Google Wizard Smith - I think there is a Hamb Thread somewhere. Ausy land speed record on 90 mile beach in New Zealand. I think he also raced an essex 4 that may be more thread friendly.
This is one of my favourite threads on the HAMB. Talking of paint. If one was building a 40s period correct hotrod what would be the correct colours choices that one could use? Apart from from the obvious black and brown.
Correct colors is what kind of colors the builder liked. All colors were available 70 years ago, too... If you don't want to be all wild, use an original available color for the car you are using. If you have a 1932 roadster, you check out what type of stock colors that were available and use that. Many didn't repaint.
Thanks erlomd and J.B for the answers. Always thought Pete Henderson's roadster was black until now (thanks rodster). That was because I had only seen it in black and white photos before. So that is what peaked my intrest in colour choices.
The Pete Henderson Roadster is my favorite roadster of all time! It's the reason I sought out a Weiand High Rise 2x2 intake for my flathead, it's the reason I'm leaving my axle undropped, it's just perfection! I know the restored version has Weiand Cheater heads on it (which I have a set of those as well to match the intake) but were those in fact the heads that were on it when it raced the quarter horse? I thought they were a little later head.... I kinda wish I had a '32 roadster instead of my '33 but this is what I have so I'm building it with the Henderson roadster in mind as inspiration.
The Longley's (Chuck & Mike) restored that car so I can assure you that it's exactly how it was back in the day. They pretty much only use tools that were available during the original build to restore the car to make it "right". So if that blue has metallic in it, rest assure it did in the 40's. I believe Metallics were avaiable in the late 20's. It all started with a mix up in the paint for a World's Fair showing. They up until the 50's it was mostly non ford cars that used Metallics. I believe..... The car to this day still runs mechanical brakes. A testament the authenticity of the restoration. I have been told by quite a few prominent restorers that if you properly set up mechanical brakes like they should they can put you through that front windshield. Take a look at issue 32 of The Rodder's Journal. It has a feature on the car although it does not have a spec sheet to tell exactly what color they used to paint it. Note: I just read that the Pete Henderson originally used Denver heads on the Don Blair Stroked Merc Flathead that also had a Spaulding Ignition and an aggressive Pierre Bertrand cam. .
I really wish I could find an example of a red hot rod that looked mean. They all look awesome but hardly do you ever find one that indicative of the 40's and the cars that ran as lake beds like Harper, Muroc or El Mirage. I kinda wanna paint my '33 Red but I think it's going to end up dark maroon, black or brown haha!!
in a conversation the mike and chuck longley they indicated that the henderson car was painted Packard blue. i`ve been collecting parts for a few years to build a roadster "in the style of" the henderson car.
I agree with them. Ford mechanical brakes arent really much different from Ford/Lockheed hydraulic brakes except in the way theyre actuated. Hydraulic setups require less-frequent adjustment to work well, and theyre largely newer than mechanical brakes, so theyre likely to be in better repair and adjustment. For a given swept area, Ford hydraulics and Ford mechanicals both in proper adjustment and repair should give the same stopping ability. But most people dont want the headache associated with keeping mechanical brakes in adjustment. Ive heard the cable brakes used on 37ish Fords are particularly difficult to keep adjusted. That being said, I suspect mechanical do fall short when compared with Bendix self-energizing brakes, but not any further than the Ford/Lockheed hydraulics. -Dave
I think the first Metallic paint on a car was Maroon and silver on a 1930 Packard 734 boattail speedster I have a magazine somewhere with a picture of that car
There was a blue on the Chrysler's that was very popular in my area. It's about the same shade as Ford's Washington blue only it was a metalic paint. Ron
To all the contributors to this unbelieveable thread - thank you. Some brilliant old pics which show the roots of our passion. (Australians - no sniggering). This is gold, gold gold. Don't stop
I was lucky enough to see the roadster in person on several occasions at shows and when visiting with the Longleys (Mike is also a member here, but he rarely posts). The Packard blue sounds correct to my recollection. Visiting their shop is like a time warp. They really build them like in the old days. They do a lot of paint work outside right behind the shop!
The Jalopy Journal
