Hot Rods What makes your hot rod "your" car?

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What makes your hot rod "your" car?

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I MOPAR power anything I own. That makes it my car

 

I usually have some goofy idea

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A ton of handmade parts.

 

well first off...rip out that 1958 tuck'n roll; replace it with purple tweed, along with a couple dolls on the package tray. Then toss those bias plys and steelies in the trash; and replace them with an early 90's set of boyd 14 inch wheels. (after turning the original Dago axle into a trailer and replacing it with a 1974 Mustang II suspension) Then i'll sand that original 1960 lacquer paint job off and paint it easter egg colors with splash graphics, and a heart beat of America sticker on the back window. Lastly rip out and replace any Nailhead or 392 hemi with a TBI 305 out of a 1989 Chevy truck. All car shows there will be a doll leaning up against the grill.

 

Well, I'd have to say it's the dash! (It is the part of the car that the owner sees the most of, so it's gotta be nice!)
Take my '40 sedan, for example. I'd say the parts that make it my car are the parts I've made or the ones that are really unique... The gauge cluster, home made fuel block, and old chromed inner fenders and garnish mouldings are the highlights. What really makes it my car is that everything about it- good or bad- can be attributed to my level of skills at the time of the build. The body and paint work (which isn't perfect, but the firewall has been repainted since this picture), the upholstery, the design aspects... It's all out of my head and from my hands.

 

I don't know if anything it "mine" as I always grab ideas from old pics. I do know I like the color red and I like early chevy motors with Weiand 4x2 intakes. I have a flathead in my '33 right now and I recently bought another Chevy intake to eventually swap over one day.... but nothing is entirely my idea.

 

I seem to start from nothing, so the whole car is "mine" when I'm done.

 

the title ?

 

changed the converter almost immediately, it was just WAY wrong, picked up close to .50 right there. Hooked up the vacuum advance, and a shitload of tuning. Cam and heads next. It wont really be "mine" till that's done. Then it'll run like "mine".

 

No problem seeing it as "my car". To get what I have wanted, I had to build my chassis and roll cage structure from scratch, remove the 40 Chevy body from its original running gear and fit it to my chassis. It is still a work in progress, but I hope to drive it this year. My biggest problem is it is too much my car and I have never done this before, never been a tech and am getting older quickly, so some days aches and pains slow progress. I am certain when it is "out there" that lots of folks will look and question this or that...but I don't believe it will dampen my enthusiasm!

 

I constructed the whole thing in my garage. Nobody else has laid a hand on it. Hours spent sitting there scratching my head trying to figure how I was going to do this and that in the beginning. Building it exactly how I wanted it. The engine combo is all mine.

So when it performs... I did that.
When it fails... I own it.

 

My constant car projects are mine because...I creak, twinge, ache, and....now & then can't even get up off the garage floor without grabbing something stable & mumbling quietly...but, I keep at it, and 'tread carefully' bending over and lifting, so I don't have to yell for my wife to help me crawl out from under my projects again-------I know my car is mine, because I've known 'every' piece of it, and molded it all together the best I can, not as 'perfect' as I'd wish afterwards, but safe and 'realistic' for my skills....and best of all, my car makes me feel good, even in winter, by just a quick ''look at it'' with a smile, and to know it's all in my hands, and I have the keys.....thanks for all the advice fellow HAMBer's!---- Ray

 

Gotta have louvers in the hood! Beyond that, two simple steps. First, remove/repair/replace anything that just BUGS me. Get rid of the things that are just wrong or not done correctly. Steering wheel, wheels and tires, mismatched parts, etc all gotta go. Second, add anything that the car really needs. Scallops, finned aluminum engine parts, blue dot taillights, whatever I think it needs.

 

It starts with the engine. The right cam and related parts. Rims are nice, if I can afford them, but really just like to hear the engine sing.

 

To make it your car, build it the way you want it. Some will like it and some won't.

 

I can't remember the last project I dragged home under it's own power so the first thing I do is get a title in my name. That alone makes it mine , the rest is just refining it and enjoying the build.

 

What makes it "my car?" Obsessing over every nut, bolt, screw, and fastener...that, and the fact that it's not and probably never will be finished

Beyond that, I probably agonized over the dash more than anything else...still gotta get my engine turned panel done, but here's the gist of it;

 

mainly 'cause I spent 8 years cobblin' this together from scratch....

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Detail, I take an old hot rod, tear it down and build it my way, the way I would have in the early 60's, if I had the money and expertise back then.

 

I go to the junk yard or swap meet and pick only the parts that I like. Never a Cookie cutter build. Never try to please anyone but myself. Then keep it for LIFE !!!

 

I had the pleasure of working for a 33-34 Ford Collector and was able to drive and use any of the cars I worked on . my favorites were a 33 and a 34 Vicky , also liked the open cars . so I dreamed up a car to fit my idea of the car I wanted and built it from a junk Fordor Sedan . never seen another like it - Yet .

 

I LOVE the interior in that sedan delivery.

 

Because I brought it back from the dead, a old forgotten race car. It is kind of like having a pet zombie, that is loud, fast and eats brains. LOL. OH it is definitely mine.

 

^^^hahaha^^^ ...nice analogy of a loud, pet zombie....now ''that'' is a car!

 

I think I can speak to this having bought a car off of Tman going on ten years ago.
Wheels have been mentioned and that was one of the changes I made going with 16" wires and bias tires. A little judicious striping to break up the blue a bit, cushions for the seats and a cover for the transmission were some of the small changes I made to it. Over the time that I have owned it it has been Driven a lot, average of 3000 miles a year probably (not a lot by some standards) but adds up to about 30,000 in an old buggy sprung, bias tired hot rod.
My tired ass and the grease on my hands are what have made it My car at this point.
Getting ready to pull the engine for new soft plugs, a repaint, and finned valve covers. Just a general freshening up for spring.
I have to give Trent props as I have had no major issues since owning this car so he did a good job on the basic build.
The longer you own them the more they become part of the family.
Pics are before and after I bought it.

P1230026 by G V Gordon posted Feb 9, 2016 at 11:04 AM

ONKuy6f3to0DnOAO20YC0A by G V Gordon posted Sep 18, 2015 at 2:15 PM

 

I built it myself - fabricated parts, painted it, upholstery job, etc......

 

Because I built it

 

For me it is 'harmonizing' the build into a singular vision of what I want the car to be.

For my previous '62 Chevy II wagon, that meant getting rid of the myriad of 'performance' stickers, a bunch of chinzy accessories (think American Graffiti-esque piston shift knob) and the unfortunate variety of colors, inside and out, and replacing them with a mix of stock, and 60's appropriate gear, paint and mexican blankets to crate something that could have been a 1960s family jalopy that didn't take itself too seriously (which is what it was, until it blew up).

For my current Model A project, and my driver '39 DeLuxe, a formerly stalled stock-ish resto, and a mostly stock 'sleeper' respectively, I am bringing them both to a vision of the mid 1940s, rather than the directionless, disparate alternator-clad cars that they were.

For example, within a month of ownership the outside of the DeLuxe went from this...

...to this...


And the engine bay went from this...

...to this...


Small changes from stance, to carburetion, to plug wires and tires, all make the car mine, and not the previous owner's.

Still, the biggest thing that makes them mine, is the mileage racked up with my, and my family's, asses occupying the seats.

 

My engine build, transmission build, rear end set up, chop, hard lines, welds, brakes, steering, suspension and all the rest. Even paint. Every nut, bolt and washer on my cars have passed through my hands and that's the way they've all been.

I'm kinda proud of that.