1930 Ford Sedan - Bill's Killer Bomb

Quick! What do'64 Buick, a '70 Mopar, a '54 Packard, a '73 Pabst beer keg, and a Gehl skid load tractor all have in common? Unless you hang around Burlington, Iowa, and know Bill Kullbom, you may not ever get the right answer to that question.

Now 58 years old, Bill's first car was a '55 Chevy Bel Air hardtop back when he was just 17. As with many people, the amount of cars in the garage may fluctuate but, for the real hardcore hot rodders, the interest never subsides. By 2001, Kullbom had finished up a '56 Cadillac resto-mod, but he really wanted a fun car to drive that he wasn't scared of getting a few rock chips in the paint. So he began collecting pieces, not sure of exactly what make and model he was going to end up with.

As a sales manager who travels throughout the Midwest, Bill had many opportunities to check out the local junkyards and swap meets wherever he was and build up his stockpile of parts over the years. By the time he found a '28 Ford frame and body he liked, along with most of the major pieces (he got everything for about $800 at a swap meet), he'd amassed quite a varied stash and says there are parts found in five different states on his car. But not even a tornado, which swept through the small Iowa town he was in while on the way to check out the body and frame could keep him from his appointed destiny. But collecting a huge pile of parts was only half the battle for Bill. The next step was to find some help with the build.

One of the more creative hot rod shops in Illinois is Suicide Axle Hot Rods, run by Andy DiDio. Anyone attending the 2006 Detroit Autorama basement will probably remember Andy's Buick straight-eight-powered '23 bucket on display, mostly because the car just exuded attitude. A visit to S.A.H.R.'s website (www.suicideaxle.com) shows what separates them from the, shall we say, "mainstream" hot rod shop, but that's exactly the way they like it. You can also see it in the way they approach each vehicle they build, with loads of creativity and talent mixed in with an in-your-face aggressiveness. If it's one thing they ain't, it's shy.

A little more than three hours away from each other, Bill and Andy decided much of their communications would be done over the phone and by sending digital images via e-mail. Bill would drop off a load of parts, see what was being done and talk with Andy about it, then DiDio could move along on the build.

The chassis work began with a '28 Ford frame. From there, a flat front crossmember went in, as well as a 9-inch kick in the rear (fab'd with 2x3-inch tubing). A pair of Durant mono-leaf springs went in (one for the rear, one for the front), as did a pair of Pro Shocks. A pair of split '36 Ford bones locate the Ford 9-inch rear (2.90:1) while another pair does the same for the Magnum four-inch-drop axle. While Ford drums were used aft, up front a pair of '64 Buick finned drums work in concert with the '39 Lincoln brakes and Wilson Welding hubs and backing plates. The rod rolls on a set of 16x4.5-inch '50 Ford steelies in the front and 16x5-inch rear wheels that came from a '49 IHC. (Firestone 5.00-16 rubber wraps the front steelies and 8.90-16 Firestone Dirt Track are used out back).

For a powerplant, Bill turned to Phillip and Conrad Olson, who runs Olson Brothers Custom Shop in Burlington, Iowa, to assemble the vintage Buick Nailhead engine. Starting with a 401-inch V-8, the block was bored .030 while the heads were set up with a 10.5:1 compression ratio. Cooling is aided by both the 16-inch SPAL cooling fan as well as a '70s-era Ford 9000 tractor radiator. The Olson Brothers also dialed in the ignition using much of the stock equipment, but topped the engine with a finned aluminum valley pan from O'Brien Truckers and a single Rochester carb.

The motor is detailed in black and highlighted with silver by way of nuts and bolts plus bits of polished aluminum. The exhaust (wrapped straight tubes with baffles from a Harley-Davidson) was built by the owner, who also added the copper tips to each exhaust end. Sunset Transmission, located in West Burlington, Iowa, assembled the '64 GM Switch Pitch (variable) 400 trans for the car using late-model valve bodies.

At a quick glance, the body looks to be a '30 Ford, though there are a few changes that incorporate other years, too. S.A.H.R. chopped the top 4 inches then channeled the car to get it to fit over the kick in the frame. A '31 Ford firewall was also used and the roof received two major improvements: the drip rails look like they've been rolled over and peaked (more like a '34), and the insert was reconfigured to make it look more like a '32-style roof. The interior was also a recipient of bodywork as a '54 Packard Clipper dash was installed.

S.A.H.R. also carries a line of their own hot rod products, including an aluminum windshield visor filled with nine large lightening holes, and one was added to this project along with a Brookville Roadsters' repro '32 grille shell and C.W. Moss insert. After DiDio painted the Tudor body using a PPG Texas Brown paint (flattened to provide a near-primer look), it was fitted to the chassis, which already finished in gloss black paint by Dan Shields. Eric Campbell soon followed with his pinstriping brush, adding subtle, dark brown artwork to the grille shell and dash.

Once the body was bolted down, the car moved to Jerry Kensinger's A-1 Auto Upholstery in Bartonville for its new threads. Jerry used a khaki-colored 10-ounce canvas, reminiscent of an Army cot, as the material used on the rolled and pleated door panels and throughout the interior. Suicide Axle Hot Rods also fitted the '70s-era GMC pickup speedo and tach cluster and attached the '54 Cadillac steering wheel to one of their "Redneck Tilt" columns, which is coupled to a Mopar A-body steering box hidden up under the dash. The sector shaft exits the side of the cowl and connects to a custom Pitman arm.

The more you look at Bill's bomb, the more you see, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're gonna know what you're looking at. Tucked in the corner behind the driver's seat is a '70s-era Pabst beer keg, which now serves duty as the gas tank. A '60s-era British Army field pack is what Bill stores his stuff in, and an Army blackout light is used as a dome light. Forward of the passenger's area is a Montgomery Ward space heater from the '30s, and fuse panel is from a '56 Cadillac. See what we mean?

The end result is a rather stunning car, even though it comes off at first like a subtle, low-buck car. But that's where everyone gets fooled: subtle is rarely easy to pull off, lest you are bombarded with "hey, look at this" kind of stuff, and this Model A sedan is just too cool for that!