The 1932 Ford Hi-Boy is one of the most common and recognized autos of the street rod era. In fact, I would say that the term "hot rod" and "street rod" to most people conjures up images of one particular model - the 1932 Ford roadster. It was the most sophisticated of the "flat sided Fords" and so quickly became a backbone of the rodding scene. The trend for building them began in the late 1930s. Back then, young guys were picking them up very cheap, stripping everything but the essentials off of them, fitting the Flathead V8s from the '34 model then racing their cars on the street. Since that time, the hot rod scene has grown to incorporate all manner of cars, but the 1932 roadster remains a favorite.

Fortunately for ESM, we met a local hot rodder, named Don Mathis from Hendersonville, Tennessee, who could school us on the famous '32 Hi-Boy. You may remember in the last issue of ESM (April-June 2004), we ran a build up feature of the ten month build up. Also, you may remember the Viper yellow 1956 F-100 that was on the cover of the January-March issue of 2004, well it just so happens that was built by Don. Well, he's back again and this time we have had the opportunity to let the shutter fly on his 1932 Ford Roadster which matches up perfectly with his "effie". Even for those of you that may not be street rodding fans, you have to respect the attention to detail that Don gives to his rides. Therefore, we must say that Don is, in our opinion, one of the best auto builders in the Tennessee area... hands down. Of course, if you tell Don that, he will just grin and say, "Aww shucks, I just enjoy doing it." We will let Don stay modest, but we want to brag on him a little and what better way to do so than to give you the run down on his latest creation: "O-Yella".

For starters, Don's '32 Hi-Boy is made from a Brookville all steel body roadster and is mounted on a So-Cal pinch frame. Don kept everything looking pretty simple as far as body modifications go, but has added a few "attention to detail" mods that not everybody does. For instance, if you look at the rear of most Hi-Boys, there is usually a gap between the gas tank and the body. Don worked his way around this by pie cutting the frame, raising it, thus closing up the gap. Also, you may notice that the rear section of the body of these particular cars kind of just cut off on the ends. Once again, Don's meticulous eye for detail prevailed and he custom fabricated corner pieces that round off the squared edges and roll under, which gives the body a more complete look. Finishing off the exterior details Don opted to go with a louvered hood, smaller headlights by Kingbee (with internal blinkers), 1939 Ford LED taillights, and classic 15 inch five spoke aluminum wheels with knock offs. To keep the front end as clean as possible, Don decided to leave off the front fuel tank that is common on those types of hot rods.

In the performance department, Don is like most men he wants his ride to be able to give you a bad case of whiplash. So, Don went with an Edelbrock performance engine and to keep the ponies breathing with ease, dual Hot Rod mufflers were installed. Moon valve covers and air cleaner cover dress up the engine nicely and a 700R transmission keeps the ponies under control. Bringing the performance end of the car to a screeching halt are Wildwood 10.5" disc brakes up front and 11" Wildwood disc brakes out back.

With the body and engine mock up complete, Don moved his ideas inward. Like most street rod enthusiasts, Don decided to hide everything from site in order to keep the interior as clean as possible. Every switch that controlled an accessory is neatly tucked away under the dash board. The rest of the cockpit includes a Line Works steering column topped off with a 14.5 inch Pete & Jakes billet steering wheel, along with a beautiful set of white on black Moon Gauges. A bench seat by Glide was fitted inside the cab, custom floor mounting brackets were put in place for the safety belts to attach to, and a custom battery box with mounting bracket was installed behind the seat. In the trunk area, Don cut out a section of the flooring right above the deferential to enable proper axle clearance. Finishing up the interior fabrication is an all metal floor board, as opposed to a wood floorboard that is used by many builders, which surrounds the transmission, driver, and passenger areas.

With the mock up good-to-go it was time for a final disassembly so that Don could run the brake lines and electrical lines. Don also made sure that all exposed sections of the frame were boxed in, such as the front section of the So-Cal pinch frame. Once Don completed the chassis detail work, the car was reassembled and sent to Williams Body Shop located in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Once at the body shop, "O-Yella" was disassembled, again, where the body was sanded and smoothed to perfection before it was sent to the paint booth. Once the body was prepped for paint, the Williams Body Shop crew sprayed a healthy dose of Viper racing yellow upon the metal from front to rear. Once the paint dried, the car was reassembled, wet sanded, and then polished to a deep gleam.

Once the detail work was completed, Don immediately handed "O-Yella" over to master upholsterer, Chuck Bennett of Bennett's Upholstery, also located in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Chuck went to work laying a neutral tan square weave carpet in the cab and trunk areas. Finishing off the stitch craft, the trunk walls, doors, bench seat, transmission shifter base bootie, and firewall were covered in a high grade neutral tan marine vinyl material which is used in high end boats. Finally, the installation of the rag top, manufactured by Rod tops out of Michigan was installed which matches up perfectly with the interior.

As you can see, "O-Yella" is a beauty! Trust us, she sounds as good as she looks and we are sure Don loves to drive his new baby. In fact, Don said that when he built "O-Yella" he intended to drive her often, so he could get full enjoyment from what he built from the ground up in his garage. Don, we couldn't agree more.