Door vents were removed in favor of
one-piece side glass, and the center windshield trim was removed and the glass
V-butted. Super Rides made new door skins, too, but also redesigned the bottom
edge of the door to roll under the car (in the shape of the rocker panel),
removing the bottom edge of the door from view. The speed line running on the
stock front fenders from the headlight to the leading door edge was extended
back on to the door 8 inches, giving the car's profile a little more action.
Wheel wells were reshaped front and rear,
and the rear window area was shrunk a little so the glass would fit tight to
the body without a lot of rubber. Standard custom tricks (shaved door handles
and gas filler) were applied, and the drip rails were molded and smoothed.
Out back '56 Chevy taillights were
installed into custom bezels, and Super Rides created a rolled pan that runs
from the hand-fabricated split bumpers (made from solid bar stock) back under
the car. The inside received a lot of metalwork (Super Rides' Quintal says
"fiberglass is for boats!"), too, including a waterfall center
console that runs from beneath the rear window, down between the seating, and
forward to just under the dash. When you look inside Larry's ride and see the
seating area for the backseat - that's something that wasn't there in factory
Henry Js. They treated it as an extended trunk area, so the driver could
actually turn around and see the trunk latch from his seat. In fact, the
earliest Henry Js didn't even have a trunk lid - the body was smooth from the
rear window to the bumper! Super Rides finished up the extensive fabrication
with the creation of a straightforward dash before getting it ready for its
paintjob.
Super
Rides built a new chassis for the Henry J, and incorporated airbags from
RideTech
Larry was at Super Rides one day and met
Charley Hutton, the well-known car painter based in a Nampa, Idaho, who has
worked on many high-profile hot rods over the past couple of decades. After the
two met, Larry decided Hutton would be the one to paint his car. Hutton had the
car for nine months, prepping it to perfection before spraying both the chassis
and the body with '00 Mercedes Bright Silver metallic using PPG's Envirobase
waterborne paint.
Once back at Super Rides in Southern
California, Quintal began assembly of the H-J, and the chassis turned out as
nice as the topside of the car. Up front a ZZ4 crate engine was bored 0.030 over
and dialed in with a 10.1:1 compression ratio. The aluminum heads are fed by a
Barry Grant Six Shooter carb system that's bolted to an aluminum manifold that
has been chrome plated. A Ron Davis radiator keeps it cool, and a
Sanderson/Borla header and muffler combo works with an exhaust system fabbed by
Super Rides. Other dress-up items include finned valve covers from Mooneyes,
and a serpentine belt system from Street & Performance (who also supplied
the water pump, alternator, A/C compressor, power steering pump, and all
necessary brackets).
Larry had seen a lot of nice cars while
researching how he wanted to have his car built, and only one name kept popping
up when it came to interiors: Gabe Lopez at Gabe's Street Rod Custom Interiors
in San Bernardino. Lopez has stitched a laundry list of high-end cars for
nearly every award-winning vehicle you can name, and he approached this project
with the same amount of zeal.
Lopez first created the rear seating area
that is split by the car's waterfall console. From there, he used red leather
to cover each seat, including the front buckets (whose framework came from
Glide Engineering). Red loop carpet went in, too, and it's a great complement
to the bright silver color used everywhere else.
Once Super Rides addressed the car's
electrical needs (using a Painless Wiring kit as a base to work from), it was
time to get it started and down the road. It was a long process for Henderson,
who kept track of how long it took to get his car done: over 7,300 man-hours.
And though it may sound like a long time, judging by the outcome, it looks like
time well spent!
The only gauge on the dash is a five-in-one
from Haneline, perched in its own pod forward of the tilt column from I did it.
The
only gauge on the dash is a five-in-one from Haneline
Looking like it could have come out of
James Bond's DB5, the rest of the car's switches, as well as the control for
the RideTech airbags, are all located under a lid in the center console.
Things
under a lid in the center console
First-year Henry Js didn't even have a
trunk lid (you had to access the trunk by folding down the seats!), but Larry's
"Special K” does. The trio of holes is a design element used throughout
the car, and the rear roll pan was made at Super Rides, as were the rear
bumpers, formed from solid aluminum.
First-year
Henry Js didn't even have a trunk lid, but Larry's "Special K” does.
Super Rides built a new chassis for the
Henry J, and incorporated airbags from RideTech to help get the correct stance.
Charley Hutton's Color Studio painted the Kaiser in a '00 Mercedes Bright
Silver metallic using PPG’s Envirobase waterborne paints.
The chassis is as perfect in detail as the
rest of the car. Super Rides made their own frame for the Henry J, starting
with 3/16-inch 2x4 rails. Azteca Plating and Polishing had their hands full
with this project, too.
The
chassis is as perfect in detail as the rest of the car.
