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Automotive Lifestyle
AUTOS: The Hot Rod Build, Part 6: Custom Touches
The sixth installment of a multi-part series about the construction of a custom Ford Deuce Coupe.
Bob Golfen  |  Posted May 20, 2010   Phoenix, AZ
The chrome bumper, taillights and gas cap are installed on the '32 Ford coupe, although they'll come off again once it's time for painting. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
This is the sixth of a multi-part series focusing on the building of a 1932 Ford “Deuce Coupe” hot rod. The scratch-built car is being created at Hot Rods by Dean, an award-winning street-rod and custom shop based in Phoenix, for a Glendale, AZ., customer.

The goal: to build a classic street rod from modern components, including a new all-steel body, that will be authentic and indistinguishable from one created from an original 78-year-old car.

The glove-box interior was built up to contain the switches for the climate control, which will be out of sight behind the compartment's door. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
If nothing else, metal craftsman Ron McCorkle is an expert at dealing with the continuous problems and unforeseen situations that come up as he hand builds the Deuce.

This past week was again devoted to alterations in the design while still trying to stay true to the original ’32 Ford details that would set the finished car apart as an automotive artwork.

With the air-conditioner unit and hand-fabricated defroster installed, McCorkle spent quite a bit of time building an all-metal glove compartment that would also contain the climate controls hidden away behind the door in the dashboard. The finished glove box still has a bit of space left for such things as a pair of gloves.

Also hidden away are the ignition and headlight switches built into a small panel located under the dash and to the left of the steering column. The headlight dimmer switch is also installed here instead of on the floor because of limited space in the footwell.

“If it was set on the floor, you’d always be stepping on it by accident,” he said.

The small screen to block debris from coming through the cowl vent was a custom part that required 10 pieces and several hours to complete. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
There was also the matter of a screen for the cowl vent, that small door that rises in front of the windshield to provide fresh air to the interior. The screen would keep crud and small objects from riding in on the fresh air.

“The ’32 Ford didn’t have screens, although the later cars did,” McCorkle said.

The screen he created clips onto the vent cover so it is easy to clean and to allow access to the air space. The screen itself is housed in a small but sturdy frame.

“There was a lot more to this than it looks,” he said. “It actually took about 10 separate pieces to make it.”

The screen is shown installed in the cowl vent, where it can be removed easily if necessary. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
McCorkle also completed the steel battery-box cover behind the seat with its emergency power cutoff key installed. The sturdy box is designed along the lines of race-car applications.

In the floor of the trunk space, McCorkle has cut square access holes so that it’s easy to get to the fuel lines at the top of the gas tank and the sending unit for the gas gauge. He fashioned steel covers that attach securely in place.

“This is so that you don’t have to take out the whole gas tank if you have to access the fuel lines or sending unit, which is always a problem spot,” he said.

McCorkle has finished cutting off and reattaching the fuel-tank filler that was incorrectly located on the tank in relation to the hole in the car body. That was another unexpected job that took a number of hours and a bit of research, but now the gas cap sits in the right place at the correct angle. It also had to be set up so that the custom gas cap was in the right position.

Ron McCorkle shows where he has cut access holes and made covers for the hoses and fuel-gauge sending unit on top of the gas tank. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
“We oriented it so that the ‘Ford’ is straight across when the key is taken out,” he said.

Also in the rear, the chrome bumper and taillights have been attached, although just temporarily, McCorkle said. Everything comes off when it’s time for body finishing and paint.

He showed where the left-hand taillight has a clear lens on top to illuminate the license plate. The shop is trying to get an original 1932 Arizona license plate, which is street legal here as long as the registration tab is up-to-date and the license numbers are not already in use.

The shop is still waiting for a number of parts, which is creating a holdup, said Dean Livermore, the well-known customizer who owns Hot Rods by Dean. One of those is the radiator that had to be sent back to the manufacturer because it didn’t have a provision for the AC condenser.

“If we had all the parts, we’d be further along by now,” he said.

The next major step is building the custom headers for the hand-built Ford V8. The high-performance engine was constructed by Bob Ream of Imagine Injection, a Phoenix shop, with special heads that require special headers.

McCorkle holds a piece of steel tubing that will be part of the custom headers that the shop will create. The new manifold gaskets are set on the fender. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
“This is the start of the headers,” said McCorkle as he held up a slightly bent piece of one-and-three-quarter-inch steel tubing. ‘We just got a set of gaskets so that flanges can be made to fit.”

Creating the headers will be a precision task, he said, because they have to curve around obstacles in the tight engine compartment. On the left, they must hook around the steering gear. On the right, there will be AC hoses and fuel lines with which to contend, as well as the starter.

“We have to keep the heat away from the starter or else it will kill it,” McCorkle said, pointing out the tight area in which they have to work. “There’s going to be a lot happening in here. But all it takes is a little planning ahead.”

Besides fitting, the headers also have to free-flowing and good looking, he added.

The shop at Hot Rods by Dean is buzzing despite the economic downturn, with about a dozen interesting projects coming and going. Just next to the Deuce, there’s a Kaiser Manhattan that a customer had started customizing but got in over his head; one of Dean’s pros is finishing it up.

The competition-style battery box with emergency cutoff key has been installed in the trunk behind the front seat. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
A gaggle of Shelby Cobra replicas are awaiting parts, one getting a rebuilt engine and another repair parts for accident damage – it’s sitting on jack stands with the left-front wheel bent at a forlorn angle under the shattered fiberglass fender.

Meanwhile, McCorkle keeps plugging away at the ’32 coupe with hopes that it will be finished and ready for the paint shop in about two months. But all the little jobs take time, and sometimes the imagination of an artist.

“It takes an artist’s conceptualizing to make this all come together,” he said. “You have to be so spatially oriented.”

He noted that the steel Brookville body that forms the basis of the project was customized by Walden Speed Shop of Pomona, Ca. The shop has produced a number of these bodies by taking the stock-dimension ’32 Ford three-window coupe body made by Brookville, chopping the roof and filling the seams, then assembling it with the precision fit required for professional-quality street rods.

Although Dean’s shop performs similar custom work, the ready-to-go body gave them a leg up on the project, Livermore said.

See the first five parts of the hot-rod project at:

The Hot Rod Build, Part 1.

The Hot Rod Build, Part 2.

The Hot Rod Build, Part 3.

The Hot Rod Build, Part 4.

The Hot Rod Build, Part 5.

For more information about the hot-rod shop, see Hot Rods by Dean.

Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEEDtv.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, who has driven and evaluated essentially every new vehicle sold in the United States. A lifelong car enthusiast with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle, he annually attends and writes about Arizona's famous January collector-car auctions, focusing on Scottsdale’s monumental Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event and other Barrett-Jackson events. SPEEDtv.com fans email Automotive Editor Bob Golfen at

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