Getting Your Body in Shape

A little off the top, sir? Just a trim today? How about a little tuck around the edges? Customizing doesn't have to be invasive and complicated. There is a plethora of tasty changes one can make in the process of modifying one's ride. We're going to show you several of them in this two-part series, and, hopefully, stir up some of your creative juices. The techniques we will show you are adaptable to many different circumstances and vehicles, and the changes we're making are upgrades in every sense of the word. Not much has really changed in the basic functions of motor vehicles in the last 35 years, but the aesthetics of modern cars sometimes have one over on the classics. Six-way power seats in a '66 Ranchero? Not from the factory! But if you've been following the buildup of Editor Ford's 'Chero, you know that it's now a reality in his ride. There's a lot more cool stuff on the horizon for this vehicle, as well as others. so read on and follow us through some tasty modifications.

Using light-weight cardboard or construction paper, we make a templatethat will cover the original fuel port location and sit in proportionwith the style lines of the car or truck.

Using a Sharpie we trace out the same template to the Probe fuel doorfor our cut lines.

A saber saw is great for cutting corners and slices through thesheetmetal like butter.