Things can change; Oldsmobile's aren't built anymore, the Pope isn't Polish, and heartbeat graphics are out of it.
For Mike Endres of Colum-bus, Ohio, 20-plus years of his recreational life was dedicated to collecting rare Corvettes. It was not unusual for Mike to have a late-'65 side-piped 396 Vette roadster stabled next to a '67 L88 parked in front of a '63 split-window. When it comes to enjoying his cars, Mike hails from the "Jay Leno" school of car collectors where satisfaction is ultimately derived from driving. Unfor-tunately though, old Corvettes are prone to problems no matter how cherry they are. The last straw for Mike was when once again, his weekend cruise was cut short due to a leaky brake caliper. Sure he could have retrofitted stainless steel brakes, or maybe upgraded the dual-point Delco distributor to an HEI, but this would represent the defining line between his Corvettes being original or just Corvette-based hot rods.
Mike had always admired street rods, so instead of bastardizing his rare Vettes, he sold them off and bought a '34 Ford three-window coupe. He enjoyed the coupe a lot, but the aged Ford also had its shortcomings. Mike decided the perfect street rod for him would be a high-tech version of a '34 roadster, a configuration that "always had struck his fancy."
In Mike's search for a builder, the conversation always came back to the same name-Don Pilkenton at Don's Hot Rods in Germantown, Ohio. When he called Don and his crew to discuss the construction of his car, Mike wouldn't have known he was talking to guys who won the Ridler, AMBR, and Street Rod of the Year all in one show season. It was more like talking with old friends about their latest project.
Although Don's Hot Rods is known for high-profile cars, it was their reputation of building dependable, super-clean drivers that convinced Mike he found the right shop. Synonymous with performance and dependability is GM's small-block Chevrolet engine. The 350-inch small-block mill in Mike's '34 is a ZZ4-based Fast Burn 385. The 385 designation stems from its 385 hp at 5,600 rpm and 385 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm. Mike mentioned that fuel economy wasn't a consideration when he and Don planned out the '34, but nevertheless the 750-cfm Demon carburetor just seems to sip from its 15-gallon LTL fuel cell. Exhaust note and spent gases are handled via custom-made headers dumping into Spintech mufflers. Don's Hot Rods disassembled the motor and sprayed it in yellow Spies Hecker urethane before attaching a T56 transmission. The six-speed T56 tranny with 440 lb-ft of torque handling capacity easily adapts to skip shifting up to Fifth gear, .80 overdrive ratio or Sixth gear, .62 (Fourth gear is direct drive).
With a desire to replicate high-performance handling and braking capabilities similar to a Corvette, Mike's highboy is perched on Just-A-Hobby framerails outfitted with four-wheel independent suspension and four-wheel disc brakes. Special one-off modifications made by Don's Hot Rods to the chassis include custom-bent tube X-members, crossmembers, and pinched front framerails. Polished stainless steel lines course the chassis, supplying both gasoline and brake fluid to the engine and brakes, respectively.
All parts that didn't arrive from the manufacturer fully polished were custom polished by Jerry Elworth at Modtech in Dayton, Ohio. Jerry was also responsible for polishing components before being chrome-plated by Jon Wright at Custom Chrome.
During the highboy's build, Don and Mike kicked around the idea of pulling flames, or some other graphics on the Down's fiberglass body. Ultimately it was decided the car would be left in its solid yellow Spies Hecker urethane finish applied by master painter Tom Dworetesky of Superior finishes in Trotwood, Ohio. Before we get too ahead of ourselves, Tom was responsible for the bodywork as well. Backtracking a little bit more, Scott Stickley at Don's Hot Rods rolled up the rear pan and formed the custom aluminum hood.
From day one it was no secret Mike likes to cruise in comfort. When it came time to do the interior, Don's crew really kicked out the jambs (no pun intended). Scott Stickley also fabricated the custom center console and the roadster's top bows were chopped 2 inches.