New project - 65 Mercury Gasser

[turtle1056]

My camera and the lighting don't do justice to the stereo system and the interior - but here it is finished - and the stereo rocks as good as anything I have ever heard outside of competitions

[turtle1056]

and now started to rough in the steel hood scoop
just needs some dolly work and a little more fitment to the hood and ready to weld

[Lukey]

Man, that's awesome!

[turtle1056]

been a long time coming - between family and other projects but the end is in sight - lots of pics to come - paint is finally done including cut and polish, lots of new shiney bits, olds school pin striping, lettering started, rear mounted rad, etc
the truck will make its debut at the Detroit Autorama in March

[turtle1056]

deleted by accident - will repost later

[therealjoeshmoe]

SWEET!! LOOKS COOL!

[fastfrankie73]

Tell me again how this is a period correct "gasser"... Some people will just never get it...

[Fiveoh108]

Tell me again how this is a period correct "gasser"... Some people will just never get it...

i agree with you a 100% Frankie...this truck is a modified something or street freak, the term "gasser" is thrown around to freely and eventually loses its meaning to a lot of people. Although I don't like this truck, I can appreciate the time, effort and workmanship that has gone into it, but it is not a close representation of a "gasser"

[LM14]

Glad somebody else gets it.

While it's not a gasser, it falls more into Street Freak territory in my mind. Maybe we don't need to pigeon hole our projects with titles. It's the same when I read "my restoration" and see custom paint, mag wheels, non-stock engine, etc. At that point it's not a restoration to me and I sometimes can't get past the title to appreciate all their hard work.

I can appreciate all his work and the quality looks great. Got some ideas I want to steal, I'll admit it. Nice work and keep posting.

SPark

[turtle1056]

hmmm - Frankie and Five O, Spark - as far as I can see from the hundreds of car magazines from the era - being mid sixties to early seventies - I beg to differ on your statements about being an era gasser

almost every gasser had pie crust slicks, and small front tires, - an over done motor - quite often supercharged, fenderwell headers, a tilt front end, rubber fuel hoses, a straight axle of some sort, bucket seats, a chrome tach and guages, more often than not some kind of chassis mounted wheelie bars, little to no chrome except on the engine, a moon tank of some sort, etc etc
It was a toss up as to whether it was a nose bleed or a nose down vehicle - I chose middle of the road

were either of you alive and experiencing the 60s as a builder/driver/owner?

Given the unbelievable variety of cars and style of gassers back then - please tell me what I missed or got wrong cuz I sure cant find anything?

I can appreciate if you do not like the truck - everyone has their own tastes - but if someone wishes to diss the truck at least have something more concrete than an opinion to back it up with.

Thanks for taking the time to look at my build - constructive criticism is always welcome

[turtle1056]

[fastfrankie73]

It really has nothing to do with whether I like your truck or not...it's simply NOT a "period correct gasser"...what you did was open a catalog and order everything that YOU think NEEDS to be on a gasser. Then you took all of the things YOU liked from every "Boyd type street rod" you've ever seen and mix the two together to come up with something that will impress the hell out of the average person seated in their folding chair with their crying baby doll and drive-in food tray of fake burgers and fries hooked to the window of their weekend cruiser at the local strip mall....(sorry for the run on sentence) If you would just scroll back through your own pictures, it should become clear to you. I could actually list the things that I can see just from the pictures and descriptions that are completely out of place on a "period correct gasser" but I still don't think you'll get it.

With all that being said...it seems as though you've done a lot of very nice work to YOUR truck...and the bottom line is...that's the only person you need to please

[turtle1056]

cant stand Boyd or any of the other TV JUNKER builders - and no I did not use a catalogue for anything - I actually looked at and admired the pics from the 60s and said - yup - that and that and that would look perfect and set about finding the parts - which came from many places new and used

Surely the custom stereo does not make the whole project crash n burn - one needs a decent sound system

and YES - I do get it - you have a very unjustified outlook on what constitutes a gasser in your mind, and of the car shows I rarely attend for the very reasons you posted

Thank you for the compliment on the work

[The Big M]

I offered some opinions early on about a few minor things (years and pages ago) but in the end I like the finished product. I suppose one could split hairs and take issue with the build dates on a few parts here and there but I don't think anything kills the overall feel of the truck. The stance is there.

It's unique, and I applaud you for doing your own thing. Have fun with it!

Great work on the tilt front end too, btw. Really nice seam there.

[390fastback]

I think it looks F'N COOL!!! Nice work!

[turtle1056]

thanks guys

[LM14]

I'm retired and it's cold outside today so I have some time.

your statement:

Quote .....totally old skool period perfect 60s gasser style.
You wont find anything for parts on this truck except the frame that couldn't be had back in the day...... un-quote

That may be where some of the feedback is coming from. Plans change as do builds. I've changed directions for one reason or another, we all do.

Here is some good gasser vs street driven car reading. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/thre ... es.822149/

I will start by saying I like some of the things you have done. It's a good build for the most part, but it's NOT a gasser. That's my opinion. I would consider it either "gasser inspired" or "street freak".

You asked what is not period correct? I understand that you did some things to make it a better driver but a lot of these things are what throws it from a gasser to a street freak.

Chrome POWER BRAKE BOOSTER and billet master cylinder - not gasser.
Chrome TILT STEERING with a billet steering wheel - ng.
"Billet look" alternator, ps and motor mounts. Also as discussed earlier the pulleys are modern, not vintage - ng.
Power steering - ng.
Air Cleaner skulls - rat rod.
Shift light on a 5" tach - ng.
Billet and anodized carb base plates - ng.
Clamp-on ladder bars - ng.
Halogen projector headlights - ng.

The extreme raised stance front and rear are not gasser as much as they are late 70's street freak.

I was raised in a "car" family. Uncles did race back in the original days. I started driving in the early 70's and the street freak thing was just starting then. My older sisters dated guys with actual gassers so, yes, I have seen them in their day. Tilt front '56 Chevy sedans, early novas, a '46 Ford coupe and a model A coupe were common in my neighborhood as a kid. I hung out in the garages and watched. Yep, I was there. I saw them in the late 60's. I also was driving in the street freak days and that is what you have built...mostly.

It's a lot like the guys doing "old school" street rods and having the heavily tattooed ladies hanging with them. Some how, they think this was common "back in the day". To tell the truth, guys with cars didn't have much time or money for girls....and girls didn't have every inch of their skin tattooed in the 50's.It just didn't happen that way. It's a modern perception of days gone by.

Want real feedback, go post it on the HAMB as a gasser and see what the guys that actually raced them have to say. You better have a really thick skin to post it there, they are pretty harsh. They "hate" me right now because I'm not putting a flatty and WWW bias ply tires on my '37. Oh well, it's my car and I'll build it as I please, you need to keep doing the same. That's what drives our hobby, individuals and their opinions.

I just got rid of a ' Henry J gasser. It's been a rebuilt stocker, an '80's street rod and was on it's way to gasser status. I got away from it when I decided to build a true gasser it would be lacking too many creature comforts I wanted. Gassers didn't have plush seats, tilt steering, power brakes or billet aluminum. Some high end cars had a lot of chrome but they were not built to drive more than 1/4 mile at a time.



I also have a '70 Pro Stock tribute car I'm building. I'm trying really hard to build it with parts and pieces that were available in 1970 or earlier. So far my only concessions are the tires (still the correct size, they just have tread) and the radiator. I'm working on getting rid of the radiator. I found that Sun builds new tachs with the old cases and faces.



Keep up the posts and build thread. I enjoy watching your work. I like watching gasser inspired builds as much as restorations, bagged trucks or slightly modified trucks. I like looking at trucks but like them correctly represented, it's one of my pet peeves.

JMO, your mileage may vary,
SPark

[The Big M]

The following video is from Mission Raceway in Mission, BC, Canada. I found it on another forum, where it was claimed to have been filmed in 1966.



It shows a wide range of build styles but there's a good example of the high but level stance on a shoebox Ford at the 3:39 mark. Straight axle, fenderwell headers, hood scoop, and skinny tires on chrome wheels up front. What I don't see are whitewall slicks, but their absence in this video doesn't disprove their existence at the time. If the claimed year of the video is correct then there were examples of that stance running somewhere. Perhaps there were regional differences on what was being run?

[LM14]

Great video!

A really good book for Gasser information is:

Gasser Wars by Larry Davis

There were a few gassers with whitewalls. Whitewall slicks were sometimes seen in lower class cars but mostly on the angel hair show circuit. Whitewall front tires were also seen at times but mostly in the slower classes and/or street driven cars that were also used as drag cars.

There is a huge difference in a gasser in '59 vs '69. Gassers had some very specific rules that stayed in place for years. They always required front brakes so spindle mount wheels were out, even though a lot of current "old school" gassers are built with copies of spindle mount wheels. They also had a 24" crankshaft height rule. Center of crank no higher than 24" above the ground.

The nose high cars were earlier cars. They needed the nose up to help with weight transfer for the crappy early tires. As tires got better, they started going nose down and rear up for better aerodynamics.

SPark

[LM14]

Congrats to Ken on getting named one of the Top 10 trucks at Detroit Autorama!

http://www.hotrod.com/events/1503-top-t ... -autorama/

SPark