Hot Rods People Without A Clue

^^Harley guys, don't flip out, it was just a little light humour...

 

He may not have known what a Nailhead is but being a Mechanic I bet he'd know what an Iron Duke is.

 

Nailheads drive model a fords that's what they call my deuce !

 

The head on the left looks like a porcupine to me..but what's with the tiny springs holding the 2 right valves up

 

I doubt anyone was born with an innate knowledge of "common" car terms.
It all comes in the form of years of acquisition.
Tho' some are slow to catch on; for others, it just flies over the top.
A person that "doesn't have a clue" may not have enjoyed life's lessons yet.

And, yes..Stove Bolts came from stoves, not Chevrolet.

 

That's very true.
However - how does a guy own a Buick for 40 years and not know it's engine as a nail head?

 

He may have hung out with Ford and Chevy guys, who knows? JW

 

Cool now I know...I think some people just need to be introduced to the H.A.M.B

 

Don't you mean a "Wide-Block"?

 

My '30 Sedan has been called a T-Bucket by more than one person on a few occasions.

 

I crewed on a fuel altered years ago, the owner had done his own interpretation of a '37 Ford in 'glass. We'd always agree if a guy thought it was a Dodge or Nash, or what ever. We built a new car in the winter of '03 with a radically reworked 'glass '48 Anglia with a grill that looks like an Anglia, it has the grilles on the hood sides that say Anglia and people call it a Fiat. Go figure!

 

wonder if Max Balchowsky called them nailheads...

 

That pusher fan is doing more harm than good too....

 

I have a confession to make, I hung around another forum a few years back and some body was looking for a set of dagmars for a custom they were building. I had to ask what they were. They educated me.

 

doesn't madonna have *dagmars* ...?

 

Dagmar had Dagmars. Sheesh.

 

Few years back, i drove my stock A Tudor to the gas station. I had brought two bbq grill propane bottles with me to exchange and they were tied down on the rear luggage rack. When I was unloading them, the middle aged guy next to me said , "that thing runs on propane, amazing? ". I said it certainly would be.

 

I was once sitting in my '56 Bel Air eating a burrito, and someone came up to me and said "Nice shoebox!". I was a bit confused because I always thought shoebox referred to 49-51 Fords. But there was no convincing him, so I figured maybe I was wrong and maybe in some parts of the country tri-five Chevys are referred to as shoeboxes? Or maybe he was talking about the burrito...

 

We didn't say model A five widows when I had one. All modelA coupes had five?

 

Except the Model A Coupes with three ! JW

 

that made me laugh. I'm going to borrow it, and use it whenever I get the chance, thanks man!

 

I think ya got me. Now, I'm trying to remember if I've ever seen a three window Model A and I don't think I have.

 

Our 'schtick' will always change over time but I thought the most widely used terms would never go away. Some of the new terms are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. One such example, "Noss" for nitrous. For us it was always "juice", "squirt", "hose", "blue bottle tune up", "spray" and just plain ol nitrous. Calling out ETs in tenths only like "...and it ran ten two.." instead of "...ten twenties...". I mean there's a car length difference between 10.20 and 10.29, right? Shit like that gives me the impression that the person is little more than a sponge-brained parrot getting their info from movies or TV shows. I get brain twisted by some of the really old tags. My dear departed Dad made me figure out what a "monkey motion" engine was. Born in 1930, he had a lot of old school slang that took me some time to understand what he was talking about. At the end of it all I don't mind sharing the best of terminology with newbies that are interested. The ones that chap my ass are those who nearly insist they know more than I ever will, but they're 21 years old. "Wow, smart kid, see ya..."

BTW, who reading this knows what a monkey motion engine is?

 

I wrote this on here on another thread once, but still can't get over this.........and it has happened multiple times!
Sitting at a traffic light in my 56 Pontiac and the driver next to me winds down their window and yells " What year is your 57 Chevy?" Think about that for a second....I realize that not everyone knows every car, including me, but just the wording of the question...........never really knew how to respond!
Maybe unrelated, but equally confusing: putting some gas in the car the other day and an older fellow walks all the way across the parking lot and is looking the car over pretty thoroughly. I was expecting the usual "nice car" (which it isn't) or a question, etc. The dude looks me square in the face and says "Damn cats!" and walks away. I think my reaction was to just let my mouth hang open a little and went cross eyed for a second.

 

no matter what the case, we shouldn't be condescending and arrogant.

Just because a fellow doesn't know the slang associated with the hobby doesn't mean he doesn't love and enjoy his car.

You never know when you may need an ally or a friend. A gentle and friendly explanation and transfer of information may earn your just that.

 

You just lost half the guys on this thread...

 

That is something that was a bit ambiguous until recent years. You can look back in the 80s and see where baskerville used the term for Tri fives. Also back in some earlier magazines it seems to be a term used for Ford AND Chevys. We have had some good discussions on the board about this.

 

On the other hand, there is hope out there. I had some lady at a cruise night walk up to me and ask if my car was a Custom 300. I said yes. Everyone else calls it a Fairlane or Galaxie 500.

She said her family had one, white and blue. I told her mine was white and blue from the factory and showed her the blue where the primer had scuffed off. She whips out her phone and shows me a picture of the car from 1964 with a boat and trailer behind it.

 

I read a post on here along time ago, the guy said how smart you are depends on what part of the country your standing in, and what year it is. I'm not to smart but it makes sense to me.