Some of best custom cars do not scream at you with outlandish body modifications and crazy paint. Instead, they whisper with refined, well-planned alterations and quality craftsmanship. Such modifications often look even subtler on mild customs where they enhance the original vehicle's shape rather than change it completely.
Rounding hood, door, and trunk corners is a practice that has stood the test of time because it's subtle, classy, and refines a vehicle's design, particularly on well-rounded rides from the late '40s and early '50s. Rounded corners often go unlooked by uneducated spectators, but that makes them all the more cool in the eyes of many customizers.
In the last issue we gave you a sneak peek at a '49 Mercury convertible going together at DF Metalworks in Huntington Beach, California. Shortly after shooting that story, the shop's metal masters got the nod to go ahead and round the car's hood corners, so we documented the process. As you'll see, the DF crew made the corner curves wider and flatter than many customizers do, the idea being to mimic the hood's natural crown and give it a shape slightly different than the scores of other Mercs that wear a similar mod. Take a look and consider how this approach might work on your next custom project.
