The media used in soda blasting, sodium bicarbonate, has been around forever, and its uses are widely varied. Not only is it the soothing ingredient found in mineral springs, but another form, baking soda, has many uses in the kitchen and around the house. When workers were trying to figure out what could be used to remove old material from the Statue of Liberty during its restoration back in the early ’80s, a soda-based power spray not only removed the grime, but the soda was found to be essentially environmental friendly.

If you want to keep your hot rod running cool, it’s going to take more than a good radiator. You’ve got to move some air. You could have the largest, highest-flowing radiator money can buy, but if you’re unable to move sufficient air through it, you’re still in hot water.

Hot rodding has always been about improving a vehicle’s performance. As a result, hopping up an engine for more horsepower was a regular topic in the early hobbyist magazines but other issues were also addressed, such as improving the steering in ’32-34 Fords.

After installing a new Strange rearend in Don Prieto’s 1956 Chevy Nomad (STREET RODDER May ’12 issue) it was time to tackle the front suspension. The Nomad had undergone a conservative hot-rodding in the past, riding on basically stock suspension. While the car was serviceable in this configuration, good enough to act as a push car for Prieto’s fuel dragster, the fact of the matter is suspension and braking components have come a long way since 1956; it was time for an upgrade.

Pneumatic planishing hammers are a real workhorse for both professional and amateur metalworkers. In this article, we’ll look at new hammers available at different price points, plus some vintage planishing hammers. We’ll discuss the relative merits of each machine, and show some of the varied tasks these machines excel at.

It’s probably a safe bet that street rodders tend to pay above-average attention to the maintenance of all their cars. But it’s probably an equally safe bet that few of us consider brake fluid as something that should be replaced on a regular basis, however let us explain why it should be.

There are few things that make a street rodder’s life more miserable than a car that runs hot. A cooling system that belches steam like a locomotive or pukes the proverbial green river of death is not only annoying but is sure to shorten engine life and pretty much put the kibosh on any long-range traveling plans you may have.

Walden Speed Shop, located in Pomona, California, has been busy these last few years building traditional hot rods and supplying their own line of products, which include roof inserts as well as replacement doorskins for Model A’s, ’32s, and Model 40 ’33s and ’34s.

Looking at the photos of Tom Medley’s fire-ravaged ’40 (see page 122) were personally thought provoking for a number of reasons. First and foremost was a feeling of relief that my good friend escaped injury from the blaze that reduced his garage to charred rubble, second was sadness at the apparent loss of a great car Tom worked so hard to build and one I’ve had the opportunity to drive many miles, and lastly was the sobering realization that disaster can strike anyone at any time.

For decades the ’55-57 Chevrolet rear axle housing was the choice for many hot rods. After all, they were plentiful and since they were all parallel leaf spring applications there were only two small brackets to trim off before installing the rearend in the hot rod of your choice.

The days of routing a piece of wire from the carb through the firewall are over. Well, they should be! For a long time hot rodders have used mechanical throttle linkage (typically a Bowden cable, movement of an inner cable relative to a hollow outer cable housing) and it will continue to be part and parcel for years to come. But times are changing and with the use of modular powerplants so come modern problems requiring modern solutions. With these powerplants come the need for new and better ways to control them. The electronic throttle control (ETC), or drive-by-wire system, is just such a modern solution to a modern problem—a modern hot rodding problem.

We’re excited. We’ve got an engine for our truck. It’s not just any truck. It’s the STREET RODDER Project Shop Truck, the ’47 Chevy being built entirely from new parts at Hot Rods By Dean in Phoenix. It’s not just any engine either. It’s an LS327/327 iron block crate engine from Chevrolet Performance. They call it a “souped up” version (they actually use that term) of their popular 5.3L (iron block) LS small-block built specifically for truck, van, and SUV applications.

Building a street rod chassis has traditionally been a task best left to professionals. It not only required years of acquired fabrication skills and a thorough grasp of suspension theory, but also a shop full of specialized tools and equipment. It was not an endeavor for novice rodders.

Chances are if you’re a car guy you’re also a tool junkie. Let’s face it, few things are more fun than working on your own car, and while it takes skill to produce great work, it also takes great tools. Luckily for us there are more tools available today than ever before, and tools that were once considered completely out of reach for the backyard shop are now affordable. Specialty companies are building tools scaled down to fit in your home shop, things like shears, brakes, and sandblasting cabinets are all available in sizes that will fit the confines of your shop. Sure, if you have the room there is nothing like a big commercial sheetmetal brake that will bend a full 8-foot sheet but realistically most of the sheetmetal work done in the home shop is under 3 feet, so a smaller brake will do the job just fine—and that’s just one example.

As hot rodders, we’re accustomed to adding plenty of custom touches to our cars, thus giving each one a unique personality. Pull into any large-scale event, local cruise night, or friend’s driveway and you’re bound to see neat little details separating one ride from the next.

Not long ago, well, OK, maybe it was long ago, finding a rear axle for your hot rod project involved a pickup truck, a tape measure, and a trip to your favorite junkyard. Of course, just the fact that we refer to the location as a junkyard tells you it was a long time ago, as today we have either salvage yards or automotive recyclers. I still prefer junkyards and all the associated mystique that goes with the term.

Every now and then, a project appears that is such a natural, it makes you wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Keith Confer’s phantom 1940 roadster pickup is just such a vehicle. Confer’s truck is causing a sensation wherever it appears, and since the design looks so “right,” some people may not appreciate just how much planning and hard work it took to get that result. Let’s take a look at the long, arduous process Confer went through to make this truck such a hit.

There are few things in life that are as upsetting as being victimized by a thief. Granted, most possessions can be replaced, but the resentment of having something special taken often lingers long after the check from the insurance company clears (if there is one). And when it comes to having a street rod stolen, there isn’t really anything that will make us feel better.

Not long ago we answered an email concerning tire balancing in our “Shop Manual” column. Much to our surprise it turned out to be a hot topic. We heard from many readers who didn’t want balancing weights visible on the outer side of their car’s wheels, as well as a number who were having balancing problems in general, primarily with bias-ply tires.

Functional art. Nothing under the hood of a hot rod fits that description better than a vintage manifold. In fact, lots of rodders have cool old-time multi-carb manifolds hanging on their walls, strictly for decoration. That makes them art. Let’s talk about making them functional.

Automotive designers throughout the decades have always infused top-notch engineering into their offerings, focusing on everything from performance to safety. While many of their elements age timelessly as the years roll by, others could benefit from a bit of refreshment. When planning mechanical or structural enhancements to your hot rod one of the many logical updates should focus on replacing tired old door latches with fresh-designed units for added protection.

When the body of our ’50 Plymouth came back from the strippers there was some good news and some bad news. The good news was the 61-year-old body shell didn’t have a dent to be found. The bad news was it didn’t have a floor either and there was some rust in the quarters and below the trunklid. The fabrication of the new floor was shown some time ago and the repairs to the back of the body were documented last month.

Whether it’s a ground-up, refurbish, or a search and repair mission on your latest project, tracking down electrical problems don’t have to be an unsolvable mystery. We found ourselves having some minor, albeit annoying, electrical woes with our ’62 Chevy and thought before getting too deep into any upgrades we’d start by diagnosing the electrical system.

For something that’s everywhere, but can’t normally be seen, electricity is pretty amazing. It can produce light, heat, and something that’s important to most of us: it can jump an air gap in a pressurized cylinder and ignite a combination of air and fuel.

OK, let’s be real here. A ’62 Chevrolet Impala is not exactly a prime candidate for a great-handling car. After all, these things rolled off the production line weighing in at 3,455 pounds, are right at 17-1/2 feet long, and stand almost 16 inches taller than a GT-40. And they are suspended on all four corners with nice soft coil springs attached to an X-frame that is, well, less than rigid. It’s not exactly a combination that begs to go road racing, but then some people’s definition of hot rodding is making a car do things it was never intended to do.