Customs Period correctness on a late 50's custom, do's and don'ts

Antennas should be straight up and down. Laid back looks more like a low rider thing.

 

Rolled and pleated diamond in the center. Damn I miss them

 

Straight up,. location is subject to change, but somewhere below the quarter window on one side seemed to be favored.

 

What size is the tubing did they use on the Taboo?

 

1 1/2" or 1 3/4" I think. I've never actually measured it. The antenna's were added in 1993 right after my grandfather sold the car back to Ron who originally built it, but it was what Ron Luchs wanted in 1961 but never did it, mainly didn't want to pay for more paint,

 

Antennas's? In this day and age who needs fugly antenna's. Who listens to garbage AM & FM radio? Station selection is limited and poor sound quality is all you get. With 2020 technology, Bluetooth wireless speakers, no wiring or antennas are needed. No need to butcher your dash installing an ugly outdated radio head, needless wiring and old fahioned speakers. I have a choice of thousands of quality tunes to play through my iPhone and Bluetooth speakers without any wiring. Its 2020 and time to join the 21st Century. Why use 90's technology? That stuff went out with Easter Egg paint, graphics and tweed interiors.

 

The antennas are for looks even back then they were often for looks. Customs are all about the look. Well by the late 50s they were. The early customs were to emulate a big expensive road car with an economy car budget. Hot mills and modified fords were often the norm. but by the later '50s and '60s the whole go fast deal was well on its way out. and looks were king.

 

That's completely missing the point. By that same rationale he should sell the old ford and go lease a new Nissan or something. You know, join the 21st century.

That aside, I've always gone back and forth on the frenched antenna because it's partially at odds with one of the key tenets of custom car building, which is to clean up the lines of the car. If you french an antenna, you've disrupted a visual line. Personally, I've never been a fan of the sunken antenna in the quarter for that reason. It's not untraditional, I just think it looks better without it. On the there hand, some cars really look slick with the antenna sunken in the sides of the rear of the car, next to the trunk, can look real slick, even leaned back. You can also get creative and make a body line around the top of the antenna hole (if you recall on Monster Garage when Bill Hines did that on Jesse James' '54). Just something to consider.

 

Sometimes the antennas were used as door/trunk openers to replace the handles when removed. When my pal Merl and I did my truck I choose a exhaust reducer (don't remember the sizes) because of the antenna base size. Couple of pics of the install, miss that truck!

 

You guys are wasting your breath. He gets some sort of kick out of going onto every custom thread and talking shit. If everyone just ignored him maybe he would just go away.

 

I was just thinking the same thing.....

 

i wish am radio had more tunes. theres something about the hum of those old tubes and the warm sound through that single speaker....not responding to mister rain on your parade, just sayin

 

I remember buying my first old car at 16, a 57 Chevy Bel Air, and the first time I drove it I started it up, turned on the radio, and hearing Glen Miller's "In the Mood" come over the speaker in the dash. A noteworthy occurrence in 2002. Great memories

 

Im a big fan of the 57 desoto antennas, custom from the factory, right on the tip of the fins. I wish i had a set. As for tunes in the car? easy enough these days, in a 50's ride, you can have the AM going in the dash running that speaker and hide an amp in the back with bluetooth built in to power some speakers on the back shelf and stream from your phone. You can hide them with the right kind of cloth and still live with modern tunes hidden away in the car. Kick panel speakers up front can be disguised too if need be but they will be much more obvious.

 

Frenched antennas will add a great deal to the "look" you're after ....

 

55 Ford....ok....through me off, everyone was leaning towards Chevrolet, so I assumed 55 Chev.
Here's a 55 Ford .

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No way...color TV.... really. We are still watching the caveman TV (fire in the fireplace) and listening to the AM radio. KOMA on skip at night.

 

And this is a article on building your own "Rippled" rocker pipes.

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After getting my 28A Rod going in 59,I found I really also needed a date car with roll up windows an top to go to submarine races,girls don't like races in open cars.
So I picked up a used Henry J,in 60 an could not let it be just a Henry J so it became"Temptation".
I started custom work a little at a time,by 62 it was a full custom,even in Car Craft mag by Jan 63. Nerf bars on rear with rolled rear pan and tunneled tag that folded back in to trunk to get to gas cap, 59 Cady tail lights that I cut the tips off an set tips back up inside=looked like jet engine that way,vs same as others that were using 59 bullets that were showing up on a lot of customs by end of 59 n 60. On my J hood I put 6 1955 Buick ex scoops,but backward on hood so they looked like intake scoops for 6 carbs. And a ton of other custom things.
My neighborhood I grew up in, the 50s n early 60s,we had 14 of us teens,all in to cars, so 6 mild customs 2 hot rods an my full custom J.
Tim's 55 Ford "Gangrene" after a short time got a tube grill,Merc Tail lights an a new paint job[Green],after we added a 390 V8 to 55,other neighborhood cars got custom things done over time,before we all got out of highschool{60 to 62]
We had a very cool group we thought. Zero had brand new cars.

My J had Olds Rocket 88 and Steve's 30A had a Y-block 292 Ford V8,like the one in my 28A{ old pick when rebuilding engine an removing roll bar,just too keep all 3 photos old ones.

 

I know somewhere there are a few pictures somewhere of my grandfathers 55 Ford. It was his first car he bought in 57/58. He didn't have much money to hot rod with it. All it had was a full tube grille, heated springs to drop it and lake plugs. and some lancer hub caps. Ill have to go digging for those.

 

How have we forgotten about the layered plastic dash knobs?

 

Here's a chrome steering column. Boughten already plated back in the late 80's. Even the shift arms are plated

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Yep...a very popular accessory

 

I like that look. I have a 3 speed column. I wonder if I should look for an automatic column prior to chroming? Or can I use the 3 speed column by removing the non-used arms?

 

You have to have an antenna on the car. Where else are you going to attach the raccoon tail?

 

And your wet bathing suit!

 

One of the two rods used for the manual 3 speed could be rigged to turn it into a column shift automatic. Then cut off the arm you aren't going to use

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Haven't seen that video in a long time Jnaki. That's me helping Mox roll the cover off the Impala. Love that car. That was a fun day hanging out with Pat while he videoed Mox's cars.
Gordy

 

Wrap-around T-Bird back seat.

Or an older back seat that has a built-in speaker housing upper center in the back of the seat. Some of those were pretty fancy.

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I have enjoyed reading these thoughts on customs of the era. May I ask, with the sunken antennas,
what happens when the car gets wet from rain or washing? Did the tubes have a drain or did you have to sponge them dry? If they were connected to a radio I guess reception would suffer.