Folks Of Interest Traditional Rodders and Custom builders stand up and be counted

I guess I'm a traditional Hot rodder in the sence that I try to find the cheapest Ford Coupe available, and try to either get the most horsepower possible out of it's engine, or fit the biggest engine that will fit.
Only problem is, to us younger guys that means getting a roughly 20 year old car, so it'll never be traditional in the HAMB sense, but I still love it.
Now that I've 'grown up' and started getting my life and economy in order, and can build a garage ,I'm hoping to finally get something really old to work on

 

Actually I lived in the golden triangle for awhile. Well if you can call it living. I was there and we walked around and camped out a lot. While I was there I discovered that there is absolutely nothing like looking at the world through an opium haze.

That said it is really hard to gather your thoughts well enough to make any sense to anyone but yourself. What are you smoking may well be a very good response.

 

Ya know Pee & Bee, sometimes I wonder if you could start a debate with yourself. It would go on forever!

 

It has gone on for a very long time. I think.

I have been thinking for a few days about something that has me a little confused. I have built concourse cars before and even at Pebble beach and other highly esteemed concourse you don't loose points for using new gaskets in your restorations. But we seem to have a recurring thought that if you use things like new gaskets or valve stems that it cannot be trad.

That really doesn't bother me much what I am concerned about is where on earth do you find 50 year old air and gasoline for a traditional build?

OK carry on some of you fellas really seem to have something to say.

 

Our 1950 Chevrolet P/U is home built.
Yes I did go to 1-800 for parts.
Off frame clean up, Body Work, Paint and Running Gear
Engine "261", Power Brakes, Power Steering, Saginaw Four Speed and 1970 Chevy/GMC 3:08 Rear End.
Oops! The rear end was sent out for a rebuild.
As for the cutting off the coils and re-welding the spring hangers "Home Built!"
Upholstery sent out to local shop "Armando's in Santee".
This is the last build for me at age 73 I just can't do again.

 

Ah hell you got at least one more build left in ya.

You been around long enough and have enough knowlege maybe its a good time to take a young gun under your wing. You next build could amount to pointing and saying to someone else this is how to do that.

I think that counts as traditional or even street rodder of it makes someone happy as well.

 

We two grandsons in to off road M/C's and Trucks up in Sparks NV.
The Beat Goes ON!!!

 

One thing that I am dealing with as we speak is fighting the kinks out of my 6-volt system. I just had to order in a 6-volt flasher for my car, NOBODY in town stocks 6-volt parts anymore. My local go-to-guy for rebuilding starters and generators didn't even have a listing for one anymore. He doesn't stock the bulbs either. I ended up calling NAPA and it took the parts guy about 15minutes to find a listing, then he had to order in the part. Can you believe a 6-volt flasher costs $10.95 +tax???

I get people all the time asking me why I still bother with a 6-volt system. Usually the same people tell me that I should swap in power disk brakes. They usually don't get it, and somehow I'm the asshole????

By the way, after all the run around I got looking for that flasher, it turns out I didn't need it. I still haven't tracked down the problem.

 

Welcome to the club. I think I have a new battle cry, " Assholes of America Unite!!!"

I don't often struggle with 6 Volt stuff on my cars, most of my cars were built after the switch to 12 Volt and building '60s style cars they would have been changed over anyway as a rule.

That said 6 volt stuff can be a little hard to come by. A lot harder now than say 30 years ago. replacements for 6-Volt specific parts are something that one should keep on hand if the car is going to be driven. its like carrying a spare set of points or a fuel filter. If you are going to drive an old car there are just things that are handy to keep on hand.

I have had good luck with NAPA but that is not to say that you can't find the pieces in other parts houses, sometimes you have to advise the counter guy to step away from the computer then hold his hand while he tries to learn how to handle the books.

I don't know about now but a few years back 6 volt batteries were pretty pricey.

There are a lot of things that make our desire to keep things real extremely difficult. Probably a good thing that our little piece of the internet is as big as it is. networking is key in this game. We used to rely on the people that we met because of our cars from races or on the street, we even used to spend a lot of time in the wrecking yard of choice that was also networking although it wasn't called that so not much has changed just the fasion in which we do it. Well that and our little netwrok of like minded people is much larger than it used to be.

 

i totally agree, people on the HAMB have came through BIG for me many a time. Not only the HAMB but the Garage Journal forum as well. The knowledge in these sites is priceless.

Note: my 6-volt battery I bought as a blem for $40

 

Good pirce last time I looked for a 6-V battery was in about '79 or '80. I needed one for a '53 ford. The cost was 125.00 when I could by a 36 month interstate for 32.00. I had a 12 V genny and voltage reg so it ended up being 12-V with the interstate. Sometimes it all comes down to cash on hadn I guess.

Hey if you need a couple of 6-V fog lights I have a pair in the garage, I converted mine to 12-V for my bad weather vehicle.

 

I've always said "Why would you want to buy a part for $15 when you can build it for $50"

 

AMEN to THAT!

 

I built my coupe in my garage.... I basically did all the fab work & mock up myself, I had several buddies that helped along the way. I farmed out body work and paint to friend. My brother did all the electrical - and it was a team effort on assembly... because we were up against a deadline (Lonestar Round Up 2009).
I just got the interior done... I had that farmed out too.
All in all it was a team effort, and that's the way I like it! I did all I could do myself and welcomed any help I could get along the way! Besides, cold beer is better with friends!
Cheers - Brewton

 

Beaner you a good man

 

i build it all myself so count me in... as for people that dont do it all horay for them because the some of us that do do it al... love taking there money from them. keep on keepin on!!!

 

Well, I build everything I can myself. Which is just about everything.

I do use some new parts occasionally.

My '48 Chevy Fleetline is getting a 261 and a T5 because I want to take it on the highway and I don't want to learn to pour my own babbits.

My '62 Pontiac is getting power disc brakes in the front because I need to do the whole brake system anyway. Stepping up to power disc only set me back an extra $200 in parts and the drivers that I have to share the road with in British Columbia can be downright suicidal.

I guess I must be a street rodder then.

Shawn

 

I see there's still a disconnect on this topic. "...build it myself..." isn't dead center of the point. Let's say my kid drops an S-10, does some radical paint and mods, all by himself. He's traditional, right? Assume all the fab, body mods, chassis mods, maybe even the interior, all done by his hands. That's not it.


In one of 'beaner's better questions, the point never was "who" did the work. "What" is the work. Suppose "Tony" come to me and says "I want..." and starts writing checks. What he wants is a 49-51 Merc, classic chop, Cad power, cruiser skirts, tunneled headlamps, floating grille, well you get the idea. Is he a traditional builder? Of course he is. He knows what he wants and what to pay and where to find stuff for his build. Now comes his cousin Andy. Shows up with a Brookville body, Lobeck frame, LS1 and 4L60. The dropped axle w/disc brakes and 18-20" wheel combo sets the stage immediately. Even if he drove it around for the remaider of the season in primer before we lay some "Hot Hues" and ostrich leather in it, well he's not traditional. Kool, yeah, but for a different mindset. That mindset is the one some of us can't get our arms around. At best we may rest an elbow on it's figurative shoulder now and then. Tony counters with a Model A cpe on Deuce rails with split bones, a Nailhead, 15" steel wheels and WWWs, well, that's because he's more traditional than his cousin. What we see now and then is that Andy's car has a select audience at any cruise or car weekend he goes to with his Brookville but Tony's car seems to reel in more lookers, more fans who may or may not even understand why they like it more. They just do. If you are an all in traditional type you know why you like it more. It's beyond a sense of nostalgia. Shit, you can be nostalgic about old hip-hop songs from the late 80s. Makin sense? Hey 'beaner, is that you I'm seein through all that dust?

 

I am, but others disagree.

-danny

 

That probably should have been the definitive post on this thread and a good time to close it, as 99% of the posters missed the point anyway - which Highlander pointed out and said so well.

If only the fact that you built it yourself were the criteria for Traditional, the Boyd Coddington was the consummate Traditionalist as his trend setting tall 'T' was done at home, in his garage, by him, long before anyone had heard of him ~ and obviously most would not consider Boyd's builds "Traditional"

 

I re-read the title to this thread and I'll make mention that oxy-acetylene welding and leading are lost arts, two of which I try to do. I'm no pro-builder, though.

And fast-forward to highlander and Don's posts, and am in full agreement.

 

I consider myself a novice traditional hot rodder. I joined the HAMB a year ago after a ride in what I then thought was a "traditonal" hot rod. It belongs to a high school friend - Brookville body, pro-fabbed frame, tube cross members, hair pins, four bar rear, coil overs, SBC, TH350, steel wheels, bias-plys. It's a beautiful car, and I'd love to own it, but somehow it missed the mark for me. I had been into mid-60's Mopars, and this car opened my eyes to early rods. I stumbled on the HAMB while researching Dwight Bond, and couldn't stay away. It helped me define my idea of a "hot rod" as compared to a "street rod". I realized that what I was looking for was the experience of a traditonal roadster like I'd drooled over as a 10 year old in the mid-50's, the HOT ROD Gestalt (from 1st year psych), the sum of the parts - chassis, brakes, tires, driveline, etc., producing the same smells, noises, seat of the pants feed back, maybe even the same anxieties, that a seamless street rod just can't provide. That's just me, not a judgement of anyone's vision. As I said, I'd love to own my buddy's car. I did lift truck repair, antique auto restoration work including upholstery, and heavy collision repair for 30 years, so I don't feel I have to justify my choices or prove my self any longer. I bought a car that was a 15 year project, matched my component wish list almost perfectly, and was never finished. I've spent every day of the last 6 weeks sorting it out and making changes to suit myself, and I have a long way to go.

 

when I first got my A coupe, I thought mid-50s was the earliest there were hot rods. then I got into post-war rods, which I still love. but now I can't stop looking at pre-war hop ups.
thats how I want to build my coupe!

 

Listen! Do you hear that? It is the sound of a nail being hit squarely on the head.
Paul