• 19 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a Hot Rod

An open-wheel roadster from the side, the front and the back.

Parts of a Hot Rod

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Engine
  2. Carburetors
  3. Headers
  4. Firewall
  5. Cowl
  6. Windshield
  7. Steering wheel
  8. Roadster body
  9. Roll bar
  10. Frame rails
  11. Radius rods
  12. Grille shell
  13. Headlights
  14. Dropped axle
  15. Leaf spring
  16. Quick-change rear end
  17. Slicks
  18. Tail lights
  19. Nerf bar

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the drivetrain, from clutch to rear wheels

All 19 parts on the diagram

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From the side 11

  1. Engine Out in the open, with no hood over it. A hot rod's engine is large for the car; a V8 is the usual choice.
  2. Carburetors Each one mixes fuel with air for the engine. Hot rods often carry two or three.
  3. Headers Tubular exhaust pipes, one from each cylinder. They join into one larger pipe called a collector.
  4. Firewall The panel that separates the engine from the people in the car.
  5. Cowl The front part of the body, behind the firewall. The windshield stands on it.
  6. Windshield Often cut down, or chopped, to make the car lower. Some hot rods have none at all.
  7. Steering wheel The driver steers with it. It shows above the side of the low, open body.
  8. Roadster body An open two-seat body with no roof. One theory is that the rod in hot rod is short for roadster.
  9. Roll bar A single steel hoop behind the driver. It gives some protection if the car rolls over.
  10. Frame rails The two long steel rails that the car is built on. One runs each side. With no fenders they are in plain sight.
  11. Radius rods Rods from the axle back to the frame. They stop the axle moving forward or back. A pair that meets in a point like this is called a hairpin.

Front and back 8

  1. Grille shell The shaped metal shell at the nose that holds the grille. Builders often fit one from a different old car.
  2. Headlights With no fenders to carry them, they stand on their own brackets.
  3. Dropped axle A beam front axle whose middle is set lower than its ends. It can be an I-beam or a tube.
  4. Leaf spring A single leaf spring set across the car, above the front axle.
  5. Quick-change rear end A racing-style center section in the rear axle. It came to hot rods from race cars.
  6. Slicks Wide rear tires with a smooth tread, first made for drag racing. The front tires are much narrower.
  7. Tail lights Small lamps on the tail, often taken from another car.
  8. Nerf bar A small tubular bar that protects the tail. It takes the place of a bumper.

How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-30; a name is kept only where at least two of these use it for a hot rod. (1) Hot Rod Yearbook 1961, issue 1 (Petersen Publishing), full text at https://archive.org/details/sim_hot-rod-yearbook_1961_1 : grille shell, dropped front axle, split radius rods, frame rails, firewall, cowl, headers, carburetors, roadster, roll bar, quick-change rear end and centre section, slicks, taillights, nerf bars that protect the rear of a roadster, headlights on brackets. (2) Hot Rod Deluxe, January 2016, full text at https://archive.org/details/Hot_Rod_Deluxe_January_2016 : grille shell, headers, hairpins, headlight stanchions, quick-change, frame rails, cowl, firewall, roll bar, cheater slicks, taillights, windshield. (3) Wikipedia, text only: Hot rod (grille shell, headlights, dropped I-beam and tube axles, transverse front leaf spring, frame rails, nerf bars, slicks, hairpins, quick-change, removing hoods, bumpers, windshields and fenders), T-bucket, Roadster (car), Exhaust manifold (headers, collector), Radius rod, Firewall (engine), Roll cage (roll bar), Racing slick, Nerf bar, Chopping and channeling, Carburetor, Halibrand. (4) US Army, TM 9-8000, Principles of Automotive Vehicles (1985), glossary: cowl; chapters on carburetors, leaf springs and steering, https://archive.org/details/tm-9-8000-principles-of-automotive-vehicles-1985 . Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's car, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A hot rod roadster with no hood and no fenders, drawn from the side, the front and the back. Tap a part to read what it is.

Read the full guide

What makes it a hot rod

A hot rod is a car rebuilt with a larger or more powerful engine. Builders often take off the hood, the fenders and the bumpers, which leaves the engine, the frame rails and the front axle in plain view. Read the side view from nose to tail: grille shell, engine with its carburetors and headers, firewall, cowl, windshield, roadster body.

Front and back

From the front you see the dropped axle and the leaf spring set across the car. From the back, the quick-change rear end sits between two wide slicks, with a nerf bar where a bumper would be.

  • No two hot rods are alike. Builders mix parts from different cars, so this drawing shows one typical layout.

Questions and answers

What are the main parts of a hot rod?

A grille shell at the nose, an engine in the open with its carburetors and headers, a firewall and cowl, a short windshield, an open roadster body, frame rails, a dropped front axle on a leaf spring, a rear end and wide rear tires.

What are headers on a hot rod?

Tubular exhaust pipes that take the place of the exhaust manifold: one pipe from each cylinder, usually joined into a larger pipe called a collector. They let the exhaust gas flow out more freely, which gains power.

What does chopped and channeled mean?

Chopping cuts down the pillars and windows to lower the roofline. Channeling refits the floor higher inside the body, so the whole body sits lower over the frame.

Why do hot rods have big rear tires?

The engine is large for the size and weight of the car, and big rear tires put that power on the road. The front wheels are often much narrower.

What is a roadster?

An open two-seat car. One theory is that the rod in hot rod is short for roadster.

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