Here's my high school very mild custom. I was just a dumb kid that liked old cars. When I bought it had been nosed. Well, kinda ... the hood ornament was removed, but the crest and nameplate remained. Reading Pat Ganahl's encouragement to make any old car cool, I lowered it, put some lake pipes on it and spun aluminum Moons.
And of course, here is the man, himself during the restoration of the Iacono Dragster, running Moons. Brings happy and sad feelings...
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/members/jnaki.259060/ Are you quite sure the 56 Ford had a flathead for power ? that would be UN-usual much the same has the Camaro that runs a Ford flathead at B-ville .
Hello, Then, after our Willys Coupe accident, we were in a state of limbo. Our close friend in Los Angeles called us to offer a Ford Sedan for us. I drove up there to do a test drive. It was a 1956 Ford Two Door Sedan that had just come off of racing at Bonneville and was being retired. It was a Flathead motor, 3 speed LaSalle and of course, Moon screw in discs. Similar in looks, but the one that got away... It was great looking, was able to accelerate well and it came with nice Moon Discs. As a close friend, he knew that we needed something to ease the recovery and memory. He knew we had the 1958 Impala, but knew we still wanted to be a part of the whole hot rod/drag racing scene or go in a new direction. Our friend knew we needed a new project and thought this two door, 1956 Ford Sedan would be a starting point. We could see ourselves driving this cool looking sedan on the salt. In a drive around that part of L.A. it had the power and the mellow sound of a race car, but was comfortable on the street. old Friday Art 1956 Ford Sedan in 1961. Since it was street legal, cruising up the driveway at the two teenage gathering spots, drive-in restaurant, parking lots in Bixby Knolls would have been just classic. We almost bought it to add to our current hot rods. But, a two car garage with 5 cars? Our Westside of Long Beach house had a large backyard, but 3 cars sitting outside was not going to cut it back there. Everyday, the parking lot jiggle would take place before we all went our separate ways. High school, college, work in L.A. and still two cars would sit idle all day. Not our family way of doing things, too. But, we were a "sell one, buy one" type of family and couldn’t part with the 1958 Impala or 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery. Although, our mom would have kept the 58 Impala for her own car. My brother was done with that portion of his life. The ocean and coastal adventures were calling us to challenge the whole scene and we could not sleep in the 56 Ford. Jnaki Yes, it does seem odd, but, my eyes and ears did not let me down as it was accelerating down the street and when the hood was open in our Los Angeles friend’s driveway. It was a nice Flathead. Perhaps, the former owner wanted a smaller motor for a lower letter classification. No supercharged SBC motor, but a simple cam/3 carb/pistons/crank…perhaps a stroked crank gave it the power it had when I stomped on the accelerator. Similar Flathead of 40 sedan delivery The modified Flathead was a motor I would have liked in the 40 Ford Sedan Delivery for all of our coastal surf adventures. It had plenty of horsepower and we would not have to down shift at every hill or long coastal highway grades. Similar Flathead of the 1956 Ford Sedan painted black
These wheelcovers above are spun aluminum racing disks. Full moons are a different thing, this thing. Full Moon
Hmm. Mr. JLW might have a point, but since I capitalized the word Moon, I meant the actual brand of Moon cap. Hence all this talk about the spun aluminum wheelcovers. Carry on, since the Moon is full again.
Bought a new set 30 years ago. Still have them along with 3 other sets. They will go on a project in the future.
Found an easy way to get rid of those Hurricane Aluminum wheels on the '52 Olds... always and only ..screw on
Here's a set on the Tornado. Bud Susank, the original builder said this set was actually made at Scranton Machine Shop in Great Bend, Kansas. Would have been winter of 57-58.
When Dean first had them on the market, he was giving them to established teams for Bonneville. George Bentley asked Dean for some, and was turned down. So, rather than pay for some, the team rounded up 4 Maytag washing machine lids. George would go on to much success, with the likes of Al Teague.
Hello, After my brother bought his first car and instantly put on real Moon Discs, there was no going back. it instantly made his big sedan look racy and fast. Even in a college art machine shop, I tried to make my own spun aluminum discs. But, ended up with a wall hanging that turned into a reshaped, etched, aluminum candy dish lid and bowl. On the other hand, the first time I wanted some Moon Discs for our 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, I looked at how easy and simple the look would be. Buy the covers, drill a few holes and a racy look from the past appears. But, the more I thought of the racy Moon Covers, the less appealing it became. We wanted some 5 spoke American Racing Mag Wheels. That choice goes back to the El Camino, but, the total expense was overwhelming for our measly budget, then and during the 327 powered sedan delivery times. We stayed with a classic look instead. So, the dream continued. Now, with plenty of time, budget growing and looking for some fun, I turned to my little collection of Hot Wheels cars, since our daily driver station wagons are not Moon Disc material. After a couple of Hot Wheels modifications, I found a thin aluminum sheet. I could bend it with hands and also shape it with scissors or pliers to make a little curved round disc. So, I made a couple. I put them unfinished on the 32 sedan. then as I was rolling them across the counter, it hit the wall and one popped off and disappeared. My next choice was to get these little plastic caps I found for covering holes in interior cabinet shelving adjustment. Now, I painted two of them red and put them on the green truck. But, they were too large on the standard size. So, I trimmed them down and made a mass produced program for more hot wheels cars/trucks/hot rods to utilize custom Moon Discs. Jnaki My paint spray booth project holder had several sizes to fit the different size wheels. We shall see what they look like when the Moon Discs are out and making a splash.
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