Greg Myers Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 What were the chances that the car would have had a four speed behind the Flathead Ford, back in the day ? What tranny would this have been ? Most were three speeds as this (high performance) Zephyr
sjordan2 Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 You might find some answers here... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63775
Joe Handley Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 Well, one.....it was a song, so liberties are usually take, but if somebody had the ability to make an adapter like nowadays, they should have been able to put a then modern 4-speed behind one.
Greg Myers Posted March 20, 2012 Author Posted March 20, 2012 Yes, I know it was a song. The car on the album cover hardly matches the song either. Maybe this? No, that wouldn't work, no clutch. and lake pipes ? On a '32 Deuce ?
Harry P. Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 The Beach Boys wrote the song, the art director created the album cover. There's not necessarily any connection between the car in the song and the car on the cover.
Greg Myers Posted March 20, 2012 Author Posted March 20, 2012 That art director did a mighty fine job too. Ooops where did Chillies head go ?
mr moto Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 The car on the album cover is the Alexander Brothers coupe. Whether or not it has anything to do with the car in the song, I just don't know. That's definitely not a flathead it's got in it.
ARTEMIS1759 Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 Its a 56 Olds 344 with a zephyr trans. Cragar 671 blower and drive. Let me break all your hearts. The Beach Boys didn't know a thing about cars. Our beloved 409 song just some how managed to sound almost perfect when they sang it. If it sounded right it was probably by accident. Most of their car songs were written by DJ Roger Christian. http://www.autoweek....RNEWS/905119995
Harry P. Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 Its a 56 Olds 344 with a zephyr trans. Cragar 671 blower and drive. Let me break all your hearts. The Beach Boys didn't know a thing about cars. Our beloved 409 song just some how managed to sound almost perfect when they sang it. If it sounded right it was probably by accident. Most of their car songs were written by DJ Roger Christian. http://www.autoweek....RNEWS/905119995 Roger Christian wrote the lyrics to "Little Deuce Coupe" (actually it wasn't meant to be a song, it was just a poem), but his buddy Brian Wilson saw it, wrote the music and turned it into a song.... so whether or not the Beach Boys knew anything about cars was irrelevant in this case. They took someone else's words and turned it into a song.
Guest Johnny Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 (edited) Called a local hot rodder from the 50's REAL early 60's. He is a little on the feeble side these days and says his memories are a bit foggy. But sad if he remembers right he used a top shift 39 Ford truck trans that was regeared with passenger car gears from the mid 40's. Said he remembers breaking down three transmissions to get the right number of teeth and gear cut! He also said in the early 60's some were adapting the 4 speed out of the Falcon and the 60's GM's to their flatheads! Said he believes someone was actually advertising the adapters in magazines and that JC Whitney may even had sold them! Edited March 20, 2012 by Johnny
Eshaver Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 If anybody needs a Ford top loader gearbox like the one shown , I jus so happen to have a couple ! Ed Shaver
Danno Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 Roger Christian, Gary Usher, and Terry Melcher collaborated with Brian Wilson on various songs in the early to mid '60s, particularly the "car" songs. all were car guys, while Brian was not. Brian was the musical genius and relied on his brother, Dennis (another car guy) and Christian, Usher, and Melcher to provide car-guy appropriate lyrics. Brian occasionally took artistic license with the words to make more lyrical phrases, which resulted in occasionally awkward passages in an automotively-technical sense. But to say the Beach Boys "didn't know a thing about cars" is inaccurate. "Shut Down" was written loosely around the brand new Sting Ray that Dennis rewarded himself with when the records money started flowing (1962). "409" was written about the new Impala SS Brian Wilson bought upon signing with Capitol Records. Usher helped him pick it out. Regarding the '32 on the Little Deuce Coupe album, Harry has it right. The original owner built it independently of the writing of the song. The deuce was built by Clarence "Chili" Catallo. He bought the car when he was 15 years old; he installed an Oldsmobile V-8 and built it into the iconic rod. Chili moved to California and took a job at a hot-rod shop that did work for Capitol Records, having "built a run of 20 candy-striped dune buggies" for the label (used in a Beach Boys promotion). Noticing Chili’s car, Capitol’s promo people wanted it to represent the "Little Deuce Coupe" of song, but ended up using a previously published photo from Hot Rod Magazine's July 1961. That's Chili on the album cover with his head cropped out of the Hot Rod picture. Chili sold the car a couple of years later, but bought it back shortly before he died in 1998. It has since been restored by his son.
mr moto Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 Here's a link to a pretty informative article about the car. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/automobiles/collectibles/30DEUCE.html?_r=1
Craig Irwin Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 OK, we now know about the '32, can Mr Springsteen please explain a '69 Chevy with a 396 and fuelie heads?
my name is nobody Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 (edited) I just found this thread and ironically, I was listening to one of my favorite Beach Boys CD's. a few years ago we slapped together a little Flathead Mill. While it would have looked great in a '32..............it was built for a little '33 Ford - 3 window coupe. the names associated with this engine would leave most old time hot rodders slack jawed and stunned. were just a bunch of nobody's: Mercury Block, Navarro heads, Harmon- Collins Magneto, McCulloch supercharger.............. Edited March 20, 2012 by they call me nobody
Harry P. Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 OK, we now know about the '32, can Mr Springsteen please explain a '69 Chevy with a 396 and fuelie heads? It also has a Hurst on the floor. It wasn't factory stock...
SSNJim Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 It has a competition clutch and a four on the floor, it purrs like a kitten 'til the lake pipes roar.
Longbox55 Posted March 21, 2012 Posted March 21, 2012 JC Whitney may even had sold them! Yes, they did indeed sell them, along with adapters to bolt up Olds, cadillac, and Chrysler engines to the Ford transmissions. The really funny part, JC Whitney still lists them in their catalog!
Guest Johnny Posted March 21, 2012 Posted March 21, 2012 Yes, they did indeed sell them, along with adapters to bolt up Olds, cadillac, and Chrysler engines to the Ford transmissions. The really funny part, JC Whitney still lists them in their catalog! I haven't seen one of their catalogs in over 10 years! Used to drive up with a bunch of guys (to share gas) to the store on the triange! On the Archer Ave. side was JC Whitney and the other side had an entrance for Warchowski!(sp?) Plus they had a third catalog called Metro!
Chuck Most Posted March 21, 2012 Posted March 21, 2012 one of the most iconic '32 Ford's ever and also IMO one of the downright flat ugliest too YUCK! before it jumped the shark with the goofy and lame show car aluminum and plastic fins, it was actually a pretty sweet hot rod.................................. Don't quote me, but I think the alumium fins were added because the rockers got rusty, and they decided to go that route instead of replacing them with more conventional pieces.
Mike Kucaba Posted March 21, 2012 Posted March 21, 2012 Any one ever see the '32 owned by John Hycko(sp) ?
bigphoto Posted March 21, 2012 Posted March 21, 2012 If anybody needs a Ford top loader gearbox like the one shown , I jus so happen to have a couple ! Ed Shaver Big block input or small block?.......... Seriously though, a cool song about what would be a kickin' hot rod!
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