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MS. METAL TAKES GIRL POWER
TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL
by Stan Sturgis
Photos by Chuck B.
From the August 2004 issue of Prick Magazine.
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Wow! This month our phat ride is awesome. We have had plenty of killer whips in the past, but the story behind this
one is exceptional. Amy K. Conrad is a jewelry maker with a masters degree in jewelry and metal work. Although
Amy is not trained in automotive metal work, she completely restored and revamped her 1953 Chevrolet. What
started out as a classic car in decent shape turned into a head turning customized hot rod. Amy a.k.a. "Ms. Metal" considers herself
an metalsmith/artist, not a grease monkey, yet she spent two years in her garage disassembling, sanding, cutting, welding, molding,
polishing, sewing, rebuilding and re-painting her Chevy. "I just bought a welder and went to town,"she says. Amy actually used
the project as her thesis show from graduate school. The car was exhibited in a museum last April.
Amy's boyfriend, Gary "Tank" Burney, is a mechanic. "He told me what to do mechanically, pointed me in the right direction and looked
over my shoulder through the entire project. I could have never done it without him." she adds.
Her skills working with metal did cross
over, "It's just on a much bigger scale from jewelry making," she says. Not only did she do the bodywork, Amy upholstered the interior,
rebuilt the motor and hand crafted custom features like the fins and tail lights, shaved door handles, frenched (sunk back) headlights, created
custom sterling silver ornamentation and webbed wheel skirts. The webbing that serves as a rear wheel skirts was a challenge for her.
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"Each section of the webbing had to be formed individually with a roller or by hand before being welded," Amy recalls. Her jewelry making
skills came into play in the more intricate details which include spider webs cut out of silver over the headlights, sterling silver pinstripe
designs that accent the dashboard and silver webbing covers over the stereo speakers and dome light. It is truly amazing.
Amy says that the most annoying part of the whole endeavor is that no one believes that she actually did all the work! "It drives me
crazy. People say, 'Well I can
see that you might have done
this or that, but who actually
did this part?' Most guys just
can't believe that a girl like me
could do it all, but I did damn
it!" She gave us pictures of
the process to prove it. By
the amount of emotion
attached to the car and the
pink paint overspray all
over her garage, I for one
believe her.
Amy has also made custom jewelry
to match her phat ride. She is currently
working as a jewelry making teacher at
the University of Georgia, but she has
plans to make and sell custom parts and
car part jewelry as a side gig. Ms. Metal
Kustom Equipment online store is up and
ever expanding. Check it out at www.ms-metal.net. She is also a proud member of
the Atlanta based Reanimators Car Club.
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The specs break down like this:
- 1953 Chevrolet 150 Business Coupe
- Body Custom Fab: 3 inch chopped top,
frenched headlights, custom fins,
front fender smoothed out, front valence
modified for 54 Chevy bumper
- Custom mixed pink and white paint
self-applied with help from Gary Burney
and Philip Sims
- Engine: 327 with aluminum heads
- Transmission: 700r4
- Dual exhaust
- Intake/Carb: Edelbrock 3 duce with 3
Rochester 2 throats
- Mallory Ignition
- Rear End: 10 bolt from Monte Carlo
- Suspension info front: cut coils, rebuilt
- Suspension info rear: 3 inch lowering
blocks
- Brakes: front Camero disc brakes. Rear
Monte Carlo drum
- Wheels: 15 inch wide whites
- Interior: White tuck 'n' roll all around
- Modified 1960 Impala steering wheel
- Tail lights from a 1959 Caddy
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