Ron Hodgson's '32 Ford
A car of this caliber starts with a vision and desire to see the project through. The statement sounds fairly straight forward and simple, but for anyone familiar with trying to build any car, this is usually not how it happens. Ron is a successful businessman – He started many years ago with a chain of successful speed shops, turning that into an industry leading General Motors dealership. Let’s not forget that Ron is a Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee winning five National Drag Racing events including three NHRA Gator National titles as well as the NHRA U.S. Nationals in 1979. These are just a few of Ron’s accomplishments – obviously someone who does not just expect, but demands perfection.
Ron may have opened the wallet, but it takes someone to pull the vision off. He enlisted Doug Syme of Alberta, Canada to do just that. Doug not only does work on hot rods but his many customers have left with custom motorcycles, hot rods, and all forms of race cars. He’s a busy guy!
All successful projects usually start with a plan, and the ’32 was no exception. Gerard Bloommart of Gerard Graphix was called upon to do the concept drawing. I’ve seen his work before; he was a great choice. Yes the colors differ but the cars overall design hasn't changed. There is now a road map to the finished look.
The build started off with a Dearborn Deuce body sitting on top of a stage 4 Hotrod and Horsepower chassis set up with a Kugel’s front and rear independent suspension. The brakes came with the package and the ride is dampened with Aldan shocks and springs.
To finish off the rolling chassis, stainless plumbing was installed and
a set of Billet Specialties wheels skinned with BFG 205/40/17’s on the
front and 295/45/20’s out back.
So what does a builder for a GM guy put in his hot rod? A GM crate ZZ383 [PT# 12498772-ZZ383; GM Performance Parts] from Ron’s own GM Performance Parts order desk of course. To feed this 425hp & 449ft/lbs monster, the motor looks great with an induction system from B&R Performance, Phoenix AZ. It performs as well as it looks. A Billet Specialties pulley set details out the front and the motor is getting its instructions from a Haltech engine management system.
The Haltech F10X is a excellent choice for almost any project as it has
been designed to work on virtually any engine combination, everything
from motorcycles to race cars, you can control it! (We’ll leave that
for another article.) Backing up the 383 is a 700R4 transmission.
After more than just a few mock up pictures, one of which even included a ’35 Chev Truck grill, it was decided to rake the Ford grill shell back 1-1/2”, narrow it and fill it with a Dan Fink insert. This in turn would require lengthening the hood and sides to accommodate the new profiles.
The frame rails required the upper and lower edges to be tapered to the front and twisted to the same angle as the fenders so they could be hidden behind the leading edge of the fenders. With that completed, some very nice metal shaping was done to tie the fronts of the two fenders together.
The hood sides are Doug Syme creations. A few days were spent
forming the panels and creating the opening for the louvers. Trying to
control the distortion from welding led Doug to the idea of making the
brushed stainless covers which went well with the Roadster Stop
moldings.
The rear fenders were widened but the real challenge was to center the wheel openings around the tires. The outer half was shifted rearward by half an inch during the widening process which now required a total reworking of the outer surface. The reworking continued to ensure a tight fit of the reworked fenders to the body, the work was then shifted to widening the running boards to fit the new profile. The rear of the back fenders were also shortened by 5”.
With the tank behind the seat, the Roadster Shop came through with a new rear roll pan complete with polished stainless exhaust tips. As with the rest of the modified tin, Doug had to tweak these to fit his new design. LED Lights from Lambert Enterprises were fitted to the rear of the body, sanded flush and got the shine when the body’s clear coat was applied.
King Bee head lights, a pop-up fuel cap, and an electric retractable license plate holder are a few of the finishing touches on the outside detailing.
The firewall was kept clear by hiding all the electrical bells and whistles under the dash. The ignition coil, MSD Ignition module, along with the Vintage Air heater/AC box and relays, Ron Francis fuse box, Haltech engine management computer, and power window modules fill the void behind the dash. Classic Instruments and some Roadster Shop trim finish off the dash face. To complete the dash an Ididit polished steering column topped with a Billet Specialties steering wheel were installed.
The ride is comforted by a Wise Guys seat frame and foam package then covered by “Speedway Bisque” leather to match the rest of the interior.
The simple console sitting on the floor is what sets the interior off. This was one of the most challenging pieces on the car. It evolved from the ring encompassing the Vintage Air header controller, then the top area which now includes the stereo controller and power window switches. It is truly one of the highlights of the car.
Not quite finished, the seat was set on a floor that was lowered an inch so Ron could see through the center of the narrow windshield. Lastly a few trim pieces had to be added, actually, made from scratch first. The speaker trim on the doors started out as ¼” stainless steel bar rolled, sanded , and polished to match the gauge face rings and the door sills formed out of aluminum with stainless inserts to loosely match the hood sides.
Nothing says billable hours like a custom header and exhaust system, and these works of art are a fine example. All it takes is a box full of mandrel bends, a band saw, welder, sander, and a whole lot of time and patience. The original plan was to have the headers exit through the hood sides, but the final decision suits the car much better. Included in the maze of piping are exhaust cut-off valves from DMH Performance, switched from the arm rest beside the driver, just in case Ron has to indulge his race car genes and let this car make some real noise.
There are a few more things that usually go unnoticed. Under the Autorad brushed aluminum radiator is the vacuum pump for the brake booster since there is no plenum on the intake manifold. It is wired to operate only when the engine is running. The A/C dryer was installed next to the pump. At the base of the firewall, on the right, is the fuel regulator, hidden behind a sheet metal cover built in a way to contain any possible leaks and route them away from the exhaust.
That’s what it takes to build a multiple award winning car. Please note
that it was built to drive, once there is no more room to put any more
show trophies! Did we answer why some cars beg for a closer look? I
think we at least got you thinking!
