Hot Rods Anybody under 30 building?

I teach auto upholstery at a trade school and 2 students in my current class of 20 are building HAMB appropriate roadsters. I was stoked that there was any at al. Both come from hot rodder families though

The other students love cars but haven't had any exposure so they build the cars that appeal to them. (Minitrucks, Subarus etc.

 

im 36 and have a 36 five window and have been building my 30 tudor for years now

 

Nailhead sedan, now there you go, a very smart younger builder, that'll be about 110 mph in the quarter in that light sedan. Go Man!

 

I'm 36 and have had old cars since my teens. My brother's and a few uncles of mine have old cars too. Other than us there's noone here locally that has old cars. We're having our annual fall festival this weekend along with a parade and car show. My goal is to let any kid or teen hop in my car and take as many as I can for cruise. Maybe it'll spark something in some of them.

 

This again? Every time this comes up, the answer is always the same.

I'm 65. I started building cars in my teens, but it took until my 30s before I developed enough skills to build a HAMB era car I could afford to buy, even back then.

Fortunately, back then, most schools had auto shop classes and the local gas stations had mechanics working at them that would help the newcomers figure stuff out. Those things rarely exist today. Most modern mechanics wouldn't know how to set the gap on a set of points if their life depended on it, let alone teach you how to do it.

You can't go to a junk yard and buy the parts you need to build a HAMB friendly can any more. Most parts you might find that could fit the HAMB era vehicle there would make the project off topic.

Back then, most HAMB era cars, and parts for them, were not owned by grumpy old men that thought their rotted out, clapped out, junk was worth the price of gold per pound, like they are now.

If you are concerned about the age of the modern HAMB enthusiast, sell the young people one of your future projects at a price they can afford, give them good deals on the parts they will need to build it with, and help teach them build it. If your not willing to help new people get started in the HAMB era vehicles, you have no room to complain about the rising ages of the people here. Gene

 

under 30 , calling all under 30 ,, come in under 30...

 

Photo taken at New River?

 

The last cruise-in/car show I went to (a couple of weeks ago) guys under 40 were far-and-few-between! MOST of the cars were not HAMB friendly. When ever I was looking at a car ...one of the first questions I ask are..."did you build this"? Sadly...most said they bought it....
Most of them are painted like Easter eggs with ALL the bells & whistles of modern cars.
Since I have one of those "M-word" cars I can't post a picture but.....I have added front disc brakes and high back seats...both to help protect me from ...air-heads that text & talk & eat & groom & get high & zone out & play with the radio & and the AC &and yell at the 'wild indian' kidz &.......! The rest is pretty much like Henry & Iacocca made it.
6sally6

 

I'm 53 and been playing with rusty cars since my teens. I just bought my first 1950 era car and non of the young people are interested in working on the car. In general non of the kids are interested in cars at all.

 

public schools*****....not teaching***** today;;;not even civics,,,,,,,fake everything going on..

 

yes

 

my first hamb friendly car was a 46 ford p/u w/dodge 325 v-8 . pd. $600.oo for it . when it threw a rod i found a mtr. down the street for $100.oo . THOSE DAYS WILL NEVER RETURN . a 30 yr. old car is now a 92 !!! theres many teens out there doing what they will with 90s cars and trucks so it really is the same . i guess . i look at my latest and sometimes it looks like my granpas car to me to !! i mthinking if i lose the frnt bumper it might look more like a hotrod ??

 

The parts aren’t there, and when they are, they’re pretty pricey. My mortgage is more than half my take home, my 401k eats the rest. I can spend a hundred or so a month on car stuff…and it is really, really hard to spend good money for things like drum brakes and solid axles, let alone flatheads and decent bodies. I make OK money for an uneducated dude, but life is really expensive.
Also…kids don’t drive today. Yeah, I know you all have an example of a precocious young person who finished his A on deuce bones by the time he was 15, but that kind of money, dedication, time, and requisite mentorship isn’t a priority for kids who aren’t even interested in driving, or see any way regular automobile ownership is feasible, let alone ridiculously expensive play toys.

…and kids are just different now. There’s a whole generation of teenagers who stay home on weekends, glued to their computers and cell phones, spending hours watching other people play video games, or put on makeup.

 

Interesting thread, Traditional Hot Rods by definition here are a pretty small percentage of the very large car hobby that I believe most of us have been involved in one form or another all our lives. I like the "Old School Look". I'm 73 years old and started in our Great hobby at 16 in 1964, attaching pic (Thanks to Moose) of my first Hot Rod a 57 Chevy, check my albums for other pic's, my history. I was there from my beginning born into it and staying till my expiration date, hobby served me well, finishing it out with 2 OT cars. Agree the world has changed for the young today, always has and will, I see younger guys that build, have fun, tend to fall into rockabilly style, old cars modified, lacking some in paint/chrome/upholstery, But they are Hot Rodders IMO, also the Tuner guys, that's their 57 Chevy, our Hobby will always survive, just change some. Age/Time changes everything. I did not pass the car hobby on to my children, (surprises me) none of the five are race/car people, but proud of all of them. I like the HAMB, enjoy sharing/reading and what a great place to hang out with other "Old Timers" LOL

 

Same. I tried, but I failed. I've always had some sort of toy while my children have been alive, and several old pony cars as they were going through high school...but just no interest. Hell, my son may never have been in the garage, to be honest. It's not his thing, and I respect that...I just don't understand it. I thought my daughter was going to get bit by the bug; she would come out and help when I was working on them, but it was more to just be around Dad then through any interest.

 

I built this when I was 29.. Now 42 and still driving it... Got on here a year after I had her on the road...

So I was building in my 20s, other things, this was my first Hamb Friendly one... I guess that may kinda count...

This is my sons truck... He is 17... Loves the farm truck look...

 

yes sir, right now it has a 364with Muncie(wide ratio). once its done and on the road i will be building one of the 401s i have and slapping a 671 blower on it.

 

As a youngster I knew my interest would be building and restoring cars. My paper route allowed me to buy all the new offered AMT model kits and buy the "getting high glue" needed to build them. I with a heated X-acto knife was already chopping the little roofs, filling and painting with blended Pactra model paints. Roth's "rat Fink" poster on my wall above the bed I would dream in on having a drivers license. I was beyond balloon tire bikes and skate boards, I needed anything with four wheels and skull decals on the wing windows. Girls came later. I have owned over thirty vehicles and twenty cycles, many of which I wish I would have kept. The memories will always be, and like now I cant be without cool ride. My restoration and build years are behind me now, dealing with a worn body from hard physical employment, moonlighting jobs and my past restorations. I know there are some youths now deserving credit for their hot rod car hobby and my hat is off to them, but the ones I'm accustomed to seeing are the Euro cars slammed with potato shooter exhaust parked in Daddy's garage, and living out his pocket. IMO

 

You should run the 364 they are a better performing engine with the shorter stroke, rev better. I had a 364 in my 29 roadster and replaced it with a 425, should have kept the 364, it performed better in my light chopped and channeled 29 Ford roadster.

 

what are these kids supposed to build. Every example, so far, of a young guy building a pre 65 car is being spurned on by the older generations. Their Dads or Grandfathers or Uncles who are builders. Where are they to get the parts? whos going to give up their hoard? on this board ive seen massive collections of gauges, steering wheels, speed parts, etc. who is willing to give these parts up. the same ones who stash away and collect, are the same who****** about the brookville bodies or repoped parts. two of my boys both drive cars that are older than them. hondas and ford rangers. the parts are still to be had, and are not considered to be worth their weight in gold or collectable. so thats what they build.

 

Not calling anyone out but some of the replies I see to newbies on here would make me sell my car asap.

 

Get off my lawn!!!
Dadgummed whippersnappers... Why. back in the day, we could gets us a nice 32 Coupe for 35 dollars...

 

PHTTTTTTT!!!!!
Most of our young guys are not young guys any more.

I think that @Austin kays isn't 30 yet. he is so deep in it that I would have to hook my chain to a rope and borrow a rope to pull him out.

 

I'm 25 and have my high school 60 F100 and a 57 Fairlane. Also have a 33 Ford pickup project in the works..it is definitely a struggle for a young guy to build anything this day and age.... $$$!

 

Im 37, and have a couple of mid 20s friends into cars. Ones building an 80s el Camino with an ls, and the other has a 46 Ford that's lowered. The kid with the ford is just into cruising it, he hasn't done anything much to it.

Lots of younger guys don't have much money, and if they do, they're blowing it at the bar, trying to get laid.

Im still plugging away at the 52 Studebaker jr stock car ive got, i have a Chrysler 440/727 in it now, and im building a ford 9 inch rear, currently.

The problem with traditional hot rods, is the fact that I picked up a fun little*****box merkur xr4ti, with the Ford 2.3 turbo engine, and a WC T5, for 1800 bucks last year. Early EFI turbo cars are hot right now with the under 40 crowd because you can build a lot of power for cheap. I CAN still find turbo ford parts for cheap at junkyards and online. Ive dumped another couple grand into the turbo, intake, head and valves, and it's a blast.

It makes it hard to look at the Studebaker like a good buy with the price comparison.

 

i wish i could build one for real, but im building on a budget and trying my best to fix it up best i can. its why its likely going to stay a little beat up for a while. im not 18 yet, and a real newbie to cars in all honesty, but im decent with my hands, and i love classic cars.

 

I’m 17 working on making a semi-traditional 46’ flatbed

 

I'm 41 now but I've been driving or building someone else's old junk since I got my license in 1997.

Yes, I know, '97 was a few.. no, fifteen? What you mean it was 24 years ago?
Things have changed. Y'all stayed dyin' and blaming everybody else for it (known to cause cancer to the state of California), the tailpipes had to get clean, the scrapyards had to get clean, hell even the driving had to get clean (tell me at age 17 you didn't drive your car with your foot to the floor less than you do now, and more often, too).

Attitudes change because the environment the kids are growing up in has changed. I remember wandering around the scrapyards, rusty 60's and 70's cars stacked 3 high, to climb up and pick out the part I needed.
Gone are those yards, left with 2000's and newer because that's where the money is; the specialist yards are well picked over and far between.

I would love to build a hot '32 but even when I was 17 that was well out of reach- the late 60's and up to the end of the 70's was about as far back as I could afford on my wages back then, and most of the cars I drove were from the 80's.
Yes, they were hopped up as best as I could do. I was making my affordable piece of junk go as fast as I could make it go. (The heart of original hot-rodding, as far as I understand it is centered around that premise).

So no, most of the oldschool tin is not even looked upon because it's so far out of reach or so far gone it's not a case of replace a couple worn bearings, a kingpin and some brake shoes any more, it's a full sheet metal/chassis/parts collection which it's well beyond the skills most kids trying to start out in the hobby can muster up.

So yeah. In some cases I'll agree,kids today have a whole new set of things that make them interested.
But, the ones who want to be James Dean (if they even in now who he was) don't got the means unless they get real lucky or daddy got deep pockets. It's not as easy as it once was. $7.25/hr over 80 hours gives you $580 before Uncle Sam takes his cut; so over 3 weeks $870, take 20% for deductions gives you $696 a month to live on. Cheapest roach hole I found to rent was $450/mo so $246 left for electricity, water, groceries, gasoline... It vanishes rapidly. Let's go buy a $5000 rusted out '32.... Wait. Nope. I can save up for a $300 beat up ricer though. Pick what you can.

Phil

 

I started collecting parts when I was under 30 if that counts, but I could only afford so much. Now I'm 42 (wtf happened there?) and finally have some expendable income. an understanding wife and a heated. semi not-cramped garage to work in.

I can still hear my dad . . . "your going to build a car out of THAT !?"

So now I need to get off this stupid computer go turn some wrenches . . . .

 

Lmao, exactly. Some of the replies in this thread answer the question well...