Since I was recently given permanent vacation I have had a lot more time to think about what exactly I'll be doing with my 47 Ford coupe. The more that I think about what I want to do with this car the more I comes out like a mild custom (interior fabric selection, seats what to do with the trim), but still leaning to the hot rod side (bigger engine, heavy duty rear end, bigger brakes). My question is, is hot rod, and custom mutually exclusive, are they allow to intermingle?
The SBC in my '60 was originally being built for a bracket car, so it is way more engine than a typical custom needs. The original guy bailed on the machine shop and I bought it and he finished it up for me. We toned it down with a milder cam and carburation, but it is still fun. My dad had a '54 Olds that he ran Indy a few times with back in the day either C or D/G.. it was lowered, nosed and decked etc. That's why I laugh when everything thinks a "G***er" has to have a nose bleed stance. So my answer is yes, a Custom can still have some Hot Rod soul to it.
My 48 plymouth is, I guess, a minor custom. And it’s got a dual quad Chrysler HEMI with a stick shift and a 9”. Works for me!
If not building a period car it's a personal decision imo. I think a lot of genuine cars from the past intermingled the two.. Some hot rods visual appeal may have out weighed it's performance threw various means.. If not trying to reproduce a car representative of the past I'm a no rules kind of person.. whatever works.. Modern interpretation of the Laws can be too defined which can be contradictory to the nature of a custom imo.. and often time historically inaccurate.. Example ~ Dreamrod - Car Craft April 1960.. spindle mounts, fibergl*** body, chrome moly frame, coil springs, flip front, molded lights, rotating seat, ect..
I said mild custom[emoji16] my budget is limited to getting it running, and trying to work my own style into it Sent from my XT1710-02 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
As long as it is all traditional custom on the outside. That means body mods and wheel and tire sizes. I'm saying sizes because I hate to see a traditional bodied customs that have had mag wheels and wide tires stuck under them in place of what belongs there and hubcaps. As far as engines, The Hirohata Merc has had a Cad V8 since the mid 50's so an engine swap in a custom sure isn't new and damned well isn't verboten. I have several friends with very traditional customs that will get out and run on the long roads and run some fast cars into the ground in the process. True customs never get the hoods opened at shows unless the engine is so damned special it is a requirement anyhow as it screws up the lines.
warmed up small block Ford or y-block, 4-speed trans, 8" Ford rearend on pararllel lowered leaf springs, reversed eye/de-arched front springs, for a way to get rid of original bugeye tail lites move lens into body with mild tunnel, remove some emblems from body, move license plate from trunk to bumper, do not run bumper gaurds, etc
For me, modern cars have skewed the definition of "fast" when I think about vintage iron. And old car that's "fast" is more aptly described as "fast for what it is". That means a 12 second old car that has high compression, barely idles and tachs out at highway speed is as fast as my Mother In Law's daily driver Roush Mustang, which can run on regular, idle smooth, has A/C and P/S and cruises all day at 80+. That being said, IMHO having a hopped up engine is a integral part of a custom, even if it's just basic stuff like headers, or multiple carbs. A custom should be able to get out of its own way, and there's no reason as to why you can't have a traditional drivetrain and still make substantial power. Especially since by the 50s virtually every maker had an engine series that could be souped up for big power or just made lots of power in factory trim. The OHV Olds and Cadillac, Y Block and FE Fords, SBC and W Chevs, Hemis, B/RB Mopars, Pontiac 389, Buick Nailhead, I could go on.... you could get 300 hp or more easily from any one of them, and if you couple it with a OD trans you could really get the benefit of the power and gearing. No reason your full bodied custom with proper gearing and hopped up engine couldn't run around so called "hot rods".
I guess my car is a confused custom. Mostly stock exterior, going to lose the bumper guards but that's about it, tag relocated to bumper already, but may swap front and rear, bumpers and grille will be metallic silver paint instead of chrome. Hopefully a set of Torque Thrusts or similar 5 spoke wheels in the future on 15" blackwalls. Late 302 AOD under the hood, carbed and points distributor, but running a serpentine belt and AC. Only chrome underhood will be valve covers and breather. Simple paint inside and out, nothing outlandish on color choice, something to fit the dignity of the car without looking like an easter egg.
"Simple paint inside and out, nothing outlandish on color choice, something to fit the dignity of the car without looking like an easter egg." YES!
ebay 006 by 0NE BAD 51 MERC posted Jan 31, 2011 at 10:44 PM lori 002 by 0NE BAD 51 MERC posted Jan 31, 2011 at 10:44 PM My Merc just like any car I have built since 1971 when I got my first car , has always been a combination of customized body work and paint and high performance drive trains. She is chopped , frenched ,shaved. Paint will be a dark violet pearl. White tuck and roll with 64 T bird seats. engine will be 428, Borg Warner t10 out of a 66 Galaxie and a 9 inch rear end. Big and little tire rake with vintage 5 spoke "frosted mags". Built with every thing that could have been available in 1966. The 50 Chevy hardtop was built by a guy in the early 60s. It had a built 327 with a 3spd overdrive, a 57 posi with 370+ gears and tubular traction bars that bolted to the spring plates and extended to the frame just behind the front seats. She had rusty Appliance chrome slots on her all the way around when I found her back in 1989. These where the kind of cars that influenced me as a 10 year old kid in Milwaukee Wi back in 1965. So as far as I m concerned they are a traditional build style! Larry
Got this one about 10 years now and still a work in progress. S.B.C. mated to the original Ford drive line using a adapter bell housing and Hurst front engine mount. Norb
Thinking Hotrod , stock inside and out...drivetrain update...maybe I can score 60 or 70s Chrysler sedan and get a440 torque flight ...340 would be nice...getting thin out there...
My '47 fordor was a gift, (lifelong friend gifted it to me as I LOVE '41-'48 Fords & Mercs...LOL) Black rust-free car, solid. Friend also gave me new kit semi elliptic springs, brackets for rear, and 'In da Dirt' Posies front spring, dropped axle, and some other nice stuff. I have a few engines, it's a big car... Plan is for car to sit lower in rear, I got a pair of Foxcraft Box Skirts from a friend...so, '40s tail dragger it is. Have a nice 9" rear, out of a '62 Ford pickup, 3.25 ratio. I can use my 454 Chev (previously run on Propane, so 'tame') Also can use my Ford 460, Hi-comp. pistons, D0ve heads, Edelbrock intake, Delta hydraulic cam, Rhoads lifters. (C-6 or World Cl*** 5 speed? Have both, but lean toward C6...) Picture a clean, shiny '47 Ford, all the original chrome. "Tommy the Greek" style contrasting beltline around the chrome, not 'gaudy'. 2" exhaust, necked down to a pair of oldy "pencil-tip" exh extensions...Skirted 'Custom' able to fry the rears for a block...(shares the SKIT out of the Honda pilots...) 'Wolf in Sheep's clothing' syndrome... ("Sleeper") ****. "The Fonz" with gray hair!
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