Drive down to Aptos, I'll help you fix it for free. *****in' car just needs a little time thrown at it. Tim
Real Hot Rods, don't need a trailer! Here's some examples of great stance, notice something? They are not all the same, it's what suits the individual car and it's build style.
I like 61TBird's car. The front is low enough, it puts the top of the front wheels into the wheelwells. It would look good if the bottom of the skirt opening was at least as low as the center of the rear wheel. My car has open rear wheelwells so I don't have to deal with that issue. I like a slight forward rake. Back in the 70's I knew guys with low riders who would drive around with the car jacked up so that everyone would know that their car was "lifted". Just like guys with bags lay them on the rockers, I like to see a car with a consistant ride height.
Here are a few pics of my 55 g***er and my old 53 Chevy. Also included is a pic of Glen's Buick. All of these cars have a very correct stance in my eyes.
A-fricken-men to that ! Not all great kustoms have been super low.These were my inspiration for how I wanted my truck to sit,rake and all! I'm happy with the way she sits,and I think of her more as a kustom than a truck
Indeed. However, there is such a thing as a "definitive" stance. It's a sort of baseline from which to depart in a considered way; and I think it has a lot to do with the wheel/tyre sizes. For a car with bigs and littles I'd say: 1. The tyres' proportion of height to width should be roughly the same, front and rear; 2. The car's floor (or some sort of level definition like flat running boards) should be parallel to a line tangent to the tops of the front and rear tyres; and 3. The visual line of the bottom of the body should extrapolate to clip the bottom of the front rim. For cars without bigs and littles, like customs, the same three rules apply, but that translates to a level stance. But as I say, it's a starting point. Almost any deviation can work under the right cir***stances.
On my cars, I've got about an inch of travel on the front wheels till the lower arms hit the bumpstops. The rear-axle's snout-snubber is also usually not more than an inch away from the body.
a great looking rod or custom has to have at***ude or character. stance is a major part of the equation. i like to lower car early in the build and work off the stance. various body mods, primer, paint, etc. may necessitate stance adjustments. bottom line. i don't think there is any actual formula for stance. it comes down to what looks right on particular veh. as it is. key is to look at car from all angles! alot! be prepared to make adjustments even after it's finished. on the ground is not stance. even worse is building veh. flat along bottom when down. looks like hell when up and driving. no rules? how about? no wheels showing under skirts or no forward rake with skirts? level or tail down! all above not to be confused with "period correct stance"! also lots of people have different tastes on what's good. actually i'm one of few who is always right. see ya tinguy
Very well said, however.... In my opinion, laying the frame on the ground is not proper. I usually revert to pictures from the era I am trying go for. I think my 53 pretty much hits the stance of a 50's style kustom. It isn't laying frame but is low enough for me...
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