February 2012 Early Iron

Back in 1989, STREET RODDER ran this ’39 Chevy COE owned by Billy Arthur on the cover of the magazine but, 20 years later, Gary Woolery bought it and fixed it up to his own liking, which included stripping it down to the frame. Powered by an LT1, the COE now sports cream leather upholstery while the outside was painted a Blood Orange with Matrix System paint. The other COE, peach-colored ’47, is another recent acquisition to the Woolery collection, based in Redding, CA.

George Weiland from West Bloomfield, MI, bought this ’30 Ford truck, which was built at Geezer’s Rod Shop in Ada, OH. It’s based on a Brookville Roadsters frame and setup with a Total Cost Involved Engineering suspension (leaf spring front, coilover rear). A Mustang 5.0, fitted with a Ford F303 racing cam, is backed to a five-speed Mustang trans. The cab was chopped 3 inches and the body painted with PPG 16892 Blue Legacy paint.

Barry Dutrow lives in Centre Hall, PA, and owns this ’38 COE, which had its cab extended to make room for the bucket seats in the rear area. Barry used a ’50 truck cab with wrap-around windows in the corners to get the job done. An ’00 Ford F-350 bed is used out back and a 302 Ford powers the beast. Barry has been building cool cars for more than 30 years.

Based in Georgia, Tom Del Campo sent in photos of three of his cars: a ’34 Ford cabriolet, a ’34 Ford five-window, and this ’29 Model A truck. The Model 40s are finished in glossy paint, but his ’29 was built by him and his son-in-law for his grandson, Van. It’s old school but customized with a hand grenade shifter and a 351 Cleveland butted up to a T5 transmission.

Pulling parts from two sources, Mike Boas from Dayton, IN, had Denny Russell of Russell Custom Rides section and cut down a ’29 four-door Essex body and mate them to a bunch of Model A truck parts, giving his hauler a unique look. Mike sold his ’58 Chevy sedan delivery to finance this purchase, and the truck is equipped with a ’61 283 backed to a four-speed.

Gary Preston and his wife, Sharon, built this ’25 Ford truck at home near Colville, WA. It’s low buck and all-Ford, writes Gary, and he’s completed a 5,200-mile roundtrip to the Bucket Head Bash in Arkansas with it and even towed a trailer behind it. The engine is a mild 351 Windsor bolted to an AOD trans.

Taking two years to finish his ’56 Willys utility sedan, Richard Snyder from Sandy Lake, PA, calls his creation “Chain Gang” after his wife, Barb, commented on what was going on in their backyard was “the sound of the men working on the chain gang.” The Snyders are retired and Richard always wanted to build a ’50s-60s–era hot rod (something a kid might have built back then). A 265 Chevy motor powers the ride, which is as wild on the inside as it is on the outside.

At first glance Jim Eplen’s ’34 sedan looks like a nice car and, upon closer inspection, you can see a lot of work went into its construction. Out of Kingsland, TX, Jim made a four-door delivery out of his ride, adding suicide rear doors to each side. A lot of the fabrication was done by Jim Waltman, and the car was painted its Metalux Radiant Orange with Chameleon pearl over a yellow base by Shawn Burks. Jim knows Ford didn’t make any vehicles like this, but feels they should have.