36th NSRA Street Rod Nationals

This year's crop of sheetmetal was one of the best in recent memory. There were even a couple of N.O.S. fenders for one of our projects.

Occasionally street rods will be seen with two windshield stickers. For a family, it's often less expensive to register twice rather than buy extra passes.

The resto rod scene is alive and well. With the exception of the hood side panels with three rows of louvers, Cy Hanks '32 Ford five-window is bone stock on the outside, and it looks great.

A street rod icon Ken Kennedy now owns the Pete & Jake's Hot Rod Repair '29 Ford pickup. That's Bob Rothenberg's '32 flatbed in the background.

The Michigan Hot Rod Association once again manned the rod repair shop. This group has logged over 200,000 miles going to national meets.

Repairs range from minor to major. Parts were often as close as the exhibit hall or the swap meet.

Vintage Air sponsors the Under 29 program to help younger automotive enthusiasts embrace street rodding. A long list of manufacturers also support this important program. (Photo courtesy of Street Scene magazine.)

No matter how well you know your street rod, another set of eyes may see something wrong that you don't. Having the NSRA safety inspectors look your car over is a great idea, and it's free.

There were some great buys on cars at the Nats swap meet. This '40 Ford sedan was a solid older resto with a $15.5K price tag.

This '29 Ford roadster was up for grabs at $11,500. There's a B engine under the hood and the title was good. The sign says it runs good, drives OK, stops slowly.

Old gassers keep showing up, and this '30 Chevy sedan had a healthy sounding small-block barking through straight pipes. Note the Volkswagen front suspension.

Another dragstrip veteran is this '32 Ford three-window powered by a blown small-block Chevy. Nosebleed altitude, straight axle, and orange plastic windows are typical gasser touches.

David Dickinson's '39 Pontiac convertible has a host of subtle custom touches. Removing the running boards and adding fender skirts makes it look long and low.

UPS offered everyone the opportunity to weigh their street rods. The Jackson's T touring tipped the scales at 2,758 lbs. Wheel weights were 665 lbs left front, 618 lbs right front, 772 lbs left rear, and 754 lbs right rear; valuable information when tuning a chassis.

Ken and Debbie McGough own this '32 Pontiac. Power comes from a small-block Chevy and a Heidt's frontend smoothes out the bumps.

This slick '32 Ford roadster belongs to Cy Hanks and Tom Buford. From the curved spreader bar and Moon-style tank up front to the nerf bars in back, this is one gorgeous highboy.

Every build style and trend can be found at the Nationals. Chris Jarreau's '33 roadster and Rod Hadfield's Model A pickup were parked next to one another as if to prove the point.

Here's an interesting contrast: a stock-appearing '36 Ford five-window and chopped 36 three-window tail dragger. Different methods to produce cool cars.

Thom Taylor's '39 Ford Standard won a Pro's Pick. The Gull Grey body is perfect and virtually the only visible hot rod parts are the 16- and 18-inch solids from Wheel Vintiques wrapped with 205/55ZR and 235/50ZR tires, respectively.

Under the hood of Taylor's '39 is a 312 Ford of '57 vintage. Thunderbird rocker covers dress it up and the three-twos are actually electronic fuel injection.

On Saturday, Freedom Hall was the location of the drawing for the NSRA Giveaway car; Sunday it was the site of the awards program.

The Long Distance Award (outside the continental U.S.) went to Ron and Evelyn Yamaguchi from Pearl City, HI.

It took a while, but Matt Klingler won the keys to the NSRA Giveaway '37 Ford pickup. Built by Downs Manufacturing, the pickup features a passenger car front and DuPont Harvest Flame paint. (Photo courtesy of Street Scene magazine.)