Hot Rods Has anybody ever un-street rod an old street rod?

I'm glad my hot rod, street rod or hot street rod isn't traditional, no tikis & I've got no tats........lol........its only been a hot street rod since 1973, I've had it since 1971.......it must be interesting to worry about fads...............lol.............built to suit me and that's all that really should matter...........lol........Andy Douglas

 

Yes - look at the _old_ pics in the thread at the top of the board - offered as official examples of "traditional" = nice shiny finished cars. Back in the day, I called the perpetually unpainted, dirty - greasy, banged-up, rusty cars "shot rods". I think I may have got that term from author Henry Gregory Fenton ("Hot Rod" etc) or perhaps some editor of a hot rod mag. ...I always thought it was appropriate...

 

I've been thinking about just this... I attend quite a few of the big auctions like B-J and Mecum. There are always some very dated street rods going thru, some with the pastel paint jobs, tweed interiors, billit wheels and accessories. They often go cheap, penny's on the dollar sometime just because they are dated style/ trend wise yet some were obviously high dollar quality builds. I've seen some well built, well cared for cars, probably 100k builds 20 years ago sell between 10/20k. Can't help but think a new paint job (no body work!), interior, wheels and you could have a nice hot rod for a fraction of what it would cost to build from the ground up. Of course might have to live with a few things, Mustang II front ends, ect so not a truly traditional hot rod but...

 

I'm 68, which puts me in the best time to have been a teenage gearhead. In our Chicago
suburb of about 2500 we had what a magazine might call a pretty good car culture going.
Honestly, out of all the cars that cruised our streets and hung out at the Dog 'N Suds, maybe
two or three could be considered beaters. We took pride in our cars. Oh yeah, there were
guys who wailed on their rides and I wouldn't have wanted one after the guys went onto
something else, but I remember only two all primer cars...a flat white '59 Impala that was
so low the owner couldn't cruise one side of town, and a gray '55 Chevy that was built long
before "Two Lane Blacktop" hit the theatres. Wait, I can't forget the flat black '51 Stude with
a chopped top that was held together by 2x4s and big worm clamps..."The Lemonster". Man,
what a farce. The name came from the town we lived in, Lemont, Il.

Will "traditional" hit the '62-'65 Chevy II, '64-'65 Cutlass, '64-'65 Tempest? Or does trad stop
with 1948? Is there a traditional treatment for a '65 Skylark? Will the Brooklyn Dodgers win
the pennant?

 

That's strange, I was going to reply to say your pictures weren't posting, but when I clicked on the reply button they all showed up! Nice car! What wheels/tires are those?

 

When My buddy Chuck bought this car in 1996 it was red, tan tweed, billet wheels and engine dress up parts. It also had a butchered up x member and a dropped T bucket front end and a coil over shock /ladder bar rear like you would have put under a race car. everybody liked it. In 2004 I started building it like this. Everybody says nice traditional hot rod. Look close , it has a Hiedts front end with tubular arms. coil overs, Chassis engineering rear springs, tubular x member/boxed frame,Wheel vintque wheels . Coker radials, 2001 Toyota pickup front seats, a Ididit colume , Lokar shifter and a billet dash panel with a Ford V8 milled into it. Now I suppose every one will tell me its not a Hot Rod. Well it went like hell, rode great and handeled like a slot car . Which made it a very Hot Rod to me! Any car can be cool if you use timeless colors and styles

Larry

 

I was thinking that the pale green and unusual wheels at least gave this 5w coupe some measure of distinction..........but.........of course now with the standard flat black paint and mag wheels it is just one of quite a few similar traditional cars...........but your car and your choice...........andyd

 

If you build the vehicle the way YOU want, be it street rod or traditional and don’t rely on asking everyone’s opinion on what would look good then odds are you don’t give a damn what anybody says about it.
Buying a street rod and making it your own should only be your vision of a traditional hot rod.
Nobody’s butt other than yours is behind the wheel. Nobody else is paying the bills on it.
If I was going to buy a street rod and wanted to ‘traditionalize’ it I would keep stuff I like and change what I don’t and if the end result isn’t what others think it should be I couldn’t care less.
But that’s just me.

 

I kind of gotten into the streetrod fad when I done the interior of my 37 Chevy p/u so it needs to be redone but can not get too it due to other projects. I have not been caring about it and letting it get dirty so I will had enough and do something with it sooner so maybe this winter,I got the material cheap is my reasoning on doing it and was a long time before I found this place.

 

Traditional Hot rodding is an interpretation of the past. Very few cars get it right on all points, so why not. Nowadays, many traditional cars are built to higher standard than "Back in the day" anyways.

 

I agree with metalman. I see quite a few of those 80's easter egg looking cars that are well built just kinda ugly. I have considered one and then making it suit my tastes. Also have considered and nicely restored one then putting later running gear etc. On the hunt right now for another one to keep me occupied.

 

we inherited my brother-in-law's ex-drag car. i don't know how many times he had the brakes worked on to get them working right. i put a cam in with similar specs but greater lobe separation and problem solved. now to get the jacked-up rear down where it belongs...

 

I'm going to preface this by saying I try to build everything with all early parts. Cloth wire old hose clamps. I am a super dork about the details.
That being said I like old street rods and it makes me a little sad to see one get undone. Like a car that was done in the 80s or 90s and the owner drove the shit out of it and went to like every cruise night etc.
You know the cars I'm talking about. The ones that almost become invisible because you've seen it so many times in your area at every cruise or show or whatever for as long as you can remember.
I have a soft spot for those cruise night cars with their weird paint and and lame wheels and all.
Just remember what is out of fashion now was a panty dropper back then.

 

Had to do a makeover after purchase but I'm happy now.
Had Torque Thrusts, velour bucket seats, shaved handles, SuperTrapp exhaust and flames. But it was a steel 3W!

 

Everyone has a different idea of what looks cool..... I like Torque Thrust wheels way more than wire wheels. Especially on a deuce. 32’s look too chubby for a spindly looking wire wheel. I know I’m in the minority. I think Model T’s and A’s look ok with wires though.
Glad it’s how YOU like it now!

 

I do like wires.
All my '32's have them.
Not everyone's cup of tea.
Saw this A at Owensville.
Perfect.

 

partsdawg mirrored my thoughts. It's yours, do it your way and worry not what the others think. That's traditional.

 

For sure, l'm in the minority, I like 40 Ford style steel wheels on early Ford hot rods, but the fad switched to 35 Ford wire wheels some time ago. Either way, they are traditional.

 

The latest of the wire wheel fads is larger than 16" wire wheels.....especially on the rear. The 17's look good, even on the front of this A!

 

A wheel/tire change can really make a difference.
Halibrands, '40 wheels & Firestones or Excelsiors & '35 wires.

 

No matter how you slice it, that' a great looking Tudor. I like it with the Hals.

 

Actually damned few cars were "flat black" back in the late 40's and early 50's
My dad's 41 ragtop that he had when he got out of the Army Air corps in 1945 and married my mom in 1946. It looks kind of flat black or satin in the photo but it is actually blue that he polished the crap out of as he would never drive a car with dull paint, Old photos make young guys think that all old cars were black or flat black and all customs were black but the truth is that flat black is a relatively recent thing outside of running in primer until you could paint it.
I'm like several in that I don't think you need to go "restorer overboard" and do away with everything. Change the wheels, change the paint, change the trinkets on the engine. Pull the billet off and bolt cast aluminum on. Swap out the gaudy billet steering wheel for a more traditonal wheel and tone down what ever else is a bit too "newish".

 

A few before and afters of my '52. It had a lot of good to start with. I'm planning a few other changes still, including a swap to some real WWW's and a grille change. Customs evolve over time, I see no reason not to change one around for an earlier period look.

 

Jack Webb said 'shot rod' in Dragnet...referring to a '39 Ford coupe, described as "You know the kind...low, kinda beat up, two exhaust pipes..."
Jan Merlin played the hit-and-run jockey with the stolen plaque...
The episode was covered in HRM later in '54, with the caption: "Joe Friday knows a shot rod when he sees one now..."

 

Squaw...Beautiful '52! I had a '53 Vic that I planned to drop a SBC into, but steering linkage LOOKED like it was too close to the Chevy pan. What pan did you use, and did you have to drop the transverse steering rod??? (Great plug cable guides...where'd they come from???)

 

One of my favorite deuce sedans formerly from the St Louis area, even with the small engine. I think an updated upholstery and especially steering wheel, was about all I thought it needed.

 

Thanks. I thought it had great potential so I jumped on it wondering why no one had done so.
New Interior, steering wheel, rolling stock change and a good general scrubbing along with some needed maintenance brought it back to life.
I had intended to pull the Buick engine but it runs so well and is really thrifty!
The small block will have to wait.
Still gotta paint the wheel.

 

Looking great. If it were me, I'd run the snot outta the Buick. It's been in the car since around 1982, or so, when Don Albers built it.