This Deuce Roadster Helped Revive Mike Keller’s Excitement for Crafting Hot Rods
There’s a certain irony that frequently comes with being a professional hot rod or custom car builder. Most builders get into the field by following their passion for hot rods and open a shop after building a few cool cars for themselves. The trouble is, if they’re successful, they’re typically so busy with customer projects that they lack time to pursue personal ones.
Occasionally, however, a situation comes along that allows a builder to craft a ride as if it’s his own. Such was the case for Mike Keller, owner of Big Creek Restoration in Ellis, Kansas, when the opportunity came up to build this deuce roadster for his friends Pete and Lavon Weber.
“I told my buddy Pete that I was really interested in the ’34 Ford five-window coupe that I had built for him in 2015,” Mike says. “He said he ‘might’ be open for a trade on a roadster. I was talking with my buddy Jason Smith at Hot Rod Garage, and he said Tim Wilson had a stalled deuce roadster project, so we made a deal.”
Sometimes, the right elements and timing for a project just sort of fall into place when they’re meant to. And as an added bonus, the roadster project already had some key pieces completed.
“The deuce roadster came to use as a roller with some metal mods done by Steadfast Mfg. and one of their chassis,” Mike says. “I went to work on finishing everything that was started and tried to keep it real traditional and subdued.”
That Steadfast chassis provided an excellent foundation for an old-school highboy. It has a mono-leaf spring and a 5-inch dropped beam axle to get the front down low, along with ’46 Ford split wishbones and a Vega steering box. A transverse Super Slide rear spring and ladder bar setup locate the 9-inch rearend. Reproduction ’39 Lincoln front drum brakes and Ford drum rears help maintain the traditional look, as do the 16- and 18-inch steel wheels (Wheel Vintiques in front, Steadfast in the rear) and Firestone 4.50-16 and 7.00-18 tires. 
Pete wanted a 348c.i. Chevy engine with Tri-power induction to motivate the roadster, so he and Mike located a suitable candidate and sent it to Ben’s Machine in Hays, Kansas for a rebuild that included a Comp camshaft, MSD ignition, and other select upgrades. Mike custom built the slick one-into-three stainless steel fuel line to feed the triple Rochester carbs, and he topped them with Gear Drive air cleaners. Chrome valve covers and Cerekote-finished exhaust manifolds add more detail, and Mike custom built the stainless exhaust that leads to Moroso mufflers. A Powermaster PowerGen alternator enhances the vintage look, and Mike even built a custom cage for the Spal electric fan to help make it look the part. The engine is backed by a TH400 automatic with a Gennie shifter.
The ’32 Ford roadster Brookville body had already been fitted with custom rear quarter panel extensions to accommodate the taillights, along with several other modifications made at Steadfast. Mike took over from there and recessed the firewall to make room for the engine and fine-tuned the body panel alignment and fit. He also handled the bodywork to get all the pieces ready for paint. Lavon fell in love with the Garnet Red hue on a ’69 Camaro that Big Creek recently restored, so that became the official color for the roadster. Mike applied it using single-stage PPG paint. Details like Vintique commercial headlights on custom stands and Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop taillights helped to finish off the exterior.
The dash combines pieces from ’38 and ’39 Ford Deluxe cars, with ’38 Deluxe gauges rebuilt by Redline Gauge Works. Hanging below the dash is an Ididit steering column topped with a Porsche 356-style wheel from Limeworks. Steadfast built the seat frame, which was stitched in blue leather by Grayt Upholstery in Hays, Kansas, while Mike fabricated the door and other interior panels from aluminum before wrapping them to match and fitting them with custom stainless trim. The brake pedal was machined by Leading Edge Machine and Design, and Mike made the gas pedal to match. He also turned the custom dash knobs. Cloth-covered wiring from Ton’s Performance adheres to the roadster’s vintage theme.
When the car was finally complete, Mike not only had the perfect car to trade for that ’34 coupe, but he also had a profound sense of satisfaction. “As a shop owner I don’t usually get to physically build a single car myself,” he says. “I am jumping around the shop taking care of all the other things. But I did get to on this car and it was so much fun!”
While this deuce roadster may belong to Pete and Lavon, you can tell that Mike feels a strong sense of pride and ownership in its completion. It might even be safe to say that the project helped revive his enthusiasm for building hot rods. We can’t think of a better experience for a shop owner to have, or for a cooler car to deliver to a good friend and customer.
Photos: John Jackson
