Hot Rods Building mistakes you won't repeat

A buddy of mine did the exact same thing on a stock car.
Except left rail was higher than right.
Funny thing is that car cornered like it was on rails.

 

Thereby loading the right front wheel! Built in "stagger"! No need to jack the rear axle around....

 

Me and a friend donated good parts to a car club were were in since we could not help much in the project but they quit on it and sold the parts,never again will I do that.

 

Mistake? Sink a bunch of money and time into a 429 Cadillac engine. Impossible to find a good oil pump for those. All good for about a year, then the dry starts began, scaring the crap out of me.

Bearings = toast.
Motor = boat anchor.

I still have the mighty switch-pitch trans if anyone is interested.

 

Trying to re- build a 34 Chevrolet Coupe Utility body that had a timber frame that long perished while living in a country where no one makes wood kits for them, because the production figures were too low to justify an aftermarket industry.

 

....and back up your pictures, whether on a cell phone or camera memory card, otherwise the original will lost or nowhere to be found when you absolutely can't remember how something goes together.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I sold off a pair of valve covers the other day that I bought in 1990 That had never been out of the box except to look at them about twice.
I've got a truck load of parts in the sheds both new and used that I bought over the years I'm meaning the past 50 as some of them I hauled from Texas in the 70's when we moved back up here. Anyone have a use for some lavender/purple wire loom. Not sure why I thought that was a good idea but I think I have a few purple wire ties to go with it.
Build mistake lately? running out and buying a donor rig to use the suspension pieces with a fabricated crossmember that a Hamb member was making for a while and then had a life style change. I didn't get the crossmember before he quit making them but am only out about 80 bucks on those pieces and can probably sell some of them on Craigslist to guys with stock pickups like the donor. I've got three other ways to go sitting out here so it isn't the end of the world but a lesson in life.

 

This is a two part screw up...
(1) Late one school night (at age 16) I dropped a small nut in the top of 4 barrel carb on a SBC... I'll get to it later, buy a magnet and go fishing, pull the carb and intake if necessary....

Didn't get back to project for several weeks because of work, school, $$$, or whatever. When I did I fired that baby up and heard a snap, crackle, pop... oh crap nut must have blown right out, no harm no foul... not! Drove car around the block, started smoking so I knew it was damaged.

(2) Pulled intake and heads to reveal nice hole in a piston. Me and a couple of friends replaced the piston with the motor in the vehicle. Head and valves were OK so we put it back together. My one friend (who was in HS Vo-tech for mechanics) says "slap on the old head gaskets and torque it down... it'll be fine." So we did and you know the rest of the story... pull apart and do it again with fresh set of gaskets... Dumb teenagers!

 

I wont spend another 17 years building one.

 

This is my biggest sin. I think the project will run X months, only it actually run 3X months. In that span, you forget a lot of little details and just have a vague idea where that wonton soup container of hardware came from. With my Ford I came to that realization and started taking better notes and marking parts and bags of hardware.

Then there is keeping track of NEW parts and parts that are painted and wrapped up. I had one copy paper box of painted parts that kept hiding from me, it was all over the garage. I "lost" a box of some NOS parts I bought on eBay, found those in a box of painting supplies. I started marking boxes of new parts as they came in the mail.

My next trick will be gathering up all my stainless steel trim and culling them to see what goes on the car and what gets sold. I'm famous for buying better items so I can cherry pick the best that will be used.

 

My biggest mistake was:not listen all my friends ,when they tell me to buy a car that you could already drive and work later,30 years or so still have it in the garage completely dismantle , since then they call me (THE GARAGE CRUISER )!?!?Don

 

Having a bunch of projects and nothing cool to drive. That's the mistake I keep making over and over and over again!!!

 

Mistakes, I've made a few, but then again, to few to mention................... SORRY, --FRANK SINATRA----My 2 biggest (HOT ROD)mistakes I made----- TWICE-----First time when I built my first complete Hot Rod-----A 23 T track roadster, Hot 327, 400 turbo QUICK but never bothered with a neutral safety switch. "nobody will drive it but ME" Friend starts it-----puts it THROUGH the back wall of my garage. Also put a big dent in my wallet. Second time, I buy a decent 56 F100, 390 Ford, C6 trans. Bring it home, parked in the drive way. Next day I go to start it, cranks , trying to start, pump it , floor it, STARTS--- like scaulded CAT---IN REVERSE-----WHAM--- Right into the front end of my 2 year old BUICK ----- You guessed it ---NO NEUTRAL START. yea-----EVER SINCE all my cars have working neuteral start switches. (name withheld to protect my stupidity)

 

...Laughing, man I can relate!!!

 

Having two cars disassembled at one time and losing interest in one after I spent a bunch of money inbuilt parts and rechroming. I just "sold" it in pieces at a huge loss. At least I finished the Plymouth. Sigh.

 

I love listening to my engines... My wife and kids are all about the radio. I can live without it. Just drove from San Diego, to Idaho Falls, to Denver, to Kansas City, and back to San Diego in a truck with no radio in it.... Didn't notice

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Realizing part way through a project that the car I'm working on isn't what I really, really wanted to build. I'll keep going because I won't quit on it and in the end it'll probably be a fun car to drive. Sure does kill some of the enjoyment of the build though.

Guess I have to build another after this........

Lynn

 

Mistakes are the tuition for school of hard knocks, you just have to learn from them.

 

All the more reason to go all the way to the top of your list and get that one you really want! I bought a piece of shit old stock car racer 34 ford because it was the only way I could afford to get my dream car....took 10 years but I'm driving it...finally. In my avatar

 

Building 2 x cars simultaneously, never again !

 

Building too fast because the DD is falling apart on me.... last '63 took me two years; if this one takes two, so be it.

 

Spent a whole 6 weeks redoing a fender for my (off topic) 1968 Camaro in high school paint and body class. I striped it, patched a rust hole in the bottom, bumped out a couple of small dents, and primed it. It came out really well, and I was proud of the work I had done. I put it in the bed of my El Camino to take it's home and install it. Probably should have tied it down, because halfway through the 1.5 mile trip home, it blew out and got hit by another car. All that work down the tubes for a moments stupidity!

Sent from my SM-G955F using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

We need an "OUCH!" button,

 

The beauty of building traditional rods & customs is you don't get caught up in the current trends.

Thank God I didn't get caught up in the splash graphics, Easter egg colors, tweed interiors or get bit by the billet bug, I always liked the resto rod look and liked the cars simple.

I will admit I did fall victim to the monochrome fad and dislike the finished product so much I sold it within a couple of months. HRP

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh brother.Does this thread bring back some memories.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

don't forget Woodruff key when replacing the cam and lifters. The engine won't start no matter how many times you set timing marks. After a day of wondering WTF a mechanic friend dropped by, said it should start then he saw Woodruff key on work bench. Pointed out I had missed something

 

Didn't pressure test the block for my hemi and after assembly of a completely printed engine all the coolant ran into the oil through two rotten holes in the cast iron. These don't show up during magging and weren't obvious to the naked eye.

 

Make sure when you are mocking up the location of the engine that you get it high enough to center the water pump at the radiator. I like things as simple as possible and do not want to have to deal with an electric fan or some other cobble to make up for poor planning.

 

That's what I'm finally doing after building truck 10 years ago. Cooling not a issue as I got a big honkin' rad that requires no shroud but my oil pan will not be suffering any more road rash
Shallower pan also getting installed.

 

Bought '32 rolling chassis that was really set up wrong for more money than it was worth when I had absolutely no idea how to build the rest of the car. Watched it gather dust for three years, then bought something s bit further developed that I could build on.