My car will be traditional on the outside but i am going with a small block for a motor and a newer transmission. It has a nova front end underneath. The reason I did this is simple this is my first hot rod and i am far from being a rich man. I want something that is affordable and when i break it i can get parts for it easily. My next car will be more traditional once i have gained more knowledge of building and feel more comfortable fabbing some of my own stuff and as long as I have something to drive while i am building it i will not feel the need to get it done right away.
it's not just about parts either. try being in high school in 1986 trying to explain to your hot rod buddies why the hirohata merc is so cool, they look at you like you just screwed their sister. i still run into guys every now and then that ask me "did you ever get one of those damn mercurys?" yes i did!
I know exactly what you mean! went to a vocational hs. try explaining to a bunch of non hotrodding cl***mates (in the mid 90's) why you have buick brake drums in the lathe for your 1932 ford. or that you are mating a chevy engine to your (then) 55 year old ford 3 spd trans. instead of a hot rod, they called it my "conglomeration of parts"
A very reasonable approach. I certainly wouldn't recommend anything else. Most every gray beard here walked before they ran. Get a good driver then start collecting parts for something more to your liking.
Nothing with working on old cars is ever easy, that is for sure, but if you think dealing with Ford **** is a pain, try be addicted to Studebakers. But, actually a fair number of people I talk to think Studebakers were made by Ford, or Chrysler (not too many Chevy's though oddly). That is when I find myself once again trying to figure out yet another unique problem on my own. I definitely understand your pain. I have thrown a few wrenches around the shop myself. Whatever you do, do use that modern **** - don't do it!
wait, come to think of it, I am putting a NV4500 trans. in my '50 1-ton behind a 392 hemi because I want a synchronized but stock looking floor shift O/D trans. So, I guess that is being somewhat hypocritical. But, it is still a floor shift and looks pretty similar to an old unit. ok, I guess I retract my former statement to some degree, but hold the line where ever that may be for you I guess.
Well, if it makes you feel any better, my T-5 needs rebuilt too. All of a sudden one day, all the syncros except 1-2 are shot, and finding fifth gear is hit or miss, and the yoke leaks like a siv! It's ok, I can still do burnouts!!! And I only paid 100 bucks for it.
there's two meanings of traditional at work here, i think. One is traditionally built (with "historic" parts), and the second is a traditional looking hot rod built in a way that reflects the history of the early hot rod era. Disc brakes, just for example, weren't really on rods built in the 40s and 50s. Some rods today have them. it still looks traditional everywhere else but isn't a period hot rod, so to speak... but it is traditional to take available parts (as mentioned) and adapt them to your needs, i.e. the disc brakes on a ford axle, for performance. is it traditional with non-traditional parts? i don't know. just throwing it out there. The second meaning, is that some people want to take "tradition" one step further and to the build their hot rod the way it would have been built in the 40s/50s and with those available parts. Disc brakes not being one of them. Both can be just as cool as the other, and neither better than the other... (and yes ,i know, there were disc brakes around then.) Guess there could be a third one, those guys (like me) that mix old parts with some new. Like front axles for example, or new '48 style spindles. They're new, but would have been found "back then". Ill admit, i've bought parts from speedway! i hope no one takes this the wrong way, and i'm not knocking you if you've got disc brakes on your hot rod. That's just the easiest item i could think of to compare "modern to old". and FWIW, i've beaten the piss out of that 39 style trans. This last rebuild everything was new, but i do have 2 extras for back up on a positive note, i can pull the engine and trans out in less than half an hour now.
AL forgot to mention the car ISN'T DONE YET..HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I better get a ride Al...Tell Kim hello for me
hi chris..hope to have at rhinebeck this spring. already got the sum***** ready to go back in the frame! ill give kim the message. she's got the idea its her car!
Just A thought.... Can you take the gears from a late 50's / 60's stick shift trany and install them in your 39 case??
Pretty sure no you can't. There are a bunch of different sets you can get in there, but I don't think something that new will fit. The later Ford 3 speeds kinda looked like a GM style case.
In my financial, skill and space limitations, it would be near impossible for me to build a traditional, AKA period correct, hot rod, but DAMN, I sure do love seeing them and I admire the work and dedication it takes to do it. You can see it in the owner/builders face when they tell you how much trouble it was to find or fix something that the average guy would have gotten from a catalog. I say it's worth it, if you can do it and that's what you are trying to represent.
i dont know, but i have a couple of 49 ******'s ive been meaning to pull apart. ive been told SOME of the gears will fit(cluster 2nd and low)i know the input and output are different. ill have to investigate this weekend
the last 2 flathead powered cars ive built were done useing mainly cast-offs and **** that ive found at swapmeets and from friends who are going a different direction with their cars. its much cheaper than a 1-800 car if you re willing to work at it ....plus way more fun to run...i have a duece tudor with a sbc and lotsa store bought stuff and it mostly sits...why be reliable when you can wrestle with 70 year old worn out stuff
Nice thread... good motivation I'll be remembering sat. in the driveway. In my coupe I'll be running a Lasalle flathead with the 3sp ****** into the 31 banjo...hooking it all up should be fun....along with alot of cussing and swearing! garage therapy One thing for sure 1-800 mail order cars look pretty but they also look fake at the same time.
period correct, traditional, whatever. to each his own. the fun i get from trying to build a car with nothing newer than 1950, be it performance or whatever, makes it worth it when it's done. scrounging the swap meets for a part that just looks "right" and trying to figure a way to make it fit. for me, that is what traditional hot rodding/building is about. getting those different parts from different cars -cheap- and making them work for the build. i agree about it being too easy to just pick up a catalog and order something. but again, that is just my opinion.
39 top loaders ****ed when they were new ! I like to rev my flathead up to 5 grand and dump the clutch all day long at a race and drive home in 6th gear . tremec 6 speeds rule !... while none of the "traditional " ? cars will race because they are afraid to break the car that`s exposta be a hot rod ?
That's just it... Great for you! But sometimes it's fun to mess with stuff and enjoy the sounds, the feeling, etc... It's an emotional thing more than anything. To each his own... I like em both ways. One exception... You need bias tires homie!
I like the chalenge of keeping the history alive. Some people think I'm crazy driving around in car that is 80 some years old. And smokin while I'm at it.. I love it...
Exactly. I remember a story my Dad was telling me (he was in high school in the mid-1950's in Newport Beach, Ca). One of the rich kids's dad's bought him a brand new '55 Nomad and promtly took it to a speed shop an paid for a full-on hop up with triple carbs, headers, you name it. Immediately all of the hot rods my dad's friends had were obsolete. The Nomad would smoke them! So, it's "traditional" (as in taking place in the mid-50's) and this guy "bought" into the game. How about that? Also, to remark on Ryan's statement above I drove all through college (in the mid-to-late 1990's) with my '66 Tbird on bias-damn-plies and damn did they ****! I got in two collisions because it wouldn't stop worth a damn....don't even get me started on body roll..... anyway. It proves that being traditional ain't easy.
Got to agree, radial just don't work for me personally. I drive old trucks with big old truck bias ply's and mud grippers on the back and on split rims too and everybody says they are dangerous. Well they might be right to some degree, but the whole thing is dangerous. If you don't know that already, then you need to learn that. Now here's the kicker, that is the way I like it, but not for the obvious macho reason. I don't drive the truck like it is 2008; tailgating changing lanes left and right and all that ****. I drive it around all over the place, but I drive it like it is 1950's-1960's. I drive it the speed that is comfortable for it, keep extra distances, keep and extra eye out for other jack***es, brake way early and don't ever lock the doors and I enjoy it for what it was made for. And honestly, it is a hell of a lot more fun, relaxing and enjoyable that way. Then sadly, when I get in my modern daily, I somehow go back to doing all the rude modern **** everyone else does why driving and it is not enjoyable. I think it is just more fun to live with the old f-d up stuff as imperfect as it can be and enjoy it for what it is and as long as you have the right mindset, I find it pretty relaxing - as long as it is actually working anyway. I prefer to drive my old trucks around at 50 mph max. almost any day over my modern ride. In fact, I'm getting in one of my old rigs right now and heading home in that instead of the 2004 machine. Hope I make it.
Back in the early 50s when I first got into rodding I bust up 4 ******s in my 37 Chevy my 41, 48 Ford, my 32 with a Olds, my 34 with a full falthead and my 50 Olds. Maybe I just should have learned to drive. But at 72 I just can't get myself excited over crawling under to replace another one just for the sake of being Traditional Leave that to the ones younger then me.
Bingo! "It's an emotional thing" Logic doesn't work with people in love. I'm in love with the history, the beauty and the feel of an old hot rod. You can't get that feel from a 3 fiddy-3 fiddy air conditioned modern car with an old skin. I understand that a lot of you have never experienced that. Many won't like it but I love it. It's not something that you can explain anymore than being in love. Yeah it ain't easy but it is a labor of love. I'm so grateful that I have this place to share my p***ion and to keep the fire burning when things look bleak. It is sooo cool for me to know that there are a few of you that can understand how I feel. Thanks again.
Yeah it's not easy, but if it was everyone would do it! I have a modern car and when I get in my hot rod I want it to feel as close to what they felt back in the fortys. I didn't get to live it then so I'm trying to feel it now, know what I mean? Sure it takes some time and patience to get it right but that's part of the fun! So here's to keeping it real!
Banjorear: Bingo! I think we can all agree on that! After three and a half years and a thousand posts, you should know that there isn't much that we all agree on around here......
The Jalopy Journal
