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The Magic Number - Rod & Custom Magazine - March 2005.: By Jim Aust. Photos by Damon Lee.


For father and son Dale and Dave Anderson from the digits 1936 have a special meaning and is also their lucky number. The first attachment to 1936 comes from the year the elder of the Anderson men was born, and it also happens to be the year of the first car he owned. When the two decided they needed another project, 1936 would be the only year they were interested in.
Now is where the luck part of the equation comes' in, when the younger Anderson located a potential candidate on the Internet. He headed over to Nebraska to check out a '36 Ford three-window and was happily surprised to find a car that had been resting peacefully indoors for over 30 years. The car was not only completely intact it was also very solid. Dave scored on the first time out. Don't we all wish we could say that?
After dragging the car back home, the Andersens blew it apart in their shop and rolled the frame over to good friend Kerry Hopperstad at Hopperstad Customs. In Kerry's hands, the original frame was boxed and updated and a GM Performance ZZ430 mated to a 700-R4 was slid into place.
The next item to be focused on was the classic three-window body. Rodders will agree this body style looks best with the lid lowered so Kerry started the modifications with a 2-inch slice and kept going by filling the roof, molding a pair of '38 Ford headlights to the front fenders and sinking a pair of the same-year taillights into the rears.
The Anderson's reacquainted the reworked body with the equally updated chassis and took the '36 over to Ralfs in Durant, Iowa, for Steve and Marilyn Ralf to stitch up the tan leather interior. Also making an appearance inside is a massaged dash by Hopperstad Customs that's been filled with Auto Meter Phantom gauges and an ididit column topped by a Colorado Custom steering wheel.
After 2 1/2 years of hard work by all those mentioned, the Anderson's ended up with exactly what they wanted; a '36 hot rod that still retains the charm of the original (crank out windshield, hinges and handles) with all the advancements made in the last 8 decades. Add it all up and you'd have to say they hit the magic number.