Do we, as restorers, tinkerers, and just plain hot rod fanatics, have left before we can no longer drive and enjoy the cars and rods that have brought us so much frustration and pleasure? I have a 55 chevy that is going to sit in my driveway for the next 4 or 5 years before I can seriously begin to try and bring it back from the rusting pile of metal the the previous owner let it become. I wonder if I should just cut my losses and let it go for a song or will there still be room for these cars in a world that is moving so quickly away from the Detroit Iron that made us who we are today (Gag, this is not supposed to be a Flag-waving post!)....The skilled hands that once defined the craftsman are being replaced by tech speaking mouse clicking linear thinkers that have no clue how to solve a problem beyond running a reboot program and following the instructions on the screen... Sorry for the early stages of senility ranting....I just want to hear from you guys and gals that I still have time to enjoy my 55...
1981. Not exactly a new worry, I wouldn't spend a lot of time thinking about it, just get out and enjoy yourself
set a time to work on it once a week and it will be done sooner than you think i try to do 4 hrs a week on sat morning which only happens about 3 weeks out of the month and have got alot done with that system
As long as there are those of us who dont mind dirt under our fingernails, it'll never end. Now get off the computer and go work on that 55.
Don't look now, but the apocalypse clock is ticking through the 11th hour. No time to worry about fixing the car now. If you know what is good for man kind, you will stockpile as much food and water inside of it as you can. Then get inside and encase your car in 4 feet of reinforced concrete and wait it out. All you have to do is withstand the forces of the initial blast. Then in about 3-5 years you can dig your way out and use what ever is left in the world to build the most bitch'inest '55 you have ever dreamed of. FREE !!!!!!!!!!!! At that point it won't take that long. There will be nothing else to do. Sleep tight. .
I agree. Little by little. Just curious.... According to you how much of rust pile are you talking about?
When it happens, it happens, nothing can be done to stop it, nothing can be done to delay it, nothing can be done to know exactly when it will be.
Mayan calender ends in 2012, Nostradamus seems to agree, so start stockpiling food now, and forget about building it. After you dig out, hit the nearest auto museum and get a good one, besides, the newer shit won't run anymore after their boards are fried. Oh, and everything is going to collapse in the year 2000 due to all the computers crashing--------oh, wait, that's already passed.
I went to a cruise-in a couple years ago, a guy there about 80 years old. The sign in his model A said "a 40 year restoration finally completed"
To many big words you lost me........if your talkin about the end of the world, fuck it live for today
You'd be real surprised how much you can get done just spending a few hours every week when possible. My 55 was damn near a total joke and way too big a project for a bunch of car guys that looked at it and passed on it. Every weekend for a year, every Sat. all day and Sunday til early afternoon was spent on mine before it moved on its own power and could stop and had all the body panels on. Once you hit that point nothing else will matter to you during your free time except making it better and putting it on the road and enjoying the crap out of it. Good luck and get to work
For frank dog....This is the object of my dismay...If rust and bondo were heroin, I would be the Cali Cartel of my town.....I have the fiberglass front clip for it....Along with a 400 SBC, 5-speed Nash and olds rear...I just dont have the desire to get my ass out there because I have zero ability to do bodywork...
55ledsled, that's a whole lot more car than I had to start with. I'm no body man either but unless your 55 is alot worse than the pics show, you have nothing to be afraid of there. Get it running and moving so you can drive it and there's lots of help here on the HAMB . You might even be lucky enough to have another member near enough to you to help out. The rear window isn't much of a problem but if you have trim for the windsheild everything has to go in at the same time. Rubber, glass and trim need to be lined up so you don't have to do it more than once.I learned that the hard way.
Well "1984" came and went, and this is the era of the "Brave New World" and that hasn't actually happened either. Build it when you get to it unless you check out prior to that time. Or I guess you could just count your losses and let me have it. I'm not a big tir-five fan but I could learn to love one I guess.
Can't do body work? Then don't! At least for now. Get the drivetrain in it, and get it on the road, who cares if the paint is not 100%. Get it driving and enjoy it, THEN worry about the body work, one panel at a time, until its ready to paint.
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