IF YOU PREFER YOUR FORD’S WITH CURVES, RODZ NORTH HAS YOUR BOD!

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As we roll through the summer months, spare a thought for our countrymen in the far north. The Queensland town of Mareeba is around 60 kilometres west of Cairns, the journey slowed considerably by the winding MacAlister Range. It has a population of around 23,000, two of whom are Kevin and Sue MacGregor of Rodz North. Together, this car crazy couple have been churning out fat-fendered Fords for Aussie hot rodders for more than 25 years.

While Sue was born and raised in the area, Kevin is a Brisbane boy, although he spent little time there as the family relocated from town to town.

“Dad was a bank manager, so you’d shift every two years,” he recalls from his childhood.

As a result, he developed an affinity for regional Queensland and ultimately ended up in Cairns, working his trade as a house painter. When he wasn’t on the brushes, a 1938 Ford sedan project occupied his time.

“I wanted some fibreglass parts made and went to a fibreglass shop in town. He said, ‘Well, why don’t we just make a body?’ We bought a steel ’40 coupe from Sydney, and six weeks later, we had one done!”

The joint venture didn’t last long; his partner was struggling to invest time in the project while his marine business was thriving, but Kev was hooked. The pair shook hands, and Kevin set up operations to continue making bodies and panels under the title of Rodz North. That was around 1997.

This 1936 Ford three-window will be a rolling advertisement for Rodz North, enabling shoppers to get an up-close look at their handiwork. It also helps them test the fit, finish and assembly techniques on their products. This one rolls on a frame built around Lilow chassis rails, but Kevin points out that ’35 through ’40 chassis are the same, and there are numerous chassis builders that can assist. Skinless door reveals power window installation.

Kevin quickly added fenders and bonnets to his ’40 Ford offerings to entice buyers after a complete shell. He also developed their own hidden door hinges for an ultra-smooth look, and reworked the door opening to accept late-model rubber seals. The firewall has been recessed to accept popular engine options. He also crafted new window trim mouldings and added electric windows as an option.

A cabriolet, with a lift-off hardtop and laid-back windscreen frame, and a pickup cab would follow. But as interest in earlier models continued to grow, Rodz North responded.

“We preferred the ‘37 front, and when I looked into it, there wasn’t much difference in the body. Across the top of the cowl is the same, so we were able to modify the mould and produce both. That was pretty popular,” he adds.

**This ’40 pickup is a body will be on display at the Street Rod Nationals in Bendigo this Easter.** “We’ve always done the guards for ‘40 pickups, I think Norm was one of our first customers,” says Kevin, referring to Norm Hardinge’s infamous Aussie Desert Cooler pickup with its flames and wing (left). “Steel cabs are still around; ’38 through ’46, whether they’re trucks or jailbars, are basically the same cab.” **Nonetheless, with steel cabs drying up and getting more costly to have repaired, the clean start with a new ‘glass body makes good sense for a show-class finish.**

“We went to the ’36 after that… bought another body off the same guy we got the ’40 off! Nobody was doing the fat fenders, and they all used the same chassis – so it made sense.”

While a three-window version of the ‘36 remained elusive for now, chopped 1936 five-window coupes proved incredibly popular. Kevin reckons they’ve churned out around 50, plus a few standard-height examples. In 2018, Rodz North added a 1936 three-window body, chopped, of course!

“We located some original doors and made our moulds from them, so it’s our version of a three-window,” Kevin explains. “The cowl and windscreen are exactly the same as our five-window.”

During their expansion, Rodz North also acquired the ’36 roadster body moulds from Deuce Customs, and also has the capability to produce either ’35 or ’36 fenders, which differ slightly.

Of course, the Rodz North ethos is to produce the best-value bodies they can, with all the built-in extras you’d expect. That includes a full fibreglass floor installed, steel inserts for critical mounting points, and swinging doors using their own hidden hinge system. Power windows with outer door handles installed are now commonplace on most bodies.

This old Chevy cabover is a little rough, but the ideal canvas to showcase the new Rodz North fibreglass fenders and hood. Prefer a GMC? No problem – Rodz North offers you a choice of a Chevrolet or GMC-scripted bonnet.

If you’ve ever come across the Rodz North tent at a Street Rod Nationals in Sydney or Melbourne, or the Ballarat Swap Meet where they frequented, you probably didn’t give much thought to the 5,000km round trip that it took them to get there and back! Nonetheless, Kevin and Sue use such opportunities to promote their range and meet new people, and stay informed about new opportunities. Such activities led Kevin to develop products for some more obscure vehicles, like ’33 Dodge, ’38 Dodge, and, most recently, ’47–’53 Chevy Cabover.

“We’ve had a lot of interest in the cabover stuff, but the freight prices are killing it. It’s a lot bulkier than our other stuff,” he confesses.

– While many old car bodies are restorable, it’s often the panels that surround them are not. Rodz North offer replacement grille shells for ‘33 Dodge and Chrysler along with rear guards, bonnets, valance panels, running boards, a custom rear number plate panel, and even windscreen garnish moulds. They can also assist with ‘38 Dodge rear guards, stock or widened.
– **Kevin’s not sure of the origin of the headlight that served as a template for these reproductions, but they sure do look nice painted up against the backdrop of almost any fat fender’d hot rod.**

Nonetheless, hoods and fenders are available to order, and after eyeballing a body up close, it became evident that a handy guy could build a COE cab from a pickup body using these parts.

For F-truck folks, they offer rear fenders and running boards for popular 53-’56 models.

Kevin explains that there haven’t been many advancements in the traditional manufacture of fibreglass hot rod bodies – the term ‘hand-laid’ still very much applies. The hot weather of the tropics shortens drying time but also limits working time.

“After midday, it goes off too quickly – winter is the prime time.”

There’s a handful of personal projects in the workshop, most of which have found their way to Kevin and Sue’s door unintentionally as unwanted projects or payment for jobs. They have a small stash of toys at home as well, from a 1957 Chevy to a handful of big sixties Fords, but they fight for space with the dozens of body and panel moulds which are stored wherever they can be out of the weather.

While a gel-coat shortage caused a major hiccup in production in early 2024, Rods North are back to regular production and ready to take your order for your next fat fender, or whichever parts and pieces you might need.

Visit https://rodznorth.com.au, or call 0409 348 092.