I forgot to mention the Z thing too. Like some others said, the visible Z up there can be a bit a bummer on the eyes.... But I bet your car would look super slick with hood top and some custom hoodsides that would let those headers sneak through. Maybe a two piece hoodside....two even lengths.... slotted on each piece for the header and they connect with dzus fittings in the middle. Make the bottom of the hood sides come right off flush with the bottom of the cowl and make a mellow sweep up to the grill shell about 1/4 or 3/8" above the front crossmember. You'd have to notch the hoodsides somewhere there too...to bring em up over the framerails and into the grill. It'd hide the Z and make your car look more sophisticated and stealthy. You could also leave a hole in the hood top to let those carbs peek out
All valid comments, but I like it as is. If radiator hose becomes an issue I would first try and find a fix for that. When I was a kid all of our channeled cars had the hose thing and we never thought much about it, but that was back then not now. Still like it as is.
I'd have to agree too with raise the back just a hair, lower the engine a little. Oh get rid of the Caddy and throw a 350 in there too. The lower center of gravity as mentioned would be a good benefit of that. Keep the light blue. It really make the car stand out. What you have looks pretty darn good though. Looks like it will be a ball to drive. Good luck.
How about unfinished HOT ROD. Thanks man, I really appreciate it. You must be quite the expert. Man my blood is boiling.
A bit irritable eh? The OP asked for an opinion. That was mine. And to answer your question, yes, actually I am an expert. I have over 50 years in the body repair / fabrication industry.
I am not normally a fan of cars that are built in this style...but I think yours looks really good. The chop is not over the top...and I agree with others...leave the paint as is...painting it satin black makes it get lost with all the others....old paint rules!
Engine is too high. When you roll an A-Bone with a Caddy an 3 deuces the focal point is there-no emphasis needed. When the radiator hose goes on it'll look worse than a old man's ***. Rear end too low. Look at Marten's post. Tuck in the top of them shocks. Front tires too tall. They should be plainly shorter than the rears. Seafoam Green or Tropical Turquoise. Don't forget you asked.
I would raise the rear about 1 to 2 inches lower the engine, leave the grill shell as is, I think it looks great. Satin black shouldn't be on that car, it will look like every other flat black ford, the color that it is wearing now would be real nice if it were new but your choice of interior color won't really go with the existing body color. The car in my opinon is real close to being on track, my first fix would be to raise the rear just a bit then stand back and see how everything else looks to you.
None of which dealt with many hot rods obviously. I could care less how old you are, there are plenty of lifetime car builders who are just now getting into "Traditional" cars that label themselves "experts" and tell everyone about how they now want to build a "RAT ROD" thereby proving exactly what the **** they know. Kinda like one of your first posts? Yeah I'm irritable, One of the absolute worst things someone could say to me is to say my car looks like a Rat Rod. With some dumb**** minitruck kid I can understand, they're retarded. But you man? You're old enough to know better.
up with the rear, down with the engine.. lower your center of gravity up front,, it will ride and steer better that mill doesnt need to stick up to be noticed..anyone who knows what it is will notice
I'd drop the engine a couple inches and paint the frame a dark color, it kinda sticks out. Otherwise it's a nice rod.
Why lower the engine? A little smaller tire on the front, some water and oil and such in it, and it will lower itself. It has good presence as is. And handling -- it's got to be lower than the barge it came outa. The hose problem can be fixed. Just don't get the grille shell any farther forward -- that's a common way to screw up the looks.
I like the way you are going with it. Coaches look neat when they have that stance. Spend too much time fussing with it, and it may never get done...or at least be as much fun.
Very nice! The stance is perfect although I do like the comment about a dog daggin his *** with a bad case o the worms..too funny! I would like to see the motor hang down a wee bit but just minor details . The reason why there are so many Model A sedans painted satin black , is that they look good!
EXACTLY!....raise the rear about 3 inches, maybe lower the caddy a bit, leave everything else as is.Why does everybody have to paint every car flat black?
Hey man, he never said exactly "what" he was an expert at... maybe he's got a degree in running off at the mouth? If so it's probably a PhD...
Raise the rear Lower the engine Run a stick trans that you can get parts for at NAPA Get the front shocks on a functional angle Paint it (or not) ANYTHING other than flat black Grille shell & lights look fine to me Hairpins are cool Cool car. I'm digging it.
I think the motor may still look wrong if you lower it...because then it would get too close to the frame because of the Z is too much?? You get attaboys for the motor choice and the wild color on the wheels. I also don't build low cars...but you are real happy with the stance, so that's the only thing that is important about the stance. Everyone has his own vision, so be glad that your vision is now a car. Edit, I wrote that wrong about the motor I don't think it looks wrong , I was trying to say that I didn't think it would look better being too close to the frame.
I think it looks pretty good, I agree the rear could be a touch higher and the grille shell could too, just a bit.The motor is a bit tall in the car but not real bad. I like the tire sizes Im ***uming 750's rear and 600's front? I LOVE that color. Build what YOU like You're the one that HAS to like it.
I think the car is spot on the motor being so high gives a channeled look with out the need to actually channel it. In a way its very old school east cost without the chrome and if thats real patina leave it man get way more respect that flat black. But if you do want to lower the motor down 2 inches and recessed 1-2 inches wouldnt be bad make the engine bay look a little less crammed. Definetly a kool rod though
It's a cool looking build, but I think many people have done the black and red thing. Unless you really just like that color combo, I might pick out something a little more unique.
Wow, I never expected so many responses. Thanks fellas! Looking like a dog dragging its ***.....Very funny. I haven't heard that one. The engine will definitely go down and I can pretty easily raise the rear of the car. My original plan was to keep the current color for a few years and drive it to work out the bugs. I even got some rattle can paint that matches pretty close. I was going to later paint the body a similar blue that's currently on the engine. Blue and red look good together. The firewall would be a bone white. The engine would be the same candy red as the wheels and I would go with a red metal flake steering wheel and seats. I don't really like the way the red matches the blue that's on it now....so that't where the black came in. It would only be temporary. I always thought that front tire looked too big. The rear is 7.5" and the front is 6.0". I even considered going to a blackwall tire. I agree, I have thought the headlights are a tad big. The reason the shocks are f'd up is because I move the upper mounts to get them big *** lights in there. I'll have to fix that. If I go with a smaller headlight my small grille shell issue may be fixed. I may have to live with the front "z" being exposed. I may be able to cut what's showing back to the firewall......but, I certainly won't lose strength and integrity over looks. Any more thoughts on switching to a Model A grille shell? Thanks for the input fella's! I appreciate all the help. This is my first hot rod build and I want to get it right.
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