The time has come and you have made the decision to try your hand at building your very own street rod from the ground up. There are any number of ways you could go, but one way is to start with a body of your choice and the appropriate chassis. The commitment here means four to five years of building time for the average rodder who will be building on a budget. In the end, you have a car of your choice and it is detailed, appointed, and represents exactly what you want. No settling here.
Back in the late '60s, your choice was resurrecting old steel or, hopefully, you would find a body that needed little work before prepping for paint. Then along came fiberglass and all of a sudden rodders of all levels of building expertise could build any number of cars. The roadster was the most common choice for fiberglass manufacturers to start with, and then came the coupes, followed by steel. While there are numerous fiberglass alternatives out there (open or closed cars and trucks), the late '70s brought steel reproductions.
Something to remember: You will want to check to see that the body will fit the chassis you have in mind before purchasing it. Many times, going with a body manufacturer's chassis package is a "safer" route, especially if this is your first effort in a complete ground-up build. Once you know what body manufacturer you wish to go with and you have confirmed that it will fit the chassis of your choice, the fun begins. One thing is for sure-don't be in a hurry to purchase accessories (wheels, tires, gauges, or even paint) until you actually need them. Being in the magazine industry, we have seen car owners many times who have purchased the latest wheel/tire combo only to realize styles have changed and so have their likes-and dislikes-when their ride is completed! Be forewarned to purchase only what you need at the time of the build-there is a reason why professional builders have rollers, and dummy engine and tranny combos (wheels/tires and engines/transmissions that are used just for the building process and for no other reason).
Nowadays, there seems to be as many steel body manufacturers as there are fiberglass manufacturers. Each offers advantages to the builder and owner. Both can be equally made into one-of-a-kind street rods that make their owners oh-so happy. Both have shown similar building costs, and where one may prove more cost effective in one area, the other will have a similar advantage in another. When it comes down to it, both can be turned into viable building material with the same end result, as well as being rewarding to build and plenty of fun.
Take a look at what is offered here in the 2007 Body Buyer's Guide. There are plenty of options and lots of ideas to help you make the decision on just what you want to drive in for an upcoming summer's worth of fun.
Body Buyer's Guide Directory1936 Truck760-382-4945
A/Altered Hot Rod Parts620-343-1796
Allan Rod and Custom877-285-5565
American Speed Company734-246-0330www.americanspeedcompany.com
American Street Rod Design865-982-3091
American Track Roadsters303-986-9300
Antique & Collectible Autos Inc.800-245-1310
B2 Design Group805-581-9978
Ball's Rod and Kustom502-384-6911
Bear Fiberglass928-778-3443www.bearfiberglass.com
Bebop's Glass Works Inc.423-263-9594www.bebops-glassworks.com
Bob Drake Reproductions800-211-3673www.bobdrake.com
Boyd Coddington Hot Rods and Collectibles562-691-8215
Brinkley Mfg.503-632-1932
Brookville Roadster937-833-4605www.brookvilleroadster.com
Bruiser Enterprises LLC928-855-5616www.streetrodengineering.com
California Rods & Racers254-486-9595
Coast to Coast Street Rod418-774-2565
Down's Manufacturing269-624-4081
Dynacorn International Inc.805-486-2612
Experi-Metal Inc.586-977-7800
Fairlane Co.248-676-9293www.fairlanecompanymi.com
Flatlander's Hot Rods757-440-1932
Hagan Street Rods419-629-1969
Hannemann Fiberglass626-969-7317
Hercules Motor Car Company813-621-2220
Heritage Hot Rods LLC815-933-7373
Hot Rods & Horsepower203-481-1932
J.B. Donaldson Company602-278-4505www.jbdonaldsonco.com
Last Refuge Hotrod888-565-0122www.lastrefugehotrod.com
Mancebo Concepts877-754-7786
MAS Racing Products651-644-6811
New Age Motorsports203-268-1999
Old Dog Street Rods866-291-1940
Outlaw Performance Inc.724-697-4876
Poli-Form Fiberglass831-722-4418
Redneck Street Rods913-367-8346
Rod Shop, The 724-465-4555
Rootlieb Inc209-632-2203www.rootlieb.com
Russ Nomore Streetrods318-249-2000www.russnomorestreetrods.com
Rust Bullet LLC800-245-1600
Shadow Rods989-754-1927www.shadowrods.com
Shell Valley Companies Inc.402-246-2355
Skinny's Garage LLC517-673-4134
Speedway Motors Inc.800-979-0122
Spirit Industries870-425-5900
Spitzer Enterprises800-221-4029
Steve's Auto Restoration503-665-2222
Street Beasts888-888-6645
Superior Glass Works503-829-9634www.superiorglassworks.com
Total Performance Inc.203-265-5667
Unique Motorcars Inc.256-546-3708www.uniquemotorcars.com
Vision Rod & Customs Inc.706-348-8485, 770-654-1861www.roadsterute.com
Wescott's Auto503-658-3183