After mocking up the drivetrain and suspension, the car was disassembled and all the bits and pieces were sent their separate ways for color. The frame was powdercoated black by The Polishing Shop, while the crew at Guildner Kustoms handled the paint and body chores. Copper seems to be "the new black" this year, and while I try to avoid trends, I couldn't get away from this particular color. The '85 Nissan Copper Orange Metallic was exactly the hue I wanted, once again blending traditional style with a touch of modern flair. Guildner laid out the appliance almond scallops and numbers, then added a touch of gold pearl to the clear just to set things off. Finally, pinstriper Bill Marigold finished things off with some carefully laid stripes.
One of the greatest features of this car is its stretched cockpit, which appears to be as tiny as a T-bucket but actually packs as much legroom as a Deuce. Real Hot Rods provides a Glide bench seat with their kit, which I had upholstered in white tuck 'n' roll with 2-inch pleats and matching copper piping. After installing the turned aluminum So-Cal Speed Shop dash insert and filling it with Moon gauges, I finished things off with a Mullins Sprint Car-style steering wheel I engine-turned to match. Looking to maintain the race car look, I used a set of racing-type harnesses from Crow Enterprizes for safety's sake.
Speaking of safety, a tiny fiberglass car with an exposed gas tank isn't the most inspiring thing to drive in moron-friendly L.A. traffic, so having a good set of brakes is of utmost importance. Wilwood supplies each Real Hot Rod kit with a dual master cylinder system that feeds their own four-piston disc brake setup up front and a set of giant drum brakes (from Currie Enterprises) out back. Of course all that braking power is basically moot without the aid of sticky tires. However, as nice as radials perform, they just wouldn't cut the mustard in the looks department on this particular ride. Instead I chose a set of '40 Ford 16-inch steel wheels from Wheel Vintiques, shod in Firestone bias-ply rubber. Future plans call for a set of Kelsey-Hayes-style wires fitted with Coker's new dirt track tires for the extra tough look.
As you can probably guess, with the help of friends and family I managed to piece the car together just in the nick of time, hitting the road for Americruise with a scant 15 miles on the odometer. The car had a few teething problems on the road, but by the time I rolled into Bloomsburg, the kinks had worked themselves out and the car was running like a champ. The combination of vintage looks and hidden modern technology works like a charm, as I can eek out 25 mpg while cruising at highway speeds (a good thing, considering the tank only holds 8 gallons) yet still post quarter-mile times in the low 13s (with bigger tires and bigger juevos the car could easily be in the 12s). Six months later I'm still enjoying the little roadster on a weekly basis, and every time I hop behind the wheel of this copper-hued time machine, I feel like a little kid again, racing around the backyard with nothing on my mind but my toy car and all the engine noise I can utter. This story may be the final chapter of the "My First Roadster" series in ROD & CUSTOM, but it certainly isn't the end of the line for the little Modified. The car will continue to function as a rolling test-bed, so keep your eyes peeled for future stories and further adventures. Until then, stay focused on your dreams and keep the dirty side down!