1930 Ford Roadster - Garage Scene

We’re nothing without the graces of friendship. Doug is friends with Dave York, aka Past Tech windshields. He’s modifying a pair of Larry Zilinsky’s cast-aluminum windshield headers for a folding top.

The Airguide marine compass was a leg puller, but the ’32 three-window dash and the old Stewart-Warner Ensign panel are the real deal. More recently he made a panel insert from ribbed decorative stainless.

He’s close to verifying it but so far the Flathead he bought appears to be a Dave Tatom engine. It boasts an early block-script Edelbrock standard manifold, an aggressive cam, a fair bit of compression, and a Merc crank.

To visually lighten the roll pan, Doug extended the body’s character line into it. He formed the nerf bar from steel bar stock and chromed it.

The synchronized first and additional gear in the T10 transmission made his coupe faster and more tractable. The reduced weight and the additional overdrive gear in its T-5 should make the roadster that much better. Note how he adapted a Lokar parking brake to the T-5 housing.

Doug tied the nerf bar into the spring crossmember. Multiple set nuts make fine tailpipe tip adjustments possible, a thoughtful consideration considering the tight fit between them and the roll pan.

For reference, here’s Doug’s first hot rod—the T that he built just before we met. Apparently he’s confident about the car and his friends because he’s loaned it to a number of people to drive on the legendary Swindlers poker runs. It’s not the fastest but it’s certainly one of the most fun rods I’ve driven.

Luckily a warm (and relatively dry) spell late in the winter coincided with the pizza party Doug hosted to unite the body and frame. Neither dull nor too shiny, the black acrylic lacquer he applied makes the car look like an older, well-maintained rod.