Every journey begins with the first turn of a wrench in the world of hot rodding. Oftentimes, "first projects" never see the light of day, but the difference may lie in the fact that those who develop their talents never give up; they keep pushing themselves to reach higher and higher skill levels. And that brings us to this month's featured hot rod-the Model A lakes modified-influenced roadster belonging to longtime hot rodder and builder Lil' John Buttera.
He is no stranger to our world of hot rods. Having graced the covers and spreads of many magazines, his efforts are well documented. (The late Gray Baskerville, a legendary journalist, brought Lil' John and his creations to the forefront, chronicling nearly every project for readers to pore over and gaze in wonderment.)
For the aficionado of the homebuilt hot rod, Lil' John has proven time and time again persistence complements creativity, leading many trendsetting hot rods to roll from his garage. During his career as a builder, Lil' has worked in big and small shops, but one irrefutable fact remains: Some of his best work has driven out of his home garage. The hall of fame chassis builder spent many successful years fabricating literally dozens of dragsters and Funny Cars, and he is the last man to have a homebuilt car qualify at the Brickyard-yes, the Indy 500-for which he received the Clint Brawner Mechanical Excellence Award in 1987. Currently, Lil' John spends his days as a design consultant for Harley-Davidson, but to quote him, "I'm just a tiny piece of the overall picture; Harley-Davidson was here 100 years before me and will be here 100 years after me."
Toward the end of Lil' John's drag race chassis career in '75, he once again "discovered" hot rods, and in '73, he attended an Early Times Picnic and purchased a Model T sedan. It was a running car that needed the obligatory upholstery and roof insert. Unfortunately, he never liked the car. However, this wasn't Lil's first car-that title belongs to a chopped-top Model A sedan. As is often the case with many rodders, Buttera's first project never saw the "light of day," but then again, he was only 15 at the time!
Lil' has been building cars for 50-plus years, and his first ground-up effort took shape in a '27 Model T sedan he pulled out of the desert. As the story goes, a kid told Lil' about a perfect Model T in the Arizona desert just waiting for someone to claim it. Lil' was a bit skeptical at first but was reassured that the kid knew what he was talking about. Lil' gave the kid $100 to lead him and longtime friend Bob Komos to the desert where they found a rust-free and nearly dent-free (right rear fender was dented) '27 Model T sedan. It took Lil' about six months to build this car, and all the while he was thinking every hot rod should be this easy. (The sedan appeared on the December 1974 cover of Hot Rod.) Time would prove he was mistaken about hot rods being a quick build. His famous white roadster, which didn't feature fenders, running boards, a roof, less sheetmetal, and no where near the interior appointments, took him 1 1/2 years to build ('74-75)-still, not bad by garage-built standards. The first time I met John, he was hunched over his workbench fabricating his own set of 'rails for his now-famous white roadster, with its distinctively painted Model A grille.
The white '29 Ford highboy roadster was initially built with a Dodge V-8 equipped with Westlake heads. Lil' has always had a passion for exotic engines in everything he's owned. That is until he tries to drive them, and then they "piss him off" and it's back to the basics. Such was the case with this car. Out came the exotic Dodge and in went a wrecking yard Dodge with 118,000 miles that underwent a ring and valve job and proceeded to rack up an additional 80,000 miles.
Next up was the Deuce coupe that many credit with launching the high-tech billet movement complete with full independent suspension, and today it's considered one of the "75 Most Significant '32 Ford Hot Rods." It too was on the cover of Hot Rod sporting a Westlake-equipped Dodge small-block. (About the Hot Rod cover: The magazine editors wanted the car to be a color other than black, so Lil' painted it a deep maroon as seen on the cover. Afterward, the car was taken apart and painted in black.) The silver '29 Ford highboy roadster was next, and by now, Lil' had overcome (or so he thought) his desire for temperamental V-8s. This ride was to have a mild-mannered small-block Chevy, but life has a way of throwing curve balls when you least expect it. He found himself the owner of a Gale Banks twin-turbo Buick V-6 just as the roadster was readied for paint. He was again bitten with the exotic bent-eight disease, and, as history often repeats itself, he soon found himself frustrated with the car's lack of drivability. He sold the car to Joe Pickford, who immediately installed an SBC, as these mounts were never removed.
There were several other cars, including a sedan and a '33 Willys, but Lil' John's true hot rod love has always been something white and open, with two seats, a Model A grille, and an exotic motor that he eventually removes. And that brings us to the present day. It has been a long time since Lil' John had a hot rod to drive, and he found himself missing the good ol' days of parking lot get-togethers and the tranquility of the road.
SPINNING GOLD INTO STRAW
While Lil' is known for any number of innovative cars, it's the components he has designed and built that prove most fascinating to us. His signature component may very well be the wheel. While many have tried to reinvent the wheel, it may be said that Lil' John Buttera did so, as he is credited with the "birthing" of the custom billet wheel industry. His latest ride sports the crowning achievement in an incredible line of one-off wheels.
The first step was to find the proper aluminum, and Lil' contacted another longtime friend, Tom Hanna (Editor's note: Who knew he had so many friends!), who supplied aluminum for this major chore. Tom is currently building a land speed record car and has long been known for crafting some of the most beautiful dragsters ever to slingshot down a quarter-mile. He also built the wild-looking "TV" Tommy Ivo four-engine Buick-powered dragster. Lil', not one to shower praise, freely bestows kudos on Tom as the best of the best at his craft.
Beginning with 1,760 lbs of aluminum, each 25lb wheel consists of an inner and outer half requiring 24 hours to evolve from billet stock to finished wheel. Kevin Bell of Redman Machine (who has a twin roadster in progress) uses his shop to house Lil's "big" CNC machine, which turned out the wheels, producing 1,660 lbs of aluminum scrap at .35/lb-hmm talk about spinning gold into straw. From here, longtime friend Eric Vaughn finalized the wheels by installing a large O-ring seal to stop any potential air leak. More kudos go to Alan Budnik of Budnik Wheels, who assisted Lil' in developing the wheel profiles that allowed Lil' to design them. Each tire is wrapped with a Goodyear Eagle-front measuring 195/45ZR16 and back at 245/45ZR18.
HANDMADE
The roadster is based on a one-of-a-kind aluminum body designed and built at Moal Coachbuilders in Oakland, California, under the guiding hand (and eye) of coachbuilder Jimmy Kilroy. The material of choice was 5052 aluminum measuring .050-inch thickness. This aluminum is harder than material normally selected and was chosen because it polishes to a brilliant shine and resists "fogging" or "clouding" like a softer, more porous metal would.
There were six major aluminum panels used to complete the body while additional material was needed to fabricate the hood, grille shell, luggage box, and bellypans. Jimmy began by making the grille shell (Headwinds headlights sit out front), and from there an inner firewall panel was fabricated along with a steel tube framework. John West of Huntington Beach, California-based D.F. Metalworks is responsible for the grille insert. The aluminum body panels were formed, welded, and then hemmed and riveted to the steel tube body framework. All this was performed by Jimmy in six weeks, adhering to the deadlines Lil' had set up to meet the Goodguys Indy show.