Period car...how far does one go?

My 27 ford was done with everything pre 55, everything except the dual rez. master cylender. I didnt want a little leak killing me.The colors are from 1951, allthough i sprayed them in acrylic enamyl, instead of lacquer because I dont want to buff it out every week. It was a very fun and a challenge. I dont think I could have done it without the 2 old wreckin yards we have here. Oh yea and ebay.

 

Sure glad some people still have"traditional sense of humor".LMAO

 

Well, there was that guy on there that sold the air guitar once....

Definelty funny though, thanks.

 

Q: What's a "Henrob?"

A: About 8 pounds in England.

 

Are we talking period common here or period rare? We have a tendency to only rocognize what was commonly done as period correct.
So the real question becomes "Do I get out of the box or only do what we would consider to be a belly ****on car today?"

Personally there are things that I would avoid on a period car not to say that someone didn't do it they are just things that I wouldn't do if I were building a modern car. I'm guessing that you are thinking lead, files no DA ( unless of course we are talking hair and pomade) no modern paint etc.
The skys the limit friend how high do you want to soar, hell you can even only play 45s from the year in question in the shop I guess. No stereo Hi Fi.

 

My first car was a 54 Plymouth 2dr. I still have pictures of it when I was in high school in 69-70. You would not want to duplicate that POS!

As I recall, I was making about $.85 / hr bagging groceries and the kind of bolt on go-fast stuff I could afford was limited to some pretty lame stuff. I think my one hi-po part on the engine was the little chrome air filter I bought at K-mart.

I ran stock steel wheels, baby moons, and painted over the whitewalls with black spray paint (by the late sixties, whitewalls were only for old people). I ran the stock exhaust with a Thrush gl***pack that was almost the right diameter to fit the exhaust pipe. It was loud enough that you couldn't hear the leaks. I bought longer shackles to lift the rear. I took off the front bumper to lighten the car. I think I believed it looked like a g***er.

At the time, I guess I thought it looked pretty neat, but looking over the photos now I can see that it was pretty lame. On the other hand, it was probably no worse than most of the other cars in our high school parking lot.

 

Let's see, most of the *****in' parts you show were way over my budget when I was driving a '53 Plymouth wagon to high school in the late fifties. Too, you have to find an Earl Schibe's paint shop that will shoot your car for $19.95 plus another $10 for the two tone. Cut the coils in auto shop and hope that they're even. Don't waste money on lowering blocks at Pep Boys when oak 2x4's will get the job done!

Having survived the fifties, I can't for the life of me figure out why somebody would go back a create something that really didn't exist!

 

i have a can of "period correct" air for my tires
its a presurized can of air to fix a flat along the road
you can find old oil, old jugs of water and old grease etc..
finding usable old gas is the real problem.....hmmm

 

I tried to do the same thing with my 31 Oldsmobile 5 window. I then thought that my kids my drive the car and that I should use the latest saftey stuff like disk brakes, radial tires etc. I am not however, installing side airbags, abs/dsc, or a navagation system.

BC

 

FAR FAR FAR

I have gone quite far. For the pure reasons of love for the cars of the day, and the fun it brings.
This is a discussion that is very difficult to have.
It's very much related to your own personal oppinions.

I have done this when building my AV8.

- Used the old tip: "Pick A Day". Ended up with a car build/used between 1946 - 49. Perhaps even started before the war.

I build what is described in the books as a dual purpose roadster.
Used on the streets during the week and raced at El Mirage in the weekends.
Thanks to Don Montgomery and others we know in detail what those cars looked like. Even if living in Norway, europe, like I do.

I picked a car that is in the upper half when it comes to speed and stance. Meaning a motor as hot as possible without a blower, period (read old orig) speed parts, even cam with specs available then.
A ch***ie lowered more than the average roadster. Look at Callori. His car was lower than most during the 40's.

I reason like this:
Car has to look like it evolved in my choosen period.
Engine is focus of funds. Flathead V8 is a natural an prefered choice.
All ch***ieparts has to be pre 1948.

Have avoided loading it up with all the available nice to have parts. If you look at Ken Gross's roadster you see what I mean. He used all the cool parts he liked. That's ok, but the average hot rodder of 1947 could not do that.So I won't. That excludes a Halibrand quicky etc.

Then I use handtools as much as I can.
Reuse as much of the old Ford parts as possible. (Nice to have boxes with old Ford **** to source from.)
Prainting is done by brush. Done as nice as possible of course. The common Hot Rod Joe would try to paint nice, but he could just not afford a pro job.

All this is combined with what I consider a nice and good looking combo of parts. It has to be likely that they where put there 1946 - 49. Guide lights up front. Nice tire combo for the right 1947 stance. 5.50 and 7.00. etc.
Use 6.00 and 6.50 and your stance is before the war. GENERALLY speaking of course. There where always ecceptions.

The other day I started on the exhaust system. How many cars do you see in the pics that have a nice system FEW FEW. Obviously nothing that where comonly looked at as important considering looks. Most of them look like **** eccept Calori, SPencer, Scotty and a few others.
Therefore I make a simple yet purposfull, and according to my choosen definisson, perfect one: Homemade, easily corked up, plug from the hardware store as done then etc. Hey. I'll even chrome the pipes.
Look up the S****book from Don Montgomery. Find the 29 on 32 with the fence post brackets for the front shocks. Love it. I left the F1 brackets hanging on the wall and made my own from angle iron.
That car has chromed pipes, and he did not grind the welds for a single minute. Wonderfull details.

Yeah, the jokes of wartime air etc.........

.....and Patina. The Hot word.
Easy.

Just remember to paint your frame BEFORE you start cutting it up. Then brush the parts altered. Combine with grinder dust, greasy fingers ......and you'll do good. No need to faux anything. It will evolve all by it self. A garage with high air humidity is also your friend.


With ecception of my good garagepal Clas, (klazurfer on here), everyone else of my friends are sure my head is fu... up.


And it is, right?

I'm having ****LOADS of fun.


Paul

 

Just my 2 cents. I'm all for driving the **** out of a car. Here is an example of where modern trumps tradition in my opinion.

If putting a T-5 5 speed behind a flatty is going to give it a longer live by killing the RPM's on the highway, and run at 80 MPH while p***ing all of the new cars on the road, and not be a major PITA in stop and go traffic since it has a synchro first gear, I would do it. Graft a old ford stick and unless you look under the car or know exactly where the placement of a 3 speed tower should pop out of the floor and no-one is the wiser looking into the interior.

You can do a lot of modern improvements in a car without them looking modern. That trick, my friend, is really old school.

Think about it, why did guys do upgrades or do parts picking in the '50's? Because those parts were better than some of the parts from the '30's.

 

I'm all for the traditional looks, but i like to have some modern conviences if i can get away with it. I'm building a '29 A sedan with a 303 Olds Rocket, with a dual 4brl offy intake and a mild cam, backed up with the original hydromatic and rear end. Drums on the rear these neat lookin' discs on the front (look kind of like motorcycle discs), and a set of '35 olds artillery wheels painted with the original design on them, with matching caps and beauty rings. with a set of www bias plys. Then cover the whole thing with glossy black and white vinyl interior. But i'm also building a '94 chevy pickup period 2007, big wheels, escalade front end, insane stereo, leather interior, air ride, shaved everything, not very H.A.M.B. friendly.

 

I think mine is mostly period correct.



I have a new battery and an electric fuel pump..and that fuel block is new..but all else is old ****.
Tim
MBL

 

Hot rod periods exist on a continuum made up of gradual transitions in style without any abrupt changes or disconnects. The common thread is the bodies. For argument sake, let's say the T was the first hot rod body choice. Well, the T is still a popular body choice today, some 80 years later. If the bodies are the common thread, then I think the period must be defined by the engine.

So, to be "period correct" one should stick with form and function that had already evolved when that engine was available.

However, I believe the result trumps the process. Use the tools and technology currently available. i.e. Repop 37-41 spindles are as valid a choice as NOS or originals.

Leave the **** retentiveness to those Society for Creative Anachronism geeks.

 

Hot rod periods exist on a continuum made up of gradual transitions in style without any abrupt changes or disconnects. The common thread is the bodies. For argument sake, let's say the T was the first hot rod body choice. Well, the T is still a popular body choice today, some 80 years later. If the bodies are the common thread, then I think the period must be defined by the engine.


Good point....

 

I tend to be pretty traditional when building my Kustoms, but since Kustoms are usually never "shown" with the hood up, I use modern power to get it to go where I want it to go. Your car is more like a Kustom than a hot rod, but I applaud you for doing your engine and driveline period correct as well as the outside.
Makes me sick to see a period correct sled with a modern tweed interior and billet steering wheel, though! Keep whatever shows looking right, whatever's hidden, is fair game!

 

Nothing blows a "period" build worse than radials, discs, and electric fan on an open hood, fenderless car.

 

I appriciate all the feed back you guys have given me. I am really looking forward to getting my car under the knife and producing something that I will love for years to come. I will post pictures as it comes along.

What do you guys use to paint your ch***is?

 

.....how far does one go?

Almost all the way. '32 Tudor with no parts newer than 1950 except for the '70 Mustang master cylinder, the new Holley fuel pressure regulator, and the NOS '59 J.C. Whitney seat covers. Used a MIG welder and a sawzall, but also spent a lot of time with hammers, wrenches, and cutting torches.

Searched Ebay but never could find the pre-'50 air for the tires. Does it count if the compressor is kinda old?

 

Why are your kids any different than kids in the 50's etc. ???? Are they more fragile ???

Do you ever wonder that....we were kids once too, sitting in cars with no seat belts, we survived!!!!

Kids today will survive anything with "good parenting".... you don't need disc brakes to stop that ride or radial tires (radial tires go flat too when they are punctured by an object)

 

Not sure about were you are, but in NJ the cops I've run into tend to look the other way with old cars.

They do not look the other way when you got a 4 year old in old car with no seats belts. They really frown on that.

Don't ask how I know.

 

The way people drive today - cell phone in hand and book in the other. Driving with out seatbelts and the best brakes available is just insane no mater where you live.
Keep the rest of the car period correct but use common sence on the safety issues.
Bad press from fatalities hurts all hot rodders alike weither they were in the wrong or right.

 

Yeah, I have 4 wheel drum brakes on my car, too. But stopping quickly at any speed is NOT over rated. When that gap between you and whatever your car is aiming at becomes closer and closer, you've got to wonder if you made the right choice in brakes. Especially if you are not alone in the car. Drums are great for roads and the speeds like the ones in the 40's and 50's. But on todays's interstates at interstate speeds, it's best to have the best.

Car can look like a traditional hot rod, but somethings need to be updated. <!-- / message -->

 

MBL wrote:

Not only correct, but terrific!!!

 

i have friends who raced at the lakes before WWII
and ive heard stories of running 85mph drafting busses on the highways in california before the war
with mechanical brakes!!
todays highways are more congested so i can see the fear of not stopping on time....but just think ahead...plan ahead....if you want to drive with those cars...get one of those cars

people may get on your case about maybe not driving the cars places long and far away....but in all honesty....if there really was a need or desire...you'd go...but the fun for me personally isnt driving on a highway with other traffic. i enjoy the backroads with the old surroundings going at whatever pace i desire

really all of this period correct nonsense is just our attempt at a time machine...
i'd be willing to bet money that each and every one of us given the oppertunity would take a trip back in time
we'd all hop into those cars and we'd all put that pedal tight down agains the floor boards just to see what she'll do with no regard dual brake systems, bias ply tires etc.

its all a matter of how accurate you want your experience
do you want to just go fast and get places....or do you want to enjoy the feeling you get traveling through time
for me....i have yet to build a car even close to period correct....atleast period correct to what im happy with
it takes alot of time and effort to get the right parts, right style, right stance, right "gut feeling" and wrap them all together into the perfect car that you can place in any of don montgomery's books

im working on a car now that im trying to stick to build techniques that were possible in 1949 and using all parts that "could have" existed in 1949....im hoping that i will get it right...who knows...but im trying
after this...im regressing another 10 years and going to try a full on 30's car....mechanical brakes and all
why not....i want to see what its like to drive one of those cars...and the only oppertunity thats going to arize is one that i put out there for myself....so why not
when you build a car today its pretty hard to have 100% "old" parts
your welding rod, patch pannels, air,oil,gas,etc. will all be new....but as long as its the same as it could have been....it'll work for me

give me a model b roadster, a torch and MUROC dry lake and i'll be happy for quite some time

 

Asking someone how Period Correct to go is like asking someone how pretty you're wife should be...

It's a personal decision.

Once you start factoring in other people's opinions about your car, YOUR satisfaction level goes down.

"Period Corect" leaves no room for opinion. It is what it is...
And it's largely unattainable on a earthly budget, on a drivin car.

You build a Period Correct car for the feeling it gives you, not for performance etc... Like a more modern car.

So you decide the feeling you want...
Everyone else is wrong.

 

How about a tech post for this.

 

He did one already. It might be in the Tech Archives??

 

Thanks, i'll check.

 

Here it is...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140526