FLAMIN’ HELL

Iconic Fords: The Heart of Super Rodding & Custom Car Culture

It seems to more than the occasional observer that there are about five Fords that make up the heart of the super rodding and custom car culture: the ’27 T pickup; the ’32 roadster; the ’33-’34 Ford coupe; the ’40 coupe; and the ’49-’51 “Shoebox” Ford, in all of its deviations.

Dynamic Creations: From High-Buck to Budget Builds

What is so interesting about this list of models is the gigantic variety of creations that have evolved from them and the dynamic look of those finished products. For instance, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons has cranked out a couple of exquisite high-buck “shoeboxes.” And now Steve Sellers proves that you can create something just as exotic without a bulging savings account. Sellers, a street rod fabricator, started the project two years ago, and it was four months in the making. Today, he’s driving it to and from work, cruising, and hitting shows all over California.

The Discovery and Acquisition of the ’50 Ford

Sellers found the ’50 while doing a bit of snooping around his old San Jose neighborhood. All he could see from the street was a little section of the Ford’s roof, behind a motorhome that was parked down the side of a house. As it turned out, it was a one-owner car that had been driven by two generations of the family. Luckily for Sellers, the old folks were about to move out of state, and they wanted the Ford gone.

A Rockabilly Vision: Customizing the ’50 Ford

Sellers is a rockabilly kind of guy, and he loves the primered, slammed-to-the-max, road-scraping ’50s look. He’s real “hot rod handy,” so he did about 90 percent of the work himself, but he did get a little help along the way from “Notch Dog” Amanda (his girlfriend), Wes King, and Pat Lash.

Extensive Frame Remake & Suspension Upgrades

Underneath, he did an extensive remake of the frame. He left the front mostly stock, but he clipped in a new 2×3-inch rear subframe with a stepped over-axle section and three new tubular crossmembers.

Air Ride Suspension and Rear-End Modifications

At the rear, he installed a set of Air Ride canisters on an 8-inch Maverick axle, with a 3.90 ring-and-pinion. He also de-arched the springs and added KYB shocks and a custom Panhard bar.

To power the Air Ride-suspended rear, Sellers installed a 10-gallon air tank and a 175-psi pump to raise and lower the rear end. This setup allows Sellers to sit the rear end on the ground at will. Up front, he created a set of 2-inch stepped A-arms, adding chopped springs along with steel 16-inch wheels all around.

Modifications for a Lowered Stance

All this lowering work necessitated tunneling the floor and sectioning the frame for clearance. In the end, Sellers simply left the floor out along with the trunk floor. According to him, “It’s a bit noisy and smelly, and stuff flies in all over the place when you drive, but that helps make it a fun machine. Someday I’ll put a new floor back there!” (To cover this area, Sellers installed a tonneau cover from the back of the front seat to the parcel shelf.)

Custom Bodywork & Eye-Catching Paint

The body was lightly washed over with custom touches, including frenched headlights, ’50 Buick frenched taillights (with chromed bullets), and shaved door handles and emblems. As the body was de-chromed, the rear body seams were also filled and smoothed.

Once all this work was cranked off, the car was put in the paint booth for a coat of DuPont Chromabase Copper, which was then decorated with House of Kolor Candy Green and gold flames. Sellers did most of the base paintwork himself, with the flames being added by “Notch Dog” and the pinstriping by “Eye Bone.” This pinstriping is just on the firewall and trunk lid. The engine-bay stripes were applied before the engine was installed. Neat accessory touches include the ultra-rare center headlight, which follows the steering as the car turns a corner. There’s also a ’50s vintage GM exterior rear-vision mirror and custom-made angled carburetor rams.

Powering the Beast: A 360-Cube Chevy Small Block

Sellers did not stick with a stock Ford flat motor. Instead, he tossed it and installed a 360-cube Chevy small block built by Wes King in Morgan Hill, California. It features TRW pistons, Pink rods, a 350 steel crank, and full-flow oiling, along with classic Corvette valve covers and a beehive oil cooler. It’s topped with a crown of six-Stromberg 48 carburetors bolted to a vintage Edelbrock X-1 aluminum intake manifold.

Performance Enhancements and Custom Exhaust

As you can see, Sellers wanted some grunt to go with his outrageous ride, so the engine includes a Crane roller cam, reworked steel heads, Hunt Magneto’s mag, and Jet Hot-coated headers. The exhaust is custom-built with a set of spark plug-ignited flame throwers installed in the rear exhaust. Apparently, the Chevy cranks over 400 hp, which gives this Ford amazing performance. Putting those horses to the ground is done with a Turbo 400 transmission operated via a Lokar shifter and a Driveline Service custom driveshaft.