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itsworn · 7 years

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Hot Rod Builder Finally Has the 1932 Ford 5-Window Coupe of his Dreams

Turbulent. America was booming during the 1950s. Oh sure, the country experienced some angst, especially with the fear of the Ruskies blowing us to smithereens. Then came the 1960s, which saw a gradual escalation in turmoil and tragedies. The assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy. Civil rights and riots. Vietnam. Anger grew within several segments of the population, starting with the younger generation.

In a way, hot rods from the 1960s somewhat reflect that angry attitude. More V8s sported wild induction systems, from blowers to fuel injection, while “sports wheels” created by American Racing, Halibrand, and the like often replaced steel rims, depending on the owners’ budgets. Drag racing influenced hot rodders as well; they borrowed the idea of installing Moon-style fuel tanks in front of the grille. Whitewall tires fell by the wayside around 1962, as blackwalls came back in vogue, with a heavy rake being sometimes accentuated by fat drag racing slicks mounted in the rear.

Yes, slicks like the Dragmasters mounted on Drew Strunk’s ’32 coupe, which oozes 1960s all over. To be fair, the Ohio resident occasionally runs the car on steel wheels and bias-ply rubber; but we felt compelled to ask him to keep the five-spoke rims and slicks for our photo shoot. The latter proved rather epic due to heavy rain, obviously not the best conditions when driving purposely smooth tires.

“I might have a solution,” Drew said. “My pal Rob Mullins owns a great building, which we might use for your article.” Following a quick phone call and approval from Rob, we hit the road. Drew skillfully kept the Deuce under control during the very wet 20-minute journey. Our destination was Mullins’ man cave, originally a church built in 1901, restored by the man himself and decorated with memorabilia reflecting his passion for vintage drag racing. It doesn’t get much better than this.

The vibe of the place nicely complements the blue ’32, assembled with period correctness in mind. Drew has an acute understanding of hot rodding’s history, having been raised by a father deeply involved in the hobby for a half-century. Jack (the dad) credits family members for his own interest in the hot rod scene. He told us, “I grew up spending most of my summers with an uncle and a cousin, who rebuilt and dolled up old cars. I used my allowance each week to buy the little 25-cent hot rod books and plastic model cars, and learned everything I could.”

Now in his early forties, Drew has fond memories of his childhood, when his dad wrenched on hot rods for fun. “As a kid, I remember sitting in the front seat between my parents in his ’32 five-window coupe, barely able to look over the dash. And I was taught how to weld at 7 years old.” You can say that hot rods played an essential part in his life. Building models, cruising, car shows, and dad’s buddies in the driveway talking cars… It was a great time to be a child.

Later in life, Drew held several jobs: welder, truck driver, mechanic, auto accessory detailer, parts counterman, and delivery driver. They paid the bills; but it wasn’t until his father retired and decided to start a full-fledged hot rod business that he found his dream job. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company is called Dropped Axle Productions and has built an excellent reputation in the Midwest, thanks to its quality project cars.

Drew focuses on fabricating custom chassis for traditional hot rods, though the father-and-son duo also performs a ton of other tasks, from chopped tops and filled roofs to panel repairs and complete restorations. They additionally manufacture their own laser-cut boxing plates, suspension brackets, plus brake and clutch pedal assemblies. While hot rods remain the shop’s focus, the small crew of two often works on offbeat vehicles, some quite memorable. The list includes a severely chopped split-window Volkswagen Bug with a Chevy Corvair flat-six powerplant, and a funky ’62 Renault Dauphine, which lost its four-cylinder rear engine to welcome a Chevy 350ci V8 up front.

Fun stuff for sure. Yet, Drew kept dreaming of a ’32 Ford five-window coupe, and started the search for one in his early twenties. We don’t need to tell you that Deuce coupes have been a hot rodder’s favorite forever, and their scarcity makes them expensive. Consequently, the young Strunk considered using a fiberglass body, until his dad found the real deal on the Internet: a steel shell located in Kansas City, Missouri. “We drove straight through, 12 hours one way,” Drew said. “The guy who had it for sale was going to use it for a clone of the American Graffiti coupe, but the body was in such bad shape that he wasn’t able to salvage it himself. He ended up using a fiberglass body, and I managed to buy a true steel body in the end.”

The roof was “atrocious,” he said, and he almost did not purchase the chopped shell for that very fact. Thankfully, a friend of his dad who owned a roof section in decent shape came to the rescue. It required some work, though the surgery gave the opportunity to chop the top even more, resulting in each post losing a slice of 4 inches compared to stock. The 85-year-old tin, featuring a roof insert courtesy of a Chevy Corvair top, now displays that perfect hot rod attitude.

As luck would have it, a second main component emerged shortly after, in the shape of a genuine ’32 frame. It was seriously mangled; but on the plus side, it could be fixed and—most importantly—it was free. Drew put it in Dropped Axle Productions’ jig, before picking a few items from the shop’s shelves, specifically crossmembers (flattened an inch) and a drilled front axle, which he moved forward to lengthen the wheelbase for a better profile.

Notice the lack of frame horns in front. Drew elected to shorten and pinch them so that they could hide behind the stock grille. In the spirit of drag cars, several components have been drilled for weight reduction and aesthetics, including the lever shocks, most any bracket, plus the framerails. There are a couple of nods to Drew’s grandfather, in the shape of the cowl’s vent handle that came from his mother’s oven (!), along with the mighty ’62 Cadillac V8. Grandpa was a fan of these powerplants.

The engine features a handful of desirable parts, starting with the intake manifold. “I searched high and low for the Offenhauser 3×2 model,” Drew said. “I finally found one without the heat riser at a local swap meet. It wasn’t cheap but well worth adding to the car’s overall look. I also admired the dimpled valve covers offered by various cam companies back in the day. I hunted for a pair, but to no avail. I finally took it upon myself to make the dimples on stock valve covers. Once I was happy with the profile, I sent them out to the chrome shop.”

Finding a camshaft for the Caddy proved a bit challenging, although Schneider Racing eventually offered a blank properly machined. (“I wanted the nastiest sounding cam and I got it.”) He also custom made the motor mounts featuring a cast-piece appearance, then riveted them to the frame. They have become quite popular since, having been duplicated by others on their hot rods.

The exhaust system, purchased from lakeheaders.com and welded by Drew, does not muffle much of the V8’s growl. “I’ve made several babies cry as I started the coupe at gas stations. Needless to say, I get dirty looks from mothers.” Kids might be scared just staring at the car, which looks mean just standing still.

With enjoyable road trips in mind, our man made a concession by installing a modern Tremec transmission with an overdrive, thanks to a Wilcap adapter. The lack of stock fuel tank visually unclutters the back of the coupe and thereby shows the N.O.S. Halibrand rearend, scored from a local racer who never used it. It was a killer find that obviously pleased Drew, since he had put it on his “must-have” list early in the game.

On average, our talented craftsman concedes building a car “on the side” in his own garage each year, and then selling it to finance the next project. But to be clear: This one, built on a surprisingly tight budget, is not for sale. It’s a keeper. Considering the scarcity of Deuce coupes, who can blame him?

How is this for a man cave? With the weather not cooperating, we photographed Drew Strunk’s blue Deuce in this great garage, owned by one of Drew’s friends, Rob Mullins. The name sounds familiar? Rob is heavily involved in the Gasser hobby, as he has a few historical survivors.

From this angle, you can see the curved spreader bar made by the owner, as he explains: “I shortened the back of the frame so I could install the bar. To match the curvature of the body, I heated up the back side of the bar and quenched it with water until I got the desired shape.”

Who needs a hood when you run such a beautiful motor? Notice the headlights of unknown origin—they might have come from a French car—mounted low, a look made popular by the Rolling Bones crew on the East Coast.

“When it came to the engine, I was undecided,” Drew recalled. “My grandfather always spoke highly of Cadillac engines. As a tribute to him, I chose a 390-inch 1962 Cad.” Grandpa would be proud: It’s a beauty. And it’s angry.

Behind the rare Offenhauser manifold with three Stromberg 97s sits a Cirello magneto. The name has been associated with drag racing since the 1960s, when Cirello equipped many nitro cars. The Cirello family still services magnetos to this day from its shop in Costa Mesa, California.

Having been employed by hot rodders for decades, Buick drums nicely fit the theme of the car. They complement a rear brake setup from a Ford pickup truck.

Ancient 9.00-15 Dragmaster slicks were swap meet scores, which now wrap around 15×8.5 American Racing five-spokes. Drew elected to use 15×4 magnesium reproductions in front, along with BFGoodrich 5.00-15 rubber by Coker Tire.

The panel under the rear lid, which has been punched with 150-plus louvers, houses a pair of unusual Art Deco-styled taillights that originally equipped a ’37 DeSoto. They flank a vintage Sacramento Capitol Speed Shop license plate frame.

As the trunk lacks a floor, you can clearly see the Halibrand quick-change and pinstripes on the axle tubes. That fuel tank came from a late-’50s/early-’60s F5 jet fighter. It was originally used to store coolant for the engine. A trimmed ’58 Ford decklid serves as bulkhead divider between the seat and the trunk.

Recognize the seats? Drew doesn’t (and neither do we, in fact), though he believes they might either be from a plane or a British sports car. More unanswered questions remain regarding the all-aluminum steering wheel, which was signed by Norm Grabowski shortly before he passed away.

No less than eight Stewart-Warner gauges from the 1940s adorn the cool dash. We especially dig the 150-mph “Police Special” speedo. “Most were eBay finds, although dad allowed me to raid his stock pile for two of them.”

These windows were chopped just the right-amount. Actually, the ’32 had already lost a 3-inch slice when Drew got it; but he decided to remove an extra inch for a mean attitude. As the body has not been channeled, cabin comfort remains acceptable for sub-6-foot-tall folks.

While the car occasionally sits on vintage steelies and bias-ply rubber, Drew was happy to run the ’32 with the five-spokes and old slicks during our photo shoot—until it rained, that is. He did rather well on the road, especially considering the V8 delivers about 400 horses.

Drew typically works on a personal project every year, though not all of them can be considered “traditional.” Some belong to the “Dare to be Different” category, including a V8-powered Renault Dauphine and this chopped Volksrod, motivated by a Corvair flat-six! (Photo: Fabien Bécasse)

Moving the I-beam 2 inches forward makes the coupe appear sleeker and less stubby. Yes, the color is the well-known Washington Blue, which Ford offered in 1932; a dose of matting agent contributes to the semi-gloss finish.

The post Hot Rod Builder Finally Has the 1932 Ford 5-Window Coupe of his Dreams appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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