June 2011 Reader's Rods

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Mail vintage photos of you and your hot rod, along with detailed info to: Rod & Custom Magazine, Attn: Kev Elliott/Yesterday's Young Guns, 1733 Alton Pkwy., Ste. 100, Irvine, CA 92606 Send recent photos of your current ride to Kev Elliott/Readers' Rods at the same address.
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Gene Elkins writes: "This is a '28 Nash I owned when I was 16 and in high school back in 1964. It had a '53 Merc motor, '39 truck trans, and a '48 Ford rearend, with '54 Chevy taillights, '50 Ford rear license holder, Rader wheels, and a black diamond-pleated interior. It ran good, but I had to watch those brakes! It was neat back then, and though I don't have the car now, I have a '48 Ford coupe that my dad gave to me in 1964."

Coy Thomas sent this pic of Bob Sly's '46 Buick fastback from back in the day. Built in the Antioch area by Benny Garcia, with a Lincoln grille and Caddy tailfins, Bob fell in love with it and just had to purchase it. After years of ownership he sold it to buy a boat (the biggest mistake of his life, according to Coy!), though the car is supposedly hidden away to this day in a garage in Central California, with the old registration still on the records. Thanks for sharing such a great old custom with us Coy!

Jay and Art Spero built this '31 Model A coupe as a father-and-son project over a three-year period starting in 1994, though Jay (he's the son) continues to make improvements every year. Art says, "My son started out with pretty much no knowledge of hot rods but is now a very accomplished rodder." The coupe is channeled 4 inches and was purchased already chopped a similar amount. It had a 406 Ford engine with three-twos and a Super T-10 four-speed, but Art decided the big-block was too much for the car, so it was replaced with a small-block Chevy.

Likewise the original chassis, with twisted rails and circle track suspension, was deep-sixed in favor of a Stage 3 frame from The Rod Factory, complete with an 8-inch Ford rearend, 4-inch dropped tube axle with Wilwood disc brakes, and a four-link. The interior now has a '32 dash and is trimmed in red vinyl rolls and pleats over a Glide seat. Jay restored and modified the vintage mechanical Hilborn injection, originally manufactured for the 265 engine.