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Naga's glossary of kustom and car kulture terms
Aftermarket: Source of parts made by companies other than the original manufacturer. In the hot rod and custom world, the term is used to refer to the many companies that manufacture parts specifically for hot rods and custom cars.
Alky: alcohol fuel for racing. aka; methyl alcohol or methanol, a very high-octane fuel. Ardun heads Created by Zora Arkus-Duntov (circa 1947), the Ardun Manufacturing company fabricated overhead valve cylinder heads with hemispherical combustion chambers that could be bolted to the Ford V-8 60 (flathead) block. Precursor to the Chrysler "hemi," Ardun heads delivered serious horsepower gains for hot rodders and racers privileged enough to afford them.
Antique: 25 years old or older, in stock, unmodified, or restored to original condition: mostly determined by legislation more than anything.
A-pillar: The sheet metal section located on each side of the windshield between the roof and the main body that has to be cut when chopping the top.
Appletons: Fender-mounted spotlights, named for the manufacturer.
Baby Moons: Small chromed hubcaps that only cover the center of the wheel.
Balanced: Normally used to define balancing the rotating assembly (ie crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons, wrist pins, bearings), but can also mean matching the weights of the pistons and rods.
Belly tanker: A dry-lakes/salt-flats competition-only car made from a surplus WWII aircraft belly tank. Belly tanks were used for their aerodynamic shape, and fitted to custom-fabricated, mid-engined chassis.
Beltline: The line running around a car's body formed by the bottom edges of the side windows.
Bias Ply: A pneumatic tire having crossed layers of ply cord running diagonally to the tread. Diametrically opposed to Radial tires in the kustom world, since Biases have style and radials do not.
Big block: The larger of a manufacturer’s V-8 engines with a block that is physically more massive (as opposed to just having more displacement) than the manufacturer’s smaller V-8. Big blocks usually have a displacement of more than 370 cubic inches.
Bigs and littles: The typical hot rod or dragster front and rear tire combination; big tires in back (for increased traction in drag racing and higher effective gearing in dry-lakes racing), little tires up front (for reduced rolling resistance and lighter weight).
Billet: Solid blocks of aluminum that are machined to create custom parts for hot rods. The term “billet” also refers to the parts themselves. Billet can be used as a noun, as in, “there is too much billet on that car,” or as an adjective, as in, “I just got a new billet steering wheel.” WAY overdone style in the 80's and 90's and to a lesser degree still today.
Binders: Brakes.
Blower: A belt driven air-to-fuel mixture compressor which increases atmospheric pressure in the engine, resulting in added horsepower.
Blown Gasser: A supercharged, gas burning engine.
Blueprinted: Ensuring the dimensions of the parts in the engine are more accurate and, therefore, closer to the original engine blueprint values.
Bobbed: Shortened or abbreviated, usually refers to fenders or frame rails.
Bobber: is a style of custom motorcycle that started in the 1950s and continues to be built today. Bobbers are similar to choppers in that they both strip everything from a bike that is not readily needed. This includes the characteristic rigid frame and shortened ("bobbed") rear fender.
Bobber truck: Slang term for a hot rod truck built similar to bobber chopper. Minimalistic with an eye on tradition.
Bomb: A pre-1955 model-year lowrider. Bombs are built to appear stock, but they are lowered and often use numerous add-on factory and vintage aftermarket accessories.
Bonneville: Annual event put on by the SCTA, the event dates back over 60 years. See Salt flats.
Bore: As a noun The diameter of an engine’s cylinder opening, usually measured in inches. As a verb To increase the diameter of an engine’s cylinders.
Buick wires: A style of wire wheels that was factory equipment on 1953-54 Skylarks. They were also offered as Buick factory accessories in the 1950’s. Extremely popular with customizers.
Bullets: Chromed, bullet-shaped extensions used on bumpers, grilles, and wheels.
Business Coupe: A simple two-door coupe, without a rumble seat, built between the mid to late thirties.
C -ing: Removing a C-shaped section from the frame of a car over the front or rear axle to gain additional clearance for axle travel with a lowered suspension. A frame with this modification is called a “C’d” frame.
C notch: See "C-ing".
Cal-Neva: California-Nevada Timing Association.Cammer Any engine with an overhead camshaft.
Candy: A type of paint finish achieved by spraying a transparent color coat over a metallic or pearl base coat. The top coat allows the base coat to show through for a rich, deep effect. See Joe Bailon.
Carson Top: A solid, removable roof that is covered with a soft material.
Channeled: Cutting the floor so the body rests around the frame rails rather than sitting on top of the frame. This gives an overall lowered appearance.
Cherry Bombs: See glass packs.
Chopped: A hard-top car that has had its roof lowered.
Chrome-reversed wheels: Stamped steel wheels that have had their center hub sections removed, and rewelded to the rims to gain a deeper offset. The reworked wheels are then chrome-plated.
Cid: An abbreviation for cubic inch displacement, a measurement of the size of an engine.
Classic: A fine or unusual motorcar built between 1925 and 1948. A classic is distinguished by its fine design, high engineering standards, and superior workmanship. Only certain important automotive brands are considered "true" classics. Commentators can be seen with curly Q mustasches.
Cogs: Slang term for gears.
Connie kit: See "Continental kit"
Continental kit: a popular bolt-on "customization kit" for the rear end of 50's cars. With varying degrees of quality, most kits usually consisted of an external tire carrier with stainless steel tire ring, indented faceplate, drop center gravel guard, bumper extensions, and a license light.
Convertible: An open-top car with a folding roof and side windows.
Crank: common abbreviation for crankshaft.
Crate Engine: Factory built, ready to run engine.
Custom: A car that is modified in visual appearance through imaginative and technical methods to create a distinctive vehicle. Dictionary definition. See "kustom".
Cutouts: An exhaust system that allows for exhaust gases to run through the mufflers, or straight out the headers or unmuffled pipes.
D.O.: An early years term for an engine equipped with dual overhead camshafts.
Dago: A dropped front-end. Also a derogatory term for wops.
Decked: Chrome details and trim removed from the trunk and smoothed over.
Deuce: 1932 Ford. Overused term post Beach boys.
Dropped: A significantly lowered vehicle.
Dual Quad: Two four barrel carburetors.
Dual set-up: Early hot rod term for an engine using a dual intake manifold equipped with two carburetors.
Dutchman Panel: The metal body piece between the rear window and the trunk.
Duval Windshield: A split V-shaped raked chrome-plated windshield designed by George DuVall.
Exotic: A high-priced, two passenger roadster, coupe, or convertible, usually from Europe. A few exceptions exist such as the Dodge Viper or the original Shelby Cobra.
Fadeaways or Fade-Aways: Fenders that taper back into the body.
Fat Fendered: Fords built between 1935 and 1948 that were wide and rounded in appearance. Some recent hot rods have removed these styling cues and ran "fenderless". This type of customizing is rarely pulled off successfully.
Fender skirts: Panels covering the rear wheel well leaving only the bottom part of the rear wheels exposed.
Fiestas: A three-bar hubcap so-named because it came as original factory equipment on 1953 Oldsmobile Fiesta convertibles. These hubcaps were also found on most ’54 and ’55 Oldsmobiles. Also refers to any aftermarket hubcap that mimics the Fiesta’s style.
Filled axle: a dropped axle that has both sides of the "I" beam section filled with metal at the bend to provide added strength.
Filled Roof: One that has a welded steel panel instead of the original wood-and-fabric insert.
Five window: A Ford coupe body style made from 1932 to 1936 that has five windows, not counting the windshield. There are other model years of Ford coupes that have five windows, but they are not referred to as such since there were no three windows produced during those years, making the additional description unnecessary.
Flamethrowers: Ignition of unburnt gasoline in the exhaust which shoots flames out the tailpipes. This is accomplished by interrupting the spark temporarily.
Flathead: An engine with its valves located in the cylinder block rather than in the head. The head itself is a plain, flat casting. The term is used most to indicate a Ford V-8 engine built between 1932 and 1955. It could also indicate a Ford four-cylinder Model A, B, or C four-cylinder engine.
Flippers: A style of hubcap that features one or more bars that reflect light when the vehicle is in motion. Also known as spinners.
Fordor: A four-door Ford sedan. See Taxi cab.
Frame-off Restoration: A restoration project in which the entire vehicle is completely disassembled with all parts cleaned or replaced as necessary, so that the restored car meets the original factory specifications as closely as possible.
Amazingly expensive and labor intensive.
Frame-Up Restoration: Not as detailed as a frame-off, but involves restoring the paint, chrome, interior, and mechanicals to original specifications without complete disassembly of the car.
Frenched: Recessed head or tail lights that are smoothed into the body panels. French cuffs are cited as inspiration but, the actual reference is usually really butchered and mis-represented.
Front Clip: Either the front end sheet metal or the section of frame in front of the firewall.
Gennie: Slang for “genuine”, usually used to refer to original, factory-produced parts.
Glass-packs: Loud, aftermarket mufflers.
Gow job: An obscure pre-WWII term for a car with a modified engine, apparently derived from gow out, below. No longer used.
Gow out: Early term meaning to accelerate rapidly. One theory has it that the "gow" is simply a mispronunciation of "go." No longer used.
Guide lights: Externally mounted headlights (found on late 1930's cars) that had a small light attached to the top of the headlight housing.
Headers: Individual exhaust pipes, usually welded steel tubing but sometimes cast iron, in various shapes and diameters to reduce exhaust back pressure.
Hemi: An engine that has hemispherical combustion chambers in its cylinder head. Popularized by Chrysler, starting around 1951.
Hides: Tires. (Ex "Boil the hides" or to spin the rear tires) Not seriously used anymore.
Highboy: Customized Model A Ford that sits at stock height. Can also refer to a 50's era car with a modified, high leaf spring front suspension to account for the height difference of large diameter rear tires.
Hop up: Pre-WWII term for a car with a modified engine.
Hot iron: See "hop up".
Hot rod: Post-WWII term for a car with a modified engine. Traditionally, an older vehicle with "low-buck" performance modifications. Today, "hot rod" denotes a tradtional car, usually fenderless, usually pre-35 except in the case of hot rod trucks.
Hot rod truck: See "bobber truck".
Jiggler: An early hot rodders term for a rocker arm.
Joe Bailon: A kustom car builder and best known as the creator of the paint color "Candy Apple Red." While this has been in some dispute, Joe is a legend nonetheless.
Jug: An early hot rod term for a carburetor or breast.
Juice brakes: Hydraulic brakes as opposed to mechanical brakes.
Kemp: An old beatnik or jazz term, used to refer to any automobile. The Kustom Kemps of America popularized the term as a synonym for custom car.
Kit Car: A reproduction of an existing automotive design, sold in various stages of production to allow for completion and customization by the builder. Usually a Lamborghini Countach- (only kidding).
Kustom: The greatest car style ever created, and my reason for living. Also a term for cars that are heavily customized with traditional styling cues, post hot rod but pre-65.
Lake pipes: Side-exit exhaust pipes located under the rocker panels.
Lakester: Class designation (after 1950) of cars with custom-made bodywork that was streamlined but had exposed wheels.
Lancers: A four-bar hubcap so-named because it came as original factory equipment on 1957 Dodge Lancers. Also refers to any aftermarket hubcap that mimics the Lancer’s style.
Land Yacht: Large, luxury car, usually referring to the chromed, finned, oversized vehicles of the late fifties to early sixties.
Leadsled: A lowered, late-forties car with molded body seams, traditionally done with lead, usually a kustom.
Lid: An early hot rodders term for cylinder head.
Locked rear end: an early term for a straight-through drive system with the left and right rear axle shafts fused together at the ring gear. Commonly referred to today as "posi-traction."
Louvers: Vents or slots punched in body panels. The most commonly louvered body panel is the hood, done to increase ventilation. Poorly punched louvers have ruined more straight panels than Discovery channel fans.
Lowboy: Customized Model A Ford that has been channeled.
Lowered: A vehicle that sits lower than stock height through suspension or frame modifications. Also standard modification for kustoms.
Lowrider: A vehicle that has been lowered by a hydraulic suspension system that can bring the ride height up in order to drive it. Air bags have made the scene here as of late.
Mag wheels: Aftermarket racing or race-inspired wheels. Aftermarket wheels are sometimes generically referred to as “mags” because early racing wheels were made of magnesium.
Matching Numbers: A restored or original vehicle in which all serial numbers (VIN, engine, body, transmission, rear end) can be researched and identified as being 100% correct for that specific vehicle. Rare and ridiculous pursuit.
Mill: Slang term for an engine. Also known as a "Powerplant".
Model A: A Ford made between 1928 and 1931.
Model T: A Ford made between 1909 and 1927.
Modified: A dry lakes class designation for a car which didn't fit in the roadster class, usually with a single-seat sprint-car-type body but cut off behind the driver. Regulations required that a Modified have a flat area of no less than 400in-sq behind the cockpit.
Molded: Body seams that have been filled in or otherwise smoothed out.
Moon discs: Full wheel covers that are chrome and convex-shaped.
More door: A slang term for styled four door cars. Also known as taxi cabs.
MRA: Muroc Racing Association
MTA: Mojave Timing Association
Muscle Car: A North American intermediate or mid-sized car produced between 1964 and 1972 (with a few exceptions) with a large displacement V8 engine. Also known as "Mill and rear-end donor".
Nailhead: A Buick V-8 engine from 1953 to 1966, named for its vertically mounted, relatively small valves. Ridiculously cool motor with an amazing exhaust note.
Nerf Bar: Tubular bumper. Not the coolest modification.
NOS: New Old Stock. Parts purchased from the manufacturer that were made at the time of the original vehicle but never sold. Also an abbreviation for Nitrous Oxide System.
Nosed: Chrome details and trim removed from the hood and smoothed over.
OEM: Acronym for Original Equipment Manufacturer.
Original: Contains only parts originally installed on the car or NOS parts from the manufacturer with no substitute or after-market parts.
Over-bore: An engine with the cylinders enlarged in diameter (bored) to accommodate larger pistons thus increasing cubic inch displacement.
Overhead: Term applied to engines with overhead valves, but used most often to describe early Ford flatheads (Model A, B, C, or V-8) with overhead valve conversions.
Pancaked: Hood or trunk modified to a lower profile.
Panel paint: A custom painting style introduced by Larry Watson that features large panels of contrasting or complementary color that follow and highlight a car’s body lines.
Peaked: A molded accent seam on a hood.
Pearl: A type of paint with finely ground reflective particles that have the soft luminescent glow of a real pearl. Pearl particles can be mixed in with the color itself or a clear topcoat.
Not always ground glass from Utah.
Phantom: A one-off hot rod or custom that is modified to look like a factory-stock body style that one of the major automakers could have produced but never did. A 1950 Ford three-window coupe is one example of a phantom body style.
Phaeton: Initially a type of horse-drawn carriage from the 19th century from which intial styling is drawn from.
Pinched: To narrow the front frame to match the grill shell.
Pink Slip: Before the days of automobile titles, the portion of a California car registration that conveyed ownership was colored pink. As in racing for "pinks".
Pinstripe: Thin, hand-painted accent lines applied to a car as accent or decoration. Hot rodders and kustomizers began pinstriping to their cars after Von Dutch evolved striping to the level it is at today.
Piped: Narrow, padded pleats used to trim the interior.
POS: Piece of sh*t, technical term for a hideously built car.
Post: The pillar located between the front and rear doors of a four-door sedan.
Pot: early term for carburetor. (See also Jug).
Powerplant: See "mill".
Project Car: A car that is usually stored in the backyard, driveway or garage with high hopes of building, but is usually sold or traded again at a loss.
Pro-Street: A vehicle features large rear wheels and tires tucked deeply into the rear fender area. A style popularized in the 80's and has mostly died out.
Quick Change Rear End: Made famous by Ted Halibrand, the quick change was a specially-made center section for an early Ford differential banjo housing which provided two changeable gears behind the ring and pinion assembly. This theoretically allows the car to be driven to the track, changed, raced, then changed back to drive home.
Rake: refers to the forward or rearward leaning stance of a vehicle when viewed from the side.
Raked: The front end has been lowered more than the back. Can also refer to a slanted windshield.
Rat rod: Frequently confused with "Traditional Hot Rod" this type of build is closer to a "POS" (see definition of POS). Typically characterized by unskilled craftsmanship, endless, needless, shortcuts, and the addition of damage where formerly none existed to add "character". Ignorance of the difference between "rust" and "patina" typifies this type of build, also often fatally unsafe, for no good reason. An eye toward cartoonish, nonsensical choices predominate.
Relieving: removal of the ridge in the top of the block resulting from counter boring during manufacture for the valve seat.
Replicar: A completed reproduction of an existing automotive design, usually sold only as a turn-key, or 100% complete, car.
Resto Rod: An original looking car with a modified chassis or powerplant.
Reversed eyes: The ends of a standard Ford transverse-leaf spring curled down and around the shackle pin. When these "eyes" were reshaped to curl upward, the car was lowered about 1.5 inches, without destroying the spring's effectiveness. In front, though, the clearance in the center between the spring and axle was reduced.
Ripple discs: The smooth lines of these chrome plated hub caps were the "hot item" for custom rodders in the early 50's.
Roadster: A convertible without side windows.
Roll Pan: Smoothed out panel that replaces the bumper and rolls back under the vehicle.
Rolled: Bumper or gas tank removed and replaced with custom panel that "rolls" under.
Rolls & Pleats: Kustom interior utilizing padded pleats.
RTA: Russetta Timing Association. "Russetta" is Greek for "winged chariot."
Rumble Seat: An open, fold up rear seat located where the trunk would be.
Running Board: The metal strip running between the fenders and below the doors of early autos and trucks used as a step or to wipe one's feet before entering the vehicle.
Salt flats: Large expanse of caked salt at the west edge of the Great Salt Lake Desert in Utah about ten miles east of Wendover.
Scallops: A custom paint design that utilizes either ribbon like shapes that accent body panels or tapered, evenly spaced spears trailing rearward from the front of a vehicle.
SCTA: Southern California Timing Association.
Sectioned: Removing a horizontal section of bodywork to lower the overall height of the body. Rarely excuted skillfully.
Sedan Delivery: A two-door station wagon with solid body panels instead of windows on the sides at the back of the car.
Shaved: Door handles and body trim that have been removed and patch panels have replaced said trim.
Side mount: A spare tire, recessed into the front fender.
Six-Pack: Three two-barrel carburetors. See also Triple Deuce.
Skirts: Exterior body panels on a hot rod or custom that fit into the wheel cutouts to cover the tires. They are usually removable to allow access to the tires, and almost always cover the rear tires.
Skylark wires: A style of wire wheels that was factory equipment on 1953-54 Skylarks. They were also offered as Buick factory accessories in the 1950’s. Extremely popular with customizers.
Slammed: A significantly lowered vehicle - dropped as low as possible and still drivable. Fantastic modification.
Sleeper: A vehicle that doesn't look as fast as it is.
Small block: The smaller of a manufacturer’s V-8 engines, with a block that is physically less massive (as opposed to having less displacement than the manufacturer’s larger V-8. Small blocks usually have a displacement that is less than 370 cubic inches.)
Smithys: See glass packs.
Smoothie rod: A hot rod with a clean, shaved, nosed, decked, appearance, resulting from the removal of stock trim, as well as handles, hinges, body seams, and contours.
Sombrero: A style of Cadillac hubcap produced from 1947 to 1952, nicknamed for its resemblance to a Mexican sombrero hat. Sombreros are popular with customizers for their smooth, attractive design, and luxury car origin.
Split Window: Usually referring to the rear window - one that has two planes of glass with bodywork in between. Example the 1963 Corvette.
Squirt brakes: See Juice brakes.
Steelies: Solid, stamped-steel wheels. Usually refers to 1940s era Ford wheels, or replicas thereof.
Streamliner: A dry-lakes/salt flats racing class designation for a car with custom-made, streamlined bodywork that envelops the wheels.
Street Machine: An 80s designation, also a street-legal highly modified car or truck built in 1949 or later.
Street Rod: A street-legal highly modified car or truck built in 1948 or earlier. Usually typified by splash graphics, tweed interior, and wanton use of billet.
Suicide Axle: A front axle that is mounted in front of the frame instead of underneath it. Always seen on T-buckets, occasionally seen on Model As and Deuces.
Suicide Door: A door that hinges at the rear, essentially opens in reverse.
Suicide perch: Mount for suicide axle.
Supercharger: A crank driven air-to-fuel mixture compressor which increases atmospheric pressure in the engine, resulting in added horsepower.
Tail job: Early Streamliner, usually using a sprint car body with a pointed tail.
Tank: Short for "belly tank" or "drop tank."
Taxi cab: Slang for a 4 door customized or restored car, that someone rationalizes to everyone that they prefer 4 doors to 2 doors.
T-Bucket: Fenderless, topless, highly-modified, Ford Model T. Most T-Buckets on the road today are kit cars or replicars.
Teardrops: 1939 Ford taillights. Very popular on hot rods and named for their teardrop shape.
Three window: A Ford coupe body style made from 1932 to 1936 that has three windows, not counting the windshield.
Three-on-the-tree: Column-shift mechanism for a three speed transmission (the hot rodders answer to the sporty car set's four-on-the-floor).
Track T: An early fenderless roadster, usually a Ford Model T, that is modified to compete in small oval dirt-track races or at least look like it does. Track roadster characteristics include tracknoses and nerf bars.
Tracknose: A sleek, hand-formed nose, typically with a grille opening and fabricated grill bars, usually seen on dry-lakes and circle-track racers.
Traditional Hot Rod: Often confused with a "Rat Rod", a traditional Hot Rod is everything that a Rat Rod isn't. While keeping with the minimalist motif, many parts are actually high quality and performance, and the engineering is outstanding.
Trailer Queen: Derogatory term referring to a car that is shown frequently yet rarely driven.
Triple Deuce: Three two-barrel carburetors.
Tri-Power: An engine with three two barrel carburetors.
Tubbed: Having the rear frame and body modified to allow for extra-wide wheels and tires that do not protrude past the fenders. Popular in the 1980s, not seen as much in current builds, as the style is lacking.
Tuck and roll: (also rolls and pleats) Custom upholstery with the interior fabric stitched in narrow vertical and/or horizontal pleats.
Tudor: A two-door Ford sedan.
Turnkey: A completely finished hot rod built by a professional shop that requires no additional work. All the owner needs to do is get in and turn the key.
Turn-Key Engine: Factory built, ready to run engine. Can also mean a high performance, fully pre-assembled engine that is ready to be installed and run. See Crate Engine.
Two-port job: a Model A or B block with a two-intake-port head (usually applies to a Riley head).
Unlimited: Pre-WWII class for cars with large engines, such as Marmon or Cadillac V-16s, or cars with supercharged engines.
V-butting: Hot rod and Custom technique of mating two flat windshield sections together at the center after the center post has been removed.
VIN: Vehicle Identification Number. The vehicle serial number that is stamped onto the vehicle, usually under the windshield post, the driver's door post, or on the firewall.
Vintage: A vehicle built between 1915 and 1942 in stock or unmodified condition.
Von Dutch: A legend in style and pinstripe, The Von Dutch company is now a multinational clothing and accessories company.
Von Franco: a kustom kulture icon who started as a young man in the 60's, working with Ed Roth.
Von: German term denoting Barony.
VonHyde: Last name of right hand man of Tiny of Tiny's Chop and Kustom shop: Naga Vonhyde.
Watson: Larry Watson, legendary kustomizer made famous for his painted panels style.
Wheelie Bars: Rods that extend from the back of a car and are connected to wheels that help keep the car from flipping backwards during sudden acceleration.
Wide whites: Tires with wide white sidewalls.
Woody: A vehicle that incorporates natural finished wood for structure of exposed body panels
Z'd frame: An effect used to lower a car without effecting suspension geometry. The effect consisted of cutting part of the chassis, raising it and re-welding it to form a "Z" shape when viewed from the side. This allowed for more clearance for the rear differential or front axle to ride higher in the chassis thus decreasing the car's overall ground clearance. Z’ing the front of a hot rod gives it a raked stance, while Z’ing both ends drops the whole car “down in the weeds.”
Zoomies: Short, straight pipe exhaust headers that do not merge into a collector.
Alky: alcohol fuel for racing. aka; methyl alcohol or methanol, a very high-octane fuel. Ardun heads Created by Zora Arkus-Duntov (circa 1947), the Ardun Manufacturing company fabricated overhead valve cylinder heads with hemispherical combustion chambers that could be bolted to the Ford V-8 60 (flathead) block. Precursor to the Chrysler "hemi," Ardun heads delivered serious horsepower gains for hot rodders and racers privileged enough to afford them.
Antique: 25 years old or older, in stock, unmodified, or restored to original condition: mostly determined by legislation more than anything.
A-pillar: The sheet metal section located on each side of the windshield between the roof and the main body that has to be cut when chopping the top.
Appletons: Fender-mounted spotlights, named for the manufacturer.
Baby Moons: Small chromed hubcaps that only cover the center of the wheel.
Balanced: Normally used to define balancing the rotating assembly (ie crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons, wrist pins, bearings), but can also mean matching the weights of the pistons and rods.
Belly tanker: A dry-lakes/salt-flats competition-only car made from a surplus WWII aircraft belly tank. Belly tanks were used for their aerodynamic shape, and fitted to custom-fabricated, mid-engined chassis.
Beltline: The line running around a car's body formed by the bottom edges of the side windows.
Bias Ply: A pneumatic tire having crossed layers of ply cord running diagonally to the tread. Diametrically opposed to Radial tires in the kustom world, since Biases have style and radials do not.
Big block: The larger of a manufacturer’s V-8 engines with a block that is physically more massive (as opposed to just having more displacement) than the manufacturer’s smaller V-8. Big blocks usually have a displacement of more than 370 cubic inches.
Bigs and littles: The typical hot rod or dragster front and rear tire combination; big tires in back (for increased traction in drag racing and higher effective gearing in dry-lakes racing), little tires up front (for reduced rolling resistance and lighter weight).
Billet: Solid blocks of aluminum that are machined to create custom parts for hot rods. The term “billet” also refers to the parts themselves. Billet can be used as a noun, as in, “there is too much billet on that car,” or as an adjective, as in, “I just got a new billet steering wheel.” WAY overdone style in the 80's and 90's and to a lesser degree still today.
Binders: Brakes.
Blower: A belt driven air-to-fuel mixture compressor which increases atmospheric pressure in the engine, resulting in added horsepower.
Blown Gasser: A supercharged, gas burning engine.
Blueprinted: Ensuring the dimensions of the parts in the engine are more accurate and, therefore, closer to the original engine blueprint values.
Bobbed: Shortened or abbreviated, usually refers to fenders or frame rails.
Bobber: is a style of custom motorcycle that started in the 1950s and continues to be built today. Bobbers are similar to choppers in that they both strip everything from a bike that is not readily needed. This includes the characteristic rigid frame and shortened ("bobbed") rear fender.
Bobber truck: Slang term for a hot rod truck built similar to bobber chopper. Minimalistic with an eye on tradition.
Bomb: A pre-1955 model-year lowrider. Bombs are built to appear stock, but they are lowered and often use numerous add-on factory and vintage aftermarket accessories.
Bonneville: Annual event put on by the SCTA, the event dates back over 60 years. See Salt flats.
Bore: As a noun The diameter of an engine’s cylinder opening, usually measured in inches. As a verb To increase the diameter of an engine’s cylinders.
Buick wires: A style of wire wheels that was factory equipment on 1953-54 Skylarks. They were also offered as Buick factory accessories in the 1950’s. Extremely popular with customizers.
Bullets: Chromed, bullet-shaped extensions used on bumpers, grilles, and wheels.
Business Coupe: A simple two-door coupe, without a rumble seat, built between the mid to late thirties.
C -ing: Removing a C-shaped section from the frame of a car over the front or rear axle to gain additional clearance for axle travel with a lowered suspension. A frame with this modification is called a “C’d” frame.
C notch: See "C-ing".
Cal-Neva: California-Nevada Timing Association.Cammer Any engine with an overhead camshaft.
Candy: A type of paint finish achieved by spraying a transparent color coat over a metallic or pearl base coat. The top coat allows the base coat to show through for a rich, deep effect. See Joe Bailon.
Carson Top: A solid, removable roof that is covered with a soft material.
Channeled: Cutting the floor so the body rests around the frame rails rather than sitting on top of the frame. This gives an overall lowered appearance.
Cherry Bombs: See glass packs.
Chopped: A hard-top car that has had its roof lowered.
Chrome-reversed wheels: Stamped steel wheels that have had their center hub sections removed, and rewelded to the rims to gain a deeper offset. The reworked wheels are then chrome-plated.
Cid: An abbreviation for cubic inch displacement, a measurement of the size of an engine.
Classic: A fine or unusual motorcar built between 1925 and 1948. A classic is distinguished by its fine design, high engineering standards, and superior workmanship. Only certain important automotive brands are considered "true" classics. Commentators can be seen with curly Q mustasches.
Cogs: Slang term for gears.
Connie kit: See "Continental kit"
Continental kit: a popular bolt-on "customization kit" for the rear end of 50's cars. With varying degrees of quality, most kits usually consisted of an external tire carrier with stainless steel tire ring, indented faceplate, drop center gravel guard, bumper extensions, and a license light.
Convertible: An open-top car with a folding roof and side windows.
Crank: common abbreviation for crankshaft.
Crate Engine: Factory built, ready to run engine.
Custom: A car that is modified in visual appearance through imaginative and technical methods to create a distinctive vehicle. Dictionary definition. See "kustom".
Cutouts: An exhaust system that allows for exhaust gases to run through the mufflers, or straight out the headers or unmuffled pipes.
D.O.: An early years term for an engine equipped with dual overhead camshafts.
Dago: A dropped front-end. Also a derogatory term for wops.
Decked: Chrome details and trim removed from the trunk and smoothed over.
Deuce: 1932 Ford. Overused term post Beach boys.
Dropped: A significantly lowered vehicle.
Dual Quad: Two four barrel carburetors.
Dual set-up: Early hot rod term for an engine using a dual intake manifold equipped with two carburetors.
Dutchman Panel: The metal body piece between the rear window and the trunk.
Duval Windshield: A split V-shaped raked chrome-plated windshield designed by George DuVall.
Exotic: A high-priced, two passenger roadster, coupe, or convertible, usually from Europe. A few exceptions exist such as the Dodge Viper or the original Shelby Cobra.
Fadeaways or Fade-Aways: Fenders that taper back into the body.
Fat Fendered: Fords built between 1935 and 1948 that were wide and rounded in appearance. Some recent hot rods have removed these styling cues and ran "fenderless". This type of customizing is rarely pulled off successfully.
Fender skirts: Panels covering the rear wheel well leaving only the bottom part of the rear wheels exposed.
Fiestas: A three-bar hubcap so-named because it came as original factory equipment on 1953 Oldsmobile Fiesta convertibles. These hubcaps were also found on most ’54 and ’55 Oldsmobiles. Also refers to any aftermarket hubcap that mimics the Fiesta’s style.
Filled axle: a dropped axle that has both sides of the "I" beam section filled with metal at the bend to provide added strength.
Filled Roof: One that has a welded steel panel instead of the original wood-and-fabric insert.
Five window: A Ford coupe body style made from 1932 to 1936 that has five windows, not counting the windshield. There are other model years of Ford coupes that have five windows, but they are not referred to as such since there were no three windows produced during those years, making the additional description unnecessary.
Flamethrowers: Ignition of unburnt gasoline in the exhaust which shoots flames out the tailpipes. This is accomplished by interrupting the spark temporarily.
Flathead: An engine with its valves located in the cylinder block rather than in the head. The head itself is a plain, flat casting. The term is used most to indicate a Ford V-8 engine built between 1932 and 1955. It could also indicate a Ford four-cylinder Model A, B, or C four-cylinder engine.
Flippers: A style of hubcap that features one or more bars that reflect light when the vehicle is in motion. Also known as spinners.
Fordor: A four-door Ford sedan. See Taxi cab.
Frame-off Restoration: A restoration project in which the entire vehicle is completely disassembled with all parts cleaned or replaced as necessary, so that the restored car meets the original factory specifications as closely as possible.
Amazingly expensive and labor intensive.
Frame-Up Restoration: Not as detailed as a frame-off, but involves restoring the paint, chrome, interior, and mechanicals to original specifications without complete disassembly of the car.
Frenched: Recessed head or tail lights that are smoothed into the body panels. French cuffs are cited as inspiration but, the actual reference is usually really butchered and mis-represented.
Front Clip: Either the front end sheet metal or the section of frame in front of the firewall.
Gennie: Slang for “genuine”, usually used to refer to original, factory-produced parts.
Glass-packs: Loud, aftermarket mufflers.
Gow job: An obscure pre-WWII term for a car with a modified engine, apparently derived from gow out, below. No longer used.
Gow out: Early term meaning to accelerate rapidly. One theory has it that the "gow" is simply a mispronunciation of "go." No longer used.
Guide lights: Externally mounted headlights (found on late 1930's cars) that had a small light attached to the top of the headlight housing.
Headers: Individual exhaust pipes, usually welded steel tubing but sometimes cast iron, in various shapes and diameters to reduce exhaust back pressure.
Hemi: An engine that has hemispherical combustion chambers in its cylinder head. Popularized by Chrysler, starting around 1951.
Hides: Tires. (Ex "Boil the hides" or to spin the rear tires) Not seriously used anymore.
Highboy: Customized Model A Ford that sits at stock height. Can also refer to a 50's era car with a modified, high leaf spring front suspension to account for the height difference of large diameter rear tires.
Hop up: Pre-WWII term for a car with a modified engine.
Hot iron: See "hop up".
Hot rod: Post-WWII term for a car with a modified engine. Traditionally, an older vehicle with "low-buck" performance modifications. Today, "hot rod" denotes a tradtional car, usually fenderless, usually pre-35 except in the case of hot rod trucks.
Hot rod truck: See "bobber truck".
Jiggler: An early hot rodders term for a rocker arm.
Joe Bailon: A kustom car builder and best known as the creator of the paint color "Candy Apple Red." While this has been in some dispute, Joe is a legend nonetheless.
Jug: An early hot rod term for a carburetor or breast.
Juice brakes: Hydraulic brakes as opposed to mechanical brakes.
Kemp: An old beatnik or jazz term, used to refer to any automobile. The Kustom Kemps of America popularized the term as a synonym for custom car.
Kit Car: A reproduction of an existing automotive design, sold in various stages of production to allow for completion and customization by the builder. Usually a Lamborghini Countach- (only kidding).
Kustom: The greatest car style ever created, and my reason for living. Also a term for cars that are heavily customized with traditional styling cues, post hot rod but pre-65.
Lake pipes: Side-exit exhaust pipes located under the rocker panels.
Lakester: Class designation (after 1950) of cars with custom-made bodywork that was streamlined but had exposed wheels.
Lancers: A four-bar hubcap so-named because it came as original factory equipment on 1957 Dodge Lancers. Also refers to any aftermarket hubcap that mimics the Lancer’s style.
Land Yacht: Large, luxury car, usually referring to the chromed, finned, oversized vehicles of the late fifties to early sixties.
Leadsled: A lowered, late-forties car with molded body seams, traditionally done with lead, usually a kustom.
Lid: An early hot rodders term for cylinder head.
Locked rear end: an early term for a straight-through drive system with the left and right rear axle shafts fused together at the ring gear. Commonly referred to today as "posi-traction."
Louvers: Vents or slots punched in body panels. The most commonly louvered body panel is the hood, done to increase ventilation. Poorly punched louvers have ruined more straight panels than Discovery channel fans.
Lowboy: Customized Model A Ford that has been channeled.
Lowered: A vehicle that sits lower than stock height through suspension or frame modifications. Also standard modification for kustoms.
Lowrider: A vehicle that has been lowered by a hydraulic suspension system that can bring the ride height up in order to drive it. Air bags have made the scene here as of late.
Mag wheels: Aftermarket racing or race-inspired wheels. Aftermarket wheels are sometimes generically referred to as “mags” because early racing wheels were made of magnesium.
Matching Numbers: A restored or original vehicle in which all serial numbers (VIN, engine, body, transmission, rear end) can be researched and identified as being 100% correct for that specific vehicle. Rare and ridiculous pursuit.
Mill: Slang term for an engine. Also known as a "Powerplant".
Model A: A Ford made between 1928 and 1931.
Model T: A Ford made between 1909 and 1927.
Modified: A dry lakes class designation for a car which didn't fit in the roadster class, usually with a single-seat sprint-car-type body but cut off behind the driver. Regulations required that a Modified have a flat area of no less than 400in-sq behind the cockpit.
Molded: Body seams that have been filled in or otherwise smoothed out.
Moon discs: Full wheel covers that are chrome and convex-shaped.
More door: A slang term for styled four door cars. Also known as taxi cabs.
MRA: Muroc Racing Association
MTA: Mojave Timing Association
Muscle Car: A North American intermediate or mid-sized car produced between 1964 and 1972 (with a few exceptions) with a large displacement V8 engine. Also known as "Mill and rear-end donor".
Nailhead: A Buick V-8 engine from 1953 to 1966, named for its vertically mounted, relatively small valves. Ridiculously cool motor with an amazing exhaust note.
Nerf Bar: Tubular bumper. Not the coolest modification.
NOS: New Old Stock. Parts purchased from the manufacturer that were made at the time of the original vehicle but never sold. Also an abbreviation for Nitrous Oxide System.
Nosed: Chrome details and trim removed from the hood and smoothed over.
OEM: Acronym for Original Equipment Manufacturer.
Original: Contains only parts originally installed on the car or NOS parts from the manufacturer with no substitute or after-market parts.
Over-bore: An engine with the cylinders enlarged in diameter (bored) to accommodate larger pistons thus increasing cubic inch displacement.
Overhead: Term applied to engines with overhead valves, but used most often to describe early Ford flatheads (Model A, B, C, or V-8) with overhead valve conversions.
Pancaked: Hood or trunk modified to a lower profile.
Panel paint: A custom painting style introduced by Larry Watson that features large panels of contrasting or complementary color that follow and highlight a car’s body lines.
Peaked: A molded accent seam on a hood.
Pearl: A type of paint with finely ground reflective particles that have the soft luminescent glow of a real pearl. Pearl particles can be mixed in with the color itself or a clear topcoat.
Not always ground glass from Utah.
Phantom: A one-off hot rod or custom that is modified to look like a factory-stock body style that one of the major automakers could have produced but never did. A 1950 Ford three-window coupe is one example of a phantom body style.
Phaeton: Initially a type of horse-drawn carriage from the 19th century from which intial styling is drawn from.
Pinched: To narrow the front frame to match the grill shell.
Pink Slip: Before the days of automobile titles, the portion of a California car registration that conveyed ownership was colored pink. As in racing for "pinks".
Pinstripe: Thin, hand-painted accent lines applied to a car as accent or decoration. Hot rodders and kustomizers began pinstriping to their cars after Von Dutch evolved striping to the level it is at today.
Piped: Narrow, padded pleats used to trim the interior.
POS: Piece of sh*t, technical term for a hideously built car.
Post: The pillar located between the front and rear doors of a four-door sedan.
Pot: early term for carburetor. (See also Jug).
Powerplant: See "mill".
Project Car: A car that is usually stored in the backyard, driveway or garage with high hopes of building, but is usually sold or traded again at a loss.
Pro-Street: A vehicle features large rear wheels and tires tucked deeply into the rear fender area. A style popularized in the 80's and has mostly died out.
Quick Change Rear End: Made famous by Ted Halibrand, the quick change was a specially-made center section for an early Ford differential banjo housing which provided two changeable gears behind the ring and pinion assembly. This theoretically allows the car to be driven to the track, changed, raced, then changed back to drive home.
Rake: refers to the forward or rearward leaning stance of a vehicle when viewed from the side.
Raked: The front end has been lowered more than the back. Can also refer to a slanted windshield.
Rat rod: Frequently confused with "Traditional Hot Rod" this type of build is closer to a "POS" (see definition of POS). Typically characterized by unskilled craftsmanship, endless, needless, shortcuts, and the addition of damage where formerly none existed to add "character". Ignorance of the difference between "rust" and "patina" typifies this type of build, also often fatally unsafe, for no good reason. An eye toward cartoonish, nonsensical choices predominate.
Relieving: removal of the ridge in the top of the block resulting from counter boring during manufacture for the valve seat.
Replicar: A completed reproduction of an existing automotive design, usually sold only as a turn-key, or 100% complete, car.
Resto Rod: An original looking car with a modified chassis or powerplant.
Reversed eyes: The ends of a standard Ford transverse-leaf spring curled down and around the shackle pin. When these "eyes" were reshaped to curl upward, the car was lowered about 1.5 inches, without destroying the spring's effectiveness. In front, though, the clearance in the center between the spring and axle was reduced.
Ripple discs: The smooth lines of these chrome plated hub caps were the "hot item" for custom rodders in the early 50's.
Roadster: A convertible without side windows.
Roll Pan: Smoothed out panel that replaces the bumper and rolls back under the vehicle.
Rolled: Bumper or gas tank removed and replaced with custom panel that "rolls" under.
Rolls & Pleats: Kustom interior utilizing padded pleats.
RTA: Russetta Timing Association. "Russetta" is Greek for "winged chariot."
Rumble Seat: An open, fold up rear seat located where the trunk would be.
Running Board: The metal strip running between the fenders and below the doors of early autos and trucks used as a step or to wipe one's feet before entering the vehicle.
Salt flats: Large expanse of caked salt at the west edge of the Great Salt Lake Desert in Utah about ten miles east of Wendover.
Scallops: A custom paint design that utilizes either ribbon like shapes that accent body panels or tapered, evenly spaced spears trailing rearward from the front of a vehicle.
SCTA: Southern California Timing Association.
Sectioned: Removing a horizontal section of bodywork to lower the overall height of the body. Rarely excuted skillfully.
Sedan Delivery: A two-door station wagon with solid body panels instead of windows on the sides at the back of the car.
Shaved: Door handles and body trim that have been removed and patch panels have replaced said trim.
Side mount: A spare tire, recessed into the front fender.
Six-Pack: Three two-barrel carburetors. See also Triple Deuce.
Skirts: Exterior body panels on a hot rod or custom that fit into the wheel cutouts to cover the tires. They are usually removable to allow access to the tires, and almost always cover the rear tires.
Skylark wires: A style of wire wheels that was factory equipment on 1953-54 Skylarks. They were also offered as Buick factory accessories in the 1950’s. Extremely popular with customizers.
Slammed: A significantly lowered vehicle - dropped as low as possible and still drivable. Fantastic modification.
Sleeper: A vehicle that doesn't look as fast as it is.
Small block: The smaller of a manufacturer’s V-8 engines, with a block that is physically less massive (as opposed to having less displacement than the manufacturer’s larger V-8. Small blocks usually have a displacement that is less than 370 cubic inches.)
Smithys: See glass packs.
Smoothie rod: A hot rod with a clean, shaved, nosed, decked, appearance, resulting from the removal of stock trim, as well as handles, hinges, body seams, and contours.
Sombrero: A style of Cadillac hubcap produced from 1947 to 1952, nicknamed for its resemblance to a Mexican sombrero hat. Sombreros are popular with customizers for their smooth, attractive design, and luxury car origin.
Split Window: Usually referring to the rear window - one that has two planes of glass with bodywork in between. Example the 1963 Corvette.
Squirt brakes: See Juice brakes.
Steelies: Solid, stamped-steel wheels. Usually refers to 1940s era Ford wheels, or replicas thereof.
Streamliner: A dry-lakes/salt flats racing class designation for a car with custom-made, streamlined bodywork that envelops the wheels.
Street Machine: An 80s designation, also a street-legal highly modified car or truck built in 1949 or later.
Street Rod: A street-legal highly modified car or truck built in 1948 or earlier. Usually typified by splash graphics, tweed interior, and wanton use of billet.
Suicide Axle: A front axle that is mounted in front of the frame instead of underneath it. Always seen on T-buckets, occasionally seen on Model As and Deuces.
Suicide Door: A door that hinges at the rear, essentially opens in reverse.
Suicide perch: Mount for suicide axle.
Supercharger: A crank driven air-to-fuel mixture compressor which increases atmospheric pressure in the engine, resulting in added horsepower.
Tail job: Early Streamliner, usually using a sprint car body with a pointed tail.
Tank: Short for "belly tank" or "drop tank."
Taxi cab: Slang for a 4 door customized or restored car, that someone rationalizes to everyone that they prefer 4 doors to 2 doors.
T-Bucket: Fenderless, topless, highly-modified, Ford Model T. Most T-Buckets on the road today are kit cars or replicars.
Teardrops: 1939 Ford taillights. Very popular on hot rods and named for their teardrop shape.
Three window: A Ford coupe body style made from 1932 to 1936 that has three windows, not counting the windshield.
Three-on-the-tree: Column-shift mechanism for a three speed transmission (the hot rodders answer to the sporty car set's four-on-the-floor).
Track T: An early fenderless roadster, usually a Ford Model T, that is modified to compete in small oval dirt-track races or at least look like it does. Track roadster characteristics include tracknoses and nerf bars.
Tracknose: A sleek, hand-formed nose, typically with a grille opening and fabricated grill bars, usually seen on dry-lakes and circle-track racers.
Traditional Hot Rod: Often confused with a "Rat Rod", a traditional Hot Rod is everything that a Rat Rod isn't. While keeping with the minimalist motif, many parts are actually high quality and performance, and the engineering is outstanding.
Trailer Queen: Derogatory term referring to a car that is shown frequently yet rarely driven.
Triple Deuce: Three two-barrel carburetors.
Tri-Power: An engine with three two barrel carburetors.
Tubbed: Having the rear frame and body modified to allow for extra-wide wheels and tires that do not protrude past the fenders. Popular in the 1980s, not seen as much in current builds, as the style is lacking.
Tuck and roll: (also rolls and pleats) Custom upholstery with the interior fabric stitched in narrow vertical and/or horizontal pleats.
Tudor: A two-door Ford sedan.
Turnkey: A completely finished hot rod built by a professional shop that requires no additional work. All the owner needs to do is get in and turn the key.
Turn-Key Engine: Factory built, ready to run engine. Can also mean a high performance, fully pre-assembled engine that is ready to be installed and run. See Crate Engine.
Two-port job: a Model A or B block with a two-intake-port head (usually applies to a Riley head).
Unlimited: Pre-WWII class for cars with large engines, such as Marmon or Cadillac V-16s, or cars with supercharged engines.
V-butting: Hot rod and Custom technique of mating two flat windshield sections together at the center after the center post has been removed.
VIN: Vehicle Identification Number. The vehicle serial number that is stamped onto the vehicle, usually under the windshield post, the driver's door post, or on the firewall.
Vintage: A vehicle built between 1915 and 1942 in stock or unmodified condition.
Von Dutch: A legend in style and pinstripe, The Von Dutch company is now a multinational clothing and accessories company.
Von Franco: a kustom kulture icon who started as a young man in the 60's, working with Ed Roth.
Von: German term denoting Barony.
VonHyde: Last name of right hand man of Tiny of Tiny's Chop and Kustom shop: Naga Vonhyde.
Watson: Larry Watson, legendary kustomizer made famous for his painted panels style.
Wheelie Bars: Rods that extend from the back of a car and are connected to wheels that help keep the car from flipping backwards during sudden acceleration.
Wide whites: Tires with wide white sidewalls.
Woody: A vehicle that incorporates natural finished wood for structure of exposed body panels
Z'd frame: An effect used to lower a car without effecting suspension geometry. The effect consisted of cutting part of the chassis, raising it and re-welding it to form a "Z" shape when viewed from the side. This allowed for more clearance for the rear differential or front axle to ride higher in the chassis thus decreasing the car's overall ground clearance. Z’ing the front of a hot rod gives it a raked stance, while Z’ing both ends drops the whole car “down in the weeds.”
Zoomies: Short, straight pipe exhaust headers that do not merge into a collector.
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