New Web Site coming soon!

Finally after lots of years deciding, Vintage Metal will get its own website address. It will feature both the shop and the Blog. I want to thank everyone who comes to Vintage Metal Blog; keep your eyes open and visit it as much as you do here!

The new website will not only feature the shop and blog, but also a classified section for used parts from the shop, new fabricated parts and maybe a small auction.

On other pages, there will be pictures of all of our projects for both you and my customers to see. it will also give us a chance to showcase some of our work.

More to come!!!

http://www.vintage-metal.com

1950's Don's Speed Shop Dragster

Alright Bloggers, give me more info on this Dragster and where its from!

Flathead Ford V8

The Ford flathead V8 was a V8 engine of the flathead type, designed by the Ford Motor Company and built by Ford and various licensees. During the engine's first decade of production, when overhead valve engines were rare, it was usually known simply as the Ford V‑8, and the first car model in which it was installed, the Model 18, was (and still is) often called simply the "Ford V‑8", after its new engine. When the engine was introduced in 1932, it was a market first in several respects: in cars that were affordable to the emerging mass market consumer, it was the first 8-cylinder, the first V8, and the first V engine to become available. It was the first independently designed and built V8 engine produced by Ford for mass production, and it ranks as one of the company's most important developments. A fascination with ever-more-powerful engines was perhaps the most salient aspect of the American car and truck market for a half century, from 1923 until 1973. The Ford flathead V8 was perfectly in tune with the cultural moment of its introduction, leading the way into a future of which the Ford company was a principal architect. Thus it became a phenomenal success. The engine design, with various changes but no major ones, was installed in Ford passenger cars until 1953, making the engine's 21-year production run for the U.S. consumer market longer than the 19-year run of the Ford Model T engine for that market. The engine was on Ward's list of the 10 best engines of the 20th century. It was a staple of hot rodders in the 1950s, and it remains famous in the classic car hobbies even today, despite the huge variety of other popular V8s that followed.

Different versions include the 136, 221, 239, 255, 337

Vintage Shot of Days Gone By!

Schartel Pinstriping

Today, I had the pleasure to meet Mike Schartel of Shartel Hand Painted Artwork. I have never been so confident with a fellow artist to take up thier tools, just do it, and have a finished product that will knock your socks off! He makes the work look simple and easy.

Thanks Mike for the great work, I look forward to having you lay some lines on my Cadillac.

If you need any artwork done, Give him a call, he's mobile!

1928 Ford Roadster - Custom, For Sale!

Im wanting to sell my 1928 Custom Ford Roadster. Cash is great, but will consider trades - I like 1949 1950 Mercury, 1935 1936 Ford coupes

If your looking for Traditional, this is it. This car was built modeled after the 1932 Ford Roadster owned by Veda Orr, from the 1940's.

Here are my specificatons of the car:

Engine - 4 banger - Model A:
- Stock Model A bottom End
- “Hot” Flathead Model A Cam – Biggest grind (unknown numbers – Made from fellow in Temecula, Ca.
- Model “C” Head, chambers polished and smoothed
- Adjustable Model A lifters
- 4” bore
- Valves have been lapped to block
- New valve springs and keepers
- Aluminum Timing gear
- 25 lbs lighter flywheel
- 32 Ford Mechanical Advance Distributor with updated points (Mustang)

Fuel System:
- Stromberg 97 Carburetors
- Holley 1-4 lb. fuel regulator – chrome
- Standard 12v electric fuel pump with built in reguator
- Model ‘T’ Oval tank – Approx 7 gallons
- ‘Vintage Metal’ 2 port fuel block

Rear End:

- Stock Model A Ring Gear – 4:11
- Kiwi Quick Change – New Zealand - The Best
- 6 spline Standard Winters Gears – Setup 3:54 current
- Stock Model ‘A’ Axles
- Stock Model ‘A’ Axle tubes
- Completely new bearings
- New Pinon Bearing – Double Race
- New Axle Seals
- Lucas Gear Oil in Case

Drive Line:
- Ford V-8 Driveshaft cut down to fit with 6 splice coupler machined and welded on end
- Stock Model ‘A’ Torque Tube
- 37 – 39 Ford 3- Speed Top Loader transmission – Completely rebuilt
- Model 'A' to 3 Speed Aluminum Adapter
- Lucas Gear Oil in Case

Steering:
- Ford F-1 Steering Box with Model ‘A’ 2 bolt flange welded
- 40 Ford upper steering shaft
- Vintique – 1940 Ford Deluxe steering wheel
- 40 Ford column Jacket
- 1937/38 Ford Column Drop – Ignition Switch

Brakes:
- Early Juice – 40 Ford
- 1949 – 1951 Ford Master Cylinder
- Model A Pedals with F-1 Ford upper arms welded to accept round pads
- Setup – Hard lines and fitting like 1940 Ford Juice brakes

Suspension:
- Superbell Front Axle – 4” Drop
- Early Ford Round Back – 1935 – 1939 Ford Spindles
- New Kingpins installed
- Model A Friction shocks
- Front Wishbones – ends were cut off, flipped from side to side and welded in upside down, angle cut for 8.5 deg caster
- Rear Wishbones are stock Model A
- Front spring – Mono Leaf
- Rear spring – Posie Super Slider for Model ‘A’
- 1935/1936 Ford 16” Wire Wheels
- 5.50 x 16” Dirt Tracker Firestone Tires with Tubes
- 7.00 x 16” Bias Ply tire with Tubes

Emergency Brake:
- Unknown Year – Early 30’s Chevrolet; Possible Sedan/Sedan Delivery Pistol grip
- Stock Early Ford Juice Brake Cable driven Emergency Brakes
- Custom Linkage from E-Brake Handle

Electrical:
- 12v GM one Wire Alternator – 74 amp
- Universal Headlight Switch
- 1940 Ford Dimmer Switch on floor
- 1955 Chevy glass fuse Accessory panel
- 12v standard coil
- Aftermarket safety fuse at starter
- 30 amp fusible link at starter leading into car
- Universal Heater speed control switch – Borg Warner
- 1928 Ford Drum taillight
- 1934 Ford Headlights – 12v bulbs
- Early Nash – Possible 30’s Heater box – 6v with voltage Reducer added
- Standard push pull switch under dash for fuel pump shut off

Wire Color Codes:
o Headlamp – Green – Low Beam
o Headlamp – Yellow – High Beam
o Brake light – Green – Brake Light
o Tail light – Yellow – Tail light/License Plate Light (Same Bulb)
o Fuel Pump – Dark Blue
o Brake Light Switch – Grey
o Heater/Fan Power – Purple
o Headlight Switch – Yellow
o Main Power from Starter - Red
o Coil to Distributor– Pink
o Coil power feed – White
o Dash Lights - Brown

Body:
- Started as 1928 Ford Sports Coupe
- Doors were shortened top to bottom and topped with inner panels installed
- Bear claw latches installed
- 1932 Ford interior door handles installed
- 1939 Ford Super Deluxe Dash with all original gauges – Working!
- Bake-light ball knobs – picked up from local hardware store
- Polished stainless steel washers installed behind balls for bright work
- Stock 1939 Ford Glove box
- Rear deck above decklid was stretched 5” to accommodate Ford Roadster specifications
- Brookville standard decklid
- Stock Body, no modifications - Made from 4 other Model 'A's for good sheetmetal
- Custom windshield stanctions
- 1928/1929 Ford Roadster Windshield including all hardware and rubber
- Custom made foldable roadster top
- Custom made wood for rear deck and floors
- Custom made floors and rear hump pans
- Original 1932 Ford Truck Grill
- Custom wood floors

Frame:
- Stock Model A with 4” Step in rear

Cooling:
- Model ‘A’ Radiator Modified with front fill tube, top tube solderd shut
- Model ‘B’ Water pump – Stock
- 4 blade cooling fan – Stock
- Aluminum belt pulley on water pump

The interior and top are completed. I also have custom side curtains made for the car.

Car is titled and non op'd.

This project is freshly completed and has never been on the road. There are a few details that I am working on, but it runs (runs well but I am working on dialing the carburetors), sounds strong, Electrical is fully completed, fuel system is fully completed. This car was built to drive not trailer...period. She's not a trailer queen!

$21,000.00 firm or trade for chopped 40 Mercury

Alternators for your Classic!

A question was asked if you can wire your new alternator to the stock 30 - 35 amp guage in the dash. If the guage pegs at 30 amps and your running a higher amperage alternator, say a 60 or 75 amp; it should work fine. You risk damaging the amp guage, but that would be over along period of time.

I have wired into stock guages, like my 59 Buick, and it works. I run a 75 amp 3-wire alternator (which is better than a 1 wire), including an alternator lamp on the dash as well to give indication if the alternator fails, or if you loose a belt.

I have done other 58 and 59 models this way, it works for indicator purposes.

If you have a 105 amp alternator (which is extreme overkill if your running stock components, makes no logical sense), dont run it thought the amp guage, it will destroy it. Run an aftermarket unit or improvise a similar gauge to the stock guage panel. There are several threads of this done.

In case you ask why I use a 3 wire...it give 'pure' power/amps unlike a 1 wire. The 3 wire has your charging lead, a sensing lead and the indicator. The sensing lead senses what is in the battery and tells the alternator how much to charge, and at what volts. Typically an alternator should give between 13.8 to 14.4 volts to the battery during its charging cycle. Depending on the length of the cable from the alt to the battery, you get a voltage drop. The sensing lead tells the alt to add more if needed. Say you have a 2 volt loss from the alt to the battery. It boosts it charge to 15.8 - 16.4 for a pure 12 volt charge at the battery.

The 1 wire, gives 13.8 - 14.4, that's it, you get a 2 volt loss down the charging feed wire, your alt does not boost to make up the difference...so it works harder. Yeah it an easy hook up, but not as efficient.

A great all around 3 wire is one for 1983 Chevy Cavalier. It uses a 12SI GM alternator. 75-95 amps charging. It has the high air efficient fan with v groove. For 40 - 63 amp charging, you can step down to a 10SI alternator from a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

Most high amp 1 wire alternators, have the typical air cooling fan (metal blades), not enough air flow to keep it cool, you get burn out faster. Thus why I dont like em.

Two 49 Fords

One great view. The front shoebox looks awesome in its current state, its going to show nicely and in a strong "traditional" way. The back shoebox, is up for a make over...I love what I do. Saving them one ride at a time!

Larry Watson, one of the great customizers and painters from the day!

Larry Watson is a legendary custom painter and pinstriper born in 1939. In 1955, at the age of 16 Larry began to pinstripe. His inspiration came from watching Von Dutch striiping while sitting on his bicycle outside of Barris Kustoms in Lynwood. One day his friend Gary McNaught came by the house and asked if he would come along down to Barris Kustoms and watch Von Dutch stripe a car. Von Dutch had moved his operation uptown working out of "The Crazy Arab's" Competition Body Shop at 7201 West Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. Instead it was Dean Jeffries doing his first striping for George Barris. The car he pinstriped was Johnny Zupan's 1949 Mercury. Larry stepped over the rope at Barris and asked Jeff where he had bought his brushes. Jeff then answered "What do you want to do. Put me out of business?" At the time it was only Von Dutch and Dean Jeffries who applied what they called Modern Striping. Larry answered that he just wanted to stripe his own car, but Jeff still wouldn't tell him. Larry went to an art store and bought some brushes, and he went to Jackson Paint Store and bought some copper paint. He spent the next two days striping his 1950 Chevrolet, the Grapevine. Once completed he drove his newly pinstriped Chevy over to the Bellflower Clock Drive-In where everybody wanted to know how the hell he could afford a Von Dutch artwork on his car. He told them he had done it himself. Nobody believed him, they even thought he had had Von Dutch sign Larry's name on the striping. Harvey Budoff called the bluff, and pulled into Larry's driveway with his car one day after school. Larry finally found out where Von Dutch bought his brushes and paint. It was in a little store down on Compton Boulevard, west of Long Beach Boulevard in Compton. Harvey Budoff's 1950 Ford was the first car Larry pinstriped for a customer. After visiting the store he bought some German brushes and white 1-shot. He spent the whole day pinstriping the car. He put an eyeball on a spoon with blood dripping out of the spoon in the back of the glove box. Larry didn't tell Harvey about the artwork, but his girlfriend eventually found it. After that Larry was the hit of the drive-ins, and every time he got home from school there would be three or four cars sitting in the driveway ready to be striped. Amongst the most notable cars being pinstriped in Larry's driveway is Duane Steck's 1954 Chevrolet - The Moonglow.

Larry applied his first flame paint job on Buzzy's Ford. Von Dutch was doing crab-claw-style flames, so that's what Larry also did. Walking back and forth to get the flames symmetrical, the paint job took 6 hours. After Buzzy cruised the Clock with his newly painted Ford, other people also wanted Larry to lay flames on their cars. After painting a brand new 1956 Oldsmobile he laid in bed thinking about what he could do in order to make the job go faster, he was tired of the 6 hours work it took. Laying in his bed he hit upon the idea of using with tissue paper and a bright red china marker. That was it, after that it took only 2 hours. In 1956 Larry painted his first Metallic paint job, and his first scallop job. The first car he scalloped was Bob Schremp's 1954 Chevrolet. Bob had Branson Auto Body in Artesia paint his car. During the job they put a run underneath the trunk and one on the hood, so he turned to Larry and asked if he could cover the runs up.

Upon graduating from school in September 1957, Larry opened his first shop Watson's House of Style in north Long Beach, California on Artesia Boulevard. Larry decided that he wanted to start a new trend; customizing with paint. In order to promote his new trend, Larry bought a brand new 1958 Ford Thunderbird that he took to Barris Kustoms for som mild modifications. Bill Hines and Bill DeCarr that worked at Barris Kustoms nosed and decked the car, shaved the handles and rounded the corners. After that Larry painted the car with six coats of pearl over a fine metallic silver base. Larry didn't tint the pearl with transparent mixing black toner that eliminated the cloudiness, and he thought the car turned out too bright. Larry thought the bright look made the car look way too large, so in order to fix it up, Larry taped the panel lines of the bird with 1-3/4 inch tape and shot candy apple burgundy over it. With this paint job many thinks that Larry invented the Panel Paint Job. The Thunderbird was the first car featuring a silver pearl and candy burgundy paint job, but before he painted panels on his own car he had already paneled Zeno Stephens' 1955 Mercury. Zeno wanted something different, no scallops or flames, so Larry body paneled it. Larry painted the car in Titian Red and striped it in gold. After painting the car Larry never saw it again, not in a magazine, or at a car show, nowhere.

One day George Barris called Larry and asked if he could do some paneling on the Rod & Custom Dream Truck. He was just starting to paint Candies, and he'd shot this Candy Lime over silver. There were a few mistakes, so he called Larry and asked if he could cover them up with scallops in Candy Burgundy over silver metallic. In 1958, not long after painting the Rod & Custom Dream Truck George called Larry again, and asked if he could take over the paint department while he, Dean Jeffries and Bill Carr were going back east on a 2 month tour. When George called they were building a pizza parlor in front of Larry's shop, so he said ok. When Dean Jeffries returned from his trip back east, Dean and Larry were kicking ass together, knocking out three or four scallop and flame jobs a day, and pinstriping their asses off in between. After about 4 months he relocated back to hie own shop in Bellflower.

In 1960 Larry applied his first Metalflake job on Ron Aguirre's Corvette, the X-Sonic. The X-Sonic did also feature Watsons first fade paint job. As Aguirre kept modifying the car, Watson painted it six times. Between 1960 and 1966 Larry got tired of all the masking and striping, and he started doing mostly straight candies with Metalflake or Pearl tops, or Pearl bottoms with matching Candy tops. In 1963 or 1964 Larry did his first Coweb paint design on a 1963 Pontiac. Larry developed the Coweb paint look by spraying Acrylic Lacquer without using thinner in it. Larry was kicking ass working anything from 12 to 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. He had 5 or 6 helpers. At the peak in April 1966 Larry had 54 cars in the center arena of a car show sponsored by the Tridents Car Club held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. At the same show he also had over two dozen motorcycles upstairs. At that point he figured that he couldn't get any further, and he decided to sell the shop and get out of the business.

In 1966 Larry sold his shop, that was then located on Lakewood Boulevard in Paramount. After selling his shop he moved to Mexico to pursue an acting career with his wife. While Larry was away, two other "Watson" custom paint shops sprung up, one in Downey, and one in Burbank. When Larry returned to California in late 1966 he opened up a new shop on Artesia in Lakewood. Larry determined that he had to get his name back on the show circuit. Watson left the custom car scene in favor for a blossoming Tv and movie acting career. He painted ND striped numerous luxury or sports cars for actors, actresses, directors, producers, or casting directors to gain entree. Between 1967 and 1985 Larry ended up in 141 different shows, such as MacGyver, Columbo, and Mission Impossible.


In the late 1970s Larry Watson worked on a movie he wanted to produce called "The Paint Booth". Working for the movie he visited car shows handing out flyers on cars he wanted to use in the movie. For the movie Larry was looking for racers, hot rods, customs, and stocks 1956 or older. The backside of the flyer shows a print of Larry's business card. On that card he promotes his business as "Watson's Custom Auto Painting", Since 1955. His shop is located a 5576 Melrose in Hollywood. On a later business card he has changed name to "Theatrical Auto Body", Complete Auto Painting Since 1969. The shop is still located at 5576 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.

Today, Larry is retired in Apple Valley, California, and is putting the finishing touches on his private museum loaded with pictures and artifacts from his custom car and TV days.

Ref: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Larry_Watson

In the Cockpit

Ever wondered what's it like in the cockpit of a streamliner at Bonneville?

Check this out!

Its a bit slow at the beginning....

1949 Ford....What if?

What if Ford in 1949 decided to do a stock car that looked like a custom. What would it look like? How would the family fit in a car as this?

I ran across this modified ad on a photoshop thread and I was extremely blown away by the work done on this...it looks as if it WERE a car Ford was pushing for the public.

I have several more of these and will be posting them during the week....

I just love it!

1963 Cadillac Hearse Floor Repair

Floor rust repair being completed as we speak. This car was unfortunate to have been exposed to alot of water. But lucky for us, we are repairing the un-repairable.

This is the drivers side getting worked, its almost completed. Vintage Metal has even repaired the 'B' pillar to ensure structural integrity.

All panels were hand made.

You have to check this Out!

I love vintage cars, better yet, vintage car models.

You have to check these out! Simply Amazing! - click on the link!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/sets/72157604247242338/show/with/2346008881/

1958 Cadillac Line Up

1958 Ford Fairlane

1948 Oldsmobile "Futuramic"

1948 Oldsmobile "Car of Tomorrow"

1948 Oldsmobile "Ahead Automatically!"

1953 Oldsmobile Rocket 88

The Rocket 88, this is great!

1955 Plymouth