Hot Rods What did you do before the H.A.M.B.???

Who answered you questions and have you advice on your projects before the H.A.M.B. was around. And how did the H.A.M.B. effect your work after.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

i wandered in the wilderness of ignorance...........

(some might suggest I still haven’t found my way out! )

Ray

 

I drank heavily and yelled at the clouds!!

now I drink heavily and yell at my computer !!

 

Pretty much all my friends are hot rod or kustom guys, so I leaned on them to ask questions when needed. I also read magazines and learned some from books. And, there was lots of trial and error. I still fall back on all those things at times, but also pick up a lot here too.

 

learned alot from family members and their friends, helps I grew up in a hot rod/custom heavy family. I would also spend alot of time flipping through old magazines to the various trends and style changes over the years.

 

I don't remember what I did before the HAMB (really the internet). I guess asked people I knew that may have known the answer. Now you can ask a question on the HAMB, get all kinds of different methods to perform a task, hopefully weed out the BS and in the end make something that surpasses your initial expectations. There are some smart guys here with a ton of experience to add to the mix.

 

I read Rod and Custom.. Oh, that's right, they chicken-out again and stop publishing it.. Fockers….

 

I was board at work all day long....

 

I wrote how-to's for Classic Trucks, Street Rodder, and others, but now they are all free on U tube and here

 

I made lots of mistakes! Learned as I went and got advice from old timers--now I'm one!

 

Cut out a lot of paper dolls, still do.

 

I did what I did before I do what I do.......

 

You should have learned how to spell or at least to use the right words.

That way I wouldn’t think you were as dumb as a board.

 

Lots and lots of reading and study in manuals, text books and magazines, plus lots of experimenting and drawing, plus measuring myself in competition. 'Still do, but now HAMB is a daily must, also. 'Can't imagine life without it.

 

What!!???..........You mean there was life before H.A.M.B.

 

Mopar magazines were my guide. “Chrysler Power”was one of the best.
Also the Mopar performance and chassis books.

 

How timely this thread is.
Today I started doing something I've dreaded doing for a long time, cleaning out all my old car magazines, finally got tired of storing paper I had no plans of ever looking at again.
It's not just a pre/post HAMB thing but a major lifestyle change as they most definitely played a major role in my previous life.
Non-car people would never understand it but they were a combination of entertainment value that is hard to put a price on, as well as a valuable source of research material.
Decided to just start feeding our recycle bin weekly until it gets too heavy to roll to the street, the guys at the landfill will have a field day I'm sure!

 

I just yell at the clouds and piss into the wind, it's a wet job but someone has to do it.

 

I was the encyclopedia! I owned an auto parts store and had access to all of the good paper catalogs, illustrated guides, buyer's guides, dimensional lists, numerical lists, etc. I spent many hours finding stuff that would fit where it shouldn't. I really miss those resources. I wish I had my books back.

.bjb

 

What I like about the Hamb as has been stated you get lots of ideas and tips from all over.
Growing up it was a lot of magazines and asking questions. But a lot of the people in my circle where and are prostreet, fuel injection , new this and that.
Not matter what I build or the year of the car I like a “ traditional build”
Don’t matter if it was my 50 fleetline or my 79 vw rabbit I always leaned towards what was done in that time frame and not “the latest sand greatest tech available now”
I did get mocked a bit for building a 261 for my 50 but once it was done the oohs and Ahhhh and the now I get what your doing !!
Where all worth it.
And coming on the Hamb with people who are super talented in all aspects of this hobby and from different areas and different ideas all add to my knowledge and what I find neat and or cool.

befote the Hamb I thought a 20’s era hot rod was “primitive”
My next build is gonna be one....... if I can’t get my hands on a 41 Willy’s that is!
Lol

 

I have gone through and tossed most of mine as well, I only have kept issues that held some significance to me, but I need the room for actual parts than boxes of magazines. magazines and car models were my main outlets before i have my license

 

I put many cars together before the HAMB. The big difference of course is now my resources are worldwide and instant and that's a REALLY good thing!

 

All I had to do when I was a kid in the 60's was to go to George's Auto Parts on 40 highway on the east side of Kansas City. Earl George knew everything about everything automotive and would always help the kids out. (He also sold a lot of parts to the kids, too). The place turned brake drums and did other machine work. Earl was no dummy.

Like any other old time auto parts store George's had a long row of catalogs in metal shelves. I never saw Earl use any of them--he just knew the numbers. He was also a member of some sort of intercom system that hooked all the junk yards together so if one needed some part then it could be "put on the wire". George would prefer to sell new parts but was not afraid of selling used parts, as well.

I kind of miss that system and, mostly, Earl's daughter, Jeannie.

 

Before HAMB, Hot Rod and Drag Racer buddies. 60’s Hot Rod mags, my imagination, now only HAMB.

 

even though it is the 50th anniversary of the internet, and 20 plus years for Google to be released, it took a long time for the traditional stars to align and bring about the H.A.M.B. and more via Ryan.
Yes, friends, magazines, racing, etc filled the void until we have what we have now. there are so many sources of information, parts, etc available now it is mind boggling.

 

I learned from the old timers, I still do today but now they are in my house at the computer or on my phone.

Growing up on a farm you learn to fix stuff, the other local guys helped you out. You learned how to weld badly, but you learned. You learned how to take apart a motor with vice grips but learned it was never going back together (true story). You learned that a corvair does not need coolant and then taught that to the kid down the street after he told you his radiator was low and filled it with the garden hose (also true story)

You listened, you learned, you screwed up a bunch of stuff, some saveable and some, well you didn’t need it to start with so that’s good.

Gas station, Speed shop, bench racing at McDonalds, out Saturday night till 3am street racing. All this a preclude to the HAMB and how we got our education.

Now I’m 60 years old and I’m the “old guy” the kids ask me car stuff and I help but the internet has replaced most of the human interaction and now we just bust each other’s balls about how you spelled something wrong.

The HAMB is great, thanks @Ryan

Cliff Ramsdell

 

This.....for certain. There were some great Mopar engine building books published in the 80's....and also another magazine that would become known as "Mopar Action". The tech editor is a scruffy old gent that was a veteran of Chrysler production back in the day. He is still publishing tech articles on how to upgrade your vintage Mopar using junkyard sourced parts. I recently converted one of my cars to rear disc brake using one of his articles. It was all bolt-in, using parts sourced from a late model Jeep Wrangler in the boneyard. Cost me less than 300 bucks. Awesome stuff!

 

Lived some of the stories you read about on the HAMB.

 

running around NY hooking up with car guys... learning everything i could about anything automotive...searching classifieds for deals..building drivers.. bought ,sold cars...The hamb added to my knowledge immensely

 

That not-so-much-loved interweb auction thing ... but now I got youse guys. ...