I have some stuff laying around from past projects that are Billet. It is a steering wheel and guage cluster from Billet Specialties and a 3rd brake light from somewhere else. I more want to sell these so I can buy other stuuf but if I was to use them could the fit in on a traditional car if they had the right look?
If a chunk of billet is melted and then formed into part using a sand casting or similar old school method then that is the only way that a chunk of billet can become "traditional". CNC shit = not cool.
if you made it yourself on a NON-cnc machine then it's traditional. i made an oil filter adaptor for my brother's 303 Olds on my Atlas 10" X 36" with the milling attachment. i inherited the lathe from my dad,who bought it in 1954 or thereabouts to do projects like that. and when i say projects like that,i mean stuff you can't buy in a store. the stuff you have should be sold off,so you can buy "traditional" parts. or take the money and buy a Bridgeport vertical mill,and make your own.
I say just take a grinder to it. Play with the edges and stuff, and try to make it look less generic and factory made. maybe get some scotchbrite and give it a brushed finish. Hack on it long enough and you can make it look like a handmade peice. Or, stick it on ebay and buy what you want.
I mainly only want to use the 3rd brake light. The rest I would sell. I also found some window cranks and a rear view mirror that will be off to E bay. Here is a pic of the steering wheel and the guage panel.
Sure it can be.......if you take it and sell it as fast as you can to pay for some cool old rod parts -Dean
My guess is you knew the answer before you posted but why ask permission on how to build your own car anyway?
I've got some of Hot Heads billet on my Hemi...I softened the "hard" edges of the parts on a sander and bead blasted everything to get a more "industrial" feel to the stuff..you could make that dash look sandcast pretty easy the same way...the big thing is don't mix styles...
I think they can be used on a traditional ride and I'll tell you how. Put them on the shelf. Let them lay there for 70 years. Leave a note in your will telling your great grandson take them off the shelf and put them on HIS car. Just think how proud he will be telling everyone how his great-grandfather had them "back in the day". Frank
In twenty years Billet will be right up(down?) there on the traditional list of accessories beside dummy spotlights, footprint gas pedals and Rader wheels. If it's one off it's fine, if it's bubble pack shit that anyone who walked into the store could waste a paycheck on, well... There's leaders and there's followers. The more we repeat shit the more we're followers so someone, please do something new that isn't bling-bling tasteless
Sure ,its traditional just ask Boyd Coddington.Its about as traditional as a 20 inch "bling bling" wheels or pastel paint.Are you kiding or what?
The first couple guys that had responded hit it on the head. They gave me ideas of what I could do to these certian items to possiblt give them a traditional look. Then there was the few that said if yo make it your self that would be better than the over the shelf stuff. That is the type of constructive advise I was looking for. Rught now I am working on my T whick will not have any billet except fotr the possibility of that 3rd brake light whick will not even like it is made of that. As far as a 3rd brake light being traditional I could care less. Safety is a overriding factor when I have my wife or someone else riding with me. When my tail lights are going to be lowed than most modern cars bumpers andthe roof lower than some 4wd trucks hoods I want someone to see that extra light to make sure that they know that I am slowing or stopping.
traditional- adj 1: consisting of or derived from tradition; "traditional history"; "traditional morality" [ant: nontraditional] 2: pertaining to time-honored orthodox doctrines; "the simple security of traditional assumptions has vanished" I think #2 hits it right on the head. Billet might be traditional fifty or sixty years from now when your grabdkids are building rods. Wait till then, and ask them.
As far as a 3rd brake light being traditional I could care less. Safety is a overriding factor when I have my wife or someone else riding with me. When my tail lights are going to be lowed than most modern cars bumpers andthe roof lower than some 4wd trucks hoods I want someone to see that extra light to make sure that they know that I am slowing or stopping.[/QUOTE] Safety is paramount, especially with children... I remember riding in the back of a pickup, leaning over the roof, bugs smackin my face at 60 mph in my youth... and guess what? They don't make "traditional" carseats either, lol. Maybe that would be a good invention, make a tuck'n'roll jalopy looking childrens seat, meeting all the govt. specifications... hmmm... I'd buy one!
Why not just use a model A tail light mounted up high for a third brake light or some thing like that?
Kinda like this you mean? It's not tuck & roll, but it's pretty neat. Especially the 5-point harness.
Doesn't "billet" mean that something is cut from a single piece of material? So therefore, wouldn't anything made on a milling machine or lathe be billet by definition? Is billet traditional? Sure, to a point. I would imagine if a racer or builder needed a one-off piece back in the day he could design it and mill it on a Bridgeport or a lathe. It's this polished aluminum CNC stuff that we see so much of is not traditional. If you like it, use it, but it's not traditional.
Asking for advice or permission? If advise.. the answer is NO. If permission.... do what you like man. My opinion.... you must have liked the parts at some point otherwise why would you have them in your possesion. It seems kind of silly to toss out perfectly good parts and spend more money on old (but new-2-U) parts just becuase somebody might point out a brake light on an otherwise "traditional" car. My 2 centavos
Well, if you take some aluminum and hack it into something for your ride, it is traditional. Lots of racers in the day made stuff from aluminum to save weight. A drill press and a grinder can shape the hell out of aluminum. I have a lathe/mill and make stuff, but the design is usually old style. Put lots of lightening holes in it and it looks decent. Sure, I like to polish the stuff after all the hours it takes me to machine it. Does that make it non traditional?
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