nobody over 30 was allowed to work on the new Mustang,” Mook explains. “We had a contest for two weeks. We had to do sketches, full-sized tape and everything, and Iacocca chose my design.”

“I remember your sketches,” Callum says.

“They were very exaggerated,” Mook admits. “We always used to do that here in America.”

Soon, Callum is off to a local Jaguar dealer’s party at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, 8 miles to the north. That’s too much like a Pebble Beach event, so instead we meet up with him later at the party of GM executive Jim Hall and his wife, Pam. Jaguar’s design director eyes the Halls’ ’63 Corvette and designer Dave Rand’s ’66 Jaguar E-type Series 1. Woodward has a reputation as an all-American muscle car and hot rod festival, but Callum understands Jaguar’s place among the Fords, Chevys, and Dodges.

“Jaguar’s the affordable exotic,” he says. “That was the mission. For a lot of people, these classics and these hot rods are affordable classics. They’re affordable exotics to them. It touches their heart the way that a normal car will not touch.”

He fawns over a 1969 Dodge Super Bee parked behind Rand’s E-type and tells me, “I want you to say in your story that this is the car I’d go home with.”

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robertkstone · 8 years ago

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First Drive: 2018 Ford F-150

The 10-year old inside me is freaking the hell out. I’m driving a cherry-red 1950 Ford F1 pickup truck. It is wonderful. With just 100 hp from its flathead V-8 and no synchros for the three-speed manual gearbox, it’s pure, honest, and majestic in its simplicity. It’s also a refreshing reminder of how far Ford and the F-Series have come, now 70 years on from the F1’s birth in 1948. Critical to that continuum has been a mantra of constant improvement, and from our first crack at the refreshed 2018 F-150 and its new powertrains, Ford is staying true to the lifeblood of the brand.

Life’s good over at the truck department in Dearborn, as the F-150’s big switch to an aluminum body for its all-new generation in 2015 has paid off. F-Series sales in 2016 totaled 820,799 units, far and away the best showing since Ford broke the 900,000 mark in 2005. So far in 2017, sales are nearing 500,000 units, which Ford says puts it 57,000 north of where the F-Series was last year at this time. Ford isn’t resting on its laurels though; not only does the 2018 F-150 get the usual styling updates and tech add-ons that come with a mid-cycle update, but also major powertrain changes yield power, torque, and fuel economy gains across nearly the entire lineup.

One big upgrade that makes this possible is direct-injection technology, now included alongside multi-port fuel injection in every engine available. Multi-port fuel-injection alone handles idle and low rpm situations, but as speed and pressure build, direct-injection takes on more and more of a role (port injection never turns totally off). Combined with Ford’s new 10-speed automatic (co-developed with General Motors), performance and efficiency take a fine step forward.

While Ford already included this fuel-injection strategy in its 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6, the new 3.3-liter naturally aspirated V-6, 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6, and 5.0-liter naturally aspirated V-8 are also on board. The 3.3-liter is the F-150’s new base engine, taking over for the outgoing 3.5-liter V-6. Despite the drop in displacement, output is up to 290 hp and 265 lb-ft, gains of 8 hp and 12 lb-ft, respectively. XL and XLT trims will offer this engine, mated exclusively to a carry-over six-speed automatic transmission. EPA figures for this powertrain improve by 1 mpg in both city and highway ratings.

I first hopped into an XLT SuperCrew 4×4. Once just barely out of earshot from the Ford event tent, my drive partner laid into the throttle with full force. Not bad. The engine makes very usable power, but it does so way up at 6,500 rpm, and it has to work pretty hard to get there. It sounds sad and brutal doing it, as well. And while the transmission usually does a good job of not hunting for gears, it’s a bit slow to shift and you really notice a big kick-down when you need to quickly dip into the throttle. That said, for a base engine, the new V-6 is far from an anchor, and I think most people who just want to get into an F-150 for cheap won’t be disappointed. Given the wide range of available features even at lower trim levels (this XLT had SYNC 3, heated seats, blind-spot warning with tow monitoring, and a bunch more), there’s more than enough to keep people happy.

Every other engine in the lineup switches over to the 10-speed automatic, starting with the 2.7-liter twin-turbo V-6. Direct-injection does nothing to change the 2.7’s 325 hp, but torque sees a healthy 25 lb-ft jump to 400. With the new gearbox, fuel economy for the 2.7-liter goes up by 1 mpg in both city and highway ratings for the 4×4 model. Of all the variants I drove, this engine was the one I’d pick for myself, and the one I think suits most buyers (Ford confirms that it’s already the best-seller of the bunch).

Our previous impressions of the outgoing F-150 2.7-liter were glowing about the engine but mum on the six-speed, which editors resoundingly panned for its reluctance to downshift and questionable gear selection. Those concerns are history. The marriage with this new 10-speed is indeed a happy one; gear selection is always on point and shift action is both smooth and consistent. At low speeds, there’s plenty of low-end torque to get going, and when I flipped the drive-mode selector into Sport and matted the gas, I was both surprised and thrilled with immediate downshift and forceful kick of the twin-boosted V-6 in the Lariat SuperCrew 4×4. With its flexible combination of towing capability (max. 8,500 pounds), fuel economy, and everyday performance, this is the powertrain to get.

Nevertheless, there are those for whom a V-8 engine is the only worthy choice. About 25 percent of customers opt for the old-school workhorse. The sound alone makes me understand why. When I dug deep into the power well, the entire cabin of the V-8-powered Lariat SuperCrew 4×4 filled with a bassy roar, and the smoothness of predictability of the free-breathing V-8 has a strong appeal. Total muscle is up by 10 hp and 13 lb-ft of torque, ringing in at 395 hp and 400 lb-ft. EPA ratings for fuel economy also increase by 1 mpg across the board, except in the 2WD city category, where it increases by 2 mpg. Still, even with the undeniable fun-factor the V-8 offers, unless you really need more towing or payload capability than what the 2.7-liter can muster, I’d go with the little V-6 that could.

Of course, ultimate performance from an output, efficiency, towing, and payload perspective still belongs to the top-dog 3.5-liter EcoBoost. My only time behind the wheel of an F-150 with the bigger twin-turbo six, which received direct injection for 2017 and carries over unchanged with an output of 375 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque sent through the 10-speed auto, was while launching a boat using the Pro Trailer Backup Assist system. While I was nowhere near the truck’s best-in-class max towing capacity of 13,200 pounds (its max payload of 3,230 lb is close; the V-8 gets top position at 3,270 lb), I had no trouble backing the boat into the water. Despite my lack of towing and trailering experience, it was basically point and shoot to maneuver the boat on the correct path. Once the calibration is set, all it takes is pressing the button to engage the assist mode, shifting into reverse, and using the rotary knob to point the trailer where you want it to go. The steering wheel takes care of itself, so all you have to do is watch the mirrors and adjust as necessary. Piece of cake.

In addition to that friendly piece of tech, the 2018 Ford F-150 also gets B&O Play audio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SYNC 3, 4G LTE with Wi-Fi for up to 10 devices, and an adaptive cruise control system with stop-and-go capability.

None of that fancy stuff was ever in the imagination of the original 1948 F-Series’ creators, but I like to think they’d be psyched to see what good seven decades has done for their truck. Better powertrains, more capability, and useful bells and whistles is nothing to complain about, after all. And once the new 3.0-liter Power Stroke diesel joins the mix in spring 2018 as the first-ever oil-burner in an F-150, there will be even more for Dearborn to brag about to their Detroit-area rivals.

2018 Ford F-150 Specifications

ON SALE Fall 2017 PRICE $28,000 (base) ENGINE 3.3L DOHC 24-valve V-6/290 hp @ 6,500 rpm, 265 lb-ft @4,000 rpm; 2.7L twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6/325 hp @ 5,000 rpm, 400 lb-ft @ 2,750 rpm; 5.0L DOHC 32-valve V-8/395 hp @ 5,750 rpm, 400 lb-ft @ 4,500 rpm; 3.5-liter twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6/375 hp @ 5,000 rpm, 470 lb-ft @ 3,500 rpm TRANSMISSION 10-speed automatic LAYOUT 2- or 4-door, 42800-passenger, front-engine, RWD/4WD truck EPA MILEAGE 17-20/22-25 mpg (city/hwy) L x W x H 209.3-250.5 x 79.9 x 75.5-77.3 in WHEELBASE 122.4-163.7 in WEIGHT 4,069-4,964 lb 0-60 MPH N/A TOP SPEED N/A

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automotiveamerican · 5 years ago

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How to Rebuild and Modify Ford Flathead V-8 Engines - Mike Bishop and Vern Tardel

How to Rebuild and Modify Ford Flathead V-8 Engines – Mike Bishop and Vern Tardel

Keep it mild or build it wild, but either way, How to Rebuild and Modify Ford Flathead V8 Engines will help ensure your flathead is delivering the power you need.

The ultimate Ford flathead resource for hot rodders and restorers.The last commercially produced Ford Flathead V-8 was cast over 60 years ago. Simple by today’s high-tech standards, during its performance reign from the late ’30s…

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itsworn · 6 years ago

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TROG Brings Street Racing to Drag Racing’s SoCal Birthplace

Back in 2012, a small drag-oriented event held on the East Coast called the Race of Gentlemen (TROG) shook the hot rod scene. Although it gathered only 15 hot rods and 15 motorcycles, it still captured the imagination of gearheads the world over. It was organized on the beach and featured aesthetics reminiscent of faded pictures glued in a 1950s photo album.

Over the years, other TROGs have come and gone, including one in 2016 that tread the sand of Pismo Beach, California (unfortunately plagued by stormy weather). Promoter Mel Stultz and his crew traveled back home afterwards, thinking another race was unlikely to take place on the West Coast. Yet, surprisingly, officials from the scenic city of Santa Barbara contacted Stultz in 2018 and asked him to have an event in town! They made it clear racing on the sand would not be an option, but how about using a street along the beach?

Willys Window: Hot Rod Ranch’s Gil Muro provided this unique perspective of Santa Barbara’s staging lanes through the tinted Plexiglas of his survivor Willys Gasser. Photo: Gil Muro

Stultz loved the idea, and so was born the TROG Santa Barbara Drags. He came to town with the support (and members) of his club, the Oilers, which had been established in Carlsbad, California, in 1947 and was revived a few years ago. The Oilers, with help from local enthusiasts, transformed Cabrillo Boulevard in front of Santa Barbara’s Hilton Beachfront Resort into an eighth-mile dragstrip, where 30 motorcycles and 70 pre-1935 cars entered grudge matches, with no trophy spoiling the fun. As a bonus, an exhibit called Customs by the Sea welcomed a selection of fantastic pre-1959 traditional custom cars.

Want to see more TROG action this year? The city of Wildwood, New Jersey, will have another can’t-miss sand-slinging event on October 4-6.

First in Line: Jimmy White, the owner of Circle City Hot Rods in Orange, California, hasn’t driven his well-known ’31 Model A much in recent years, but he decided to get it ready for the event. This old hot rod, found in Riverside, California, runs a nasty 334ci Hemi equipped with a 6×2 Weiand manifold. It had the honor of making the first pass of the day with Muro’s Willys, the cover car for our latest Gasser-themed issue (“Willys Fever,” May 2019).

Ex-Stocker: Roseville, California’s Jim Luke bought a 100 percent stock ’29 Model A, right down to its mechanical brakes. It had been restored decades ago. Over the course of a year he morphed it into this jalopy, keeping the original rails but installing ’40s hot rod specifics: juice brakes, a ’39 Ford gearbox, a 21-stud flathead, Sharp heads, a Thickstun intake manifold, an Isky cam . . .

Another Bird: We showed you Lynn Bird’s blue ’32 Ford three-window coupe back in March 2019 (“Distinctive Deuce”). Always the tinkerer, his latest endeavor is this great-looking ’25 Model T. It is motivated by a ’49 Mercury flathead that’s assembled with Offenhauser heads and an Edmunds intake. The body sits on heavily modified ’34 Chevy framerails. Bird won most of his races.

Raging Orange: One of the fastest cars running the eighth-mile, the historic Orange Crate (now owned by Steve Gilligan) wowed the crowd with its good looks and performance. Brothers Bob and Terry Tindle bought the ’32 Ford Tudor already chopped in 1959 and went on to transform it into a fast strip contender. It features a tilt body along with a Hilborn-injected 417ci Olds motor with a Potvin blower.

Bad to the Bones: Rolling Bones member Dick Deluna drives and races his ’34 Ford five-window (which has been chopped 6 inches) all over the nation. Check out the unusual grille from a Canadian Cockshutt tractor. Behind it resides a ’49 8BA flathead now displacing 284 ci. It received Stromberg carbs, Navarro heads, an Offenhauser two-carb manifold, and a Vertex magneto.

Heavy Chop: Back from making a pass, this is Tom McIntyre’s ’32 three-window Ford from the Rolling Bones crew. It performed well, courtesy of a ’54 Dodge Ram Hemi bolted to a five-speed ’box for long-distance journeys. The coupe additionally uses a Halibrand quick-change and an aluminum bellypan.

Pretty Penny: Alex Carlos struggled a bit to see the flagman behind the wheel of his chopped Penny Hemi Model T. Spectators loved the car’s track antics, watching as it flew down the eighth-mile thanks to a 354ci Hemi fed by a Weiand intake manifold and six carbs. A four-speed BorgWarner transmission gets the power to the ground.

Sushi and Louis: Team Throttle Racing from Japan entered the field with this (near lane) narrowed modified driven by TROG regular Atsushi “Sushi” Yasui. Behind it sits Louis Stands’ 1927 Ford roadster equipped with a 327ci powerplant from a ’63 Corvette.

Little Zip: A recent Craigslist find, this 1927 T owned by Reno, Nevada, resident Rory Forbes appeared to have been a California circle track racer as far back as 1949. On the dash resides a plaque stating, “Participant NHRA National Drags-1959 Detroit, Mich.” The roadster hasn’t changed much in the last 60 years, still featuring its Joe Bailon paint and Tommy the Greek striping.

Hot Rod Lady: Diana Branch owns both a colorful ’29 Ford roadster and this ’32 Tudor, running a Studebaker V8 bored to 299 ci, a Chevy five-speed transmission, and a Chevy ’57 rearend. The sedan’s good looks should be attributed to the 4 1/2-inch chop and 5-inch channel. The Glacier Blue Chrysler metallic paint does not hurt either.

Stude Study: Traveling with his wife Diana, Tom Branch joined the mayhem with his real steel ’32 Ford showcasing a 304ci ’63 Studebaker V8, hopped up with four Stromberg carbs. Fabian Valdez at Vintage Hammer Garage helped build the roadster, which is fitted with ’50 Pontiac taillights, 15×4 and 15×8.5 American Racing mags, and Inglewood slicks in the back.

The British Are Coming: These 1960s-styled Deuces are owned by two U.K. expatriates. In the near lane is Nostalgia Ranch’s Jay Dean with his 331ci Cad V8 five-window coupe, chopped 3 1/2 inches. In the far lane is Dice Magazine’s Dean Micetich with his three-window, which was painted in 1964. It relies on a ’55 Cad motor and ’57 Olds rearend. Dean dropped the driveshaft during this run, but got it fixed to participate again later!

Spirit of ’47: We introduced you to Paul Gommi in HRD’s Sept. 2018 issue (“The Way We Were”). The competitive racer brought his supercharged ’32 Ford roadster, which was built in 1947 and ran 129 mph at El Mirage shortly after. All eyes were on Gommi, who won his class at the 2018 RPM Nationals, but issues with the flathead’s block didn’t allow him to perform as well as expected.

Local Racers: The Hanssen family are the caretakers of these two racers built by Willis Baldwin of Santa Barbara. On the left is the ’49 Baldwin Special, and on the right, the bare aluminum C/Mod ’51 Baldwin Special used from 1954 until 1957 in SCCA competition. The ’49 Special runs a ’46 Merc flathead with a full-race Clay Smith cam, Edelbrock heads, and triple Strombergs; the ’51 Special is also powered by a Merc flathead, this one fitted with Ardun heads.

Welcome Back: It was good to see Gene Winfield in Santa Barbara, looking none the worse for wear after his European ordeal last year. He was attending a car show in Finland in September when he broke his hip in a bad fall. During recovery, he came down with pneumonia; that and other health complications made it impossible for him to fly commercially back to the States. A GoFundMe page set up to get him home reached its goal in just a few days, and he was back in the U.S. by late October.

Colorado Rods: The Lucky Tramps Car Club out of Colorado presented a couple of fine rides driven by an equally fine couple. Brooke Dolan drove the Deuce coupe with S.Co.T. supercharged flathead power and Navarro heads, while husband Daniel competed with a ’34 five-window Ford with a flathead V8, too.

Fun T Time: Tegan Hammond had a ton of fun racing the Hammond family’s ’27 Ford roadster. The powerplant of choice is a rare 1927 HAL double-overhead-cam four-cylinder. By the next decade, few utilized that engine, as it had been surpassed by Ford’s flathead V8.

Grandpa’s Headers: The exhaust on the banger engine in Jenny Boostrom’s ’23 Model T roadster was fabricated by Jesse Belond, grandson of famed exhaust maker Sandy Belond, using a vintage photo they found as reference. So far it’s the only one, but Jesse hopes to make more, “trying to keep Grandpa’s name out there.” Arch Gratz built the motor with a rare Thomas intake and head, and two Stromberg 81 carbs. Clayton’s Hot Rods in Santa Cruz, California, put the car together, which Jesse bought for Jenny as a Christmas present.

Barnes’ Find: A ’32 Ford coupe with the Pacific Ocean and Channel Islands National Park in the background—what’s not to like? The chopped Deuce belonging to John Barnes had been drag raced around 1951-1954. Lack of hood allowed spectators to admire the supercharged flathead V8 with Fenton heads.

Lake Refugee: Racing against Daniel Shircliff’s orange A is “Hudson Joe” Buffardi’s ’29 Ford roadster, prepared with an uncommon ’49 337ci Lincoln flathead. It is fed by dual Merc side-draft carbs on an Edmunds intake and runs a Potvin cam and Mallory dual-point ignition. It seems that the car raced at El Mirage in the 1950s through the mid 1960s. When Buffardi bought it in 2004 it was “just a body.” He fabricated the hood, nose, and grille. Notice the neat aircraft-inspired exhaust system.

Wheeler’s Wheels: David Wheeler is a regular racer, having competed at the TROG Pismo race and the 2018 RPM Nationals (see our Mar. 2019 issue). He made a handful of passes with his stout Model T.

As the Flag Drops: Tom Franzi of Germany is ready to hammer the throttle of his Model A, which was built in the mid- to late-1950s. He bought it about a week before the race. Seemingly painted metalflake in the 1960s, the 6-inch-channeled roadster with sectioned ’32 grille received a ’56 324ci Olds Rocket V8 at some point.

Harley Alley: The event wasn’t only about cars, as 30 vintage bikes made a ton of passes all day long. Incidentally, Harley-Davidson was a major sponsor of the Santa Barbara Drags.

Wayne’s World: This nice lineup of healthy motors is led by a not-so-common Wayne head-equipped 235ci Chevy six motivating Cedric Meeks’ ’34 Ford coupe. Cedric is the son of Russ Meeks, who won the Grand National Roadster Show’s AMBR award in 1972 with his well-known tilt-body, rear-engined Model A roadster.

Bronze Flame: Lars Mapstead is just the third owner of the Bronze Flame, a real-deal survivor of 1950s hot rodding that still wears its original lacquer flamed paint job over a steel (not aluminum) track nose fabricated by Sam Barris. Original owner Ed Donato raced the car at the lakes and the Santa Ana drags before putting it in storage for some five decades. The car is no museum piece, as Mapstead has run it at the RPM Nationals and the TROG beach race in New Jersey.

By the Sea: TROG Santa Barbara wasn’t only about hot rods. The Hilton’s rotunda also the terrific Customs by the Sea exhibit. It actually called for additional vehicles to be displayed on site, but regulations forced promoters to park a bunch of cars on the other side of the wall, facing the ocean. The two ’36 Fords belong to Alan Windard (Throttlers CC, Salt Lake City) and Jon Fisher (Burbank Choppers CC).

Refined ’50s: It was great to see two of the most elegant chopped customs built in recent years. Scott Roberts’ 1954 Mercury (foreground) cruises thanks to a 292ci Y-block. It features a bunch of traditional alterations: shaved door handles, frenched headlights, rounded corners on the hood and doors, and more. It kept company with Kelly and Mark Skipper’s ’51 Ford with ’53 Chevy teeth.

Buick Beauty: Steve Pierce selected what some might consider an unlikely candidate for a custom project, a ’40 Buick coupe. Among the most noticeable modifications: a top chopped 4 inches in front and 5 1/2 in the back, ’39 Ford headlights, and ’41 Cad bumpers. The color is reminiscent of Ford’s famous Washington Blue.

Grapevine Redux: Back in the day, spray gun extraordinaire Larry Watson prowled the boulevards of Kustomland in a ’50 Chevy that was first painted black and silver. He later resprayed the car in lavender, which is when it acquired the name Grapevine. John Denich owns this clone built with accuracy in mind, from the ’55 Olds headlight rings and side trim to the ’53 Chevy grille and ’54 Merc taillights.

Deuce Duo: The Burbank Choppers Car Club had a handful of rides on site, including this pair of Deuces. Jack Carroll drove the painted example to Santa Barbara. The 5-inch-chopped body shell sits on a chassis assembled by Lynn Bird. Unlike Carroll’s coupe, Deron Wright’s 283ci three-window (right) wasn’t channeled. He also drives it with five-spoke mags compatible with a 1960s hot rod appearance.

The 1,000-Mile Trip: Yep, Daniel Shircliff traveled in his daily driven Model A from Phoenix for the weekend, adding a thousand miles to the odometer. His Craigslist find was apparently built around 1961-1962 and last driven in the 1970s.

Antique Vibe: Blessed by beautiful weather, the staging lanes remained packed all day long. With 70 cars registered, each participant had the opportunity to make several runs. Palm trees as far as the eye can see contributed to the fantastic vibe of this inaugural get-together which, we hope, will return to the West Coast in 2020.

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itsworn · 6 years ago

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Barn-Find 1929 Ford Model A Roadster Gets New Life As Traditional Hot Rod

Kevin Beal has been involved with cars since he was six. As with many of us, the foundation of his interest came from his family. His grandfather had a great passion for Fords, and his father bought a new GTO in 1967. Though his dad sold the Goat in 1973, Kevin was able to buy it back 10 years later. He’d heard a lot of stories about the GTO, but had never actually seen it in person until he bought it.

The GTO ignited Kevin’s involvement in the hobby. Its restoration led to him to work for Ames Performance Engineering in Spofford, New Hampshire, which bills itself as the “nation’s largest supplier of classic Pontiac parts.” Kevin obviously found his calling at Ames, as he is now the company’s owner.

Among the first changes Eli English made was to swap the Model A’s stock tall wire wheels for a set of 17s from a ’34 Ford that Kevin had scored as part of a package deal with other Model A parts. They just needed to be blasted and painted after the spokes were determined to be true. Up front Eli mounted a pair of 550 Excelsior Stahl Sport radials by Coker, with 700/750s in back for a nice hot rod rake.

So, how did a Pontiac guy come to own a hot rod? Kevin met Eli English of Traditional Speed and Custom through his nephew, Ryan. Eli had brought Ryan on board, and an invitation was extended for Kevin to check out the shop’s traditional builds. Kevin was amazed at the work they were doing with mostly old-school hot rods, and he hit it off with Eli instantly.

It turns out Kevin had been thinking about getting a hot rod, wanting to relive the earliest days of his car passion when he would ride around in his grandfather’s roadster. Eli had a likely candidate for Kevin, a 1929 Model A roadster he had worked on years before for a farmer down the street. The car had been restored in the 1970s—Eli found car show judging sheets under the seat from 1979—but it had not run since the early 1990s. The farmer had been in ill health and asked Eli to get the car back into running order. Not long after the work was done, Eli heard that the owner passed away.

The windshield was chopped 4 inches and raked back 10 degrees to get an aggressive look. For the future, a top chop is planned to match.

The Model A then sat for another seven to eight years before the farmer’s widow approached Eli to see if he would be interested in buying it. The paint on the car was still in decent shape, and the rest had always been fairly well kept up, except that mice had gotten into the car while it was stored in a wood-floored barn. They were in the door panels and had even chewed through the roof in places. “It was like a mouse condo,” says Eli. “They were everywhere.” Nearly a dozen of the critters scattered when the roadster was pressure washed.

Eli found a customer to buy the Ford, but thought of the car again when he met Kevin. Kevin took the opportunity to pick up the roadster and knew Eli was the one to turn the bone-stock A-bone into a traditional hot rod ready to hit the asphalt at highway speeds.

The front bumper was removed and the stock headlights were mounted on a lowered bar to move them below the top of the grille. This accented the styling lines of the fenders and hood.

The first change Eli made was to dismount the factory 21-inch wire wheels and install 17-inch wires from a ’34 Ford, using big and little rubber to give the car a bit of a rake and some attitude. While this lowered the car a few inches, Eli knew it had more to go and mounted reverse-eye springs front and back. This not only dropped the car but also tucked the tires up into the fenders without a big gap, giving the car an aggressive stance.

To get the Ford to look even more aggressive, the windshield was chopped and raked back. The body was stripped of much of its equipment, including the spare tire and carrier, the lights, the etched-glass wing windows, and even the bumpers and their brackets.

While most of the body’s accessories—spare and carrier, wing windows, bumpers—were removed for weight reduction, Kevin kept the rumble seat. This way he could drive his family around to share the hot rod with them as his grandfather had done with him years before.

Because Kevin is tall, they took out the seat riser, thus lowering the seat 4 inches, then tucked the back of the seat 6 inches under the rear body panel so he would have plenty of leg room. Eli was able to reuse the old upholstery to complete the interior and rumble seat, and he kept the rest of the cockpit stock, including the gauges. They only had to buff the paint, including the dash, to bring back a nice shine with just a few cracks and patina to provide a clue to its age.

With the first objective met to simplify the roadster, next on the agenda was speed equipment for the motor. The stock four-banger received an updated head, header, and carb combo to get reliable highway speeds. This also meant the conventional unsynchronized three-speed transmission could be left untouched, as could the rearend. For an added traditional touch, the Model A retained its four-wheel mechanical drum brakes.

Since the stock L-head 201ci flathead is known to be on the slow side, a high-compression police head was obtained from Snyder’s Antique Auto Parts. This, along with updating to split headers and a Weber two-barrel carb with intake, provided a great combo for some “go” without a massive motor overhaul, leaving the internals as-is.

Altogether, this gave the roadster a little bit of hot rod and race attitude without a large-budget overhaul. It was certainly an exercise in simplicity by breaking the car down to its basic form to make it lighter and faster.

With childhood memories of riding in the passenger seat of his grandfather’s roadster, Kevin Beal decided it was time to relive those days that started his automotive passion. He was not about to pass up the opportunity to grab this 1929 Ford and make a hot rod out of it.

The Ford was converted to 12 volts using an FEI electronic distributor and the Model A generator.

The Ford’s original mechanical brakes provide plenty of stopping power for the roadster. A reversed-eye spring with a flattened pack up front and another reverse-eye spring in back, with one main helper spring removed, lowered the suspension by 2 to 3 inches. This setup allows the fenders to be perfectly positioned over the new wheel/tire combo.

Despite the mice that had taken up residency while the car was stored in a barn, the stock interior remained in decent condition. With some elbow grease and polish, the Model A cleaned right up, with just a few traces of patina as evidence of the long life it had led.

The seat riser was removed and the seat pushed back some 6 inches to accommodate Kevin’s height.

Eli kept the stock dashboard, including the center cluster with a working amp gauge. The stock shifter and three-speed transmission were retained with the car’s four-cylinder engine.

The modifications are fairly subtle but effectively set this Model A apart from the nearly 3,000,000 others that were sold in 1929. Hard to believe that this roadster sold for $385 in those days.

The results still capture the styling applied by Henry’s son Edsel and his Ford team without breaking the bank. It gives Kevin the perfect full-fendered little hot rod, built as it would have been in the late 1930s, that he can whip around and create new memories in.

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itsworn · 6 years ago

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1931 Ford Roadster Packs ARDUN V-8 Power

You could say that Bobby Hilton has reinvented the Model A Ford. His angry-looking A/V-8 coupes are seriously chopped and dropped, and they’re running vintage OHV V-8s (but not Chevys) with open headers. Hoods and fenders? Radials? Forget ’em. Big ’n’ little bias-plies, honey-finished interior wood, minimal chrome, and exceptional paint finish them off. Hilton’s hot rods ooze attitude. You can’t miss them—and they beg to be driven. Bobby and his clients think nothing of boogying from his shop in The Plains, Virginia, all the way to Austin for the Lonestar Round Up.

First time they did that, it rained like crazy, but all four of Hilton’s hoodless, fenderless coupes just hammered along. Nothing broke, and in Bobby’s words, “We flat had a ball, man.” An ex-drag racer whose wife Diane’s parents are famous drag racers Jim and Allison Lee, Bobby is down-home southern, through and through. His syrupy Virginia accent is sprinkled with jazz slang. He does most of the work on his cars himself, in a tiny shop that’s tucked away in a posh equestrian park. Don’t look for a fancy garage with matching tools. That’s not happening. Bobby has an artist’s keen eye for aesthetics, a drag racer’s can-do attitude, and the hands-on skills of a crew chief who knows how to do things right.

Bobby achieved national recognition when he built a chopped Model A coupe for Tony Lombardi of Ross Racing Engines, in Niles, Ohio. It was a Hilton-style car, for sure, but done with a bigger budget that permitted little more chrome and a lot better paint. Perched on Deuce ’rails, hoodless, and packing a 400-cid stroker Olds V-8 with a polished 4-71 blower, Lombardi’s Model A was selected as the Goodguys 2014 Hot Rod of the Year in Indianapolis.

“That whole Goodguys thing was the best,” Bobby grins. “And I had never even been to a Goodguys event before.”

Ask Bobby Hilton how he defines one of his cars and the answer is immediate. “It’s got to look pissed off.” His cars don’t have hoods. They don’t have fenders. The big V-8 motors are souped to the gills, and very nicely detailed. They’ve got that 4-1/4-inch chop and that sneaky little sunvisor. They are Model As with an attitude.

“Maybe I painted myself into that corner with these Model As,” Bobby admits, “but right now, I think it’s a good corner. I like them slammed in the front, man. They have flat front crossmembers. Put them down on the ground in the back, make the wheels follow the wheel. Put 7.50s, 4.50s on old steel wheels, get a nice rake going. They’ve got to have a vintage motor, and I like to keep real Ford parts on them. I try not to use a lot of aftermarket stuff in the suspension.”

Bobby’s a good mechanic because he had to be one from the outset. “I was raised at a time in drag racing where you were damn lucky if you had a professionally built chassis. Later on, Woody Gilmore built some cars for us. But I was working on race cars when I was 13. We did it all, man, from A to Z.” And he still does.

“We’ve been building those cowl steering boxes ourselves, in-house. That’s a big part of the look. They are F-100 truck boxes. We’re modifying the sectors on ’em and creating a center steer box, similar to a Schroeder setup, but more true to hot rods instead of being a racing box. Every one of my cars has one. I put a center steering setup in my son Tyler’s car 10 years ago. It’s not brain science. It’s got a lot of racing background in it. Plus, it makes it damn simple to get the steering around these vintage motors. Typically, they have the starter on that left side; they’ve got some big filter or something else going on. You wouldn’t be able to get a steering column in them if you wanted to.”

For a guy who’s admittedly not an engineer, Bobby is an intuitive technician with some ingenious solutions that don’t break the bank and work really well.

More builds and even more exposure followed the success at Goodguys. Bobby has a suite of 1932 Ford chassis modifications he likes. He uses original Ford parts wherever possible. Hilton’s “Angry A’s” are immediately recognizable with their fully exposed, 4-71 blown, OHV V-8 motors from Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, and Chrysler, flowing outside headers using reworked 1936 Ford driveshafts, flattened X-members, kicked-up 1932 Ford frames, Buick finned brake drums, 5-inch handmade dropped axles, and TREMEC five-speeds. Hilton Hot Rods’ Model As sit right and run like crazy.

But they’ve all been coupes.

A couple of years ago, Bobby told me, “If I had my grand plan of the world, I’d want to put a roadster of mine in the AMBR. I don’t have to win. I just want to get in line. I’ve wanted to build an East Coast, channeled-style roadster, with Tony’s motor and Travis’ paint. We could build such a cool car, man. Maybe do like an old-style 303 0lds with a LaSalle transmission and a chrome banjo … something to really make it pop. That AMBR thing is due for an East Coast–style car anyhow.”

So here we are … with just a few things changed.

Bobby Hilton’s AMBR contender, owned by Ray Enos, Sacramento, California, is a 1930-1931 Model A roadster with a Brookville steel body on a seriously Z’d 1932 Ford frame. It started with elegant renderings by Eric Black (eBDCo) in Portland. But take a closer look. This car will fool you. The body has been treated to what Bobby calls an “anti-section,” meaning a 1-1/2-inch strip of steel has been discretely added all around the lower perimeter. So the body now has more depth, like a 1932 Ford, but it still retains that classic upright Model A tight shape and early style stance. The 18-inch wheels perfectly follow the rear wheelwell’s radius. Bobby calls it “a wannabe Deuce,” adding, “when you put a Model A body on 1932 ’rails, it looks squatty. We released it, kinda raised it up for a little more girth.” You know something’s been changed here, and you like the proportions, but just what’s different is not immediately apparent.

About that engine … it’s not an Olds Rocket as Bobby once imagined, it’s a Ross Racing Engines–built 294-cid (3.315×4.25 inches) ARDUN V-8. The block and ARDUN heads are from Don Ferguson, famous for his modern reinterpretation of the classic Zora ARkus-DUNtov overhead valve cylinder heads. Tony Lombardi finished the block externally and performed all the internal machine work. There are custom billet pistons and a custom flat-tappet camshaft. That super trick finned Scintilla magneto is from an airplane engine that’s been converted to HEI. “We left the fan off,” Bobby says, “so you can see it, but it doesn’t overheat anyway.”

There are no mufflers, not even tailpipes, and the sleek four-into-one headers exit just before the doors. “It’s a hot rod, man,” Bobby says, “you don’t need mufflers.” The ARDUN makes a deep throaty racket, and it sounds like a Bonneville racer.

The fuel injection system, with its eight individual housings and tall chromed stacks, was adapted from a 331-cid Chrysler Hemi mechanical setup, and meticulously converted to EFI with high-pressure injectors, to run electronically. There are no visible fuel rails or anything modern. All the ports are matched. Tony Lombardi says it dyno’d at 322 bhp and 340 lb-ft of torque. That’s impressive from a naturally aspirated “flathead.” The polished powerplant features a Centerforce clutch and it’s backed by a T5 TREMEC five-speed gearbox. An open driveline leads to a polished Winters quick-change rear with 1940 Ford axle bells. “That’s all Classic hot rod stuff,” Bobby adds. The front wires are 17-inch 1933-1934 Ford steel spoke wheels. The rears are 18-inch 1932 Ford wires, widened in the back, with 5.25s and 7.00s for a decent rubber rake.

Other mechanical niceties include a 5-inch handbuilt dropped axle, Model A crossmembers, a 1933-1934 Ford-like center X-member, 1935-1936 Ford trailing arms, a custom V’d spreader bar, Bobby’s own design cross steering, Schroeder-style, with a custom draglink, tubular shocks (“those old-style lever shocks are terrible for long drives,” Hilton says, and he knows from experience), and buggy springs with reversed eyes, front and rear. The framerails are kicked up in the rear and notched to clear the front spring. The hydraulic drum brakes are early Lincoln style by Brian Bass (Bass Kustom) in Dallas.

Rare old Arrow accessory headlights with a discrete fin are mounted on vintage stands. The rectangular taillights are 1948 Kaiser, just to stay period but be a little different. The aluminum instrument panel, by Hartman Machines and polished by Jeff Smith, is old style with eight custom gauges from Classic Instruments. The steering wheel is a thin, four-spoke item from a 1948 Ford COE truck. I’d never seen one of these wheels before but it fits this car’s theme to a T.

The classy interior, by Mike Lippincott, aka Mikey Seats, is handcrafted of dark contrasting leather and there’s a subtle divider that makes quasi-buckets out of the bench. Bobby fabricated the aluminum transmission cover. The bare floor has polished wood panels. The door panels sport old-style door pulls and polished inserts (again by Jeff Smith), all tastefully done to a very high level.

Acclaimed painter and pinstriper, Travis “Tuki” Hess (Kolor by Tuki) from Bucky’s Ltd., in Martinsburg, West Virginia, was responsible for that Hershey chocolate finish. It was painstakingly rubbed out over the Christmas holiday. I visited Tuki, he’s a consummate perfectionist, when the freshly painted body was in his spray booth and he was seriously pressed for time. “I was supposed to get this in September,” he muses, “but we’ll get ’er done,” and he did. Tuki and John Shank were responsible for the bodywork; everything is as smooth as a baby’s bottom. The finish is flawless and the gleaming milk chocolate hue, Porsche Cockney Brown, contrasted with ebony black wheels and painted running gear, and very little plating is beautifully understated, like the subtle pinstriping and outlining by Jennifer Thomas. “It’s a simplistic car,” Hilton says, “and we built it to stay within the budget.”

Like many AMBR projects, work continued at a frenetic pace, right to the end. The Model A body and 1932 chassis, wired and plumbed, was trailered to Ross Racing Engines, in Niles, Ohio, near Youngstown, where they were mated with the freshly dyno’d and tuned ARDUN. Last-minute details were all accomplished over four sleepless nights and days, and they loaded up in a snowstorm for the Banzai Run West. Driving straight to Pomona through a blizzard, alternating drivers, so each one got a little sleep, they made it to the judges’ preview, in the nick of time.

An exhausted but exhilarated Bobby Hilton says, “Our goal was to get there. I’ve never been to this show before and I’m excited to be here.” The owner, Ray Enos, saw the car for the first time at the show, he likes classy cars and this was everything he wanted. “He trusted us completely to build it … and he loves it.”

The 2019 AMBR competition was very tough, but the Hilton Model A was definitely a contender. Approving spectators flocked around the roadster all weekend, many of them recognizing that something was very different about the shape of this car, but they were unable to articulate just what that was. … Says Bobby, “This car’s a Model A that wants to be a 1932 roadster.”

On Sunday, the AMBR winner was George Poteet’s spectacular 1936 Ford roadster, built by Eric Peratt and his talented crew at Pinkee’s Rod Shop, in Windsor, Colorado. That didn’t phase the Hilton gang one bit.

“We wanted to learn the ropes,” Bobby said, and we’ll be back next year.” “This is a simplistic car and it speaks for itself. The first time I’d put the clutch in was when we drove up to the judges’ stand. I thought I was out of my mind to just drop everything and do this, but it was worth it. We met a lot of great people and we proved we can compete at this level.”

It’s worth the trip. SRM

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itsworn · 6 years ago

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1955 Ford F-100: Practice Makes Perfect. Here’s the Proof!

Sixteen years ago, Captain Gary Fuller retired from the Knoxville Fire Department after 30 years of service, but retirement never meant slowing down. While actively managing his lawn service business, over the years Gary has also managed to find time to build three previous magazine-feature vehicles, a 1952 F-1, 1953 F-100, and 1955 F-100. Each one was better than the last and his latest, this Starflake Silver Metallic 1955 Ford F-100, is easily his best yet, thanks to the experience gained from earlier builds.

The 2-1/2-year effort began on Craigslist where he finally located a suitable project vehicle. The old 1955 body needed a lot of work so, like all of his previous builds, the first step was stripping the vehicle to the frame, boxing the rails, and choosing modern suspension upgrades. Heidts was the aftermarket supplier of choice, choosing their Superride II independent front suspension and their four-bar setup out back to hold the Moser 9-inch Posi rear fitted with 3.73 gears. Visible through the Foose 18-inch Knuckle rims are the drilled and slotted, four-piston, Wilwood 12-inch power disc brakes on all four wheels with Sumitomo 50-series rubber getting the rig rolling. Planning ahead while everything was apart, Gary mounted the brake master cylinder and battery low on the framerails to keep the firewall clean.

When it came time to power the truck, Gary has explored several options over the years. His last truck had a high-tech Flathead engine but this time he opted for something a little more modern, contacting the team at Performance Unlimited in Melbourne, Florida for one of their custom crate engines. Internally, his 347ci stroker V-8 sports an Eagle crank and rods that hold Mahle pistons. Edelbrock Performance aluminum heads were ported and polished for free breathing, accelerating the air/fuel mix from the Holley 750 Double Pumper. Gary chose a rear-mounted electric fuel pump to deliver a steady stream of 92-octane. Exploding the mix is the MSD Street Fire CDI Box and MSD Pro Billet distributor while extracting spent gases is the job of the Sanderson Block Hugger headers. They flow into an X-pipe, 2.5-inch black powdercoated exhaust, and a pair of Super 44 Flowmasters. The truck sounds great and the high-performance V-8 generates a stout 440 hp, multiplied by a Performance Unlimited–built C4 automatic that’s been strengthened to handle the power. Eye-catching additions in the engine room begin with painted-to-match inner fender panels and firewall. The distinctive air cleaner on top is a March Carbon Spider, color-matched to the black powdercoated Cobra valve covers from Ford Racing. The polished March serpentine pulley system manages the accessories. With the chassis and powertrain complete, cosmetics were next.

The cab was almost the only usable part of the project vehicle and it required lots of work. Gary welded new cab corners along with rockers and doorskins. Driprails were eliminated, the cowl was welded shut, and all the cab seams welded smooth. The doors received modern one-piece glass along with unique Kindig-It flush-mounted door handles. Rather than waste time and effort on rusted parts, Gary added aftermarket steel fenders, bed, and running boards but was able to salvage the original hood and grille. Enhancing the truck’s style lines up front, the bumper was eliminated and the pan smoothed. The grille was painted and headlights chosen that incorporated the turn signals. In the rear, the Mid Fifty roll pan incorporates subtle slotted taillights. Bedwork included welding teardrops on the rails and fitting the bed floor with exotic South American Leopard wood, separated with stainless steel strips and hidden bolts. The slight red cast to the wood blends in with the bright red brake calipers and the distinctive red interior.

Moving inside, the striking red leather package was done by Gary’s old friend Cecil Risden, the talented craftsman who has done all of Gary’s upholstery work in the past. How was that beautiful shade of red selected? When Gary ordered the ididit steering column, he also selected a Lecarra wheel that just happened to be wrapped in beautiful bright red leather. Holding it next to the silver dash, he knew it was the perfect shade. The red leather bucket seats and door panels have ostrich leather inserts that show a subtle silvery cast, tying in with the exterior. Separating the buckets, the new red leather console holds the chrome Lokar shifter. The carpet, door panels, and the lower portion of the dash all match perfectly. Gary chose a five-gauge set of Omega Kustom Black Top series instruments to monitor underhood activity. The gauge package is the only element on the dash now that the glovebox and the ashtray were welded shut. There is no stereo in the truck—Gary prefers motor music!—and there is no air-conditioning, with Gary opting for a clean look underhood and a minimum number of wires and hoses.

The finishing touch was paint, with Gary spraying the sparkling BASF Silver Metallic himself and his cousin, Sammie Morgan, from Knoxville, Tennessee, following up with subtle ghost flames. We photographed the newly completed truck at the F-100 Supernationals in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where it was unveiled with just 9 miles on the odometer. Gary’s ride took a class win and was the Classic Trucks Editor’s Choice. Gary and his wife, Rose, plan to show and enjoy the truck until that old urge resurfaces and it’s time to begin building cool classic truck number five! We’ll have our cameras ready!

Facts & Figures Rose & Gary Fuller 1955 Ford F-100

Chassis Frame: Original frame, boxed front and rear Rearend / Ratio: Moser 9-inch Posi rear fitted with 3.73 gears Rear Suspension: Heidts four-bar with adjustable coilovers Rear Brakes: Wilwood four-caliper, 11-inch discs, drilled and slotted Front Suspension: Heidts Superride II independent front suspension with adjustable coilovers Front Brakes: Wilwood four-caliper, 11-inch discs, drilled and slotted Steering Box: Heidts Superride II with ididit column Front Wheels: Foose 18-inch Knuckle rims Rear Wheels: Foose 18-inch Knuckle rims Front Tires: 225/50R18 Sumitomo HTR A/S Rear Tires: 235/50R18 Sumitomo HTR A/S Gas Tank: 17-gallon aluminum underbed

Drivetrain Engine: 347 Stroker V-8 built by Performance Unlimited in Melbourne, FL; polished March serpentine pulleys Heads: Edelbrock Performance Aluminum heads, ported and polished Valve Covers: Cobra valve covers from Ford Racing, black powdercoated Manifold / Induction: Edelbrock Performance aluminum manifold with a Holley 750 Double Pumper, fed by a rear-mounted electric fuel pump; March carbon-fiber Spider air cleaner, powdercoated black to match the valve covers Ignition: MSD Street Fire CDI Box and MSD Pro Billet distributor Headers: Polished Sanderson block hugger headers Exhaust / Mufflers: X-pipe, 2.5-inch black powdercoated exhaust, Super 44 Flowmaster mufflers Transmission: Performance Unlimited C4 automatic, strengthened to handle the power Shifter: Lokar

Body Style: Pickup Modifications: New cab corners, rockers, and doorskins with Kindig-It flush-mounted door handles, driprails eliminated, cowl welded shut, cab seams welded smooth, doors received one-piece glass Fenders Front / Rear: Steel aftermarket from Midwest Early Ford Hood: Steel original, custom hood hinges from Mid Fifty Grille: Painted original Bed: Steel aftermarket bed from Midwest Early Ford with painted Ford logo, custom roll pan, and inset license plate, South American Leopard wood planks with stainless steel strips and hidden bolts Bodywork and Paint by: Owner, Sammie Morgan, in Knoxville, TN, for the ghost flames Paint Type / Color: BASF Starflake Silver Metallic Headlights / Taillights: Headlights with turn signals, Mid Fifty roll pan with slotted taillights Outside Mirrors: Polished billet from Mid Fifty Bumpers: Eliminated

Interior Dashboard: Smooth, painted-to-match; glovebox and the ashtray welded shut Gauges: Omega Kustom Black Top series Air Conditioning: None Stereo: None Steering Wheel: Lecarra wrapped in red leather Steering Column: Chrome ididit Seats: Bucket seats from 2003 Dodge Intrepid separated by a custom center console Upholstery by: Cecil Risden from Heiskel, TN Material / Color: Red leather with subtle silver Ostrich inserts Carpet: Red

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itsworn · 6 years ago

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Mickey Thompson Hits 400, George Barris Builds an Air Car, and Flying Caduceus Launches Bonneville’s Jet Age in 1960

Ancestors

With so much action occurring simultaneously in so many regional hotbeds this year, no single magazine staff could hope to be in all places at all times. Robert E. Petersen’s unique advantage was owning multiple titles, each employing specialists who overlapped into the print equivalent of an automotive internet. Moreover, “Pete” could test the potential of any emerging market quickly and relatively cheaply by utilizing in-house editorial and production people to either start a publication from scratch or spin one off from an established Petersen title, then heavily promote the new project in the others.

This year, go-kart-crazy Car Craft launched an offshoot called Kart, packed with ads. Similarly, Motor Trend soon spawned competition-oriented Sports Car Graphic. Immediate, widespread widespread distribution of anything new was assured by a North American dealer network already profiting from Pete’s established monthlies, plus a steady barrage of thicker, higher-priced, “special edition” Petersen annuals, how-to books, racing compilations, and other recyclings of previously published articles and photography.

As the go-kart craze took off, drag and lakes racer Charles Scott’s muffler and dyno shop diversified into manufacturing pintsized performance parts. Sons George (left) and Billy Scott respectively demonstrated the differences between a conventional quarter-midget roadster and a rebodied, dual-purpose kart. “Billy the Kid” advanced to fuel and gas dragsters as a young teen and, ultimately, to champ cars, finishing 23rd in the 1976 Indy 500.

We’re sharing this ancient history to illustrate how the vast Petersen Publishing Company photo archive came to acquire an incomparable range of subjects. This year’s vehicular variety foretold the unprecedented strangeness of the decade to come. Among other oddities, Pete’s road warriors documented beatniks and bubbletops, a fighter-jet engine on wheels, four V8s on wheels, and a show-winning custom “car” with no engine and no wheels. They covered the first 400-mph American car and driver, tested a new wave of “medium compacts” from all three of the Big Three, and chronicled sleepy Pontiac’s seemingly sudden emergence atop auto racing (the GM division’s reward for three years of discreetly circumventing Detroit’s 1957 agreement to stop sponsoring, supporting, or even promoting high performance).

While those lucky guys enjoyed virtually unrestricted access wherever they flashed a Petersen business card, only a tiny fraction of their photos were published at the time. Whereas anything in print had passed scrutiny from the editors, advertiser-conscious publishers, and all-powerful editorial director Wally Parks, the rest of the story often went unseen and untold due to political, business, personal, or space considerations. It’s these unpublished outtakes that deliver deeper, truer insight into scenes unfolding right in front of staffers’ lenses—but subsequently kept behind the curtain separating us mere mortals, the readers.

Norm Grabowski continued living every young male’s dream life, driving hot rods and acting in B-movies and television shows alongside Hollywood’s hottest honeys. Mamie Van Doren posed for HRM’s Eric Rickman in Norm’s ’25 T to promote a forgettable film with an unforgettable title, Sex Kittens Go to College. Still powered by a flathead here, the red touring soon acquired a hot Chevy V8, landed its own TV series (My Mother the Car), and found a new owner, studio-photographer Kaye Trapp. SoCal drag fans watched it push-start both the Zeuschel, Fuller & Moody AA/Fueler and the MagiCar that Trapp campaigned in partnership with Ron Winkel. (See Aug. 1960 HRM.)

Some of the artists’ faces appear here, frozen in time by mischievous colleagues always armed with cameras. Almost all of them are gone now, nearly six decades after so much of their best 1960 work was developed, dried, sleeved, labeled, filed, and forgotten, forever—or so it must have seemed to our frustrated editorial ancestors. It’s our pleasure to prove them wrong here in the next century.

Motor Trend magazine’s Aug. 1960 Indy 500 coverage bemoaned rain delays during both qualifying weekends that reduced attempts by 66 entries. Soggy fans were effectively repurposing handout copies of an Indianapolis daily when Petersen Publishing Co. (PPC) photo chief Bob D’Olivo happened by. (Kiddies, don’t try this with your smartphones or tablets.)

Imagine a Daytona International Speedway parking lot—or any parking lot, anywhere in America, today—without a single crew-cab pickup or so-called sport utility vehicle as far as the eye can see. Petersen editorial director Wally Parks, also NHRA president, shot the photo during Daytona’s Speed Week, undoubtedly envying NASCAR’s booming popularity. (See Apr. 1960 HRM; Apr. and June 1960 MT; Sept. 2016 HRD.)

Technical editor Barney Navarro helped make Motor Life a respected monthly both before and after parent Quinn Publications was acquired by rival publisher Robert E. Petersen. Navarro broke the story of GMC’s groundbreaking V6 in the May 1960 issue and offered a prescient prediction: “Granted, the new powerplant can be found at this time time only in a pickup truck, but such a unit certainly has possibilities for future passenger-car power.” The same article teased readers with a small factory photo of the 12-cylinder, 610-cubic-inch prototype that GM engineers created by aligning two of these engines inside of a single crankcase and oil pan.

Staff photographer Colin Creitz captured a scene that could have been Anywhere, USA, this season. A similar exposure from the top of this grandstand led off Barney Navarro’s tips for “Stock Car Drag Racing” in the June 1960 Motor Life. If the wall of hay bales seems familiar, the little track situated just over the hill from Hollywood provided a convenient midweek location for automotive-themed films, television shows, and commercials. We recognized the starter on this sunny Sunday as future world champ Jimmy Scott, a recovered street racer who had been unofficially “sentenced” to strip duty by the City of San Fernando’s Judge Morgan, who moonlighted as track manager in the 1950s.

Many of the negatives selected for this series were both composed and processed by the same PPC employee: Pat Brollier. Equally skilled as a photographer and a lab technician, he enjoyed a long career on photographic director Bob D’Olivo’s team.

It’s hard to believe that such great action and from such a rare angle wasn’t published at the time, somewhere, but what we cannot find in our incomplete collection of PPC magazines qualifies for Backstage Past consideration. The surprisingly stock Burkhardt, Brammer & Wilson ’29 on ’32 rails is boiling the biggest balonies like a dragster at Riverside because it ran like one, and then some. NHRA Museum curator Greg Sharp cited 1958 evidence that then-driver Howard Eichenhoffer’s 212.264 mph in the dirt was the best by any dry-lakes car, including streamliners and lakesters. Mike Burns and Don Rackemann also spent time in the seat. A Sept. 1959 HRM feature called it the world’s swiftest drag roadster at 9.81/156.79. Its front-blown, nitro-burning, 341ci DeSoto was backed by a ’39 Lincoln tranny using high gear only.

Alternate angles of this odd setup started appearing this year in Motor Life subscription ads ($3 per year) and also atop Motor Trend’s “Rumors” column. The unidentifiable executives and ad reps pretended to peek at what appears to be a Corvair sedan, wrapped in one of the first car covers we have found on film. The high angle reveals the close proximity of neighbors to the employee parking lot, where countless car features were shot for Petersen publications (at 5959 Hollywood Boulevard).

Bob Petersen’s hiring philosophy favored enthusiasm and wrenching expertise over writing ability. “Pete” got all three in Ray Brock, the HRM tech editor credited with designing and managing the first thrust-powered land-speed car—despite the reality that only wheel-driven vehicles were eligible then to set the unlimited LSR. Still under construction in this late-April photo, the Flying Caduceus would hit the salt in late summer for a series of disappointing shakedown runs. Collapsing air-intake ducts and a scary front-end shimmy restricted recorded speeds to less than half of owner Nathan Ostich’s 500-mph target. (See Apr. and Oct. 1960 HRM; Aug. 1960 R&C; July 1960 MT; Dec. 1960 ML; Jan. 1961 CC.)

Did he or didn’t he? From the empty starting line and serious looks on these faces, we suspect that some discussion ensued. All we know is that the rubber was burned during a big May meet at Inyokern, California, where entries included the pretty Kurtis sport special of record-setting City of Industry, California, councilman Sam Parriott (waiting to run).

A July ’60 MT editorial titled “The Vanishing Mechanic” expressed concern that new-vehicle production was outpacing young technicians entering “the field of auto mechanics.” One promising sign was the record number of schools and students participating in Plymouth’s annual Trouble-Shooting Contests. Since the concept was introduced with a single Los Angeles event in 1954, contests had spread to 16 locations nationwide, involving nearly 1,000 high school, vocational, and community college students in two-person teams. Factory mechanics planted various gremlins in the Plymouth engines (e.g., “Most-overlooked malady was cork in the intake manifold, causing engines to run on four cylinders.”).

HRM Editor Wally Parks commissioned what must have been the first-ever V8 swap into a Comet. This roll of film was processed on June 3, barely three months after the model’s March introduction. We wonder how FoMoCo executives reacted to subsequent articles explaining how modified ’40 Ford Hurst-Campbell mounts enabled a painless conversion (“no cutting needed”) from the weak Ford-Mercury inline-six to a Duntov-equipped 283 Chevy. (See Aug. 1960 HRM and MT.)

The guy running the Chrondeks at Pomona for NHRA’s regional meet couldn’t have imagined the advances coming to timing systems—and “timing towers”—over the next six decades. HRM’s Eric Rickman went backstage to get the shot.

Imagine the look on the face of an unsuspecting tow-truck driver instructed to “get the big spare out of the trunk.” Firestone’s development of 48-inch-diameter rubber specifically for unlimited-LSR attempts greatly enhanced both the safety and speed of “record racing” in the 1960s. This early tire rolled under the Flying Caduceus, mounted on a giant wheel also designed and manufactured by Firestone.

Ed Roth followed up 1959’s revolutionary Excaliber/Outlaw showstopper with the Beatnik Bandit. This time the entire body was one piece, mounted on a shortened ’50 Olds frame. Fritz Voigt, Mickey Thompson’s engine builder, hopped up the Rocket. Rod & Custom contributing artist Joe Henning’s initial illustrations called for a fixed roof, but Henning went back to the drawing board after Roth requested a bubbletop. Less than five months after Bud Lang stopped by the shop this August, the completed Bandit would steal the annual show in San Mateo, California. (See Mar. and May 1961 R&C; May 1961 CC.)

Newly outfitted with four 6-71 GMC blowers beneath two tall “blisters,” front-wheel skirts, and a narrowed tail section, Challenger I returned to the Bonneville Nationals in August and earned Mickey Thompson’s third-consecutive HOT ROD top speed trophy (365.330, one way). The first 400 and fastest single run by an American would wait for a private session on September 9, when M/T hit 406.600 before blowing one Pontiac early into the backup pass. (See Nov. 1960 HRM; Dec. 1960 ML; Jan. 1961 CC.)

Two Petersen-affiliated players who never avoided a spotlight were Car Craft editor Dick Day and frequent PPC contributor George Barris, whose photography and how-to articles were regularly seen by millions in HRM, CC, R&C, even Motor Life and Motor Trend. The customizer is shown accepting one of two awards earned by his XPAK 400 in Detroit during Labor Day weekend. NHRA staged this second National Custom Car Show in conjunction with its National Drag Championships.

After Ed Roth stole his thunder with the groundbreaking Excaliber/Outlaw, kustom king George Barris countered with the XPAK 400 Air Car of the Future. Dual 4hp jet-aircraft-starter motors, remotely controlled by a pushbutton box, spun a large fan that supposedly elevated the Jack Sutton aluminum body above a rippling parachute “on a five-inch cushion of air.” Critics maintained that hidden hydraulic jacks were doing the lifting, but we have seen no underside photos. Barris claimed the metalflake finish to be the first commercial application of a Dow Chemical process involving “a million particles of chromed aluminum.” (See Jan. and Mar. 1961 CC.)

Two youngsters who seemed as if they’d live forever were checked prior to October’s Los Angeles Times-Mirror Grand Prix for Sports Cars. Dan Gurney went on to smash the track record in a mid-engined Lotus and led the USAC event until he was sidelined by a blown head gasket. Carroll Shelby finished Fifth in a Maserati. American Hot Rod Foundation curator Jim Miller recognized the industrial surroundings as Riverside International Raceway’s newly constructed garages, and wonders why these checkups were not performed in the track’s medical center as usual.

Near the end of October, publisher Robert Petersen evidently commandeered a new ’61 Chevy wagon for a hunting expedition. Yes, that’s an unlucky eagle displayed in staffer Neal East’s photo.

We can’t say where or why the exotic CERV-I (Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle I) was parked amongst these late-model Chevys—outdoors, yet—in November, following rare exhibition runs during Riverside’s Grand Prix weekend. Designer Zora Arkus-Duntov, Stirling Moss, and Dan Gurney took turns behind the wheel. Then-exotic goodies included cast-magnesium injector stacks and an aluminum 283 block and cylinder heads (90 pounds lighter than iron), a four-speed case, a water pump, and a starter-motor case. Suspecting the location to be Bill Thomas Race Cars, GM’s southern California skunkworks, we shared the photo with Brian Brennan, who worked there in high school. The longtime Street Rodder editor ruled that out, but the building looked familiar. Brennan suggested that the absent exhaust system might indicate a stop at the nearby Orange County shop of Jess Tyree, a buddy of Bill’s who built headers for some of his projects.

PPC’s Christmas parties in the early years were legendary. This one evidently involved a Roaring ’20s theme for which editorial director Wally Parks, HRM photographer Eric Rickman, and three unidentified accomplices were properly attired.

The post Mickey Thompson Hits 400, George Barris Builds an Air Car, and Flying Caduceus Launches Bonneville’s Jet Age in 1960 appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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jesusvasser · 7 years ago

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Inside the Treasure State Junkyard Trove Known as Rustless in Montana

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jonathanbelloblog · 7 years ago

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Inside the Treasure State Junkyard Trove Known as Rustless in Montana

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itsworn · 7 years ago

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Inspired by a Historic Deuce, a Hemi-Powered 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe Charts Own Path

One Deuce coupe follows another, but not all play by the rules. Take the blue-green three-window example here, the property of Lynn Bird. Besides the somewhat unusual color, the car stands out thanks to the fender treatment, with a bobbed pair fitted to only the rear. This look gained acceptance during the 1950s, due in part to projects such as the highly revered Lloyd Bakan maroon three-window. It appeared in Rod & Custom magazine in 1956 (featuring motorcycle fenders in front) and on a memorable cover of HOT ROD magazine in October 1957. Parked next to a swimming pool with two bathing beauties posing next to it, the vehicle created quite a stir at the time. (Eric Rickman took that photo standing on a ladder in the pool.) It was also selected to be displayed at the 2007 Grand National Roadster Show as part of a special exhibit celebrating the 75 Most Significant ’32 Ford Hot Rods of All Time.

Lynn Bird’s Deuce isn’t a highboy, nor is it a full-fendered car. It hovers somewhere in between. The idea of installing fenders in the back but not in the front isn’t new, as several hot rods built in the 1950s adopted this configuration, including the Lloyd Bakan three-window coupe.

An outtake from Eric Rickman’s June 1957 photo shoot of Bakan’s coupe shows the similarities between it and Bird’s Deuce.

Bird’s knowledge of the Bakan coupe is a testament to his appreciation for traditional hot rods, not a big surprise considering he has been wrenching on them since the 1960s. The former building engineer, now retired, recalls, “I grew up in the South Bay [southwest of L.A.—ed.], graduating in 1967. The local scene was more about ’55 Chevys and such. There were very few hot rods, but that was my interest, because I started when I was 12 with car models. They were really big in the 1960s. They made ’32 Fords, coupes, and all kinds of neat kits.”

The South Bay offered a great car scene, and he remembers cruising to an A&W Root Beer stand in Carson, a hopping place at the time. Although hot rods remained a rare occurrence, the scene began embracing them once again in the early to mid-1970s, with folks starting to build resto rods.

The use of 5.50-16 and 7.50-16 bias-plies contribute to the coupe’s rake. These Firestone tires fit over genuine 16×4 and reversed 16×5 Ford wheels. In the back, note the bobbed fenders, though Bird is toying with the idea of mounting four stock fenders.

The front suspension utilizes a mix of well-tried and timeless components: Mordrop beam dropped in the 1960s, Pete & Jake tube shocks, split wishbones, 1932 spindles, and vintage Ford F-100 steering box. The factory grille insert painted off-white is a neat touch.

Bird’s journey through our hobby involved a ’39 Ford coupe during high school, followed by many other interesting rides, such as a ’32 Ford five-window coupe and a ’30 Dodge truck. Around 1990, he grew tired of the street rod/billet scene, so he went back in time and built a chopped ’56 Ford with no modern amenities. This led to connecting with the Chislers Car Club, which would eventually morph into the Burbank Choppers before the turn of the century. Bird, who wrenched on friend’s cars as a side job, ended up helping such club members as Jon Fisher, Aaron Kahan, and artist Keith Weesner with their projects.

Having developed close ties with other likeminded enthusiasts, Bird also launched a private annual cruise called the Palos Verdes Hot Rod Run, gathering a who’s-who of the SoCal scene. It allows him to enjoy his numerous vehicles, including three Ford pickups dated 1927, 1929, and 1932. But he has many other treasures in his garage, such as a ’32 Victoria, and a dozen cars waiting to be revived.

A genuine Southern California Timing Association badge bolts to a chromed, dropped headlight bar, which also welcomes a pair of BLC headlights. This desirable SCTA memento was given to Bird by a good friend.

To efficiently stop the vehicle, Bird selected fresh Bendix-style 1940 Lincoln drums for the front, a setup HOT ROD magazine described in “For Show ’n’ Whoa” (Nov. 2013; bit.ly/2JMTsl1). A ’57 Ford supplied its rearend with drum brakes.

And then there’s the blue-green ’32 coupe on these pages. While the history of its last four decades has been well documented, not much is known before that (see sidebar). Bird has performed the resurrection pretty much on his own, starting with the original chassis, fitted with a sturdy X-member. It then received a heavy Deuce dropped I-beam and a 9-inch Ford rearend, guided by ’36 Ford wishbones and rear springs. Combining a 3.55 ring-and-pinion and a 1963 BorgWarner T10 transmission make for comfortable freeway drives, with the V8 happily humming at acceptable revs.

Speaking of the engine, Bird selected a 270ci Dodge Red Ram Hemi due to its good looks and fairly small dimensions, especially compared to the larger Chrysler and DeSoto Hemis. This powerplant, which equipped a sizable portion of the 1955 Dodge line, has been hopped up by our man with various 1950s components, the most obvious being the trio of Stromberg carbs sitting atop a 3×2 Offenhauser manifold. Check out the handsome 1953-1954 Dodge Red Ram valve covers, too, along with the BorgWarner coil and vintage Echlin voltage regulator mounted on the cherry firewall. Other contemporary, reliable parts hide inside the block, including Ross pistons and an Iskenderian camshaft, an appropriate brand considering Ed Iskenderian founded the company just after WWII. Burnt fumes make their way out via a stainless system crafted by Bird.

Whitewall tires and wheels painted a light shade always seem to work on a hot rod dressed with a dark color. Aftermarket Deluxe hubcaps could be purchased from a variety of companies during the 1950s, a great choice for a 1932 Ford.

With help from his wife Virginia, Bird crafted the simple, tasteful upholstery using long-lasting marine-grade vinyl. You can also distinguish the 1948 Lincoln steering wheel and an old shifter from the Hurst line.

With the rolling chassis handled, he could then concentrate on reviving the shell. The menacing hot rod attitude comes courtesy of a severely chopped top, respectively 3 3/4 inches front and 3 1/4 back. The rest of the body remains stock, including the three door hinges on each side. You might believe the exterior color came from a 1950s automobile paint chart, but not so. Bird mixed his own hue and applied it in a makeshift spray booth in his home garage, with excellent results.

Other cleverly picked parts dress the shell, such as ’48 Chevy taillights, owner-made rear nerf bars, and a pair of round vintage mirrors of uncertain origin, typically found on British cars. A jack of all trades, Bird also handled the interior amenities, starting with the seat covers and door panels. It ultimately took more than four decades to revive this old hot rod, but Bird is pleased to now drive a rare Deuce, built entirely by himself on a somewhat limited budget.

The dash retains some of its stock amenities, such as the engine-turned insert and glovebox to the right, the latter being unique to Deluxe (three-window) Deuces, with the exception of European-made ’32 sedans (but they did not feature doors). Three Stewart-Warner gauges reside in the middle.

Within the 1950s Hemi family, Dodge’s 270ci Red Ram offers the advantage of being fairly compact, thus allowing builders to keep the firewall unmolested on a ’32 Ford. Having no hood sides improves cooling, but Bird says he might install them in the future—should they clear the valve covers.

Bolted to the 1955 Hemi, the polished Offenhauser manifold welcomes a trio of Stromberg 97s. A Mallory distributor dispenses the sparks to the cylinders.

After hot rodders came back home following their WWII stints all over the world, they saw fit to adapt a variety of repurposed army goodies to their jalopies. Among them: bomber seats and gas mask bags that were used as a storage “compartment” in the cockpit. Some folks also converted canteens into radiator catch cans, as seen here.

A vast assortment of race cars used nerf bars in the 1950s, so they also became quite popular on hot rods by the middle of the decade. We dig the nicely curved, owner-made pieces, which perfectly complement the chrome spreader bar. The vintage license plate, surrounded by a Bell Auto Parts reproduction frame, adds some contrast to the custom blue-green paint job. Such yellow plates with black characters prove period-correct for this project car, as they were available between 1956 and 1962 in the Golden State.

An Uncertain Past Finding an old, historically significant hot rod might seem like a tantalizing prospect at first. However, with such discovery comes responsibility. The new owner needs to take the vehicle’s history into consideration during the rejuvenation. In other words, it’s often expected that the restorer will return the car to how it was seen during a certain period, looking like it did in, say, a specific 1950s magazine article. It can be a daunting commitment.

Lynn Bird did not face such a hurdle, as his long research regarding this coupe led to nothing conclusive, really. Some might have considered it a disappointment, but Bird saw the positive aspect of his purchase: He was offered the opportunity to create the three-window coupe he always longed for.

These black-and-white pictures date from the 1970s. They represent the only keepsakes of the old Ford’s past. “That’s all I could find,” says Bird. “One of my friends, Jim Hamlin, bought the car in 1977. There was no doubt in his mind that it had been built as a hot rod with a flathead, back in the 1950s or 1960s.”

The tired yet solid Deuce had some attributes often associated with East Coast rods from the era: channeling, a sectioned grille, and no top chop. During the 1980s, that friend decided to morph the hulk into a street rod typical of the time, so Bird helped him install a 289ci Ford V8, a four-speed Ford transmission, a Vega steering box, and a four-link front and rear suspension.

“Unchanneling” the body proved fairly straightforward, thankfully, as whoever did the work had not butchered the floorpan and frames. The derelict chopped grille was replaced with a stock-height unit, as seen in the color photo of the project. Unfortunately, the coupe suffered some unexpected damage shortly after, in a freak incident involving the Reverse gear: The car slammed into Hamlin’s garage wall, wounding both the structure and the ’32’s rear.

This soured him on finishing the project; he finally decided to sell it to his pal years later, in 2010. Bird spent weeks putting the car back in shape before turning it into the ride you see here. The pictures illustrating this sidebar show the long journey made by the Deuce during the last 40 years, a nice destiny for a genuine three-window survivor.

First Ford Lynn Bird’s introduction to the scene came courtesy of this ’39 Ford, which he purchased in 1967. The coupe first relied on a V8 flathead that had certainly seen better days, so he quickly swapped it for a 283ci Chevy. Check out the choice of popular 1960s rims, chrome reverse for the front and dish mags for the rear. Blackwall tires were the norm in those days.

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