Features 1948-52 New Old Style Kustoms

Gotta love those tail draggers.

 

What grille is that? Nice car

 

Looks like '49 Cadillac to me.

 

Here is my attempt.

 

Mates chev.


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Nice cars, fellows.

Tell us more!

 

Cool build; is it a long door o a short door coup? Looks like a long door but I’m not sure.

I’m looking forward for more picks!

 

Thanks! Its a long door coupe... i have take 3" in the front and little more in the back of the roof... molded fenders... removed taillights... and more things....

 

This is inspiring me to dust off the convert, drop the tail end, and get rid of the ugly '90's Caddy seats.


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1949 Ford

 

Saw that at Iron Invasion this October, Wild!

 

I Like it , I have a similar 48 Coupe

 

Do it!!!

(After you get the T-Bird done, though! )

 

What the h... is that? Yikes!

 

Teasing….1949 Fleetline I have at Sosa Metalworks in Vegas. Going traditional in style, but watch for his insanely tasteful lines and Cadillac worthy hardware!

http://instagram.com/sosametalworks/

 

Mine in progress c u at Sacramento Autorama


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Craaaazy paint!

 

Now THAT's a color!

 

Here is my 40 Chevy. I hope this qualifies for this thread. I have a set of small flippers and ribbed trim rings. I am frenching the license plate, and some trim. i want to lower rear another 2'' in addition to the 3'' blocks. For more of a speedboat stance, and a red naugahyde interior

 

Sacramento Autorama always has some incredible paint jobs and yours will be right at home there. The indoor shots display a really nice color but don't do justice to the true daylight qualities of the color. Judging from the small beam sun that strikes the car, I bet that full sunlight will generate a color few of us have ever seen before. The highlights are going to really punctuate the contours of the car. Very Nice.
Best Regards and good luck with all you endeavors, KB.

 

Is there a decent list of what people look for in a kustom of this era? I have a 52 Chevy business coupe that I am looking to make some mods on, but have no idea where to start.

 

You just need to start looking at lots and lots of photographs of lots and lots of cars until you start to get a sense of what fits each era AND what looks good vs. what looks bad (no matter how "correct" they may be, some modifications just don't work and should be forgotten).
A good place to start is Pat Ganahl's The American Custom Car, as well as any magazine you can get from the early 1950s. I find the Custom Car Annuals to be particularly fascinating because they include the good, the bad, and the truly ugly. (And some of them are capital Ugh ugly!) Scour eBay and/or swap meets and/or half.com
Aside from that, the HAMB has so many threads on different eras and styles that following them all the way through will likely give you a really good idea of how each era really gels.
And of course the simplest approach is to find one or two cars built in a particular year and base everything you do to your car on those specific examples. Not copying or cloning, but just studying their build style until it's really soaked into your brain and you can translate it to your car.
When I built my '53 I just kind of winged it and it came out what I would call "okay," but my next build (a '51 Chevy coupe) will be much more coherent from end to end because it's all based on three very specific cars - I have multiple photos of all three cars on my garage wall and look at them frequently.
Good luck!

 

Right there is the best, most concise advice you will ever get.

 

And, there are a considerable number of good looking '49-52 Chevies in this thread, even on this page. Start noticing which details appeal to you, and which don't.

 

Thanks for the replies. I wasn't sure if there is a correct way to do things, since I know you can get into shows with some changes but not others.

 

I have a '51 Styleline Special Sport Coupe. This is what was done to it. Maybe you'll like some of the mods. '51 Merc front lites. '59 Cad rear lites, '52 Poncho razor back, Chevy 283 w/3X2 & 350 auto, etc. Like 50Fraud, keep looking until what you like hits you.
It's not easy but try to be patient.
Good luck,

 

Careful about parts choice Piranah. For instance, no custom built in the time up to 1952 (the theme of this thread) would have had 1959 Cad tail lights.

Same with things like wheel covers. You do see 'Matranga' style Mercs with late fifties Cad wheel covers too. OK if you like the look, but strictly speaking it's out of period, if that's the target.

Then there are interiors...

 

If you are trying to stay "traditional" or period-correct then you have to stick within what could have been done in that era. No billet wheels, no late-model tilt steering column, no bucket seat with headrests, etc.
Seriously, start with Pat Ganahl's book and then go from there.

 

Piranah, spend some time on Rik Hoving's most excellent Kustomrama site.