Many hot rodders use parts from a number of makes when they build a car. It started from the days when they would find their parts in a “junkyard” and anything that worked well was used. But Manny had a different philosophy. Although he has made hot rods of a number of different cars over the years, he tries to use only parts from other cars of the same make. That’s the case with his ‘30 Ford Model A four-door sedan. When wife Winnie bought it for him in 1988 as a Father’s Day gift, it was an original, running car. But when Manny started to rebuild it in 1997, he found that so much of it was rotted and/or needed replacing that he decided to make it a rod. First he custom-built a new frame with a buggy-spring front and spring-over-shock rear suspension. Then he dropped in a souped-up 302 CID Ford engine with an AOD trans mated to a Ford 8" rear end. For stopping he changed to power front-disc brakes. He replaced the grill and gas tank with ones from a ‘32 Ford. The interior he fitted out with new gauges in a ‘32 Ford dash. It has an AM/FM/CD in an overhead console and air conditioning from Vintage Air. He kept the original seats, but covered them in burgundy leather. They look great, but the seats might be a problem, since Winnie says that driving or riding over three hours is rather uncomfortable. Nonetheless, they have put about 28,000 miles on it since it was finished in 2005, but only on runs in NorCal. Oh, and the only major part Manny used from another make was the tilt steering column. It was from a Chevy. Still, we will give him a “bye” on that since he did get it in the hot-rodding tradition, from a “junkyard.”

Manny and Winnie like red in its various shades. When in bright light, this Black Cherry paint shows its red highlights. This Model A still has its original wood hold the body together.

This small-block Ford engine has plenty of punch. The high-lift cam provided so little engine vacuum that Manny had to install a vacuum pump to make his power brakes work right.

Manny likes to keep his interiors neat. There is no clutter here, but with extras like power windows.