1934 Chevy Sedan

Have you ever known a bodyman to have a perfectly straight car? How about a mechanic whose own car runs like a top? Or a pinstriper's car covered with flawlessly executed fine-line designs? Have you ever visited the real world? In the real world, it seems that people who are employed in their chosen field never seem to get around to using their special talents on their own projects.

The same can be said for Jeff Greening. If the Greening name sounds familiar, then you've no doubt seen some of the handful of cars Jeff, along with his son, Jesse, have built over the past few years. Many of them have ended up as features in STREET RODDER (like both of Bob Lowe's stunning roadsters) with three cars making the cover--Wyatt Fuller's silver SpeedStar coupe in April 2003, Ken Zoppa's maroon Willys in April 2002, and the car that put the father-and-son team on the map, Paul Atkins' bright yellow SpeedStar coupe, which won the Don Ridler Memorial Award at the Detroit Autorama in 2000.

It was Jeff Greening who decided to move his family from Michigan (where he was born) to Cullman, Alabama (where his wife, Connie, is from) in 1999. Jeff, along with Jesse (who was 24 at the time), was building cars in Michigan under the Greening Auto Company banner--a name Jeff's father used when he had a Chevy and Olds dealership from the '40s through the early '70s. Jeff found a place outside of Cullman and, as fate would have it, right behind Paul Atkins' upholstery shop. When the move finally happened, Greening basically shut down his shop in Michigan and moved all the tools, parts, and household belongings to Alabama. Tossed in amongst the shop stuff were a couple of cars--a bone-stock '29 Ford pickup and a 'glass '34 Chevy sedan project Jeff swore he would finish someday (when he gets the time--sound familiar?). With the stellar success of the new shop, Jeff and Jesse had to concentrate on making the business work, which meant little time for anything else, though Jeff and Connie did find time to scratchbuild their own house.

Greening would get to work on his sedan every once in a while, but real progress only happened recently when he carved out more time to finish the car. Many times, when a project takes years to complete, an owner/builder gets into a rut. One danger is that what was popular for the moment may not be so popular when you finish your car. And one of the easiest ways to date when a car was built is by looking at its wheels. In Jeff's case, he waited until near the end of the project to choose what he wanted in the road wheel department, and the end result is a contemporary looking hot rod. But that wasn't without a lot of stop-and-go and redesigning along the way to keep the car from becoming "old hat."

The base to Jeff's sedan came from Outlaw Performance, known for their 'glass Willys, but also as a source for Chevy sedan bodies. Jeff called Outlaw and got both a chassis and a body. But, being the hot rodder he is, he didn't leave either of them alone! The chassis, set up on a 104-inch wheelbase, utilizes an IFS, but with the upper and lower A-arms shortened so the wheels would fit better under the fenders. The rear section of the framerails were also moved in 1 1/2 inches, gaining just that much more space for the big wheels Jeff wanted to put under it.

When you build hot rods for a living, sometimes some of the best ideas go out on customers' cars. But Jeff was able to keep a few new ideas for his own ride, such as the larger windshield opening. By opening the area up a little more than an inch, the window doesn't look as small, but the chop is unaffected, and it's in better proportions with the car's side glass. Another design trick is the hinged rear apron, which allows Jeff access to the gas-filler neck. But that doesn't mean some of Greening's trademark pieces, such as their unique air cleaner designs or boltless headlight buckets, weren't going on the car, because they were! The engine Jeff chose is the venerable standby, a 350 Chevy, dressed up and detailed in the typical Greening fashion: clean and functional.

Jeff usually does the body and paintwork on the hot rods that come out of Greening Auto Company (leaving Jesse to do a lot of the custom fabrication), so blocking and sanding his Chevy wasn't anything new for him. Even so, it took roughly eight months for him to get the car into his paint booth. Jeff then covered the Bow Tie with several coats of red from Glasurit (the same type of paint they use on all of their clients' hot rods).

The interior to a Chevy sedan, even when it's chopped, is a bit cavernous, but not so much so that good neighbor Paul Atkins couldn't do the required work. Paul started off by using a pair of his own bucket seats, covered in Havana leather (a kind of reddish-tan color). Leather was used everywhere in the car, including the door panels and headliner, but wool was used for the carpet. A redesigned dash houses Classic Instrument gauges and Vintage Air supplies the cool air when needed (in Alabama?).

After adding a few exterior items, such as a custom aluminum grille from Jim Wrench at Hot Rod Stuff in Jerseyville, Illinois, Jeff left choosing the wheel design until the end. It's been said that American Racing's five-spoke wheel design is ageless, and it's on everyone's short list when car owners want a real hot rod look for their ride. So Jeff chose fully polished 17x7s for the front and 20x10s for the rear, all wrapped in BFGoodrich rubber.

Jeff got to debut his ride at the Goodguys Indy show in June of '03, and followed it up with a trip to the Goodguys Nationals in Columbus. At both shows, Jeff received specialty awards (Chick's Choice in Indy, Sexy Sedan in Columbus), plus he received a Pro's Pick at the NSRA Nationals in Louisville. But after having to walk around the car for four years in the shop, pushing it around to make room for this or that, it's a real thrill to be able to get in it and drive it somewhere! And that's just what Jeff intends to do!