Rod & Custom Feature Car
Scott Miller
Pasadena, California
1931 Model A coupe
Chassis
Scott fully boxed a stock Model A frame, Z'ing it 9 inches in the rear and adding a custom K-member to mount the T5 transmission. A 4-1/2-inch-dropped Super Bell axle gets the front down to match the rear, coupled with a Model A spring with reversed eyes and Pete and Jake's chrome shocks. A '53 F-100 gave up its steering box, while a matching bolt pattern all around is ensured by the use of '46 Ford front spindles and brakes at the sharp end and a same-year truck rearend converted to open drive, hung on a Model A transverse spring with no shocks.
Drivetrain
Hollywood Machine bored the 331ci '50 Cadillac block 0.060 over stock before Scott filled it with an Isky cam and fresh slugs. An Edmunds 2x2 manifold designed for a Studebaker sits in the valley, above an Elco valley cover, and feeds the motor through a pair of Studebaker WW side-draft carbs. Hildebrandt valve covers flank the carbs with Edmunds air cleaners topping the whole assembly. Scott made his own accessory bracketry, and chromed the stock exhaust manifolds, which lead to 2-inch straight pipes. A detail we really like is the use of old-style hose clamps and plug wires. An '83 Chevy T5 trans is hooked to the motor using the Caddy flywheel and stock clutch, feeding power back through a custom driveshaft by Universal Driveshaft to a '47 Ford truck open-drive banjo rearend mounted on a Model A buggy spring.
Wheels & TiresA '35 Ford wire wheel sits at each corner, wrapped in 16-inch bias-plies, though it's the Packard wheel covers that probably do more for the coupe's image than anything else, and set it apart from similar rods.
Body & Paint
Scott performed all his own body and paintwork, from the recessed firewall, 5-1/2-inch chop, and 6-inch channel to laying on the special-mix Washington Blue-style hue. A working '33 Ford cowl vent makes the stock gas tank redundant, while a chopped '32 grille shell leads the way. Those neat taillights are '37 Airflow C-17 items, and the door handles originated on the trunk lid of a pair of '37 Fords. Mahoto from Japan gets credit for the pinstriping.
Interior
There's a lot of neat stuff going on inside Scott's coupe, from the chopped and chromed '35 Ford truck pedals and '47 Chrysler Crown Royal dash insert in the '32 style dash, to the rare '35 DeSoto Deluxe bakelite banjo-style steering wheel that he just happened to have "lying around"! Scott fabricated his own seat, upholstered in black, ivory, and gold, as well as the door panels, while cloth-covered wiring stays true to the period feel, as do the chromed window-garnish moldings.