Hot Rods Has anybody ever un-street rod an old street rod?

Hi HAMB folks

I was just wondering if anybody out there ever took like a 1980-90's or early 2000's shiny street rod and take it back to its roots again???...take off the shiny paint...all the chrome and modern stuff and take it back again??...put a flat head back in it maybe...flat black paint and wire wheels too???

I know traditional stuff never goes out of style...

Just wondering out loud again...

MikeC

 

I'm sure it happens, but not as often as we would like to see...

 

I’ll agree with big duece. I was at a cruise last Friday and out of the 2 dozen rides in the 30s and 40s there was 3-4 that we’re bitchin. Too much bling and the wheel choice was a head scratcher.

 

There is a good thread on here about doing this. I'll see if I can find it....

 

Here's the thread I was thinking of: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-the-easter-egg-for-detroit-auto-rama.325317/

 

Lots of them go half way. Generally a shitty primer job and some white walls. The give away is the blanket over the nice leather seats

 

I know a guy that de-rodded a '37 Ford coupe back to factory condition. I'll probably see him over the weekend. From what he says it was a lot of work, but he's been into 1928-1931 Fords for years.

 

My '52 Ford had the blue velour interior, painted trim and 14x7 Coke bottle mags that made it look straight out of 1988 when I got it, but the paint was salvageable, thankfully.

Unless it's hot pink with airbrushed heartbeat graphics all over it, I don't see a reason to put flat black paint over the top of an already painted car. Well built rods and customs had nice paint on them from day 1, bright colors and everything. There are very few paint jobs/colors that can't be worked with for a more early period makeover.

 

Maybe removing the tweed interior and billet accessories, but trading good shiny paint for flat or primer and removing chrome does not sound like a good plan.

 

Just talked with a guy that might buy a steel 41 Willys coupe that was built in the 90s,almost neon yellow paint,billit, molded taillights, tweed interior, SBC. His plan is a old skool willys with a hemi or a Ford cammer motor.

 

There are still a lot of mid 80'sstyle Easter egg colored street rods around my area with directional wheels, splash graphics & tweed couch upholstery and a overabundance of billet aluminum parts, prime examples of what not to do with a car and it wouldn't be too hard to clean one up but why waste time and money trying to fix someone else's stupid mistakes. HRP

 

OUCH!
Boy, does this hit home! I'm guilty. Maybe this winter, now that the 32 is running. But if your knees and hips hurt when you drive, is it worth it? Need to swap it for a nice tri-five.

 

Because buying a road worthy car that’s cheap cuz it’s ugly and giving it a make over is often cheaper then starting fresh depending on the model/year car.

Also maybe you already have had the car for decades and a make over is cheaper than buying or building a different one

 

There was a thread here on the HAMB where a guy bought a street rod and ripped the IFS out of it and re-installed a straight axle.

 

Your thread title, makes the word "street rod" sound like something that is really bad. There are many different styles of street rods. Fads come and go all the time. The latest seems to be a 32 Ford roadster with a flathead engine, 35 Ford 16" wire wheels with big back and small front tires, with a chopped Bop Top, louvered hood, 40 Ford style steering wheel, some sort of fancy gauge panel and gauges, overdrive stick or auto transmission, and lots of times, black paint.
I'm sure what you are referring to are the ones that are basically nice cars, but ugly in one way or another. Sometimes it's a color that was a "dare to be different color" and other times it's just the choice of parts used in the build. If the stance is off and wheels are ugly, yes it could be called a street rod, but it really should be called an ugly street rod. The fad 32 roadster I described above is a street rod, but it isn't ugly. So it would be better to say "take the ugly out of a street rod", instead of saying "take the street rod out of it". If you drive your hot rod on the street, you're driving a street rod.....just ask your DMV, most cops, or even John Q. Public. We as a group are a very small group, and should stick together, or sooner or later, we won't be driving on the streets. As a group, we don't need to be divided.

 

Lots of popular fads over the decades of Hotrodding.
Many old fads became very unpopular during a new fad transition.
I really am glad we have changed to the more traditional root origin.
The H.A.M.B. was instrumental in this change.

 

...thread brings to mind the guy that paid to have his brand-new shiny black OT Mercedes, painted flat black...just sayin'...

 

I think it could be worth doing if you're buying a well built car and just redoing cosmetic things, or if you're getting it for project price. If it's a sloppy build that needs a lot of re-engineering then it might not be worth it.

One thing I will say is, there are lots of tacky, dated cars that I see around but few of them are for sale cheap. The key would be getting one for the right price.

BobK redid his '46 Chevy 2 door sedan and turned it into a really beautiful custom. I can't think of a better example than that. I even cut some doors off for him in a local junkyard so he could convert his power windows back to crank style. And he had built the original version too, so he knew what he was working with. I'm sure there's a thread on it somewhere.

 

Another one was ProStockJohn's "McDonalds Merc" which he redid in a much more period style and had a great build thread going but I do believe he ended up with a lot more time and money in it than he had expected and sold it before fully finishing his vision.

 

Also @drdave's "Undorkifying" thread....

 

Let me ask a question. Is there a reason not to think that "traditional" is one more in a
line of fads? In the '70s it was brass radiators, coach lights, a goofy brass horn and landau
bars on coupes with a fabric top. Then came the smooth look with all bumps, hiccups and
accessories removed. I'm going to admit that I liked that for a while. Then it was smoothie
with billet, pastel paint and graphics. What makes one think the "trad fad" will be any
different?

Some guys "get" it. They've built cars that will, and have, stood the test of time and not
fallen into a particular groove. Don't get me wrong, I know there are what seems to be
thousands of bitchin' traditional cars around but many seem to have come off some
sort of assembly line. What is the sin of having a nice tweed interior, a smooth running
carbed 327 and a suspension that won't cause trips to the chiropractor?

Having said all that, pink fat fendered cars with graphics and billet directional
wheels need to be recalled for a general makeover.

 

I always wanted a 32- and I have a 57. . . . .

 

@flamedabone did a thread on the conversion process as well...

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/de-street-rodding-a-34-ford-coupe.1011343/

 

Traditional withstands the test of time......it will never go away.....because it isn't a fad. Some of the details of "traditional" might gain or loose favor though. My idea of traditional includes a sbc (283), although not being anal, a 350 is close enough for me. I have nothing against flatheads.....think they are very cool, but for me not worth the expense or extra attention they demand. Besides my first car had a ohv engine.....never owned a flathead, and like to think that I'm too young to have been in that generation back then. With popularity of the LS engines, the 60 plus year old sbc is looking more and more traditional.

 

If your looking to do a" traditionally styled" but not a true traditional build than a 80's or 90's pink and bright yellow car may be the thing to start with if you can get it for a price that makes sense. Problem is that the owners of they cars still think that build style is the only way to go making it hard to get a deal. To be honest i don't think that there are very many cars being built these days [ in my area] that aren't muscle cars or trucks.

 

The 80's and 90's pink and yellow cars were worth less than if they were painted a trad color even back then.....but now they are worth way less.....but the owners couldn't figure it out when they chose those fad colors, and they still can't figure it out.
Yes, muscle cars, everywhere..... the new fast ones, and the slower (less muscle) old ones! The cruise nights around here look like car dealer lots.

 

They still think those cars are valuable, I still see top dollar asking price on most. Even though they need paint, interior and a number of other updates/changes


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

to expand on quick85's post I don't know if the guys building in the 40's and 50's thought much about tradition, they were just personalizing their rides. As most of the guys my age(70) and older will attest there were a lot of p.o.s. around in those days

 

There is nothing wrong with shiny paint.
Shitty, dull, rusty or primer paint does NOT automatically equal traditional hot rod.

If it's a splash graphics Easter egg, that needs to go. But the default is not flat, satin or primer!

 

This little car was headed down a dark path. The wheels give you a pretty good idea of what the guy thought was cool.



More not cool.



Kept the little Chevvie motor, but ditched the dumb shit on top.



Still not 100% me, but it is good enough.



-Abone.