I am building my A coupe with the 50's as my goal. What rear ends would a lot of these cars have been running? I am running a 331 caddy and thinking about a quick change.
I think that depends on a lot of factors. I have several East Coast little books c. 1958 and when rear axles are mentioned, they usually are identified as 49-51 Ford units (the popular transmission with these is a 39 box with a 49 open-drive tailshaft grafted on). So what build style and budget are you replicating? A high-end West Coast car might have used a quickie, but I suspect your average guy in Florida was not. -Dave
Well-stated, Bob. That is just so true and maybe after the young guys read this quote again they may begin to understand how accurate that paragraph is. It was a completely different world, wasn't it?
Of course, starting with a '32 Ford in 1957 is the equivalent of starting with a '75 Camaro today. I'm sure if you looked, you could find guys building '70s Camaros in similar condition today. -Dave
Turnin' signal lights; I wouoldn't own a driver that I couldn't give my grandkids a ride in. Some things are more important than conforming to period, unless it's a trailer queen built for judging only, and I ain't into that. I'd be a damned fool to ride them around without turnin' signals, belts, harnesses, even third brake light up high.
Thanks so much, a very nice compliment. Haven't been on this thread for quite awhile, reason for such a late response. Greatly appreciated man, owe a lot of people credit for helping accomplish my life long goal. I've got a build Album on here if interested. Jack
terd ferguson.... Thought this shot of your Dad was so cool that I decided to practice my Photoshop skills.... tried to keep the patina..hope you don't mind...
My high school ride from 1955 to 1958. It had a hot flathead when i built it in 1955 and I was beating the '55 and '56 Chevys with it. I finally got beat by a '57 Chev. with a 270 and a 4-speed in 1957, which practically broke my heart as a Ford lover. In late '57 I pulled the flathead and installed a 354 cid Chrysler hemi. From then on it was transmissions, axles, and axle keys on an almost weekly basis. It didn't stop worth a damn, steered like a truck, and overheated in traffic, but the Chevy guys didn't want to race me any more and everybody thought it was cool. JG
Damn, after seeing all the white walls, now I am going to have to rethink me not putting them on my 23T roadster build. Great thread, hope this keeps going for a while.
The Jalopy Journal
