Folks Of Interest Traditional Rodders and Custom builders stand up and be counted

OK fellas let me preface this thread with a little disclaimer. This thread is not to start a fire storm, so please check your drama hat at the door.

So here's the deal it was recently pointed out to me that most of us are Street Rodders and that we build with new parts instead of traditional parts and usually hire someone else to build our cars for us. That people like me are exceptions to the rule.

That said I know that the brainchild of the Boss was a site dedicated to and built for traditional rods and customs and the people that build and or drive them.

Now I will be the first to admit that the overwhelming majority of us do not do every little aspect of the build on our cars, some of us are not builders at all. Perhaps this is the 'beaner with his head in the sand but I still believe that the main focus of this board is traditional rods and customs. I also believe that I am not the exception to the rule but am just one little grain of sand on a very large beach.

So this is your chance to be heard if you are a traditional rod or custom guy or gal please stand up and be counted.


Like I said no drama please this is not the place for everyone to stand up on your soap box and bash everyone else's style or age group. It is just a place to be counted among the hoodlums as the Boss so fondly has called us in the past.

 

I don't weld or shape metal, so I hire that out. I do work on my cars and and depending which car I'm working on, I use the appropriate parts. I'm fortunate. I have a few cars and some are period correct hot rods. Others are bone stock.

I don't know if I fit in any specific catergory but I like to think I'm welcome on the HAMB.

 

Trouble is my man,it just ain't that simple. Where do you put a 46-year-old quadriplegic, paralysed from the neck down, unable to do his own work and forced to run radial tyres on an otherwise traditionally inspired Kustom because the ride is just too choppy on bias plys for a) himself as he has no spinal control and gets thrown around like a rag doll in the back, and b) has to be chauffeured around by other people who just can't handle bias ply tyres and a built 351 Winsor (which came with the vehicle, not by choice)define traditional,Vern Tardel or Bob Hirohata?
Paul

 

I am doing an absolute custom for the first time, although O/T, I have taken parts from cars and had to modify the parts to work on this build. I have built it from the ground up with very few parts available off-the-shelf for it. I am even planning to give painting a shot, although I might have a coach handy to help me on that part.

 

But you also enjoy your hobby in spite of your injury! That is to be commended!

 

Lables can be misleading.

That pile of old Ford parts and raw steel are all I need.

 

Count me in.

I think on my last build, there are two new tires, new oil, new motor mounts.

The rest is old ford parts.

The only way I can afford to do this stuff is to do all of the work myself. And buy my parts at swap meets.

Now I may be a hack, but I don't own a new car, so I drive nothing newer than 57 everyday. I make it where I am going almost every time. So I must be doing alright.

I have learned alot by rebuilding all the different parts on these old cars. And the Hamb, and other older wiser guys near me have helped me learn along the way.

 

Hey porknbeaner, I was actually thinking about this same topic for the last few days. This seems to be a theme for us.

I'm doing all the mechanical work on my Buick, with the help of my dad and brothers. We'll probably do some of the body modifications/repairs, but there's some things we can't pull off. For instance, I've been throwing around the idea of getting the hood louvred, but I don't have a press or anything like that, so that's something I'd most likely have to mill out.

We've painted a couple cars at our house, and they turned out alright, but if I were going to "get it painted," I'd probably mill that out as well, since I don't have a booth or the equipment to do a really nice job. The same goes for upholstery.

At this point in my life, I'm pretty much a grease monkey doing grunt work, with a lot of ideas and no skill to execute them.

I'm trying to build my car as a pre-1960 custom. So far I don't really have anything that's not traditional on it. I might be attempting to keep this one as pure as possible.

 

I built my coupe. I couldn't have done it without the HAMB though, and I certainly couldn't afford to pay someone to do the work! The only things I farmed out were the machine work on the heads, and cutting of the glass. I used a mix of vintage and new parts. My coupe is the only car I've done a complete build on, and there are some things I would do differently if I were to do another, like use more vintage parts. I had a great time building my car though.
I consider my car traditional or traditionally styled, not a street rod, therefore, I would say I am a traditional hot rod guy, not a streetrodder.

 

Paul
It isn't about defining traditional at all it is about where you stand on the subject. I have never considered you to be a '70s throwback and I don't think that you do either.

Its not about if you are a builder or not, we all must be in contact with our own specific limitations. I don't run a stick in most of what I own, for similiar reasons to the same reason that you run radials. Not as extreme but physical limitations none the less.

It isn't about comparing oneself to Vern Tardel or Bob Hirohata. They are or were just a couple of grains on the beach that I spoke of.

 

I have been doing every thing but the machine work. I buy parts that are safety related, or are not feasible to make with my limited tools. Remember speed shops have been around almost as long as Hot Rodders, So I do not consider buying speed parts non traditional.

 

I fall into this category, YAY I BELONG

The only thing I hire out is glass and engine machine work. My current project is a '53 DeSoto moredoor with a late '50s theme. No new parts here accept your typical goods such as brake lines, hoses, ect...

 

Hey Beaner, I wasn't trying to start a fight or run you down, my man. The "define traditional" was kind of meant rhetorically. Just postulating in public. I had to do it on here as over this side of the pond it is illegal and puts you on the sex offenders register guess I'll stand up and be counted then,... Oh hold on,.... I can't stand up! Well, I'm sure you catch my drift.
Paul

 

The knife cuts both ways. Meaning that sometimes I can't afford to buy period correct parts. I did my best on my roadster, but had to compromise temporarily on a few items. Honestly, the only new items I bought for that car were a carburetor, wear parts like tie rod ends and other safety related items, and engine parts. Every thing else was either fabricated or restored vintage material.
I like to think I did mine "the real way". The same process is going into my Coupe.

 

strange...

 

I dont do the paint or interior,but me and a couple of buddies do all the rest!

 

Do I qualify? I am doing everything my self, I am running radial tires because I want to drive the car everyday, rain or shine, and I have driven bias tires in the rain, not a good thing... But I have done it all myself! Started with a car that had no suspension that had been sitting on the ground for about 20 years in a field and now it is looking like a car, check out the build thread to see the progress. Jim

 

Hey I know, I can only try and ruffle your feathers ya cheaky bugger.

If its any consolation I do buy new tires and other new parts as needed. I have even been known to make parts from metal less than 50 years old. That said I am probably not going to be bolting an aluminum LS in anything of my own any time soon. I may not even put dubs on my stude, but that is yet to be decided.

 

Now that I think of it, your post makes the most sence here.

 

I guess you'd call me people like you.....

 

I do as much as I can on my ride. As much as my knowledge and tool set will allow. What I don't have the ability to do, I'm willing to learn. If it's cheaper to buy the tool and do it myself, I'll do just that. I don't have a lot of buddies into cars with huge tool collections.
I don't do paint or body work, because I don't have the hands for it. Mechanical work is my main focus. I can also do simple upholstery work. I bought my car because the frame and body were solid, everything else I knew I could fix. I've spent the past several years doing just that. I farmed out the rear end work and the machine work on my heads. Everything else, for better or worse, has been done by me.
Personally, I don't feel like the car is truly mine unless I'm doing the work on it. Additionally, I don't have the money more often than not to have someone do the work for me. I like to think that wouldn't change if I did have the money, but I can't say for sure.
As far as the parts I use, I can only use what I can afford. While I would LOVE a Hilborn-injected Hemi, or a blown, built 409, my wallet dictates SBC and whatever parts I can trade, scrounge or save my pennies for.

 

I also try to do every part myself except for paint, probably why I don't have a finished car . I love to know every nut and bolt, but if someone doesn't know how to weld very well can you blame them for subbing that out. I think it is the heart and soul you put into it and the respect to the car and the era .

 

I spend too much time on the HAMB to build any cars.

 

I can prove I build my own cars on account of how shitty they are!!!

 

I do all my own work not because im "that" good its out of the fact Im a working stiff and on a budget.....Im self tought and ask the right people for help to teach me......I wire,weld,shape, and the only things farmed out are machine work on engines and glass..........SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS

 

When I'm done, the only thing farmed out will be chrome work. But only because Im afraid of cyanide. Oh, and I paid an expert to rebuild my generator, $40 well spent. When I'm done, the only thing newer than 1961 is wiring, brake parts, battery and fluids. All parts are vintage whenever possible. Even my tires are excellent condition 1961.

Not having to farm out any work is because I have awesome friends in my club helping me learn and do the things I didn't think I could. And for the most part, I can't afford to pay anybody to do the work, haha!

 

I'll jump in on this one.

 

Personally Pn'B, I feel this thread is like the old rodder's VS restorers of many years ago when those guys that owned stocker Model A's absolutely hated rods...and anything done to a Model A was sacriligeous...

"Trad" can be many things to many people...my Cadillac looks "trad," but it's got (hiway) radials, a late model engine and trans, a tilt wheel, a CD player...oh, and a CB and A/C...do I care what other people think...??? Absolutely not...don't really care what you think of my car(s)...or me. I build a car for ME...and me alone.

So if you want to pigeon-hole me as a street rodder...go ahead. If you want to put me in the "kustom" camp...have at it, if you feel I'm "trad" enuff for your thread, I'm OK with it...it makes no difference to me.

R-

 

I think calling myself a "custom builder" does some disjusice to the real builders here, but I'm trying! I'm doing my own mechanical, body, paint and interior to turn my 53 Chevy into a mild custom. I'm even making my own dual exhaust - I know, childs play for many of you, but I'm trying. I'm using vintage parts or currently made vintage parts (like Fenton headers and Offy valve cover) I'm keeping my 235 and hopping it up like they did way back then.

The only modern advancement was a switch to 12v.

Hope that qualifies me as more then just a wannabee. No street rod stuff found here.

~Carl

 

What I DO,......

I do all my own fabrication work,...
(I actually enjoy building a chassis more than driving the car,... Wierd,.. HUH ?)

I do my own body work,... (Love the cutting & welding,..Hate the finish work)

I'll do all the mechanical and engine work. (except Automatic Transmissions)

I do my own paint work ( It's pretty good,... but not professional)


What I DON'T do

I have very little knowledge about Automatic Transmissions,....
(either they work,... or they don't,.. I can do some repair work, but a total rebuild is out of the question)

I have no idea how to do Interior work.

And If you ever see me doing any Wiring ,... go get some long sticks and a bag of marshmallows,.... We can all join hands and sing Kum-Bay-Yah, as we watch my car burn.

Everyone has skills and desires,... sometimes your skill won't match your desire. So you use your skill you do have to raise funds to bring your desire to fruition.

I see no shame in that.

I have traded out Fab work for interior work in the past. as well as other things I can do for things I can't do ,... or simply don't want to do.

Most of what I can do, is stuff learned from others, As well as self taught, I can't afford to farm out work.
Some of the best builders on the planet, can't do everything. And some of the really great historical cars that will forever go down in history with the owners name,.... are people that had a vision and deep pockets,... but never turned a wrench on the car in question.

I think there is room enough in Hot Rodding & Customizing,.. For all that has the passion burning in there belly to build "That special vision" ,... No matter if they are the one that striks the torch,... or not. (IMHO)