Rod & Custom Feature Car
Chris Herod
New Baltimore, Michigan
'60 Ford Starliner
Chassis
The front suspension was lowered 3 inches using aftermarket springs from Coil Spring Specialties. Front shocks are Motorcraft, and the rest of the front end is mostly stock Ford stuff. The rear rides on Air Lift shocks and 3-inch drop leaves from Eaton Detroit Spring, with 2-inch blocks to further lower the tail end.
Drivetrain
The 1960 292 Y-block was taken to Great Lakes Engines in Fernsale, Michigan, for machining, and was bored 0.040 over. Jeff Stanco in Chesterfield Township, Michigan, did the assembly, using Ford Performance 9.5:1 pistons, and a custom grind cam. The Edelbrock air cleaner covers a Performer 650 four-barrel. The heads, valve covers, and exhaust manifolds are stock items. The transmission is a column-shifted automatic.
Wheels & Tires
If this custom had been built in the early '60s, it would've worn wide whites on 14s. Chris bumped up the rim diameter 1 inch, using 15-inch chrome reverse wheels with bullet center caps from Wheel Vintiques. The whitewalls are radials from the Coker catalog, measuring P205/75R15.
Body & Paint
Chris told us that before his grandfather found the Starliner in Hemmings, the car had been cooking in the desert near Palm Springs for almost 30 years. The paint had baked off, but the sheetmetal was in great shape. Chris' plan was to keep the car "basically stock, but make it cool." Kevin Booth in Algonac, Michigan, executed the sheetmetal work. The body has been nosed and decked and stripped of emblems, locks, and handles. Mike Alexander donated the pair of replacement fender crests. The rest of the factory side trim was replaced with Adonis-inspired trim strips. Replacement headlights came from RB's Obsolete. The taillights are custom pieces with triple center bars, which slightly resemble a horizontal version of Adonis' diagonal taillights. The Bellflower exhaust tips reflect the young owner/designer's personal taste. Chris says choosing the color was a big challenge. What you see is a custom satin mix shot by Kevin Booth, dressed up with pinstriping by Jeff Shea.
Interior
The interior was pretty far gone when Chris took ownership of the car, but since then, the factory Ford bench has been recovered in tan cloth and Naugahyde by Roger's Auto Glass & Trim in Warren, Michigan, with matching material applied to the door panels. RB's Obsolete provided the seatbelts and an out-of-sight Pioneer sound system provides the soundtrack. The stock dash was dressed up with custom knobs along with some more pinstriping by Jeff Shea and a custom mural on the package tray.