Any old guys(65 +) still build not buy their hot rods??

Yup, still fabbin' and blabbin'. Turner 65 last Feb. Started my "A" coupe the very next week. Frame's done now working on the body.

 

Almost 71 and still at it, '37 Ford running & '59 Volvo 544 in process.
Deloc

 

I'm still having a problem with 65+ and OLD in thee same sentence. it's all relative I guess. When I was 17, I thought 21 was old. When I wa 21 I was told "Don't trust anyone over 30" then it was 40 blah blah!! now coming in a couple months is 71 and 80 doesn't seem that old.
I guess my question would have to read
"Any Old Guys or Gals 100+ still building their own cars?"
I know Barris and Winfield and Hines are all closing in on 90

Oh yeah I'm still building my own. but I'm only 70

 

It is GREAT to SEE all you other old FARTS out there working in the garage!!!! If you are ever in Branson stop by! E me first so we can exchange Phoney numbers! I am a one man show (unfortunately) but we gotta keep movin!!! Makes us forget about the aches and pains! Concentration and spreadin a little BS (baloney stuff) helps. I'm not hep on much of the Baloney though as it doesn't get us very far and you can't drive it!
I have had 3 heart attacks, neuropathy, arthritis, cant hear very well, need glasses sometimes, have to fight gum disease everyday, fight depression (meds), and still look at girls in a wishful way.
I tell you it's great to be old!!!
Keep on truckin!
My doctors have said a few things to me and to a nurse that kind of inspired me this last couple of years though. One day while I was leaving witha bad cold from the Walk-in Clinic I go to told a nurse "There goes the original Energizer Bunny! He just keeps on going!" He lives not too far from my shop and drives by me almost every day. He sees me walking to and from the office to the shop. My other Gen practice dr. told me that "I am going to just drop inside my shop and it will be all over!" I have had quad bipasses done in 1992. They are not open. Hey lets keep on kickin. Hope to see many of you in the future.
JG.

 

66 coming up next month and right in the middle of building my 36 sedan. Tore this thing right down to "parade rest" and started over. Loving all of it! Chassis is ready and most of the body work is done. I don't often think of 65 as old. I have better tools and more time to use them.

 

I'm 73 and still work in the shop most every day. I start by firing up the four foot pot belly stove and getting the shop warmed up. I find some good jazz on the radio. I'm working on a 33 Ford tudor I drove in the fifties. I just picked up a 28 Ford roadster from a barn. I was in that building for 65 years. In the storage side of the shop away from the work area I have a 1956 Chev we bought off the showroom in 56. I was 17 when the car was new. It had the power pack engine and really had some get and go.

 

I'm 67 now, just finished my '66 Chevelle 300 2dr sedan about two weeks ago, except for the normal little things to clean up on a new build.
Got started on my '46 Studebaker coupe. Will be a gasser look, but street driven rod. Three pedals, sbc, no power options, no fiberglass.

My brother and I owned and ran a '55 Chevy 2dr sedan D-Gas car in the '60's, and I saw many of the top gassers race back then. SWC, Ohio George, Kohler Bros, K.S. Pittman, Big John Mazmanian. My brother worked for Bill Heilsher (Mr. Bardahl) jout of the Dallas area and he traveled as part of Bill's team to a couple of big meets. Great fun had by both of us. Looking forward to the Stude. Brother says put his 500 Caddy in it, but I already have most of the components I need for the sbc/4 speed setup.

Keep it up, you old guys!! You rock!!

 

This one's got all the nice curves in all the right places. The car's nice, too.

 

Yes I am 65 and am building 1929 RPU been at it since my father who was born in 1892 an stripped down a stutz made into pickup and passed on the need to build hot rods also had 4 big brothers in the 50's / 60's and they all loved the concrete card board and grease under the nail's

 

The guy doing my 56 Ford F100, (4" chop,3" section, suicide doors, and other stuff) is in his early 70's and looks to be in his late 40's early 50's. Live in Beverly Mass, Kelsey Martin...Super Great Guy!!!! and my Friend..

 

Will be 69 in April. Taking some of the winter off. The old bones don't love the cold that much anymore. But soon will be freshening up my full kustom '62 Bird. Just can't sit around...

---CLICK THUMBNAILS TO ENLARGE ---


www.kkoanorthevent.yolasite.com

 

I will be 68 in April. My buddy (59) and I built my 37. Still finishing it. My buddy is building a 29 tudor.
I do however think my next one will be a finished driver, too hard to get up and down now. lol

 

I'll be done when I'm dead. Looking for another project... 64 1/2 and going strong.

 

Just turned 73 day before yesterday and yes, I still build my own! My '30 Chevy coupe and '49 Pontiac were both built in the covered RV area beside my house.
I really enjoy looking at photos and videos of other people's builds. If you also enjoy looking, check these out.

Chevy > https://www.flickr.com/photos/127319892@N07/sets/72157664269083112/
Pontiac https://www.flickr.com/photos/127319892@N07/albums/72157664705724855

 

ABSOLUTELY!!

Finally retired, moved to the mountains in E. Tn, built a shop big enough for my junk, and get to work on something cool every day. Have lots to do, but it' s better than the big corporate grind and BS every day. Unfortunately, the aches and pains are more frequent, but the satisfaction of making something is incomparable. Working on my '33 5W and '56 pickup now, with my '40 coupe and '31 pickup patiently waiting.

 

Hey letncat, Happy Birthday.. I had a 30 Chevy once.. Lot a wood.. Your's looks very nice...

 

I'm 70, building 4 right now. I have to.

Don't want the "What-Me-Worry Kid" sayin', "You didn' build dat!" Not me.

 

I don't,but I had breakfast with my friend Bill from NY state this morning. Bill has 4 hotrods that he has built and just picked up a 1957 Buick Riviera hardtop that he is rebuilding now.
he always building something and has given his blown 34 Ford coupe to one son and his hand built big block injected 6 speed "sports car" to his other son so he has room for the '46 Buick special with a FI straight 8 that he built into a custom and his '78 Jaguar coupe with an LS1 drive train.
His "old timey rod is a 1937 Chevy sedan he made into a phaeton years ago and has just redone.
He's an amazing guy !!!

 

Hey, Rich..........LOVELY WORK... I'm only half way through your pictures...GREAT workmanship... you must be a patient old fart...

LOVED the parts storage in the game room... One of my exes blew a fuse when she came home and a set of pistons were drying in the oven ...hahah

Keep it up.......
By the way, I'm 69.......there must be some mistake .... no way..

 

Well I'm not an old guy, but an old girl, 66 and proud of it. I am building a 34 3 window by my self. Not a rat rod, and not a techno rod, but just like they were built in 65. I started with a 34 frame which is almost done. I'm useing a 55 chevy rearend that is a 4:11 posi. Its going a little slow since social security dosn't go a long way.

Frances Newlin

Tolar, Tx

 

Hey Francis! I know you. Small world here on the Hamb. Sounds like a cool build and I bet you can do it by yourself.
Mac out

 

Still at it as previously mentioned on another 40 but a guy stopped by last week with a MINT 40 std coupe--black and stock as a rock--made me seriously consider it and do a little magic rather than this full blown frame off project 40. Price was right for this mint car(best I've seen for quite some time) and would be a quick redo into a very nice 40-maybe 1 month max-still thinking about it.

 

I'm not an old guy. I'm an old girl, and I am now building a 34 3 window. I have boxed the frame, and installed a 55 chevy 4-11 posi rearend I found in a wrecking yard. I installed a 32 front crossmember and a 4" droped axle. When finished it will have a 327 and a super T-10 four speed. Its going slower then I wish, but you can only buy so much with a social security check.

Frances Newlin
Tolar, Tx

 

Great to hear there are some GALS in the hobby. Post some pictures we would love to see them. Jim.T.

 

DAM! There are a lot of us old guys still hard at it. 73 now and have a 54 Chev truck in a compleat rebuild stage all over the shop. 1947 Doodle Bug all most ready for primer. 1951 Monark bike ready for clear coat. Plus a few other fun things that need to get started, like a couple old gas pumps, ya never have enough of those.
All you old guys taljing about getting down on the floor. Go buy yourself a lift...The greatest tool you will have in the shop and eazy on the body.

 

If it wasn't for us "old" farts, where would all this stuff be? Finishing up a '50 Merc project, do most of the work on my '65 Cobra replica which I do track dqys with and just started on a '61 F-100 which will receive a nice chunky rebuilt 390 and a T-5. Waiting on a dropped axle from Nostalgia Sid and will be flipping the rear end over the springs. In the wings is a '62 Corvair which hopefully will be turned into a mid-engine with a stroked 302. Always wanted to put a Ford block in a Chevy,,, Oh yeah, 73 going on 18,,,,,,,Getting down on the floor is not so bad if your not alone.......

 

I am 66 and have 2 forty Fords, a 32, a 55 F100 and a dune buggy that I am working on nearly every day. the 32 is a ground up build with a brooksville body. The 40 coupe is getting every patch panel and more on the body and frame. I still go to the office every day also. It stops when you do.
Bill

 

I will be 75 on May 6 and have 2 projects in my garage now A 1953 Studebaker low boy and a 68 Chevelle complete resto. They go with my 1957 Chevy Bel-Air that I did about 20 years ago and a 1957 Nash Metropolitan that I did for my wife. I have NEVER bought a finished Hot Rod yet. I also just built a 261 Chevy Truck engine for my youngest son for his 1953 Chevy 210. By the way thanks for asking. George Reed Valparaiso IN.

 

66 years gone. Working on my 34 5 window, with any luck, to be followed by my other 34 5 window, then the other 34 5 window, then the 32 3 window, then the 34 3 window, then the 32 5 window, and lastly the 49 chopped Merc. Think I'll get 'em all done?

 

I'll be 65 in a couple months, what would I do if I wasn't building cars? See, I didn't think you had an answer for that.