Do you "build your hot rod" or "buy and drive"

BOTH !!

I have built 32's and have bought some other on topic Hamb cars.
I bought a 40 Ford coupe to tear apart and fix ... but did not. I slowly changed a few things on it and enjoyed the coupe a lot ... for 6 years.

Nothing fancy but it sure was a LOT of fun

 

I've done both. Sometimes good deals fall into your lap and you help somebody out to boot. I try not to judge. Just because somebody buys a car doesn't mean he/she can't build one too. I've bought and sold one car to a friend three times before it finally got away. We both worked on it and built it. Sometimes he owned it, sometimes I owned it.

 

Id love to be able to afford to buy a finished car built by some of the HAMB pro builders, hell some of the "hobby builder" guys here are better than a lot of the famous pro builders we've all seen in the magazines or TV.

Yes I would consider it my car just like if I bought any other car. But I would never try to take credit for the build. Heck I would be proud to say I owned a car built by "insert your favorite HAMB person here" And Im pretty sure I would know the car inside and out because I would have followed or commissioned the build ... Thats probably the most fun about the HAMB being able to follow these builds from start to finish.

But I would probably still have a project or two laying around to play with. Ive tried to get rid of all my projects in the past and it just cant be done lol.

Course I don't have that kind of cash laying around, but its fun to dream =)

 

I've bought but currently I'm building my first one from rusted parts found in fields and new scrap metal bought at a store. I don't think it's bad to buy someone's car then make it your own as long as you enjoy it....AND DRIVE IT. I've never had the ability, knowledge, or place to build a car from scratch until now. I have a place, gaining the knowledge, and finding my ability to do one from scratch. It will never be sold like the ones I bought in the past.

 

Bought it, Drove it, Rebuilding it.

Scotty

 

Trust me....if I could have bought the "Atomic Punk" I would have drove it with pride and dreamed I built it!!!!

 

If you build your hot rod, it will always have your name attached to it even after you send it on to the next owner. If you buy your hot rod from "Joe Smith", it will always be "Joe Smith's old car" to those who know. To some, this doesn't matter and more power to them ... find what you like and buy it. I would prefer the satisfaction of having built the car my way.

Even if I bought a finished car, I probably couldn't resist the urge to change it up after the novelty wore off.

 

Word. I've done both.I'm not predjudiced in any way. I loved the ones I built as well as the ones I bought. If I adopted a child I'd love him too. A cool car does not stop being a cool car just because someone else built it.

 

First and foremost, I am a wrench.

I LOVE the build. It is all consuming for me.

The feeling of bringing it to life for the first time, or taking that first drive, is unparalleled.

That being said...finish work is not my specialty (I hate it!), so I get the car to the point that it is a great driver but the body usually stays in the same shape as when I got it. At that point my build is done and the driving after that is normally with a for sale sign in the windshield while I hunt for my next "victim"!


I get better and better and further and further with each one.

Someday I WILL finish one, but not today!!!


Sent from my iPhone using TJJ!!!

 

No way dude...If you got the cash go buy a bad ass Rod and drive the hell out of it. Enjoy it and tinker with it. Tell every one you paid stone cold cash on the barrel head for it. You already have street cred it sounds like so I'd spend some cash! Enjoy everyones scowel as you drive by their garages and wave as you go on your sunday afternoon burger run with your favorite pick of the week by your side!!!

 

Build them myself. Enjoy the build almost more than the driving part

 

Either buy or.......
you can get started, screw it up, not finish it and just say it is traditional.

 

I started building my 40 pick up in 1967. And I'm still working on it.

 

That depends!

I have bought.... I have built.... I have bought and rebuilt

Your question should be Do you "build your hot rod" or "Do you just buy and drive". OR... Do you "actually get your hands dirty on your hot rod"

 

i build all my cars just find it more pleasing to collect,build, then drive.

 

I keep building cars and never quite get the finished product I want, always something little that I see, so I build another one. I have considered buying a finished car but am afraid I would find something I didn't like and tear it apart and start over. I'm retired and heading for the garage is my daily entertainment, last car I farmed out the machine work on the engine, front end alignment after I rebuilt it and having the flat glass cut; Everything else was done in the garage, not happy with the paint, has small problems, going to do a second final buff on it today.

 

what he said!! you will get more enjoyment out of one with your blood in it. and if it ever breaks (sould say WHEN) you know exactly what is holding it together.

 

if I had more money than time I'd be a buy and driven fool, unfortunatly I've never had that problem

the people that depress me are the build and sell crowd, before they even put one mile on a car

 

I buy it, improve it, then drive the shit out of it. Whatever blows your skirt.

 

Bit of both for me. I've built and bought. If i'd do it again i'd probably buy something very close to what i want and mod it but keep it on the road. No worries about someone elses build as long as it was a good build.I'm limited to what i can do and if someone has built a car pretty close to what i really like and just needs wiring, paint, interior/styling kind of work i'd rip their arms off. If it was a good price, what i want, cheap enough to finsh and keep rolling i'd be happy to take it on. In the close future i can't see myself having the time/money to commit or the space to be doing a full build. Plus to be honest i don't think i can be motivated enough to do a ground up build at this time. Too much going on and the project would never get done. The "buy, drive and work on" option is more likely. Buy something nice with a vision in mind, work on it when money and space allow and drive the wheels off it. I'll get to know every inch of the car soon enough when ironing out the bits that i'd want to change.

Pretty much what 21tat said really..............

 

I'm way to cheap to buy something done that I can do myself. I usually go find all the parts I think I'm going to need. Then I pick a time to do the build. I stop everything else and just work on it until it's done. Usually 2-3 weeks. If I built a car/truck the way most of you guys do, it would never get done. I get bored VERY fast.

 

Dude..Im poor..so I build em, but thats not the only reason..I enjoy the build..all of it

If i was rolling in it, I'd hire Gene or Chip or someone else to do it for me while I bang Kim Kardasian (im the real reason for her divorce you know?) and party with Billy G of ZZ top, and smoke blunts with Willy Nelson and Snoop dog

but still I get a special sense of accomplishment by doing it myself, and im too poor to do any of the above, so in a strange way im happy like this..probably less stress anyhow

sure beats flopping a fat ass down on some wore out couch watching a bunch of bull shit TV, now that my friends is a wate of a life there

 

well ive built them for other people and enjoyed doing it. but now im 56 and in bad health. (bike wreck in05)so my days of building them for other people is over as of this past summer. no moer bike builds or cars for the other.ive got a few projects on the ready that im trying to pick just one because i dont know how much longer i can do it , but if i could afford to buy one done i would and be almost as proud.almost lol. mine is a health and time factor.if i knew i had another 5 10 yrs left id build for sure but since i cant afford what i want i gotta build the damn thing myself anyway.besides, ive never owned a finished car anyway!!!lol

 

If it doesn't get you dirty it's not really yours...but at the same, after building a few, I understand why some guys buy a turn key car...not everybody has the ability to do it or the desire.

I don't think of hot rodding as something done on the street or strip. Hot rodding to me is done in the driveway, the shop or garage. Hot rodding is building a car to perform better or look better than the next guy when you are racing at the strip or cruising down the street.

 

There is a giant "BUILT, NOT BOUGHT" on the back window of my Chevelle. Does this answer your question?

 

For me it's all about the build and working with your hands. I am still learning after 50 years of building cars, granted I don't work full time on any project but love to make old things new again, for me it's a art form.

 

As I get older I'm less able to do some of the work myself. I can no longer hold some tools and getting off the ground is tough some days. I think the deuce is the last car I'll be able to say I did by myself.

I love to work on the cars, but I find myself having to hire people to do some of the work. The vision is still mine, but the labor is often hired.

 

grew up broke, worked on everything i wanted to drive, bought a 57 belair in 84, full restoration beginning in 89 finished in 91 in my garage. soo tired of working on it, decided to play golf for the next 14yrs., then one day at the age of 65,i awoke with hot rod fever, thru down the clubs and bought a 31 5 window ford, i could have bought a built one , but the thrill this time is the fun of building it myself. i'm a terrible welder , i have to redo things 2 and 3 times, but i go to bed each night knowing i accomplished something today. makes you feel good about yourself, what more could you ask for in a hobby

 

Usually, when you buy one,...it's a short time until you're tearing something apart to get more to your liking............

4TTRUK

 

Both !