Interpretation of Hambers building styles

I got it worst, I catch myself checking out Honda CRV's Half Shafts & I think, JAGs are bitchen.

 

Well it is not considered to be traditional and my Ol' man would roll over in his grave, but I would still like to own an early E type jag. The electrics are awful but they are just neat cars.

Here is a trick while we are on the subject of jags, get yourself a pair of resonators off of an early E type and put them on the end of your straight pipes on your flathead. They look nice all chromed and with the turn down end and they sound real good, at least to me.

 

This has been a great read. Thank you for starting it and noting it needed to be serious.

My build styles like Beaners and many others are more a 60's style and loosely interpreted at that. I love the look of a Flathead and all the tradition that comes with it and repect people who have enough patience and restraint to have one in their car. I fix many of them here, I've even owned a few. The '39 style box is a mainstay for me, I have a fairly good stash of parts so that's what I use. I have T-5's, fourspeeds, and even later toploader three speeds. Rearends also from all styles and looks.

As for hardcore Traditional Pre-War or even the '46-'48 stuff is very constraining and limiting for me. To me there's a natural progression and I really don't seek to please somebody else when I build a car for me. It's not arrogance or bravado I just know that I like going Mach 2 with my hair on fire. Traditional stuff in the purest of sense means an engine that won't put a smile on my face from brutal acceleration. So this is where I venture out of the loop many times.

The overhead is the greatest engine revolution ever offered to the masses, Olds and Cadillac started the overhead revolution but the SBC made it so everybody could have over 200 horses and not even break a sweat or the bank. Don't get me wrong the Flathead has it's place and is a beautiful engine, but it lacks in any but the most radical incarnations what a regular build 327 packs. Anybody who puts their nose up at one is missing the point anyways. I guess this is the confession of a true Speed Junkie, if it doesn't make you a little tighter on take off it just isn't a Hot Rod for me. An Overhead is the key to this. Before you condemn me think about why the ARDUN was made....

Having said that if a car is fast as all get out but lacks the traditional Big and Littles and is some cobbled together incarnation of skulls and spiderwebs then you've also missed the point. I'm picky and I know it, but I'm also not judgemental. I approach anybodies efforts as their best at that particular time and what they saw that inspired them. It's not yours so you will never really get it anyways. I don't have to like it, but I sure as hell have no place judging it. Most of the time I make a point to talk to a builder of something different, they always are enthusiastic and inspired. Rarely are they a Prick. I find this motivating no matter what their effort is. After all I've had guys tell me my cars are boring Traditional stuff. For me being told that is an indication my own drum is still beating. After a ride in the car they tyically understand, and nobody leaves with a frown.


It's like this for me, anything that's is so limiting you can't enjoy it is a waste of time. Wether it be the Wine and Cheese set, the hardcore lawnchair power parkers, the judgemental Traditional snobs, etc you get the point I have no time for that. When people started Wearing the Traditional thing like a badge and turning up their noses at alot of really cool and fun cars it turned me off. Maybe it's my non conforming side screaming let me out. But I absolutely have no tolerance for Snobby people and I would rather talk to the kid in the primered Mini truck than an arrogant self promoting latest trend following individual. I like depth in people and cars, it's a personal flaw I'm aware of it. I think when you build a car as opposed to pay for one you have a greater respect for others efforts. Also not having unlimited funds and having to make or adapt stuff is pure Hot Rodding and as Traditional as it gets. After all to me the early guys never gave a shit about correct parts, they just wanted to go faster. That was it and to me Hot Rodding is about going faster. Pay homage to the greats, after all they paved our way. But don't stuff yourself into a corner because you don't have the correct acorn nuts to put on your air cleaner.


As for Interpretation of individuals build styles- If it catches my eye I take it in a positive light, if I turn away then I'll keep my mouth shut and wonder where their mental state was. Like fine art Interpretation is an Individual thing and denotes your personal state at the time of intake, subject to change based on your needs at a juncture in time.


The garage just called and told me I wasted enough time here and to get back where the grease is at.


Happy Hot Rodding-

Tim

 

Quote"It's like this for me, anything that's is so limiting you can't enjoy it is a waste of time. Wether it be the Wine and Cheese set, the hardcore lawnchair power parkers, the judgemental Traditional snobs, etc you get the point I have no time for that. When people started Wearing the Traditional thing like a badge and turning up their noses at alot of really cool and fun cars it turned me off. Maybe it's my non conforming side screaming let me out. But I absolutely have no tolerance for Snobby people and I would rather talk to the kid in the primered Mini truck than an arrogant self promoting latest trend following individual. I like depth in people and cars, it's a personal flaw I'm aware of it. I think when you build a car as opposed to pay for one you have a greater respect for others efforts. Also not having unlimited funds and having to make or adapt stuff is pure Hot Rodding and as Traditional as it gets. After all to me the early guys never gave a shit about correct parts, they just wanted to go faster. That was it and to me Hot Rodding is about going faster. Pay homage to the greats, after all they paved our way. But don't stuff yourself into a corner because you don't have the correct acorn nuts to put on your air cleaner. "

That, Sir is inspiring and the best damn description of hot rodding I have ever read,

 

X 2 ..What I was trying to say way back at the start of the thread.. Very well stated !!

 

MY 2 CENTS....When I drive my PLASTIC '32 5 window, I feel like I'm 16 again, loving the ride and drive....when I'm in my '29 Model A, I love how people look and ask about it at every stop...I've been Striping and Painting Signs 41 years, so the old Truck lettered up fits the part well......and when I'm driving my '64 Galaxie Convertible with the top down and my wife riding along...I feel like I'm back in my 20's again dating..........I like every area of cars styles from the 40's, 50's 60's and present...the 70's and 80's don't do much for me...but that's my deal......I'm not much on the 'TRADITIONAL" banner for period correct cars.....to me anything looking like the 40's, 50's and 60's style with the old 3x2's and narrow tires is traditional to me........WE'RE ALL IN THIS SPORT BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE A LOVE FOR CARS.......Some forget we're all in some part trying to re-live our youth...I was 60 Friday and I'll tell you right now...I've paid my dues and I'm going to like all the differnt styles...I'm going to try to have one of each as I can afford them and don't care what anyone thinks...If you don't like it...keep walking.......and remember..."The Truest Test of a Mans Character, Is How He Treats Pleople he Doesn't Need".......We CAN all get along.....just try it sometime....it's not that hard.

 

TERPU got it pretty much exactly right....if you feel the need to judge someones car, you simply don't get it.

 

TERPU.......you said in a Classic Style what my high school education was trying to say.......................WELL DONE............I like it.

 

well said terpu. i build what i can afford and do what it takes to keep the dream alive. cars are my passion and evein though a 331 with a 4x2 would be the icing on the cake, that motor would cost more them the whole build.

 

I mostly fine something I like about anyones build,but not all things of coruse.
Having been a hotrodder from the 1950 and 60's myself,I was there and doing it then,and still having fun now. There things that tick me off at times,like being told by some young guy how it was,and he's wrong about and dose not wish to really know,his world his bubble=don't brake it thing!

 

I like late 50's to early 60's customs. I've built a car that would have been a really really cool (i think) street custom in 60-61. It really was a high school custom too, as it took me to school every day from my sophomore to my last day as a senior. It'll also take me back to high school when I get a teaching gig.

I don't really like cars that are crossed up. I tried to keep my car as honest as could be but, I have an alternator, and I run a t-5. Its got a dressed up Yblock, because the trend in the early 60s was to take your custom car, and make it a runner. Low and slow wasn't really the game, slammed and sporty was. I wanted a car that you could photoshop into a indoor car show in 1960, and just glance over it, and I still want to drive it to Salinas (so no one will look at it there either.).


I'm picky about my own stuff, because I care about it pleasing me. I'll never use radial tires. I'll never use disc brakes on an open wheeled car (unless they're kinmounts but I'll never afford those.

 

While I agree 100%, the next question will be.."At what point does a Hot Rod become a Street Rod?"

 

I see those guys who get completely anal about every single microscopic piece being "period perfect" as being not too terribly different than the hard core restorers.

I keep going back to my dad and his large group of hotrod buddies. They were in high school in the 50's and man oh man did they build and drive the coolest stuff. I grew up around them...in their shops....riding in their cars....handing them wrenches and eventually having them help me build my own stuff.

These guys have all praised the return of traditional rodding and quite a few of them have recently built some sweet stuff that looks like it would've been built back when they were young, dumb and full of (well...you know).

But to a man, they would laugh at the notion of limiting themselves to not using modern hoseclamps or even something like not using the perfectly good distributor they have laying on a shelf just because it's not "period perfect"

Like I said...the guys who take this "period perfect" thing to the extreme are more like hard-core restorers who will bad-mouth someone because the pleats on his seat fabric are 3/16 of an inch apart and not 1/4 inch apart or corvette-pricks who have all the slotted fasteners under their dashboard are all facing the same way and spends all his time telling you about it. They've always struck me as having much different motives for owning their cars than a regular hotrodder who just wants to get in and drive something that resembles something from back in the day.

 

I think you cross that point when you mess up on the really big stuff....like choice of wheels and easter egg pastel paint colors and goofy billet steering wheels, etc.

 

I think I'm part of the HAMB and as a HAMB'r, build (SLOWLY) my traditional hot rod(s) with a nod toward tradition and however the hell else I see fit. It's an exercise in mechanical CREATIVITY.

 

117harv said
"This site IS about paying homage to how it was, what they did and what parts they used. I see many members here post, it's traditional to build with what's at hand, or who cares what anyone thinks, build it how you want to. Building with what's at hand and how you want is great, but again this site is deicated to how it was."

If this site was "dedicated to how it was", we'd never see a post on Ramblers, few four doors or COE's, let alone station wagons. I have a difference of opinion as to whether "tradition" means cars or people. I tend to think that it refers to the people, not the cars. To those of you into customs, consider the fact that the "traditional" stylists everyone emulates used to do a current year car and put it on the show circuit. Try posting a pictures of a customized (really customized, no bolt ons) 2012 F-150 and see how quickly a mod shuts it down.

A lot of posters (or is that poseurs) look down their noses at the 1-800-HOT-RODS method of acquiring parts. I might remind them that it the fifties and sixties we were mail ordering parts using postal money orders or personal checks (add two weeks waiting time for your order to be processed for the check to clear your bank) and hoping the mail man didn't lose your Stromberg 97 rebuild kit.

Every hot rodder I ever knew going back to the mid-fifties was always looking for a better way to build a car. That's what's traditional

 

After reading all these posts it would appear to me that a small percentage of members are really striving for a accurate recreation of period cars while a large percentage want to capture the spirit of a era but , for whatever reasons, are willing to compromise with more modern eqipment. I love to read about the history of our hobby and appreciate the efforts of those who try to recreate it. That said I fall into the group who try to capture the spirit of a era.

 

I am all for the spirit, but I have to drive on today's roads, with today's knucklehead drivers. I live in California, where, due to our urban planning, there is most often no "back way" to get anywhere. If you want to travel, you WILL be on a crowded freeway, full of modern, large disc, antilock braked, stability controlled vehicles, piloted by inattentive, distracted drivers, who never use a turn signal, or stop for stop signs. Driving a period-correct car under these conditions, while possible, becomes an anxiety inducing, exhausting experience, even on a short trip. Traditional is cool. Having a car you can use as a car, full-time, is even cooler. I don't build garage trophys, I build drivers, and I don't post the build pictures here.

 

I was gonna post the same thing. Living 60 miles from LA, I want to take my cars to shows. 120 miles back and forth to a show in my '40s correct banger is a chore. I'll save that car for local stuff and have a modern drivetrain in a model A that will have traditional overtones. It makes sense living where I do.

 

I came to this site with a very limited knowledge of tradition. I had quite a bit of knowledge (or so i thought) of all cars but a very limited exposure to hot rodding. I find myself drawn to several different styles and eras but the pre-war cars really get me going. I love the "caution to the wind" ways guy were using in building their rods. Mr. Model T's build really changed my attitude on what I want.

Trying to build a truly traditional, period correct hot rod today is like building a period correct FED that passes 2013 tech. This site isn't a restoration site and doesn't seem to be about building Pebble Beach Concours cars. While the majority of us respect the incredible skills it takes to do that, that's not why we're here.

I think it's about respect for the tradition and I think Ryan's sticky covers it.

As far as the Ramblers vs. Wagons vs. 3-Window debate, I say save them all. The more unique vehicles on the road, the less chance the future generations will driving vending machines.

 

Trying to achieve a 60's restomod look with OEM paint scheme and 2 tone trim. I've upgraded the engine to a 60's looking SBC with 6x2 crossram, generator and automatic on the column. I've been lucky to track down NOS trim pieces, badges and accessories to maintain originality; I might not even uses some of them, only time will tell. In saying for safety I upgraded the suspension and braking and added safety belts as well as including a few hidden creature comforts that don't detract on the originality. So far It's been a labour of love and taken longer than expected. I'm always on the lookout for subtle period correct ideas that could be incorporated into the build. I need to sell the modernish wheels and source more traditional wheels. If you want to enjoy your ride down here you need to jump through a lot more hoops than you guys, if not you can't get it registered.

 

I'm trying to build the 34 that I wanted in the mid 80s, with so many great craftsman here on the HAMB, I'd never do that since I've learned so many ways not to do it wrong. It's primer with moons, ..............safe to drive and dependable should be the case with any style

 

Love this thread, I've been thinking if I had anything to add, you be the judge. i love trad cars, I have for as long as I can remember. My first old car was a 46 chevy truck, tried to get a 50 push truck feel, gave up. At the time every one was building billit barges. Aii the local heros had F bodies and Mustangs. Time and marrige and kids and houses, I finally get a 30 A cowl and rear section to build a modifed. My friends helped we pooled parts I run a loaner engine(SBC) traded bought outta junk yards and spent untold hours on my mill and lathe. I built things I could not buy because I had no funds. 5 years many thousands of hours, and great times with my gang of friends we drove the car to it's first cruze nite. Now I tried like hell to keep a traditional eye out everything has fins or holes or engine turning. The Traditional Police turned their noses up and walked away. Most people got it, but the formerly ProStreet F Bodies who have more in their brake drums (covering up their disc brakes) than I have in my whole chassis walked away. Mine is built with tradition and by hand and from nothing, not out of a catologue. I love the old way, but if it becomes like the Vette guys, Ill do my own thing and if it does not fit the template OH WELL! Roth didn't fit the template neither did Ak Miller or thousands of other car builders. Thanks for this thread HRP!

 

I was in high school in the mid 50s. My first car was a 48 Ford Business coupe with a flathead 6. My cousin who was a few years older then me had a leadsled Merc, belonged to a car club and came up with a Merc. flathead V8. In the auto shop I hopped it up, and tore up 13 transmissions and 2 driveshafts. In the 60s got into drag racing with my 409 powered 54 Chevy. I build from my memories and maybe from neat ideas I see today. I still live in the dark ages to what parts cost now compared to in 1962 you could buy a brand new 94 or 97 carb. from Honest Charlie for $12.50. My 47 Dodge pickup will have the old skool ideas I remember and will be built with MY OWN SKILLS that I can accomplish other then things like the exhaust system that you need a tubing bender for. Flathead 6, split exhaust manifold which I have done, dual carb intake made out of mandrel bent exhaust tubing, in progress, lowering blocks in rear, I guess I will foot for a dropped axle for the front. Could probably do it myself, but for a one shot deal not worth the time to build a fixture. Would love to have a early 30s low on the ground chopped sedan. Not in my budget unless the lottery is good to me. I build with what I have or what I can fabricate, and ideas from the past.