• Jennifer Preyss •
• Originally published May 8, 2011 at 10:33 p.m., updated May 8, 2011 at 10:33 p.m.

• HOT ROD CATEGORIESStreet rod: Manufactured before 1949; a mix of hot rods, custom cars, and modern Detroit cars. Emphasis is on custom paint jobs, interiors, and modern engines.

  Pro-Street rod: Subcategory of street rodding; customized sedan and coupe models ...

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HOT ROD CATEGORIESStreet rod: Manufactured before 1949; a mix of hot rods, custom cars, and modern Detroit cars. Emphasis is on custom paint jobs, interiors, and modern engines.

Pro-Street rod: Subcategory of street rodding; customized sedan and coupe models with large engines and rear tires inside the fender wells; luxury interiors.

Billet rod: Street rods items machined from billet aluminum.

Traditional rod: Built with particular build techniques and materials.

Rat rod: Designed to look like old-time jalopies.

Wearing a gray mechanic-style jumpsuit with the nickname "Lulu" embroidered on the lapel, 9-year-old Emma Ganem lowered an orange welding helmet over her small freckled face and fired up a blow torch.

Blue sparks flew behind her red ponytail as she welded the frame of a rusted 1931 Ford sedan parked inside her father's garage.

"Lookin' good, mama," Emma's father Trey Ganem, 40, said, standing over her.

In about six months, Emma and her father will convert the rusted Ford shell into a tricked-out custom hot rod - complete with remote-controlled suicide doors, shockwave air suspensions, exposed engines and protruding metal piping - that will sell to clients nationwide for as much as $40,000.

"I just came out here one day and started helping him. I gave him wrenches and tools," Emma said, explaining how she became interested in building hot rods with her father at age 6. "I do it because it's fun."

In less than three years, Ganem has taught his daughter how to build and fix car motors, rebuild and modernize antique interiors, and show custom-built cars at national hot rod expos.

"We go to car shows a lot, and she'll help me show them," Ganem said. "Every day, she's out here with me for at least an hour; on the weekend it's much longer. She's definitely a daddy's girl."

Ganem, who has long had a passion for 30s-era hot rods, said he never forced any of his three children to join him in the garage. Emma, however, showed interest at an early age.

"My older daughter is into sports and my son never really showed interest. My son wants a (hot rod) sedan, but doesn't like being in the shop, and I'm not going to force him," Ganem said.

But because Ganem and his daughter now spend hours together building hot rods, they've grown inseparable.

"We're like this a lot. We just hang out together," he said. "She's a lot like me."

When Emma turns 16, Ganem has promised her a custom hot rod, built by her own hand.

"We're going to build her first car. I'm going let her do it how she wants," Ganem said. "She'll have another car, too, but she can drive the hot rod to school if she wants."

"I don't know what I want it to look like yet," Emma said, still seven years away from being legally old enough to drive.

Emma's mother, Michele Ganem, said she isn't bothered by her daughter and husband's pastime because it's a passion they both share.

"I don't mind it. It keeps them at home," Michele said, laughing, mentioning later that she doesn't think Emma will ever leave her father's side.

Emma insists she'll continue working on cars with her father for many years in the future and encourages other girls to take up the torch.

"I would tell my friends to do it because it's really fun," Emma said. "Every time my dad drives me to school in the cars, my friends are like, 'Wow!'"

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