Customs Where to draw the line... (Customs Only!!)

lol, there's nothing wrong with it... but you can't do it here...

like I said in an earlier post... I give my props and respect to those of you who are 100% "traditional" or "traditionally inspired" when building your cars... it takes patience and skill... I'm building mine for me, and I understand if it's not HAMB friendly, w/e... I'm here for the love of cars, to enjoy everyone else's builds, etc... (that wasn't the question asked, I know)

 

I promise I won't piss on the tires. My Buick even has radials (which I don't like) and broken factory A/C.

 

f that. Do whatever you want.

 

It's amazing how many people that come here, do not understand the HAMB, and want to preach about "that's hot rodding", or "do it the way you want". That's all fine and dandy, but this is the HAMB and there is a pretty narrow focus of what is accepted and what isn't. There is a lot more latitude given than in days past. Do what you want, but don't expect it to be accepted here...

 

I am buiding my pickup for me. I love the traditional fenderless flathead Model A. Thats where I started. The tires brakes steering is going to be what I want it to be. Safe and drivable. Everyone should build what they want. They have to drive it.

 

blah

 

Actually it does have to do with understanding the HAMB, we are here and we are discussing a "line" as it relates to the HAMB. Not out in the world, in a narrowly focused forum.

Your comment...

Shows just how little you understand the HAMB. If you put something here and it gets slammed because of all that stuff it's ignorant of the person posting. Kind of like posting a Camaro on a Mustang board. You can argue until you are blue in the face about it, but there is a very narrow focus here and it is fiercely defended. To even think it should change or something should be accepted because of your opinion is ludicrous.

 

Bingo

 

Sorry, my post was pretty out of line. But honestly, the exclusion style of classification for what makes an old vehicle hamb worthy or not is pretty lame. I am not going to offer up why or reasons or anything else, my opinions really don't have merit or validity.

 

Really a website that is based vehicles from a specific historical time period and style is lame because it exludes those that don't pertain to those criteria.

I think I am going to go find a forum for Civil War Weaponry and see how they react to my musket that I have added a laser scope to.

 

Mine is all 50's, bias plys, drum brakes. I put my kids in it, we go everywhere. All of our grandparents and most of our parents drove these cars, on those tires, with drum brakes, and they are all still here. People in the 50's didn't have their Chevys and Mercs locked up in the garage because they were afraid to drive them. They drove them everyday, in all weather, across the country, everywhere. I do believe in converting to 12 volts and throwing in seat belts, but if you really want to be traditional, thats about it.

 

lmao... that's a perfect analogy for this place

 

maybe im wrong but? werent the first customs and hot rods basically people taking old cars and installing new upgraded parts on them to improve the way they looked performed and drove? if those guys would have had access to a lq9/4l60e producing 400hp and dependable enough to drive everyday anywhere dont you think they would have used it? not wanting to piss anybody off but i dont see a problem with using what you can get. as long as its quality work i appriciate it. ive seen several old cars with new ls engine swaps that looked good. just my apinion. sorry if i offended anyone.

 

yes,Speedbuggy...... but it wont be a traditional as this forum is about. Traditional isnt styled "new", even as you says, they would have used it, if they could get it that time. Traditional is how they did, and used of that time. I alos sees cars "modernized" that looks great, but dont call them traditional......

 

z man is god. he just fucking gets it... every time these type of threads come up, im always surprised how many times you hear "build it the way you want man. who cares what anyone else think." people should build what ever they want period. however, if you are asking what is traditional, that reply MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE!

 

Totally agree Zombie, people should understand what goes here and what doesn't it shouldn't be such a suprise when some people get shit on. But I have 2 small gripes with alot of posts on the hamb lately. There are guys that come on here basically asking permission to use certain parts, like they are building cars to impress the people on here (rather than impress themselves), which is fucking sad. And there are certain members that are just fucking car snobs...I mean Im a car guy, I much prefer traditional hot rods and customs but I'm not going to turn my nose up or call a car a waste because of 1 or 2 modern parts. People just need to relax...and enjoy the fucking cars already.

 

Zman is correct about build it the way you want.

Let me ask THIS question: if you use that HVLP gun, is it still traditoional? Hell, if you use a 2 stage urethane finish, is it?

Are ALL modern tools out? What if you had it aligned on a computerized rack?

This thing has the potential to descend even further into an even bigger fecal miasma than what it already has.

I'm gonna build my car the way I want. It will qualify as traditional to most of the people here, and that's fine. It won't qualify for some, and that's fine, too.

And some will speak their opinions, and that's fine- we're all about exchanging ideas. In the end, it has to please one person, and I promise it will, since that's the person who is building it.

 

i understand what you are saying too. however, i think the original question from the original poster was a good legitimate question.

 

A custom is about style, give the car the look you want inside and out and put the best and safest parts in the drivetrain. We are looking at the design of the car not under it.

 

I made it about 4 pages and agree with alot of what's been said. My Edsel is traditionally inspired but it's hard to call it period correct. Not a whole lot of custom Edsels. I built it to look, or am trying to build it to look, like it could come right out of the pages of KUSTOMLAND. It's got a nice static drop (using modern springs) but I had the wheels chromed the old school way instead of just buying cheapie steel chromies. Under the hood will remain in the same brand (39O truck motor) even though I am not a Ford guy... And one step further really dislike Ford engineering. It's what's right for the car though.

I run bias plies coz I am not a sissy. They worked on cars for hundreds of years before radials came out of the primordial ooze and they work on mine. They may require a little different driving style but guess what, it's a 60yr old car! They ride a little rougher, they track road grooves once in awhile, and my god sometimes in the rain they need more room to stop.

I don't really care about modern parts you cant see. I hate seeing a huge B&M ratchet shifter mounted in a 50s Chevy like it's a 7O Camaro. Hell I hate seeing it in a 70 Camaro, too. I ran a 4 bbl carb on a 235. It screamed, I left the hood down.

I think the mantra reads the same. Do your homework, look and research the old stuff, and build what you like and works for you. I may not like it but you will never know that unless you ask me.

 

hmmmm.......if it's old and it goes fast and looks good I don't really care how you did it. if it makes you happy go for it. you're the one that has to drive it.

 

I feel pretty good with using some modern mechanics in my Victoria.

 

While I would be driving a car, I would prefer radials, but if I was headed to a show to put my car in it, why not throw a set of bias on it? IE, why not keep two sets?

I see no fine line, but the crazies out there driving their modern rides, albeit distracting with their gadgetry, aren't gonna pay attention to you. So hopefully safety is a priority if the custom is to be driven. A show car? traditional all the way. Of course I don't enter shows, let alone hardly ever go to one.

 

This kind of shit is how the anally retentive got a bad reputation. We may be compulsive about this period correct business, but we ARE right. We hold to a standard of cool that hasn't changed much.

 

All of my modern add ons are hidden pretty well.....bias tires all the way....radials are against my religion.

 

Depends on who you ask...that's the great thing about Kustoms. Expressions in Iron, Cloth, Paint, Glass, Chrome and Rubber that polarize the passive and cause even the most ardent builder in any genre to look beyond what has been done toward what is possible. Every car and every owner has a vision, whether it is based on tradition or not really doesn't matter...the bottom line is passion and execusion...I get a dozen pics a week of cars that are built by ordinary people in their garages evenings and weekends...I don't compare them to one another any more than I compare their owners. Each one is unique and reflects the owner's vision...or in some cases, their pocket book. Either way, they are proud of what they are driving. But if you have to break it down, it must go something like this...A Kustom is Low to the ground relative to a stock car...a Kustom has modified sheet metal including, but not limited to Shaving, Chopping, Frenching, Molding and Channeling...A Kustom has Hub Caps, Wires, or Steel Wheels, not aluminum or alloy (here's where the controversy starts)...
A Kustom Car has a tastefully executed interior including unusual dash combinations grafted from other cars, special features like swivle seats and cut down steering wheels just to name a couple. A Kustom has a functional and reliable engine that will put the car down the road without any problems (since the vast majority of Kustoms are displayed with the hood closed, what's in there does not define the car), a Kustom has a grill and bumpers that have been highly modified and usually do not originate with the car they are fitted to...and on and on and on it goes. These are the rules...and who wrote them? Not me, Not you...George Barris maybe...nah! I was just looking through my latest issue of CKD and was reading about a '55 chevy called Miss Elegance...check it out. For the time, the car was incredibly foward looking not only in style but in features...its not my cup of tea, but thats not the point either. The point is that Kustoms evolve. Builders and enthusiasts watch one another and gleen ideas and inspiration...What's next? What should be next? That's the great thing...nobody knows! That is the reason we go to car shows, at least one of the reasons...to see what has been done since last time we were there and to get an idea for our next project. Personally, I would like to see more attention given to the Under Hood and Chasssis areas of Kustoms...Lowriders are kickin' our asses in those areas. And I would like to see more new One Off hubcaps and aluminum wheels cast to look like Hub Caps (Cadillac Caps have been done, why not others?) and I would like to see Kustoms that perform as well on the road as they do at the shows. If that means late model drive trains, then so be it...but I won't be going that way...the 390 in my 62 Bird works just fine.

 

Miss Elegance was a 41 chevy built by Joe Bailon..If there's another one that just goes to show that some asshole built a car with complete disregard to history....And here in lies the problem.........

 

IT'S FAIRLY SIMPLE.

I'm building a custom car. My vision, my time, my money, my safety.......my car. It's fairly simple.

Yes, it will have bags, m2, EFI, pwr windows etc.....why? Because I like it. It's fairly simple.

Some guys will not like it, that's fine by me. Some guys will like it, that's fine by me too. It's fairly simple.

I will never tell someone else not to use a sbc, a/c, whatever. You know why? It's called respect. It's his car. Not mine. I respect the choices he's made and the amount of work that has gone into it. It's fairly simple.

Bitching about something is the easiest thing to do. Tell the guy he did a great job. It's fairly simple.

Just enjoy this great disease we all suffer from! You know what I'm going to say next........

Eric/farmer12

 

Well, you really told me...how about telling Mark Moriearty who restored Paul Savelesky's 1955 Chevy, Miss Elegance...or how about Paul's Widow?

You Sir, need a lesson in manners...from....Miss Elegance, I would think.

Here are pictures of Both Miss Elegance cars...BTW, the Joe Ballion car was originally named "The Dashboard" and the Paul Savelesky car was once named "The Circuit Breaker." Both incredible cars...so what's in a name?

 

Well, Then there's two cars named Miss Elegance..I didn't know that. now I do. That's the great thing about the HAMB. As for manners, mine are fine thank you. I would even say they're graceful enough not to include someones widow in a discussion about period correct car customizing. .

Traditional is a movement. There was a reason for it. There was an ideology behind it. The HAMB is for those understand the movement or "get it" not for people who wish to interpret it to best suit themselves to justify there style of build.
I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with building a car the way you want it..In fact, I've done it. The bottom line is that if it isn't built under the guidelines of traditional customization then you really can't call it traditional. and that's where the line is drawn, and that's what this thread is about.