Words: Tommy Parry    Photos: Todd

Todd’s build started out dramatically. After picking up the bare bones of a Model A in eastern Washington, he loaded the carcass onto the back of his Tundra and set sail for Idaho. Unfortunately, a careless deer stumbled into Todd’s path on the way home and splattered itself all over the front end, taking out the truck’s radiator in the process. The Tundra was undriveable after that, but more importantly, the Model A was in good shape. He brought it back on a trailer, and began a lengthy build.

After digging through a bit, he realized he’d need new subrails, so he picked up a set from Brookville Roadster. He tacked on the door posts and quarter panels, and now had a vague idea of where he was headed. After frenching in a set of ‘48 Ford taillights with a set of homemade cups, he knew exactly where he was headed.

Aiming for a minimalist look, Todd scrounged up a Jeep CJ gauge that conveyed speed, temperature, fuel level, turn indicators and oil pressure in one, convenient package. Because he wasn’t fond of the gauge’s font, he fabbed up a panel to cover said words and give the assembly a retro look, then started cutting into his dash to make room for it.

With the body panels mainly in place, Todd then started building the frame. It’s a combination of 2×3” and 2×4” 3/16” box tube. With a 9” “Z” in the rear for a 4-link setup, it has a suicide setup in the front with a stock Model A axle. For extra style points, the body is channeled about 3.5 inches to let it sit low and still leave some leg room. He then had the lower spring mounts built and tacked on the axle housing. Additionally, he built a wishbone upper link instead of the traditional triangulated 4-link so it would hold itself up in the rear.

Then Todd scrounged up a 352 FE sitting in his Dad’s garage, bolted on a C6 transmission, fabbed up a removable tranmission crossmember and found some motor mounts for the mill. It was far from stock, having slight head porting, a 270 duration Comp Cam, an Offy single plane intake, a Motocraft 4100 625 cfm carb and electronic ignition. To ensure the neighbors enjoyed what he was working on, he slapped on a set of Lakes-style headers. After extending the frame rails six inches further than the stock length, he’d have plenty of room to stuff the motor and all the ancillaries.

After all that excitement, Todd built an underslung transverse leaf mount for the car. For the wishbone, he fabbed up a gusset/spring pivot mount and built some shackles – now it supported its own weight! With a set of spindles and some steelies on each corner, Todd now had a roller he could be proud of. However, he had lots of work left before he’d be content.

First, he needed somewhere stylish to sit. Well, a pair of Cesna C-130 seats on sliders would help that, and a Stewart Warner tach to mount atop the custom steering column with a quick disconnect would only add to the pizazz. However, the crowning piece of style came in the form of a revolver’s cylinder for a shift knob. That certainly makes an impact.

For the front end, Todd added a steering box from a ‘67 F-100. Keeping those front wheels firmly on the pavement is a set of Friction shocks, as well as steering arms, tie rods and a drag link from Speedway.

With the addition of a wooden steering wheel and a floor, Todd had a functional interior, somewhere comfortable to sit. However, it still needed a spiffy exterior to complement all of that fancy footwork and the fantastic Ford 352. Along came a coat of mint green primer, and that was all she wrote.