Custom question

[plmczy]

What defines a mild custom? What body mods or things used to do a mild custom. Interior mods etc? later plmczy

[delaware george]

i'm pretty new to owning a custom,i've always had a rod....but i would guess that a mild custom wouldn't have extreme mods like a chopped top,sectioning,etc....it might have skirts,lake pipes,gotta be lowered,maybe some custom paint,dechromed...all things you sould do without cutting the car up completely....someone else chime in if i'm wrong

[abe lugo]

I'm really glad you brought this up. A lot of people don't really know what half the body mods are to make your rod a "mild/Semi/Full" Kustom. I actually am going for the Semi kustom rod class on my fairlane. But I took the time and copied this a while back from the Grand National Roadster Show rules list.
CLASSIFYING YOUR CUSTOM CAR OR TRUCK
Custom body modifications may include, but are not limited to: bumper and/or grille changes, rolled/molded pan, hood shaving, scooping, peaking, pancaking, filled seams, molding, decking, frenching, trim removal or alterations, headlights, taillights, antenna, and any other changes requiring body work. Bolt-on items count toward a total number of modifications, with four individual bolt-ons constituting one modification (spotlights, skirts, visors, custom wheels, etc.).
Sum the total of all modifications to determine classification as described below:
Car or Truck Custom Class (check one):
� Radical Custom: body and/or bed chopped, channeled, sectioned, shortened or lengthened.
� Full Custom: 10 or more body and/or bed modifications. No chopping, channeling or sectioning.
� Semi Custom: 1-9 body and/or bed modifications
� Mild Custom: 1949 or newer cars or trucks with bolt-on equipment. Minor nosing and/or decking is allowed.

Big question is where do hacked half assed chop job get placed in those guidelines?

[48_HEMI]

Radical Custom: body and/or bed chopped, channeled, sectioned, shortened or lengthened.
� Full Custom: . No chopping, channeling or sectioning.
� Semi Custom: 1-9 body and/or bed modifications
� Mild Custom: 1949 or newer cars or trucks with bolt-on equipment. Minor nosing and/or decking is allowed.

Big question is where do hacked half assed chop job get placed in those guidelines?

[/ QUOTE ]



AB I think you pretty much answered your own question. No matter how good or bad..... chopped is radical http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Donzie]

Recently I read (sorry, don't remember just where) that the main difference between a mild and full custom was a chopped top.
I might disagree in that I would say Watson's Grapevine was a full custom and it wasn't chopped.
I would consider my my '49 as mild: nosed, decked, shaved, lowered, skirts, spots and lake pipes.

[abe lugo]

Well, you got me there but I sort actually meant "quality standards" most likely just objective judging and a large "in crowd", gets you a trophy at those events. But I guess as long as your happy with your ride, your a winner.

[Sailor]

In the early years I think most kustoms were fullkustoms as they typically involved several drastic bodymods. Think Westergard and early Barris.

Later chopped tops seem to have been the most common divider between semi- and fullkustom. If it was chopped it was a fullkustom. This made it hard for subtle cars like Duane Stecks Moonglow to compete in the fullkustom-class towards the end of the fifties, because by then the fullcustoms often incorporated really drastic, showoriented mods. Imagine Bailons Scopee-doo as a worstcase scenario, and Cushenberrys Marquise as an example of the good ones to come out of the era. The latter wasnt chopped, but sectioned and rebuilt in such a way that it was impossible to tell what it started its life as.

In the late fifties the typical semicustom would be a Watson-style car (I would think Grapevine was a semi-kustom). Most important mods would be: lowered, radical paintjob, new interior. The rest would be details like nosed, decked, shaved doorhandles, different taillights, different wheels and so on. The only typical bolt-ons (in a California-perspective) would be dummy-spots and lakepipes.

But at the same time 100% showmachines like Mox Millers boss 58 Impala (see pic) was considered a semi-kustom, -just because it didnt involve any bodymods (but plenty of other stuff...). This probably made it hard to compete with in the semi-kustom class, as it was way more radical looking than most others.

Just the way I have understood it all. Others may see things differently.

(A car with only bolt-on modifications is in no way a kustom, -its just a car with bolt-ons.. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif )

[HotRodHon]

Old school thinking was there were only two classes.
Wild and Mild.
Wild was either Chopped, Channelled, or Sectioned. Something that changed the silloette of the car.
Everything else was a mild custom.
In my opinion, the Grapevine was one of the coolest kustoms ever built. But it was a mild kustom, just the same.
Now a days, event owners like Danny Boy, like everyone to be happy. So they create 52 levels of kustom so they can give out 52 first place trophys. Everyone's a winner.

Oh yea, I agree that anything bolted on does not count as a modification.

Craig
Over Opinionated, and under Appreciated http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[stealthcruiser]

a nice,new,aftermarket,cast aluminum grille.

[plmczy]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm really glad you brought this up. A lot of people don't really know what half the body mods are to make your rod a "mild/Semi/Full" Kustom. I actually am going for the Semi kustom rod class on my fairlane. But I took the time and copied this a while back from the Grand National Roadster Show rules list.
CLASSIFYING YOUR CUSTOM CAR OR TRUCK
Custom body modifications may include, but are not limited to: bumper and/or grille changes, rolled/molded pan, hood shaving, scooping, peaking, pancaking, filled seams, molding, decking, frenching, trim removal or alterations, headlights, taillights, antenna, and any other changes requiring body work. Bolt-on items count toward a total number of modifications, with four individual bolt-ons constituting one modification (spotlights, skirts, visors, custom wheels, etc.).
Sum the total of all modifications to determine classification as described below:
Car or Truck Custom Class (check one):
� Radical Custom: body and/or bed chopped, channeled, sectioned, shortened or lengthened.
� Full Custom: 10 or more body and/or bed modifications. No chopping, channeling or sectioning.
� Semi Custom: 1-9 body and/or bed modifications
� Mild Custom: 1949 or newer cars or trucks with bolt-on equipment. Minor nosing and/or decking is allowed.

Big question is where do hacked half assed chop job get placed in those guidelines?

[/ QUOTE ]


So they consider 49 and newer to be canidates for mild customs? What about 48 and under or am I reading that wrong? I'm talkin 1940 for a mild custom, or do I have to hot rod it?


Stealth, I'm still workin on it, car set fell thru. I'm gonna try and scrape something together, sorry for stringing you along http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif. later plmczy

[cheaterjack]

I have to agree that chopping is one major custom feature. Other than that lets call it mild, or luke warm at best.

[HotRodHon]

[ QUOTE ]


So they consider 49 and newer to be canidates for mild customs? What about 48 and under or am I reading that wrong? I'm talkin 1940 for a mild custom, or do I have to hot rod it?

[/ QUOTE ]

They also have a special class for early kustom. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif That's what my 39 always went into. Sometimes they even break down the early kustoms to mild and wild. Everybody gets a trophy! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif