I love this thread, packed full of some of the coolest cars around. Hopefully next year I may be able to get a decent pic of the zephyr included in here. It's getting there bit by bit. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=720735&highlight=zephyr Paul.
You are doing a fantastic job on that 37 Zephyr. VERY rough start! If you keep it on the right track all the way, it will be stunning.
i really appreciate all the input posted here....i wont clog this fantastic thread up anymore with my ponderings....i've started a build thread,so here's a link to it....http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=751674 feel free to hit me with any more constructive criticism/ideas. cheers...Jick
Somehow this is the first time I seen this thread and I love it! That is really what I want for my ride. Right now it is more of the 1952 "I bought a new car but want a custom" stage. I love the look of shaved handles and emblems but leaving the trim in place. The slightly lower tail is a must also! I have changed the front caps and dropped the butt a touch more since this was taken. Hoping for fat whites and lake pipes over the winter.
I cant seem to view that picture larger, but it looks like a nice car. Sounds like a good plan, but dont put lake pipes on it!!! Especially if you're shooting for this era, they werent around yet on customs. Besides, they just clutter up an otherwise clean, cool car. I say just shave handles, nose & deck it, 4" whitewall bias plies, and sombrero caps. DONE
Yes, book title needed! Good information and research is always a plus, if there's a good book on this out there, I need it!
"Street was fun in '51" is a good one for starters, talks about hotrods and customs in the Oregon area from Albert Drake's first-hand experiences.
Radial tires in here now? Really nice cars/s but no matter what else the rest of the car/s look like, radial tires completely kill the 48-52 era look.
^^^^ I would have to agree.they just kill the look.Im on my phone so I cant really see tires in detail.I think radials just have no place on a Custom but thats just me.
Fantastic thread As we are talking about tires What tire brands would be correct before and after the war When where the different brands introduced How about the white part of the tire I am doing alot of tire thinking at the moment
I agree about the radials. They really throw off the look of any cool custom. My car came with radials when I bought it, and will soon be getting some tall bias plies with a 4" whitewall as soon as I can afford them. DKroadsters, you can't go wrong with a Goodyear Supercushion. I', hoping to get some for my '46.
I don't think that Good Year Super Cushion is available in 16"? I have those on my 1940 Merc now. I did a slightly earlier style on the Merc first year and went with 16". Then I had the Ford Script 600-16" tires along with both inner and outer trim rings. That was Ford's own tire brand under a couple of years and I don't think they were available after WWII? Correct me if I am wrong.
Thanks J.B. Is BF and Firestones the only choice, before the war, together with Ford script tires Which one have the most white tires? Great picture, looks like Tennessee 1949
Check this: Lester 6.00-16 Ask Kevan where to get them, he's using them on his Merc. There's also a 6.50-16 with a 4" WW.
was it Jeffsled who said " people need to lose there mini-truck mentality" ? i think thats the best quote ever>> this is such a great thread nothing better than this pure form of customs..These craftsman and the cars are so damn fantastic.. love the the flow and stance of them all !!! being @ at the Sacramento Autorama for the load in of all the Mercs gave me such a new appreciation for these Beautiful historical cars... keep them coming!!
I'm posting this video for Jeff, his car sounds perfect. My car has a pretty similar sound as well. I'll let him do the rest of the talking. Edit: Hold on, trying to make it work.....
Here we go... <IFRAME height=315 src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KyEQC1Xp3iI?rel=0" frameBorder=0 width=560 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>
Thanks for doing that Aaron.Nothing special but it sounds kind of like a Old Chris-Craft or Garwood just slowly taking off or just sitting there.A lot of oldtimers in their 80s have told me that was the sound many of them cars had back then.Art Chrisman was telling me how much he loved the sound and how it brought him right back to those early days.It pretty much sounds the same as the Hirohata except louder.I have the exact same cam and our engines are very close to the same.On Riks sacramento video of Jim pulling the car in you can really hear it. Just on what I have been told from talking to guys that were there ,I feel thats its pretty close to what they used to sound like.At least for the setup I have.
JeffSled, this is the Sound that dreams are made of !!! Is there anymore videos of your car Thanks for sharing, Streamliner
Its not a really great video.. but since Jeff mentioned it. Skip the first 30 seconds to hear the sound of the Hirohata Merc at the Sacramento Autorama. <iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/puK-5olO1AM?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>
fuuuuucccckkkkkkkk that was great!!!!!! Man you nailed it with that merc, everything about it is just perfect. And to hear it run, spot fucking on perfect merc kustom.. I just sold my merc project but I got ahold of a 48 ford f1. Im gonna keep every inch of it period correct with a kustom touch. Should be cool. I will post it on here soon. Are the supercushion goodyears a skinny tire when inflated on the merc rim Jeff? I want a 4" whitewall but it has to be skinny. The L78-15's look too wide when inflated.
Rik I meant the one where he is inside the building and passes by real slow.Sorry I should have explained it better. DK....thanks for the compliment,no I dont have other videos.
I've been wondering about L78's, I can get them locally and they're much cheaper, but I'm not sure if they're too big. Anybody have any pictures? I might sacrifice some whitewall and get Firestone 6.70s, I can also get those locally.
This one! <iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/p5j3dz4Kmbs?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="640"></iframe>
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