Hot Rods I built the car for me

Hey Danny! What I'm about to say will probably tick you off!!( not my intent) I call that a Street Rod! Now that is not in any way a bad thing in my book( All 3 cars of mine can be called Street Rods) Back in the late sixties maybe earlier our mentors were beginning to do this to their Hot Rods,Tex Smith comes to mind,independent front suspensions, auto trans,disc brakes,etc,etc,etc!! Its also a Hot Rod!! Pete

 

When I build cars for others I listen to them, sometimes I try to steer them in what I think is the right direction. When I do stuff on my cars I'm the king of my castle.
I have 2 cars with semi-automatic transmission so there's no clutch pedal but I still shift by hand. Does that make them semi-real?

 

I know exactly what to call your car...
"HRP's car". End of story.

 

This thread pretty much sums up the reasons why I decided against a build thread.

 

you wern't kidding about that rath of god rain.......sun is back out now though - Im in your neck of the woods for another day or two

 

It can be tough to balance practicality and enjoyment with 'traditional', particularly as we get older and traffic gets nastier. Some of the 'traditional' junk I herded when I was younger I'd hesitate to even get into these days. With that said, I have opinions...

Manuals vs Automatics. I'll admit I'm biased towards manuals, but it really has nothing to do with what's 'trad' and is more just the 'fun factor'. Automatics started appearing shortly after the OHV revolution in the '50s when it was figured out that the pre-war designed manuals simply wouldn't take their power if you really beat on them. Packaging a then-current side-shift manual trans into pre-war cars was a difficult thing with the shift linkage, clutch linkage and exhaust all competing for the same space. The conversion floor shifters of the day weren't that good either. And if you've got more than a mild build on the motor, then living with a high-stall convertor with it's mushy low-speed throttle response becomes needed. Plus you have to add a trans cooler, another bit that looks out of place. Now that modern 'top shift' manuals are available, it's an easier install but the 'trad' guys look down on them. But it's really about the driving experience, I find a manual is just more fun when I want to 'hot rod'. I'll note that my avatar has a C4, but I do have a T56 in the shop (one of these days...).

Air conditioning. Danny, if I lived where you do I suspect it would standard equipment on everything I owned (well, maybe not on an open car...). And if climate change keeps going, that may become true even here in the NW. My main beef with AC is almost no matter how you install it, that compressor looks out of place on a hot rod motor. The solution is simple; don't open the hood. Or in your case, open the side opposite the compressor, semi-hiding it. If someone comes up with a compressor design you can actually hide, they'll sell a zillion of 'em...

Anything that improves enjoyment, and maybe even more importantly, reduces wear and tear on our old carcasses while driving our cars is OK with me.

 

At my age, and having beat and burnt myself up in a roadster for 32 years, now even my old beater 32 sedan is comfortable. BUT, I'm ready for some old man creature comforts, like a roomy 40, WITH A/C. Stay the course with YOUR 32. Others don't like it, let 'em get out their checkbook, or STFU.

 

nice dune buggy

 

Danny,
Well...........As I posted some time back, I would jump over a many of a “Street Rod” to get to your “32 Beater” before the new lnterior, a/c-heat,safety improvements and that faded 57 yr. old paint job. Well...... Danny, I still would because it still looks like a “Hot Rod “to me.

 

I absolutely love driving a stick and I installed a 5 speed transmission in Brenda's Ranch Wagon and I drive her car from time to time, due to a bad leg & a fused ankle curtsy to a Harley Davidson ridding me I have limited use of my left leg, when I was building the sedan I set it up for a 4 speed but realized I wouldn't be able to use the clutch so the automatic was chosen.

I hope to be driving my old beater for as long as I am able to, period correct? no it's not but it beats driving what all the automakers are offering today. HRP

 

Funny you would say, I heard that form a elderly lady that lived next door to my grandmother more than 40 years ago when she commented on my pickup.HRP

 

That's the way I feel also.I built it for me and I enjoy driving it.

 

Jean and I have our 50th tomorrow. She started earning her "hot rod doesn't have AC on the way to Tulsa for the 73 Nationals. Since then a number of road trips and probably 300 rod runs with no AC, a lot of times with no side glass to keep rain out. That's earning the right to ride in the 48 with AC. She/we have our creds. Manual trans? Planned but the left knee bitches every time it hoops push a clutch no matter how much fun the right hand thinks rowing gears is. I've found over the years that more often than not it is guys that don't have any hot rod or custom that like to criticise cars at events. If a real car guy doesn't like the car he usually just walks past without giving it any attention.

Sent from my VS988 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I bought the 3 speed trans that's in my '39 p/u from the guy who owns the local muffler shop. He's got to be in his 70's. He still has a p/u like mine (although a heck of a lot nicer) that he bought in HS and the nicest '39 convertible anyone could ask for. He took what became my trans out and replaced it with a C4 in the convertible since he could drive a clutch car for any period of time. Now he can keep driving and enjoying it. Does that mean the the convertible isn't a "true" hot rod just because it has an automatic? Hell no!

 

I get the bad leg thing. I've got a pair of bad knees, probably the only reason I can still do what I do is there's no feeling in them (cut nerves) so they very seldom hurt. They do lock up occasionally though, and have been getting noisier lately. Knee surgery in the early '60s wasn't like it is now. It looks like they used a hatchet, and rehab consisted of handing me a pair of crutches.. 'There you go kid...'.

My DD and old truck are both manuals, so that keeps me in practice...

 

My '42 had a 428 FE, toploader, drum brakes, manual steering, and no AC. It was hot in the summer, rode rough, steered hard, didn't stop very well, and got 5 mpg. It was a real hot rod by most definitions but I didn't drive it much.
I'm going with o/d automatic, disc brakes, air conditioning and radial tires on my '32. I love the traditional look, but I want to enjoy driving my rod too. If others don't like my choices, it doesn't bother me a bit. Your '32 is perfect just the way it is and I'd drive the heck out of it just like you do.

 

I second the notion that most of the the know-it-all critics here don't have a running driving hot rod! I really could care less what they don't like about my car...

 

You have owned it for a long time. do what ya want.

 

I guess the old hoodlum is still alive and living inside of me.

I used my money to build my car and I use my money to maintain my car. Therefore, I get to use any parts I want in it, I get to call it whatever I want to call it, and I get to drive it any way I want to drive it. (Sometimes I even get to make a donation to a state or local governing body if they don't approve of how I want to drive.)

If someone doesn't like the choices I've made with my car, maybe they can buy it from me, or my wife after I die and correct what they think is wrong. Then they can use their money to change whatever they want. Until the car belongs to them, their opinion makes no difference to me.

I've met a few of those "I think you should do this..." kind of guys. I always ask them "Where is your car parked? Lets go look at it." When they start making excuses, I tell them "When your driving your car, you can comment on mine, not that it would make any difference, this one still belongs to me, and I like it as it is." Gene

 

Funny story - A small, local car show 39 years ago. Two guys in their 20's - loudly commenting on all the faults on the displayed cars. Out of curiosity, I watched them leave. They climbed into dented and sun-faded Mercury Comet. As they drove off, I could see strips of hanging headliner thru the rear window.

Maybe these guys were the inspiration for Rat Rods?

 

I agree, I build them to suit myself and no one else. If you like it fine, if not go look somewhere else. We have had our coupe for 43 years and 205,000 plus miles and have enjoyed every mile.

 

Danny, you actually drive your car. Many people here wish their projects were running. Looks good to me!

 

was that you? i thought it was zenor. i remember something on the hamb around a hunnert years ago

 

I tend to lean towards 3 pedal cars as I was taught how to drive one and I still drive one to this day....the first 2 old cars I ever rode in, one was 1928 model roadster and the other was a 1937 Ford coupe...both had automatics in them so I just figured back in the late 1970s that was what was done to the older iron...
HRP if you can enjoy it more with one less pedal...who really cares...you enjoy driving it...that is all that matters...I spend a ton of money on all my builds and then when it comes time to drive them...I dread having to drive them...so you got the handle on this old car thing way better than most guys do including me...

Can't wait to see how it all turns out...keep on truckin HRP

MikeC

 

Real hot rods don't have fenders. It's all a matter of opinion.

 

The part I think is kinda funny is, if the parts that are now available. Back in the day they would be on the cars now and be period correct ! Just saying think about it !

 

And "Real race cars don't have doors". Another matter of opinion.

 

HRP I am with you I put my Chevy engine in my Merc 45 years ago
with the Powerglide.
and I don't care What anybody say's about it
I call my Car a Mild Custom & alot of People call it a Street Rod

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool