When Sam Strube built his '23 T roadster--one of the contenders in R&C Asphalt Ego-Rama last year--he decided against running a hood. After kicking up a load of desert dust at El Mirage and across the Mojave, that extra piece of sheetmetal started to make sense to Sam. When we got to Phoenix, we stopped in at Industrial Chassis, where owner Steve Szymanski was hosting an open house. While the rest of the crowd ate his food and drank his beer, Steve gave us a lesson in the fine art of building a cool custom hood. Here's how he did it.
Not many aftermarket catalogs...
Not many aftermarket catalogs offer hoods for a handbuilt '23 T roadster with a grille shell created from a Chevy truck cab. In this case, building a hood from scratch was the only way to go. Steve Szymanski at Industrial Chassis built this custom hood for Sam Strube's "Roach Rod."
This image, and the following:...
This image, and the following: Steve made a couple of flanges from 1 1/4-inch-wide steel bent 90 degrees. He measured and marked the center of the front flange to know where to begin the arc around the unique grille shell.
Steve used an Eastwood shrinker...
Steve used an Eastwood shrinker stretcher to expand the vertical lip of the angled steel. This image and the following: Throughout this step, he checked his work against the grille shell, marking high and low spots to make sure the bow of the flange matched the progressive radius of the shell.
The 1/4-inch lip above the...
The 1/4-inch lip above the flange allowed it to be welded to the shell. A gasket would be added later to provide a tight fit for the hood and prevent metal from rubbing metal.