Anyone attemptin a Truly Period PERFECT Build?

More power to you guys that can pull off the 100% Traditional parts, tools and techniques. My only concern is that you are beginning to sound a lot like those "gold chainer matching numbers guys" and that ain't cool.... Just because it was or is traditional doesn't necessarily make it good. Some of those old parts, tools and techniques were not good then and are not good now. Just my point of view.

 

I agree, and by the way, that thing looks familiar.
You guys did such a good job the the Pebble Beach crowd liked it enough to display it.

 

That's what I was trying to say in my previous post. A totally period correct build, would be just another version of the "resto-rods". Not saying thats a bad thing, but it's really anal, if you think about it.

I remember a thread, not too long ago, and it was about trying to find period correct nuts and bolts. Really?

 

The Buddha taught that the path to freedom from suffering lies not in extremes, but in moderation, a philosophy that is known as the Middle Way.


I am choosing the Middle Way for my pickup. I have vintage engine and speed parts, drum brakes all around, dropped straight front axle, vintage bias ply tires, and et cetera. The parts and styling are all very specific to around 1959. But whatever I take apart gets new bolts, nuts, and washers. I have a new factory reproduction wiring harness. Likewise with new patch panels mig welded, new innertubes, new paint, and et cetera. I used modern tools because I don't have any old ones. All fluids and battery are modern too, lol.

I respect and admire the attention to details of the "all or nothing" dudes. But at the end of the day, I'm just not that guy. If we were to be honest, there's not that many of those guys.

Having said that, it would be a big nit picker to look over my pickup and be able to point out much modern stuff.

 

argon was in regular use in the late 60s in aircraft work I was certified in 72 for Tig and Plasma welding in 73 I don't know when Plasma welding started but it to was before the mid 60s at least The first tig welder was built in the 50s some time.I know one of the original builders an engineer by the name of Brian O'brien he was part of a group that designed and built it.I have seen the actual 1st tig welder he still has it at his home.Spray painting equipment for a bunch of guys was HVLP back then using an Electrolux vacuum cleaner with the spray gun attachment.Compressors for the most part were old AC units and cobbled together plumbing parts and used more to pump up tires and blow stuff off than for anything else .I'm talking about in a back yard teens "shop" if you were lucky you knew some commercial operations that might let you do some work in their shop. O/A torches were a big expense that usually were shared by a few guys to own a set same for an arc welder.Lots of parts were made in school "Shop class". I miss the days when car clubs were a dozen guys meeting in an old barn or what ever they could rent pooling money and talent for the big money tools and helping each other actually build cars!in 1964 Car Craft magazine ran a "How To" on building a home shop compressor from above said parts. it was the same time they ran the series on How to build a hot rod T roadster.My brother in laws T was built using that as a guide and welded with a Craftsman arc welder he bought just for that project we still have that little buzz box and it works fine.

 

Other then tires nothing showing newer then 1955. Oops them damn head lights. S..t forgot

 

Splitting hairs perhaps?

 

Anal or not, if the person is building it that way and for the love and personal goal, has someone else here the right to call it stupid?

As soon as someone wants to go the extra mile because he (or she) wants to have the satisfaction of having it done this way, there is always someone else there blaming them?

If these people were snobby and acted like an elite, then it could be called upon. But usually it is the people around them that is throwing the first stone and telling them that they are wrong.

Some think bias plys tires and 6 volts are anal and stupid, some think that correct bolts are stupid. Let the builder/owner of the car decide that without telling them that your way of seeing things is the almighty way of doing it.

Like Special Ed so very well puts it: "Compromises will be made at some point. It is inevitable..... "

It is up to each person to draw that line.

 

My buddy Mark is a real stickler for period correctness. He built this roadster in a fifties style then pulled the body off the frame (sold it and kept the body) and then started over with only pre-war parts. During the build he was really going for 1938 and earlier but I think he told me there were a couple pieces that dated to 1940. He's running a 32' frame with all the little stock bits and pieces so it looks as if someone took a 32' truck off the frame and threw the A roadster on top. He's pretty hardcore...mechanical brakes, stock lever shocks, six volt electrical system, all early gauges, fully functional pressurized fuel system with a pump on the dash, flex tubing headers and a late 21 stud flatty with pumps in the heads.

Heres a shot of it pretty soon after getting it running.


32' truck dash with 34' Packard gauges in the center and an early tube style temp gauge in front of the driver and a 4 lb. fuel pressure gauge next to it.



37' 21 stud motor with a block letter weiand high rise intake, one of the few options for a true prewar intake. The heads are shaved aluminum stockers. The spark comes from a Spaulding bros. converted lincoln distributor. He'll admit this is a bit newer then the rest of the build but he's working on an even earlier version made with a stock ford divers helmet distributor mated to a lincoln coil and converted to run like a dual coil set up.



Here you can see it in it's final state with the vented 32' Chev hood and the ragged old homemade top.

 

^^^^^^Wow!^^^^^^

 

Who cares what welder was used ? Period Perfect means No shortcuts allowed when it comes to parts & stance .
Marks' roadster looks like a survivor : Mission accomplished : Period Perfect

Imho .. Klaz
Period Perfect : Where were you in '62 ?

 

Im thinkin the next one will be circa '82

 

Am I missing something here? Are those covers over the heads? Whats holding them on? Not having a go at you, more intrgue then anything.

 

havent you seen these before???? yes they are covers, and they look great, they usually clip arouund the water necks on early flatheads im pretty sure, correct me if im wrong here?????

 

These are Thickstun heads and covers...rare and very expensive though I believe they were repop'd in small quantities. I think they were intended for boats to keep from water sitting in the recesses for the spark plugs and generally keeping water out of the ignition system. Neat stuff...I've heard of complete set ups (heads/covers, intake and matching air cleaner) going for $5,000+!! John

 

Thicksthun "headcovers"

Klaz


Heads looks like this :

 

That car is so sweet.
I am glad that he is stickler for period correctness,as the result looks well worth it (are there more pics on the net somewhere??)
Cheers RM

 

Klaz! Good to see you live and kickin'!

 

`82 .. Halibrands & 4bars .. 327 engine with tri-power & 4ondafloor ..
period perfect..

Klaz

 

my appologys i have only seen the repopped covers, i knew it was thickstun they were cop-pied from, and the boat idea definately makes sense , agreed heren and yes orig thickstun stuff always goes for big$$$

 

Hi JB .. Still alive & Stupid

Klaz

 

What about the flat paint? Is that period correct?

 

Squirrel, if you're talking about Steve, I'll agree. He's an old school rodder. No mail order parts or cnc'd brackets on any of his cars. He uses parts from donor cars that innerchange.....mostly Chevy.....and all 1950's. He has built some of the coolest cars out there.

 

They do not clip around the water necks. They have a single attachment point in the middle of the head.

The repops do not say Thickstun in the middle at the bottom...

 

So cool!!! Thickstun made those as a result of his passion for boat racing. He realized that the water was getting into the sparkplugs and needed to make a cover so that's why he came up with these cover and the Air Cleaner that we all covet today.

 

Ha ha.. yep. The stupid part must come from my Norwegian relatives.

Haven't seen you around for a while. Hope all is good, man.

 

Using a shop full of modern tools makes things easier and faster for most guys but doesn't necessarily turn out a better hot rod or custom.

True there were guys in the 30's, 40's 50's and 60's that did things pretty crude but there were also true craftsmen who Turned out hot rods and customs with fit and finish as fine as any coach built car or any high dollar European car with a shop full of simple tools.

I've got one buddy who can knock out any bracket you want with his trace torch if you have a pattern made for it in a few minutes. I've got another who will draw the same pieces on a piece of steel, cut them out with a torch and then spend any number of hours making them just right.

I'd be willing to bet that we have a number of members who quietly build away in their home garage with nothing more than an old Lincoln 225 welder and a used torch setup along with a box of hand tools, small electric tools and a pair of saw horses. They might not get things done quite as fast as the guy with the 40x60 shop with the hoist, mig, tig, 80 Gallon 6 hp air compressor and every air and electric tool known to man but they still get the job done and many can do a hell of a nice job. The lack of tools and equipment shouldn't mean that the car has to have rough edges.

The lack of patience is usually the number one factor in things being a bit crude on what are intended to be nice builds. I don't think that is a new thing but has been around since day one.

 

Mail order speed equipment parts can be traced back to the late forties. Look in the original issues of HOT ROD for ads from Weber, Offenhauser, Edelbrock, etc. Want a catalog? Send 25 cents in coin or US Postage stamps and the "catalog" was usually a mimeographed sheet of paper. If you wanted a part, go to the post office, get a postal money order, send it and wait for the part to come parcel post. No 800 numbers, internet ordering or credit cards until the mid sixties.

Interestingly enough, I bought a set of headers for my 1.8 SOHC project recently and I had to get a postal money order. That's old school!

 

That's PERFECT period