"I am 58 years old and have wanted a '33 roadster since I was in high school." That, in Dan Troyer's words, sums up his motivation for building this knockout '33 roadster. There's nothing especially unusual about a hot rodder with a lifetime desire for a '33 Ford roadster. At last count, there were several thousand 58-year-old guys out there who could make the same confession, and at a casual glance, you might think there was nothing especially unusual about this '33 either. However, take a closer look at some of the cool and well-thought-out modifications and you might change your mind.
The steel-bodied, fendered roadster-hauled from the West Coast to Dan's home in North Platte, Nebraska-has been stripped, smoothed, and shaved of all trim and hardware. This, and removing the front and rear bumpers, has reduced the car to its cleanest, most fundamental '33 Ford roadster lines, with bodywork done by Ron's Restoration in Glade, Kansas, and by Dan. The two exceptions to the above description are the dual air scoops flanking the grille, so subtle that you don't even notice them from most angles. Once all sheetmetal work was accomplished, Denny Johnson at Ron's filled his spray gun with '99 Corvette Torch Red to finish it off, saving enough paint to cover the firewall and much of the chassis.
It took some impressive modification to the engine compartment to perfectly accommodate the engine. The mostly stock fuel-injected 4.6L mill was pulled from a '94 Lincoln and fancied up with a polished intake manifold and K&N air cleaner. The automatic transmission from the same Lincoln backs up the V-8.
The original '33 Ford frame was boxed, and Dan muscled up the frontend by installing a Heidt's independent front suspension crossmember with Ford spindles, disc brakes, and coilovers, along with a Mustang steering setup. In the back, he added a Dutchman independent rearend and coilovers. Inboard rear disc brakes bracket the Ford 9-inch rearend with Posi-traction and 3.90:1 gears. Billet Specialties Legacy five-spoke wheels (17s in back and 16s in front) are capped with knock-offs and shod in Radial T/A rubber from BFGoodrich.
Dan took a mid-tech approach to the interior, using only a couple Classic Instruments gauges in the modified dash, pedals from Lokar, and a Colorado Custom Hancock steering wheel. The bench seat with an armrest from Glide Engineering was covered in off-white leather at Lincoln Upholstery. Vintage Air A/C cools things down when top-down climate control can't.
It took four decades of patience and six years of work, but now that Dan's aspiration to own a '33 roadster street rod has been realized, he is enjoying the payoff by driving the car as often as he can (averaging 1,000 miles a year). He won Hottest Rod at Mid-Americruise '03 and the attention of a hot blonde on the cover of the January issue of R&C. Summed up in Dan Troyer's words, "It was worth the wait."