Hot Rods Are after market bodies really hotrods?

I have been looking at all kinds of rods. I own a 1937 Buick and a 1949 Mercury
All original tin. I would really like a vintage '32 or '40 Ford and i keep seeing all these knock off bodies in metal and fiberglass . They all claim improvement over the original including more cab room etc. They do zero for me and i think they diminish all the guys doing original steel and less popular bodies to stay true to Detroit steel. They all seem dim reflections of the real thing. You get a representation but nothing real. Like dudes doing blow up dolls not real girls

 

Oh for the love of pete...

 

Geez, another 'original tin' snob....

In case you haven't noticed, there's a limited supply of OEM tin. The repo stuff makes it affordable for those who don't have deep pockets, as well as helping to hold down the prices on the original stuff. And some of the repo stuff is all-but-indistinguishable from the 'real deal'. Some of the repo stuff is tacky, but there's a lot that isn't, it's all hot rodding in my book...

And if you feel 'diminished', well, I guess that's your problem...

 

Well...Blow up doll costs you just ONCE. Real girl has to be fed, clothed, and 'lodged': No 'stickin' her back in the box' when yer done.
A real hot rod, I say, a real hot rod... (my best Foghorn Leghorn here) hasta be massaged, checked for the right numbers, then have 6" of aftermarket modern Patch welded to its bottom, then rust scale dealt with, then etching...Oh hell, "Why didn't I buy the Brookville???"
Whatever your boundaries are, Mac. Semper Fi...

 

Here’s one of those blow up dolls. Seems pretty real to me.

 

Who cares? Build it and drive it, snobbery aside.

I can afford to build a 'glass bodied (true to original dimensions, 3" chop, rain gutters, flip out front windshield, roll down back window, roll down door windows, trunk gutter/drain system, working cowl vent) that cost $13,000 for a body vs at least twice that for a steel one. Ride would never have happened if steel was the only option.

I also have a '26T coupe project going that's all steel. Maybe I feel Fords (or recreations thereof) make better hot rods than Buicks do. It's all about perception.

I think what you see more, is people hot rodding less desirable steel bodies that wouldn't have gotten a second look back in the day, just so they can say it's "real steel". That I find sadder.

SPark

 

Some guys like the appearance of an old car. Some guys like an old car.

 

I’m going to guess there are at least twenty 40 Fords for sale here on the HAMB classifieds,have at it.

 

Your analogy is seriously flawed........

 

Like some shop that only use original undropped Ford Axle and never called 1-800 send me an axel!! but Brookville roadsters bodies are suppliers for they...
I respect the opinions and more when they build hot rods...

Sent from my Mi A1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Just build the fucking thing... don't be one of those fucking "My car is 100% period correct" guys. Fucking idiots are running brand new tires, 12v systems, petronix plates, etc... half the car maybe "traditional" but you will never be able to recreate that time period end of story.

 

Been married 30+ years .... real women have a advantage.
After 30 years, I can think of some advantages to just having a blow up doll instead.

Heck, seems to me 1/2 the hot rods today are a lot of patched metal to stitch them back together.
Kinda like a women with breast enlargements .... are they still real?

 

<<<<<<Yeah this isn't a hotrod, dual quad 392 Hemi, manual transmission, 4:10 Locker diff.!
I guess I'm a poser!
KK

 

I guess it's hard to be a snob when so few people give a damn. As soon as you add just one reproduction part, you are moving away from your ideal "real" car. Patch panels? Replacement glass, tires, spark plugs, hoses, exhaust system, blah, blah blah. Perhaps you can advise us on what percentage of originality makes up a real car? Most of us do the best we can to stay true to the ideal but still get our cars on the road. Must be nice to be perfect.

Time to abandon this silly thread

 

I've seen completely rusted out pieces of shit original steel cars and I have seen tastefully done nicely put together "replica" cars that were true to the era the owner wanted to replicate. I know which one I would rather own and be proud to drive. I just don't get this bullshit it has to be "Henry or Detroit Steel" crap. Someone doing a car that makes THEM happy does nothing to diminish others who do their thing to make THEMselves happy. Sheesh...

 

As much as you can.

Some cars are easier than others, to keep "real". Some are impossible.

what's funny, is how some folks get bent out of shape about it. It's just a car.

 

I do like sitting in my heap, looking at a particular item, a bolt, a window crank, or even the whole thing and thinking it has been around 20 years longer than I have and still in service. Got nothing to do with what makes a hot rod or bragging rights, just like that it's old.

 

Jeez another letter from the "period correct, gotta be steel" police. I built my roadster using a (cover your eyes here police) genuine new Wescott body on original deuce rails. I got the rails from the widow of a dear friend that passed away before he was able to use it. I now have this hobby degrading car on the road for 11 years. I have won several awards with it d and have cruised it at 80 for hours. In fact I've driven the wheels off it. I have NEVER noticed a fiberglass inferiority of any kind. All I ever noticed was what a heck of a great time I have every time I back out of the garage with it. I think way too many people have forgotten the original motto of the NSRA, FUN WITH CARS!!!!! Not fiberglass, not steel, not 40 Fords of deuce roadsters, but FUN WITH CARS!!!!! Get of your high horse before you fall on your self righteous ego and wake up hurt. Build a carbsolid, safe, reliable and enjoy the experience for what it really is or should be. I've owned 100 cars in 56 years of hot rodding. I enjoyed almost all of them not because they were steel or fiberglass, but because they were fun and brought me great joy. That's what hot rodding is supposed to be!

 

Hmmmm
Seems like this question was asked....let's see.....around 1960?
Please, do what you want man, but don't judge everybody else. WTF does THAT have to do with hot rods.
And the "woman" analogy is silly and irrelevant, not to mention insulting to women.
Jeeeeesh!

 

Just commenting to get in before it gets axed
Also increasing my count
Thanks.

 

Oh
I hope the next fake metal body is a 49/51 merc

 

I'm gunna build a steel corvette, bet no one will even notice.

 

My flexibility in my interest in hot rod bodies has always been on par with my interest in women.
I don't recall ever saying as the hand went under the sweater "are those all original", nope can't say that's ever happened.

 

Everyone has their definition of a real hot rod, you have to do what suits you and not worry what someone else thinks. I belong to a small local club and one member thinks my flathead powered Model A isn't a hot rod, same with my Model A pickup, had a B motor with a Winfield head, Ansen intake, Holley 94, Mallory and a header in it. Now has an inserted A motor with a high compression head and is a daily driver. Build what works for you. A friend didn't like the color I'm painting my v8 A, asked if he was paying for I and told him if not don't worry about it..

 

If someone were to give me a nice repro bodied car; I'd take it.

 

Dude, give it up. That's like saying replacement Brake Shoes aren't Real brake shoes. If you don't like what the market has to offer don't buy it, but don't tell others what's right or wrong. Your opinion is only important to you. Voicing it makes you sound,,,,,,,,
The Wizzard

 

If I could buy a new body to replace this one I'm living in, I'd start saving up cash.

 

Well let me get some popcorn and see what develops here. However I’m from the camp that say if you don’t like someone’s car or style keep your opinions to yourself. No one has to have permission to build what they want or what they think is cool.

 

Right about the time Dee Wescott started building fiberglass reproduction fenders, since even then it was getting difficult to find good parts.

 

Winfield made few as well as P & J (not Pete and Jakes).