Mythbusters: an unscientific statistical analysis of rod building styles, circa 55/60

Nope. TV was not in color, then.

 

AiResearch engineer, Duke Hallock had one on his Y-block powered '37 Ford PU in the very early sixties. JMO, but my attitude towards this is the same as my attitude towards airbags on a traditional build. If a guy really has the wherewithall to dig up a late fifties era turbo, and the other era-correct supporting parts, and piece together an honest-to-god late fifties, period-correct turbo set-up, and do a draw-through WCFB set-up like Duke did, I will officially be IN AWE. If the game plan is to snag a modern turbo off ebay, sling it on there, and then say "hey it IS SO traditional, Duke Hallock ran a turbo in the late fifties", then I am gonna call bullshit.

 

It was in the experimental stages, but most color cartoons first appeared at the movies. Like this one. I just wanted to add a light break to the action.

Back to the survey.

 

And neither character appeared before 1949.

 

This'll probably be deleted, but a few years back, I went and saw Chuck Jones live at the Orpheum Theatre. He did a 2 hr monologue with film clips and a question session about the making of those cartoons, Tex Avery, how they came up with the characters, his personal favorite cartoons and the stories behind them, ect. It was one of the most entertaining things I have ever seen in my life, and as you would expect, the guy was HILARIOUS! And a lot of it was off-the-cuff, ad lib. It was an absolute GAS.

 

'The box' has been around a while (read about Ak Miller being kicked out of his car club for being too 'unconventional'), but has been revived and promoted by revisionists. But hot rodding was considerably more homogenous in those days, and the differences between customs, street cars, and racers was less clearly defined; many were dual-purpose cars. And there was a lot of experimentation going on, not all of it successful. A hard-core 'traditionalist' was a guy trying to keep up with the overheads with flathead power.

I agree that low cars were the desired results; I'll go further and say that the full-fendered cars and highboys belonged to the guys that lacked the skills and/or money to get the low look with the required mods. All the ink the unconventional Mr. Miller got with El Cabello in Mexico probably heavily contributed to this trend, but that car would have trouble passing the 'tradition' test today... if some have their way.

And don't forget sectioning; a mod that's rarely seen these days...

As to which mods were good and which bad, there's some wiggle room even there. I remember seeing some interesting concepts, but the execution sometimes failed dismally, either due to the owner/builder, or simply being too far ahead of it's time.

 

EXACTLY! If it COULD have been built in the era, then I think it would have to be considered traditional....as I believe innovation is as traditional as it gets!!!

 

you could build a complete turd by that framework, course then it would be turditional

 

Where do you draw the line? Everything is repopped, frames, valve covers, carbs, intakes, tires, wheels, so are all these banned too? I guess we will have to wait in see tbe new HAMB's definition of traditional. I feel if some guy wants to get as close as he can to building a draw through vintage turbo setup, then he's just as traditional as the guy with any of the above parts.

MELTDOWN DRAGS
JULY 19, 20 2014

 

seems a lot of people want to put things into neat little boxes and if they dont fit they aren't traditional thats a pretty blinkered view of what went on - I've not been into hotrods that long but seems to me people choose to ignore reality in favour of a perceived rose tinted past.

type 30 bugatti on the salt - check
watson painting 300sl - check
channeled cars on the west coast- check

shit happens and it rarely fits in a box

 

Having photographed several car features for R&C and HRM in the early sixties, I can testify that the cars that appeared in the magazines were based on the editor's personal tastes and biases. When editors changed, so did the cars featured in the books. Several photographers along with a handful of editors at Petersen during that era were also members of the LA Roadsters. In as much as I was paid on publication, a lot of stuff sat in somebody's drawer and it sometimes took a year plus to be paid. Even though there were lots of T buckets and a few high boys on the streets and those were the ones featured in magazine coverage, most of the cars running Prowler, Early Times, etc. plaques were full fender sedans and coupes along with some roadsters.

Once the new HAMB rules are posted, I'll probably move on as I believe that "traditional" hot rodding is based on innovation as well as imagination. Being stuck in a period perfect world is not my idea of the essence of hot rodding based on 60 years of experience.

 

Navy moved us here in '45. Been here ever since. This is a short analysis of applicable cars I have owned in that time. keeping in mind that i am not nor ever was a Street Rodder. Bantam body on T frame 1959-1965. Five window 32 Ford 1965-1998. A roadster 1984-present. All channeled no fenders. Before I was old enough to drive my big brother had a channeled A coup. The coolest car at High School was Carlsons channeled A roadster on a 32 Frame. Fenderless. There were other nice full fendered cars running around. A '32 Chevy five window with a 302 GMC that I an still in love with. A chopped full fendered '32 Packard. Lots of cars. There was no Tradition that I believe you can put your finger on. Ain't this a great country? But I am not 21 any more and could not fit in any of these cars. My next will be a high boy full fendered. Maybe I'll start shopping for a gold chain.

 

"...HAMB's definition of traditional"

A statement like that and many like it, are what's causing all the bullshit. I LOVE the HAMB for the traditional hot rods and the tech to keep them running, but I refuse to let someone else decide something for me. Especially what I should like or build. The HAMB doesn't do that, but some of you act like you want it to. As good as the HAMB doctrine is, who said it's right or the only one? What the hell happened to free thinking? How did you guys survive before the HAMB? Or were you all fad queens and you're looking for the next cool thing?

Some of you have your own idea or vision of what YOUR car should be, but you'll shit can it, if it doesn't fit the HAMB? If that describes you, then you're a lemming or worse. It also sounds like you're into cars for the wrong reason. If it's ALL about accolades and pats on the back from strangers, you might need to check yourself. That shits just the icing on a HUGE fucking cake and you may not get that.

This hobby is about cars, the passion for them and expression. You can have the first two, but if you're using other people to decide what number three is, you're frankly, a lemming. What if Ryan got an evil streak and said all cars would look great with fat ass radial M/T tires sticking out of the fender wells? Some of you guys sound like you'd be picking up the phone to order a set. Hell, someone will skim over this and probably do it.

The worse are you guys who just can't get over the fact that all your ideas about history are warped and twisted to make your car fit into a genre it doesn't really belong to. If you're on Google searching to find a few pictures of a car built in the 40's, 50's or early 60's with a "whatever the fuck" bolted to it, it probably wasn't a mainstream modification and isn't considered correct for a traditional hot rod. It's that god damn simple. You built a car on what you thought was tradition, but you found out your rumors and stories were wrong and instead of correcting it, now you want to change tradition to fit that hulk in your garage? Sorry, man. That's bullshit, but it doesn't mean your car is wrong for YOU. If it's what you wanted, dreamed of and thought of, drive the damn thing and don't worry about what someone else thinks about it. Grow a fucking pair. If you still love traditional cars, stick around. Maybe toss out an idea or solution to a problem every now and then. Congratulate the guys who get it right and call out the posers who got it wrong. They'll still be here.

I LOVE traditional hot rods, but my car isn't traditional. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to dig up some bullshit about radial tires or some other crap to validate my T Bucket. I'm not going to change my vision of what MY hot rod should be. I just won't display it here, unless it's the albums. If that goes, then so be it. I'll make a blog somewhere. One day, I'll have the time and money to build a traditional ride, so I'll stick around here and a few other places and get a little inspiration, a few ideas and have it built in my head five or six times. Then, when I pull the trigger, I won't be making a thread about some shit that's been discussed 10 damn times. I'll do a search. And if it doesn't fit the doctrine, I'll stop posting about it here and STILL drive the son of a bitch. Because it's MINE.

You can say a lot of things about Rat Rodders, but one thing you can't say, is that they give a fuck what someone else thinks.

 

George remember one thing about California during that time = They had fender laws and really really enforced them. My car was a cover car on Rod and Custom in 1969 and it was bobbed fendered in the back with cycle fenders in the front. You could get away with out fenders if you had a T and could convince the Officer that it weighed under 1500 lbs

 

zzzzzzzzzzzz

 

X2....

I'm lucky, I've got a fat-fender car and can hide all my 'crimes' as long as I don't open the hood or jack the car up.....

 

Some people are in denial and panic. The situation calls for neither.

 

You my friend have a dizzying intellect.
First you say use the stuff from that era, then when I bring up a part from the era you question it because not many would have been using them.

As far as my personal car, it only looks traditional from 20'. I have a modern trans, electronic ignition conversion and a aluminum headed big Chevrolet along with a modern fuel system. I did however try my best to hide the modern parts. The moon tank hides the fuel pressure regulators, milled the AFR logo off the heads , mechanical fan, an aluminum 55 chevy radiator painted black and old shifter handle and it still needs few vintage touches as far as an induction is concerned.
Is it traditional? Nope, thats why there was no build thread. It was built to look like a drag car built around 66, 67 from the stands and to the casual observer.
(not George)

MELTDOWN DRAGS
JULY 19, 20 2014

 

Tradition is based on what was COMMONLY done. All I'm saying is build whatever you want. But if you're going for dead on traditional or any other definitive slot, don't pull something that got done once or twice and use it as proof, if you get called for it. By a lot of folks thinking, if Bubba used it at the Boise Drags in 1956, it MUST have been the real deal, but that's no standard to go by. Hell, some farmer may have bolted a cow catcher on the front of a Model A, does that mean it was traditional? That's all I'm saying and can't explain your dizziness at a very simple statement. If you don't agree, fine. That falls into using and standing by your own views. If you REALLY think Bubba had it going on, cool. But don't lie or make shit up, when you get called on it by the traditionalist. I build what I want and like, if it fits in someone else's cubby hole, fine. If not, have a nice one and pass the dip. I. Don't. Care.

If I was asked, what look I was going for in MY build, it would be, "What a guy on a limited budget would build, if all he had was ideas, resources for knowledge and some idea how a car worked." No damn time period. That's it. No street rod, hot rod slots to fall into. It's just a "hot rod" because that's what a tossed together ride was called. Hell, it's been called a piece of shit too, but it doesn't bother me. Why should it? I don't look for finite labels and genres. Honestly, that shits almost as bad as the guys who restore cars and are looking for the fingerprints of the guy that screwed on the name plate. In the end, does it REALLY matter? Only, if you're one of THOSE guys.

Edit: To avoid confusion, when I use "you" and "you're", it's not to any one person. It's a generalization for people and shows my lack of interest to change what I've written.

 

That's all ya had to say. And I concur.

I'll stay here because this is where I go to get my fill of badass vintage hot rods and customs. And I'm glad to see that threads won't be diluted with BS. I think this is a good move, whiners be damned.

 

"Turditional".................Hahahahahahahahaha!!!

Oh my gosh...lol.

C'mon guys. Don't take all the fun out of it.

Full fendered, highboy, channeled...aren't they all good?

An interesting discussion, but don't get too serious about it.

 

That's a damn good analogy. You've been eating your Wheaties; I have read a lot of good points you've made lately. Or maybe it's just slow at work?

"What about using TIG? That wasn't around."
Next time someone tells you that Fred, call bullshit.
"Russel Meredith of Northrup Aircraft perfected the process in 1941."
That was straight from Wikipedia, so it HAS to be true!

 

Preach the gospel Right Reverend Fred! Speaking of traditional parts, I got this T radiator shell I need to get to you, you coming to the Houston H.A.M.B. meeting this month?

 

I'm just repeating what's been said before. If I knew how to link the archives, I'd point you back to the pre-2000 HAMB. There's some GREAT reading there. The HAMB's bad reputation with posers got built back then, not recently. In those days, there were two groups:

These folks:



And these folks:



No in between and if you didn't like it, you got pointed to streetrod.com. I just don't get all the confusion. I'm actually taking way to much time with it. Especially since it really doesn't concern me. So.......

 

I'm going to be helping a friend install a radiator in his '54. This whole summer has been go, go go. If I can get him to hold off till later in the day, I'm in. I saw the thread about it, but didn't want to commit and not show.

EDIT: Do you mean THIS weekend or next month one weekend?

 

I just went through a bunch of old Architectural Digests from between 1950 and 1960.
I now know how EVERY house built in the 50's looks!!

 

are you going to tally all the numbers, post the results and let us know what the most popular type of house was?

 

Theres always guys out there with tiny peckers that will desperately search of a reason to take offence from just about anything you can say, so they can turn it into a pissing contest. That just comes with territory...

So whos highest up the wall so far?

 

Hi Fuzzy, we addressed that back on page 3, think it was post #60?

Got any photos of your car when it had the bobbed fenders/cycle fenders? I love that look. One of my favorites was Anthony Martinez' rat motored '29.

 

Tony Martinez’ dark blue '29 Roadster on Deuce rails ... featured Corvette IRS and rat motor​