For most of us, our aspirations oftentimes outweigh what's actually available to us in the way of a budget. While the fully polished quick-change IRS is what we really want, we settle for the painted 9-inch. A blown 392 Hemi sure would be cool, but try explaining to the kids that their college fund was spent on titanium con rods and hypereutectic pistons. So what we lack in funds we make up for in blood, sweat, and tears. It's how hot rodding was born in the first place. Ingenious young men stripped roadsters down to their bare shells, scouring junkyards for usable parts to create their own version of exotic European sports cars of the time. Money was not as essential as creativity and the same rings true today. While it's not uncommon for most of the cars competing for such prestigious awards as the Ridler or the AMBR to cost upward of a million dollars, it's also comprehendible that any one of us could build a car on a tight budget and in our home garage to give the big guys a run for their money. San Diego native Mike Young did just that. Not only did he do 90 percentage of the work on his roadster in his garage, he drove it the 100-plus miles to the Grand National Roadster show and entered it in contention for the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award.
The backbone of Mike's A-V8 is a '32 chassis from Total Cost Involved. Up front, a chrome I-beam rides on Total Cost spindles, mated to Wilwood disc brakes at each end. A monoleaf spring and tube shocks help absorb the bumps in the road. Mike raised the rear crossmember and bobbed the framerails at the rear as well. Underneath those modified pieces resides a 9-inch Ford rearend, mounted on a four-link and a pair of coilover shocks. Wheelsmith steelies sit on all four corners, wrapped in Coker wide whitewall tires. Hubcaps of '46 Ford vintage and polished trim rings round out the wheel/tire combo.
When it came time for engine selection, Mike had his heart set on a drivable supercharged motor. A 350ci small-block Chevy fit the bill nicely. Mike had Bean's Crank Service run the motor through the machines, while he tackled the rebuild himself. He left the internals mostly stock and slapped a pair of World S/R Torquer heads on the block. A Weiand 142 blower was then bolted atop the heads, fed by a 750-cfm Holley double-pumper. In addition to rebuilding the engine himself, Mike also fabricated the air cleaner and exhaust system, from the headers on back. Behind the blown Mouse motor, a Turbo 350 manages the gear selection.
With the rather sparse supply of usable roadster bodies these days, finding one that is even remotely complete is a bit of a miracle. Mike found a body locally that was in need of some serious TLC. The quarters were decent, as were the firewall and cowl, but there was a good amount of patch panel work and rust repair that needed to be done. After getting the body to fit on the chassis, it took nearly a year to get it prepped for paint. Once it was at that state, Mike disassembled the body and painted it piece by piece in his driveway. One look at the car and you'd never believe that it wasn't painted in a professional booth, much less on someone's driveway.
About the only thing Mike didn't do himself was the upholstery, which he entrusted Pan Am Upholstery to stitch up the red and white pleated vinyl interior. He reworked the dash slightly and then plugged the gauge holes with whiteface Stewart Warner dials. A Mooneyes white vinyl steering wheel mounted atop a Chevy van column completes the driver's compartment.
The fact that Mike's roadster was built in his garage, driven to the Roadster Show, and rubbed elbows with the other handful of AMBR hopefuls should be a testament to the rest of us that anything's possible if you set your mind to it. You don't have to pay a shop $65 an hour to build a show-quality car. A little patience and a lot of hard work can accomplish more than we might think!0
A polished Weiand 142 blower draws the intake charge through a Holley 750-cfm double pumper carb and into the 350ci Chevy. The heads are iron World S/R Torquer products, topped by a pair of polished '70 LT1 valve covers. The headers are by Mike, complete with cutouts that route under the framerail and through a pair of Flowmaster mufflers. | 
Mike went with a set of Wheelsmith steel wheels at all four corners, complete with beauty rings and '46 Ford hubcaps. He then wrapped the steelies in a set of big 'n' little wide whitewall radial tires by Coker Tire. | 
Total Cost Involved gets the nod for most of the products on the front end of Mike's roadster. A Vega cross-steer box pulls the Total Cost spindles in the right direction, while a pair of Wilwood disc brakes brings everything to a quick halt. The hairpins, spindles, and tube shocks hang off a Total Cost axle that's sprung by a monoleaf spring. Headlights are standard Deitz items mounted off the Total Cost shock mounts. |
Out back, one finely detailed suspension system lurks. A chromed 9-inch Ford rearend is located by a set of polished stainless four-bars and hung off a pair of chrome Total Cost coilover shocks. The full-length exhaust routes through Flowmaster mufflers before running up and over the rearend and exiting under the rear pan. | 
Manuel Cisneros put his brush to work on Mike's highboy, breaking up the all-black paint with a little Von Dutch action. | 
Above the rear roll pan, a pair of '50 Pontiac taillights flank the vintage '31 license plate and chrome frame. Inside the trunk sits an 18-gallon owner-fabricated gas tank behind more red and white pleated upholstery panels. |