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Product Spotlight: Bill Mitchell Products HARDCORE Manowar Valve Covers for Small Block Ford

September 15, 2025

CIMTEX RODS SUPER CAMEO: PART 10

February 20, 2024

Hundreds of thousands of these “little” big-blocks were sold in the 1960s. In 1965-66 alone, over 150,000 came in the Impala, Biscayne and Bel Air big cars. Few paid attention to them because the hot engine of the day was the L-78 with high-rpm, rectangle-port heads. But when stock eliminator drag racers began flogging the L-35, it responded magnificently.

I.C.E. : IN-CAR ENTERTAINMENT
THE BEGINNING, WHAT’S CURRENT AND WHAT THE FUTURE MAY HOLD

BACK IN THE early days, having a custom stereo meant that you installed a head unit and a set of mid- and high-range speakers. Then the wonders of subwoofers and amps came along. When these components first came out, they were very large and required huge amounts of space to install. They offered, at best, a distorted sound compared with the standards of today. Ten years ago, most enclosures, when they were used at all, were generally a box or a square made of wood. Today many things have changed and much has evolved along the way…

Jeepspeed

Between 1984 and 2001, Daimler Chrysler built about two million eight hundred thousand Jeep Cherokees. They were built in several combinations—two and four door, two and four wheel drive and stick or automatic and with three different engines. The vehicle was not well received. In print they were tagged as being too long, too heavy, under powered, poor brakes , and worst of all—uni-body construction. Before every Tom, Dick and Mary had an SUV in the driveway, young families were getting to work, going to school and having weekend fun. Give credit to Jeep for introducing a lot of young people to off-roading thru the Cherokee line.

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COVER YOUR BOTTOM

A Simple Approach To a Difficult Task

There are many ways to finish the bottom of any car. Whether you are building new, from the ground up or even detailing a rebuild that is not the off-the-frame type, you have options. And regardless of the extent of the refurbishing, you could even leave the underside in some shade of primer as it is easy to touch up, and the fenderwells and underside often become marked with use.

Author

Christopher Sondles

Story & Photography

Simple Bottom-Side Finishing Methods

Other methods of bottom-side finishing are simple approaches, like painting the surfaces rattle-can black or using store-bought, spray can undercoating. Some home builders like painting their undercarriages black while others paint theirs body color. There’s also a selection of undercoating treatments, or you can use any combination of these methods on particular areas. Most high-end, highly detailed cars that are built nowadays have fully sanded and primered under panels that are fully painted in the same color as the exterior, including the clear.

Challenges with Fully Painted Undersides

While this is the best-looking finish, it is the most time-consuming and expensive to do, and it is not the most practical due to damage from road chips and debris. Also, if you’ve ever had to clean one of these fully painted undersides or—even worse—had to touch up the undercarriage after a season of even minimal driving, even though you enjoy looking at these highly detailed cars on the show floor, you know this approach is not for you. If that’s the case, you may enjoy the product we are about to discuss.

The Show Car Buildoff ’55 Underside Coating

The Show Car Buildoff ’55, one of three cars being built by Woody’s Hot Rodz for an eventual shootout, was conceived with several thoughts in mind, not the least of which was the fact that these cars are being built to drive. Taking this into account, Woody’s thought it best to go a different route and coated the undersides of the three cars. Shown here is the ’55, which was the first of the trio to receive this unique bottom coating known as SEM Pro-Tex Tintable Truck Bed Liner.

Chassis Protection and Detailing

While the Art Morrison chassis was double-powdercoated to protect the chassis inside and out and to highlight this high-gloss finish, Woody’s incorporated Totally Stainless fasteners throughout, which are now available in kit form for the AME chassis. To go along with the polished stainless fasteners, stainless brake lines and aluminum brakes from Wilwood provide a great-looking contrast, and the chassis should not only stay rust-free but will also be durable and easy to clean.

Application of SEM Pro-Tex Tintable Truck Bed Liner

To finish the underside project, the SEM Pro-Tex Tintable Truck Bed Liner was purchased from a local parts store (Smyth Parts Plus) in Cincinnati, Ohio. This product is actually designed for truck beds, and because it is tintable (the bed liner is clear to start with), when tinted it will provide a custom look for the underside of this ’55. Another advantage is the fact that the liner material will add another noise barrier in addition to the Dynamat because of its absorptive properties.

Benefits and Installation of the Liner

The installation is simple and straightforward, so follow along as it is applied to the underside of the Show Car Buildoff ’55. This tri-5 will see lots of road miles this summer, but with SEM liner material applied, it will only need to be rinsed off, virtually eliminating any maintenance on the bottom-side finish. For more information on this product or to find a dealer near you, contact SEM Products.