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The Cars & Trucks That Defined PRI 2025

December 29, 2025

Back in the early ’70s, a young car nut by the name of Terry Stinehelfer picked up a ’62 Skylark to terrorize the town in, though truth be known it wasn’t much. The $200 car was all that Terry needed, however; it was powered by a small 215 V-8, and after a few months of work Terry had a cool ride. He drove it around for about a month and had a blast, until one day some poor soul felt he needed the Buick a whole lot more than Terry did, and it was gone. While at the local shopping center in Columbus, the car was stolen and was never recovered. Terry thought it would be nice if someday he could own another.

For-ward Thinking

Those who know Ottawa, Kansas Roger Ward are almost certainly aware of his dry wit, his candid demeanor and his unique ability to create understated cars, one after the other. His talent in applying the most understated details to relatively unsung vehicles provides a lesson for us all that the best way to make a strong statement is to say as little as possible and do it your own way.

While his daily duties revolved around reworked body panels and refining those efforts with a paint gun, his lifelong hobby has focused those skills on a series of cars that exudes the same laid-back character which can be enjoyed in this extremely subtle, yet equally eye-?catching, 64 short-wheelbase Chevy pickup. As with so many trucks of this era, previous owners didn’t worry too much about retaining its pristine originality. Dented and rusty, this truck had been through the proverbial ringer, which made this conversion that much more difficult to achieve. Then again, Ward’s particular talents have made a great deal out of lesser vehicles, so this would simply be another test of his talents and another example of the skills he wields.

HIDDEN HORSEPOWER WITH E85 FUEL

Advanced Fuel Dynamics has developed kits for many makes and models, and our focus today is installing a PROFLEX DX Adaptive Flex Fuel System on a 2022 Ford Mustang GT Premium.

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Billet Hood Strut Installation on Your S197 Mustang

A Simple Fix for an Annoying Problem

When you lift the hood of your 2005-2014 Mustang and engage the prop rod, do you feel a little shortchanged? Well, Steeda Autosports has developed a billet hood strut kit designed to replace those clumsy prop rods.

Author

Chris Tobin

Story & Photography

We watched as the installers at Advantage Performance Center in Riverside, California, installed the hood strut kit (PN 555-0650, $199.95) on this ’07 Shelby GT500. The kit consists of two machined 6061 aluminum brackets, a pair of rubber bumpers, two OEM-quality gas struts, the ball studs to mount the struts, and a one-page instruction sheet. It is a simple installation that took less than 30 minutes, including the time required to pause for pictures.

This is definitely a project that virtually any hobbyist mechanic can perform in his garage or driveway in an hour or less. The kit bolts into factory holes, and no drilling or modification to the car is required. It will, however, require a second person to help support the hood when the hinges are loosened and when the struts are being installed, so bring along a friend or coax your significant other into the garage.

Follow along as we install the Steeda billet hood strut kit, but remember that this is just an overview of the installation process, so always follow the supplied instructions. If you are not comfortable with your mechanical abilities, have a professional install it for you.

While relatively inexpensive, the Steeda billet hood strut kit is of excellent build quality. It installed easily, and as expected, it makes an excellent addition to any new-model Mustang. With the kit installed, the prop rod can be removed from the car altogether, as it is no longer needed. The Steeda kit also delivers a few unexpected advantages over the factory prop rod; first, the hood lifts higher, making engine maintenance (or engine showing-off) easier; and second, the hood is now square when it is opened, since it is supported by gas struts on both sides. With the factory prop rod, the hood is supported only on the passenger-side front corner, allowing the hood to twist and droop under its own weight.

Steeda developed an excellent solution for a simple flaw in the new Mustang’s otherwise excellent design. If the prop rod bothers you as much as it does some Mustang owners, check it out—you may be happy to lift your Mustang hood again.

1-2. The clear rubber bumpers have an adhesive backing and are installed on the top edge of the bracket to keep it from scratching the paint on the bottom side of the hood.

3. With your helper supporting the hood, the upper hood bracket bolt needs to be removed and the lower bolt has to be loosened.

4. Next, the bracket is slid beneath the lower bolt. After the bracket is aligned, replace the upper mounting bolt and the bracket will be secured.

5-6. The machined ball mount has two different contours; the tighter radius (seen on the right side) mounts toward the fender below the fender bolt closest to the firewall, as shown.

7. Before installing the gas strut, the completed mounting brackets should look like this.

8. When installing the passenger-side bracket, make sure that the notch at the top of the bracket clears the hose clamp for the windshield washer hose, as shown.

9. Before installing the gas struts, carefully lower the hood to check for proper fit and alignment. In our case, the hood alignment was still dead on, with straight fender-to-hood gaps, so no correction was necessary.

10. The gas struts snap onto the ball studs. To make it easier to install the strut, a small flat-head screwdriver can be used to slightly pull the tab on the back of the strut head.

11. To remove the factory prop rod, simply unbolt the single retaining bolt on the radiator core support and remove the entire assembly.

12. The completed installation will look like this.