Kidd Darrin’s has all the tools needed to fabricate just anything. Yet, it is important to understand that these parts have to be made by hand one at a time. Often times it is overlooked that OEM parts are mass produced and hundreds of thousands of dollars are invested into stamping dies, jigs, etc. to make high quantity production parts. We at Kidd Darrin’s have developed methods and strategies to recreate or even create new ideas in steel, aluminum, and stainless steel that will only be made once or twice (left and right side). Here we have tried to show how some of those pieces are made as “one offs” as well as some of our innovative ideas for mechanisms that solve a particular issue.
Often times in the classic cars the OEM AM radio was incorporated into the design of the dash. Moldings were integral as well as the faceplate and knobs. For this customer we engineered, designed, and built a motorized assembly behind the fabricated false OEM radio faceplate complete with knobs to retain the OEM look.
The hood on the old trucks are always a problem to close properly. The hood corners often, even with new OEM hinges, remain up a little bit once the hood is secured in the closed position. To remedy this on this 1955 Chevy pick up we not only made for more under the hood access to the big block by making the hood reverse open, but we also designed and fabricated an electric pull down motor system to bring the hood closed to proper gap every time. No more going from side to side to manually push down the hood corners at the rear of the hood every time the hood has been opened. The system includes onboard LED’s to show when the operation is complete (green LED) and when the hood is not yet secured and is open (red LED)
Air ride is a very popular addition to almost every car we build. The ability to adjust the ride height is a big advantage to most of our customers that are building that one off hot rod. But with that said, most don’t want to look at the air ride gauges the entire time they are driving. So for this car we decided to make a small door that is electrically actuated (by a hidden switch or by the ignition switch) that will stow away the controls for the air ride system. Easily deployed when you want to see them, easily made to “go away” when you don’t.
Custom Fuel door for a 1934 ford Tudor