Just got my hood louvered by Gene Winfield

I've always liked louvered hoods on hot rods. After years of running without a hood on my truck at all, I finally s****ped up the coin to get a good ol' hot rod louver job done.

I'm increadibly lucky that the closest place that does louvers just happens to be Gene Winfields shop up in Mojave, CA - about a half hour from my place.

It was interesting doing buisiness with Gene. My wife Rachel and I drove up to his shop to drop off the hood and check out his louver dies, which Gene made himself - a unique shape, smaller and more arched than most louvers, with something of a peak on top. Part of the agreement was that Gene would lay out the louvers how he thought they'd look best, then give me a call with the price. I said ok. I mean, hey - it's Gene Winfield.

The results? I really like it. It's a little different from other louver jobs I've seen, and that is a good thing. And even if my truck is basically a beater, I feel good knowing one of the legends of hot rodding has personally worked a little magic on it; Gene is one hell of a nice guy.

Now, all that other stuff it needs . . .

Here are some pix:

 

Gene is awesome! One hell of a cool dude.

 

Good lookin truck and the louvers look cool too. The louvers in my '39 Ford hood are straight. The pic shows a '40 at Garlits museum this afternoon. The angle looks different and I like it. Mike

 

I like the louvers on your truck.You know it takes a man of talent to know what looks good.I would of never thought of putting them on a angle but they really look good that way.Gene Winfield is a true master at his craft...
...Thanks for the pictures...
Steve

 

How cool is that?

 

I never would have thought of it either. Had to just trust Gene with this one.

It was funny - when I dropped off the hood, I started telling Gene's foreman what I was wanting on the hood, and he stops me, saying - "Gene will tell you how he will do it. If you like it, then good. If you don't, go somewhere else". I know that sounds like the guy was an ***hole, but it really wasn't like that - he was just basically telling me upfront what to expect. Gene is the legendary customizer, not me, so I went with it.

Glad I did!

 

That is a beautiful car . . . truly doubt my truck will ever be that clean. Love the hood!

 

Looks cool and ya got to meet a legend too. Awsome!

 

wow! thats *****in!

 

Whatever the dollar cost of the job was is nothing compared to the experience of having Gene Winfield's DNA on your hood now?
Priceless...

Cool deal!

 

Cool louvers, cool truck!

 

Gene's a living legend.
He's a gentleman and a true rodder in every sense of the word.
I took this photo of him just yesterday as he was just getting ready to tear up El Mirage...unreal guy
Cool that he did your hood

 

Im not the biggest fan of louvers but they look great ... and plus Gene did them=AWESOME

 

thats awesome, another reason SOCAL is great. damn i need to visit

 

just curious how much did he charge?

 

Cool story, cool louvers, cool truck. It just doesnt get much better than that.........

 

Does Gene sleep? Is he really twins or triplets that fool us into thinking one man can actually do that much work?

 

I think it was about $320.

That's pretty funny, and true - Gene was squeezing this job in between all his others, plus his amazingly busy travel schedule. I dropped the hood off two weeks before Viva Las Vegas, in hopes of having it on the truck for that show. Gene, in the mean time, besides working on my hood, traveled to Japan for an event, and gave metal working clinics in Denver and near San Francisco, plus painted two cars and worked on a cool custom '39 Ford convert.

He didn't get the hood done in time for VLV, but he called me when I was there to let me know it was done, so we stopped by his shop on the way back - a perfect end to a perfect week of hot rod stuff. I really don't know how he does it all, but he does.

 

NUTS! So cool, looks good! Sitting in with Gene in Syracuse in July, cant wait! Slim

 

cool truck and cool story. that trucks not a beater. it's just got some character.

I'd never leave a car with someone for modifications without going over the details first. even Gene Winfield.

 

How cool is that? Gene working on your ride... tooooooooo cool!

 

Cool story. Nice hood. Thanks.

 

Hell, I'd pay the 320 just to talk to him for a half hour.

 

by the way the truck looks right. What's the plan for matching up paint, Texas patina, or leave as is?

 

Normally, I'd agree completely - I guess I just was feeling adventurous, and since it was for a show in Vegas, I was rolling the dice (couldn't help but throw in the metaphor)

 

Thanks, by the way to everyone for all the positive comments on my truck.

Honestly, when I first got it, we planned to paint it. But the truck has a real history to it - old mild custom rod built in late 40s early 50s to pull model A race cars all over the country (pikes peak climb, bonneville, daytona, on and on). It had spotlights, a '30 dlx front end (which is going back on, with the narrow hood trim), dropped axle, etc, and a hot flatty with a columbia rear axle .

Anyway, to get to the point, when I bought it from the owner/builder it had been sitting in his back field since '57, but he was still in love with it, and walked me around the truck, telling me the story behind every dent and bullet hole the truck had. Since he was a rancher, the truck had not been babied - it was a work truck, and it shows. But it's battered body told one hell of a story. I just couldn't bring myself to paint it, so I'm leaving it the way it is.

I've gone all through it mechanically, but the last thing I'll do - besides getting another 39 dlx grill on there - is get some '40 wheels with dlx caps back on the truck, do the interior in creme and oxblood like he had originally done it, and that will finish her off.

 

That is so cool. The layout is perfect and you can't beat the "the man" punching them out.

 

Gene has some thing most of america has forgot WORK ETHIC and he told me once "the right way is the one that works best" he just does what he wants doesn't think or worry about how a book or some guy at a show said to do it. he just does it.

 

hood looks great... Gene is an awesome guy, was able to talk to him last year at Lead East!