Have you ever filed away an old magazine ’til the pages turned yellow? Isn’t it funny how when you refer back to it years later, its content seems fresh and new again? If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a rod builder of my particular generation, it’s humility. Nowadays whenever I think I’ve birthed an original notion to incorporate into the buildup of a traditional-style rod, I try to leave a little room in a cluttered, but open mind. And when the fingers take to walkin’ through the yellowed pages of an old magazine, it’s common to discover that what I’ve conjured in the canyons of my mind, in a dream, or even in the shower where my better brainstormin’ takes place, has been done and documented before in days of yore.
1 So what do this Model A roadster and Chevrolet pickup have in common? Well, according to Petersen’s 1964 book entitled How To Build A Hot Rod, it could easily be their guidance system. This easy swap is a natural for early Fords, and it’s especially appropriate for a banger-powered hot rod on a Model A frame.
Long before Vega-type cross steering became the all-time most popular steering swap for old hot rod Fords, Corvair steering gear assemblies enjoyed a good run in the same applications. Going back a little further, the regular donors were pickup trucks of the late ’40s and ’50s—particularly Ford’s F-1, which employed the still-in-demand Gemmer “worm ’n’ roller” boxes.
In recent times, as the respectful recreation of his father’s roadster began, my friend, Guardrail Willie Martin, received a few contributions to the cause. One such contribution was a previously rebuilt steering gear assembly, which once took its turn on Mrs. Rotten’s old ’57 Chevrolet pickup. Like many of us, Martin absorbed his share of knowledge from reading material he’d devoured as a youngster, and as a retentive reader, he was quick to reflect back to a tech-related article in an old publication from his personal print library. While it was not a step-by-step how-to, the memorable article touched upon various junkyard steering options for hot rods, one of which is to be duly credited for our common ability to think outside the F-1 box.
