Projects My new project...Survivor channeled Deuce Roadster

I was asked my opinion today on this car and it's this.... If it were mine I would keep it as is because as stated it IS a representation of how cars were built back then while not a historically significant car it is something that deserves to be preserved.....if the right owner were to get it.

The flip side to that coin is, the "right" owners don't always get there first and sometimes that means the car's authenticity as a untouched survivor will be forgone.

GOOD NEWS!!!! The Quiet One has recognized it's significance and has posted it here on the HAMB for us to take record and not of it's existence which will make it easier to restore one day or create a case study on how cars like this actually looked instead of the watered down interpretation we often see today.

I love me some awkward old timey hot rods.

 

i keep asking myself, if this car had been found not channeled, and you wanted to channel it if the same points would be made, by the same people.
so what could be done to this car that could not be undone and put back the way it was?

 

From Rodding and Restyling, June 1959.

 

Easy, build one that fits you in every way. This one needs a curator. To be gently brought back to road worthy then cleaned and shined. Preserved. Cut on a ravine car.

 

The RIGHT owners had 3 damn days at the biggest car show in the country to "get there first". NO ONE was interested, or I wouldn't have bought it.

 

This is really a tough decision for you. I am all for preserving as many old hot rods as possible, but for us to tell you not to change it is no different that the restorer guys telling us to leave these old cars bone stock.

The car obviously does not fit your height and although you can modify the seats somewhat to get you lower, you are still going to have leg room issues. I am sort of with you that since no one else was jumping up and down to buy this car, and you did, it really is your call and your call alone what to do with it.

Don

 

well, I am very intently reading all the veiwpoints on how to treat any real 50s build, as in "no changes, vs moderate changes vs total change". Trying to help myself decide what I should do/don't do to a car i got on Saturday.


The car was not on my bucket list because I don't have one , and I never thought I'd ever find a Northeast 50s build that was Olds Rocket powered, and HAD to have spring-ahead and be channeled". Well, I found one through hamb in rough shape.

I'm contemplating 3 changes. I am 6', 165 lbs and I can't get OUT of the car past the steering wheel. The column is 8" too long! The original builder is a huge guy, so he just plain made a mistake when he spliced the 56 Ford car shaft and wheel, onto a 40s Ford box. I need to shorten it. A no contest, I would guess?

change 2 is that he cut the rear Olds trailing arms too short; it must have wheel hopped badly. I think he made the front mounts first, before adding a wicked heavy crossmember just ahead of there. The bars should have gone to there, and he would have saved 2 days of fab work. Seems like a "medium" change?

last change is that he did a angle-channel. One hamber suggested the whole car would flow better if I flattened the channel. I mocked it today with blocks, and it looks so much cleaner, but I can now see why he did it; the car body now is level with the ground and fools you to think it is nose-up. Also he was hiding the brackets for the trans crossmember. This seems like a very major change, if I decide to do it?

But...the builder took the car apart in the 60s after some years of use for a redo. Was he planning to fix the issues? I don't know, and I was told that he does not talk to anyone


so, I'm trying to learn something, here on this thread.

 

Oh-oh, I don't think I could ever change a car that is still exactly like the magazine coverage..

A cool magazine pic like that maybe will get some bucks-up viewer to turn this into a classified ad, and solve the whole dilema

 

What was a utility rod? HRP

 

Jeffrey...
Maybe you didn't mean for your remarks to be taken personal, but for some reason they struck me in an odd way. So If you didn't mean anything personal I apologize in advance for what I am about to say...
You should know enough about me by now (I know the other Iron Lords do) to know that I am not a hack when it comes to old hot rods. I am VERY passionate about what I do, and since your club awarded my 5w as the "Most Dialed Hot Rod" last year & another Memorial Award this year at Heavy Rebel, I had assumed you recognized this. I think this car could have went to a hell of a lot worse than me.
I ended up with this car because I looked past all the bullshit and saw the core for what it was: a nice Gennie body. Ever since I bought it I have agonized over how to both preserve the car & make it functional. I f I didn't care about the history, it would have been taken apart as soon as I unloaded it.
If the "right owner" wants to step up & make me an offer, I'm all ears. I have never flipped a car in my life, but this just might be the first. If the "right owner" wants to trade me an equally nice Gennie project, I am interested.

 

Cool it did make it into the little pages. F&J can't wait to see the new ride
. One thing that Hasn't been addressed is quality of workmanship on the old builds and their lack of on some rides. Were the pictures look great we haven't heard how this one is put together . I am with the group of folks that say if you cant drive it that sucks and have to change it . Its crazy to find a deuce roadster in.any condition let alone a driver kinda I got a 33 pheaton you would fit into QUOTE=F&J;9124219]well, I am very intently reading all the veiwpoints on how to treat any real 50s build, as in "no changes, vs moderate changes vs total change". Trying to help myself decide what I should do/don't do to a car i got on Saturday.


The car was not on my bucket list because I don't have one , and I never thought I'd ever find a Northeast 50s build that was Olds Rocket powered, and HAD to have spring-ahead and be channeled". Well, I found one through hamb in rough shape.

I'm contemplating 3 changes. I am 6', 165 lbs and I can't get OUT of the car past the steering wheel. The column is 8" too long! The original builder is a huge guy, so he just plain made a mistake when he spliced the 56 Ford car shaft and wheel, onto a 40s Ford box. I need to shorten it. A no contest, I would guess?

change 2 is that he cut the rear Olds trailing arms too short; it must have wheel hopped badly. I think he made the front mounts first, before adding a wicked heavy crossmember just ahead of there. The bars should have gone to there, and he would have saved 2 days of fab work. Seems like a "medium" change?

last change is that he did a angle-channel. One hamber suggested the whole car would flow better if I flattened the channel. I mocked it today with blocks, and it looks so much cleaner, but I can now see why he did it; the car body now is level with the ground and fools you to think it is nose-up. Also he was hiding the brackets for the trans crossmember. This seems like a very major change, if I decide to do it?

But...the builder took the car apart in the 60s after some years of use for a redo. Was he planning to fix the issues? I don't know, and I was told that he does not talk to anyone


so, I'm trying to learn something, here on this thread.[/QUOTE]

 

Drunk typing again Larry? HRP

 

Yeah I meant it as "right" meaning the owners that would be looking for a car like this and would enjoy it as is (matched for a lack of a better term) and NOT as you're not entitled and deserving of a car like this.


Interestingly the Saratoga Museum in NY is looking for display survivors for another exhibit I believe. Would be rad to display it there before doing anything to it if it was in the cards.

 

Quality of work is a mix & pretty typical for the times. Homemade ladder bars about 12" long attached to outside of the frame rail. Old ford Pitman arms welded to the side of the frame for the split bones.

 

I understand, sorry I took it the wrong way. I just don't fucking know what to do with the damn thing, and maybe it's getting to me. I truly am agonizing over this...

No hard feelings,
Sam

 

I don't, apparently everyone else does. By the way, I appreciate the support...

 

Just a suggestion, IF you're inclined to selling it: contact 3 Dog Garage to see if Ross wants to add it to his collection of survivor hot rods from the day. He has quite a few and is passionate about survivors. Just a thought.

 

I'm sure when you brought it home you had a game plan,,posting it here just opened up a can of worms,,I understand both lines of thought... HRP

 

Leave it completely alone..... for a year or so. See if someone wants to buy it or trade for it. Let all these resto-types take their little pictures of it, satisfy their souls. Maybe get it featured in a magazine, they're always looking for subjects like that.

If you still have it after that and it still hasn't lit your fire and you want to enjoy it, cut it up. my .02

 

Yep I am sure the channel was a issue for some folks not buying it and its " visual period correct enhancements " didnt stimulate more buyers. Also 50s engineering keeps me thinking of safety a bit and being a deuce you want to drive the crap out of her . I am sure you will do her justice if you decide to make her driveable for you and safer, well a bit safer it is a hotrod


QUOTE=thequietwon;9124292]Quality of work is a mix & pretty typical for the times. Homemade ladder bars about 12" long attached to outside of the frame rail. Old ford Pitman arms welded to the side of the frame for the split bones.[/QUOTE]

 

Hey, quietwon, I would make that car fit me. It wasn't built by any famous builder, so changing stuff shouldn't matter. For what it is worth, the car will be much more valuable if it is a highboy in case you ever decide to sell it. And, with the subrails intact, it will be MUCH easier to unchannel it. Congratulations on a super find. Remember, New England is lots smaller than the rest of the U.S. Just don't go around the Westchester Rod boys, and you should be safe. Ha ha. Some of McGinnity's friends look like they are "connected".

 

Hey there FlatFoot, maybe, just maybe, the car was "stored" for 42 years because it was so butt-ugly. Just kidding. But seriously, our hotrods are made to drive and have fun, and they also really need to be comfortable and of course safe. East-coast styles were no less important than Left-coast styles in the beginning, but remember that barn finds and other cars which were stored for decades are almost exclusively "rebuilt" in highboy versions in the case of '30s coupes, roadsters, and even sedans. The "lowboy" cars were cool and different than other styles, but were never very suitable for trips which so many rodders undertake today.

 

John 79, I think a facelift would be more in order than a titlift for that ugly bitch.I don't think we should be comparing tits to tin. For one thing, tin treated properly will NEVER sag. I fully expect flack from that last observation, especially from the "tit" side.

 

think you should build it like you want, looking at your other cars you will do it great and it will get driven . if a car isn't driven in my mind its not a car anymore just a pile of steel wasting away just like a person sitting on the couch......Dave

 

The bottom line to this "debate" is the fuckin' car doesn't fit the tall drink of water. Since the purpose of owning any car is to drive it, the resolution should be a no brainer. Make it fit YOU so it will be a joy to drive, and shove the negatory comments up anyone's stack who disagrees. See you at the Lonestarroundup in Austin next year. Great find ! !

 

Great find! I walked past a set of 31 A rails with running gear, a good cowl with windshield posts, doors and a grill once thinking it would cost too much to bring home without starting WW2, only to find out it sold for $600!
Have skipped a coupla pages but will add my thoughts...do what you thought with the wishbones and grill/radiator, remove the cycle fenders, remove the nerf bars, chop the windshield and have a look at it then. Maybe remove the hood?

 

Since you reside in TN, maybe you can trade the roadster to George Poteet for one of his '32s. I think he lives in Bartlettsville, or Bartlett something, near Germantown, TN.

 

Right on, Junkbike ! When one sees what is being built today, one just doesn't see unchopped, channeled coupes, roadsters, or even sedans. The East-coast style was contained on the East coast. The vast majority of builds anywhere else in the country during the same period did not include East-coast practices. The weather in that area is so unfriendly to driving in general, an uncomfortable-riding car didn't bother those people who could only enjoy their rides a few months a year. That has to be shitty. I hope thequietwon builds that roadster to enjoy forever.

 

When I first read this I thought it would be a shame to change it too much but a car that you can't drive is no good to you. I love channelled cars but then I am not six three. It's your car do what you feel it needs and that is from someone who restores the bodies of some pretty rare cars.

David