ok edited my original post. instead of asking what i should or shouldnt do now i guess i would wrather ask what can i do to help me build a mild custom that still still screams im from the fifties? i have some solid ideas im stickin with but lil detail ideas etc. would be nice.
Get some 50's - early 60's Car Craft / Hot Rod mags and look over the cars. Go to shows and look at cars similar to yours. If you can pinstripe....go at it , it will sell you as an artist, $$$$, to put back in the car. Without pics.....cannot see.......
Hey there, Kid. The only ignorant ass is the guy who sits in a lawn chair and tells folks what he had someone else do to his custom. If you like something and it fits with the general look and feel you are aiming for, do it. -Stefan
to be able to list the number of car shows ive been to would be impossible ; ) ive seen what i like and dont but how do i keep to the original concept of customizing a car without crossing the line into a classic pile of crap. if i play with the color and create a custom one is it gonna kill what im goin for? is the idea of chops and lowering and cusomt color flats crossing the line? what if the rest of the car is correct for the time period? thank you
I think that the real key to building a good one instead of one that just looks like it had stuff done to it and stuff stuck on it is to start with a plan. Either on paper or in your head, the car should be completely finished before you even start on it. Stick to your plan, don't let compromise or good enough come in and mess things up. Don't bite off more than you can chew either. A clean, smooth mild custom will all ways be a nicer car than a botched up radical ride, and easier to build too. If you want a 50's kind of ride stick to parts available THEN. Research, research, and keep looking at other folks rides untill you know exactly what you want, then commit to doing it right even if you got to do it over 5 times to get it right. It will be worth it in the end.
Just one other suggestion Kid. On the left and right of your keyboard is a key called "shift". Please use it as it makes it a hell of a lot easieer to read what ya wrote. Thanks
Basically, you've got it. Main rule of thumb: Whether stock or custom...just don't put any parts/treatments on it newer than the early '60s. Hidden technologies such as a modern trans is ok. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Many cars from the day that may have been considered ugly/beautiful. The neat thing is, that each one has it's own individuality...maybe similar to others, but rarely exactly the same...so no worries. One more thing...you mentioned going fast first, then looks. That was mainly true with hot rods. Customs were generally low and slow, often with stock drivetrains. But, (and that's a big butt) again, there were always the exceptions. As others said, check out cars of the era, pick elements you like/dislike, then do what you want. Good luck, be careful, and above all, have fun.
Chopping a Tudor Shoebox is the cheese. The flat windshield glass makes it relatively easy. I personally prefer a slight rearward taper, created by taking more from the rear than the front. Line (and stance) are "make it or break it" factors. The rest is gravy. A lowered, flattie powered 'box with period pieces is already cool.
Sounds like the guys have given you some good suggestions, good luck on your project. I only have one question, where did you find stereo window cranks? I been looking for them for ages!
You had me until the comment about wanting flat paint..Thats a modern "traditional" fad..Go get a handful of old custom car magazines and see how many are flat, I'd venture to say none. And the misconception that those are all high end, show only cars is completely false..Literally hundreds of those feature cars are lower budget, home built cars, all shiny..... And for "49 custom", your comment implies that guys like Bob Hirohata, Larry Ernst or Sy Gregorich were ignorant. Not everyone has the skills to build a custom car, but it certainly doesn't mean thier not knowledable...They kept guys like Barris, Winfield, A Bros. etc etc etc in business....
i do understand the feelings on flat paint and i didnt mean to sound like shiny cars are all for show or are all high end if my words led us down that path then im sorry. i just happen to like satin paint and maybe thats where i cross the line havnt decided. my friend has a very very clean shoebox and its shiny metalic green and looks great. i wouldnt change a thing bout his car. any suggestions for finding these 50's magazines. do you think a car image could completely be tarnished by bein flat? i mean wouldnt that just be like goin along with the idea of makin it your custom? i think the primer thing is plaid and flat black is gettin out of control but i happen to like the metalic im lookin to use as a flat its gorgeous like i said maybe thats where i cross the line.
Let me approach it this way, if you were a kid in the '50s and managed to have a newish car or even a young adult and managed to have a newish car IE 2 or 3 years old you may not have a lot of cash on hand to go extreme with it. If you owned a body shop you may want to invest more like in a chop or section but the average Joe may not have the time or money to invest. You have to keep in mind that in the fifties there was a mild recession so the car you owned would have been most likely the car you drove. Especially if it was an newer car. So average Joe a weekend lowering was common as well as a nose and deck job, perhaps the door handles removed and the belt-line trim, loose the sun visor. Some guys left the sun visor on to make the windshield look shorter but the visor was mostly a grocery getter look with most of the fellas in my part of the country. Minor engine mods may have been better heads, better ignition, a multi carb manifold. All that could be done in a weekend and get it on the road again. No one really wanted to have flat paint or primer it was just a transitional thing until there was money in hand for a paint job. A lot of the time there was interior work done but that was when there was cash in hand once again. If the original interior was good it would come after the rest of the car at least that is my understanding. You have to bear in mind that most of this information came to me second hand from the Ol' Man I wasn't very old in the '50s. Looking in old magazines is a good place to start but you have to remember that magazine cars were as a rule the cream of the crop. If you really want to get a handle on it look for someones old photo collection that will get you a better idea of what was seen normally on the street. That decision is entirely up to you the question becomes I suppose do you want to drive around in something common or something uncommon. Magazine would be uncommon and photo collection would be more common.
To find old mags: Almost any decent sized swapmet or flea market has a guy or two selling old mags. Ebay is another source, but you'll pay more there. I try to buy them by the box...its cheaper that way. Also try running an ad on Craigslist. Good luck, Glenn Glenn
Go find pictures of Geemans Shoebox. THAT is how one should look. He spent many years fine tuning it to one of the nicest customs out there.
thank you sir and everyone so far for the advise. im workin at the moment and i actually found a neat original ford color that will look awesome cleared and polished! and i can agree with the last post talkin to my dad back in the day was like now. one we are in a recession and two if you own a car unless you can afford a new one you drove an old one. sht i drive a 96 chevy 1500 and the thing is gettin old and tired so i understand that part completely. as the money becomes available stuff will get done it sounds like im headin the right way just always nice to have some light along the way. so then if a cleared paint job is what it should have how crazy can i get with the olive green? i work for a ppg platinum distributor and all i do is make color i kinda feel as though i should have a sweet one of a kind color. oh the choices
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yeah that thing is hot! a lil more work than i was plannin on but one hell of a kustom any way you look at it.
if it had the what ill call "bullit" grill instead of that one and diff hub caps this on ein my opinion is gorgeous
There are a lot of different opinions and each has it's own justifications. When it's all said and done the car should be whatever you want to make it. No matter what that is, some will agree and some won't. I understand your concerns about preserving and and respecting the car's origins and that it has survived. To put that into perspective, we aren't talking about one of the six existing Baugatti Royales, or the Marmon Wasp that won the first Indy 500. Not to diminish you car, but it's just a car. There are more of them. Probably at least a few of those are in better condition and more original than yours, so that's covered. Do what you want, do it well, and don't rely on others for approval.
at the same time you bring up a good point there will be another car like mine or close or better or cleaner or even a similar color, so that in mind i think im goin with bright olive i wanted originally and ill clear it then ill feel like its diff ; )
As someone stated earlier, build it in your mind first. Like a chalkboard, it's easy to start over or change things. Second, the folks on here are a treasure of knowledge, but in order to get your message through to them, you have to be able to communicate better. We deal with written words and pictures. It helps if what you request is easy to understand.
Throw some pearl or some gold flipflop on it and you'll have a different color. Its a little later than the '50s if you are after a '50s build but if you could find either some murano pearl or some frog eye pearl that color would be the bomb. The desoto grill in the car pictured is a real old custom trick, I don't care for the wheels myself but all that is just personal tast I believe.
CHOP, my comment actually referred to guys at the shows with cry baby dolls and the like who don't know what a tappet wrench is, but act like they built their rides. Clients of the greats certainly weren't ignorant. Kid was concerned about "crossing the line", and my point was that building something you enjoy that you did with your own two hands seldom reaches that point. (The Hirohata Merc is actually one of my all time favorites, and from what I have read, Bob Hirohata never referred to "what I did to my 51" but rather "this is the car I brought to the Barris' shop". A genius move in my book.)
i will admit that bein a motorcycle guy im def not up to speed on the lingo and i do have a hard time gettin my point across. i do have a pic of the car in my head and as the car comes along i will post pics. i feel like im goin in a good direction based on what ive read so far. so thankyou and anything anyone wants to add is always welcome especially what to stay away from
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