If you watch any cable television at all, then you're probably already aware of the proliferation of home renovation and do-it-yourself shows. Typical scenarios involve someone finding a home in a sorry state, then spending more time and money on it than they originally wanted to, and finally selling the house for more than what they paid for it. Sometimes a small fixer-upper becomes a major renovation, complete with the domino effect.
Though fixing up cars to buy and sell is a little trickier (more often you have to build it to someone else's liking rather than your own to ensure a profit), the basic concept of finding a car in one configuration and remaking it into something entirely different has been the cornerstone of the street rod/hot rod movement since its inception.
Steve Welsh, from Folsom, California, has known about fixing up cars for many years. He started Artistic Collision Center back in the '80s, a paint and body shop that originally did restoration work (finding out later that doing collision repair keeps the business' doors open!).
Welsh has always been a hot rodder, and he still owns a '40 Ford coupe he bought back in 1976 (it won a PPG paint award at the Louisville Nats back in '97). One of his buddies bought a '32 five-window more than 15 years ago at the Pomona swap meet in southern California, and it was a typical '90s rod, with a Vette rear, four bar suspension, etc. He brought it back home to NorCal but never liked the way it drove. He even replaced the indy rear with a Ford eight-inch, but it just wasn't what he wanted, so he sold it to Welsh.
Steve began the personality change by painting the Deuce flat black, then added a six-Deuce carb set up to the small-block Chevy. He drove it around for four years that way before deciding to do a total makeover. The chop and roof fill had been done before, and by Steve's inspection done well, but the rest of the car had been smoothed up, so Welsh put the bumps back on by adding the door and trunk handles. Changing the suspension and rear to hairpins and a quickchange was next, and a drilled I-beam and hairpin setup was used up front, along with a set of Buick finned brake drums to cover the '39 Lincoln brakes.
Steve had picked up a trio of complete DeSoto vehicles, which he parted out, keeping the little Hemi engines for himself. He had found a rare Weiand four-Deuce manifold for a DeSoto Hemi, so that was soon installed, and he got Sanderson Headers to fabricate a special set of headers for the V-8. The engine is backed up to a 700-R4 transmission.
Having always liked what Bay Area rodder Roy Brizio was doing with some of his customer's cars, Steve had noted a particular brilliant gold paint job in the shop and wanted a similar shade for his own car. He modified a Pagan Gold from House of Kolors, mixing it to his own liking before spraying the color himself (it helps having your own paint booth!).
The interior was done at Fair Oaks Upholstery with a simple pleat design in white Naugahyde, highlighted with black piping covering the Glide Engineering bench seat as well as the door panels and headliner. The dash is simple in its layout, too, with a single engine-turned insert filled with Classic Instrument gauges and a gold and white '61 Impala steering wheel to help point the rod down the road. Exterior goodies continued to be added with the Guide 682c headlights and the '50 Pontiac taillights, but the biggest decision-what wheels to run-was left until the last. The final choice turned out to be a set of 15x8 and 15x4 Radir Tri Ribb 3 wheels, shod with white-walled Mickey Thompson cheater slicks (8.20-15) and narrow Firestone wide whites.
Having finished the car a couple of years ago, Steve hasn't entertained any ideas of either selling his '32 or changing it-he likes it just the way it is. Other cars he owns, a '56 Chevy two-door hardtop and a Flathead-powered '33 Ford three-window (with original paint), have now been moved to the front burner, so hopefully we'll see another couple of great hot rods showing up in the NorCal region soon. Hey! Wouldn't that make a great how-to TV show?
Fair Oaks Upholstery stitched...
Fair Oaks Upholstery stitched up the pleated white Naugahyde over the Glide Engineering bench seat, accenting it with black piping. Black loop carpet went in, too, which makes for a great contrast with the intensely gold dash. An engine-turned insert houses five Classic Instrument gauges, and the big '61 Chevy Impala steering wheel certainly lends its '60s credentials.
From vintage Guide headlights...
From vintage Guide headlights to the '50 Pontiac taillights, what little there is bolted to the exterior of Welsh's ride looks great. The Radir Tri Ribb 3 wheels are wrapped in wide whites (Mickey Thompson cheater slicks out back, Firestones up front).
During the final construction,...
During the final construction, Steve got a chance to photograph the finished chassis with the complete drivetrain installed. Looks nice, huh?