Alloway was able to give Frank a great
start on the project, and Frank was more than capable to pick up the New Port
Richey got the call to then add a bit of color to the interior by using
lipstick red leather throughout. The design from the front seats, out of a '64
Thunderbird, was carried through to the rear bench/buckets, and red loop carpet
was laid out below. Danny Cheeks was in charge of repairing all of the
stainless steel molding and trim pieces, and Bear McAlpine fabbed some of the
car's small fasteners.
Jesse Greening of Greening Auto Supply used
a sketch supplied by illustrator Eric Brockmeyer to create a one-off steering
wheel for the car, capping it with a custom HAR-inscribed horn button. Will
Tetro worked on the dash, which was outfitted with a stock-appearing Classic
Instruments gauge cluster, and the car's wiring was handled by a Ron Francis
Wiring harness installed by Rodney Hadwinger.
Seats
from a '64 Thunderbird were recovered in lipstick red leather by A.J. Gisonda
from Street Seats, who also used red loop carpet to great effect.
The overall appearance of the car certainly
says “hot rod'', but in a subtle way. The interior is as simple as it gets, but
very well planned and laid out. The engine ball and run with it. Back in 1983
Frank and his brother, Bill, along with their dad, William, opened Harbor Auto
Restoration (HAR) in Rockledge, Florida, a company devoted to the restoration
of classic automobiles. Over the past 30 years, the Tetro team has worked on
cars up to 100 years old and end up being shown at fine concourses around the
country, but they also know their way around street rods, too.
Mercury
dash replaces the stock Ford metal unit, and a simple gauge cluster (from
Classic Instruments) is all that’s needed. Greening Auto Company milled the
steering wheel after following a sketch by Eric Brockmeyer.
The body was prepped for paint by Jason
Mangum before HAR's Josh Kelly sprayed the black RM paint over everything. HAR
also took 3/4 inch out of the center bow of the convertible top to give the car
a lower appearance (Frank Tetro Jr. and Clay Deen did the install and adjust on
the top), and had Fusco's Upholstery in Fort Lauderdale stitch up the black
top. A.J. Gisonda from Street Seats in is impressive, but there is only enough
there to get the point across without it being in your face. Black is as
understated as you can get when it comes to a paint choice, but on this car it's
done so well and so flawlessly fits the car's theme, you can't imagine it in
another hue.’
Frank's Sunliner is one of those rare
examples when the sum of the parts is greater than its individual pieces: a
perfect hot rod. And it obviously has had a great impact on folks - that's why
it received a STREET RODDER Top 100 award at the NSRA's Nats in
Louisville, a Best in Show at the most recent Shades of the Past event, a
Builder's Choice award at the Goodguys Nashville show, and why it was
ultimately named STREET RODDER's Street Rod of the Year.
It’s
hard to imagine anything better than a polished SOHC under a hood.
From any angle this is a great-looking car
and, seemingly rare for this day and age; it doesn’t sit on an airbag system.
Harbor Auto Restorations sprayed the RM black paint, and also chopped the
center bow of the top 3/4 inch to get the profile right.
It’s hard to imagine anything better than a
polished SOHC under a hood. Keisler Racing assembled the engine and backed it
to one of their five-speed transmissions.
Taillights from a '56 replace the '55
signals, and the bumpers were shaved before being moved in close to the body.
The recessed and curved license plate flips down to reveal access to the gas
tank.
