The '50 Ford is way up at the top of the list when it comes to desirable postwar custom cars. And when it comes to building one right, homebuilt is best- with the help of friends of course, and a few pros to handle the heavy lifting.
That's the way Roger Petschauer did it when he built this mild custom '50 Ford. It's not exactly his first effort; Roger's been into hot rods for a long time. He has owned some enviable and diverse iron, including a '41 Chevy pickup, a '67 GTO, a '66 Pontiac Catalina 2+2, and a '65 Mustang fastback. Currently, he's got a '26 tall T coupe with a Flathead, and a front-engine dragster with a Chevy small-block. It's an impressive list with one glaring omission-a custom.
It's not that he wasn't interested. In fact, Roger told us he'd always wanted to build a custom, specifically a '50 Merc or a shoebox Ford. He finally got his chance about five years ago when one of his friends told him about a '50 Ford coupe his neighbor was building. Curiosity got the best of him, and Roger went over to the friend's neighbor's garage to have a look.
The shoebox was partially built at that point, and looked pretty good. The drivetrain-a combination of a Ford 302 engine, C4 trans, and 9-inch Ford rear-was already in place, many of the body modifications had been started, and the body had been prepped and primed with black sealer. The suspension had been upgraded with '71 Ford components and aftermarket parts by previous owners. The car, and most of the custom mods, was right in line with the kind of custom Roger wanted. Before long, he had talked the builder into selling the coupe to him.
With much of the mechanical work done, Roger turned his attention to modifying the appearance of the custom. On the inside, a set of Auto Meter gauges was molded into the dash, the door panels and stock seats were re-upholstered in white vinyl, and the steering wheel was replaced by one from a '59 Impala. From the outside, the grille is the first thing most people notice. Roger shook up the look of the car by replacing the familiar '50 Cyclops center with a modified '54 Ford center section.
It took five years, but Roger's custom shoebox is finally done-for now anyway. There are still some amenities he'd like to add-such as air conditioning, power windows, maybe a performance 5.0-liter engine and overdrive transmission-and there are probably a few more cars he'd like to build. At the moment, however, this hot rodder's time is occupied by driving and enjoying his cool blue shoebox custom.
Rod & Custom Feature Car
Roger petschauer
Willoughby, Ohio
1950 Ford Coupe
Chassis
Roger bought the car with the majority of the chassis work completed. Crawl underneath and you'll find the '50 Ford frame riding on air shocks with eaton custom springs in front, and the stock leaves and rebuilt shackles in the rear. Rebuilt A-arms and Fatman dropped spindle uprights were added in front. Power steering is provided by a remanufactured rack-and-pinion unit from an '89 Chevy Cavalier. eCI front disc brakes and 9-inch drums in the rear, with a dual reservoir master cylinder, quickly bring the custom to a stop.
Drivetrain
The '50 was running the '71 Ford 302 when Roger took on the project. The all-business engine is topped with a 600-cfm Holley four-barrel on a Holley manifold. The '71 C4 transmission is operated by a B&M floor shifter. The 9-inch rearend houses 3.00:1 gears.
Wheels & Tires
Dodge lancer caps look great on customs. Roger got these from night Prowlers Kustom Kemp Accessories in lamar, Missouri, and dressed them up with some body color paint in the center section, matching the painted 15-inch steelies from summit Racing. Coker provided the P205/75R15 whitewall radial rollers.
Body & Paint
The original '50 steel received no major hacking, just some well-done, traditional custom mods, such as shaved door handles, frenched headlights, frenched radio antenna, and a nosed hood and decked trunk lid, courtesy of metalman dave Zona. The '58 Ford taillights feature led lenses. The rear bumper is modified with a '49 Chevy license plate guard, and side trim strips from a '62 Ford Galaxie replace the similar (but not as sleek) stock trim. The center section of a '54 Ford grille, minus the bullet, replaces the '50 center. Roger took a pair of dummy spot housings, ground them down, and molded them backward into the grille to provide a pair of bullets and hid the seams where the '54 and '50 grilles come together. He called on Roy Blankschaen, from euclid, Ohio, to paint the car, using PPG's Bright Atlantic Blue, a dodge pickup color.
Interior
The interior had been started, but a headliner full of mouse droppings motivated Roger to redo the cockpit. Ken skula from willowick, Ohio, upholstered the stock split bench seat in pearl white vinyl. The seat was also equipped with sixway power controls from a Cadillac. dave Zona and Paul Frustereo raised the floor tunnel to clear the transmission and driveshaft. The stock dash was just waiting for an array of additional instruments, molded into the place in the style of the stock gauges, using chrome exhaust extensions as bezels. An Auto Meter electronic speedo was added behind the '59 Impala wheel. dash and window knobs are from lobeck's Hot\Rod Parts in Cleveland.