CAR KULTURE DELUXE #29 AUGUST 2008
THEY CALL IT DETROIT
Words & Photos: Alan Mayes
There was a huge section of the upper hall devoted to Gene and several of his cars were on hand, as were ones he's painted and ones he's inspired through his good taste and superb workmanship. Voodoo Larry Grobe of the Voodoo Kings brought his Winfield-inspired '46 Ford radical custom especially for the occasion. It got the Winfield thumbs-up, too. Watch for an exclusive feature on that car in Car Kulture DeLuxe very soon as well.
OL' SKOOL RODZ #10 JULY 2005
"Z" RIDE
By Gennaro
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How often do you see chopped Mopars? There's no doubt that they've been overlooked for quite some time with Chevs, Fords, ubiquitous Mercs and a handful of Buicks and Oldsmobiles (done up by an esoteric few) making up most of the cars used for chopping and customizing fodder.
So. . . why not? They've got decent enough lines and can usually be had for much, much cheaper in good shape than any of the above. |
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This '51 Dodge Wayfarer started out in the hands of Voodoo Larry's father-in-law. Pops bought it from an older gentleman who kept it in meticulous condition, using it for "parade duty" on the Fourth of July and occasionally taking it out for a Sunday morning ride in the countryside. It was all original, rust-free and the price was right so he snatched it up quick. Before the ink was dry on the title transfer, the car was in Larry's hands so that he could do what he does best.
Larry rolled it into his Sideshow Kustoms outfit and it sat in the corner for a spell getting worked on in between paying jobs. The chop was the first thing to be executed to the stocker with seven inches taken out of the front and eight inches out back. The roof line was shortened up big time to get the profile to flow nicely with three feet's worth of hand hammered metal work making up the rear portion. Larry says that it just wasn't going to be visually fluid enough by quickly hacking it together so it was his only option.
When he originally sheet metaled it all in there wasn't any provision for a rear window. Once the welds cooled off, Larry took a Sharpie and laid out the 1940 Ford-style split window set up. After a bit of work with the snips, grinder and welder, it was all ready to get the custom cut glass installed.
The stock taillights from his '52 Olds that he built a few years ago were found in a box and mocked up with masking tape to see what they'd look like. The ass end of the Dodge is really narrow, so the tape was peeled off and the lights were next fashioned sideways to fatten up the look a bit. Once the new locations were deemed aesthetically correct, Larry rolled out the MIG and got to work.
The rear bumper was looking really sorry and out of place at this point, so it was tossed into the storage shed. The mounts were smoothed over and a new pan featuring a frenched license plate was fabricated by Larry and hammer welded into place.
A real eye sore on these cars in stock trim is the way the fenders mount with a big unsightly seam. Thankfully, that's a moot point once they're welded up and worked over as has been done on this car. The stock trunk hinges were also replaced with a set from a '50 Ford. Voodoo Larry didn't leave those alone either. They've been peaked and extended to add a little more flair and visual punch to the otherwise boring factory units.
Moving to the front of the Wayfarer, the two-piece hood was welded together to slick up the looks. The stock grille was next to get worked over, with Larry removing a good chunk off the top of it so that the front end wouldn't look too busy and bulky. The antenna was also frenched at this time and the whole car got shaved
Click here for all the photos.
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CAR KULTURE DELUXE #30 OCTOBER 2008
THE VOODOO IDOL
Words: Gennaro
Photos: Josh Kurpius
Model: Monika Morose
For obvious reasons, Voodoo Larry Grobe is no stranger to these pages. That he builds some of the wildest rides out there would be a tremendous understatement. As wild as his kustoms are, this '46 Ford is his smoothest and slickest to date.
He's named the Ford "The Voodoo Idol" and it is Larry's personal tribute to the great Gene Winfield. Larry wanted his car to be a nod to Winfield, Barris and the rest of the founders of the kustom scene and employed every trick in the book in the Idol's construction.
The original '46 was acquired from Larry's friend, Ron Ek, who traded it to Larry in exchange for some metal work. As soon as he got his hands on it Larry plugged in the old Sawzall and got to work.
The top was chopped 5 1/2" in front and 7 1/2" in back. Another 8" was taken out of its length to shorten it up and give it more of teardrop/streamliner motif. The stock back window was reused and the B-pillars were slanted as well. If you check it out, it looks very Zephyr-ish.
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The body itself has been sectioned 3 1/2" around the lower portion and the running boards were also lopped off. Larry started sectioning the hood but didn't like the way it was coming out so he tossed it aside and scratch built his own out of five pieces of sheet-metal, using his knee to form them. He's since given in to getting older and bought a proper English wheel with which to ply his craft. The hood hinge is also a handmade affair and lifts it up and forward to reveal the one-off engine compartment.
The car was widened 4" front and back in order to fit the '49 Cad bumpers that Larry got from his friend Bill. The bumpers themselves were pretty trashed, so Larry spent the better part of a few days rebuilding them and added some '51 Kaiser overriders before sending them off for the bright work.
Larry wants to give a big thanks to Berto and Gabriel from Hired Gun Paintwork for chipping in on the bodywork and gorgeously applied spritz job. It's a stellar Winfield styled job and couldn't have come out any better. Another shop mate, Andy "El Pomp," also lent his hands in the build and gets big kudos from Larry for his help.
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The front grille came from a '47 Stude and was had for $25 on eBay. Larry wanted the Idol to have a decidedly art deco air to it and wasn't happy with any factory offerings so he scratch built his own fenders. Combined with the '41 Buick skirts (which still have the factory trim) they're about as gorgeously done as any Delahaye units ever made. A set of '49 Plymouth taillights gloriously crown the matrimony.
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Also take note that the stock lower door hinges were kept. The early Winfield and Barris cars ran them, so Larry decided that they'd stay. In fact, nothing much other than the drivetrain is newer than '53. Larry did add an '81 Camaro front clip with power discs and steering. The engine is a 305 from the same donor as is the rear end and Turbo 350 trans. Larry wants to thank his friend Milo for rebuilding everything and topping off the motor with the 3-deuce set up.
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Milo also dressed it up with all the finned accessories that he could get his hands on. Another exclusion from the pre-'53 rule is the full ART air ride. Larry likes to drive and the above gives him all the reliability that he could've asked for.
Larry's shop mate at Voodoo Larry Kustoms is Mr. Stitch, who redid the whole interior from scratch. Larry sectioned the seats 6" to make some pomp room since the car's been sliced so much. The two got out a bunch of little books from back in the day and recreated out of forest green and pearl white Naugahyde a medley of touches that Larry liked. The interior added to the mechanicals makes the Voodoo Idol a definite dream to drive.
The mods and tricks that Larry used in building this car could fill an encyclopedia. Everything, from the body mods to the little stuff like spindle mounting the hubcaps so that they stay stationary even while the car's in motion, is a testament to the ride's sheer kickassness (for lack of a better word).
Being in the business of building and selling kustoms and rods means that eventually he's going to have to sell this one too. But, Larry's going to hang onto the Voodoo Idol for a while longer and enjoy it. After all, how can you be "voodoo" without proper talisman?
Click here for all the photos.
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OL' SKOOL RODZ #19 JANUARY 2007
VOODOO LARRY'S VOODOO DIABLO
Text by Gennaro, Photos by Josh Kurpius
"Understated" is not a work in Voodoo Larry Grobe's dictionary. This guy's been building kustoms and rods that leave everyone's jaw on the floor for the better part of the past couple of decades. His new ride, "Voodoo Diablo" is most definitely not an exception.
The 1928 Dodge Bros. ex-4 door sedan is a far cry from its beginnings as the eBay-scored shell and frame that Larry picked up last August. He was able to get it on the cheap and tucked it into a corner of his shop. It sat there in its unassuming stock state, awaiting Larry to unleash a fury of Sawszalls, hammers and torches on it on the afternoon of Thanksgiving day last year.
He chopped it 4"... not enough. Next he lopped off another 2" and looked at it... he thought "nahh... still not quite right." After slicing yet another couple off the top it sat somewhat where he wanted it-the extreme. The sedan had sat on the naked ground for the better part of the 20th century and showed the effects as the lower 3" of the body was completely rotted out. Larry reasoned that it was an easy enough fix and took the axe to the lower extremity and sectioned it, giving the car an even more radical profile.
The rear doors were welded shut and their upper frames were thrown into the dust bin as he slid the sedan roof forward a few notches, leaving the rear portion as a bed. It should suffice to say that much more was done to it than what's mentioned on these pages, but this issue's a bit cramped for space and it would probably take something along the lengths of the Encyclopedia Britannica to cover all the little body mods that Larry fashioned into this ride.
Once all the gee-whiz stuff was done to the shell, Larry moved onto the stock frame. The rear end was Z-ed a mind boggling 20 inches while the front rails were kicked up another 2 1/2" from stock. Out back he hung a rear end from a 1990 Chevy conversion van. The Dodge body is aout 4" wider than the offerings from Ford at the time and it was the only thing he could find that would work. A four link Panhard bar handles the rear that was originally affixed with coil-overs until Larry saved up enough scratch to move up to the Shockwave air ride set up that it's currently sporting. The Voodoo King gives a nod to it as it allows the rear to lay frame at the drop of a switch. Up front the pothole duty is assigned to a set of one-off friction shocks which really look the part and do a good enough job of keeping this rad ride going on the straight and narrow.
Larry set the body over the rolling chassis with a 5" channel which got it looking even more radical, but cramped up the footwells a bit more than he liked. He solved the problem by dropping the area 3" from the rest of the floor pan to get a bit more leg room and comfort out of it.
The motor is a late '60s Chevy 307 sourced from a Malibu. Larry got it for free from a wrecker friend that owns a yard. It sat outside for the better part of 7 years and Larry scored it on the condition that the internals were of an unknown quality and to do it up it at his own risk. He turned the crank on it a few times and it wasn't locked up so he decided to dive into it. He bought an Offy 6-deuce setup on eBay to crown the gratis lump and then hand made some radical stacks from re-cycled exhaust pipes. They rear their crowns well above he roof line.
Larry dusted off a set of vintage Cal Custom tin valve covers and bolted them onto the stock heads along with some zoomies that he whipped up in his garage. The motor was then affixed to a 350 Turbo trans with a manual valve body to chirp the rear tires on upshifts. The radiator is from a '65 Mustang and hides behind a way neat '31 Nash grille shell that's still sporting its O.E.M. emblem. Headlights are '33 Ford swap meet finds that flank the shell and hand-fabbed stone guard. The lights sit atop homemade brackets and mounts that are actually re-done leaf springs left over from his father-in-law's '48 Plymouth build.
The interior is a one-off masterpiece itself. Larry wanted a WWII bomber motif and set about making all the frames and forming the sheet metal over his "English knee" right appendage out of 16 gage. Nothing but brute strength and foresight were used in fabbing everything up. His upholsterer buddy Stitch made everything a little more accommodating with the get pad ensconced tuck and roll.
The dash is stock but with a gauge cluster from a 1954 Olds that's been frenched in to keep an eye on what's going down. The trans hump is purposely exposed to lend an air of business and mechanicalness to the interior. The steering column and box are from an F1. The way neat steering wheel is from a '51 Kaiser and sports a quick detach to help the 6'4" builder make a quick getaway when he needs to.
Man, there's so much one-off stuff on this car that it's impossible to chronicle in one scant article. It needs to be said that his last build-the superlative Voodoo Kreeper '54 Chevy (see OSR #8) has been sold off to a collector with big pockets that fancies milestone vehicles. Larry bank-rolled the funds from that to open up a new shop, appropriately named Voodoobilly Kustoms with his partner Bobby Middleton (and yes, you can see his chop top Chevy in a previous OSR feature too). If you want to get your hands on one of their creations or have them do up your own ride, give them a jingle at 847-301-7990.
In addition to Bobby and Stitch, larry wants to thank Gary Redmon for the driveshaft, Junior for the sheet metal on the floors, and Danny Rainwater for his extra hands in the build.
TECH SHEET
OWNER: VOODOO LARRY GROBE
YEAR: 1928
MAKE: DODGE BROS.
BODY CUSTOM FAB: THE WHOLE THING
COLOR: WHATS LEFT OF THE ORIGINAL FACTORY PAINT!
PAINT TYPE: OLD
PAINTER: LANCE (ROOF) AND OWNER
ENGINE: 307 CHEVY
TRANNY: TH350
EXHAUST: HOMEMADE ZOOMIES
INTAKE/CARB: 6 DEUCE OFFY FROM EBAY
IGNITION: WORKS FINE
REAR END: 1990 CHEVY VAN
SUSPENSION INFO: SHOCKWAVE AIR OUT BACK, FRICTION SHOCKS IN FRONT
BRAKES: STOP FINE
WHEELS/SIZE: 4 OF 'EM
SEATS: HAND FORMED FRAMES AND METAL WORK W/TUCK AND ROLL BY STITCH
UPHOLSTERY: STITCH
DASHBOARD: OEM, W/'54 OLDS CLUSTER FRENCHED AND SMOOTHED INTO IT
STEERING COLUM: F1
WINDOWS: CUSTOM TILTING FRONT LIKE ON A FORD
TAILLIGHTS: '49 MERC
CLUB AFFILIATION: VOODOO KINGS
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CAR KULTURE DELUXE #31 DECEMBER 2008
VOODOO LARRY CHOPS A MERC 4-DOOR
Photos: Josh Kurpuis
Captions: Voodoo Larry Grobe
Chopped and customized Mercurys are just cool. They always have been; always will be. And while most people's first thought for a custom Merc turns to a '49-51 two door version, four door Mercs have almost the same lines, plus they have bitchin' suicide rear doors as an added attraction. They are finally coming into their own as a viable and desirable candidate for the hacksaw treatment.
Voodoo Larry Grove of the Voodoo Larry Kustoms in Schaumburg, Illinois, is one of the most recognized - and recognizable - customizers in the Midwest. He has been building customs for himself and others for over twenty years and his cars draw an admiring crowd wherever they show up. See his "Voodoo Idol" in CKD #30 as evidence of his talent.Larry recently did a radical chop on a 4-door Mercury for a customer, changing it from a sedan to a pillarless hardtop. Ace photographer, Josh Kurpius, was there to record the deed. Here 'tis in Josh's photos and Larry's own words. -Alan Mayes
-Rear roof section of the 4-door Mercury- marked for cuts for 7" chop. If you leave the back window in, tape it with duct tape to prevent scratches and burns.
-A-pillar marked for a 6" removal.
-Inside package tray area cut for removal of top section.
-All four door frames removed.
-Cutting the rear section of the roof out.
-Removing the rear window.
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-Cutting and removing all inner bracing.
-Top taken off the car; leave all doors shut so the car doesn't sag. The doors were also tack welded shut to prevent sagging.
-Cutting down the A-pillar. Always wear safety glasses when cutting.
-The pie shaped area needs to be removed from the lower windshield frame to taper the A-pillar in.
-Replacing and aligning the top after chopped pieces are removed.
-Taping the top for area that must be removed.
-Cutting package tray loose from rear roof.
-This is the misalignment of the B-pillar. If we were keeping it we would have to do quite a bit of metalwork to get the sections aligned. I am hardtopping this car; so that is not necessary. The B-pillar is not used.
-That top was moved forward over the rear door. There is a piece of flat stock welded from the quarter panel up over the door to hold the top up above the rear door.
-This piece of door frame will be grafted onto the top front edge of the rear door to fill in where the frame was cut off, meeting up where I'm pointing.
-Rear door sill top finished. The upper door frame is welded to the roof for more stability.
-Strengthening the roof for the hardtop.
-This car is going to be a post-less 4-door. The door post is welded to the rear doors for a full opening, easing back seat entry and exit.
-Back window ready to go back into the car.
-The upper door frames welded to the roof and finished A-pillar.
-This is what a post-less 4-door looks like. Make sure the car has a good solid frame and plenty of support in the roof before attempting this application.
-Removing excess metal in the roof.
-Support brackets for the package tray and the rear sheet metal.
-New metal for the rear section of the roof above and below the rear window.
-Here's a view inside the roof with the two side pieces installed.
-This is the bracing that holds the back window up above the package tray.
-Two side pieces for the rear roof, ready for mock-up. All the metal formed for this car was done without the aid of an English wheel. It was done with my knee.
-The two side pieces being held in place for mock up.
-All the metalwork on the rear section of the roof is complete. How low can you go?
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Click here for all the photos.
OL' SKOOL RODZ SEPTEMBER 2003
VOODOO BILLY KING PIN
Story and pics by "Chicago Greaser" Gennaro Sepe
Enter the intergalactic cosmology of true kustom kulture, if you dare. It's a nether region full of ghouls, vampires, werewolves, and hobgoblins cruising pimped out sleds, coupes and sedans. It is a world in which the Voodoo Kings reign supreme.
Rock-n-Dog Larry Grobe is supreme imperial commander-in-chief and rules his domain with an iron fist in a velvet glove as president and founder of the Voodoo Kings chapter.
He stands nearly seven feet tall with his pompadour and is one of the nicest individuals you will ever meet. He's the kreator of the kustom you see here and is the king of kool.
He's no weekend warrior. He lives la vida loca and has the tats and scars to prove it. This car is a homage to the hip greasers. Betties and b-feature horror movies that make up Larry's everyday existence.
The car started out as a bone-stock '52 Olds 88, which he purchases from an old timer four years ago. Being the stand up bassist for the Psychobilly band "Plan 9 From Outer Space," he knew he had to take the axe to the old beast and make it kool and road worthy.
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The first thing he did was chop the top five inches in the front and six inches in the rear and convert it from a sedan to a hard top, giving the car an evil stance while still leaving some clearance for the pompadour. The hood got rounded and all of the handles were thrown in the dumpster, replaced by some solenoids that pop all of the peripherals open.
The car looked great, but still didn't have the Voodoo-Billy stance. It needed to be slammed. Out came the torches to cup up the stock front springs. The old rear set up was discarded in favor of some on board air compressor assisted air shocks that drop it way low - to the point of dragging the pipes if he wanted.
Total drop is 11? inches to ensure the stainless steel diamond plated Maltese cross drag plate scrapes the ground like a zombie in a Bella Lugost movie trying to pry open a casket with blood covered fingernails.
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The front end's off a '55 Caddy with huge Dagmars piercing the air and smashing Honda Civics that get in the way. Larry fabbed up a cross bar in the garage and added some dummy spot light shells to complete the grille. He threw in some scoops to cool things down a bit.
Moving to the rear end, the pan's been rolled and the back window is off a '50 Plymouth. The peaked and frenched taillights are from a '54 Chevy to match the peaked and frenched headlights. |
The turn signals and marker lights are clear Caddy taillights which are, of course, frenched.
The car's also got neon everywhere. The red neon accent lighting adds to the otherworldly persona of the car. Larry converted the electrics to 12 volts to make sure the lights shine nice and bright.
The motor's a '77 Trash-Am crate job he got form some long haired freak at Auto Zone for 900 smackers. It's basically a stock 403 cid with a couple mods and accessories. It belches seven foot flames whenever Larry's in the mood to wow the ladies at the sock hop. The flame thrower kit's done up traditionally - no fuel injectors here. Just hit the skull head choke knob and flog it so its super rich mixture enters the 3 inch straight pipes exiting from under the rounded ass end. The combustibles are held in a '66 Mustang gas tank, which is filled through the trunk "moonshine runner style" into a thermos that looks like its just sitting there innocently enough.
The dumps and lakes are fully functional. Larry says that too many candy cane "customs" don't have them hooked up and he wanted to show them what real klass is all about. When those caps come off, the thing roars so loudly that the dead awakened and summoned to do dastardly deeds at the bidding of the Voodoo master himself.
The motor compartment's got some aluminum panels and the firewall's molded. A combination of paint, pin striping, and punk rock decals makes sure you don't mistake this greaser's ride with the pretty pastel lime green crap that some retired billet billionaire banker wanker commissioned some West Coast jerk off to build for him.
The only billet on the entire car is the beehive remote filter and even that's handmade from scratch by one of the club members. It took about 12 hours of lathe work to get it right. This puppy's all done up by Voodoo Larry out of his garage.
The interior is classic tuck 'n roll. There's pin striping everywhere - on the dash, on the steering wheel, even the door jams are done. Rat Fink would be proud to see Larry's tattooed arm reach way up in the sky to jam through the gears by jockeying the dapper skull shifter. The shrunken heads of the dearly departed members of poser car clubs finish out the interior.
As you can see in the pics, the whole thing is trick. Underneath the Santari paint, the rattle can flame job and Von Dutched pin striping is under three gallons of Bondo. Not much considering all the body work and trick hand crafted touches done by the owner.
The paint itself is just plain loco nuts. Everywhere you look there's hidden bats and such in the pin striping. Check out the Von Dutch flying eye balls peeking out from under the flames like Kilroy hopped up on bennys and reds. The pinstripes and murals are all done with Testor's model car paint.
The flat black was shot out of a gun (what a yuppie! - hehehe) and the flames are flat Rustoleum white with some pearl salmon accents, also out of the ole rattle can.
The roof's got a maltese cross to let the angels know to stay away from this way gone krazy kat. This car represents everything that this magazine stands for. You name it, this chop top's got it: style, klass, and attitude.
Cars like this one exude something existential that you just can't get out of the box or by having someone do it for you. It's shooting the bird to all of the straights in society that just don't get it. Pure, unadulterated, hardcore psychobilly rolled up into tuck-'n-rolled pleats, sculpted metal, and flames. LONG LIVE THE VOODOO KINGS.
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Click here for all the photos.
OL' SKOOL RODZ #4 JULY 2004
CHOP THAT TOP THE VOODOO LARRY WAY
THE WELL COIFFED CAR
Chop dat top the Voodoo Larry way
By Gennaro with Voodoo Larry Grobe
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You may remember Voodoo Larry Grobe and his bad-ass flamed Olds from our premiere issue. Larry parted with the car when someone came up with more talk than bull. Now, since you can't be a rodder without a hot rod, Larry picked up a '53 Chevy to wave his magic torch on and allowed us to spy in on him as he was slicing off the top. This isn't a comprehensive tech (it's more of a guide of the process). That there's much, much more to doing this goes without saying. We're basically showin' you this in the hope that you'll get the gist of what goes on in the garages of metal maniacs around the globe. If you're not confident enough to tackle a chop top on your own, give Larry a call at his shop called Side Show Kustoms and he'll take your car custom to kustom with a killer chop of it's own. |
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He also does custom paint work and lays some killer licks on everything and anything. You can reach Side Show Kustoms at 630/855-3541 or via email at grobe53@msn.com.
Before you fire up the sawzall, you're going to want to gut the interior. Some guys brace the frame, but Larry's never done it on any of his chops. He says that as long as the body's together and you don't keep opening and slamming the doors, it'll stay put without any bracing.
1.The stock car (okay, what was once a stocker with the roof still unmolested). Yes, that was indeed a '53 Chevy.
2.The A-pillar is marked for cutting. This one's getting a generous 6" of hacking. The tops of the window frames on the doors have already been chopped off. Slice the frames off a few inches form the bottom on both the A and B sides and pull them out as single pieces. You're going to need to cut them in a while, but for now just put them off to the side.
3. No more A-pillar.
4. The passenger side gets the same treatment.
5. The line laid out for the sail panel. This one's getting a 7" slice.
6. Where the hell did the sail panel go?
7. The driver's side get the same treatment.
8. A fellow Voodoo King takes some weight off of the roof while the Sawzall does it duties. Now that A's and sail panels are gone, it's time for the B's to scram.
9. Larry lays out the rectangle of material that's going to be cut out.
10. The Sawzall in action!
11. The notch after cutting and ready to be taken off with one more pass of the reciprocal.
12. We have lift off!
13. Hmmm. maybe keep it as a convertible? Nah...
14. The A-pillars (or what's left of them, anyway) get some angle iron tacked in. This will help in lining up the posts and add some more rigidity to them as well.
15. The top going back on and getting lined up.
16. After the top's eyeballed into lining up, everything's measured again and then remeasured after that to make sure that everything's sittin' true. If it isn't, it's going to look horrible and all your glass is going to be cocked. If you're sure that you've got it lined up correctly, get out the welder and start taking in the posts.
17. Now it's time to slice some more metal off. This time a few more inches out of the back of the roof are snipped off so that the window will fit in correctly. Remember, the rear window's obviously going to be going back on a much greater slant than the way it came off. It rally depends on a bunch of variables how much more the roof will need to be sectioned. Take your time and it will all fall into place.
18. Here's the rear window getting lined up.
19.Happy with the way the rear window's fitting, the VK's take a well needed beer and smoke break.
20. Almost done, thanks to his fellow club members' help. At this point you can really see the new lines.
21. Don't forget to tape off the rear window when you patch panel it in.
22. Here's the bottom of the window patched in.
23. The rear window's finally all done after 5 panels were beat and welded into submission.
24. Remember the notches that were made over the B-pillars? Here's where they come in...
25. As you can see, they don't line up. A switcheroo is in order.
26. At this point it's little more than an easy jigsaw The rear portion's cut and goes where the B-pillar was in effect moving the whole pillar back a few inches and lining it up.
27. Here it is all done and lined up. As you can see in the pictures, the rain gutters are retained. Some guys take them off and really regret if when it starts raining.
28. When you lop off the top and take a few inches out, the geometry's going to change on just about everything. Here you see the door frame welded back up. See that hole right in the middle? For every inch you take out of the pillars, you're going to get a 1/2" hole (roughly) in the top of the door frame. This one needs 3" worth.
29. Luckily, you'll have the length left over from the original hacking. Basically, you're taking stuff from point a and moving it to point b.
30. Not bad for a day's work, huh?
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Click here for all the photos.
OL' SKOOL RODZ #8 MARCH 2005
VOODOO LARRY'S VOODOO KREEPER
JEEPERS CREEPERS, LOOK AT THAT VOODOO KREEPER!
By Gennaro
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This '53 is Voodoo Larry's newest business card. You may remember his way rad Rocket 88 from the first issue. Well, that car was sold off and the funds from the transaction were used to bankroll this Chevy. Yep, that is (or maybe was?) indeed a Chevy you see gracing these pages.
Larry's father-in-law Mike "Pops" picked up what was a stockish 150 from Marty & Sons Auto Body in Sycamore, IL. When Larry saw it, he snatched it up right away and got to work on gutting the car. Once it was down to the bare frame, he got out the torches and hammers and started having at it.
The front clip was replaced with a Mustang II unit featuring rack and pinion steering and power disc brakes. The rear portion was also discarded in favor of a four link. Four way airbags reside on all four corners and help smooth out the bumps in the road and drop the Chevy down into the weeds for a business-like stance. |
The rear frame rails were also kicked up a healthy 6 1/2" to ensure that the car would be sitting on the rockers at the flip of a switch.
A Currie Enterprises Ford 8" rear end with 3.00 highway gears and drum brakes transfers the power to the pavement from the built small black Chevy. The mill's got the usual goodies and was built by famed engine man Rick Cortino.
Larry wanted the motor built more for pounding out miles on the highway and going cross-country than for the stop light strip, so that's the way Rick set it up before capping the head with some finned Weiand valve covers. He also added the Edelbrock intake (striped by Larry, of course) and affixed the '53 Cadillac air cleaner.
Larry wants to say a special thanks to Gary, Dan, Jim and Rick for lending their helping hands when it was time to drop in the motor. The motor belches its exhaust and lots and lots of big, fiery flames through a one-off system courtesy of Scott and Shawn at the local Merlin's Muffler shop.
A Turbo 350 tranny connects everything together while a stock, recored radiator cools it down in traffic. It was on to the body work from there, and Larry did what he does best and completely morphed the car to the state that you see it in. The fact that Pops had scored a '56 Packard from Victory Auto Wreckers didn't go unnoticed and plays a paramount role in the build.
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Originally, Pops had wandered into the scrap yard looking for some cool taillights, when he spotted the Packard. He asked the yard man how much he wanted for them, he was told that he couldn't have just the lights, but had to buy the whole rusted mess. Pops asked "how much?", the guy said he'd take $300.
Pops reached into his pocket an peeled out fifteen twenty dollar bills and said he'd do the deal if the guy would just cut out what he wanted. A couple of hours later and a few hundred poorer, Pops showed up on Larry's doorstep with a truck full of goodies. the first thing that Larry grabbed was the headlight bezels. He held them up and eyeballed where he wanted them and made some mental notes.
After a quick trip to Home Depot for a trunk load of electrical conduit he got to work on shaping the frame work for the front end.
Larry started bending the conduit over his knee and before long the cage work was tacked to the stock fenders. Once it all looked good to go, he started hammering out the sheet metal and welding it in place, extending the fenders a good 11" in the process.
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You may remember his top chop how-to from Issue 4.
He'd welded in some porthole panels on both flanks but later decided to scrap them for a cleaner, more flowing profile.
originally the hood had some holes punched in it as well, but they weren't to Larry's liking so he hammered out some more sheet metal and covered those up with the fully functional scoops on either side of the hood. While he was at it, the hood was extended 3" towards the cowl and then welded to the fenders for the tilt front end.
Before hanging Pops' Packard bumper to the front end, the dagmars were moved inboard for a look that's decidedly Caddy. The bumper brackets also hold the pivots for the tilt nose. At around 350 pounds the front end isn't light by any stretch of the imagination, so a set of telescoping hydraulic units from some generic hatchback were sourced from the local parts heap and make lifting and closing the nose a one handed, hassle free affair.
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Since there'd be a ton of visual punch with the tilt nose, the firewall was welded up and hammered smooth before Larry got out the Maks and went to work on striping it all up.
He still had a bunch of conduit left over from building the frame work on the nose, so he decided to whip up some side moldings. Larry says that this was the hardest part of the entire build. It took him over two week's to get them to look, sit, and flow as if they came straight out of the Detroit factory and not like an afterthought.
The Voodoo King then set his sights on working the ass end of the Chevy. The rear quarters were extended with a healthy two feet's worth of Packard steel, again coming from Pops' junk yard score. Once the units were deemed straight and grafted on. Larry hand built the gravel pan before hanging the '56 Buick rear bumper. To say that the body work is radical would be an understatement.
The roofline stands a full 20" lower than a stock '53 Chev. Larry thought that it'd be a sin to let all that work go to waste and decided to do something with a bit more visual punch than the usual flat black coat you see on just about every other car. He still wanted it to look tough, though.
PPG was given a call and some green Santari spritz was picked up. After adding a quart and a half of flattener and some reducer it only took a half gallon to spray the whole car the glorious green suede base coat. Jim, another Voodoo King, was over at the time and picked up a spray gun and helped out on the base coat.
Larry's always had some rattle can licks on every car that ever rolled out of Side Show Kustoms and this one wasn't going to be an exception. Larry taped off the scallop motif and added a maltese cross to the roof before making a trip to Ace Hardware for the green Rustoleum paint.
The interior is a work of art itself and front and center of it all is the super nifty gauge cluster from a '60 Chrysler. Larry spotted it at a swap meet and lusted for it really, really badly, but the vendor wouldn't budge on the ridiculous asking price. Larry's wife Susan stepped in, batted her eyelashes a few time and flashed her pearly whites at the guy, he eventually gave in with the caveat that Larry do something cool with it.
The dash was hammered and welded to make way for the cluster, which is spherical and has a super cool Jetson's futuristic look to it.
The seats are real spacious and comfy for the log haul and feature some fine stitch work in the gray tuck and roll hides with metallic green accents. Larry built an overhead console and slid in a Pioneer CD player to jam Deadbolt and Demented Are Go tunes when out on the road to a show.
Larry was invited to be one of the featured pinstripers at the Flyin' Eyeball Reunion in Davenport, IA and drove the car out there with his wife Susan. When they arrived the car caused quite a stir among everyone in attendance, including the other stripers there.
Larry turned away from the car for a spell to talk to a few people and when he turned around, he saw nine legends of pinstriping attacking the car with their brushes all at the same time including The Baron's grandson Tom Kelly!
Like it's been said before, this car was built for the long haul. It's a real testament to Larry's fab skills that it's so damned reliable. You just jump in, turn the key and go.
There's no weird noises, or strange rattles or chips coming from anywhere. Sitting in it, you're just about as comfortable as you'd be in a new Cadillac and it drives like a dream. Larry's got a ton of cars rolling in and out of his oufit Side Show Kustoms lately. They roll in as stockers or half done hatchet jobs and drive out chopped, shaved and slammed. Give him a call at 630/855-3541 if you'd like to get the "treatment" yourself.
Click here for all the photos.
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