How did kids build AV8's in the early '50's?

How would a teenager of limited means build a "hot rod" in the early '50's?

Would he would put a junkyard '40's drive train (engine, pedals, trans, torque tube, and rear end, plus brakes) under a cast-off Model A?

What would he NOT do?

 

lots of magazines, threads and more have this covered. the kids that had no money would cut corners on most everything and those with talent, tools and bucks would do more.

 

:d:d:d

 

buy a running driving 32 chassis with rough body. buy model a roadster body. mount on frame. instant hot rod. upgrade from there...

 

Anyway they could! All they had were pictures in magazines to copy and no prefab parts.

 

BRAKES ??? No teenager ever spent money or time on brakes,

 

however they could and with whatever they could! we see of lot of really nice traditional cars today but if you look at pictures from back then a lot were just assembled using whatever was available.

 

In those days there were lots of model A's in back yards, used car lots, in the classifieds etc.

Norm Grabowski started building his Kookie T around 1950 or 51. He started by buying an "A V8" and trying to get it on the road.

This was a Model A roadster that someone had fitted a flathead V8 into. This was a popular conversion at the time and could be done using more or less stock Ford junkyard parts and a few tools.

His problem was, he had no pink slip. In those days it was very hard to get a replacement pink slip, it was easier to register a "newly constructed vehicle", all you needed for that was receipts for the major parts.

So, he took off the Model A body and put on a Model T body. This made it a newly constructed vehicle.

It never occurred to him until later, that the AV8 was already a newly constructed vehicle by virtue of the replacement engine.

He kept working on the car making various changes. His mom bought a 52 Cadillac, the motor went sour so the Cadillac agency replaced it under warranty. Norm cabbaged the old motor off the dealer and rebuilt it for his hot rod. You could buy adapters to put the Cad motor on a Ford tranny.

By the time of the car's famous appearance in Life magazine and on 77 Sunset Strip in 1957 and 58, he had been working on the car for 6 or 7 years.

This was only unusual in that he kept the same car for so long, and ended up building an iconic hot rod. Other than that it was fairly typical. Guys bought what they could find or afford and took it home and worked on it. Some got finished, a lot didn't. Some had more talent than others but anybody could give it a shot.

 

What would he not do? Drive a 4 door sedan, a Plymouth, a Nash or other uncool car. The rule was Fords were automatically cool, especially a roadster. Coupes were for chickens. Sedans were for old people although a few 2 door sedans got built into hot rods and race cars for laughs.

Chevrolets were barely acceptable in some areas although, installing a hopped up GMC truck engine made them cool.

Jeans, T shirt, leather jacket and engineer boots were cool. Penny loafers and sweaters, uncool.

 

You must remember back then these were late model used cars or at most, 20 year old Model A roadsters. Guys would buy the best used car they could afford and work from there.

If you wanted a roadster this was not so easy. They were never too common and after 1930, became less and less common as sedans became the most popular body style. After 1936 Ford dropped the roadster entirely.

1932 was the first Ford with a V8. This made the 32 roadster desirable. There weren't that many to go around and when the supply dried up, guys started buying 32 sedans, junking the body, and bolting on a Model A roadster body. They made Model As for 4 years and a large percentage of them were roadsters, so it was easier to find a Model A roadster body in a junkyard than a 32.

This was the origin of the model A body on deuce rails.

 

Another example of a car that just sort of happened, was Sebastian Rubbo's 36 Ford roadster. When he got out of the service in the late 40s he wanted a hot rod roadster. He looked around, the only Ford roadster he could find was a 36 that had been in an accident and got smashed in the front.

No problem, he bought it and dragged it home and started to fix it up. The frame was mangled too bad to fix at home so he looked around for a replacement. He didn't find a 36 Ford but he found a 1940 Mercury for a good deal. So he junked the Mercury body and put the roadster body on the Mercury frame.

This did not work too well as the Mercury had a longer wheelbase and the motor was set farther forward besides. What the heck, the 36 front end was smashed anyway so he started to improvise.

First he bought a grille shell off a Ford pickup truck, cut it down and mounted it over the Mercury rad. Then he made a hood to join the grille shell and body. The hood was made of flat sheet metal, held on with tool box latches from the hardware store.

Finally he took the spare tire cover off the 36, cut it in half, and made 2 front fenders.

Voila, instant hot rod. He drove this thing for the next 40 years and 400,000 miles.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246622

 

You need a 32 Ford roadster a TIG welder and some Coker wide whites and black paint have fun.

Jake

 

Rusty, you just cleared up a whole lot of crap that's been floating around. I don't know how much is fact, but I'm in no position to say it isn't so. I'm going with it because it all makes sense and sounds logical.

 

Guys would buy the best cars and parts they could afford. As the hot rod business was in its infancy this meant used car lots, junkyards, the local Ford agency, auto parts stores, and mail order from the ads in Hot Rod. There wasn't the aftermarket parts industry we are used to and a lot of things had to be improvised or made locally.

 

Everything I wrote is based on old interviews and magazine articles plus some common sense. Nothing made up, all as accurate as I can make it. I may have a few minor details wrong but the general idea is there.

 

Another example of a teenager's first car, Larry Watson's Grapevine 49 Chev fastback.

When he was a teenager he went to work for his uncle who was a building contractor, as a labourer on building sites. This was during his summer vacation, he was in high school at the time.

By working June, July and August he could bank nearly $1000. He lived at home, his mom fed him, he could spend a buck or 2 on cokes and a movie every week and save the rest.

When the summer was over he had enough money to buy a leather jacket, a 5 or 6 year old used Chevrolet, a set of whitewall tires and have the car painted purple.

He couldn't afford to have Roth or Von Dutch pinstripe it, that could cost from $10 all the way up to $25. So he got some brushes and paints and learned to do it himself.

This was the beginning of Larry Watson's custom painting career, pinstriping cars for his high school buddies in his mom's driveway.

 

I will be drawn and quartered for this, but I always hated Seb Rubbo's 36. It looked good from the rear, but the front end was a disaster with the radiator sitting way out in front of the wheels.
Flame suit on

 

That's funny. I always liked it for its unique look. I agree it was funny and awkward looking. A lot of early hot rods were.

It is something like saying Justin Beiber must be a better singer than Janis Joplin because he is younger and prettier. We just have different ideas of what makes a great singer, or a great hot rod.

 

My Dad and his brother built a channeled A coupe on a 32 chassis in mid to late 50's. My dad got a complete running Model A Coupe for $45, pulled the body, then sold the remaining chassis and parts for $45. My uncle scrounged up a complete 32 chassis, they channeled the coupe body on it and had their Hot Rod. I'd have to ask my Dad what flathead they ran. Later they sold it and it was rumored to have gone to New York state and the top chopped. The car is behind my parents in the picture.

 

Back in the day, most service stations had full service mechanic(s) that could do about anything... if we had a carb issue we would try to fix it but if we couldn't we would take it to a favorite station and they would show us how to get it working. For more serious issues we would tow the car with a pull rope to the station for welding,change tires on rims, exhaust work, etc. A lot of the mechanics were racers so they were really knowledgeable and helpful and importantly willing to teach. Best of all they didn't charge us much for the education.

 

Vern Tardel's book describes the process in detail...

 

Back in the day, two of the best sources for both speed equipment, engine accessories as well as "Custom" add ons were the Sears catalog and Pep Boys.

 

The "Bieb" doesn't deserve to smell Janis Joplin's farts

 

Thanks Rusty O'Toole
That's a lot of typing and a great recap of the era.
This is how my Dad similarly describes his T pickup build back in the day. He bought a '32 Sedan for $25 bucks and rolled it on it's roof, and chopped out the frame and running gear he wanted. He then fitted the T, fenders and all, to the frame.
He claims the advantage to "finding" the pieces he needed was working Production Acquisition for Canadian Pacific Air Lines. Back in the day, you really had limited choices for trick parts. The "true parts cost" was... your labour.
As it went, it was there that he continued partnership with another fellow to maintain the build. Although eventually selling out his share. The T turned out alright too, you'll find it as a small pic in a '62 or '63 Car Craft. And it was from that Seattle show that the T managed a there and back Mexico City.
By the way, just for the record... I'm Canadian and I think the "Bieb" TOTALLY SUCKS! He really cannot sing well.
yea for Ms. Joplin, she can - Summertime -1968

 

Rusty O'Toole, thanks for good info. It's important to know that a Deuce frame might not have been available for low dollars; that means the low-buck hot rod would have used an A frame.

Tardell's design is top-drawer, but I'm not sure your average '50's teenager would have done things like grafting a '32 K-member into an A frame.

So the question becomes, what's the best way to put a V8 drive train under an A frame?

 

Right or wrong here are a couple from my home town!

 

One things for sure,,60 years ago projects were pretty easy to come by and many were free and some folks would pay to have them removed. HRP

 

By the time I was into hotrods in the fifties, the Chevy v8 was the engine of choice, usually hooked to a standard Ford transmission with an adapter. Many A models wound up with Chevy engines, it was small and light and the trans would get rebuilt on a regular basis, then get replaced with Lincoln gears. Serious rodders would go to the Cad lasalle and open driveline. I can't remember anyone in my circle that was sophisticated enough to put in a K-frame.

 

Payday summer 1961...I spent my entire paycheck $40.00 (only a part time parts driver) on a brand new Offy 3x2 maiifold with 3 strombergs, chrome pots and progressive linkage. Did not have any money left for gas (.27 gal.) but DAMN it sure looked good! I even pulled the hood off so everyone could see the 3 carbs sticking up. I painted the car my myself with a borred spray gun and a couple qts. of white enamel for less than $25.00. Red painted wheels with baby moons were about $25.00. Flame paint cost a few dollars for spray cans. Sure-fit did new seat covers for about $25.00. Car cost $100.00 (1934 Ford 2 door sedan-previous owner was a 80+ year old lady) She later said she loved what I did to the car, especially the flame paint job!

 

What would he NOT do? Be seen with a tattooed orca betty!