We told you about the most recent, albeit long-term project residing in our garage. We asked readers to show us what they’ve been working on recently and Reggie Berry and Kenny Lohmeyer were quick to respond with their projects. Like many of us, Kenny has been shifting between several cars while Reggie is more focused but equally busy. Check out these efforts by your fellow rodders and send us YOUR submissions so we can share them with the Rod Authority community! You can email me by clicking on my photo below.

Reggie Berry

Reggie’s ’32 is a mix of old and new, which confuses some folks, but he enjoys it immensely.

I thought you might get a kick out of my project. I call it the Red-Headed Stepchild (I’ll explain later).  I think it’s a little different than most other cars. I’m a retired teacher and I started this project about seven years ago. I wanted to build a car I could just have fun with and enjoy.  I realized that most street rods fall into the category of billet, chrome, and high-dollar paint and upholstery. That would not be me.

Except for the wheels and valve covers, there is no shiny stuff on my car. I was determined to make every part that went into the car’s build myself.  I did buy aftermarket frame rails but built the rest of the frame I fabricated myself. It has a 454 cubic-inch big-block Chevy, which I built and a Muncie 4-speed behind it. There is a nine-inch Ford from a pickup, which I narrowed and added 3:73 gears with a trac-loc differential.  For the upholstery, I taught myself to sew on my wife’s Kenmore sewing machine. You get the idea.

Reggie fabricated his own frame from a pair of ’32 frame rails. The rest of the build continued to progress thanks to Reggie’s talents.

What sets my rod apart from others, to some degree, is the mixing of car genres. Most car guys fall into the “street rod” or “rat rod” group; not so much with me, I like both. With black primer paint and nothing billet, the body looks a little rat roddish, but when you add Corvette Z06 red calipers and 14” drilled and slotted rotors with 18” front wheels and 20” in the rear, you start drifting towards the street rod bunch.

Reggie and his 14-year old grandson Daniel, who helped with every inch of the build!

The car is not welcomed too well by either group, hence the red-headed stepchild reference. Street rodders don’t get the paint with old stickers and the rat rod guys hate the wheels and brakes. This is not the reaction I expected from car guys when I thought about how I wanted to build a hot rod. Aren’t we all car guys at heart? The only group of people that seem to truly love my project are children and adults who are not into cars. The kids want their picture taken with the car and adults honk and give me the thumbs up. It’s all good! I built my car for me and I love it and like Granddad always said: “That’s all that matters.”

Kenny Lohmeyer

Kenny’s ’64 Chevy II gasser makes a trip down the track. Not only does Kenny enjoy driving his Chevy II, but so do his kids! Two of his children have tried their hand at flogging it down the quarter-mile! Image: One Pic At A Time.

Here’s my ‘64 Chevy II, “II Much.” It was built in my garage with the help of my sons and my friends. It has a 468 cubic-inch big-block with a TH400 transmission. My kids and I haul her all over the country to cruises and nostalgic races. She went coast to coast in 2016; lots of fun. Three of my kids have driven her and TWO have raced her!

Twin Holleys on a tunnel-ram-fed, 468 cubic-inch big-block! Kenny’s gasser is truly a GAS!

There are a couple of projects besides ignition repair on my gasser, like getting the timing right for my ‘83 Camaro Z28 before I test the new nitrous system I installed on its 388 cubic-inch stroker engine. I’m also working on the single-turbo 5.3 LS for my 1967 C10.