Thats the 80`s Street Rod build style. this one was taken in the mid to late 80`s. Chopped and tubbed. Billy Scott from Kentucky.
heres my 65, around the time i first got it... and a link to LowerthanLife, my lowrider project, which has been quite the long and tedious endeavour, overwhelming, but fun. made this video for a freind who moved to the other side of the country. ive been doing metalwork on it for a few weeks now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO4T614uwk0
If I'm not mistaken, that's Walt Prey's old Nomad, and the '56 was once named "Green Grass and High Tides", belonging to a guy who worked with Walt for a while. Am I right?
Most of the older cars appear in Rikster's thread on Larry Watsons' photo collection! Gotta love these cars!!!!
Just got through going over this thread; unbelievable stuff, and tons of memories to boot! I remember a lot of these cars, and knew some of the owners. Might as well get in on the action... Top left to right: first car, March '69 (just turned 17)- 1961 Ford, Dad's former work car which he kindly handed over to me, face-lifted with J-clamps in front, 2" blocks and heated leafs at rear, chrome reversed rims with "baskets", Cal-Custom sprayed windows, black diamond-tuck interior by Danny Gomez of Van Nuys. And yeah, a lot of us still trimmed the windows with fuzz-balls Next 2 shots are fresh out of Bill Carter's paint shop (Burbank and Woodman, if I remember right..?), with one of Bill's legendary pearl/candy "fadeaways", pinstriped by the equally legendary Walt Prey. Last pic: 1970- Sadly, heavy substance abuse figured well into my life, and a resultant collision called for another coat, this one done in Canoga Park by a painter who went by "Animal". Blue pearl overlaid with lavender/wine panels with gold cobwebbing and light-flake top; Walt's work on rear side windows.
Next big project was this '46 Stylemaster, which was being used as a combination chicken coop/dog bed when I bought it from a neighbor's backyard in September of 1970. It had been brush-painted white, but a little primer will fix anything (I experimented with a 2-tone job, and it looked OK...to me, anyway ) Top left: After we got it running (thanks, old-school mechanic Dad!), I had it dropped (thanks, Cohea Muffler) and installed 15" glass-paks (thanks, Nelmar Muffler), '65 Impala buckets (thanks, Simi Auto Wrecking), and christened "25 Years After" (thanks, Walt). The next pics, taken in 1972, are after Walt Prey's stunning enamel "fadeaway" work, full plating by Rudy's Chrome (right behind Cohea's in SanFer) and white tuck-n-roll interior by local guy Joe Caroleo. 4th photo: 2nd paint job, another "fade" by Walt- more expensive than the previous one (traded him a '49 Fleetline for it), but well worth it. Right before this came about, I snagged a set of the beautiful Fleetmaser stainless upper trim from a junked '41 Special Deluxe (thanks, Indiana Auto Wrecking) and installed it to the body. I even helped Walt and the guys some with the prep- he was a good guy, as were they all. He did this job when he was right in the middle of doing Gypsy Rose #2; a few times, I'd hang out and watch him work on it...unbelievable amount of work!! Last shot, 1974: One day, decided to rip the "funny fur" off the dash and paint a mural of a desert sunset. Not a very good pic, but it's the only one I have. Note 8-track tape deck/AM-FM and '54 Chev wheel (this made it a lot more comfortable to drive than the ol' "donut", which I still have). Sold this car in 1990 to a gal my sister has known since childhood; it now resides in Redding, Ca., still in the same condition, as far as I know.
My pleasure, Buick- thanks for the compliment. I quit school after my junior year to work full time in construction (which I'm still in), mainly so I could keep up the customizing And expenses were a little different back then: that Carter job was $150.00, with striping. That might buy 2 gallons of paint these days Below is my last finished project- a mild '50 Chev (did all body and paint myself this time), taken in 1976...
While I may not be building a true lowrider I will certainly tip my hat to those who do. It's not all my favorite style but the vision and engineering some of the builders have applied is amazing. Some of you recall I'm building a 61 Belair spt cpe (bubbletop...sorry groucho) and I can't really use a true lowrider with Motown roads the way they are. I can keep it mild and frosty and low and add a few touches here n there that pay homage to the craft. I love this thread. Very inspiring. Thanks for all the pics boys n girls.
Toa, hey that 46 4 door is what I was trying to achieve in '76 with my 48 4 door fleetline. But I didn't even know where to get Astros then and settled for chrome reverse wheels. That 46 is cool man. Thats the kind of car that got me into lowriding.
Thanks for the comments, C.C.; you had yours around the same time I still had mine- Kool!! Aaah, Fleetlines Funny you have those roots; it was a lowered-to-the-ground '48 Fleetline 4-door (man, I love them 3 strips on the fenders) in my town I used to gawk at when I was 15 that got the wheels moving for securing an "Old Short", as we used to refer to lowered early cars in the '60s. On the '41-'48 Chevs, you have to do some conversion to run Supremes, though. (Dad helped me again on this with his welding skills)- the axles and front brake drums are 6-bolts; the front was easy, just adding '51 drums, but with the rear, we had to gouge off the leaf spring mounts on a '51 rear end and move them to fit onto the '46's leaf springs. A lot of work just to run "mags", but my love for Astro Supremes (Astro was barely still going back then) made it worthwhile. Astro also produced some "custom" Supremes we used to call "Diamond mags"; instead of the round cone-type spokes, they had spokes which were structured like quartz crystals, and were considered the "top of the line" mags for customizers. They were rare even back in those days! I wish I had a picture of them...
Thanx Toa, just added those pics to my historic folder. dont esitate to post others if you find'em. Now this i have to see! please someone post a picture. there must be an add somewhere.
Hey now! That is how you get a whole car club, with jobs to work, and families to feed and care for, to a far away car show. There is no shame in putting your priorities straight. Not everybody has the luxury of a ton of time to drive to every show.
The Jalopy Journal
