Antique & Collectible Autos’ ’35 Chevy

Ron McConnaghy has been an asphalt and dragstrip racer since he was a teenager back in the late ’50s. He had previously built and rebuilt some steel rods—a ’41 Willys, a ’67 Camaro, a NASCAR Modified, and a Dirt Modified—and though he grew tired of racing, he wanted a street rod that he could modify to his tastes.

“I chose the ’35 Chevy because I am a GM nut and wanted to build something entirely GM,” says Ron. True to his word, he selected an Antique & Collectible Autos ’35 Chevy kit, and installed a Corvette rear, a GM trans, GM power, and Chevy springs, heads, and rollers.

As Ron tells it, “I began by looking at a traditional street rod and saw many ’33 and ’34 Fords. I was leaning that way until the GM bug got me. Then I saw a ’35 Chevy put out by another manufacturer and was about to send them a check when I saw an ad in Street Rodder magazine for Antique & Collectible Autos. Since their shop in Buffalo, New York, is close to my home in Niagara Falls, I went to see them.” Ron talked to the owners, saw an unfinished ’35 Chevy at their facility, and made the decision that resulted in this street beauty you see here.

The first thing you notice when you see this kit rod is the color—DuPont Tangerine. Ron says, “You are supposed to see a hot rod coming.” You can sure see this one coming.

The next thing you notice is the front grille, and then, the modifications to the rear of the car. Ron customized his rod for his tastes. “If I had an original to work on in the late ’50s, I would have wanted to modify it this way,” says Ron. “But I never could have done these mods in steel, so A&C’s fiberglass body and custom kit chassis was perfect for me.”

Ron wanted a car that was faithful to the original but with the style changes that made it his own. He achieved that look by shortening the A&C grille about 1 inch and by lowering the front end another inch. He also bobbed about 3-½ inches off the rear of the car, altering the fenders and rear panel. “I could never have gotten that look with steel,” he says. “And since I drive it all over—about 1,500 miles so far—I wanted an old car that drives like a brand-new daily driver…and that’s what I got.”

The A&C chassis has a wheelbase of 107 inches. Ron modified the frame with Heidt’s front suspension, a ’64 Corvette rear, a 3.57:1 ring-and-pinion ratio, custom Denny’s Drive Shaft axles, Aldan rear shocks and springs, and 11-½-inch drum brakes. He also relocated the battery to the trunk.

The front suspension is a Heidt’s Superide; he added Aldan shocks and springs and Wilwood brakes, along with an ididit steering column and a Sweet Manufacturing rack-and-pinion steering box.

The car sits on BFG rubber—P195/70R14s in front and P275/60R15s in rear—which is enough to hug the road and also produce some quick times on the dragstrip, though Ron says he takes it easy on the strip these days.

Under the hood is pure Bow Tie power. A 350ci V-8 pumps out about 400 horses at 4,800 rpm, and 375 lb-ft of torque at 3,600 rpm. The block was deburred and machined by Mike Bumpers of Niagara Falls. The crankshaft, cam, flywheel timing chains, pushrods, lifters, and heads are all Chevy, while the water pump and valve covers are Corvette. Mike finished off the powerplant with a 70-amp Tuff Stuff alternator, Keith Black 10.4:1 pistons, and Crane rockers, then he painted the engine DuPont Tangerine to match the exterior. The headers are from HPC (1-5/8-inch) with a ceramic finish, and SS Specialties mufflers were installed.

Additional GM material includes a stock Corvette TPI manifold and injector, Chevy HEI distributor, Chevy coil, and a Chevy 700-R4 transmission from an ’89 truck.

A Sony stereo tape player and Vintage Air air conditioning bring this car into the 21st century.

Ron told us that his next project will be another ’35 Chevy from Antique & Collectible Autos. He says, “They don’t know it yet, but they are going to build an open car for me…it’ll be full-fendered, open like a Cabriolet, and stretched and channeled. We’ll see if we can challenge the serious street rodders.”

If he builds it, we will come…. He sure can build a sweet kit rod—the picture proof of that is right here.