1931 Ford Roadster Add to wishlist

Eric Pierce is one of those guys that likes building hot rods more than he likes owning them. That priority rank results in a build resume longer than most and an experience level that results in one hell of a finished product. This ’31 roadster is a pretty damned good example of that.

He started with someone else’s failed project and a bunch of boxes full of parts. He then tore it all apart, bought some ’32 frame rails, and started building a chassis. A 4″ dropped Super Bell is up front while a really unique “Fox Body style” adjustable 4-link with coil-overs locates an 8.8 rear. Disc brakes doing the stopping – front and rear.

The owner is unsure of the history of the 302 HO motor, but states it’s fairly fresh.  It features a mild cam and triple Autolite 2100 carbs. It’s backed by three pedals that work a 5-speed.

But once the mechanicals of this roadster were figured out, Eric moved on to the body. It was in reasonable condition, but showed signs of previous owners aspiring to be body men and failing. So Eric put it on a rotisserie and stripped it back to bare metal. He then painstakingly got to work with a hammer and dolly to get it straight. Once done, very little body filler at all was needed before paint. A single stage “Pin-Up Red” was chosen for the final color coat.

For the interior, again Eric refused to do much farming out. He bought some “Bad Boy” cobra seats from England, bought a shitload of upholstery products and got to work. The only thing he did farm out was the pleats in the door panels. Otherwise, Eric reports that it’s pretty damned good for a guy that doesn’t do upholstery for a living. There’s some flaws here and there, but nothing that doesn’t translate to a hot rod.

Questions From The Jalopy Journal:

What’s the best and worst aspects of the roadster?
”The best and worst aspects are the same. It’s a high performance hot rod, not a “Street Rod.” It needs to be driven with authority and responds quite well when done so. A true hot rodder will love this car… His wife might not.”

Thoughts From The Jalopy Journal:

I’ve said this before, but often think that if you aren’t going to build a car yourself, you are best off buying an owner built hot rod rather than a shop built car. Reason being is the passion that often goes into these owner built cars can’t really be bought and paid for. There are details that don’t make sense to the bottom line, but get done anyway because… well, love.

And I love this car.