S
mith Concepts is going into its seventh year now, but
owner Kyle Smith started the business from his long-time
hobby of doing custom paint, pinstriping and traditional
style signage. Anything from hot rods and customs to
lowrider-style cars and custom motorcycles can get a psychedelic
respray from Smith Concepts, but the main focus is specialising
in Harleys and vintage Triumphs, pretty much covering any style
from mild to wild.
Kyle has been deeply infatuated with the kustom Kulture scene for a
number of years now and his heart lies with anything that’s crazy and
wild, as you can see from this radical 1930 Model A Ford Tudor. This
chopped and channelled chariot isn’t Kyle’s first eye-popping ride, but
it is his first venture into the hot rod scene. He had a Valiant that was
done up gasser style with a stroker motor for racing and has a ’bagged
1954 Plymouth mild custom with a ’flaked roof and wild flame job down
the sides.
“I saw potential in this car that Tony Webster had built, it was
metalflake orange when I bought it from his son-in-law, Matt
two-and-a-half years ago. I’d been mates with Webby for a few
years and during the Street Rod Nationals at Newcastle we went
around to his place for a barbecue and a few beers. I walked into
his workshop, saw this thing sitting under the hoist and a few
beers later, we were talking pricing. I basically knew that I wasn’t
going to leave there without owning it! A couple of weeks later we
settled on a deposit and the car was on its way to Sydney.”
The Tudor runs an original 1930 Model A chassis that has been
boxed, stepped and fitted with torsion bar front and rear ends that
Webby made using parts from an early nineties Holden Rodeo.
The rear end also uses coil-overs for extra cushioning. It’s a Borg
Warner diff with 28 spline axles linked to a T5 manual gearbox via
a custom tailshaft. A 1940 Chev steering box and column direct the
Tudor while Falcon disc brakes and the booster from a seventies
Ford combine to bring it to a halt. The wheels are 16-inch rims
from a ’41 Ford wearing Firestone whitewall tyres.
When Kyle bought the car it wasn’t fitted with the supercharger,
but that was high on his list of things this car needed for the extra
wild look. The motor is a 308 Holden fitted with a mild cam, an Aussie
Speed manifold and a custom blower setup that Kyle and his mate from
Extreme Creations in Brookvale made. Three Stromberg carbies top
it all off and look right at home under those staggered diagonal cut
scoops. An ICE ignition system starts the party while baseball bat lakesstyle headers and a pair of hot dog style resonators force the exhaust
fumes to exit at the rear of the car.
Speed boat bucket seats trimmed in white vinyl with gold metallic
piping feature in the interior along with a thirties Ford headlight
bucket that houses the speedo. A set of Moon gauges monitor the oil,
water and volts and an Auto Meter boost gauge keeps Kyle informed of
what the blower is doing. That ten gallon fuel tank is quite a special
piece and sits prominently in the rear of the body just below the rear
window. It’s a genuine early Moon tank that Webby scored off an old
Bonneville racecar. He was reluctant to let it go with the car when it
was sold but it suits this hot rod perfectly, so it’s just as well that he did
let Kyle keep it..
Webby channelled the body five inches, chopped the top five inches
and executed some custom taillight treatment using early fifties
lenses. He also had the visor laser cut with Mooneyes logos but to
change things up, Kyle rolled up a stainless piece to cover these holes
and secured it in place with stainless wing nuts.24 ASR 328 http://www.graffitipub.com.au