Paul Horton's Welder Series may well be one of the best-held secrets in the classic truck and street rod hobby. Horton began building hot rods back in 1960 and over time started a street rod shop and line of parts under the Horton Street Rod Products name. Horton had always prided himself with helping builders solve "special" problems with chassis components and parts-many of which were readily available (and often from kits that were in stock at Horton). In order to make those weld-it-yourself parts easier to identify, the name "Welder Series" was used to identify the components Horton designed and manufactured-a "series" of parts cataloged primarily for welders.
The Welder Series Step Notch kit is just one of hundreds of components, parts, and complete weld-it-yourself products you'll find on either the Welder Series website and/or in the company's 58-page catalog. Everything from gussets to complete IFS crossmember kits are offered at unbelievably affordable pricing.
As labor is usually a large part of the cost of any project, the more labor you can provide yourself, the fewer dollars the project will cost. The unique idea behind Welder Series kits is that if you can weld, you can make professional quality kits (crossmembers, IFS systems, four-bar assemblies, and nearly any other classic truck or street rod chassis component) using their predesigned parts. Everything comes in the box except the welding. Assembly sheets show and tell how the kit components go together and installation sheets show how to position the part in your project. All of the parts used in Welder Series kits (and even more individual handy bits and pieces) can be ordered individually too, allowing you to pick the individual components you need to make your own custom parts. And to make sure the component assembly is easy and trouble-free all Welder Series components are CAD designed and CNC machined.
Shown here are the preformed and prenotched 3/16-inch steel plate components that make up one side of the Step Notch kit. The complete kit consists of two of everything pictured-the upper piece being the main section of the notch and the bottom items the reinforcement plates.
Welder Series offers a 58-page catalog filled with hundreds of professional kits and components that will help anybody build a quality classic truck or hot rod for less money-by just using these well-engineered kits and components and your own welding talent. And this is just what I ended up doing this past weekend.
My '57 Chevy pickup is equipped with coilover suspension front and rear, but I've made the decision to convert it over to a RideTech air-ride suspension in the near future. With that in mind I picked up my copy of the Welder Series catalog and found a Step Notch kit that would be perfect for the rear framerails. I figured it'd be a lot easier to do the frame modification ahead of time so I'd be one step ahead when I finally do my air-ride conversion. So take a look at this particular Welder Series kit and see how easily it's installed-then get a hold of 'em and order or download your own Welder Series catalog. You'll be amazed at all that's offered as well as how much cash you'll end up saving in the process.
