Driving golden era cars in the modern era

[habberdasher]

Would it just be used to mark wherever that car was so an approaching driver/pedestrian would know?[huh]

 

[vitanola]

Yes, and in some jurisdictions, early on it was required that the side and tail lamps be lit when the machine was parked on the roadside after dark. This tended to mitigate against a storage battery electric lighting system in those locales, even after the development of efficient miniature MAZDA lamps made electric automobile lighting practical.

We still call them "PARKING LIGHTS", you know.

 

[habberdasher]

MAZDA lamp? When was that invented? Late 19th? Did Mazda create it or is that an acronym for something?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Mazda was a trademark used by GE and other companies for light bulbs before WW2 -- "GE Mazda Lamps," "Westinghouse Mazda Lamps," "Edison Mazda Lamps," etc. The ads would say "Mazda: Not the name of a thing but the mark of a research service," presumably referring to the General Electric department of manufacturing standards which laid out industry-wide specifications for electric bulbs of various types.

It had nothing to do with the Japanese car company -- Mazda was the name of the Zoroastrian god of light.

 

[habberdasher]

Oh OK

 

[vitanola]

The term MAZDA was always applied to the most advanced technology of the day, starting with the metallic Tantalum lamps around 1910, and applied successively to the sintered tungsten, drawn tungsten, nitrogen-filled and finally to the argon-filled, coiled-coil filament tungsten lamps introduced in 1924 (the modern light bulb).

Mazda miniature lamps suitable for automotive service were introduced by McCandless in 1910, concurrent with the availability of drawn tungsten wire, which in the heavy gauges used at low vltage was reasonably vibration resistant.

The carbon filaments used in earlier lamps were quite resistant to vibration, but were not efficient enough to produce sufficient usable light from a managable accumulator. The efficinecy of a good carbon lamp is about 3 1/2 watts per CP, whilst tungsten can easily exceed 1 watt per CP.

 

[Big Man]

After a couple years being out of commission, I'm getting my old 1965 Ford Custom 500 back on the road. I had the transmission rebuilt this summer and just a couple weeks ago replaced the driver's side window regulator (the old one was broken and I couldn't roll the window up). Finding and installing a window regulator is way more work than I would have guessed, but I managed to get it done. The next two things will be to get a new gas gauge (sending unit) and have the car painted again (it's a little faded with some rust spots right now).

My aunt bought this car new in 1965 and I've been driving it since 1985 (as a "daily driver" for about 10 years). The transmission started slipping about four or five years ago, which eventually caused me to park it. It is good to get the old car back on the road. There is nothing like driving along on a country road in a "real car".

 

[Mr. 'H']

... have the car painted again (it's a little faded with some rust spots right now).

Is that the original color? What color would you re-paint it?

 

[Big Man]

Is that the original color? What color would you re-paint it?

Yes, that's the original color (or extremely close). I had it painted about 25 years ago. It needs it again. I thought about going with a shiny black, but my aunt really did like the blue, so out of respect to her memory I plan on going back with the same light blue color.

 

[1*Cool*Kitten]

original color

Having been around hotrods all my life as well as (auto) race tracks, it's always been a "normal" or "standard" to retain the original color of a vehicle simply for the fact that it's "cost effective!" unless you have a really DEEP pockets to have the entire vehicle basically "dipped" to remove every inch of color.It's easier on the wallet to match the paint on the inside door panel of a door that wasn't used very often or on the hinge side of the "glove/map" box. that way you get a "true tone on tone" for the color matching.
with the advent of computerized color matching now they can (unless you return to the original paint shop of 25 years ago) get it right dead on!Back in the day you went to the best guy with that one really good tonal "eye" for paint matching!
But the beauty of owning a vintage vehicle is it's yours!you can do whatever you want with it! That High gloss black would look sharp on the body but if it's going to take a whole lot of "cancer" work I'd pass!

Anyway, keep us posted!

 

[Wash In Lux]

While not exactly "Golden Era", this is my '54 Pontiac and '65 Chevy truck. The flathead straight 6 in the Poncho will run 65-70 mph all day. Tranny's a 4 speed Hydromatic. The truck is a work horse, 292 straight 6 with a crazy amount of torque. Put a 1960 hood on it, made the grill and '58-'59 headlights. Long tube headers with 1.5 inch no muffler, straight pipes make it go "rat-a-tat-tat!"

 

[habberdasher]

I love the Pontiac.

 

[Thunderbolt]

tires

Regarding bias plies, I think they're the only way to go. I just can't stand the look of low-profile tires (yes, even 75-series) on a Golden Era car.

I've seen tires that are radial but have the tread pattern and look of bias plies. Take a look at coker tires. It seem like every year the tire industry creates new looks for tires that cater to the auto enthusiests (sp). For new Caddys they make white wall tires and the new mustangs have the old red stripes style avalible. I agree, low pros have no business on cars prior to 1964.

 

[Flivver]

I've seen tires that are radial but have the tread pattern and look of bias plies. Take a look at coker tires. It seem like every year the tire industry creates new looks for tires that cater to the auto enthusiests (sp). For new Caddys they make white wall tires and the new mustangs have the old red stripes style avalible. I agree, low pros have no business on cars prior to 1964.

One key to getting the right look in vintage tires is to maintain the original aspect ratio. The aspect ratio of a tire is its sidewall height divided by its tread width. A 75 series tire has an aspect ratio of .75 meaning that its sidewall height is 75% of its tread width.

I just went through the exercise of helping a friend select wide whitewall radials for his '59 Corvette. After searching high and low, we were unable to find radials for this car with an aspect ratio higher than .75. Given that the original 6.70X15 tires on this car had an aspect ratio of at least .84, the 75 series radials just wouldn't look right.

While on the subject of getting a period-correct look on replacement tires for a vintage car, it's important to get the whitewall width correct. During the postwar era, whitwall width got progressively narrower until 1961-62 when the "modern style" white stripes replaced the classic wide whites. On a late '50s car, the correct whitewall width is 2-3/8". But at car shows, you often see much wider whitewalls on these vehicles, which, to my eye, looks ridiculous!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Used to have a 31 Model A Pickup, it was all hot-rod though, 350, 350 turbo trans. But still a bear to drive since there's lots of cobbling in those. My first car, not golden era, was a 1960 Bel-Air, nice car, automatic, but had manual everything. You get used to it though, same with my 58 Delray, but that was a 3 on the tree.

I have 'older' vehicles still, but they are more convenient for daily use. My 87 Chevy Caprice Wagon (Woodie) is older, carbureted, easy to work on, etc. But still has that classic styling.

Then I have my 79 Buick Electra, which is power everything, but still has a 'vintage' look to it. Hopefully, one day I will have the cash for an Excalibur, which has some real golden-era charm to it.

 

[StraightEight]

I just went through the exercise of helping a friend select wide whitewall radials for his '59 Corvette. After searching high and low, we were unable to find radials for this car with an aspect ratio higher than .75. Given that the original 6.70X15 tires on this car had an aspect ratio of at least .84, the 75 series radials just wouldn't look right.

Interested to hear what you ultimately learned. I'm going through that exercise on the DeSoto. Coker has a private label radial substitute for the 8.5x14 (225/75-14) but the manufacturer is Denman which, as near as I can tell, specializes in tractor and backhoe tires. The car currently has Diamondback whitewalls, mfg and date unknown, but they are complete garbage. The whitewall is cracked and faded and actually peeling off one tire. And they handle like crap and make a lot of noise. Plus they ride hard (DB recommends 36-38 psi!! I'm running 32 and they feel like rocks).

Diamondback sells a Michelin-made whitewall radial (waaaay preferable), but alas not in the right size. They also have a Hankook and a Cooper though neither are exactly right (215/70). At least these are companies that make road tires. The other option is classic BFG bias-plies. I'm a bit reluctant to put bias on though they look right and carry the BFG label. Ugh. For $900 you'd think there would be more options!

 

[Forgotten Man]

While not exactly "Golden Era", this is my '54 Pontiac and '65 Chevy truck. The flathead straight 6 in the Poncho will run 65-70 mph all day. Tranny's a 4 speed Hydromatic. The truck is a work horse, 292 straight 6 with a crazy amount of torque. Put a 1960 hood on it, made the grill and '58-'59 headlights. Long tube headers with 1.5 inch no muffler, straight pipes make it go "rat-a-tat-tat!"

Nice Pontiac! I have a soft spot for Pontiac’s! An old friend of mine had a '54 too... what a fun car that was! It was a four door. Say, I really dig the horseshoes at the tail lights, nice touch!

May not be "golden Era" but more vintage then AtomicTom's contact paper woody mom-mobile! lol Just horsing around Tom... no offence

Let's see a photo of your '31 Ford some time Tom!

 

[Forgotten Man]

it's always been a "normal" or "standard" to retain the original color of a vehicle simply for the fact that it's "cost effective!"

Well, yes and no. There are those who do want to retain the original color because they may like it or, may feel it's worth it due to the car's history or maybe they want to preserve it.

I repainted my '46 the original color, I think it's fun to say: Yeah, she's the orignal color! Chevron Blue!

 

[Michaelson]

I drive my 1950 P20 Plymouth Special Deluxe 4 door sedan every day to work, and have for over 5 years.

It's a definite love-hate relationship when you have to depend on a 59 year old car to make your 'bread and butter', but it's what I have, and what I drive.[huh]

I'm looking to trade up.....yep, actually looking at a 1960 Studebaker Lark. Kind of hard thinking about a new fangled updated automobile, but sometimes you have to consider those options.
Personally I don't think heaters, electric windshield wipers or automatic transmissions will ever catch on myself.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[Talbot]

Great thread, going to drive my avator tonight.

Gee, looking at the ponch, sure makes me realise how stingy they were with the brightwork on the Bel Air.