Hot Rods So, are all your cars traditional?

We put LS engines in almost everything we build. Hard to beat the hp/dollar of an LS. And I just love the way the electronic auto transmissions shift.

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I got to ride/drive with my wife in her late model truck with one of those powertrains, home from Illinois last week. Damn that was boring. Pretty sure I'm going to take my 59 truck out there in September, it has an older big block and TH400, and drum brakes all around. But I did fix the trailer brakes, so it should be fine.

 

I love LS motors
SBC and other used parts got cheaper

 

id like to think that when it comes to safety issues,somebody here is making sense

 

I live in Boston. Traffic is so bad that even on the freeways that surround the city, it's almost always bumper to bumper stop and go, or close to it. In a way that's good, still dog eat dog but rarely high speed/quick stop dog eat dog. People usually back off so they don't have to breathe my car's fumes. Moving also not an option.

I'm just curious, I thought you owned your own shop fabricating cars, and recently had to move the shop. Do you work in tech as well? Programmer, in biotech or something like that? Gig economy? Just trying to understand some context of your posts.


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I didn't read every reply. The smart ass answer would be "Define traditional." To me, anything that doesn't end up looking like 1-800-streetrod is likely the real deal we tend to embrace. A more direct answer is, in my case, "pretty much". The 39 Std Tudor definately fits. Have a 65 "day 2" GTO with ET 5 spokes and factory trips (not done yet). Have a 47 Packard Super Clipper that's all stock and really nice, lots of power for an old car. I happen to like the older stuff. Even though it's hidden unless described in a show sign I tend to get a minor nose wrinkle when I see or hear "T-5" or "LS" when it comes to a 60s or musclecar build. I'd rather have the old engine, old brakes, old trans with or without old O/D. Maybe I'm slightly moving toward a degree of hypocrisy with my 39 since I went to 12V and plan a hidden sound system complete with an amp and sub. That just wasn't around in the day but damn it I like my tunes. My Powergen has the original fan hangin on it and it should give the vibe of old at 1st blush. Were I to keep the Packard it would get skirts, minor lowering and 47 Cadillac sombrero wheel covers. Doesn't need more power or any body mods to be a period custom, Darrin and his guys handled that rather well back in 41. We know it when we see it, right? The best are never treated to excess period bling, usually have at least some degree of finish quality and not focused on rust and bird shit.

 

My brother and I just put a period sound system in the Corvair. The back seat had to go to fit it in, but it's bitchin....Terado inverter, Dynaco preamp and amp, but the speakers are a little bit too new. And we're still working on the TC350 reel to reel tape deck. "period" meaning it's a pretty good copy of the system my dad had in the family wagon when we went on summer road trips in the later 60s.

 

I'm pretty sure they didn't have inverters and all of that other gobbly gook stuff back then. Doesn't sound traditional.... You're banned from the HAMB.
My point is where do you draw the line. If it's a period look then there would be a whole lot of cool posts on here.
If the cutoff is 50's parts no exceptions then membership would fall off the cliff most likely and I would venture a guess that more than likely 90%+ of the "traditional" rides wouldn't even qualify. Repop panels made in 2017. New jets in a carb. Newer carb.
Again, I go back to the look and safety. It's only MY opinion but that should not exclude cars on here.
Traditional looking will always be cool. In my opinion, traditional looking with some modern reliability that looks the part with safety wins hand over fist though.

 

Hmmm...My wife and I have been driving since 1964 and never owned a vehicle with an auto trans...We have now have three vehicles with sticks, all are push rod engines and two have straight axles front and rear, but they are 90's Jeeps and an 03 Silverado V8....

 

I'm all for safety. But I don't think adding a few parts to a car makes it go from unsafe to safe. It's all relative, and the most important aspect is still the driver. The odds of you getting in a wreck are slim, the odds of you dying in a wreck are even slimmer. Whether it's a stock old car, or a modern car, or an old car with modern stuff in it.

 

I miss Larry....

 

Moriarity: KP500...I ran the same deck with an amp and Jensen 6"x9" s , in my OT '69 GTX for a couple decades. Hip unit , back then.

 

We run the Custom Auto Sound retro look Radios in almost everything we build. They look oldish and fit in the factory locations nicely. Plus they are a higher amperage output and have Aux. input so us younger guys can just hook up our Phone and open Pandora and jam. My favorite Radio station is Chuck Berry Radio. Then use their Dual cone speaker in the front for a Single speaker with stereo and throw some 6X8 or 6X9 behind the seat or under the Package Tray in the rear.

 

Schwanke Engines,
Exactly what I'm getting at. Period "look" with a tweak of modern tech.



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I fabricate on the side. The "official" shop is closed.

I work in intellectual property development (read: invent, build, patent new crap), for the worlds largest manufacturer of networking hardware. It is all gig. Nobody is a regular employee. I have to fight for work, every 90-days. It does not always work out well.

Fabrication is a gig now too. I mostly work on-request, in other people's shops.

"Regular" work is dead.

 

You have to set every preset button to do-wop for it to be correct. In a week I'd be driving it off a cliff....I just woke up the old guys.

 

I have had terrible luck with those. Bought two and both shit the bed in less than a year.

 

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Ah, very specific IP. I get the picture. No living in the woods off the grid for awhile for you. Good luck. I like SF, so hopefully there are good things there for you too.


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To me yes. To anal standards.....not even close.
A little more function, a little less form.

 

My Morris Minor is a Traditional Gasser .My Nissan pickup is traditional Japanese. Better made than the American alternative. I know I will catch hell for that ,but bitch at the American car builders not me.
Ford stopped making a mid size truck. Dodge did too. Chevrolet tries, but in 2015 the Colorado ? Which was 5 grand more.Come on. If I could go to a dealer and buy a truck that will do what this one does and have the power and the economy for the same price I would trade it tomorrow.

 

By HAMB's definition of "traditional" I'll be the first to admit my Roadster build is out of bounds. But I love this site, learn a ton from it, and respect the founder's intention enough NOT to discuss the off-topic aspects of my cars.

 

Not by HAMB Standards it isn't. Per the 65 cutoff the car wouldn't be legal, too short at 86" wheel base (rules were nothing under 92") Tube frame (Rules required Stock automotive type frame). Even if you stretch out the rules to say 1968, it still isn't NHRA Legal.
Cool car, but not really "Traditional" buy the rules set here.

 

Funny thing I used to say we come from different traditions. In my house it had to be faster or better or both then when you bought it. So given that tradition I probably would not replace a Boss 429 in a Deuce roadster with a flathead.

But within the scope of the site the swap would be purely traditional as the boss didn't yet exist. Its all a matter of perspective I suppose.

 

How much does the "lifestyle" thing come into what you drive...is it necessary to wear engineers boots and cuffs or conform to a set of values that are in tune to the car,be it culture,music,clothes or a sympathy for nostalgia generally?

I know how I feel to see a visually traditional custom using a late Cad bench and tilt with an aftermarket air hanging below the dash .. disappointed.

As Porknbeaner says.. it's all a matter of perspective I guess.

 

No, can't afford it.

But I do have a traditional 70's built streetrod.

 

Not yet, but I'm working towards it by reading posts, asking questions and making mistakes.

 

So you think just adding discs and a booster will let you stop as fast as a Mclaren? My manual drum brakes seem to stop pretty well. They would fade, I'm sure, if I worked them too hard, but straight up braking power isn't bad.
Of course I'm used to braking with two fingers while racing.

 

Boy that brings back memories. I had the exact same set up in my little red 63 Nova two door hard top. Six and three on the tree. Not fast but the tunes rocked when cruising Colby with some Nugent in the ol 8 track