Focus

Clearly you never met my dad...

So threads like the one going on right now on Edelbrock X series intakes, would that go in the "hot rod" forum, or the "general" forum? History I guess?
I think this is great, just what this place needed. It was heading in the direction of a "general hot rod" forum. Theres already lots of those out there.

 

Sounds like what I see in my late 50s-early 60s little books...my favorite era.

 

I've always been a fan of splitting up customs and hot rods, so me likey.

How do we move our threads over?

 

The mods will be moving and deleting posts the next few weeks.

 

Just noticed that my build thread has been changed to "projects" is the "build thread" heading no longer an option? Or are we going to see that come back?

 

Full speed ahead...

 

Being close to dysfunctional at the computer and it's terms what does "in beta mean?

 

Beta is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiodental fricative.

Sheesh, don't ya know nuthin?

The HAMB has changed a few(?) times in the time I've been a member. Always causes some hyperventilating, always finds its waterline after awhile.

 

I think it sucks.

Hear me out.

For about ten years now I have been the head policy maker, rule enforcer... i.e. Judge juror and jailor at a middle school with 1200 students and about 100 adult staff.

Ten years before that, I taught woodshop here.

I've seen a lot of changes, and have been behind a lot of changes.

As the demographics have changed, we've had to change.

It's been an ebb and flow of sorts.

With all of this change, I have to constantly remind myself that we are here for a purpose... and that is to educate children, keep them safe, and prepare them for the next level (high school).

It's a huge responsibility.

It's not a stretch to make connections between what I do and what Ryan does.

His customers (you) are ever changing...

What is considered "traditional" by the masses changes.

Sure, we have books and magazines to guide us in recreating the past... to help us build, maintain and care for our history.

However, individualism still drives this hobby, and no matter what body, engine and wheels you put on a car... there is still an aspect of it that we take on and create, based on our own personal history.

In a nut shell... the spectrum of what is traditional and what is not is cloudy at best for the majority of the people who log on to the HAMB and support this place.

You can hear it in the way that people justify (or make excuses for) the types of cars they build.

"I'm building this car as if I was an aircraft mechanic coming back from the war who had access to the latest technology of the time"

Or, "I built a traditional hot rod... but put a T5 in it because I want to DRIVE it"

Blah, blah, blah...

I call bull shit.

Back in the day, cars were built from the parts at hand... with the tools of the time... and the "high end" was reserved for a very select few.

But this hobby is based in one-up-man-ship... which TOTALLY contradicts preservation, restoration and recreation of the past.

My questions are...

Who is going to decide what is traditional or not?

Where is the line going to be drawn?

and as I have discovered over the years... it is possible to create rules and procedures that the effort involved in policing far outweighs the benefit of having everyone abide by them.

The HAMB has always been a place we can go to check up on the latest hot rod happenings.

I like to see custom stuff once in a while, I like to see events around the world reported on as they're happening and I like to see what people are building.

Find me a guy who's in to hot rods that doesn't like to look at a Kustom once in a while.

Find me a guy who is in to Kustoms that doesn't like hot rods.

To separate the two is like separating peanut butter and jelly.

So I think splitting the two is a mistake.

As far as the focus being on traditional hot rods and customs... I think the members do a pretty good job of policing that.

You don't like it... don't reply.

Too far at the end of the spectrum, and it gets deleted.

Lastly... I think if you were going to segregate anything on the HAMB... I think it would be to have a section for "traditional hot rods and customs" and another area for "traditionally styled hot rods and customs".

Anyone want to wager which one would be more popular?

I know you're not out to win any popularity contests... but at the end of the day, you can't have a web site with such a narrow scope that it doesn't make enough money to keep the lights on.

Love,

Sam

 

So I caught you at a weak moment?



Sam

 

Looking forward to seeing how this pans out - looks like a good deal!

 

I don't think what is thought to be a traditional hot rod should ever change. Its history.

 

I think this idea is step in the right direction. As Ryan said, there'll be some 'blurriness' involved as cross-pollination of ideas has always been a hot rodding 'tradition' and some builds are going to straddle any lines that may be drawn. With that said, I'll give my thoughts on this....

First, Ryan made the statement that he wants to see cars that reflect the 'essence' of what traditional cars have/had, and I get that (and applaud it as well). But remember that essence doesn't mean duplicate and a too heavy-handed approach may shortchange everyone.

Second, moderators. I've been surprised that this site had so few, so adding some should be welcomed by everyone. But again, be cautious about being heavy-handed; if one thing should be clear about this hobby from it's history, it's that following 'the rules' isn't something real rodders do well.

Next, I'll submit that Ryan hasn't gone far enough. One issue IMO with this site is because there's only been one forum, searching for information can be a real chore. That's it's bad point, the good point is it does expose people to ideas that they otherwise might not see. But still I think that adding two additional 'open' forums would help. First, a 'other builds' forum rather than lumping these into the 'general' forum. And a 'tech' forum for those general items/questions like wiring, motors, etc that are applicable to any build. As a follow up on this, the archived tech forum should be broken up into specific subjects like brakes, suspension, etc. I'll admit this is a 'wish list'.... but this format has worked very well over on a motorcycle list I help moderate. I suspect Ryan may have agonized more than he's admitted even making even these changes, as this does somewhat reduce exposing members to 'other' ideas, but if the intent is to be a resource, this is the way to do it IMO.

 

I have to disagree. I like to look at Kustoms occasionally, but seldom. I'd prefer to got straight to the hot rod section, I like what's there already. When I get a hankering for Kustoms, there they are. And I'll also scan the general forum.

 

Sam,
to bend your use of the middle school analogy;
all we are looking at here is separating wood shop from metal shop
and science from social studies,
we are all still under the same roof here

I am looking forward to it

 

I'd like a Tech only section myself, but breaking it up into brakes, suspension, etc. would probably be a pain in the ass for Ryan and the boys. Maybe someday...

 

That, I can understand!

I guess I'll give it try...

I know I may seem so quick to judge... but I like the HAMB the way it is...

Sam

 

If you limit the breakdown to only archived threads, it's manageable as the mod can slot the thread into the right sub-forum when they move it. For the 'open' forum, it's not practical....

 

Probably would work out pretty easy once set up, if the guy posting it put it where it belongs in the first place. The Garage Journal is a pretty good example...

 

that's just great...now I will spend even longer on the hamb, with 3 forums to navigate...donna ain't gonna like me hogging the computer all the time.



smiley face

 

Why not just move the "other builds"--the glass roadsters, for example--over to Ryan's sister site at www.dogfightmag.com? A lot of the same folks, with the same expertise, are already there.

I do like the idea of a separate Tech section. But again, it's Ryan's forum to run as he wishes, and I will still learn from whatever is here, in whatever form it's posted.

 

One up on the other guy is the very beginning, the very core of speed and competition (street lakes, salt flats, drags, show awards) The shake up is necessary. And long over due. Anyone up for a HAMB auction?

 

Do like I did Larry,I bought Brenda her own laptop so she can look a stupid photos of cats and crap on Fartbook and I can navigate the Hamb from sun up to way past sun down! HRP

 

Right, while I might not share his point of view, I have to respect his passion. After all, Isn't that what this change is all about? Preserving what we love, the way we love it? May we all be that feisty when we get that old.

 

I'm just tired of the foul language...everything else is pretty good!

 

The HAMB is a lot like our old cars-it always needs a little tinkering to keep it running.

 

One more thought... I've read books written by CEO's, military leaders, Pastors, Scientists etc... and NONE of them had a "If it's not broke, don't fix it" philosophy. Our world runs on people taking risks to make things better.

 

Wow! At first I thought the HAMB was gonna start a new thread on the Ford Focus! After I got thru that initial shock I read all the posts and agree change is necessary.
I'm also an old fart and bitch and moan about changes. But life is constantly changing and the HAMB was loosing it's focus. It's a great forum and it will get better with people like Ryan and all the moderators keeping us in line.
Still the following worries me. Can we be sure Ryan is finally in sound mind? Or was he really ever?
Originally Posted by Ryan
No... I added "build threads" literally as I was coming out of surgery a few months ago... At the time, I wasn't of sound mind and forgot we already had a prefix for Build Threads... and it's Projects.