HOT ROD INSTITUTE (new tech school)

Yeah, now you pay THEM money for the privelege of fucking it up with supervision!

 

Worked with one of Dougs friends when I worked in Spearfish, didnt read all the posts but the classes look fun...
looks like the facility is housed in an old grocery store??

 

Dougs a right on guy, I have been on advisory boards when he was at WyoTech and VC Tech, good guy, cares about what he is doing, I recomend it to anyone thinking about going to school for this stuff...

 

No, it is the large building on the North side of the mall. Been a Pizza place, Industrial, fitness club etc.............good sized place.

 

Yeah, I wish I could just build stuff in my parents garage. Problem is parents (people your age) are telling us if your not certified in something your crap. I still have my baby that nobody else is ever gonna touch, just so when I need a job someday I can say I built it, no check writing.

 

i will get some more pictures up of our latest work been kinda busy

 

Nads, I think the kid called you old.

 

I am old.

 

.........with the mind of a 16 year old

 

Oh, sorry for calling you guys old, I'm sure your super hip and fly, and totally down with it? I agree though I wish you could just learn how to build it and leave stupid certification boards out of it.

 

You can. There is no certification in the hotrod world that is universally accepted. I talked to Jack at Randys shop the other day, he is going to weigh in on this thread as he is a current student. I think Doug has a decent program going, I will stop by and give you my 2 cents as well since I have spent time working in the business.

 

check out these threads for some of the other students projects

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260376

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=262751

 

They don't teach you to sand blast a frame first before you do all that welding on it? What about cleaning the weld areas? Ever heard of stress force analysis testing before reconfiguring your frame? How about calling it the Street Rod Institution ?

 

every weld was prepped before we ever started welding just because there's rust on the frame doesn't mean we just welded over it we cleaned the frame around what we welded before we welded it frame has been sandblasted just don't have and pics of it

 

'ello...im new to this board but im quite familiar with hot rod institute so im really stoked to see all the pics and info comin from all you guys there...i registered at wyotech but changed my mind to go to hri instead last year...i know, ive heard its lame to learn a skill like this at a school instead of in someones garage but being the daughter of a single mom, i didnt know anyone growing up to teach me...so anyways, i met with doug larue last year here in vegas...spent a day with him at sema 2007 and met several of his former students...they all had amazing things to say about him and his teaching skills...due to the economy (i work on tips so dont make much on paper according to the banks) i ended up not being able to get my loan...i was really upset b/c i was 'sposed to be in the first ever class at hri...but i still plan/hope to be able to go there so this is great to be able to see how this school is up and runnin and in less than a year has turned out to be exactly what i wanted outta school (my ex told me not to waste my $ b/c it would probably fail)...so, i just wanted to say thanks for all the pics and info so far and i cant wait to see more...

 

all the guys bitching about people going to a school to learn how to be a hot rodder must have english wheels TIG welders planishing hammers pullmax machines and plasma cutters already. and the skills to use them. good for you. people who take classes and go to school to do it can get a job right out of school working for a shop or starting thier own. As for me I am at a university and have a unrelated major but take the "street rod" classes for fun.

Are you honestly suggesting you know everything already , and wouldn't take a street rod class if you weren't such a bad ass?

 

I visited HRI in Rapid when they first opened and was very impressed with them. Last time I went to visit, several weeks ago, it looked like it was closed. Maybe just before a new class or something but nobody was around. Hope it is successful because it is an excellent program.

 

thanks for the backup and encouragement, vonmoldy!

 

It is amazing that the guys who take the iniative and get something started to teach others have to withstand the shots by the "cool ones" who stand off to the side and take shots.
The comment about "good taste" applies to life as well as hot rod tastes. Good taste is offering encouragement instead of cheap shots.
I could never have evolved in this hobby without the help of older mentors and this ia a controlled environment that can only be beneficial.

 

You will dig the area. It was 80 degrees yesterday. Sure we get winter but it only stays for a few days at a time.

 

Being an auto shop teacher at the high school level I was very interested when I heard about HRI. Visited w/ Doug through emails a few times and he was very friendly and willing to help and answer any questions - sent me some info to share with my students. I hope this works out well for him and the students.
Dont believe Tman when he talks about the weather

 

Snowing like a bitch right now, but was 70 yesterday.

 

Nothing but the facts. Sure it is 20 now but wait a few days and it will be in the 60s again...................yer just jealous with your shitty Mt winters!

 

We definitely are not closed. The classes start every three months and we have a down week between each of those - although the majority of us come in to work on our projects during down week. We did have a 2 snow days in a row however.....

At any rate, we have been coordinating the new website for the school which will be up soon. There will be much more information and tons more pictures available for anyone thinking of a school to research what it is the Hot Rod Institute does and how it goes about it, and to contact Doug and talk to him about what their options are as a student - and therefore make an informed decision about attending.

Doug encourages prospective students to try their hardest to make an appointment to take a tour and rundown of the school and discuss their options. He and the instructors also encourage the students to incorporate their own designs and wants/needs into the projects they bring. A student is given free reign over his/her project as long as they review their options as to what actions to take. The only actions not allowed are those that are unsafe. Beyond that, you are free to fabricate a fugly-mobile if you so desire. They do not "instruct" taste. They "instruct" capability.

Currently at the school, there are street rods, traditional hot rods, non-traditional hot rods, gassers, (k)customs (pick whichever letter you want), drag frame, drag bike, several custom bikes, a splash of muscle and possibly a bomb or two depending on which way some of the new students decide to take their rides.....

As was said before, you can not teach taste, but where else will you have the capability to apply newly learned fabrication skills across such a wide scope while still maintaining a low student/teacher ratio?

Now that my public service announcement is up, I as a student, would like to personally invite everyone that has an opinion about my school to drive their pride and joy up here and see how the school goes about its business before you decide for me that it is not worth attending. Be prepared to have dudes scrambling under and around your vehicle as I (having zero knowledge of anything car-wise before my coming here) and the rest of the students pick apart every single detail of the vehicle and discuss in great detail what is right, what is wrong, and how we learned from looking at it.

 

To clarify - This vehicle was brought in halfway chopped. At the time of these pictures, the only work that had been done on the vehicle at the school was on the frame, which as you can see, has been sandblasted and coated. I encourage everyone to ask questions about the work before making assumptions.

All the kids, old timers, and even us pre-mid-life-crisis types are eager to share our new found knowledge and to keep learning through intelligent and meaningful (as well as jackassery and humorous) discussion here on the HAMB. Some of us may not explain things well. Some of us may only post pictures. Some of us may not post anything, and some of us are here way too often. Either way, you probably are not going to get the full story as to how certain things were done through a few images.

If I were to post something that looked fucked up, asking me how, what or why I did what I did goes a lot farther to teach me than telling me that I don't know shit. I already know I don't know shit, thats why I am at school. If you are interested in passing the hot-rod torch, ask a question instead of being a wanker. If you are intent on being a wanker, at least have the common decency to be funny. Or entertaining. If we are luck, both. Otherwise, if I want to read pre-pubescent verbal diarrhea, Ill log onto myspace.

 

Glad to hear that, I was hoping it wasn't closed. I will be stopping by when I get to RC again, and am very impressed with the school.

george
pine ridge
rez rodders car club

 

We've been happy talking to some of the students about chassis parts. Not that some have been unpleasant...... we just haven't talked to them all.

 

wow, rapid city weather is freakin crazy...how is it 70 one day and 20 the next day? i do remember reading somewhere that somewhere in the area had the biggest temperature change in the shortest time period...like, 45 degrees in 2 minutes or something like that...i get cold here in vegas when it drops to 50 on winter nites...HRV03, i love the way you clarify things and its awesome how proud and excited you are bout hri...its rad how you can create any kinda car you want cuz God knows, im gonna make me a volksrod and piss off every purist out there...

 

Yes, you are correct about our weather. If you dont like it wait 10 minutes and it will change. Rapid is called the Banana Belt tho. Even bad winters will have many 60 degree days. We do not get socked in with cold or piled up snow like other places. We had a blizzard last week now it is brown and dry.