Wow!!!!!! What bubble have you been living in?? Hot Rodding has been strong in So-Cal since the twenties they were still rodding during the war they even had a few SCTA dry lakes meets. The first actual Hot Rod mag was "Throttle" published by Jack Peters in 1941. Veda Orr published CT news during the war to keep the Soldiers up to date with what was happening. Hot Rod mag came out in 1948. So you really need to research.
JimmyB to cool, I have read THROTTLE Cover ta COVER. KILLER, KILLER stuff. Now I am reading. KING OF THE BOARDS, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JIMMY MURPHY. and The Birth of Hot Rodding. Wish I had a way back machine. Born to Late, But still living the dream. Cheers. Slim
Basic specs 1925 Chev block, ported 3 port head, Nash rockers, Ford C crank, OX-5 rods from a Curtiss Jenny, model A pistons, 15:1 compression, Winfield cam, Jewett oil pump, full pressure oiling. more detailed info is hard to come by but Jim Miller over at AHRF should be able to help.
Holy shit, awesome thread. Here's my Grandpa's '33 5 window with a 59A in it . He said he torched the floor board out, and used wood for a floor to channel it. It never had a title, and he sold it in the early fifties for $75.00.
These are all from Pasadena area, '46 trough '48, Plus ElMirage in '48. Taken by a couple of old guys here in N.Nevada when they lived in Ca.
Here is a modern example of a very late 40's style roadster - 1928A on a 32 chassis, 39 box, Halibrand Q.C.. Chris ("RustyBucket") has done a good job trying to keep everything as much as possible in the mid-to-late 40's style. He's spent 2.5 years almost every day putting his first hotrod together . . . I only helped with the engine. Hell - I kid him that he won't even put a phillips-head screw anyplace on the darn thing (except the fuel pressure regulator we had to temporarily throw on because the "modern" versions of the original pumps put out TOO much pressure and overflow even the new Stromberg 97 floats - bastards!). He's going to rework that over the winter - to ditch the fuel pressure regulator. Anyway - I really like this car, he's done a great job: He's got some more photos with the original style leather seat in, hubcaps on, chrome front shocks, etc -- looks even better.
Chris has done a great job with that A roadster, I have been following it on the Flyers board. Phillips head screws are traditional though
Do any of you 40's rodders from California remember my brother Tommy Glover from Bell? He was killed at El Marige May 2nd 1948. I was three at the time. Just wondering. Dan
Hmmm... Didn't know that. Patent was applied for in 1936, but "was so widely copied that by 1949 [Phillips] had lost them." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_F._Phillips
Just a nube comment here and some may think OT but did anyone build a hot rod back then using a V12 flatty. ...Jay
Absolutely... They used just about every engine available... Up to and including the v16 cads etc... It's just that the big lincoln 8s and 12s were so heavy that the return on hop-ups weren't very high... You could go faster with a Merc...
The Jalopy Journal
