Article and Photography by:
 Bryan Fross
 Model: Ashley Allen

     

   Some of our feature vehicles are the first customizing endeavor for the vehicle owner. It's their first fully custom show vehicle and the ride through the build process can be daunting. Then there are people like Joe Molina. After returning from showing his 1973 Chevrolet C-10 named Chain Reaction at the SEMA Show in 2011, he decided that it was time to start working on this 1964 Cadillac Coupe DeVille that he purchased for his Girlfriend Morgan. They had enjoyed driving it around as-is for over a year but felt it was time to make it something special. Once you've owned a few custom vehicles like Joe has, it's extremely difficult to leave something alone for too long.

   They made the easy decision to begin the process by first dropping it off at Autocore Kustoms in Phoenix, Arizona for Air Bag Suspension which brought the car a lot closer to the streets of Phoenix. Kurt at Autocore not only installed 2600lb Airbags at all four corners to allow for height adjustments, he also made other important modifications to the Cadillac including frame reinforcement as well as front disc brake kit with master cylinder and brake booster. In the rear of the car, Autocore installed a 2-link kit with panhard bar, C-notched the frame, rebuilt the drum brakes. The air management system consists of two Air Zenith compressors, Accuair E-Level and custom built AutoCore air tanks. The car was then brought down over a set of 22x9 2Crave #7 Wheels riding on 265/35/22 Atturo Tires.

   The suspension was finished but that wasn't the end for Kurt at Autocore. He kept at it and moved on to the long body of this '64 Cadillac which would eventually be its defining feature. He started by removing the side trim, emblems, mirrors and antenna then welding up all the holes to smooth out the car from front to back. The factory door handles were replaced with a set of 2003 Cadillac DTS handles for a cleaner appearance. All chrome parts were re-plated and the stainless trim was re-polished by Fernandos Polishing. Greg’s American Classics located in Phoenix was called upon to paint the car. Greg Sarri laid down colors from the PPG Vibrance line including Ruby Slippers on the body, Silver Frost on the roof. This is how Joe and Morgan's car has become affectionately name, Ruby. The colors are striking in any lighting conditions but are known to change from Ruby to a Root Beer shade as well as some Green as you can see throughout pictures in this feature.

   A cool custom like this cannot be left with an almost 50-year-old interior.Starting with the functional aspects, a Vintage Air Gen IV A/C unit was installed to keep it cool inside and the Vintage Air controls were relocated to the left side of the CPP tilt-steering column with CPP steering wheel. The gauges were replaced with Autometer Old Tyme White gauges to make it much easier to see what was happening with the vehicle as well as add some style. Ruby was taken to The Interior Shop for much of the cabin transformation. The dash pad was reshaped then the front bucket seats and factory rear seat received black leather and 1957 Chevrolet Belair pattern insert material. The headliner was covered in black suede and the floor in black Mercedes carpet. Autocore also made their mark on the inside by shaving any extra holes from the dash, custom making a gauge bezel and adding billet A/C vents. Adding electronics was next on the list so CJ Silvey at Superior Auto Sound built a custom center console that holds the Alpine INA-W900 head unit and Accuair controller. Rockford Fosgate supplied the sound emitters including two sets of T2652-S component speakers up front incustom built kick panels and 1 set in the rear deck. The trunk houses a color-matched custom enclosure with three Rockford Fosgate TOD212 Subwoofers getting signal from Rockford Fosgate Amplifiers including a T1000- 1BDCP and T800-4AD. All interior body panels were lined with two layers of FatMat sound deadener. Kinetik power cells KHC2400 and KHC1800 areused to power the car and a 200 amp alternator keeps it all charged up through the Rockford Fosgate wiring.

   A rebuilt Cadillac 429 engine was upgraded with a K&N Air Filter and Pertronix Ignition. An Edelbrock 650 CFM Carburetor handles fuel flow with 2.5-inch dual exhaust using Thrush mufflers handling the air flow.

   Joe and Morgan would like to thank the people that helped them get Ruby to this level including Kurt Forqueran, Autocore Kustoms, Greg Sarri, Greg’s American Classics, CJ Silvey, Superier Auto Sound, Todd and Chuck Jubert, The Interior Shop, PPG Paint, Brett Oakes, Greg Cobbs, Rockford Fosgate, FatMat, Eric Saltrick, Steele Rubber Products, Erik Harbour, Kinetik Power cells, 2Crave Wheels, Atturo tires, Fernando's Polishing, Darryl Tracy, Jason Silva, Mark Zarate, Vintage Air, K&N Filters, Air Zenith, Accuair and Classic Performance Products. Also to all the members of Severed Ties for providing Joe with the drive to keep building custom vehicles.