John Cooper's El Tiki

You'd have to be something of a visionary to be able to look at a stack of mismatched parts and think there could be a car in there somewhere, but that's the type of guy Tom Culbertson is. Tom, working out of his Culbertson's Rod and Custom shop in Indianapolis, Indiana, isn't a Johnny-come-lately to the hot rodding scene-he's lived and breathed it from the days when he used to match race against the Little Red Wagon back in the '60s with his own wheelstander.

You might say time has stood still for Tom. He doesn't own a cell phone (or even a push-button one-he uses a rotary dial phone), doesn't have a Web site, and believes fuel injection is the work of communists! The slick-back hair, tattoos, and cuffed jeans with engineer boots he wears today are part of the style of dress he's always worn (well before any of them were cool), and he used to race midgets and in NASCAR decades before the sport went corporate.

So, now knowing his background, what kind of cars would you expect Tom to build? One thing is for sure: They look traditional because they are traditional. But the latest ride to come from Tom was partially guided by the parts he had on hand at the time. Behind the shop was an original '29 Ford sports coupe body, but someone had once tried to add a five-window roof to it, though not very well. Warped and damaged, the body was better off as a roadster, and the idea of an early '60s show car was born.

Tom was able to take the pile of parts he'd collected only after years of doing so and, in 127 days, get 90 percent of the car finished (try doing that, you TV-based hot rod builders!). John Cooper, from Avon, Indiana, knows Tom and the work he does, and he would visit him at his shop nearly every day of the build, offering his opinion of what the car needed. What John didn't know was he would own the car near the end of the buildup and be responsible for the final prep and paint.

Starting from the ground up, Tom decided to fabricate a tube chassis that looks like it might be at home under a Funny Car. The double-tube frame was set up on a 115-inch wheelbase before a Ford 9-inch rear went in, attached by a pair of friction shocks, a pair of Ford wishbones, and a set of quarter-elliptic springs. The front suspension uses a '47 Lincoln axle, split 'bones, a stock spring, and a rare set of Roto-Flow shocks (used on '50s-era English cars). Drum brakes are installed on each corner, as are 15x7-inch chrome reverse wheels (the rears complete with screw holes for once-mounted slicks) and the double-sided whitewalls.

Not wanting parts on the car if they were made much past 1962, Tom used an old Hurst cradle engine mount to hold the '56 Olds V-8 in place. He got the motor through customizer Joe Bailon, who he had visited in 2002 after attending the Grand National Roadster Show. He brought the motor back to his shop, went through it, and installed it with a rare conversion kit that places the starter on the passenger side of the block rather than the driver side, which allowed for better routing of the exhaust and steering components.

The 324 is topped with a trio of carbs atop an Edelbrock manifold and, as John claims, works great due to the small 160-cfm capabilities of each carb. The air cleaner is a custom, hand-fabricated unit, and the chrome valve covers are vintage steel items stamped for high-lift rockers. Internally the V-8 runs an Isky cam while exhaust runs through headers that were fab'd by using pieces of roll bar and tapered megaphones. The whole shebang mates to a '47 Ford truck three-speed (via an aluminum adapter), and the long shift handle (topped with a Tiki head) was bent to clear the dash of the car.

You might not think there was much done to the steel body of this fenderless roadster at first glance, but you'd be wrong. More than 50 body mods have been completed, starting with the removal of the five-window roof and its sports coupe door tops. The roadster sits the way it does due to a 4-inch channel, and it completely covers the twin-tube chassis except for the area under the headers. Model A coupes feature doors that are longer (by 7 inches) than those found on same-year roadsters (and longer decklids, too) and the door tops were capped and rounded off before bear-claw latches from a '58 Scotty travel trailer could be added.

The door tops extend around the cockpit and then waterfall into the cockpit and above the driveshaft tunnel. Other custom tricks were employed on the exterior, too, including the frenching of the dual radio antennas as well as with the license plate. To clear the rear wishbones, the wheelwells were moved inward, and '60 Dodge taillights were frenched into the rear apron.

The grille, probably the most impressive section of the vehicle, was a conglomeration of many parts and pieces. After seeing a Keith Weesner illustration (titled "Winner's Circle") and inspired by cars such as the Emperor, the Ala Kart, and "Chili" Catallo's coupe (the Lil' Deuce Coupe of Beach Boys fame), Tom made the grille's center section from sheetmetal and tubing, with mesh from a '58 Ford grille and dresser pull knobs in its center. The headlight section uses the first 16 inches from a pair of '60 Buick front fenders, with the buckets coming from a '36 Dodge. You'll see an acrylic tube protruding that has a #1157 bulb at the other end if you look closely at the lower portion of the fin between the headlights and the grille. They're the turn and parking lights-kind of an early version of fiber optics!

For the interior, the waterfall is used to separate the twin bucket seats and ends as a center console that houses a '55 DeSoto ashtray, a '59 Olds ignition switch, and a '56 Olds headlight switch. Ed Morley of Ed's BeBop Shop in Paoli, Indiana, took measurements at Tom's shop of what was needed to cover the roadster's innards and came back with enough pleated white Naugahyde to do the job. Stainless door trim from the interior of a '57 Chrysler was added to dress up the door panels.

The dash started life as a too-wide '56 Olds unit, which was relieved of its radio and ashtray to fit the narrow confines of the Model A. A '59 Olds steering wheel was fitted to a chrome tube column, and an 8,000-rpm tach mounted on the tunnel (near the aluminum Rajo Speed Power gas pedal) lets the driver know when he's exceeded his limit in engine revs.

When he was only 17 years old, John's son, Dustin, and his friend Clark McCardle got the job to do the bodywork on the roadster, which was done in their high school's paint and body shop class (capably instructed by Rick Burdine). Once satisfied with the bodywork, Dustin (referred to as Von Dust in some circles) covered the car with PPG 2006 GM Sunburst Orange while shooting the chassis with a cream-yellow hue. While the body is (oddly) void of pinstriping, some graphic highlights have been added in a forest green to the chassis and engine.

As the car neared completion, Tom asked John if he would like to buy it from him, and John obliged after selling a '60 Caddy to do so. Now a source of conversation at every car show it attends, John is happy to talk to smiling onlookers and the few folks who swear they saw his ride at some old Autorama show in the '60s. John remembers reading about those old cars, and still can't believe he and his wife, Susie, actually get to drive theirs around Indiana.

Most folks might be happy with the way the car turned out, but the next phase of work has already started on John's roadster. Since these photos were taken, a pair of floating headrests have been fab'd to match the air cleaner, and they will be mounted behind each seat and about 3 inches above the edge of the cockpit.

New taillights are planned, too, and red Lucite rocket-shaped canisters off a pair of '50s-era manual crank ice crushers. All of the engine parts, except the block and heads, are off to the chrome shop, and the block will be painted an Oldsmobile gold. The final item is the steering wheel, which is off to be pearlized. Hey, most hot rodders will say their cars are never finished, so why would John Cooper's El Tiki be any different?