I bought a 46 that looked a lot like your 48- fixed the mechanical and had a nice driver- paint and interior aged like yours- was just gonna do a quick body off- 14 months later just going back together- wasn't cheap and still will be short the interior-
Not an Okie thing, I grew up-racing, in a town of 9000 in Ilinois, nothing on street outlaws looks out of the ordinary to me, except they're running much faster. Then again that town had the highest volume Ford motorsports sales volume for the nation and a chassis and transmission shop that both had business coming from several states away. Lots of action. I see your point from the pics, the lower fenders could probably be fixed blended, above the wheel arches that won't get it. Paint away. I still suggest a season or 2 driving, showing, having fun while you gather any needed parts, once they come apart it takes 3 times as long as planned before they're drivin again.
Hety Timbo. Your car originally had 16 inch wheels. The 15 inch you have now are 1/2 inch wider. They are Mercury wheels. It would be done back in the day. 8-20-15 are cool. You need Hubcaps from '46-'48. They will fit. Here's a picture
Thanks Tony... YOU are gonna get your brain picked a lot by me! starting....NOW - is the rear axle stub like that normally? seems kinda far out there. Didn't know if this was maybe Harley Earl's car and had some secret squirrel stuff goin on...?? and...another detail I omitted - car has skirts... I think they look like ass so - I took em off before I drove it home on the trailer. All the hoidy toidy pics from the Peterson show em' on it. (bitch at me all ya'll want... they aint going back on... lol) I will take a pic of those pics... ?!? and plop em' up here manana. and yeah - I know all about $$ turning to $$$$$ - have a Chevy C10 I bought new exactly 30 yrs ago - and - I've put a port inj 406, Tremec TR 6060 , Ford 9" and all that schtuff...( Bench seat baby!!!) My wife hates it so that means it is perfect! ..and I could maybe sell it for 10 k if I got lucky... have like 40k in it... ( no blabbin to her!!) same with the Honda minibikes I redo... then again - I've never seen a Brinks truck at the graveyard. She does Love Love this old Ferd tho! whew!!
Yes the axle stubs sticking out like that are totally normal on the banjo rear ends, the axles are tapered and have keys which press fit into the drums. They don't come off easy with out the puller that grabs the drum by its axle extension groove. So no BFH on the rear drums trying to get them off. One thing to add to your list is rear brake drum retainers which use a couple of the wheel cylinder bolts to hold them on, speedway, vern tardel and possibly others sell them and they are not pricey yet good insurance. They're basically a small bracket that keeps the wheel/drum assembly on the hub in the event of axle shaft breakage, which is unfortunately common when the banjos are abused frequently
Timbo, I'm no fan of skirts either...... but the history and presidents are there. If the intent for your car in the begining was to be a "custom", then the skirts would be in order. Not that I don't like customs, but I am fundamentally a "Hot Rodder" and for me skirts, (preferably short and tight), are for women, not cars. Notning has really changed for me since the '50's. Harley Earl built "customs" only. If any of his cars had "hopped up" engines it was to make him happy and look good by the "Head Shed" Not to take away from the man, he came up with some of the greatest stuff GM ever ever built. Back to us. All Fords '28-'48 had that stub rear axle. Nothing odd about yours. Do yourself a favor if you want to have a future around here. No discussions of anything past '64, NO R_T Rods, Street rods, cycles, and last but not least, NO POLITICS! These are considered OT, off topic Just friendly advice. The guys around here are really great. They are really many times an inspiration to the Young Guns that want to learn about thee "Old Ways" Don't be offended, but many of us around here would put you in that classification! This whole thing is just an in your head experience. There is no logical sense to what we do, but it breathes life into many of us. Most of us get hooked early and stay around. Living in the late '40's and early '50's, many of the guys around here lived this stuff the first time around, moved on, then moved back. The '50's was in many ways the Glory Days, but remember these hot rods were daily transportation for the most part. There were very few car shows in those days and they had '20's and '30's cars for the most part. Not a Hot Rod in sight. Yo renched on your car on Sat and Sun so you could be cool going to school or work during the week and so you could brag to the guys and cruise for the girls on Friday and Saturday nite, try to beat your rival stop light to stop light , and go around and do it again next week. To many of us it is still a life style. Example: I wore "engineer" boots when I was 8 years old. I still do! I talked too much, somebody else chime in here! Hang with us, get the "feel" and you will have a lot of fun!
okay - here's the pics of the photos from Timothy White's show at the Peterson. no scanner that big so I set em' on the floor and snapped em' with the phone. Adapt and overcome! IMG_20150802_121936372 by Timbo405 posted Aug 2, 2015 at 12:47 PM IMG_20150802_122039711 by Timbo405 posted Aug 2, 2015 at 12:47 PM IMG_20150802_122107362 by Timbo405 posted Aug 2, 2015 at 12:47 PM IMG_20150802_122129643 by Timbo405 posted Aug 2, 2015 at 12:47 PM
Tim, Look at it this way, The art and the fact that it was exhibited at the Peterson adds a layer of history that many of us can't ever get to with our cars. In 12 years I got a picture in R&C once, and GoodGuys twice. That's it! Much of the time we don't get any recognotion at all. Not that my car is so special, but you can prove yours is, or was, if you decide to change things in a drastic way. To maintain your ballance here, I make a humble suggestion: Try to approach changes you would like to make as if you had owned the same car for all the years it was rodded. Try to be the guy and by what was done try to think what would have been next. Most Hot Rods evolve over time. If you have it long enough it won't stay exactly the same. In my opinion, the 2 biggest changes are usually wheels and tires and engine. The great thing here is that, for example, if you change from the steelies on your car now, to a set of early Torque-Thrusts, and change to maybe a 390 FE engine with 3 carbs you move from early '50's to early "60's. But what you have done is a logical progression of what the guy would have done, or might have done. And you keep your engine and wheels if you want to go back. There is a famous local hot rodder around here that has had his '40 coupe since the mid '50's. It went from stock flathead to modified flathead to newer flathead, to Chevy small block, and BACK to flathead. Same car, same owner, 2 and 1/2 generations of interest. This is just info to confuse you or clarify for you. This is why I suggest to build your own history if you need to express your individuality, or become a caretaker and historian for the car you already have. Damn I talk tooo much!!! Regards, Tony
PS: I remember seeing the pictures from the Peterson exhibit somewhere back in '05. See how pictures can affect a car!
I have the set of skirts that came with the car when purchased- I will have them restored and painted to match current color- may use- may not- like your car- mine was built in 1970 and freshened up but left as built-
Well - have re-installed the trunk latch - found the holes under abt 1/4" of mud... then removed the soldered on patch panels they used to block off the holes and Voila! I have a functional trunk and ta brkt/light. Coker Bias looks are on... rebuilt both the Holley 94's and put the correct ( Lower number) jets in then since it's duals...4.5's seems to be good. changed the oil a billion times, all fluids, plugs...belts... starts first time everytime. Have front floors and trunk, rocker sections etc... ready to be installed - probably pretty soon after Christmas. new Bob Drake Harnesses for the whole deal...interior/headliner is getting redone - have already made the appt and written the check - all new windlace, weatherstrip and seals sittin here waiting on me to find some time... engine has a knock - since I dont think these are numbered like a sm blk chev - i'll just say noise is btwn the 1st and 2nd cylinders drivers side... who knows what it is...always been there, just gets louder as the oil heats up. motors coming out pretty quick for new gaskets and some machining if required ( recommend Machine shops in OK please!) I still drive it once a week anywhere from 5 to 50 miles... a little cold here lately to go too awful far. My painter and I are gonna blow the vintage era, distressed black nitrocellulose lacquer back on it after I get all this done...did find an area when I rebuilt the hood latch - under all that was some virginal paint... it is Blue-Gray Metallic - about 5 shades less blue than say 1967Chev Marina blue... that is the original color of the car. we'll see what route I choose - it's one of the two. anyway gonna have Sid drop the axle and do a spring eye flip and get it down a little later on.Still running the Houdailles - seem to do just fine and I have 4 nice spares from my good friend! - she's loved and seems to love me back - so I got that going for me!
UPDATE: block back from machine shop - bored .125 -stock 3 3/4 crank polished - rods done - Ross 3 ring forged pistons... Schneider S100 Camshaft - new Navarro heads ( out to polish now) same Edmunds 2x2 intake...swapped the 94's for 97 Strombergs - going late model valvetrain - one piece guides etc... Sid did an axle for me - dropped the max... am using factory tube shock mounts in the front and the aftermarket in rear...in the meantime I found a 67 Chevy Biscayne 2 dr Post which I'm not touching until I get this fat girl back on the road.
Steering is tough on those cars and radials only make it worse. I bought blackwall firestones bias ply for my 36 chevy from Summit. Price was good and I think they have whitewalls. Whitewalls are cool, but require cleaning or they look like crap.
I believe the car came with 600 X 16. We put 650 so they were not so skiney. 820 X 15 is a lot taller tire and will give you better top end and save the engine. 820's are almost 30 inches tall and should reduce the RPM at 60 MPH by about 400 RPM. My avatar has a 1950 ford rear with 3:89 gears, they made 330 gears for this rear, but try finding a set.
since i wrote those questions my education level has come up dramatically via just doin it...have the cokers... bias look radials and ive replaced every bushing, bearing and fitting...i think it drives like a Cadillac... itll do abt 65-70 max... have the 15" merc wheels on it...doesnt help top end at all but...we just glide around town anyway. i do think blackwalls would look better but hey...hindsight's 20 20! stayed at work til 730 lappin valves... may have this sexy broad runnin again in a week or so...depends on what else i think needs attention...neverending OCD euphoria! and FYI...machine work alone along w balancing everything from the pulley shiv to the pressure plate and everything in the middle ran 1350 bones... now add new parts and other cool old stuff i find or ebay etc... then again...poppin the hood w a flattie in there is waaay worth it.
Ha! that was a few weeks ago - it had no suspension at all under it ( both leaf packs were out getting the eyes reversed - I'll post a "for real" pic once I get it rolling... did a 4" dropped axle/reversed eyes/removed some leaves...15" 48 merc rims and 8.00R15 Cokers... ( bought same for front and removed the little VW tires I bought...in case anyone's needing some! LOL) Did the weld on shock mount to the axle tube out back and factory mounts in front...none of this counts for crap until I get it on the ground tho... we shall see!
Factory front shock mounts... cut and re-positioned the upper stud... mount still sits in the recess in the fenders and the tube shock clears the sway bar...only feasible option w the dropped axle, reversed eyes and no lower shock stud hole in the axle...
some more progress - primed, sealed, shot black then 4x clear in the engine bay - got some parts in so I put on the nut covers etc. Fabbed some discs/ Tig welded em to fill the oil filler and water holes in the intake manifold - ( Guessing the intake is an 8BA version - oh well - it's been on the car forever so it's stayin...) and this is where she sits minus the motor bein in...won't be long now! ( included a pic of the motor when I got the car)
So Tony, is that a good "Damn" or a bad "Damn"... Glad to see you are checkin up on me... anyway - I bought this scoop off Ebay - it was a "blem" so I got it cheap. Proceeded to bob and section it and make it "mine" - gonna flange a new lower plate for it to sit on the carbs and put some aluminum expanded metal screen on the front... no butterflies. Also fabbed an aluminum firewall to clean it all up ( just a full size cover over the orig) and sent it to get some special touches... This car is gettin out of hand fast!! LOL
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