I have been reading up on the different decade period correct hot rods 40's 50's 60's. If there is a thread already discussing this please point me to it. I am starting the planning phase on my '32 5 window, and was weighing all the costs involved for what I wanted to accomplish with this car. The 40's and 50's seems like there is not that much difference. WWII was raging and half the decade was gone by the time hot rodding gained strength. However there is a more significant difference in building a 60's period correct hot rod. From what I can tell this is a much more cost effective build. When did the 331 caddy and 401 nailhead start to replace the flatty? There is no way the 39-40 rear ends could have handled that power back then. And there's the transmissions. When guys were building '32's 33-34's in 1962 with a '58 283 and a '57 Ford 9 inch, what tranny was being used? With the prices today on parts, and what it costs to make it "period correct" it looks like building a "where were you in '62" car is much less than a '50's style hot rod. Educate me please.
The new OHV V8s were used by hot rodders as soon as they became available, if the hot rodder in question had the wherewithall to purchase one. Most rodders had to wait a few years until they became more prevalent and affordable. Ak Miller put an Olds 303 in his roadster in 1949. I'll suggest to you what I have suggested to others asking the same question.....get ahold of as many magazines as you can from the era you wish to emulate and study them.
Yeah this is why I posted this in the Traditional Hot Rods section. I was wanting some feedback on if you guys think there are two periods of Traditional Hot Rods. The 40's-early 50's and the late 50's-early 60's versions. Flattys/'39 trannys/39-40 rear ends closed drive train, and then caddys/buicks/sbc/olds/powerglides/3 speeds,/'57 9 inchers. I am finding out that i love both periods, but the latter is the more economical to build. So i am on the fence on which to go....decisions decisions...
I am getting away from using the term "traditional" it is in danger of becoming so adulterated that it loses its meaning. I think in terms of "period correct" instead. But yes, I would pretty much agree with what you are saying, theres a real shift in the way cars look around the mid-fifties. 15" wheels take over from 16", WW's start to dominate, flattys aren't gone yet, but they are on the way out, full wheelcovers become much more popular on hot rods, and fenderless highboys fade from the scene.
One thing that I really disagree with is that late fifties style cars are more economical to build. I would say its the other way around.
Yeah you're right. So my build is sort of a mix of era's. It was on purpose. The goal was to build it early 50's style. Something that would have been build with a flathead originally, then updated with an OHV engine (in my case a 1957 283) when one was found in a wrecking yard or something. I'm using a 39 style trans and a banjo rear. Magazines from the era are good sources but you have to figure real world street driven cars were updated as parts and funds became available. If that weren't the case, the speed gems adapter (among other brands) I have that mates my 283 to my 39 trans would never have been made. So there is a little flexability in any time period as styles overlapped.
From what I see, overheads coupled to early ford boxes/banjos were the most common set-up right up to the early sixties. Dont know if thats the way I would want to do it, if you drive aggressively, its not if it will puke, but when, but it was the most common set-up.
Agreed. A trip through early 60's magazines will show that nearly all rods (and a large number of dragsters ) used banjo rears and '39 boxes. Behind all manner of OHV motors.
Add into the mix the fact that some guys owned a rod for several years and upgraded it as new things became available, like mag wheels.
After enough Ford 3 speeds were blown apart, people started shortening Cad/LaSalle gearboxes and adapting them to the Ford torque tube......then they started blowing rear ends.
One other thing here, smooth-back 9"s were mentioned. Yes, they started making then in 1957, but that doesnt mean anyone was using them in hot rods. From what I can see, they don't start appearing in hot rods with any kind of regularity until the late sixties. The most popular rears for replacing banjos in hot rods in the early sixties were the early chevy drop out third member ten bolt, the early, smaller '49/'55 Olds, and the early fifties Merc. The big Olds/pontiac rears were mostly in race cars, not so much in hot rods. A banjo is cheaper and easier to find parts for than all of the above.
My oldest brother started a 32 five window build in 1960, when I was eight. Full height and full fendered with moon discs and whitewalls was the look he loved, but he wanted to be able to drive it to the drags and run it. It received a 3x2 equipped 348 with a floor shifted chevy 3 speed, possibly out of the same donor car. The rear end, steering and front brakes I believe were all F1 truck parts. He would have upgraded to one of those nice new T10's and maybe a 57 Olds rear when the opportunity arose, but it never happened before the car was sold to help finance the first matrimonial home.
my buddies 39 chevy was originally built 60/61 and has an oldsmobile rear in it IDK what 4 speeds were getting mated up to nailheads the borg warner T10 came on the scene in 57
I picked 1962 as my year of build because I found the '30 Roadster body in '62, it was a channeled Hot Rod some time before that. So if I was in my early 20's in '62 I could find the 354 HEMI, the '32 Ford chassis, a 9 inch Ford rear and a T10 transmission. I think it will have bobbed rear fenders and cycle front fenders, they would be there on a registered car in Connecticut back in 1962. I'm just hooked on the early '60's Hot Rod look. Bob
You really have to do your research to get it right. Most "50's" style builds I see tend to be more of a 60's style build, according to my MY interpretaion of the old magazines. An early 50's style rod, with all pre-war driveline, and an overhead might be a more realsitic take. Now, this is the opinion I have formed, over my years of playing around these things. I do recall an issue of car craft, or rod and Custom, from about 1958 that did an article on the junkyard prices of overhead v-8s. They were pretty pricy for the era. Get some of the Little Pages magazines, as well as Hot Rod, and Soak it in. Reading those old magazines is half the fun.
Started my '30 roadster in '60, built from remains of an earlier build...most expensive part was the '56 Olds, but put a '39 Ford box and banjo rear ('40 Ford) behind it. Spent more time changing transmissions and rear ends (broke lots of axle keys), than I did driving it. From the above comments, it sounds like a common practice. So even if a "period correct" car is what you want, remember that they do not make '39 Ford boxes anymore, the survivors are expensive, and you will probably be changing them out like we all did back then. But, some guys did put late model rear ends in, either adapting them to the transverse spring or using the stock parallel springs. I finally got smart and put a GM truck hydro behind a 265" SB in my '34 sedan delivery, and a '50 Merc rear end. This was early '60s.
The banjo is a lot tougher than most guys give it credit for, FAR tougher than the ford trans. Do a little research on here, pay particular attention to what Bruce Lancaster has to say.
I built a few in the 60s. Mostly old Fords with later V8. Bone stock Olds to the stock Ford running gear. We did'nt have much money so almost everything came from the junkyards. (no 1-800 in those days) pretty hard to do it now but it can be done. Set a date cutoff for all the parts. I have a 34 pickup with a later flathead, 39 box juice brakes etc. Newest thing on it is a 1956 F-100 steering box. I also have a 35 Ford coupe which was built in the early 60s. Anything that I do to it is period correct with the exception of a modern wiring kit. If you want to stay old school and run a lot of engine then you can find trannys that will take it such as the cad mentioned before. We used a few Olds rears. Just throw away your aftermarket catalogs.........
Aside from which, if you have period tires on the car, its not gonna hook hard enough to break anything anyway.
I really want to see you get this car built Bob, I really want to see your vision realized, I know how committed you are to getting it right. Of course, I really want to see my own vision realized as well, god only knows who will get there first.
The Roadster is back in the "walk by" mode, just can't get motavated to do anything on it. Somehow I need to force myself to get the cowl section done and in primer, maybe after New Years. Here is the build thread if anyone is interested. Bob
My 28 chevy 3 window that I am presently "resoreing" to the way it was when I built originally in 1962 is "period correct" I know because I made it what it was/is.Hand made glass body and full fenders molded in tooling I pulled from the steel 28 chevy I built in 1959. Boxed and "x ed" original frame with 58 full size chevy rear axle and suspension. 1948 chevy independent front suspension. Astro chrome slots.283 bored to 301 w/camel heads and dual afb's. Isky 505-t cam. T-10 4 speed.1958 mercedes 300sl buckets and door latches operated by chevy solinoids. Power window regulators adapted from a mid 50's lincoln.Electric/hydraulic deck lid useing a convertible top pump and cylinder.It may not sound "period correct" but it is,fiberglass body and all.
When I was a kid in the late 60's, it was quite common to see 30-40 era hotrods with stock rear ends and transmissions with later model engines using a transmission adaptor. There was a noticeable switch to later model open driveshaft rear ends and four speed transmissions in about 1970,
When I first built my forty sedan in 62 I put 347 tri power Pontiac with an adapter to a 39 box and stock rear. I got real good at fixing and changing out the tranny and fishing out the broken axle keys. In 63 it got a chevy 3speed and 57 chevy rear. The tranny, rear and rear springs cost me 100$ That was a lot of money back than.
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