Rarely do rodders experience the perfect storm when it comes to building a hot rod-when all the components come together and the final product exceeds your dreams. Occasionally you'll have lightning strikes when something goes well-like when you actually find an unmolested car in a barn, or the hood you made actually fits the opening-but we all know that doesn't happen often enough.
There is a lot going on in...
There is a lot going on in the engine compartment. The base engine is a 392 SVO Ford (topped with a Kinsler fuel injection system that was converted from mechanical to an electronic system) and the valve covers are custom, as are the air cleaners and water neck. The big V-8 is backed to a Tremec five-speed transmission.
So if you were to sit back and think about how you'd like to build your next car (who might be involved, what the engine would be, picking the right color, etc.), getting some of the great hot rod minds together to stew on the idea would not only be a benefit, but most likely a dream come true for your typical rodder.
Ken Reister, from Littleton, Colorado, knows this process because he has already been involved on the highest level of rod building. His cars have won both the Don Ridler Memorial Award (twice) and the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award (once), and being able to discuss design concepts with some of the builders Ken knows is a distinct advantage. One builder Ken has worked closely with in the past is Chip Foose, who designed Ken's award-winning '36 Ford roadster "Impression".
Reister's Rod Shop is a business he opened a few years back to build and sell hot rods, and the team of fabricators he's put together is top-notch. When the idea came up to build a 1933 Ford three-window highboy, ideas were tossed around, and Ken asked Foose for some of his thoughts, one of which was to use a '33 Ford coupe but add the nose of a '36 Ford. Updating a particular year of car with parts from a newer model (a '32 grille on a '29, a '40 dash in a '32 roadster, etc.) have long been in vogue in the hot rod community, but adding a '36 nose to a '33 coupe isn't as easy as saying it. It was, however, easier to illustrate the concept, so Foose put pen to paper and laid out his ideas in a drawing that would become the blueprint for Ken's new ride.
Though it might appear stock,...
Though it might appear stock, there are plenty of custom items inside the car, including the drilled-out shifter. The drilled-out theme was carried over to the 15-inch Bell-type wheel, which tops a Flaming River column. Dick Shelton stitched the interior with Ultra Leather, which includes the one-piece headliner (over a fiberglass form), the modified Glide Engineering bench seat, and the pleated door panels. Classic Instrument gauges fit in the custom dash insert, and the ashtray was converted to be used as the starter switch.
Work began at Reister's Rod Shop with the build of the chassis, which would be set up on a wheelbase of 117 inches. Pinched up front and stretched out back, the front end received a Super Bell I-beam axle with SO-CAL Speed Shop hairpins and Pro Shocks, while out back a triangulated four-link setup was used with a Ford 9-inch rear (4.11:1 Posi). Bilstein coilover shocks were used on the rear along with 11-inch drum brakes (covered with faux Buick finned drums) while Wilwood disc brakes were hidden inside the finned front Buick drums.
Having Foose involved in a project and not having him design a special set of wheels for the vehicle is like ordering a cake without the icing-it'd be good, but why not go all out? For this car, Foose designed a one-off set (17x4.5 and 18x6) of smoothies that look like an updated Halibrand smoothie from the '50s. Curtis Speed Equipment cut the billet aluminum wheels before they were wrapped in Excelsior 4.50 rubber up front and Firestone 7.00 hides out back.
Power for the coupe would stay in the Ford family with a 392 SVO engine, which boasts 475 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque (both numbers from a dyno). Ken says he has to feather it through the first two gears just to keep the tires from cooking-and it's the inspiration on why the quick car earned its "Lightning Rod" name. The internals are all Ford, but a SPAL cooling fan was used in conjunction with a custom Walker radiator and MSD wires and ignition box were also used. Backed to a Tremec five-speed trans (with gears selected via a Reister's Rod Shop-made shifter filled with lightening holes), the engine also utilizes a handmade exhaust (2-1/2 inches) and a Kinsler mechanical fuel injection system that has been converted to electronic fuel injection. Besides the handmade air cleaners and water neck, the valve covers are also custom (looking like they belong on an SOHC engine).
The body for the project is a combination of aluminum, fiberglass, and steel. Starting with a 'glass coupe body that was made by Tony Minotti, the back half was modified to accommodate a '32 gas tank (just to mess with people's minds a little more). A cowl vent was also added, as were door hinges and body reveals. Many other custom pieces were also fabricated for this car, including the '36 headlight and '37 taillight stands, the rear spreader bar, license plate frame, and more. The main focus of this coupe is, of course, the nose and hood. In the beginning, Ken's shop (chiefly Dennis Graff) tried to re-proportion an original '36 grille, shrinking its height, width, and depth to work with the smaller size requirements, but it didn't look right. The option was to build the grille from scratch, which wasn't the "easy" way to go, but it's how Graff chose to do it (recording 400 hours doing so). He also built the aluminum hood sides (with blisters) to replicate the look of the '34, louvers and all.
When the major work was done, the car was turned over to Wayne Saunders of Alternative Automotive Design (Colorado Springs, CO) who prepped the coupe before laying down the DuPont two-stage paint-a modified Washington Blue. Pinstriper Dennis Ricklefs soon followed, adding fine lines down the side of the coupe along the bodyline. Though the interior of the coupe looks basically stock, it is anything but. Based on the Foose drawings, the one-piece headliner is Ultra Leather over fiberglass-the same material used on the modified Glide Engineering bench seat and the door panels-and all stitched up by Dick Shelton Upholstery from Colorado Springs. Aussie Steve wired the coupe using a Ron Francis kit, which included the Eclipse stereo system, Alpine amp, Focal speakers, and the Classic Instruments gauges found in the handmade dash insert. Between the gauge cluster and the glovebox door is what looks like a revolving '34 Ford ashtray, but it now operates the engine's starter switch. Other items found inside Ken's coupe are seatbelts from Summit Racing, a custom-drilled Bell-type steering wheel (which matches the shifter), Dynamat insulation, a Flaming River column, and a Vintage Air A/C system.
It might be an easy decision for some folks, after building such a car over a period of six years, to handle it with kid gloves (it has, after all, over 1,000 handmade parts on it and over 8,000 hours of build time) but Ken is thinking up a little different plan. Since being finished, the car went on a mini tour to some of the indoor shows he has frequented with his super high-end show cars around the country, but his idea is to drive this one, possibly on a coast-to-coast tour in 2011. So keep your eyes peeled. If someone tells you they just saw a '32-33-36 Ford coupe driving down the highway, tell them you've already seen it in STREET RODDER.
The headlights came from a...
The headlights came from a '36 Ford, while the taillights are from a '37.
The body is a '33, the nose...
The body is a '33, the nose a '36, and the gas tank is from a '32 Ford. The classy spreader bar is a nice touch, too.
Besides designing the basic...
Besides designing the basic shape/concept for the car, Chip Foose also designed the wheels (17x4.5 and 18x6), which were cut from billet by Curtis Speed Equipment before being shod in Excelsior front rubber and Firestone rear hides.