Projects WHEN BUILD THREADS "GO COLD" - What not to do

A better way to see if anyone is interested in your thread is look at the number of views it gets. Some people (like me) don't post any replies unless we can offer any advice or comment if you ask for them. Some people just like to follow threads but don't have the skills to offer up unsolicited advice or comments.

And you will NEVER get thousands of likes on the HAMB for one post there is not enough members.

 

Thank you, if nothing else, you get a variety of tasks and outcomes in my threads.

 

I am fairly certain that there are between four and six members here who will like my current build.

I know from experience that within one page of comments a build thread would turn into a pile-on bash fest.

I have been watching you guys for years. Each of the regular and most prolific commenters has a pattern. In many cases y'all are neither positive, nor encouraging.

 

From what little I’ve seen of your build I would love it, I agree with patterns and negativity from some people, for me my build threads help me document my own shit, gives me a reason to take pictures etc. I really don’t care if people like them or view them or not.

 

This must have waken people up. Lots of updates on projects being posted.

 

This is funny, thanks for the reminder. I finally updated mine this summer after several years of nothing. Ive been working on it for 11 years now. Hard to find the time. I think a lot of people have left the board and found other places to go or whatever. As for the negative comments, fuck em, just do the build thread for yourself so you can look back on it and remember all the work you put in. Here is a another update from this morning: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/26-roadster-build-bang-bang.749610/page-15#post-14262504

 

I haven’t done a build thread on any of my junk mostly because I’m kinda slow and I jump from car to car as money, parts and interest dictate. I’m hoping to do one on my Olds powered roadster when I get to final assembly, I have photos of most of the build. I’ll start from the beginning and bring it up to the present but I don’t want to do it until it’s on home stretch. The same for my ‘33 pickup. I don’t want to leave an unfinished thread should plans change.
I’m one of those guys who has too many projects (6 hot rods), a modest income, and an unhealthy aversion to paying someone else to do what I can do myself (or think I can). It all adds up to progress at a snail’s pace.

 

I will be updating my own website soon.

It will be up there.

 

I've got a build thread for my '54 over in the social forums and on a couple of other sites also. I've never posted it on the HAMB main board 'cause there's one or two aspects that aren't completely HAMB friendly. If I posted here.....it might get whacked!

 

Well,,,,,even if the thread gets sidelined for a while,,,,or never gets finished.
At least some details were posted and maybe someone can glean an idea or two to help with their project .
You never know how you might inspire someone.
I read things here on old threads where the main guys have been dead for sometime,,,,it still helps the younger guys .
I’m still in awe of the talent here,,,I know I can’t hold a light to these guys .
But if I can just help ,,or inspire one person,,,,at least I tried my best .

Now,,,back to your regularly scheduled program,,,LoL .

Tommy

 

Do you have a link Gimpy?

 

I need to spin up another page for just the build.

The website is gimpyshotrods.com

 

I'm recovering from surgery.

 

I have build thread, but I’m super slow. I guess in part because I’m lazy, and in part because I need to lean how to do things as I go. I appreciate comments greatly, and am quite frankly amazed that anyone gives a shit, so thank to the HAMB for that. I don’t care for observations on how slow I am, but that’s a small price to pay for all the great advice I’ve received here. I’ll post an update. It will be a boring pic of the latest parts I could afford, but nevertheless an update.

 

Yeah I’ve seen a few of those engine pics before Gimp .
Looks like it should be a great ride when your finished .
I like the aspect of the engine and driveline,,,,some good innovation there .

Tommy

 

Nice '27 Roadster, but the foldaway garage door is the first thing that cough my eye. Having a build thread allows you to comment on things that might get banned if you started a thread on "garage doors". Bob

 

Is there any way a build thread author can see who has subscribed to their thread? If I knew who was subscribed to my threads I would be inclined to visit their profile, since there is a greater possibility that we may have similar interests and interesting builds, e.g., lead sleds, nostalgia drag racing, vintage trucks, etc.

 

All of my “build threads” have gone cold I guess? I have so many projects around the farm and projects that are OT for the HAMB (Dirtbikes, farm trucks, etc.) that I bounce around a lot. Even when my threads were active I would try to wait to post things that only seemed of consequence rather than just posting for the sake of posting. Maybe I’ll bump all my threads...

Build threads are my favorite part of the HAMB!

 

People asking questions provokes me to think of, and to study things I might never have gave thought of, and to learn things I might otherwise never have learned. So it doesn't matter to me whether they ever come back or reply, because what I gain by being exposed to the questions, debate and answers, profits me.

 

Early in my build thread I said that I was planning on doing a dropped front axle but that I might also consider a Mustang II front end. I was told that Mustang II front ends were "forbidden". Well, after a lot of discussing with friends and other hot rod guys I decided to do a Mustang II front end. Heidts. So, I stopped posting. Maybe I'll pick it up later, or maybe not. Posting pictures and writing content for me takes a lot of time. I was using the HAMB as a resource for the many areas where I had a lack of knowledge. I have been forced to find other resources, so .....

 

I hear you.

Much of what I have built over the last 20-years got independent front suspension. That was the customer request.

Very few wanted to install or keep a beam axle. A whole lot of these folks drive these cars and trucks up and down the West Coast, and deep inland. They want more comfort that a beam can offer (irrespective of how many guys here are "fine" with them).

I am on the fence about IFS on my current project. It is not HAMB friendly anyways.

 

I am curious sometimes about what happened to certain build threads.
I don't post about mine a lot for two reasons.

 

My skill set isn’t worthy. Plus, I’m 2000 miles away from my projects for six months of the year, so I realistically only have a couple of months to make any progress. Slow going, and difficult to maintain continuity.

 

I started a build thread on my ‘31 Pontiac upon request. The build began over 22 years ago, but I just started the thread earlier this year. Consequently, I was posting regularly until I caught up to where I am presently and the time between posts has increased. Plus I don’t post the many little menial tasks involved with the build.

 

Just updated my coupe build thread today.

 

I've been too busy driving it to work on it...

 

I have noticed this drop off too. I don't want to bring the 'What the hell is Instagram' conversation again but I've been getting most of my build updates on there for a few years now and have been updating a lot of mine on there too. However, I do make a point of trying to update at least every other week on the HAMB.

I am grateful for all the feedback and encouragement I get from the folks that follow along. But mostly, the main reason I keep at it is that I treat it as a journal to track my own process, growth, and journey. It comes in handy to keep a log of what you've done, when you did it, where you got it, and what that obscure part number it took months of research to find was (and someday that might all be valuable to someone else too). So, I keep at it.

I also still make a point to get on here at least a few times a week and check in on all my followed builds and to contribute in a meaningful way when I can, even if it's just a "LIKE" because even that can help put a little wind in someone's sails to keep building!

Here's what I've been up to since last year or so:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ld-thundercasket.751582/page-24#post-13573783

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-aa-express-aav8-build.1124353/#post-13573825

 

Hey @Johnny Sparkle ...this thread could be about your build thread. C'mon, get back on it. I need another great laugh...you should be on step 1237 by now, which, if I'm guessing correctly, should involve hitting more stuff with hammers.

 

patmanta, You and I seem to be afflicted with the same problem insofar as having two or more builds going on simultaneously. That slows me down when it comes to posting updates since I divide my time amongst more than one project.

Keep after it buddy. Looking good.

 

There's 1 build thread in particular that irks me that it's gone dead; it's the one where a fellow HAMBer offered up a free car to the most deserving young hot rodder that would take the car and build it into something. Several guys nominated someone they know, and I nominated my young nephew, a veteran of the Iraq conflict, freshly out of the service, a car guy without a lot of resources that would have just loved to get that car and build it. He even joined the HAMB to tell his story. The guy with the car chose someone else, a young high school kid. That's OK, it was his car, he read the stories and he made the choice, that was all cool. So this kid gets the car, and someone else donates a hemi engine to the project. Cool! Everybody is feeling good about it all, here's this new young hot rodder being given an incredible opportunity that most of us would've loved to have been given. All that is expected in return is keeping us in the loop of the build.

So he starts a build thread on it, chronicles getting the car out of storage and bringing it home, starting the build, and then the thread goes cold. He comes on a couple of times, explains how he's getting side tracked with football, etc. Everybody cuts him some slack, we've all been there. But then he goes completely MIA. People post asking about an update, nothing. Not even from the guy who nominated/sponsored him. That's it, the thread is dead cold, no word from the kid for years.

I get it that life throws curve balls at you, especially as a teenager. The proper thing to do if he's not going to build the car is to give it up to someone who will. And let us know about it. Pick one of the original nominees who is still interested and let them take over conservatorship of the project.

OK, rant over, I got that off my chest.