Hello, Vintage 30 Roadster/Survivor

Hello to the Hamb - just joined and this is my first post. An old lowboy 1930 Model A Roadster caught my eye and now I'm an 'old school' rodder... From what I've figured out so far, it was built around 1959 and looks like it was originally a coupe with the top cut. It's pretty much a time-capsule rod survivor, vintage and mostly untouched for over 50 years. It has a Packard V8 352, mated to a Ford 3 speed w. overdrive and rear end.

The rod is a mixture of parts and I could use some help figuring out origins; headlights from a Chrysler Imperial, tail lights from olds/chrysler mix maybe, and instruments from a Desoto? The dash looks like it's out of a 1950's sci-fi movie...

There's lots of questions I'd like to throw at the Hamb community, but for starters, I'll enclose some pictures and create a poll welcoming feedback...

Thanks for your interest!
Troy

 

Troy, good to have you join but the introduction fourm isn't the best place to place a poll.

 

Thanks, I didn't know about the poll being in the wrong spot...

 

Tried to move/delete poll, but doesn't look like it's possible.

 

welcome to the hamb! fun lookin car!! just the kind we like around here.
did you get any pictures or info on its history?

 

Welcome. Good luck. Please don't put digital gauges in that car.

 

Thanks for your comment. There's a picture from the early 70's and a newspaper article relating back to the original builder and the first buyers with another picture in the article.

 

Neat car.. Leave it as is. Well... except the dash does need help.

 

Here are copies of the pictures and article I mentioned.

 

Thank you for your comment - it helps. What would you suggest on the dash? What about the steering wheel? Upholstery? Other thoughts? Thank you in advance.

 

I wasn't thinking digital, but maybe the vintage look ****og gauges by Dakota Digital. Any suggestions?

 

Correction - I think the transmission is original with the Packard. When you take the foot of the gas, it almost seems to go into neutral (it's a standard), so it doesn't help slow the car down when the brakes are weak to begin with. Maybe it's not meant to slow down

 

Hell no! REAL vintage gauges are out there, even if thay need rebuilt. I hate to admit, the current dash is tragic. Shiny paint would be nice as well.

 

Thanks for the feedback

 

Leave it as is...Clean it up, make it reliable and have fun with it.

 

Most likely it is a Borg-Warner T85, the best 3-speed overdrive ever. So strong, it is the basis of all the T10 4-speeds out there.

The freewheeling is because the overdrive isn't hooked up correctly. They only freewheel under 30 MPH, dropping into overdrive above that.

jack vines