'47 Ford Super Deluxe Convertible, Full Steel Custom Hot Rod

In a custom car landscape cluttered with "snap-together" fiberglass kits on one end and Million-Dollar Ridler contenders on the other extreme, it is getting harder and harder to find a truly hand crafted Hot Rod. This '47 Ford Super Deluxe stands as a testament when creativity, ingenuity, and craftsmanship all fall into orbit around a fiery imagination.

The car's owner and CEO of Stainless Steel Brake Corporation, Mike Jonas, has been dreaming of making this car a reality since he was a boy. And like many of us who end up making a living in the automobile enthusiast industry, for too long it was a dreamed deferred. He was busy building a company dedicated to helping others realize their automotive visions, while a custom '47 Ford Convertible remained a dream. When the time finally came to make this dream a reality, Jonas tapped renowned New York lead-slingers, Tucci Engineering. In true full custom "hot rod" fashion, nary a factory line was untouched, yet the car is unmistakably '47 Ford.

"Tucci chopped the windshield one conservative inch, and removed yet another inch from the windshield's header for a 2-inch total chop. They reworked the top mechanism to fit not only the top, but the larger wheel wells they'd fitted to accommodate the bigger rear meats as well.

Along the way, Altamont, New York's Dick Spadaro located four hens'-teeth-rare NOS fenders for the project and Tucci dropped a set of Jeep Liberty headlights into the open sockets, a modification that required narrowing each fender by an inch. While he worked on the front, he also welded the fender halves together and reshaped the fender's character line to follow the wheel well.

The rather distinctive grille came from three '47 Chevrolet donor cars. They cut, shaped, and welded one car's grille surround to the Ford's frontend. They used the top three bars from one grille and the longer and lower bars from yet another two grilles. To accentuate the now-slippery front profile, Tucci pie-cut the hood an inch at the nose and blended the hood's leading edge into the Chevy grille surround. To punctuate the extremities, they narrowed the bumpers 4 inches and slotted the rear for the LED taillights." ~ Hot Rod Magazine, The Triumph of Wheel, February 19, 2003

EXTERIOR

Body mods- Pie-cut hood, 1 windshield chop, 1 header chop, 2 top chop, smoothed handles, removed vent windows

Grille- '47 Chevrolet

Headlights / Taillights- Jeep Liberty / Hi-Tech LED

Bumpers- Stock, narrowed 4

Other body items- Third light below top bead; tubbed inner fenders; louvered inner fender panels; turn signals and brake lights in bumpers; shaved door hinges; welded front fender extensions; fenders welded to body

INTERIOR

Gauges- Dakota Digital

Audio- Sony 6 coaxial, 10 subwoofers

Air conditioning- Vintage Air
Wiring- American Autowire
Steering column / wheel- Ididit / Budnik
Seats- Lincoln MK VIII, modified by Portage Trim, Ravenna, OH
Material / Color- Tan Leather
Seatbelts- Lincoln MK VIII, tan
Other interior items- Custom console built from Lincoln unit by Portage Trim

ENGINE BAY

Make- GM Performance RamJet
Water pump- Edelbrock, chrome
Cooling fan- SPAL, chrome
Radiator- Be Cool
Alternator- Master Power, chrome
Manifold / Induction- GM Performance RamJet injection
Headers- Sanderson
Exhaust / Mufflers- 2 1/4 stainless / Borla; all polished
Other engine facts- All engine components and induction pieces block-sanded and chromed by Street & Performance, Mena, AR

TRANSMISSION

Make- GM 4L60E
Shifter- Lincoln MK VIII, Lokar reverse/neutral safety switch
Driveshaft- Denny's Driveshafts

CHASSIS

Frame / Manufacturer- Ford / Progressive Automotive
Chassis plumbing- Stainless
Rearend / Ratio- Dana 44 / 3.73, limited slip
Rear suspension- '91 Corvette, narrowed, Air Ride Technologies' air springs
Rear brakes- Stainless Steel Brakes Force 10; 13 rotors; aluminum, two-piston calipers
Front suspension- '84 Corvette; Thunderbird rack-and-pinion steering; Air Ride Technologies'