HOT ROD INSTITUTE (new tech school)

definatly looking to see more about HRI. Only have 2 months left at this lil busted up place called Wyotech. Sadly the website has little information and Doug hasn't replied to the email about setting up the tour...

 

try getting in touch with doug again...it would always be a little bit before i would get answers to my emails too cause he's so busy...from what i understand they are working on a new website thats gonna be updated and have lots more information...there is a guy here on the hamb who is working on it so give it a sec and im sure you'll here from him...he's been really awesome in giving me up to date info on the school...

 

They are supposed to have the new site up real soon. It's gonna be a pretty cool setup for the site to. Cool to here my car being mentioned also. Keep feeding them teh truth you angry lil bastard!

 

Just curious, who owns the subject matter? Do students own their own projects?

BTW, looks like a great atmosphere to learn in.

 

Yes, the students bring in their own projects, as long as they are approved by the owner, to make sure it falls in line with what he is wanting to teach. There have been some cats that have gotten pissy because he wouldn't let them haul in a ricer to work on.......

Website should be up by this evening..... we have been hitting a couple of snags.

 

Looks like a great school with some killer projects. I wish there was a school like that around me.

 

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.


Well said

 

wish i could have gone there i would have liked school then

 

Cool thread! I drove buy this place while I was in Rapid this summer and didnt know much about it. It looked like it was in a VERY nice facility. Im to old for any more schooling(not that I don't need it) but, can a person stop for a tour anyway?

 

What time you guys break for lunch at HRI, I will plan mine around yours one day.

 

Actually we got a dude that is around 65 in one of our classes. It is never too late.....

 

We break for lunch from 12-1 every day.

 

Naw, for Fergen it IS too late!@

 

We had some more delays with the website.......... it will be a little more time.... I am pissy about it

 

The new Hot Rod Institute Website is up and running...... give us a looksy...... we are not even close to having all the pictures up.........

 

I will send out an invitation to you HRI guys to join us for our Hotrod breakfasts. We will start them up after the holidays again. Every other Saturday @ the Windmill truckstop. I'll get in touch or you can PM me. Good way to meet some of the locals, at least the ones I consider pals!

 

well i checked out the hri site that is really cool.............. i had never heard of this place until now............... i was originally thinking wyotech but i guess i need to more carefully research my options............

 

I am Rapid City native. If you want HONEST input on things outside the school, feel free to PM me. We have an amazing area here.

 

i just moved to rapid city a couple of days ago and i start at the hot rod institute oct 1. im way stoked about it. everyone there seems really cool, and everyone that goes there loves it. my project is a 53 chevy.

 

Welcome to RC.

 

charge the kid 20 grand to get a job that it will take years to makemore than 20 grand
good luck kid , but I have lived the life for almost thirty years
if I had to do it all over again , I would be a cop up here in the NYC area [fat o/t pay-everybody makes 6 figures ] or an accountant
our auto biz gets slower and slower
hot rod work ? nobody wants to pay you to work on their cars
if you go into a fab deal - you could be looking at more than a half mill in equipment
looks like a fun school , hope you learn a lot and enjoy , but wyotech lincoln , uti very sadly tell these kids they can make a hundred grand a year in no time ... nothing could be further from the truth

 

I wish I could have gone to something like this when I was 20. In fact I would still like to go to something like this although it will never happen. Can't afford it, probably too old, etc......Now that is a school.

 

Why are you so angry? How about charge the kid 120K to get an MBA and then work at the burger hut, night shift. If it is what he wants to do and he is willing to put in the time to work hard and be good at his job, he will have work. Educated does not mean "automatically good at your job".

A lot of the kids I went to WYOTECH with are doing something else now. A lot of the kids that went to college and got a history, political science, or a whatever degree are doing something else.

Special thanks to TMAN for helping to make these kids feel comfortable in a new place. Anyone that went to Laramie knows that the locals aren't always so friendly.

 

We will be starting our Saturday hotrod breakfasts up in a couple weeks. You HRI guys are invited. I will try and remember to post the details up on the board.

 

I doubt many kids are going to Wyotech or HRI just to make "a hundred thousand a year". There are lots of soul-sucking occupations you can go into to make that kind of money. Do what you love to do, and you'll never work a day in your life, because it won't be a "job". I've made tons of money doing "white-collar" work and was miserable, and I've made just enough to pay my bills and was never happier. Guess which is better?

 

I toured the HRI this July, talked to Doug for quite awhile. He seems very sincere and concerned about his students. He struck me as the kind of guy who was there because he loves his job.

 

They were setup at the swapmeet last weekend. The capitalist in me kept me from making it over and saying howdy.

Tom, did you guys even drive west towards Wendover? Heard it was wet.

 

No........will be going the second week in Oct. to the World Finals. It's the same time as the Pile-Up. If it's wet and cancelled will head to the Pile-up. So either way will be going someplace.

I toured the HRI during the Counts Rod Run in July.

 

Mixed up the dates in my head.

 

Too bad you feel this way, perhaps you did make a poor career choice.
I constantly hear people complain that there is no place to get training. Someone steps up and starts a school, then people bitch that it's too expensive, and you can't make any money. That may have been true 20 years ago, but right now, at least in my area both collision repair and hot rod / restoration are pretty good careers to pursue. I've spent most of my career in collision,( I loved heavy collision ) but have spent many years in restoration and hot rodding. I never had a shortage of work, or people willing to pay for it. It's just like anything else, you get out what you put in. Hats off to anyone willing to step up and start a school like this. If I wasn't so happy teaching collision repair here in Spokane I'd be sending my resume!

I do have to agree on the blasting first. I don't work on anything that isn't naked.