Reimagined ‘37

Engine and transmission now installed

A 2-post lift in the yard makes life so much easier

…and Dynamat was attached to every panel

Part way through the rewire, using the kit that came with the car Many years ago in the States the rolling chassis came together nicely

Fortunately, body repair panels for ’37 Fords are readily available

Front seats were pretty much thrown in to get the car driveable We did say the car was sold with quite a few un tted parts Still a long way to go with the project

Recessed rewall is a necessity for engine and transmission clearance

Door cards and side panels were cut to shape…

The rear seat was cut down for a better t …and then retrimmed. Note the headlining is already tted

Neat under-dash panel features pieces cut from a ‘39 Ford grille

…Finn sets to cutting the hide for the other door Kieron was the man wielding the scissors when it came time for the carpet

Kieron’s long term project, a ’32 sedan running blown Rover power and 5-speed transmission

Steel rear wings were sourced as new old stock and for a smoother look the doors and boot lid have been tted with concealed hinges he cowl vent is now power operated and custom door mirrors give a view of what s behind he sedan was painted in the year 2000 with coats of MW opa lue Metallic Pearl applied over a PP base coat hat was then topped off with coats of PP clear with the colour and clear being sanded between each coat

In an all too familiar scenario, Kieron Smith had to sell on what non-essential cars he had when kids came along. Things change over time though, and around 15 years ago he found himself in a position to start collecting parts for a fresh project, a ’32 Ford sedan. Progress was slow, however, and as his family got older he realised he needed another car right then and there. temporary fix as found by returning to classic Volkswagens until the reality hit that wasn’t a place he really wanted to be.

House stuff then got in the way for a while until once again Kieron got back into building that ’32. After a change of jobs, he felt the need to have a car on the road far sooner than it ould ta e to finish off the sedan. He started to peruse for sale ads but was somewhat reluctant to buy a UK-built car as more often than not they are never your car, instead more commonly referred to as the builder’s old car.

Another change then got in the way, the purchase of a Mustang race car – a joint project undertaken by Kieron and his dad. hat as six or seven years ago and as the car had been out of action for a while, it needed a fair bit of recommissioning to get it back on track.

With that sorted, Kieron’s thoughts once again returned to buying another car, something he could stamp his mark on without too much work. There were criteria though; it had to be a hard top to cope with British weather, it had to accommodate 4 people, and it had to have a V8 under the bonnet, or be easily adaptable to fit one.

Being the nice guy that he is, Kieron took his family on holiday to Florida, somewhat surreptitiously as it turned out though. While in Tampa, he met up with Greg Saunders, aka britrodder, and the pair spent time together. It wasn’t time wasted sightseeing, though: they went looking for a new ride to meet Kieron’s needs.

Their quest proved fruitless, and Kieron returned home empty handed. Greg, however, had pointed him in the direction of a website aimed at Florida locals and focusing on hot rods for sale.

etting the hump

‘Back home, I did what any hot rodder looking for new wheels would do, I went surfing,’ ieron confessed. earches proved fruitless until one night an ad popped up for an unfinished pro ect ’ Ford umpbac sedan. It caught my eye so I contacted the seller, Bill Elliott, in Gainsville, Florida. It turned out it had been for sale for a while but as proving difficult to move on as it had a manual transmission.’

‘It had been for sale for a while but was proving difficult to move on as it had a manual transmission’

eft he smoothed out bonnet is tted with a two-step safety latch with cable-operated release while the restored front grille and bonnet sides sport the original stainless trim he stainless steel front bumper is from ob rakes the headlights have been converted to alogen and forward vision is through a custom curved one-piece windscreen Right M Performance Ram et 3 0 with upgraded ME ECM electronic fuel in ection offers 00bhp An Aeromotive ad ustable fuel pressure regulator controls fuel ow while a Walker high- ow radiator with custom cover and support rods ensures things don t get too hot he intage Air rontrunner pulley system is spun by a serpentine belt while Sanderson P1000 ceramic coated Ram orn-style headers feed a custom exhaust system featuring turbo mu ers

The seller sent over loads of photos and, liking what he saw, Kieron arranged to have an inspection done. Sat with his dad and some friends at the Supernats a short time later, he asked for everyone’s thoughts on the car. It’s always good to get a second opinion after all, or several in this case. The responses were all good so Kieron did the deal and arranged to have the car shipped over, the sedan arriving on these shores in October 2019.

Essentially what he had bought was a driving albeit unfinished pro ect. he chassis was well sorted and the body was painted. The seats had pretty much been thrown in though, and the iring lashed together ust to get the car running. There was, however, the added bonus of the boot and back seat being rammed full of boxes of parts, not only those needed to finish the build but more besides. The for sale ad said ‘many extra parts included if desired,’ and it would have been rude not to take Bill up on that offer.

Stocktake

aving ta en stoc of hat he’d ust bought, Kieron was happy to leave the rolling chassis well alone. To be honest, why wouldn’t he be? Just take a look at the spec and decide for yourselves. The sedan sports a Monte Carlo front clip and a 9-inch Ford rear axle with a modular ali carrier housing, Currie Enterprises shafts and 3.50:1 gears. The clip and axle are mounted on a powder coated custom fabbed rectangular tube chassis. A dual-circuit Corvette brake booster plumbed in with stainless steel lines powers up the all-round disc brakes, with the emergency brake being by Lokar. Fuel is contained within a Tanks Inc poly 18 gallon cell with an electric pump and stainless steel lines.

The V8 Kieron was insistent upon sits between the chassis rails, quite a potent power plant by all accounts. That is backed up by a Tremec TKO 500 5-speed manual with 0.64:1 overdrive 5th gear. The trans features a Weber heavy duty clutch, Wilwood slave cylinder with braided stainless steel hoses and a Mcleod NHRA approved clutch scatter shield. A pretty beefy transmission then, yet nobody Stateside fancied it.

The sedan body had been treated to a itchin roducts recessed fire all and replacement floor pans, along ith a boot floor pan and tool tray from Automotive Products. The original drip rails were restored and a Hagan tear drop fuel filler door grafted into the nearside rear wing. The doors were converted to suicide opening with rounded leading lower edges. An unusual mod, but understandable as Kieron told us Bill stands at 6ft 4 inches tall and it allowed him to get in and out of the car far more gracefully.

All body seams were sealed and the underneath covered with a rubberised coating. With the body then painted, tinted safety glass and ne seals ere fitted all round. Reportedly $15k was spent on sorting out the bodywork and painting it, which may not seem excessive until you realise that was over 20 years ago.

Above left: The smooth Bitchin Products steel dashboard houses a complement of Speedhut instruments including a GPS speedo. The switchgear is housed in a custom-built panel below the dash, formed using part of the original front grille from Whiff’s ’39 Ford Top right: The seats are from a 2005 Pontiac GTO, the fronts being power-operated. The original leather was stripped and replaced with yet more of the same. The Golders Green hides, a colour Kieron was persuaded to go for by the rest of his family, were expertly trimmed to shape and stitched by Finn and Whiff. Kieron himself is responsible for the Wheat carpet though Right: It will come as no surprise that the boot void is as sumptuously trimmed as the car’s interior. Below Right: No prizes for guessing what the speaker housings in the door cards are formed from. The lack of window winders hints at them being power operated

The interior of the sedan was to become the focal point

Sit down and strap in

Despite being a runner, the sedan wasn’t roadworthy so Kieron set about making it drivable as simply as he could. In saying that he didn’t cut corners, just concentrated on functionality rather than aesthetics. The seats weren’t mounted securely so that was rectified, ith the bac seat being narro ed and cut do n in height for a better fit. s he would be carrying valuable cargo (his family), seat belts ere fitted front and rear. ynamat soundproofing as adhered to every panel, although the interior trimming was held over for a later date.

The dash had been painted, but no holes for the gauges had been cut. That was a daunting task and Kieron confesses to entrusting it to someone else, and who can blame him? e fitted the intage ir uper ooler air conditioning, which just left the wiring to sort. That was tackled by removing what was there and fitting an merican uto ire igh ay 22 modular fuse panel and wiring harness, making sure all of it was used this time round.

In January 2020, some 3 months after the car landed on these shores, the sedan was fit for the road. hat ell and truly tic ed the ‘without too much work’ box, then, despite it having no interior to spea of. hortly after that, though, ovid hit and ith loc do n, there was nowhere to go in the car. hen that first loc do n lifted, things got serious with the interior trimming, and I mean serious. For those who don’t know, ieron’s dad is rahame hiff’ mith. lthough no having eased up due to his advancing years, Whiff has been responsible for trimming a great number of car interiors throughout his career. It is no surprise then that the interior of the sedan was to become the focal point of the car. Even more so as Kieron’s son Finn plans to tread in his grandad’s footsteps and had more than just a hand in trimming this interior. In Kieron’s own words, ‘Finn and dad took over and I basically became the tea boy. I sorted the carpets though, so they can’t say it’s all down to them.’ By mid-July 2020 the sedan was back on the road; this time, though, it was fully upholstered.

‘I use the car a fair bit now,’ Kieron told us with a smile in his voice. ‘Fellow club members say that I only bring it out in the rain though. That’s because I often seem to end up driving home in the rain! al ays frequent the upernats and Beaulieu and am not at all worried about using the car. It is so comfortable and cruising at motorway speeds you can still enjoy a conversation. It’s got the get up and go, and it really does go!

‘I’m considering changing the wheels, but I keep changing my mind as to what type. I may drop the front on air, but that is all. I just want to keep driving it. Besides, I’m back on with the ’ build no . nd no, neither car is for sale ’

Kieron readily admits to not having built the car, but he has undoubtedly put his own mark on it. Buying it as he did got him on the road in a few short months and it meets every criterion on the list he drew up. That makes it a winner all round in our book.

With it being such a good t it s hard to believe the back seat wasn t formed to suit the rear of a 3 ord sedan from the outset As well as the leather trimming inn and Whiff also sorted the Stone nion Cloth headlining he side armrests incorporate speaker housings formed using more of that 39 ord grille Another ob rake stainless bumper adorns the rear of the sedan and the semi-frenched rear lights have been converted to E with a third brake light tted below the rear window

Thanks

My wife, Soph, and daughter, Nieve, for putting up with all the strops. anks also to Finn and dad for helping out with the interior