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    On Your Guard

    Kilby Enterprises makes many cool products, such as their On Board Air systems, but they also produce some heavy duty skid plates that are designed to keep the rocks from inflicting pain on you and your rig.

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    REDEEMING THE FORGOTTEN Y-BLOCK

    When Ford introduced its Y-block engine in 1954, it labeled the engine the worthy successor to the venerable Flathead. The Flathead gained a loyal following of hot rodders and racers, but the big Cadillac overhead-valve V-8 and Oldsmobile’s Rocket 88 were stealing Ford’s thunder in terms of power, so something had to be done, and Ford decided to respond. The answer was a clean-sheet V-8 design, featuring overhead valves and improved cooling compared to the old Flathead. It was dubbed the “Y-block” because of the way it looked and because of its deep skirt and tall cylinder heads.

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    HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR

    Looking at the Stallion shows the influence of Unique Performance on Foose’s design. Actually, once you really sit down and look at the car, it appears to be a collage of design features from classic Mustangs, all herded together on the same car. The new front fascia replaces the stock headlight buckets with a large round light and smaller driving light, and this arrangement looks very similar to that found on the Unique G.T.500E. Horizontal billet bars replace the stock honeycomb mesh in the upper grille, shaped very much like the original ’65 grille, down to the offset Foose badge in place of the stock Mustang emblem. The lower grille contains another pair of round lights and more billet bars.

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    POPULAR READS

    TUNNELED, NOT FRENCHED

    Installing a Recessed License Plate

    Street rod trends are constantly changing. What once looked good now seems dated, and so it will someday be for today’s cutting-edge look. Eventually, some of these trends come back into vogue—hence the birth of terms like newstalgia. Other aspects of this hobby never change; the tires are still round and cars take up more of our time and money than we’d like to admit.

    Author

    Picture of Will Smith

    Will Smith

    Photography: Scott Killeen

    The Ever-Changing Trends of Street Rods

    Street rod trends are constantly changing. What once looked good now seems dated, and so it will someday be for today’s cutting-edge look. Eventually, some of these trends come back into vogue—hence the birth of terms like newstalgia. Other aspects of this hobby never change; the tires are still round and cars take up more of our time and money than we’d like to admit.

    Navigating Government Regulations

    Just as unchanging are government regulations that tell us what we can, can’t and must do to our vehicles in order to drive them on the street. Well, that’s not exactly true—the government is constantly coming up with new regulations, but those that are already here won’t ever be going away. Sometimes we can use regulations to our advantage, turning mandatory items like brake lights and turn signals into stylish attributes rather than impediments to overall aesthetics.

    The Challenge of License Plate Placement

    Other required items are not so accommodating. Authorities do not react well, for example, to altered license plates. Sure, you can order the plate to read almost anything you wish, but altering the metal plates themselves is definitely verboten. That’s frustrating, because a 12×6-inch piece of stamped, flat sheetmetal doesn’t really lend itself to the shapely contours of a ’30s or ’40s street rod. Some states are better than others, in that some require plates on both ends of the vehicles while others mandate them for the rear only. There’s absolutely no good place to put a license plate on the front of a street rod, but some alternatives for the rear are definitely better than others.

    Traditional vs. Modern License Plate Mounting

    Of course, the simplest way to mount a license plate is the way factories did it: hang it off a bracket mounted to a taillight or bumper. That was fine back then because it was functional, but today we have higher standards for our modified cars. After going to the trouble of molding and welding the fenders to the body for a smooth, one-piece look, why just tack on a license plate as an afterthought? Some cars with particularly raked stances can attach the plate to, say, the rear of the differential, but not every car can get away with this. If your car sits too low in back, the authorities won’t be able to see the plate, and you can bet they will stop and ask you about it.

    Recessing the License Plate for a Clean Look

    One of the better solutions to this problem is to recess the license plate into the rear of the car’s body. Despite their curves, nearly every vehicle of street rod vintage has a flat enough rear for this option to be highly practical. Not only will it solve a problem, but it will also give you a chance to show off some of your fabrication skills. Put another way: Compared to all the other work necessary to build a street rod, this project is a breeze.

    1) The first step is to cut out the pieces of metal you will need. The overall size of the individual pieces will vary slightly based on how deep you want to recess the plate. The larger your pieces, the more room you’ll have to decide exactly how you want your installation to look.
    2) For this project, the recess is going to be shallow so that the plate sits close to flush with the body. Notice the size of the pieces in relation to the typical plate frame. Center and trace around the frame so that you know where to make the bends in your metal.
    3) Here, the areas outside the perimeter of the frame have been painted to provide some reference. Measure as far in from each edge as you want the panel to be recessed (e.g., if you want the license plate to sit 1/2 inch inside the body of the car, measure 1/2 inch from each edge). Scribe a line on each side so that you’ve created (in our example) a smaller rectangle with a 1/2-inch margin on each side.
    4) Use a heavy-duty set of cutters to remove the small square formed by the intersecting lines in each corner of the metal.
    5) Now you can bend your large piece of metal into the box that will contain the license plate.
    6) Move on to the smaller metal pieces. Use a hammer to bend the pieces around a length of pipe, creating a radiused 90-degree angle. Make sure you have everything lined up straight.
    7-A) This is how all your pieces will fit together. Note that in order for all the pieces to fit smoothly, you’ll have to cut a curve into each side of two of the pieces.
    7-B) At first you’ll just have to estimate the cut, so go easy and remove a little material at a time. If you try to make the cut perfect on the first try, you’ll probably end up cutting away too much.
    8) When all the pieces fit together the way you want them to, clamp them up and weld them together.
    9) Here, three of the sides have been welded and ground smooth. One more corner and this piece will be finished.
    10) Take your finished piece and trace its edges onto wherever you’d like to position it on your car.
    11) After you’ve checked to make sure everything is straight and level, begin cutting along the lines you’ve just made.
    12) With the original metal gone, you can position your new recess in the hole.
    13) Tack the metal together and then fill in the welds, being careful not to overheat any areas.
    14-a) When you’ve smoothed out the welds, here’s what you’ll have. Since you’ve got to have a license plate, this setup is probably your best option.
    14-B)It looks good and it shows that you’re willing to put a little effort into the exacting finish of your ride to make it look the way you want it to.

    ARTICLE SOURCES

    Picture of POSIES, Inc.

    POSIES, Inc.

    219 N. Duke St.
    Hummelstown, PA 17036

    Phone: 1 (717) 566-3340
    e-Mail: sales@posiesrodsandcustoms.com

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