Art & Inspiration non automotive parts you have used on your hot rod or custom

And this is exactly how Ernie Adams down in AZ started out by building Dwarf Cars...used old refrigerators
and used his imagination and skill...been to his shop twice....been on many car shows...

Dwarf Car Museum | Ernie Adams Official Site

 

Fish fryer into 3x2 air cleaner.

 

I build industrial control panels. I had someone give me a beat up enclosure a few years back and knew then what I was going to use it for. I am building new running boards for my '37 Buick. The corners had the 90° angles. I used 1 1/4" electric conduit for the curved inner lip.

 

Aluminum Steamer pot lids. Now Harley Davidson repo 7”.

 

Somewhere out in the garage, I have a purple anodized aluminum tumbler that came from my late mother in law, and it made a great velocity stack for my old Sportster (dang I need another one). I am also always looking at large pot/pan lids for air cleaner use, from the small ones in BSA mess kits, to large ass wok sized ones, some of them look pretty cool.

 

Garage door handle for the doors on my old 36 Chevy. Single arm with a square shaft.

 

Those are wicked cool, look great!

 

Oh don’t do diamond plate. It’s not a semi.
Diamond plate is one of my pet peeves, to me it’s intended for big equipment and machinery. Sorry just my two cents.

 

There's zero storage space in my A so I use an electrician's tool pouch for holding paperwork, a few tools, sunglasses, and incidentals. Header collector flanges make good cup holders.



Old drive-in speakers updated with rechargeable Bose bluetooth speakers for tunes.



Jet airplane from an old ashtray for a radiator cap ornament.



A pretty common one but this old fire extinguisher will soon be a catch can.

 

I see these things in Goodwill all the time for about 4 bucks.

Roger

 

Now that's really thinking outside the box and looks like it was made for the 3 deuce setup! HRP

 

Didn't have the money for exhaust pipe replacement on my '64 Barracuda so I used the tubing from an old swing set and secured it with clothes hanger wire. That lasted about 6 months until I could buy the needed section of exhaust.

 

No photo but I used 90 drawer pulls in a Kustom grill.

 

I've eyed stainless kitchenware for lots of things. There's a stainless steel salad bowl on the desk here next to me, and I can't for the life of me remember what I bought it for.

 

Some of these other posts reminded me that I made the T air cleaner from a stainless cake pan…

 

Whenever I see diamond plate on cars I instantly think there's a Jeep somewhere missing its patch panel.

 

On the rear of my roadster, 2 old chrome legs from a Formica topped kitchen table. They make a nice nerf bar when turned 90 degrees, and mounted horizontally.

 

Stainless steel pot from WalMart for turbo heat shield.......







Junk washing machine used for patch panels. 18ga steel........

 

When I got my old truck it had big tires and a very small steering wheel (no power steering). I changed out the tires and found a larger steering wheel in a buddy's garage. I had no problem installing it with the exception of the horn button which came from the small steering wheel. I looked around for some way to mount it and ended up using a tuna can which I crimped a bit smaller with a crimping tool for metal chimney pipe. It's been on the old truck for about 10 years.

 

I hate cup holders but I also don't like scalding my balls with hot coffee, the ideal thing for a temporary cup holder is a roll of duct tape, it's usually stick on the sides and it adheres to the carpet and doesn't turn over, also works well for water, soda or you favorite beverage which you already know you shouldn't be enjoying your favorite libation while you are driving. HRP

 

Used Harley Davidson talights in hiboy.

 

Used an old brass bed post for a catch can on my SD

 

Old computer heat sink used as a heat sink for under dash mounted HEI module

 

When I first moved to Utah, I had a job serving and installing commercial laundry equipment.

One job took us out to the middle-of-nowhere (there's still a lot of that in the west) where there is a beryllium mine. We were replacing a commercial washer from the 1940s-50s. It was a huge, heavy thing that they kept in service nearly 50 years, doing a couple loads of miner's work clothes per day.

Beryllium is nasty stuff and their work clothes weren't allowed off site.

As we were breaking this thing down, I grabbed the pictured cast aluminum bracket and gauge.





I felt like a criminal because we'd been told nothing comes off site but there was no way I was leaving this thing behind. I wiped it down and tossed it in my tool bag. Hoodlum stuff, haha.

I pictured it on an A column or under a dash. It fits like it was made for a 35/36 Ford car dash.

It's a piece I get quite a few questions about.

 

Two chain-link fence post caps and a piece of 2.25" exhaust tube make a dandy overflow tank.

 

Yeah, those tin can lids sure come in handy...

 

P-51 lower cowling oil drain door used to access the underfloor master cylinder in my roadster. It's out of the car now, but will be going back in when I redo the floor boards. Also built a master cylinder heat shield out of some inner exhaust fairings, but that is buried at the moment...

 

Man,that is one nice looking engine. HRP

 

I know I have a better pic, but I can't find it. The trim ring around my gas filler a kitchen sink strainer basket with the bottom cut out. They could also work for small tailpipes out the rear of some cars.

Gary