Upon seeing the Lanzinis, Tara and Mitch, in the morning and again in the evening, one might think they own two little roadstares. Perhaps we should explain: You see, they own one of the most attractive Zipper bodied Deuce highboys that we've encountered this year. And their distinctive purple roadstare serves double-duty as a calling card zee family business, Lanzini Body Works--based in Huntington Beach, California. Eet ees allzo a relaxing fun-in-zee-sun hair-dryer, providing much needed entertainment after long days at zee shop, yes?
What first caught this reporter's roving eye was how the little roadstare's unique purple color reflected light. (Mitch credits PPG and House of Color.) Thees hue appears to change perceptibly in various wavelengths of zee light, from a cool and romantic French Purple, under indirect light, to an--ahh, yes--even richer magentia in the golden influence of direct sunlight (sigh). Many Street Rod readers have, by now, seen these modern iridescent paints that change hue dramatically--of course, they can be a bit too much when sprayed over the entire car. But, mon amie, Lanzini's highboy doesn't "flop" drastically to a contrasting hue! Oh no! Thees unique purple reacts more like a delightful damsel's palette of evening makeup under twilight's softer lighting conditions. Ah-hahaha! Oh yes!
But we digress. Owner Mitch Lanzini performed much of this chassis detailing and assembly, plus all the body-prep and paint. One look at zee leetell roadstare's well-developed surfaces speaks volumes about this knowledge of the proper sanding techniques and just how well he builds the modern paint finish. What a masterful touch, don't you agree?
Of course, under the hood what should we find but a well-detailed '95 Chevy ZZ3 motare (say, isn't Chevrolet French?), which provides spirited performance for Lanzini's 2,300-pound freeway-flyer. Mitch feels the Kugel Komponents Suspension improves as speed increases well beyond zee legal limit. Chrome-plated Wilwood calipers on ventilated discs stop this little purple roadstare on a dime and give you the exact change, no?
Perhaps you 'ave wondered, "Does twilight occur both in zee morning and evening?" Oh yes, how lucky that we 'ave two times a day that are simply pairfecto for zee amour! Zo, if you think you're seeing double roadstares, relax--it's just Tara and Mitch enjoying a leetell change in parception, yes?
This is one of the neatest tail-lamp installations we've seen. The clearcoat bridges the transition from the body to the taillight lenses with a perfectly seamless surface. And you can't miss seeing that cute little behind ether!
A '47 Tudor That Runs a 3/4 - Race Flathead Engine
Photography: Jeff TannWords: Jeff TannHuntington Beach, California body shop owner Mitch Lanzini has been a street rodder for many years. After finishing an award-winning roadster, he was looking for another project when he came across a totally stock '47 Ford Tudor sedan. He purchased the car with the hope of building another street rod, and he had it for quite a while. The more he wanted to work on the sedan, the more his workload increased, so he finally figured he would probably never get around to working on it. He listed it for sale, and before long Bob Sohn saw the sedan, which was exactly what he was looking for.
Sohn and his wife, Tricia, drove the sedan for several months, and it always had an overheating problem. Although flathead engines are known for running warm, the problem was getting worse, so he decided to disassemble the engine to find out what was wrong. The problem turned out to be a 9-inch-long crack in the block. Now what?
Sohn started looking for a replacement block and finally found an excellent one. Since he wanted to increase the Flathead's horsepower, he decided to turn the sedan into a street rod. At first, Sohn thought it would be an easy inexpensive way to rebuild the sedan, but he soon learned that Flathead parts aren't cheap. The block was bored to 3-5/16 inches and outfitted with Ross forged pistons. Combined with the Offenhauser polished aluminum heads, the engine received 8.6:1 compression. Sohn contacted Motor City Flatheads and ordered a 3/4-race cam with a 0.360-inch lift and 282 degrees duration, and a gear drive was used for cam-to-crank timing. A polished aluminum Offenhauser intake manifold and a pair of Stromberg 94 carburetors handle fule. A Mallory ignition lights the fire, with exhaust passing through Fenton header-style exhaust manifolds. Some of the interesting internal parts consist of stainless steel valves, one-piece valve guides and adjustable lifters. Since Sohn used an original block, it was mated to the stock '47 Ford three-speed manual transmission.
The beefy original engine didn't necessitate a complete frame reconstruction, so Sohn just rebuilt the original parts. The sedan also needed a lower ride height, so a dropped axle was installed. He also played around with the springs and shackles until the car had the desired ride height. When he finished, he equipped the sedan with 15x6- and 15x7-inch American Torq-Thrust wheels running BFGoodrich 205/60R15 front tires and 225/60R15 rear tires.
The little Tudor sedan body retains all the stock trim for a resto-rod look, but it has been improved with an awesome House of Kolor Magic Blue paint job and a one-piece windshield.
While Sohn was getting the sedan ready for paint, he found that the body wasn't as good as it looked. According to Sohn, the paint was the only thing holding the car together. With the help of a good friend, Bob Youngsma, the two spent several months welding and fabricating new metal parts for the car. The two of them also did all the other bodywork needed to get the car ready for paint, except for the final prep work. When they felt the sedan was perfect, it was delivered to Lanzini's shop for the final prep and the House of Kolor Magic Blue paint finished. Sohn wanted to keep the body very close to original, so the only changes were the smoothie running boards and a one-piece windshield by Clack's Glass in Texas. Stock bumpers were used in front and at the rear, and Mooneyes tri-bar headlights replaced the stockers.
The next step was the removal of the mohair and the installation of the tweed and leather upholstery. Orange Auto Upholstery handled the interior work, with the wiring done by Sohn and his father-in-law, Bob Saunders. The stock seats were retained, rebuilt and upgraded with a nice combination of gray tweed and leather, with a gray carpet. sohn restored the dash, which was painted blue to match the car, and then he had all the trim chromeplated. He also installed a Vintage Air climate control system. He didn't want to cut up the perfect dash to install the vents, so he fabricated custom vents, so he fabricated custom vents that retract under the dash when they're not being used. The interior was finished with a Custom Autosound stereo system with a six-disc CD changer.
Sohn and some of his talented friends transformed the stocker into a nice street rod. Now the car is driven almost every weekend to rod runs and car events in Southern California. The only problem Bob and Tricia have with the sedan now is trying finding a spot for all the trophies it brings home.
The Flathead engine was bored to 258 ci and runs Ross forged pistons, a Motor City Flathead cam, Offenhauser heads, and an Offenhauser intake with a pair of Stromberg 94 carbs.
The plush tweed and leather interior was stitched by Orange Auto Upholstery. All the original seats were used and updated for style and comfort.
Sohn spent plenty of time restoring the dash and then painted it to match the body and color. All the interior dash trim was chromeplated and the stock gauges were retained.
What's the most important ingredient in building a custom pickup? Perseverance! Of course, the quantity you'll need that quality in depends on your skills, your pocketbook, and how much spare time you've got. In other words, if talent, money, and time are in short supply, you'll likely need a mother load of perseverance to see a project through to completion.
Bill Haskins is obviously a man with an abundance of patience and perseverance. We know that not because he's inept or dirt poor, but
because it took him 11 long years to finish his custom '58 Chevy Apache pickup. Not only that, be he kept the project alive despite two coast-to-coast moves-from California to Maryland and back again- and the birth of his two children, Ryan and Rachel. And while Bill most certainly had his doubts along the way, his ability to stick-- Page 50 -- with the project paid off with the fine finished product you're looking at now.
Like most vintage pickup projects, this one had humble beginnings. "I bought the truck in 1990 for $800, " Bill says. "At that time it had house paint on it to keep it from rusting. It was a Custom Cab with a stepside bed on it."Beginning the buildup at the bottom, Bill had a Volare front subframe installed, the frame rails boxed and C-notches cut to provide plenty of clearance for the Currie 9-inch rearend. The frame was powder coated red, plumbed with stainless lines from Pure Choice, and fitted with a '72 350 built using an Isky cam, World Products heads, Edelbrock induction, and Billet specialties brightwork. Eventually it would get rolling on 17x8- and 17x10-inch Intro Pentia wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich rubber, but not before Bill had to pack up and haul the pickup back East.
"In 1993 I was transferred to Baltimore, Maryland, and i moved the truck with me," Bill says. After getting settled, Bill got back to tinkering
on the truck. "While attending the swap meet at Carlisle (Pennsylvania), I found a guy who had a short-wide Fleetside bed and he wanted to trade for a stepside. Then I put the truck in a body shop, and after six months of work I was transferred back to Los Angeles. The body shop put the truck primer so that i could move it back to L.A."You would think that Bill might've had smooth sailing once he got settled again in California, but that wasn't the case. "I had a guy in Lake Elsinore work on it, and he basically
-- Page 52 -- ruined all the work from Baltimore," Bill explains.
"After six long months I finally took it away from this guy. At this point I had to take the truck back down to bare metal. I then took it to
Lanzini Bodyworks (Huntington Beach, CA), where the bodywork and paint were completed."Lanzini's application of the PPG Ferrari Rosso Corsa (translation: bright red) paint capped off an assortment of body modifications, from shaved trim and filled seams to a smoothed grille,
shaved front bumper, and rolled rear pan from RB's Obsolete. Then the Chevy was sent off to Ron Mangus at Custom Auto Interiors, where a Glide seat and the rest of the cockpit were stitched in tan leather and the floors covered in squareweave carpet. Other indoor amenities included VDO gauges, Vintage Air climate controls, a Flaming River tilt column, and a sound system comprised of Sony, Alpine, and Boston Acoustics components.
As you might imagine, the past decade has not only given Bill plenty of time to test his perseverance, but also ample opportunity to
reflect on his efforts. "After ten years, I've learned that in this type of project it's hard to keep motivated," Bill says. "I also have done many things twice, since a newer or better product would come on the market. Having two children and moving from one coast to the other
definitely slowed the progress, but it was worth the wait. I also want to thank my wife, Sharon, and children Ryan and Rachel, for their
patience and understanding for my late nights and endless weekends."I finished installing the Bruce Horkey bed wood kit at 3:00 in the morning before the Goodguys Del Mar Show, where I got a CLASSIC TRUCKS Top 5 Pick," Bill continues. "After ten years, i was extremely
happy to finish my truck and get a Top 5 Pick at my very first show. "And that's not all. One of the truck's next appearances was the annual Show & Shine put on by Brothers Truck Parts, where it won Best of Show. Top that off with a CLASSIC TRUCKS feature, and you can see that Bill's persistence and perseverance have paid off big time in the long run. CT
-- Page 47 --
Coast-To-Coast Custom
After two moves, two kids and ten years, this Chevy is finally finished
-- Page 49 --
Coast-To-Coast Custom
It's about time! For the past decade my '33 Ford roadster has been "in-progress" as a source of how-to-stories. Yes, I've purchased or traded for every part, and patiently learned how to assemble them. On at least a dozen occasions, I wondered if I'd ever see 'em all together--changing jobs, raising a family, and additions to our home constantly pushed the roadster to the back burner. I've ignored advice to just
"get it done," hoping it could be a bit different, yet with some degree of quality. Still, there are details I'd do differently. Are they ever finished? Not really!
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An invitation to the Grand National Roadster Show provided the final incentive to set a date to present it to the public as a painted and upholstered car. Thanks to Jeff "the Tann Man," I took a week in January to reassemble the freshly painted body, fenders, and hood panels, and transport it north for an interior.
It's impossible to express my gratitude to the many people involved over the years. Forgive me if I simply say"thanks to everyone who helped" --the list of names is long and most have been mentioned in the build-up stories. However, I must thank my wife, Linda, for her unwavering support. There were times when selling the roadster would've made our economic life much easier, but she never once brought up the subject.
When bartering for parts and services, I've learned it's important to do vices, I've learned it's important to do everything you agreed to do, then do a little more. It helps prevent chaffed feelings and rewards a manufacturer's generous support. To all who've supplied product and labor in exchange for editorial consideration, I hope I've fulfilled my promise to your satisfaction. In our business, there's always another project in the garage.
Writing this article has been both difficult and rewarding. I've had far too long to dwell on what to put in and what to leave out. There are, at least, past stories with greater detail and appropriate credits. On a personal note:
Driving the roadster means Linda and I are no longer rod run spectators. For the first time in recent years, we're full-fledged participants, proud of our bright red ticket to ride. Look for us this summer.
Since Ward Auto Interiors completed the upholstery,
I've put a thousand miles on the odometer while playing with the Grear Vendors overdrive and listening to the Kicker speakers pump out cruzin' tunes. Turning the key puts my smile muscles on full-lock. Boy, what a fun toy!
One thing I'm sure of: If there's a future for our old cars, it will be this delightful feeling that fuels it-- God Bless Street Rodding America!
** Text under 1st photo **
A unique feature is the curved windshield. A Long Beach friend, Jim Mobley, created the pattern. Steve Dozall of STD Glass in Coos Bay, Oregon, cut just what we needed to fit between shortened windshield stanchions that were chromed by Verne's Chrome Plating in Gardena, California. Sun Specs outside mirrors are in the works.
** Text under 2nd photo **
I wanted a few louvers on the smooth hood sides. Scott Guildner came up with the idea of two rows of three--three 'n' three, get it? Thanks, Scott!
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Parts Sources
