Lets Be Honest.....

Henry,
You did very well! Thank you! Junk yards were a neccesity back then. My neighbor bought a runnng Model A Ford two door Phaeton, with a great body and no top for $75. Hard to say what that car would be worth today in like condition. Still, I would rather have the Mercury pictured, I didn't know Mercury made a four door convertible.

I too got a ticket for loud exhaust. The standard fine for this was $17.50. My boss at the service station was a friend of the mayor and got me off. $17.50 was a lot of money for a kid making 50 cents an hour. The mayor's grandson had a `48 Mercury coupe with dual Smitty's too. Dope was unheard of those days, a good time to grow up.

Those were the days...

Shadetree
 
I won't say how many old Fords I screwed up putting Cad and Olds engines in 'em.
That was a lot cheaper than building a flathead.
Also '49 Lincoln taillights in my 75 dollar '46 convert and dechromed...floorshift etc. etc.
Now I have four flathead powered cars to try and make up for my past misdeeds!
 
For those of us with even less money, had to use a "Y" pipe for duals and porta walls vs white walls
 
For those of us with even less money, we had to use a "Y" pipe for duals and porta walls for white walls
 
How about changing the 16" wheels to 15"and reversing the 15"rims and adding baby moon hubcaps .Even tinted the windows with spray on tint.Also had a reverator on the radio to make the music sound like it was coming from a well and installing cutouts and use rubber balls to cap them off .When you raced the car next to you at the redlight all you would have to do was stomp on the gas and the rubber balls would blow out and you was off to the races.The good ole days for sure . :cool::)
 
going back a few years ago a friend of mine had a 54 crest line four door... one owner car was his grand mothers.. we shaved the door handles and decked the hood and trunk. then fake leg pipes and port a walls . last and not least gray primer with flames . oh yeah even had dummy spots on it . then duels with glass paks
 
Shadetree said:
Lawson,
I admire you for staying stock. It was hard not to get caught up in the customizing rage that all hot rod magazines touted back then. A lot of nice original cars were mutilated almost beyond recognition. But it was the trend; Old cars were plentiful and relatively cheap.

But, I bet most of us had one thing in common in the mid-50's. We all had a flat top haircut!

Shadetree
Click to expand...

No flat top until I was in the Army. I used Wildroot Cream Oil. Remember that stuff? LOL
 
Like Shadetree said, the only "dope" was on model airplanes - or the class dunce.

Tinted the interior light bulbs blue

Laminated plastic replacement knobs on the radio

Gas tank filler pipes were highly prized for exhaust cut outs. If everything worked out right, you had a chrome twist-off cap right behind the front wheels.

Heatiing springs to lower a car

Fuzzy dice and matching "mirror muffs"

Too bad we can't go back, knowing what we know now!
 
Reverse olds rims,dual cherry bombs,poured gas in them, lit them on fire and blew half the baffles out. Lowered the front end with 4'' shackles,road through Big Boys all weekend. Had a Buick radio strapped under the dash,that was the most important add on back then. Good times
 
We must not forget the drive-in theaters with your favorite girl every Saturday night. It was also payday for me and I had some jingle in my pocket. I would work until 5:00 PM, hurry home, take a bath, get dressed, jump in the old Ford that shined like a new nickel and it was off to the drive-in.

I get melancholy just thinking about it...

Shadetree
 
Remember the Wildroot real well, after that graduated to Brylcream. How about in the sixtys, using screw in wedges in your coil springs to raise the front end. If you had a Mopar, tighten the torsion bars for lift.
 
SHADETREE .....................
Remember when the guys from, south of Spencer and north of Charleston, were into mudflaps, fuzzy dice, chrome hood and fender eagles, dual antennas with squirrel tails, etc. We, in Charleston, used to call that stuff, "Sissonville Speed Equipment".
MIKE :)
 
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