With this month’s installment we wrap up the interior of our Project Shop Truck. The ’47 pickup is still in the capable hands of Glenn Kramer at Hot Rod Interiors by Glenn, where it’s getting decked out with door cards, a headliner, and floor mats. Then it’s back to Hot Rods by Dean to sort out the last few details before hitting the road to be displayed at various car events around the country.

In post-war America, there were alternatives to the Big Three when purchasing a new U.S.-made automobile. Among the manufacturers was Kaiser, which had a short history from 1951 to 1954 (with production continuing for another year in South America). Company president Henry J. Kaiser made his money early on in construction, then ship building for the war effort, then opened Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel, and then created what would become the Kaiser Permanente hospital system.

This time we visited the annual Doheny Wood car show presented by the Southern California Woodies Club, held at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California. It was a cool and "soupy" Saturday morning and afternoon—much different from the sunny, breezy conditions we experienced last year. Nevertheless, Grant and I were covered with an assortment of 150-plus woodies on the beachfront parking lot. In addition to the cars, there were vintage and handmade long board surfboards, skateboards, wooden carved tiki statues, and even a talented young lady with a P.A. and microphone, singing while strumming her ukelele. Grant was just as fascinated by several Amtrak/Metrolink passenger trains rushing by on the track adjacent to us between the parking lot and Pacific Coast Highway.

The Coker Tire company has moved! On May, 7, 2013, Coker Tire moved its location from Fresno all the way to sunny Southern California in the City of Industry. The new facility boasts an impressive 100,000 square feet to allow for a larger inventory and a faster turnaround time.

While having a nice weekend ride is good, it’s always nice to wake up in the morning and have your good ol’ reliable daily driver at your side to get you from point A to B. Folks who have newer cars would have been able to appreciate Colorado’s new legislation that was approved by the appropriations committee and moved to the senate floor, however, bill S.B. 257 in Colorado failed in the House after the legislature adjourned for the year.

Don’t let the name fool you. While the Atomic Age was actually ushered in around 1945, this new electronic fuel injection from MSD packs explosive power, reliability, and fuel economy all wrapped up in one compact system, and it’s driven by the latest technology the 21st century has to offer.

The 2013 Starbird-Devlin Car Show took place at the main hall of the Century II Convention Center in downtown, Wichita, KS this year. Made famous when customizer Darryl Starbird started the show 56 years ago in Wichita, Kansas, the event has recently changed ownership and become a charity based show, with 100-percent of the proceeds going to three local charities: The ARC of Sedgwick County, Starkey, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas.

The Lincoln Zephyr is known for its body lines and sought-after flathead. Steve’s Auto Restoration is raising the bar, this time taking a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr and customizing it to make the body even longer and sleeker.

In the last installment, I built a wooden buck to help make a ’27 Ford roadster body. This time, I’ll make the rear section of the body, the turtle deck.

OPTIMA Batteries will be teaming up with Golden State Foods and partnering with ChumpCar race participants to give children the bike building experience of a lifetime. On May 26, 2013, Build-A-Bike will be taking place at the Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The Eastwood Company just celebrated 35 years of high performance DIY-auto restoration! Eastwood was started in 1978 and pioneered the DIY-auto restoration world, which allowed home-builders the accessibility they needed to get tools and chemicals.

It’s not every day you get to see so many top-notch cars in one beautiful location. The 6th Annual Factory Five Racing event took place this past Saturday, April 27th, in Huntington, Beach, California, right along the pier and Main Street. We were overwhelmed by all of the amazing Factory Five MK4 Roadsters, Type 65 Coupes, and ’33 Hot Rods.

This small, smooth variation of a '40 started with an Oze Rod Shop fiberglass body and took off from there. A RideTech air suspension and a Heidts front end are used on the powdercoated frame. There's a GM 390hp 350 under the hood. The TEA's bucket seats are separated by a custom console and the entire interior is covered in Allante Cinnamon man-made leather.

Richard Beggs finished Maureen McCullough's Rambler while recovering from a motorcycle accident. It looks like a mild ride, but there isn't an unmodified panel on this wagon. Driprails were shaved, door tops were arched, fenders were peaked, a '51 Merc front bumper was sectioned and narrowed, and the '59 Chevy dash was modified by hand. An S-10 chassis carries the Chevy 350-powered wagon.

Inspired by Ray Anderegg's '27 Ford T that won the AMBR award in 1955, Terry Speer built his version on a stretched frame and customized it with a handbuilt aluminum hood and '41 Ford grille center, '38 Chevy headlights, cut-down drag race seats, a '56 Chevy truck gauge cluster, a 400 small-block, and six Holley 94s. His budget for the homebuilt hot rod? Would you believe $15,000?

German engineering meets Detroit muscle. Steve Cater's friend found this rare (1 of 997) Mercedes in a barn. Hot Rods 101 turned the luxury car into a street rod. The custom chassis has a RideTech suspension, and a Chevy small-block with triple Holleys provides power. The seats are original, and spinner center caps on the Billet Specialties wheels wear the identical-looking MB logo.

We hiked through the Deuce Doins special parking area many times on Saturday trying to decide on our favorite '32, and kept coming back to this tasty black highboy built by Chad Adams at Adams Hot Rod Shop. The traditional style, pinstriped louvered hood, clean and simple interior (with a Dodge Caravan bench), and perfect stance made this the one we'd love to drive. Adams assured us that it's always driven.

This '33 has been a street rod since the '70s, if not longer. Jim Roberson purchased it from the third owner and Georgia Hot Rods returned it to a resto-rod appearance. Keeping the hood ornament and rear luggage rack add to the resto theme. Filling the fenders with beefy tires on American five-spokes pulls the look in the hot rod direction. The Momar fuel injection feeds the 302 HO crate motor.

Sue Streetman sold her '67 427 Corvette roadster to buy this Pontiac tin woodie. The original steel car (not a speck of Bondo) looks mostly stock on the outside, but the inside has been updated. Sid Chavers covered the Lexus seats in leather with alligator inserts. There is a Fatman suspension underneath, and a 330-horse Chevy Vortec small-block engine-with a Cadillac air cleaner-underhood.

The Arizona Beige paint was the first thing we noticed before discovering all the custom mods that have been made to Johnie Dail's just-finished, original-steel '35. A '40 dash and cut-down '53 Ford steering wheel, spotlights, and '39 Chevy taillights, and one-off wheel covers with custom bars are only a few. The 350-powered coupe has been in Dail's wife's family since the '50s.

George Bickel calls his '56 Vicky "Incognito" because it's disguised with Roush Mustang parts. Roush suspension components were grafted to the stock frame, a Roush supercharged Mustang GT engine provides power, and the Roush Mustang interior was modified to fit the '56. Early '60s custom elements include '55 Olds headlights, '56 Merc taillights, and '55-56 Mercury door trim.

Our Tri-Five representative was built from an excellent original body, which had been disassembled and stored in boxes in the Dakotas for decades. It was rebuilt on an Art Morrison Enterprises chassis. The 900hp 406ci small-block engine is hopped up with custom 32-valve hemi heads, and an eight-stack Inglese Weber carb setup. The elegant contemporary interior keeps the '56 dash.

Most car projects take longer than you expect and nearly always cost more in the end, too. Even using the old adage “multiply what you think it will cost or take in time by three” can get you somewhat of a reasonable working schedule and budget together, but not always.

Nineteen-forty Fords aren’t the only cars Larry Olson likes, but they happen to be high on the list. He’s owned a few, from convertibles to sedans and of course coupes. Larry calls them the prettiest of the fat-fendered cars, and we wouldn’t argue. With a design cleaner than the inside of a bubble, and more curvy lines than a trigonometry textbook, the ’40 coupe has established its place alongside the ’32 as a street rod icon.

The use of alternative fuel – like Ethanol - is on the rise and gaining popularity. However, if you’re current project is not equipped to handle this unconventional fuel, overtime; the fuel can corrode metals, plastics and even rubber fuel lines. Fuel systems and even internal components need to be upgraded in order to handle the different fuel efficiently.