...After 8 years of planning and saving. Not exactly a rat rod but it is pretty much old school... I wish I could say I built it. The car (a '40 Chevy Master 85 Tudor Sedan) was originally built by my buddy Ken Stek of Stek Low Rod Shop of Ottumwa, IA. I purchased the car from him. The paint, body work, hood louvers, and Hilborn electronic 8 stack fuel injection were done by Shawn Maine and all the guys at Midwest Rod And Restoration of Wapello, IA. I can't recommend them highly enough. They were wonderful to deal with. Shawn will be on Spike TV's "Search And Restore" show doing some wiring on a rod project, Nov. 17. Ken Stek was responsible for the 2 3/4" - 2 5/8" chop, twice "Z'ed" frame, Mustang II front end, tilted "B" pillars, and laid down back glass and the incredible dash ( the pinstripe message on the dash says "Cleared for takeoff!!"). I need to get some pics of the dash. It's gorgeous and took Ken over 200 hours to build. The car has been in black primer for the past eight years I've owned it. The engine was built by Mag Dynamics of Ottumwa, IA. It's a full rollered, Scat cranked, Eagle rodded, Edelbrock aluminum headed, 496" big block Chevy. The car is running a beefed 700R4 trans with 3:70 Ford 9" posi. Not sure of the HP and torque numbers. It's never been dyno-ed. My guess is probably 600+ with the Hilborn electronic 8 stack injection (self learning with Holley ECU). The paint is GM Mulberry Metallic and Subaru Camellia Red. The gorgeous pinstriping on the nose, trunk, scallops, and dash was done by Jim Hetzler. Ultra leather upholstery was by Tom Eggers of Tom Henry Upholstery in Bloomfield, IA. Hope you like it. Tom
Very nice, Tom. I really like what I see of both the cosmetics and mechanicals. Plus it has all that extra interior space unlike my roadster which barely fits two. So the family can ride along, or if they're busy, four or five cute babes.
Glad someone got it labeled????? Nice car regardless of what some Kiljoy had to say. Love the engine and everything else about it. Gotta be proud.
WOW! Believe it or not I actually know most of those guys you mentioned! Ken stem is really talented and a heck of a nice guy too. So do you live in or around ottumwa? Nice car too! It'll be good to see something different around for a change!
I ment ken stek! Lol! Btw you're gunna need to change your plates now! Lol! Also where is this Midwest rod and restoration located? Never herd of them...
Yep, I live close to Ottumwa. And, Ted, those tips have been on the car for 10 years...they're hardly "tuner tips", LOL!! I think I know what you're saying though. Since the car has 3" expanding to 4" exhaust I don't have much choice on the size of the tips. Besides, you outta' hear this bad boy. The Comp Cams roller cam, Hilborn fuel injection, and 4" exhaust all make it sound all business. I'm very picky about exhaust too. It's very difficult to choose sometimes. It has to look right for the car. Even with a rat rod. And the style has to be just right. You not only have to choose a good looking location but, for me, it has to protrude just the right amount...not too much, not too little. Can be a difficult decision for sure. And, manyolcars, it's not supposed to be a "traditional hotrod". Never referred to it as that. I just wanted it to have a sort of old school look. I grew up in the '50s and '60s and I know what a "traditional hot rod" is and what it isn't. And a lot of what is referred to as "traditional hot rod" today isn't. I agree...this isn't a "traditional hot rod" in a pure sense. Wasn't meant to be. I wanted this car to walk the line between old school '50s/'60s hot rods and customs with a slight nod to some newer street rod ideas. IMHO, I accomplished that. For me, it's kind of the best of everything. I really like it. In the end...that's all that counts. And really, they're all "hot rods"...from rat rods to customs to lead sleds to street machines to souped up tuners to street rods to top fuel dragsters. They all share the same heritage. Tom
Actually the plates stand for big block Chevy, not big black Chevy. Midwest Rod And Restoration is in Wapello, IA. which is about 20 miles north of Burlington on US Highway 61. Tom
Hey Ted, I was looking at the pic of those exhaust tips and they look longer and bigger than they really are perhaps due to their reflection in the paint? They do kinda' look like those big tuner "fart cans", ha, ha. Tom
Tom Hey I see you're in the vintage cruisers car club. I used to be in it too years ago before the big split with the drifters. so was Midwest rod and restoration the ones who did the paint on your car? Were they pretty reasonable to deal with? Sorry for all the questions but I'm still on the fence on wether I want to paint my galaxie myself or have someone else do it. And it seems there's not a lot of shops around here that know anything bout custom paint. BTW I like your car and it IS a nice mix of old and new. ken
Hey Ken, Yeah, I'm sort of a "silent member" of the club. Don't go to the meetings due to time constraints but I do support them financially. I can't recommend Midwest Rod And Restoration highly enough. They were wonderful to deal with. I felt their prices were very reasonable and their work very timely and the quality top notch. They even organized the tasks to be performed on a daily basis and they stuck to their schedule very tenaciously. When they said certain things were to be done by a certain day and time it was done...on time...every time. They're true professionals in every sense of the word. They've done many magazine cars and many cars costing in the six figure range. And they can pretty much do it all. They can build a car from scratch, engine included. They've done many supercharged and fuel injected cars. They're the ones who installed and tweaked my Hilborn 8 stack electronic fuel injection. Incredibly skilled and knowledgeable people. Like I said, I highly recommend them. Tom
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