ISK Ranch Wagon Project Part 3: Custom Wheels & Hood

Ford Ranch Wagon Project Part 3: Ironworks Speed & Kustom Hood & One Of A Kind Of Custom Wheels From EVOD Industries

By Ron Covell – Photography By Rodger Lee – Artwork By Tavis Highlander

In this installment, we’ll wrap up our coverage of the outstanding build on Danny Shaffer’s 1957 Ford Ranch Wagon that’s being constructed at Ironworks Speed & Kustom.

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02 Custom designed wheels with traditional styling and unique detailing for the car — A set of custom wheels was designed for the car. The styling is very traditional but with larger windows and unique detailing.

One-off custom wheels were designed for this project, inspired by Halibrand racing wheels of the ’50s. As with many other components on this car, the wheels were rough sketched by hand, then final design was done in CAD, and they were printed in plastic to make sure everything was spot-on before machining from billet aluminum. The wheels were machined by EVOD Industries then polished to perfection and chrome plated for durability.

03 Test piece printed for elaborate car components before making the parts from expensive billet aluminum — As with many of the elaborate components of the car, a test piece was printed to allow a careful review before committing to making the parts from an expensive aluminum billet.

A huge amount of work went to the underhood area, with the goal of cleaning up every surface while keeping an OEM flavor. After exploring several variations, the inlet tube for the fuel injection was routed diagonally across the driver side cylinder head, which required a specially machined adapter to position the throttle body at a precise angle. It is ribbed and contoured so it is consistent with the styling theme used underhood. Special covers were machined to hide the plug wires and the injector wiring, and special grilles with curvaceous louvers were machined for the inner wheel wells.

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04 Fitment check of the printed wheel with the car along with the proportions of all the details on the wheel face — The printed wheel is put into place to check the fitment, along with the proportions of all the details on the wheel face.

Perhaps the crowning touch under the hood is the elaborate cover that stretches between the fenders just forward of the radiator. This elegant construction fits closely around the hood hinges and features a custom-machined badge that closely resembles what Ford might have put on such a cover.

05 CNC machined wheels from EVOD Industries polished and chrome plated — After both the front and rear wheel sizes and profiles were verified, these are the “real deal,” beautifully CNC machined from billet by EVOD Industries, then polished and chrome plated.

The heads and the entire engine block were painstakingly ground smooth, so they would be as nicely finished as any other detail on this top-level build.

06 Detailed underhood area with a 45 degree angled intake tube — A tremendous amount of work went into detailing the underhood area. After several studies, the intake tube was positioned at a 45-degree angle, which required a special, angled throttle body adapter.

You may remember from the last article that the interior of the car was modeled on the style of the 1960 Ford Thunderbird. A special hood scoop was designed and fabricated to pay further homage to the vintage bird, and as with many other details it was first freehand sketches, then computer modeled, and printed in plastic to check the fit and design before any metal was cut. This was a major undertaking and comprises the biggest change to the exterior sheet metal. The results are outstanding, and the scoop and its bezel look like they were factory-designed for this car.

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07 Close up shot of the adapter mockup for the Nick Williams throttle body — Here’s a close-up shot of the adapter mockup for the Nick Williams throttle body being used with the Holley Dominator ECU.

Read More: The Ultimate Buick Riviera Build?

The finished bodywork is just being completed as we wrap up this article, and it won’t be long until you see the finished result on these pages. Be sure to tune in for that! MR