Gary's son, Josh, from Rocky...
Gary's son, Josh, from Rocky Mountain Street Rods, showing hard-core roadster spirit.
Anyone who builds a hot rod has to believe in time travel. After all, what is a hot rod if not a machine for going back in time to some chronological spot in mid-20th century America-and then coming back to the present day with a cool souvenir from the trip? In the time they've been in business, Rocky Mountain Street Rods in Arvada, Colorado, has built quite a few of those time machines.
Rocky Mountain has only been around for approximately six years, but co-owners Gary Salter and Bill Rush each have decades of experience in the hobby end and the business end of hot rodding. Gary, the owner of this 1932 Ford Highboy roadster, has been participating in this stuff for most of his life, starting in his high school days in Denver. When the shop was brand new, Gary's Deuce was the first hot rod project to be completed there, built under the careful supervision of Gary Vahling.
The repro Auburn dash is finished...
The repro Auburn dash is finished in off-white (same as the '40 Ford steering wheel and '32 column) and filled with Stewart Warner gauges and a Mooneyes speedometer. The plaid cloth and maroon vinyl upholstery is a cool alternative to tuck 'n' roll vinyl or Mexican blanket, but is just as right, since upholsterer Jerry Weatherman used genuine '46 Ford seat cover material to wrap the Glide bench seat and inside panels.
When Gary Salter found the roadster, it wasn't a complete car, but it was a complete basket case. The prior owner was a local rodder who had probably started out with all kinds of plans for the Brookville-bodied roadster, but eventually lost interest in the project.
Gary had all kinds of plans too. "We always wanted to do a '32 without a hood," he remembers, "and we really wanted to give this car an old-time look." As the finished product proves, you can build an old-time hot rod with new-time parts. The body is Brookville steel and the frame is from Cornhuskers, but the perfect selection of exterior hardware and suspension parts, plus the open engine compartment and a '58 Chevy OHV engine with all the right accessories, skinny pie crust Firestone tires on steelies, and just the right amount of 'striping, root Gary's roadster deeply in the late '50s.
Gary took the look one step further with his choice of paint and upholstery. Oddly enough, the elements that get the most attention on this car are the ones that were his toughest decisions during the buildup. He needed to keep the paint color period-correct, but also wanted to do something different than red or black. Maroon fits right in between and also happens to look great. A little bit of bright red was used on the Lincoln rims and on some of the chassis components. "The red steelies only happened because some of our friends said it wouldn't work," Gary says.
Not all of his friends approved of the upholstery either. "It was a risky decision," admitted Josh, Gary's son, who also builds cars at Rocky Mountain Street Rods and who worked on the roadster. But the plaid fabric is actually bona fide '40s seat cover material, and is one of the many elements that has helped the roadster gain a lot of attention at shows all over the West, including Blackie Gejeian's invitation-only Fresno Autorama in March 2010-not to mention this feature story in STREET RODDER. That shouldn't be a big surprise to anyone reading this. We're always looking for ways to travel back in time and Gary's highboy just happens to be going in that direction.
The painter saved some red...
The painter saved some red for the block and heads of the stock '58 Chevy 283, and some maroon for the Cadillac air cleaner and Corvette finned valve covers. The intake manifold, fed by an Edelbrock 600-cfm carburetor, is chromed. The Powermaster PowerGEN looks like a generator but operates like an alternator. Sanderson Lime Fire headers with cutouts were the perfect exhaust choice for the theme of the roadster. The engine is backed by a T5 five-speed transmission, and a Ford Bronco 9-inch turns 3.73:1 gears.
The Brookville roadster body...
The Brookville roadster body was sent to Craig Weber and Brad Aregood at R-Good's Auto Works in Arvada for some steel straightening. Aregood continued with the paint: a '77 Ford truck shade of maroon from PPG. Louie Allison from Westminster, Colorado, pinstriped the belt line, framehorns, decklid, fuel tank, grille shell, air cleaner, rims, and dash-using cream-colored lines to highlight and red to tie in with the wheels, engine, and suspension. The off-white firewall matches the dash and steering wheel. Rocky Mountain added the '34 Ford door handles, '37 decklid handle, '34 commercial headlights, and '50 Pontiac taillights. Pie crust bias-ply Firestones measure 4.50-16 and 7.50-16 and meet the road on a set of painted Lincoln steelies dressed up with chromed Merc caps and rings.
Most of the undercarriage...
Most of the undercarriage goodies were shot red to go with the rims. Gary Mussman at Cornhusker Rod and Custom in Alexandria, NE, provided the frame for the hot rodded chassis, modified with boxed framehorns and a front crossmember nudged forward a couple inches. It runs a Super Bell frontend with a dropped I-beam axle, '40 Ford spindles, and Posies springs, plus a Vega-style steering box and SO-CAL Speed Shop disc brakes in Buick drum covers. The rearend is located by ladder bars and suspended by transverse leafs and Pete & Jakes shocks. Drum brakes are used on the 9-inch rear.