Terry Scroggin's Hemi-powered '32 Ford roadster is surrounded by vintage automotive signs in his shop. With a blower tucked tight under the hood, a checkerboard firewall, steeply raked windshield and genuine Halibrand wheels, the car captures the essence of what Scroggin thinks a hot rod should be.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Terry Scroggin is a happy man when he's behind the wheel of his screaming red roadster.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The owner jokes that he hired a `tuba maker' to build the wild exhaust headers that let the venerable Chrysler 392 Hemi breathe freely. They actually were fabricated from `hoops and loops' by the previous owner.
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Scroggin didn't especially care for the roadster's original windshield configuration, opting instead for this Rodwell windshield, which is raked back 37 degrees and chopped two inches. The windshield stanchions were custom-made to use the original mounting hardware, but accommodate the more extreme angle of the slightly curved glass.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
For such a small space, the interior of the hot rod is chock-full of details; the Glide seat and door panels are done in marine-grade white vinyl tuck and roll with tasteful red piping. A sized-down Juliano's '40 Ford steering wheel is mounted to a chrome Limeworks steering column topped by a big Stewart Warner tachometer.
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It's kind of dark and scary up under the louvered Rootlieb hood, but you can see the dual 4-barrel carbs and the low profile marine-style air cleaners mounted to the beefy GMC 6-71 blower.
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The classic wide-shouldered Hemi is a tight fit between the '32 Ford frame rails, but its big valve covers are perfectly accented by the checkerboard firewall painted by Chris Carlson of Chaotic Customs.
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The Rootlieb grille shell is topped by a color-keyed Ford red oval logo that flows into the chrome trim flowing back over the hood.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The roadster's low-down stance is attributable to a cast-aluminum Super Bell 4-inch drop axle. The genuine Moon tank mounted to the front spreader bar now serves as a radiator overflow/return tank.
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Jason Jewett of Redhouse Custom Paint in Derby handled the pinstriping duties on the roadster, as well as painting the beautiful name plate for the car.
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Genuine Halibrand wheels with knock-off spinners grace all four corners of the car; this narrow version is found at the front of the roadster, wearing 165/80/15 BF Goodrich blackwalls.
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Considerably wider Halibrands are used in back, fitted with tall 285/30/15 BFG rubber. The sidewalls are like new, the tread area is well-scuffed, as the car is `a tire-smokin' son-of-a-gun,' according to the owner.
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A polished stainless steel box houses the battery in the beautifully finished trunk of Scroggin's roadster.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
More attention to detail: the '52 Pontiac tail lights were frenched in by Chaotic Customs for a more subtle look and the stainless steel gas tank was painted body color, with matching frame rail covers to smooth things even further.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
A ribbed aluminum Champion dash insert holds a brace of Stewart Warner `winged' white-face gauges; an 8-ball knob tops the tall Gennie shifter, which is mounted to a Chevy 350TH automatic transmission.
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A custom-painted Allen under-dash heater housing adds more style to the interior treatment; note the color-keyed red rabbit's foot keychain.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Terry Scroggin had planned to build another roadster himself, but when his son found this car for sale, it provided the perfect launch platform for the project. After three years of work on it, Scroggin says he has it right where he wants it. `It's a keeper,' he says.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
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