So who on here is building a period Kustom?

[injectedA]

And what period?

I've never been in to them enough to retain all the what you do. I've always held and hold on to the hot rod info out there, they're closer to my heart and the track. So now I'm looking and learning. Maybe some quick history? We all know chop, channel, section, french etc... But how/what crosses over year to year? What don't?

Paint styles? Panels? Flames? Scallops? Primer?

Wheels or centers? Side note. I do dig chromed reverse. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Induction?

Exhaust?

Other?

What are you doing? Or is this a lot of questions best left to long late night reads and searches. Which I have no time for. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Roothawg]

I am building a mid 50's custom. It will be red with ghost scallops and white tuck and roll. The powerplant is a 235 with split Fentons. I don't totally stick to the period correct stuff. Mine will have a 5 speed and mid 60's Caddy caps.

[G V Gordon]

Depends on what period your looking for. My '63 Grand Prix is on its way to being a sixties mild custom. Nosed and decked, lowered, lakes, tunneled antenna, etc..

[old beet]

I've been workin on a 49 Merc, for the wife. Not period correct, but mid 50s style. Mild chop(straight B pillar, not the slanted full custom style) Lower in the rear, skirts and louvered hood. Wide whites and 56 Olds caps, with 51 Merc skirts. Rust primer. But it does run a 460 Ford motor and C-6 trans. Oh Ya, do everything myself as thats the way I've always done, since the mid 50s. Couldn't afford to pay anyone to cut up an old car.........OLDBEET

[Bob K]

I'm just about done with my 52 Chevy Rag Top. I call it a "50's Style" Custom. It is not totally traditional because of a lot of "creature features" that most 50's customs did not have. It is a chopped folding top conv., frenched headlites,hood corners rounded, hood peaked, frenched taillights, skirts etc. Power is a 30 over 292 I six through a 200R4 and a 8 inch ford with 350 gears. WWW on steel rims with 55 Dodge royal lancer short bar flipper wheel covers. Making it pretty next weekend and goes for top and guts on April 1st. The creature features are for the comfort of this fat old man. PS,PB,PW,6way Power bench seat, cruise,air,tilt. Rewarding myself for haveing lived without that shit for many years. Don't even feel guilty.

B http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif B

[Kojack]

I'm going for a early 50's kustom on my '49 Kaiser. Late fifties small block dressed up tradtionally. The car is just getting a mild shave, lowering, skirts and a working spotlight and a visor. The interior is going to be pretty original looking as well, the speakers and stereo hidden from view, pinstriped seats with all thise little 40's and 50's goodies in side. Going for something you might have seen in the original issues of Hop Up.

[2tall2beahotrodder]

We're Choping and building this bitch to look like the old 50's style baris sleds...Dont want to give out to much info... but it should turn out pretty damn good...

[Rocket88]

An interesting question! Mild or full and what period.
I'm not sure what to call mine. I'm going for a Westergard style although my car, 49 Olds is (in my opinion) a little too new for that period. I want long, low and smooth. No metallic paint, no stripes or anything.
Most of the stainless has been removed, nosed and decked.
Skirts, wide whites and Caddy Sombrero's
It's got an SBC (temporarily) but I'm piecing together a 324 Olds with 4 carbs, mallory dual point, Moon valve covers and other assorted goodies.
Here's a pic, what period would you guys call it.

http://photo.starblvd.net/~rocket88/4-1-1.jpg

http://photo.starblvd.net/~rocket88/4-1-2.jpg

[RPW]

Not many custom purists around I afraid...
Did I read words the word VISOR in the same sentence as custom?

Im all traditional. My fiftyfour Ford, to be finished in the end eternity: 53 Clipper taillights, 55 Pontiac rear bumper, 53 Cad wheel covers, 52-53 Ford Accsessory steering wheel, 53 Chev grille teeth, 3" chop windshield, 4" chop rear window, 2 3/4 sectioned, no air system, ny hydraulics, no radial tires... Style early Barris (52-55) with a Valley Custom flair. I have all the parts, most of the work remains.

[cleatus]

If by "period" you mean uncooperative and leaking red fluid....
I have one.

[Tony]

I'm building a '53 belair. 5" chop, shoebox ford backlite, canted B pillars, rounded door top's, lowered, '53 merc headlight rings frenched, nosed, decked, shortened 210 trim on doors and quarters, '54 tail light's with Lee lenses etc....

Personally i consider it a little more wild than mild, basically because of the chop. My door window openings are only 7" at the highest point.I can touch the top and bottom of the opening with my thumb and little finger on one hand.

I'm doing the body work now..
Paint, well i'll let you know. It's between two choices , both will work with the style of car..

I'm going for the late 50's era with it. Nothing is newer than '59 (impala steering wheel)....

235 mill, with 3 on the tree, twice pipes and soon to have 3 singles on a Offy intake.
http://photo.starblvd.net/~Packrat/5-4-4.jpg
This pic was from this past summer at Dat Dirty Rat's house.I borrowed a dealer plate and drove it there like this.. After i did these headlights, i changed 'em to the merc..
It's all ripped apart now..

Still learning though..i'm a hot rodder, and this is the first kustom i've attempted..

Rat....

[Rocket88]

Cleatus, you can't be talking about your fine, kick ass sled!
I would love to have that thing leaking in my driveway.

[Kojack]

[ QUOTE ]
Not many custom purists around I afraid...
Did I read words the word VISOR in the same sentence as custom?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, you did, and there isn't a damn thing wrong with it. Just because your "customizing" a car doesn't mean you're always ripping shit off it.

[cleatus]

Thanks Rocket 88, your sled is looking muy bueno - I like very much!

and I also really dig the chop on Rat Rod's - most definetely looks like early Barris stuff. nice job.

[Donzie]

I have a '50 Chevy in the works. Early '60s peroid. Part of what makes the period "correctness" is not only what was being done at that time but parts availabilty. It would have been tough to put a '60s part on a '50s car. Also, (this is just me) I try to stay away from early '50s parts for a '60s period car. Now days it seems the drive trian doesn't enter in to the equation too much. I think it's because these are drivers, not just show cars (like you may have seen in the '50s) so we want reliabilty and safty (disc brakes for exanple).
That's my 2 cents. Do I get change back? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Ron]

Here is my 53 Ford pretty much mid to late 50's custom. 55 New Yorker grille, 55/56 Olds taillights, Flathead stock with duals, Packard and Merc side trim, white r&p int., it has a couple later mods but not much.

[Ron]

Hope to get finished and painted one day.

[Ron]

Also have a 47 Chevy coupe project here

[Harrison]

[ QUOTE ]
Here's a pic, what period would you guys call it.

http://photo.starblvd.net/~rocket88/4-1-1.jpg



[/ QUOTE ]

It doesn't matter. That car already looks better than half of the customs on the road.

Its going to be an absolute stunner.

JH

[RPW]

To me a visior is a "civilian" accessory item, it is designed to give protection from the sun and not to do any good to the lines of a car. Custom building are about giving the car both cleaner and improved lines and a more luxeriors apporach. Yes, sometimes from removing things that interfear with the flow of the car´s design, sometimes by replacing with parts from newer or more expensive cars and sometimes by redesigning parts of the body. Im not very good with always finding the right words in English, but Pat Ganahl´s great book "The American Custom Car" gives the same image of customs as I have (I´ve been into customs for over 25 years I might add). I remember that Bill Burnham once wrote something about his feelings of sun visors in Street Rodder.He wrote that he cried when his father brought a visor for the car, it was a humiliating old man´s accessory.
It might have been the cool thing in the midwest, as well as black and white mudflaps with stars and all kind J.C Withney stuff. Looking in my pile of early Hop Up´s (not complete but quite many) I found one car with a visor, it was from Iowa.

I can see that your Kaiser have different apporoach than the things I connect with traditional Californian customs as it have both fog lights, visor and a single spotlight.
I like that you care for an odd car as 4-d Kaiser, and Im a big fan of Dutch Darrin. And I do also like that its a nice shiney car (Im not into primered cars...). But even though its nosed its not my view of a custom. And still: For me a visor will for ever be a no-no, the same level of accessory as a bolt on fiberglas spoiler on a 70´s car. It might sound harsh, but Im honest.

[old beet]

Visors go with 'Curb Feelers" and them "No Static" straps that drag the ground. Just ask my dad.......OLDBEET

[Revhead]

If customs are about cleaning up the lines and such, what category do nerf bars and bumper guards go it? I see alot of them on customs in old magazines. I'm not trying to stir the shit, I just think it's kinda hard to draw the line on what accessories are appropriate or not.

[Kojack]

Being from California, I suppose it's weird that I've always been into the east coast look when it came to cars. Visors and continental kits have always been things I've liked, although as we all know they don't look right on all cars.

I can see better where you're coming from now that you explained it a bit more, and I totally respect your view and all, and being honest is all that matters. I just like things a little differently, seeing customizing usually as adding more then less. For me... when I go to car shows... everyone has a rat rod. Everyone is in primer, trim is missing or ripped off... and I like cars much the opposite. I find it's more work it seems to try and track down these old parts and accessories then it is ripping everything off and filling holes. I dunno... if I wanted my car to look like a new car I'd get a new car. I suppose I'm the most mexican of the folks on here. :P

[old beet]

Kojack, don't take it the wrong way, your Kaiser is cool, and rare. Kaiser had a plant in Portland, when I was a kid, used to see hundreds of them lined up outside. Fond memories when I see one..........OLDBEET

[Boones]

Kojack, I love your car but since you are in Cal.. I would expect to see at it a Lowrider show in the Bomb class. (do not mean disrespect as I love lowriders).. The Cal lowriders are usually stock with skirts, visors and (with some adding all the options possible)...

you should be proud of your ride, I know I would be...

[=mike=]

I guess I am building a "period styled' custom . from the outside it could look as if it was built no later than say '54 ish . In my opinion thats when most of the customs started getting garish and overly done . I like more simple lines , elegant maybe . . . subtle , shit like that .
The interior is different in that it has parts from 1962 ( seats & console ) otherwise it is going to be a fully home built interior ( back seats floor tunnel etc ) . The motor which should never be seen on a custom , for the most part http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) is also from the 60's , a 66 mustang 283 . It has period valve covers & a one snorkle air cleaner . It looks the part I think .
The only modern consessions I am making are the stereo / c.d. changer because I love music , and air shocks in the back , not to get the car lower , but to lift it up when i want to put more than myself and my wife in it . Otherwise I think it pretty much captures the feel of the era I am trying to maintain .
I love the shit the Bariss brothers were doing in the early 50's & late 40's , to me those cars were the epitome of how to make a mediocre car look graceful and evil all at the same time . Although I have one curb feeler on the passenger side ( bias ply white walls cost more now than they did in the 50's I'm sure , so i dont want to waste then on a curb . . . ) I have to agree about visors & bug deflectors & vent window breezies & fuzzy dice & tripple cap lake pipies , like RPW said " J.C. Whitney accesories " . . . those things are tacky on a custom .
Kojack your car looks more like a lowrider / bomb / cruiser than a custom . It is still nice regardless of what you / anyone else would call it .

[Mutt]

I've always been into rods and performance more than customs, but to customize means to build or alter to owner taste or specifications. The whole idea behind custom cars was to make the car unique in a sea of sameness. Sometimes this meant taking things off, and other times it meant putting things on, and other times both.

It really isn't any different than building a rod the way you want it. You should be trying to satisfy yourself, not the masses. I wouldn't expect everyone to like everything about every car that's built to the owner's tastes. Just build what you want, enjoy what you like, and before commenting on other's tastes, consider what your reaction would be to comments about your ride. It may not meet your goal, but it meets the owner's, because he built it.

BTW, Kojack, I like your car. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[glendale]

I am building a semi period custom (notice the absence of the k) all traditionally styled. The only modern update the car will have is air bag suspension including a four-link rear. 52 Plymouth cranbrook molded and designed myself grill shell with stock floating grill, original running gear (unless I find a Desoto flathead 6) shaved, chopped, nosed/peaked hood, 50 ford dash, 51 Chevy rear wheel wells w/skirts, firestone biasplys, 57 Lincoln premier hubcaps, 50 ford taillights with the bodyline, flipped front bumper. I will update with a 12-volt generator and put a cd player and some music in it. Interior will be tuck and roll done by my grandfather who is my inspiration. He used to work with barris before he left Sacramento. If I had pics I'd post em sorry.

[RPW]

Kojack: Nice that we understands each other! First I did end my input with: "But on a lowrider, or on a midwest restyled car (and I like lowriders as well!) would a sunvisor and the other mentioned accessories be perfect". But I was afraid that you would get angry if I made that comment.
Now I know that you like that style. Great.

But I dont think that the fact that Im am from Sweden has got anything to with my view of customs (and I have the major parts of my realtives in the USA). We have a wide range of styles in customs here as well, from Californian style to midwest, eastern and some Swedish styles!
Its may be more about the place the Californian Custom have in heart...

[injectedA]

Wheels has sent this pic. Westergard style? French to me, but a bad mofo. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[v8minor]

I am building a 50 chevy . It was a 4 door ,now 2 door with a 4 inch chop.I have the barris books just goin by them and what I pick up here on the hamb .I like the early to mid 50s look . But it also has a lot to do with what I can find , not much 50s tin over here! I also have a 62 biscane. Its a old hearse cut into a pickup .Its goin to be 60s, metalflake roof stuff like that .

[CheaterChris]

I am building a 54 chevy bel air sedan. Chopped 4 inches, nosed decked, frenched headlights, lowered 4 inches in the rear, and two in front. 235 6cyl, wide whites. Nothing new on the car really, so I guess its a 50's period kustom

[leadfoot]

To be honest, I don't know what the hell I'm building. I see so much cool stuff here on the HAMB that I just get confused. I've got a 1952 Chevy 2 door sedan. Decked and nosed and 108 louvers in the hood. Still running the 216 through a split manifold with dual exhaust. Lowered about 4 inches, has wide white bias ply tires. When I look at it, it doesn't look much like a hot rod or even a custom. I'm not sure what it's missing.
Right now I'm being heavily influenced by McPhails car. I really like that but I don't want to build a clone.

[Roothawg]

I am afraid that the custom purists will rip me when my Fleetline is done. (My dad always hated customs when I was a kid. He was a drag racer and thought that "lead sleds" were for the other guys.) so I have to cut my teeth on customs the hard way.

I probably will do things that make the purists cringe...they will be saying...why did he do that? Well, because I am a custom newbie. Maybe the next one I build will be better....but this one will hafta do for now.

[Suede]

Well my 53 plym is a mild early 50's custom. Nothing special just some trims been shaved off, a few panels have been remolded, fenders have been flushed into the cowling and the bottom panel and a semi gloss black paint job. Hey I like the flat black look but I like my car in semi gloss. Shes also got a set of 47 desoto rims and caps on her, im intending on metalflaking the rims but im not sure on the color. Unfortunately this is my only driver so I cant do anything that cant be done and finnished on the weekend.

[ESnacky6]

I'm putting together a 50's 'period'-looking kustom,
a '52 Chevy truck...

6" out of the rear, 6-3/4" out of the front of the cab...
4" out of the rear window, and lowered the window 2"...
235 engine is built up a little bit, and will eventually
have NICSON speed accessories and Fenton headers...
'53 Buick headlights...
'51 Merc dash...
early 60's Ranchero split-back bench seat,
will have it done in a nice tuck and roll...
'49 Plymouth bumpers...
'39 Chevy taillights...
will have Appletons and fender skirts as well...
15" wheels with wide whites,
most likely will run my NOS set of Fiesta wheelcovers too...

Paint will just be a suede as of now...
the Rivi nightmare kinda turned me off to dealing
with getting a super nice paint job again...
I think I'll just keep it simple...but we'll see...

[ESnacky6]

rear shot...

[zman]

I'm building a kustom, period....

[FnDIRTYGREASER]

Since we are talking about period kustoms..... whats the diffrence between early 50's west coast style, and mid 50's west coast style? thnx
manny

[bgbdlinc]

http://photo.starblvd.net/bgbdlinc/1-1-4.jpg
http://photo.starblvd.net/bgbdlinc/1-1-5.jpg
Here's mine a '46 lincoln coupe that will be kinda Barris like (someday)....right now the front end is real fugly but I got a '49 Cad grille from Abelugo (HAMBer) that will help with the aesthetics, and a chop will help with the profile.
Going to drop it on a '56 Lincoln chassis and run 4x2's on a U-Fab intake......at least that's the plan....

bgbdlinc

[Blakmerk]

Here's what i've got done so far.

[Donzie]

[ QUOTE ]
To be honest, I don't know what the hell I'm building. I see so much cool stuff here on the HAMB that I just get confused. I've got a 1952 Chevy 2 door sedan. Decked and nosed and 108 louvers in the hood. Still running the 216 through a split manifold with dual exhaust. Lowered about 4 inches, has wide white bias ply tires. When I look at it, it doesn't look much like a hot rod or even a custom. I'm not sure what it's missing.
Right now I'm being heavily influenced by McPhails car. I really like that but I don't want to build a clone.

[/ QUOTE ]
Leadfoot.
This might give you some ideas.

[leadfoot]

Thanks for the tips Donzie. I've got most of the trim off it now. I started to put in a frenched antenna and I have a few parts comin from Shiny that should help. I still think I need to go lower like your updated pix. I really like the chop on your car. Are you gonna lean the b-post or leave them straight? I don't have the dough for that now so maybe I'll have the top painted white to look lower. Just an optical illusion. I was thinking about suggesting a chop top for the Billitproof in Detroit and offering my car as a subject. What do you think? Mike.

[Donzie]

Leadfoot.
Yes, the B-pillar will be slanted.
I lucked out to get a chop on my Chevy (only because I had something Mike wanted in trade) otherwise I never could have afforded it. I never really planned on a chop, and honestly, I don't think they always need it (look at Watson's Grapevine), but I jumped on the opportunity when it was offered.
I'm not sure how much lighter you're thinking on the roof. I think it looks pretty good as-is. Some scallops would make the car jump out a little more. Keep us posted on this one.

[bulletproof1]

i am building a 53 ford 2dr customline ,331 chyr hemi 700r4 trans, disc brake dana 60 rearend.not doing much to the body .

[SLAMIT]

Heres mine. cant say it all will be period correct but for the most part from the outside you will never know the difference. I just hope I finish the Damn thing someday.
SLAMIT

[SLAMIT]

working on chassis and drivetrain first then will bust out with the torch and start on the fun shit.
SLAMIT

[chopolds]

Finally getting to respond, computer at home is acting up!
Building a 46 Chevy coupe, early 50's style, very Barris influenced. Chopped, filled quarter windows, 41 Lincoln flush mounted skirts, Caddy bumpers front and rear, 50 Chrysler grill (very Caddy looking), taillights in bumper guards. Nosed, decked, etc, probably running Sombrero caps, unless I find something better, that fits the time frame. The only exterior exception to the time period may be Candy Apple Red paint. It's more mid-late 50's, but period-correct black is still in the running.
Interior is white vinyl, with Zebra inserts. 52 Buick dash, with a 47 Caddy instrument cluster. 50 Pontiac steering wheel, maybe. Black carpet, chrome window mouldings.
Drivetrain-wise, I have to take some liberties, cause I really DRIVE my cars. I chose a late model straight 6 (292 CID) to look period correct, but be more reliable, and able to find spare parts on the road, if anything breaks. 5 speed stick for good acceleration, plus highway cruising. Monte Carlo SS rear, retaining the coil spring set-up, but converted to air bags, as is the 69 Camaro front clip. Again, so I can ride low, but take her on the road, too. Radial WWW's. Engine is painted Candy Red, with finned aluminum accessories to at least 'look' vintage. Running A/C, too (so sue me!).
I like to do things a bit differently, but try to keep things in period. For example, with a 'nod' towards the old hot rods with black and white checkerboard firewall, I painted my firewall in black and white Zebra stripes. I've never seen it done, but it 'could' have been done back then. It has other details I haven't seen done, but use the 'right' parts, so it looks correct for the time frame. I am a stickler for period looks, but not with the fanatacism of a restorer. Practicality, along with form and function.
Oh, yeah, most of you guys already know, but I'm also building an "ultimate period correct" Kustom....a clone of the Kopper Kart!

[Action Girl]

here she goes....

To be perfectly honest I don't give a rats ass about what's correct or not correct. To me none of that is more important than 'what I like' because after all it's MY car.

So as far as what I like... I like visors. I like all the silly emblems, hood ornaments, stone guards, spotlights and holy shit-- even DOOR HANDLES! The fact that my car has just about every factory option and doo-dad makes it that much cooler to me and my opinion is really the only one that matters since I'm the one who has to drive it. If that makes my car dorky in someone's eyes- fuck 'em.

So for me "custom" means- making it faster, handle better, lower, more reliable and doing a cool paint job and even cooler interior. In other words, making my car my own.

I think sometimes people spend too much time trying to emulate and not enough time blazing their own trail.

That Joe "The Fonz" Car-loni from that magazine article in ol Skool Rodz is a perfect example of that. He's a hot rod rebel in the truest sense of the term. I don't think you can even put an 'era' on the Bondomobile.

[Fat Hack]

My Chevy is kinda the OPPOSITE of Stacey's...it was a stripped-down Fleetline.

I dunno what "era" or "period" the finished product will fit into...but I actually DO have a Plan!

Here's what I'm starting with...

<img src=http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid91/p71fd9b9458e703d6fca7d990017a587c/fa6222f6.jpg>

[Fat Hack]

...and here's where I'm going...

<img src=http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid102/p3e839ba84f17fdd4fbb3955f52748ab0/f9b453ec.jpg>

Note that the car isn't lowered, and that the post between the door and rear window is chopped straight down, not angled. I like the angled look on some cars, but I want the mine done just like this.

(This picture was totally stock turquoise Fleetline that I photo-hacked)

The color will be a darkish purple, and the FINISHED drivetrain will be a 3.4 GM V6 5-speed hooked to a 10 bolt rear with disc up front...but for this Summer, it will have a 2.8 V6 hooked to an old truck four speed and the stock rear axle and torque tube with the stock brakes.

Era? Who knows...but a Kustom Rod of one kind or another! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Scotch]

My Buick will look circa '55 or so - It's a 1950 Super.

From what I've researched (I wasn't there- Dad graduated high school in '56), the early customs were milder and grew more radical as the years passed and expectations grew. Mine will start out fairly mild (shaved, lowered, skirted) and will definitely be West Coast style with minimal visual barbs and a single body color. Later cars gained graphics (Watson) and more radical bodywork (tunneled lights, fins, etc). I am planning to chop my sedanette in the future, and also to add '53 Buick headlights, but probably not this time. I want to get the car back and rolling with it's new engine/trans/rear/suspension/brakes/electrical, then once it's all dialed in and running perfectly, I'll re-visit my desire for a lowered roofline and cooler headlights. I'm trying to avoid East Coast looks (where doo-dads are added instead of subtracted) as I don't like the visor/continental kit/spotlight groove the Right Coasters gravitate toward. Maybe it's because my Dad added all that junk to my '58 Impala after I left home and he assumed control of it. I don't know. I just think smooth is cool, and smoother is better/less is more. I think adding later-50s accessories and '60s-era doo-dads is fine for some, but the cool bodylines of my Buick should be able to stand alone without accents. We'll see...it'll be plain glossy black with only the chrome '53 Buick sweepspear to catch your eye. I think it'll be a fine representation of an early "period" mild custom, but I'm doing it this way because it appeals to me, not because it's a proven or distinct formula.

Scotch

[porknbeaner]

I'm not building a Period Kustom. I'm building a Custom period. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Most of what I build leans toward the 60s style I guess. There are some styling ques that I really like from the 50s but a lot of that stuff rolls over.

The wife's new old Chrysler will probably be closest to period correct of any that we have. Bullets in the grill, Radirs, lowered. Perhaps some mild scallops or some fades before its done. Partially shaved. Just your basic 60s mild custom.

My '53 is actually pretty radical. Tunneled everything, custom dash, custom grill, tasty trad (almost) two tone. Stripes in all the appropriate places. Channeled sectioned and reshaped. But then again, I'm running a modern chassis, odd ball steel wheels, modern radial tires. So it won't actually be period correct. But it will be realitivly close to early 60s show type custom.

Building period correct is almost like restoring a car. I just don't have the discipline for that. If there is something I like and it fits whatever I'm building I'll use it.

I guess I haven't answered your question have I? Well those are the kicks I guess... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[lurker mick]

Not building one now, but this is the 40 Merc I owned from 1976 until the early 80's.
It was originally built in Portland, and featured in Hot Rod mag in 58. When I got it, it was pretty much a total, having been hit in both the front and rear, and abandoned in a parking garage for many years.
It was pretty traditional except for the candy paint.
Mick