Folks Of Interest So, how traditional are you?

Traditional is too subjective. Most guys get it wrong. So what Era do you want, and what part then of its life. Most 50s builds are really more in tune to the early 60s. most 60s builds are more early 70s etc. A 50s style 32 with a 392 hemi, yeah, it happened, but most guys had flatheads. Lots of gasser had automatics, but the modern world says you gotta run a 4 speed and jack your nose up. guys were up, down, stick, auto, whatever went fast. in 1957, The Rambler Rebel was 2nd only to the fuellie Vette, the quickest car built. and the worst offense, although I support this entirely- there were no Tig Welders. Cars were built with flame, stick, some coathangers sometimes and drills. There was a lot of Chicken scratch, and ,like the modern world, some guys could lay a weld that blows your mind. I do concede on welding. I do not believe any part of my car coming off and hurting you or me is traditional and paid for the important welding, because the chicken looked at my chicken scratch welding and laughed.
So where is this LS Swap Section. I need advice on repowering -----no, i just though that option was funny. They do make good---no not even that.

 

One additional thought to my long winded prior response.

Sometimes it is as much about execution as it is the fact that a more modern component is present. For example, I am formuating a plan to build a 55'/56'/57' Chevy for my next project. Plan is for a 150 series two door sedan done with a certain theme, and that theme starts with a young married guy in 1963 buying a fleet car from the phone company auction to build a hot rod / second car / daily driver on a budget. I want to be able to use this car as a work day commuter a lot, so air conditioning is required.

If I put modern behind the dash air in the car its going to look out of place - a 150 series ex-fleet car would not have had factory air. But an early sixties appearing under-dash unit, even with modern guts, looks like it belongs. Same thing with brakes - this car will have steel wheels that hide the discs. But if I were building a pre-war or open wheel car where the brakes were exposed, I would be saving my money for some of the discs disguised inside drum set ups.

How you do it (to me) is as important as the fact you are doing it.

 

I was going to post basically the same thing. "You can't please everyone, so got to please yourself". From Garden Party. There's a story behind that...

 

Drag racers have been winning races using auto transmissions for a long, long time. Well within the traditional era

 

You are correct. Dedicated track car builders know the advantages of an automatic transmission. While hot rods have their roots in racing, I would have thought that they are more of a street driven gig, and that the traditionalists are more biased toward manual gearboxes.

Some would say that the most hot rod orientated class of drag racing would be Pro Stock. Guess what they use........

I am neither for or against manual or auto. Whatever tickles your pickle and makes you want to drive the wheels off it. Each to their own.

(Still trying for an interview...)

 

When the street rod boom started in the early 70's it was a lot easier to build with the by then common 350/350 combo.

 

I'm just going for "final couple payments to pop on the old family car".

 

Only one thing that isn’t traditional on this is a duel circuit master cylinder. All screws are straight head, glass fuses, etc etc.

 

A 'traditional ' hotrodder will be okay with updates to his car as long as it makes it better/faster/safer. A 'traditional' hotrod restorer prefers the limitations imposed for the sake of the restoration. Hotrod restorers are willing to accept the mediocrity of a traditional hotrod. A traditional hotrodder won't.

 

Not traditional at all. If I like something, I like it. New, old, rat, rice, don't matter to me if it presses the right buttons.

 

Then, for the sake of argument, would the definition of traditional hotrodder not be the same as Streetrodder?

 

All traditional hot rods are tribute cars,paying homage to the cars that were built back in the day.
When cars start getting ‘upgraded’ because the owner wants modern conveniences to enhance their driving experience with PS/PB/AC along with a modern transmission be it stick or auto along with modern suspension it’s quasi traditional. Toss in the GPS/Bluetooth/console with cup holders trifecta and what you have is a dressed down street rod and I’m fine with that. Your car,your money enjoy the heck out of it. I just have a hard time hearing someone call their vehicle a traditional hot rod when it really isn’t.
Just my opinion which is worth exactly what you paid for it.

 

I do have a plan to build a 42 to 48 Chevy coupe with no parts newer then 1960,261 with a late 50s 3 speed o/d 55 to 57 rear end and 51 to 54 front brakes. I have the engine and trans but need to find the car,money and time.

 

All of the dudes running B&M Hydrosticks and all of the push-button Torqueflight Ramchargers might disagree with your time frame.

My paralegal literally had a baby today so I actually am looking for a short term fill in but considering your location and the non-remote nature of the position, the commute may be difficult for you haha

 

I find that the chore of actually doing preventative maintenance on your ride, as in checking fluid levels before taking off for a casual cruise around town, checking points before they quit on you, adjusting brakes regularly and so on, keeps me better informed about the condition of my vehicle than some electronic gizmo hooked up to a bunch of sensors. I like points, I like tach/dwell meters to set them with but I can use a matchbook cover in an emergency. I like reading plugs to tell me what's happening inside my engine. Right now, I've got an OT pickup with a good body and suspension and a good engine hooked to what is supposed to be a good transmission. It's dead in the water unless I pay someone a whole lot of money to fix or replace all the electronic components and get it going again. If I can find all the parts necessary to make the engine carbureted with a points distributor, a factory clutch/pedal assembly and standard transmission, I've got a usable truck again that I can work on when it needs it. If not, I've got about $210 worth of scrap iron sitting in my driveway and that's not going to go very far in finding me another useful truck.

 

I could commute and get there on Tuesday night, put in a full 8 hour day on Wednesday, leave Wednesday night, and be home in time for the weekend. I would need to be paid $800 an hour for Wednesdays to make it viable though. The ball is in your court..............

 

"Traditional" has gotten way over used IMO.
It's like 2 worlds colliding.....The HAMB has rules. Hotrodding has no rules. Or shouldn't.
I was at a car show a couple years ago and met a young guy with an older Acura coupe. He had stuffed a built 383 SBC in there. Nothing fancy, no hood, faded paint, but man what a HOTROD! Gave me a new perspective about hot rods and car guys

 

You first have to understand, driving with-in 200 miles from home is different than driving 4 states away. That is the biggest debate as being a driver. When hauling a car over 200 or 300 miles is not a driven car. Even if it is driven often close by. It is a car that is trailered. It might be 100 % traditional, but it is still trailered. But it can be entered in a traditional event. And driving it to one event a year that is over 300 miles still doesn`t qualify if it is hauled the rest of the time either. I have a good friend that says he drives his cars everywhere. But never has gone farther than 120 miles. Ya.

 

Yeah, driving a long ways in something that has mostly old stuff making it go is.....just like we used to do all the time, decades ago.

I love a long long road trip in something with manual drum brakes, 3 on the tree, point ignition, etc. When you get home, you know you did something!

 

Don't tell B & M that performance automatics didn't enter the picture until 25 years ago!

 

Man, tough crowd, and forget any sense of context, especially considering my comments were made somewhat tongue-in-cheek......... Maybe "modified performance sector" was a bad choice of phrase. How does "period correct style hot rods" cut the mustard..??? Go back and check my edit in post #118 and see if it meets your approval now.

This is exactly why any discussions relating to the concept of 'traditional' are absolutely pointless. One man's ideas and opinions vary greatly from another's, and that's perfectly ok. Dread that we were all the same......
The thing to remember here is that the HAMB has a specific focus , and as guests here, there is an expectation of adherence to it's stated guidelines, regardless of our own persuasion. That shouldn't be too hard for grown men and women to accept, should it? Opinions that vary from this theme are not wrong. Hot rodding has many, many facets, but only a select few belong here. That is what defines the HAMB, and makes it the special, quirky, outstanding, hair covered animal it is.

 

In the street rod world, I would double that number. Racing, even longer.

 

Yup, I agree, but I was talking hot rods....... And it was all to set up the little joke about hands grasping knobs, which no-one seemed to get anyway. Oh well, I guess I had better not give up my day job...........

 

I like traditional. I also like comfort. I don't have power steering. I have a vega box and won't hide it. I have a van seat because it suits my back and hips. Rust looks like crap. Any wheel will do for me. Any tire will do for me. A good stereo and music keeps me sane. I have a C-4 trans because I can't use a standard shift any longer.
But, yea...I like traditional on someone else's build.
So, no. I'm not traditional.

 

Funny how you talk about building a rod in the day. When I built up my V8 Pinto, I used a drill, sledge hammer, chisel and hammer and a hack saw.
I built this in front of my barracks at Ft.Ord.

 

Awful lot of sheep out there afraid to state an opinion for fear of offending someone .

 

I don't have the discipline for an era correct build. I love that you guys can, it's fascinating to me.
The opportunity to bump up the performance of any system takes over my brain.

I've driven and worked on plenty of drum brakes, but will swap to disc's anytime.
I can't convince myself to spend triple money on an era correct engine for half the power.
Just my deal, if I do a build thread on here it will be selectively posted, 80% is still applicable.

Another good poll would be to see if anyone is shooting lacquer to stay traditional or using modern paint technology on otherwise traditional builds.

 

Now if you want to run disc brakes on your car that's fine it is your car do as you wish, but for those who say drums aren't up to the task, this is a video I took at Fonda speedway of the three fastest/winningest cars in my club.

All three are drum brakes and regularly finish ahead of the two disc brake cars. Our races are 12 to 15 laps long the breaks only get a few seconds of cool down a lap, we run on medium banked 1/4 miles, flat 1/2 miles, to a 36 degree banked 1/2 mile.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1013559645899208

 

Was it green. A guy around the corner from me in Marina had one.

 

Or they're just over silly discussions like this.