How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod
Revised Edition

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Item # MB-09000  ISBN: 0760309000




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"So you're hooked on traditional '29 highboy roadsters but are not quite sure what they really looked like or how you should go about building one? Okay... well, take it from one who's owned one, photographed hundreds of them during my years with Hot Rod magazine and Rod & Custom, and traveled from L.A. to Detroit in Bud Bryan's flathead-powered '29 roadster: I gotta tell you, this book is like finding gold in your back yard!

"Mike Bishop and Vern Tardel have put together the finest how-to hot rod book I have ever read. Coupled with outasight cutaway illustrations by Steve Amos, plus great detailed photography, this book is a must-buy for any true would-be roadster builder who is interested in the '50s look. No 'high-tech' spoken here!

"The book's contents take you from ground zero to finished roadster, including running gear and flathead engine buildup, plus paint, upholstery, and top building tips—the way they were many moons ago. Stroker looked at the book and gave it two thumbs-up, and he knows '29 roadsters."—Tom Medley

Excerpted from the Preface

Believe it or not, there was a time in post-World War II America when there were no Chevy small blocks, no Ford 9-inch rear ends, nor Turbo 350 transmissions. Yet in spite of this dearth of today's building blocks, the right stuff, hot-rodders managed to put together some nifty rides.

The situation then wasn't really so different from what it is now. There was a lot of good, affordable hardware around that could be adapted to build strong-running, long-lasting hot rods. It was just different hardware than we work with today. Then, like now, rodders had to know which pieces were the right ones and how to make them work. For this knowledge, they turned to older brothers or friends, and in rare cases their fathers. We say "rare" because in those days, hot-rodding wasn't a family activity. It was something you were supposed to outgrow, which is what most fathers had done by the time their sons were old enough to be interested in hot rods.

The hot rods of that era are as appealing today as they've ever been, and all for the same and very right reasons, not the least of which is their cost—$5,000 to $20,000 today depending on your bargaining and building skills. The cost of building a present-tech street rod from available aftermarket hardware has risen steadily in recent years, until now even the simplest highboy roadster has a hardware ticket of around $20,000. Add paint, plating, and upholstery and the cost jumps to around $30,000—assuming the owner does most of the work.

Not surprisingly, a great many "resto-rods" from the 1970s are being dusted off and retro-fitted with solid wheels for a more traditional 1950s look. Still, even a marginally desirable resto-rod will fetch $12,000-$15,000 before it's been returned to a traditional style. And again, the ante is increased, making a fundamental all-the-way-back, all-Ford hot rod even more appealing in its affordability.

Table of Contents

Preface | Acnowledgments | Introduction

1. The Definitive Ford Hot Rod
2. Frame
3. Front Suspension and Steering
4. Rear Suspension, Axle, and Driveline
5. Brakes, Wheels, and Tires
6. Engine
7. Transmission
8. Body and Paint
9. Controls and Instruments
10. Fuel System
11. Electrical
12. Bells and Whistles
13. Interior and Top
14. One Year Later (Epilogue)

Appendix A: Parts & Information Sources | Appendix B: Bishop-Tardell 1929 Ford Roadster Specs, Ford Flathead Engine Tuning | Index

How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod Revised Edition