Just curious, what was your first hot rod ? I don't mean first car. I mean the first real deal hot rod you could call your own. This was mine. The year was 1996, and I built it from a rusty body. Couldn't afford a radiator that fit a 32 shell so I made the spiderweb shell to fit around an old dodge van radiator that I had. Nailhead was taken from a friends 61 Buick because everyone was installing sbc motors in thier cars, so he ripped out his freshly rebuilt 364 and installed a 350 crate motor.The tires were given to me and is actually what started the build.
1962...was a free '29 ford coupe. I sat in class, mentally building that coupe many hours. I was only 14 and couldn't take it with me when my parents moved. Next one was this 50 ford...my dad and I built a 53 Merc motor for it. Johnson adjustables, headers, Offy 4 barrel manifold with a 55 Buick Rochester carb..This photo was taken the day I brought it home.
My first hot rod was the coupe I have again now. Bought it in 1974 as a project that was an old hot rod in the 50s,built it up kinda cheap, tore it down to rebuild it correctly and ended up selling it. Tracked it down in 2012 and bought it back after someone else built it back. Here is is in the early 80s.
1972 Pinto Runabout V8. 289/C4 Trans 1957 Ford 9" Rear End Began to build it in the parking lot in front of my barracks and at the auto shop at Ft. Ord, CA. 1977 and finished it at Ft. Hunter Liggett, CA. Used the Hooker Header Kit which consisted of the headers, mustang2 mounts. Had to modify the original trans mount. Did a lot of the cutting with a torch and chisel. Had to bring part of the fire wall and trans tunnel back four inches. Had the block/heads hot tanked and cleaned. Rebuilt the motor and heads and jumped the piston compression from 9.5 to 11. Used a mild street cam. New crank kit. Probably didn't have to but installed ladder bars anyway. Had wheelie bars for looks. The car was brown and got the nick name of 'The Radical Rat". Used nothing but parts from NAPA. Once they found out what I was doing, I got discount after discount.
Here's me in 1957. Bought this channeled coupe for $100. It had dropped axle, brake lines, roll bar, plywood floors, and an incomplete flathead of indeterminate vintage. I added a 265 sbc with a few goodies, a Buick trans and a decent grille. Raced C/A in NY/NJ area in late 50s and was on the street for a year or two.
Frank Carey, that is what I'm talking about. It's an honor to have guys like you in the hamb. Raced a real deal hot rod back in the day and are still at it. You guys rule! This is what it's all about. Hotrodprimers car is badass, 56don has his original car back, and to see the younger guys with thier first builds gives me hope that our hobby will live on.
Mine was a "T"-Bucket I built in 1964-1966. It started out as a drag car that I was building in partnership with a friend. He knocked up his girlfriend, and I was on my own. I decided to change it to a street car at that time. I built the frame out of 2" X 2" 1/8" wall square tube and a model "A" rear crossmember. I was given a Model "A" front axle and spring, and with a 4.30 '53 Plymouth rear end, I had a rolling chassis. I lived west of the twin cities at the time and frequented Carmichiels Auto Parts in Excelsior. I picked up a '53 Dodge 241 hemi and a Dodge 3 speed transmission from them for a drive train. Somewhere I found the front half of a pre-26 Touring and a Model "A" pickup bed, and pretty soon I had the makings of a rod. The next year and a half were spent horse-trading and picking up deals, and by the spring of 1966, I had a driveable car. I went through a lot of rigamarole and red tape and finally got the thing registered as a "1966 Homebuilt" and got a set of plates. I drove that car around a lot in the next two years until the frame took on an alarming sag in the middle (2 X 2 tubing is NOT good enough for a car frame, no matter what the scrap metal dealer tells you). Over the winter of 1967-68, I stored the car in the barn on a turkey farm across the road from a friends house. When I went back to get it in the spring EVERYTHING was missing; the wheels and tires, the chrome windshield, the body, and even the engine and transmission. To this day, I think it was an inside job. Anyway, I dragged what was left (basically a sagging frame and some suspension components) home and stashed it behind my parent's garage. Over the last almost 50 years, I have dragged that junk around from place to place loosing a bit here and a bit there in the process. One thing I did keep was the valid Minnesota title. About ten years ago, I started collecting parts again for a resurrection. I am now back to the point where I have a rolling chassis and body again, and this week, I expect to get the new engine (a flathead this time) running. I've gotten all of my other projects cleaned up, so I plan on hitting this full time when I get back from Florida next spring. I know, this is worthless without pictures. I had three pictures left over from back in those days that I carefully shepherded for 40 years. The last time we moved (and down sized considerably) they somehow disappeared. Every once in a while, I get an idea of a new box or crate to look in, but I haven't found them yet. Believe me, this disappoints me more than it does you.
In 1971 put a '63 ford 221" V8 in a '46 M-5 Studebaker PU with a 3spd & a Ford 9"actually big Merc ( same bolt pattern as the Studebaker so I could keep the 16" wheels) & drove it from CA to PA for a reunion. When I got back I drove it for a couple of years, then I let a neighbor talk me into a trade, & he promptly wrecked it in the next 90 days.
Out by my parents place was a 34 Ford pickup cab. I was really into 60's Ford Fairlanes and Galaxies, but I wanted a hot rod. It was at a real wreck of a house, but I would stop by time to time. No one was ever home. Finally at the age of 20 I bought my first house and had just moved. I was cleaning the house up and took a load to the dump. Decided to take a detour home and drive by the 34. Guy was home...turns out he was a long haul trucker and only home a couple days a month. 100.00 later (borrowed from Dad) and it was mine, loaded it in my trusty 60 F-100 I drove every day. I bought a model A frame and a 50.00 model A bed. Got a running Y block from a buddy and scrounged all the parts I thought I needed over the next couple years. Got the frame all painted and the whole thing about half done but my taste changed and I found myself buying my first 34 Ford car, so the pickup went down the road. This was probably around 2001
Do street rods count? (was a "hot rod" to me at the time) First was a '29 roadster in 1985, then a '27 roadster in around '88, a few others in between that would be considered street rods here.But my first "real" hot rod was probably my '32 truck a couple of years back scan0005 by upspirate posted Oct 27, 2012 at 9:12 PM lil butt truck(2) by upspirate posted Jun 24, 2012 at 8:44 AM
Bought a 47 Ford coupe for $125.00 from a young guy working at a local gas station when I turned 16. Supposedly had a Merc Flathead and had dual exhaust.
My first real hot rod was this Model A roadster, channeled over a 32 frame, 296" flathead & 39 box. Picture taken in 1958 or so. Mick
1965 I bought a 53' Stude champ hard top off a car lot, 301cu chevy 3 spd.Drove it thru high school till 67.Cost $250.
The Jalopy Journal
