Hello all, I joined here awhile back with all intentions of sharing, learning etc. but my first experience was with the classifieds. I am finally posting so I figured I had better do the intro. Some of this is a bit redundant if you check my profile and such but anyway.... My dad was born in 1929 and was interested in all things mechanical at an early age with a particular fondness for the automobile. He was the first in his family to buy a car at age 18 and he quickly discovered he had to "improve" anything he bought. By his own admission his first car and improvements were comical to say the least. His first car was a 1936 Ford coupe which he first modded by a little "power tuning" and installing a hook on the dashboard to hold the shifter in place as it liked to pop out of place while under a load and in hard cornering...... a little trick borrowed from the dirt track guys. He soon pushed the car a bit too hard and rolled it down a hill smashing the roof, fenders and running boards but he had a good solution for this..... he had always wanted a roadster and loved the open wheeled cars that were becoming trendy so he removed the fenders, boards and cut off the roof. He eventually became a sheet metal worker and read every book or magazine he could get his hands on that was auto related while also making adjustments and mods he discovered himself along the way. Being a sheet metal worker by trade made it natural for him to start doing body mods as well. One of his first was a 46 Ford that he chopped, channeled and sectioned. He mentioned that although everything seemed to be happening on the West Coast that some things were going on out East almost in silence and anything in between was barely heard of. He and his friends were building tail draggers, splitting manifolds and getting in trouble with their new found hobby while hot rodding was still truly in its infancy. He also used to like painting the wheel wells white and wiring in Christmas lights for a neat effect. I couldn't possibly share all the things I recall him saying and teaching me but it did give me a lot of insight on what the early days were like. He never lost sight of the early days and those cars and creations, a lot of trends came and went but Hot Rods and Kustoms remained his favorite and also mine. I have witnessed and learned many things in my years as well and love gassers, street rods and muscle cars etc. but many trends in my life time were disgusting.... tweed interior, tubbed, blown, pastel, monochrome, gawdy graphic monstrosities reigned in much of my youth. I witnessed Hot Rod magazine turn into page after page of vendors with crap tech and pictorials. I love anything vintage as these cars all had a certain charm or direction but somewhere in the early 70's onward something terrible happened. (it's a rather long list) I am sickened by so many guys that build rat rods and call them traditional rods or think they have captured the way it was (I wont get started on their apparel and music which is only vaguely accurate in most cases)...they should in most cases be called an art car or worse. I soon will start on my 41 Ford pickup (details and pics elsewhere) and I wish to preserve its look as it has been unchanged in over 40 years. It will be beat and weathered because I do not have the funds, health or resources to completely restore the thing and frankly I want to preserve it so I wouldn't have done much body work anyway. I also don't care for the word patina as it should be left in art class but some cars look great weathered and beaten. I don't want to follow any specific trend but my truck will have "patina" and be "ratty". I want much of it traditional but may have to cut a few corners for cost etc. Simply put, I want to enjoy it and keep it simple. Anyone that builds something for fun to their liking is certainly embracing the hobby as it was first intended but too many guys are mislabeling or misrepresenting their vehicles (most unknowingly). I hope we all keep each other in check here and it looks like most of you are doing a great job at it. Out of all my dads stories and all the books he and I have collected, I don't remember anything about a billet laden, Mustang II subbed, ZZ4 engined creation, bagged with a 9" out back so I doubt mine will have it either......... well maybe a "9. P.S. I like cars with a classic and modern blend when it is done right and I don't have a problem with current trends, rat rods or anything most people choose to do and I like a lot of it but they need to be clear on what they are representing because very little of it is "how it was". Amen, -Bob
Now that's an intro! Welcome to the H.A.M.B. I agree with a lot you have to say. Most are not "the way they were." Fun is what it's all about and always has been.
Thanks to all for the welcome. My mother has a few photos stashed away of my dad and some of his cars including an Anglia 105E the he frenched the headlights on. he traded a 57 Chevy 4door hardtop for it much to the disgust of my mother. There are no pics of the 46 he done the most radical work to and he sold it before ever finishing it out. The car was sold in the East St.Louis area sometime in the fifties. There are a few pictures of the 40 Chevy tudor sedan he chopped for my brother and some of dads earlier cars. Back then few people were running around with a camera and my dad was too busy "doing" instead of documenting. My brother has a 47 Chevy pickup that my dad chopped and Ill get pics of it sometime. I have the 41 Ford pickup that was dads and some pieces he acquired for it such as 40 Ford passenger car rear fenders and fender skirts he was going to mod and install and a couple bells from a couple Chevy pickup enclosed driveline that he was going to chrome and use as exhaust tips. My brother has a few projects and has installed a couple bells as exhaust tips on his 50 Ford tudor as well as lowering it with wide whites and authentic Moon discs. It has dummy spots, skirts and mild striping also. He also has a 55 Chevy DelRay two door post he's had since 79. All of this has me thinking about something Id like to mention. Not every car from back when was an Alexander Bros. or Barris style Kustom nor were they all popular body styles with everything chromed out. There were many kids that bought or was handed down very undesirable cars but had the bug for speed or a Kustom...sometimes both. There were many less popular makes out there including "moredoors" that a kid working at the local grocery store or gas station worked many hours just to accomplish some small task. They enjoyed it and was proud of their accomplishment without giving a crap about getting into a magazine or a big show somewhere. When they weren't modding or wrenching they may have had a little time and a few cents leftover to take out a girl. It is the homegrown cars of the day I like to see most and many of them would have become famous if they had been featured or built by someone well recognized. Every once in awhile you will see an example turn up and although it is period correct pople don't accept it because it isnt close enough to what they saw in the magazines of the day. Also some people recognize this and try to capture it but miss by a small or often very large margin. People weren't spider webbing everything, radials weren't invented and few had heard of Von Dutch but were doing some tasteful striping. Many became fans of James Dean, thought (later on) that the beatnik thing was (kool) wore engineer boots with blue jeans and rolled cuffs etc. but unless they were in the military few of them were tatooed like crazy. Hiding modern conveniences and technology in a traditional style ride is something I am a big fan of because if you think about it, before the world of aftermarket goodies exploded people had to modify or rob parts from newer vehicles that were recently hauled to the junkyard. Before you could buy a carb, intake or cam setup from a catalog people heard of the hottest engine out and scoured the junkyards until they found their prize. They were constantly upgrading and modernizing so in many ways using what is now at our disposal is something they would have done if they could have. I just think if you use today's goods or anything after 64 (before muscle cars were born) in your project it is a traditional STYLE rod not a traditional rod. A lot of what I see today is more of an artistic interpretation of how it really was and honestly I like a lot of it. I really like what I'm seeing here because so many of you are educating todays youth on what it really was like. No matter how you build your ride or how you approach it, just drive the wheels off of it and don't let the scoffers get you down.
Thanks much to you all. I have a couple pics of my brothers 50 Ford on the computer and I'm trying to get copies of some pics from my mother to show some of my dads work. Few pics exist but it's certainly enough to get the idea. I'll get them on here ASAP.
Welcome from MI Sonicjagstang. This has by far got to be the longest intro I have seen. I am a 51 ford owner myself. Would love the see you brothers car.
Hello grf-x and all (again). This is the only two (crappy) pics I have of my brothers 50. It is on the web in various places from Hunnert and Beatersville shots and a short spot on a youtube vid. He scored this out west as a low mileage original and hasn't done anything extensive but plans call for a chop and an Olds mill topped with a 6x2 setup. He already has the Olds stuff. The car has a flathead 6 with overdrive and duals with the "Chevy driveline" bell tips. Lowered, dummy spots, a little striping etc.
Let's hear more, this is valuable history. Spike Kilmer and I worte a book about all the action east of CA and there was alot of it. Joe
Hello Joe, You are right and its sad to think of all the things that were born elsewhere that never received recognition. I remember another mod my dad did to one of his cars, I believe it was his 40 Mercury. He flipped the shift lever from the right side of the column to the left side and said it was a simple and straight forward procedure. Thanks again to all for the welcome.
The Jalopy Journal
