Hot Rods Restored verses Hot Rod

I dream of long cross country trips so I will go with hot rodded, thank you very much.

 

I am in the process of keeping my 41 truck mostly stock. I was ready to install a late Ford truck 3 sped OD trans and needed to convert the banjo rear to open drive. I found some bad repairs on the truck frame and started looking for a replacement. I couldn't find anything suitable , so I looked at the possibility of getting a new frame but with buggy spring suspension front and back. I couldn't find anyone building that so I looked at a 40 tudor I've had for years; a very clean car from Colorado with minimal rust in the body and an absolutely perfect frame. Here is the point; I don't want to break up this package. It's too nice and too complete to part out. I'm fixing the truck frame because I don't want a MII front suspension and a coil over 4 bar rear. I am definitely part restorer I guess.

 

Tried my hand at restoring ONCE (Corvette). Got all the major and minor parts correct but then came the details. Most boring mechanical endeavor of my life was searching for the correct bolts, clamps, and connectors. Also, once that last "correct head marking" bolt is screwed in, what do you do then? On a hot rod, I can keep changing things with none of the guilt feelings so common in today's world.

 

Hot rod all day long

 

Liking both myself
Restored car puts me in a frame of mind of the era.
A hot rod from a specific era can make you feel like a 16 year old again.

 

Just for some A-hole to tell you a clip isn’t right or you tapped to far on the wires.

 

I have them Restored , Hotrodded , Customized , and in between . nothing wrong with any style , just has to fit your own needs .

 

I'm not sure there's a stock vehicle in the era we're speaking of that couldn't benefit from some change or improvement. If there's a perfect vehicle that rolled off an assembly line, I'd love to see it. Truly.

Granted, there are historically special vehicles that it would be blasphemy to alter, now, but I'm excluding those.

It makes sense (to me) why people make/made changes/improvements, especially considering how vehicles evolved in a short few decades.

I have a sign made from an old Chevy tailgate and it says, "Dismantle a Chevrolet - soup up your Ford today" which comes from the heart of that idea that the best hop-up parts came from newer vehicles (not just Chevrolets ).

Early vehicles become a lot more fun, comfortable, cool, and so on when they're hot rodded. Hell, it's always been the souped-up cars that have gotten my attention.

 

Virtually all car folks are hypocrites to a certain extent.

The "restorers" don't like hot rods, but don't mind buying reproduction parts that were reproduced because of hot rod demand.

The" traditional hot-rodders" talk about trying to "restore to an era". What is traditional about a Edelbrock or Demon carburetor or Pertronix Ignition system, and how do they fit into a "pre-1965" era?

The modern street-rodder knows his/her street rod is superior to any older hot rod because they have the latest technology (see comment about demand from restorers).

So, to a degree, all of us are hypocrites.

I can easily understand a restorers point of view if a really rare car is chopped, but I know "restorers" that have parted equally rare cars because the sum of the individual parts would sell for more than the entire vehicle.

Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion; but may not be entitled to share that opinion unasked (yes, I know, freedom of speech).

If I were to see a vehicle at a show which is not to my liking, I will just walk on by; unless the workmanship is superb, in which case I will stop and admire the workmanship.

And if asked, one may be honest in one's opinion, but still be respectful and tactful.

Personally, I have never built what I consider a "hot rod" (this term has evoked some spirited debates); but I have built a number of "street sleepers". And I also have done a couple of prize winning restorations, so have some experience in both fields.

And I am glad there are so many different opinions. Would be pretty dull if everyone had the same exact car.

Jon.

 

I find that there is at least one thing about any car that I can give the owner a compliment about.

 

I like em' all!

 

I definitely lean toward hot rods but can appreciate most genres (although rat rods and those crazy donks make no sense to me). I have owned late model, off topic stuff as well as early cars but all were modified EXCEPT for 2 - a relatively rare '64 GTO Sport Coupe (around 7,400 made) and an extremely rare '71 GTO Judge (1 of only 357). Both were effectively survivors (before the term was used I guess), numbers matching and so complete that it would have been a shame to cut them up. Even my daily drivers have always gotten modified.

 

The attitude is alive and well, and especially so with many on this board. Except instead of people complaining about cutting up or altering a stock automobile, they bitch and moan when you want to alter or customize a car that was hot rodded or altered years ago, the so-called survivor. I've said that this board has become the AACA for shitty, unfinished projects that have sat around for decades. It's my opinion that certain cars, especially historically significant rods and customs, and low-production factory vehicles, should be preserved in their factory or best modified form. But for everything else (which should encompass 99% of what's out there), it's fodder for the will of the title holder.

There's irony in being on a hot rod and custom message board, and debating which hot rods and customs shouldn't be hot rodded or customized.

 

I figure that the camps that take themselves sooo seriously aren't having any fun at all , plenty of really important stuff to be serious about !

 

i really respect "graveyard carz," but i don't care what knob is on my cigar lighter!

 

Get over it! It's a hobby. We have a lot more important things going on.

 

Amen to that !!!

 

Funny you mention that....the older I get, the more I am intrigued with the really old stuff. Especially Packards. Not sure what happened.....and get off my lawn!

 

I believe there’s room for both camps in our hobby. It’s nice to see clean original examples and cars restored to showroom condition, and herding one down the road is the closest thing to a time machine that any of us will ever experience.

Having said that, I’m a Hot Rodder at heart. The only collector car I owned and didn’t molest was a 37 Packard 115C given to me by a terminally ill relative who made me promise not to street rod it. Too bad, it was a sharp looking car that would be a lot more fun to drive with an updated chassis and drivetrain. I will never fault a guy for making a ride their own (unless it’s done in extremely poor taste)

 

I've always appreciated the time, work, and money it took to restore an old car. But they don't do anything for me really. Seen one, you've seen them all. They look just like the pictures or sales flyers when they were new.
A hotrod is a piece of art that is personalized by the owner, or builder, and no two are identical. I do occasionally get bored with hotrods that fit a certain pattern build, and tend to not spend much time looking at those done the same way I've seen hundreds of others done. But a unique hotrod just makes me smile, and I keep looking them over to see what else the builder did to make it unique.

 

Seems that every hobby has its sub groups. Photography has film VS digital, wood workers have hand tools VS power tools, even quilters have their hand quilted VS machine quilted. Model A people have the only as Henry did it, some modifications are OK and a not always clear line that puts you in the hot rodder category. Cars have always been modified and there should be enough room for everyone.

 

Hot rods are cool, and fun to drive, my Dad has a 35 Chevy hot rod I like, I don't have a Hot Rod I have an old truck, when people ask me if I am restoring it I say no, I am just trying to keep it on the road, but I am also not interested in dropping a 350 in it either. If I had another project vehicle and had my choice to restore or hot rod it, probably would hot rod it.