Just joined tonight. Found this site in a roundabout way while researching Y-Block Ford blowers and intakes. I'm putting a E-Bird 312 in a 34 Ford pickup. Leaving the body stock except for paint,and hooking a 3-speed+ od tranny out of a 80's Ford pu to the Y-Block because it looks like a 39 Ford shifter sticking up out of the center of the floor,and because it will allow me to run a 8 iinch rear with 3:25 gears and more modern rear suspension. Going to keep the beam axle up front,and will probably use drum brakes on all 4 corners. I will be running black steel wheels with narrow whitewall radials and 49 Merc hubcaps. No ps,no pb,no ac. Gonna put a heater in it,and maybe a AM-FM radio out of a 56 Olds that I have been saving. With a Y-block with glasspacks,who really wants to listen to anything else? I also have a "East Coast Style" 32 Ford 5-window coupe that I almost have ready to put on the road. This car was probably originally built sometime back in the late 40's or early 50's. Body is unchopped but channelled 7 inches,and it has a 122 inch wheelbase with a suicide front axle to give it that popular "Altered gas coupe" drag car look. The chassis was bent,twisted,and cracked when I bought the car,and it even had a galvanized pipe front crossmember and a single outlet master cylinder with a "T" at the chassis and copper brake lines. Which most likely explains why the chassis was bent and twisted. Had to build new boxed frame rails to weld over the stubs,so I decided to go ahead and modernize it with a 4-bar setup up front instead of the hairpins. Been interested in old cars and hot rods all my life. My brother was 12 years older then me,and he and all his friends were into hot rods back when I first noticed cars in 1955-1956. My brother had a 2 year old 54 Merc Monterey with dual quads and a Isky cam in 56,but there were two coupes VERY similiar to the one I have now on the block where I grew up in Virginia Beach,Virginia. One was a Model A with a Chrysler hemi and 6 97's,and the other was a 32 coupe with a Chryselr hemi and 8 97's. Only guy around who ran a SBC was a guy who had a 55 Chevy 210. Even the guy who had the 33 Chevy Master 4dr his aunt gave him had a 6 carb Caddy engine and hydro in it. He was in high school and working at a gas station at the time. I saw him and this car years later (we had moved to NC in 62) at the drag strip,and it was the second show-quality hot rod I had ever seen that was actually driven. Had a black lacquer paing job so slick a fly couldn't land on it,red rolled and pleated interior,chrome wire wheels,and a dual quad 327 Chevy with a 4-speed. The first show-quality hot rod I ever saw was also seen at that drag strip. It was a 34 Dodge coupe named "Slo-Motion" that belonged to a sailor out of Norfolk,and it had a 394 Olds J-2 engine with a B&M Hydro-Stick and Olds rear. LOVE those old Mopars! Probably going to end up selling my 32 Ford coupe to get a 33-34 Dodge or Plymouth coupe. Just recently got back into cars after being forced into retirement after VN caught up with me. Was a career NCO in the US Army back in the 60's,and didn't have a place to work on or store cars. Got into Harley's instead,and played around building and riding Harley's until I got to where I couldn't raise my leg high enough to get on one. Decided to get back into cars because of that and because I now have a permanent address and a place to work on them. Pretty much have zero interest in any car built after around 1964,and pretty much like everything built between 1925 and 1964. Even have a 58 Rambler stationwagon! I no longer drink,smoke,do drugs or gamble,so I spend all my money on hot rod parts and tools.
Welcome Arthur excellent intro and sounds like a couple of great cars - true Hamber wheels. I love the old stories from you blokes that were really there. My buddies building a 34 PU stock height, steelies as well they are nice trucks.
Guys,thanks for the welcome. Now that I have sorta figured out how to post photos,here are a few. The 48 Plymouth coupe is the only interesting car I have on the road right now. The front clip,engine,transmission,and rear end came out of a 78 Camaro. Other than the Corvette Rally wheels and the paint,the body is dead stock and going to stay that way. If anybody knows where I can get a plastic hood ornament insert that is clear,I would be very grateful if they would tell me about it. The 3 carb engine is the 312 that is going into my 34 pu. You can see the cab behind it. I'll be taking the Ford-o-Matic off and replacing it iwth a 80's Ford 3-speed + od manual tranny. I also have the factory dual quad E-Bird intake that I can switch off on the 312,as well as restored 57 Ford valve covers and a set of chrome Mercury tin valve covers. The 32 coupe is a old-time hot rod that was probably originally built in the late 40's or early 50's. It even has a original "Dago" dropped axle under it! It was built as a "East Coast Style" hot rod,which is channeled a bunch and unchopped. This style car also had a extended wheelbase (mine is now 122 inches) with a suicide front axle for the popular "altered gas coupe" drag strip look. The chassis was bent,twisted,and cracked when I got it,and it had a galvanized pipe front crossmember. I suspect this was due to the copper brake lines that were on it. I had to build new boxed frame rails and weld them over the original stubs after having the chassis straightened at a chassis shop . The 6-carb engine in it is a junk 283 that I used as a blocking dummy to make motor mouts,tranny mount,radiator mounts,hood top,etc. I had the intake and carbs laying around,so I set them on it for grins. The engine going into it is a 69 350 with 10:1 flattop pistons,Crane cam with .246 duration at .050 valve lift,with .525 lift,roller rockers,Dart-2 heads,"loud" Pete Jackson gear drive,and currently is topped off with a 60's Edelbrock "low rise" intake with dual Competition AFB's that have a B&M blower scoop mounted to them. I also have a 3x2,a 4x2,a cross ram dual quad,and the 6x2 intake I can switch off for a different look when or if I want. This should make plenty of power in a 2,000 lb car for a old fat man. It is also the engine that will go with the car if I sell it. If my physical limitations allow me to keep and drive a channelled car,the 350 gets sold and the 409 Chevy,324 Olds,nailhead Buick,291 De Soto hemi, or one of my other Y-Blocks goes in there. I plan on baby blue paint with red and white flames. The photo of the 32 that was taken outside was taken the day I bought it. The other photo was taken inside my workshop. I also have other cars if anybody wants to see photos of them. 58 Rambler wagon,53 Ford coupe with a 390,33 Dodge 4dr that I traded to a guy for a 34 Dodge pu.totally stock 38 Ford Standard "humpback" tudor,39 Ford Deluxe tudor,and some others. Been buying bits and pieces for a LONG time.
VERY nice rides and let me say, hell yea i wanna see more pics of your other cars, specially that '53 ya gots!
That's one of the cars I don't have at home,and I don't have any photos of it. It's nothing special. Just a stock coupe body with a factory hi-po FE,transmission,and rear out of a 69 Mustang in it. I'm probably going to go the mild custom route if I ever get around to working on it. I already have the 54 OIds tail lights.(G) I'm thinking nosed and decked,frenched headlights,"60's rake" up front,tube grille unless I use one of the 55 DeSoto grilles I have,and Moon discs. Paint it either black or "Buy Me Red",and go riding. Here are a couple of photos of my dead stock 38 Ford Standard "humpback" tudor sedan,my 33 Dodge 4dr,and my 50 Lincoln Cosmopolitan. The 38 runs whisper quiet,and I ain't changing a thing on it that can't be changed back to original. The 33 Dodge isn't even really mine anymore. It's too nice,complete,and original to hot rod,so I traded it to a restorer for a mechanically stripped 34 Dodge pu and some cash. He's supposed to be coming after it in the next couple of weeks. I have no idea what I am going to do with the 50 Lincoln. I don't even know why I bought it. It would make one HELL of a trailer towing car if you were to put a 7.3 turbo diesel,ac,and auto over drive in it,though. Restore the body and paint it back the original deep marron,put wide whitewall radials on it,hook it to a 19 foot airstream and go vacationing in style!
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