.....the "old man" look to my coupe that is!! Over the holiday I made a few simple changes to my coupe and for me, it really made the difference from feeling like I'm driving a old man, Early Ford V8 Club stocker to more of a car with some character to it. The changes were pretty minor. I ditched the greyhound hood ornament. Got rid of the windshield wipers/posts and covered the holes with a couple of chromed allen head bolts. I used my Alliance membership to good use and went with 550 blackwalls on the front from Coker and 700 blackwalls on the back to give the body a bit more of a rake. These were matted to a set of wide 5s my dad had in the back of his garage. All in all, the changes were nothing groundbreaking or drastic, but just enough to give the car a new feel. Here are some before photos.....
I guess it never rains in Calipornia just like the song says. I have never understood the idea of removing windshield wipers on street driven cars.
Tuck the fronts in the fender a tiny bit and it'd be looking even younger That car is beautiful either way.
Looks good! I'm biased, but backing the wide-whites as well Was this the same vehicle that was for sale at the Rod and Custom show at the Cow Palace last year? cheers.
I guess I'm an "old man" but I liked it better before, all I'd do is a drop axle. But it's nice either way.
Looks great... I also think dropping it a few inches all the way around would make a HUGE difference. Very cool. Malcolm
Another vote for drop the axle and lose the spare. Nice car either way though. You're a lucky guy to be able to go out and take off in that car
I am planning on the addition of a dropped axle down the road, but it won't be until next winter. CAB, this wasn't the same coupe your thinking of. The coupe came from Placerville and I don't think ever left the area. The day after I got it I took it to Asphalt Invitational (made it to the exit before the show and lost my front tire.....long story ) and I think that was the farthest it has ever been driven! It was a definate garage queen before I got it. To those who have liked the before photos.....I would agree!! I think the coupe looked great before too, but for some reason, for me, it just didn't "feel" right. Sorry to those for the "old man" reference, but when I was trying to describe how I felt the look was in my eyes, that was the first word that came to mind! As for the "never understood the idea of removing windshield wipers on street driven cars" .......<!-- / message --> ever tried Rainex?? One of the rare instances it decided to rain here in Nor Cal this year I was out in the coupe and the windshield wipers on it were totally uselsess. The Rainex I applied as a back up worked great with no issues. I used the stuff on my 26 tub too and never had any problems with it in the rain.
What a nice car, before and after. I would drop axle the front, lower the rear, skirt it, loose the spare...and have lots of fun. What a great find.
It looks alot better in the after photos but it needs to come down in the front a little and I agree that the spare tire needs to go.
It still looks like an old man car to me, but that's what I think of that model in general. You need to get some skirts for it.
Ditto! It looks great either way, I love those stock artillery wheels but, with the black walls it has a nice mild 40s look. A 2'' drop up front would really push the attitude. (Again, just my 2 cents.) Great job!
your car rocks both ways! it sounds like you need another one that isn't a cherry stocker. i'm not a purest but driving a "museum piece" really wears a guy out from the ride to being worried about something fucking it up or worse getting stolen! time to get a builder.
The white-wall's are always in style, and true to what was popular in the '40s-'60s, but if you needed a change, and the blackwalls do it for you, cool. Funny thing here though, I still have family pics of my folks's cars from the '40s and '50s and all of 'em wore blackwalls, because my old man was much too practical (and too cheap) to "dress up" any of his old Ford's with those "fancy" WWs. Nope, all he needed or wanted was a coon-tail on the antenna Being somewhat of an old-timer myself now, I tend to cherish the memories of "how-it-was-done" by the really "cool" guys, the rodders, way back then. (of which my old man certainly was NOT one) My own preference would be with a WW Big-n-Little's rubber rake, (on a set of chrome reverse rims wouldn't hurt) and that clunky looking old spare gone.
Rozzi, Great looking car! How about putting wide whites on one side only? Then you'll have 2 different looks and please everyone! Actually, I'm for putting in a dropped front axle and losing the spare. Also, put some louvers in the decklid. Remove the sides of the hood, keep the top and while your at it, have it louvered. Also, replace the pedastal mount tail lights with some flusher mounting ones (Do Not French Them!). Then, if you want to go big time, chop the top about 3-4".
The Jalopy Journal
