Why is hating something you don't like so important to you!?

First off i want to let anyone who reads this know that i absolutely love this Forum and this is in no way bashing it. It's a long read but i hope you do because at the end you will understand my question.


Growing up my family was far from wealthy and was just middle class normal joes that worked for what we had. The truck my Dad had when i was born was a 41 ford truck in complete restored original condition, it was absolutely gorgeous and there wasn't anything on it that it didn't have when it drove off the showroom.
Now my father since i have been born has never owned anything newer than a 48 model(past that he wasn't interested in it) so my whole life growing up that's all i really knew was old cars and i remember riding in that truck till he sold it when i was around 9yrs old.

Then my father bought a 40 ford deluxe coupe and it was completely stock also with a black paint with white naug interior. I remember it just sitting higher than all the other guys in the club and it sure had these big white walls on it that nobody else really had except a few other cars at the shows and i really liked it. I also remember us being far from home for a show and the original Flat 8 blowing and we were stranded for days till it came out of the shop.


When i was 10 my dad started doing interiors on old cars and called it "Little Darling Upholsterer" and he got a lot of buissness here in Ga and did very well at it. I remember there being 3-4 cars always in our barn with my dad on the cutting table cutting out material and having to hand make a foam form because most of the seats he got were rotted out, him behind his big sewing machine. I could hear his seat creaking as he leaned forward to put in some stiches and the sound of the sewing machine motor humming as i would be playing in all the cars pretending to drive them, Fox 97(oldies station) playing in the background.


When i turned into a teenager i didn't want to go to the shows anymore and all i wanted was to play with girls and try smoking cigs. My Dad bought a 48 chevy coupe when i was 14 to try and get our bond back.The car was in need of a 100% overhaul as it had sat outback of a barn for a good 15 years. I worked on that car for a year and sanded more than anyone would want to and took the car completely apart and fixed the bad cancer spots.


A friend told my dad he saw an engine looked like a 350 sitting on a porch of once abandon house that he purchased and said we could have it. My Dad brought it home and pulled up his chair he sat in the barn with and told me now take it apart. He watched me take every nut and bolt off and when i got the first head off it was very obvious this engine had catostrophic damage.............................................

 

I thought oh well and started gathering up the parts and he said "What are you doing?" I said "it's no good imma throw it away" he then said in a calm voice "You're going to finish tearing it apart and then put it back together then we'll throw it away" I thought what the hell for!? It wasn't till i was in my 20's that i understood that day.

When i was 15 i was in full bore rebellion and stopped working on the car and i hadn't been to a car show since then till 2 weeks ago. Now most of that was i went in the Navy when i was 21 and was just trying to straighten up the mess i made as a teen. I still had a great appreciation for these cars and trucks and every time i would see one driving it would take me back but i no longer was involved in them.

Now the 40 ford car i told you about eventually got a 350/350 combo with a front and rearend adn then was sold. Since then my dad would go through a car every 2-3 years but the 48 Ford F1 he bought when i was either 10 or 11 stayed just his normal everyday driver.

Now the truck was bought with a 350/350 and a camaro front and rear end along with some VDO gauges my dad put in it that's about all it had on it. That truck saw the road EVERY single day just as it was made for.

When my Dad started getting older the heat and humidity got to him a little more each year so he put an A/C unit in it because like i said it's how he got to work and anything else. Then a few more years went by and he couldn't lean over to roll the passenger window down if he just wanted to feel the breeze so he put power windows in it.

This truck never got taken to a show or a cruise inn, that's what the cars were for. The truck he just loved to drive every day to get around.

Last Oct with only me in the room holding his hand i watched and heard the Coolest, strongest,most awsomest Dude in the whole world take his last breath.......He showed me his will years before this and in the very first line it read " My only Son to inherit my 1948 Ford Truck".............................

 

Good on you for straightening out in time. Sounds like your old man knew you'd come around. Something tells me you'll keep all the "modern" updates ... I would too.

 

Man that's some powerful stuff right there. Kudos to your Dad for being the kinda guy he was. I know you miss him, but every time you drive that truck he will be riding with you. His legacy proudly lives on through you.

 

I took the truck home that i learned to drive when i was 12. The truck every time i would come home for the holiday's when i was in the Navy my dad would have it washed and have it full tanked with the keys in his hands saying " I know you missed it so go ahead"

Until 2 weeks ago i hadn't even started up the truck much less had the ability to think of doing anything to it as far as what i wanted it to look like with my taste. It was just like i woke up a few weeks ago and had the feeling that it was o.k. to start making it "My Truck" and no seeing it everytime i went in my garage with the feeling of sadness and having the first thought of "Why is Dad's truck here..........oh nevermind"

So i started thinking in my head the things i really loved at shows and the cars i loved looking at and started coming up with parts i wanted to get and put on it. Then i started looking for an internet forum that seemed to share my taste in style. I love White walls and i love steel wheels ect ect so i didn't get the ideas after i joined here is what im trying to say.

But my first question of why is it so important to you to hate is explained here..................... because i love this truck it is a part of the history of my life and what my memories are of it. Right now as it sits like i said it has A/C, power windows, and a camaro front and rear with a 350/350 combo in it and a billiet dash(which i always wanted to change and will do so) with VDO gauges in it.

If you walked up to it at our city's next car show most of you wouldn't like it and would say "aw look at what this guy did" but you don't know it's story and that it wasn't built to show, it was built to make my dad comfortable in it driving to ohio every year for a reunion and driving everyday to work and now that i have it it will take time to make it my own.

But your first reaction will be to hate it and you won't even know that im bringing it around to keep on with the tradition of how i was raised. I'm keeping the 350/350 in it and i am taking the power windows out and of course changing other things but not everything andt because of this i don't think most would consider me a true H.A.M.Ber but i would say it's just cause you don't know the whole story.


THE END

 

He kept it for you and made sure you got it at the right time so you would appreciate it. Just shows you he knew more than how to upholstery car seats. Great story and I thank you for sharing it with us

 

this is a very good story. family is so important.

 

edit ... maybe you should worry a lot less about what others love and hate and worry a lot more about what matters to you. The impression you gave me of your dad tells me he'd suggest the same.

 

GREAT STORY. Being a little older myself. The creature comforts are starting to be a more of a plus and will be installed. not as a fashion statemment but more as a need. The air so on the long drives I can go as long as my younger friends. The power windows cause of my arthritic hands they will make my ride more enjoyable. And wipers cause I like to see where I am going, and the views of my back road adventures. Directional signals cause I normally confuse people enough, plus I like to leave them on ocasionally...John

 

Great story and life lessons there. I've never been real close to my dad so it yanks at me heart strings.
It's YOUR truck. Love it for what it is to you.
Enjoy it and don't worry too much about the haters.

 

Leave the truck as it is.

 

How can an old truck with a family history like that NOT be HAMB 'friendly'?

 

Just smile, you know something they don't!!!
The older generation Dads had a whole lot of smarts and didn't flaunt it.

 

Great read........
only the ones that have a direct influence on your life or the only opinions that matter. Others or just opinions.

Cherrish the memories of your dad they get you through a lot.

 

I have my Dad's '36, his first car, and fortunately for me and the rest of my family, he is still around! I would not want to be in your shoes, and I can't even imagine being at that point in my life. I can't even think about it. It's too painful.

It's natural to change out a few things, but it will always be your Dad's truck. It doesn't matter if it's running bias whitewalls or 22" Torque Thrusts... nothing can ever change that. But it's only natural that the style it is built in is coveted by some and disdained by others. That's why there's chocolate and vanilla. Everyone loves ice cream.

 

I think i would leave the truck alone my self , dont loose focus here the hamb is nothing but a web site . most folks here would be open to your car 62k members and most cant make the cut for a traditional ride them selfs . great story thanks .

 

Oh that's exactly how i am and exactly how my dad was but it's just something that bothers me when i see some bashing others for things done to cars they don't agree with i just wanted to tell my story to them saying i really don't care what you think this is why i love my truck

 

Great story and I must say I really agree.
Like the old saying goes,don't judge a book by hit's cover.
Thanks for sharing.

 

To answer your question, I think people want to belong to one group (which is fine) and to fit in they focus on that group and show contempt for others. This leads to the different groups distancing and isolating themselves from the other groups and that leads to even more badmouthing people in groups other than their own. Young/old, traditional/billet, pre/post 64, all the same deal. Lots of walls and little boxes, and peer pressure makes sure it stays that way.
Larry T

 

Going to save the title of this post for the next eBay whiner who emails me up telling me a car is junk and I should part it out. Thanks!

 

I built a go cart for my daughter, when she was 8 years old and didn't have the money for the foot throttle. So I used a lawn mower hand throttle until I got the money to do it right. After I fixed it properly, I came home one day from work. And she had changed it back to the hand throttle. so I asked her why and she said she wanted it the way I had originally designed and built it. (NO CHANGES) I think I will give her my 28 delivery when I am done using it...John

 

I think you are confusing hate with people being vocal about something not belonging here. i.e. the billet dash. or a set of 80's sawblade wheels. There are plenty of rides here with A/C and electric windows.

 

There are too many morons out there to waste your time listening to them.

 

Nothin' wrong with power windows...

 

I believe we all, regardless of intent or emotional state, jump to conclusions when we see something not to our liking. You are correct in that it is unfair the way many worthwhile things in the world of our interest get labeled or dismissed unfairly. We are human. At the same time that one might dismiss a truck having so much value for you, we have just as many opposite situations. For example, my wife recently purchased a '62 Falcon. It's cute, runs OK and gets her to and from work, but it would go home with the first person offering a fair mark-up over our investment. Imagine how perplexed I was at the old fella walking around it one afternoon in a parking lot with tears in his eyes. I found out that it was identical to one he had first dated his late wife in. He could have had it for the asking that day. It was worth more to him than to me.

 

Turning the Harley marketing on it's head...

I (you) don't have to explain it, it's none of you f**k'n business.

 

I have had people tell me im crazy for keeping a 350 in it and not pulling it out and put a 351 or something Ford in it. I just shake my head and say that it's something you don't understand.

Here's something someone will hate.....My Dad was an Antique Pocket Watch collector for a while and collected some amazing pieces worth a pretty penny. When he found out he was going to die he quickly started selling Some of them off(i have a good many he wanted to keep) and i found out after he had passed it was because he was wanting to buy a brand new crate 350, something he has never done or had was something "Brand New" and he was going to put it in the truck so i wouldn't have to worry about the old worn out one in it now that even after a rebuild last year leaks a quart a week.

The money from the watches bought a lot of beer and a great get together after he Died because our family doesn't do funerals, we do parties. But he had a 37 chevy he was trying to sell for a year and it sold right after he died. You know what a part of that money went for?

I have a new crate 350 in the garage im putting in the truck myself....Listening to an oldies station.

There will be someone one day at a show and will look under the hood and say "Another one of those 350's, and i will be smiling thinking who gives a crap"

 

Very well put! Do it as you want, change what you want, and enjoy every mile you and the truck make. Keep the memories strong, knowing that there is someone riding shotgun every mile with you....

 

great story!
do it for yourself and you'll be happy!
do not do it to please everyone else,you'll never be happy with it.

 

your dad sounds like he was a cool dude.