Technical How nice was your first hot rod project

Hi all,

I’m not sure if this belongs here or the general discussion, but I was wondering how nice was your first hot rod project? I am very close to being able to drive my “survivor” (barely) hot rod for the first time, and procrastinating on it I figured I would ask the HAMB. When I got my car (bought sight unseen because the price was right) it was one of the sketchier cars I’ve seen, and have done over just about everything on it to make it hopefully less sketchy.

I’m not necessarily wondering what your first car was, more so, how did your first hot rod you built in your garage handle, what small or big things you wanted to / did change, and what you learned not to do for your next project etc. I’ve definitely learned a lot building my roadster and can’t wait to start on my next one.

 

in 1967, I bought a 47 Mercury and still have it. I put a 392 hemi in it along with a tilt front, operated by hydraulic cylinders, nosed and decked, rain gutters removed and custom interior. I built a console that took 100 hours of wiring. I have a switch to turn off the tail lights, another to turn on the interior lights in the doors, console and under dash when the doors are closed, another to turn off the interior lights when the doors are open, switches for everything, headphone jacks for 4 people.

 

My ‘51 Ford was sitting in a field rotting away when my buddies and I were bench racing and they bet me I couldn’t get it back on the road. We bet a steak dinner so 3 years and $25,000 later I had me a steak dinner

 

Big on dreams low on money, think sheet metal screws and Bondo.

 

It handled poorly, I learned a lot about steering geometry.

You gotta start somewhere. Post a lot of pictures so we can check it out, and then take it for a drive and see how you did. You can fix it, if you did mess up.

 

My first hot rod is still in progress. I started out knowing nothing... about hot rods, old cars, or cars period. Since I started on it I became a full time mechanic and now manage an auto shop and it is only just now getting to where I'm confident driving it long distances & I'm still embarrassed to park it next to other hot rods, but it feels good to drive a car built from junk I scrounged and learned about to form into a working car, and it's surprising how much other people connect to it.

The new project will be nicer... everything will be right on it before it sees the street again. But I owe everything to the first one.

 

Junk
Just like all the rest

 

Oh lord when I built mine I did everything in the 2 car attached garage that it’s sitting in front of. Paint and bodywork, an assload of cutting, welding and grinding, built the motor and transmission, all of the chassis work, the whole nine yards. I was living in a zero lot line development with a bunch of complaining old geezers but they put up with my bullshit making racket all hours of the night while building the car. Most of them would stop by and reminisce about the old days and what cars they learned to drive in while checking up on the build. Heck the HOA president helped me tow it back to the house after scattering the motor while showing off to a bunch of women walking to the big tennis tournament we have here in town.

 

My first car was pretty rough, looking back. I got it in 1958-9 when I was barely a teen. And I got it on the road by my 16th birthday. My first car thought me the beginnings of hydraulic brakes, welding, leading, body work, and automotive mechanics. It had a bit of death wobble occasionally, the door might unexpectedly open or give me a pinch when going over a bump.

I kept the car all these years and in 2011, many years older, rebuilt it to a much higher standard of quality.

The second round, after years of building experience, resulted in a very nice car. This round, I learned even more and had the time to do things right. I finally learned to shrink sheet metal, and to TIG weld sheet metal, I learned how to replace all the wood sub-framing, how to correct door and panel gaps, how to polish SS, and much more. I added a number of customizing modifications, and learned how to make patterns for casting brass.


The second round looks about the same but is many times over a better quality build.

 

looked great then too!!

 

My first hot rod was a dirt track car. By the time I had my own, I already had a lot of experience, but it was pretty rough.

My first "for street use" hot rod was a pile of junk I put together, but that was after 10 years of dirt track experience.
It was still a pretty steep learning curve, but we managed to put 77,000 miles on it before I sold it.
I can't post my first dirt track car (its off topic), but I can post a before and after of my first "for street use" hot rod. I think you will be able to tell the difference.

 

nice grille!

 

The right 1/2 was sort of OK, as long as you didn't touch it (more rust then metal). The left side was mostly bent or non existent.

 

Never had the money to play with anything better than junk, still don’t

 

My name sums up my first one.

 

Nice? I don't know about that, but I still have it. Dragged out of a barn in about '76. Built mostly by teenagers over the next couple of years. Painted by me in the early 80's. A few years ago, it got a Syd's dropped axle, rebuilt suspension, rebuilt "59" flathead (local flathead guru), rebuilt trans (me) and it probably should be blown apart for some better-quality body/paint/interior. But the "look" is spot on for what I like. I'll probably never "finish" it. Just drive it.

 

First car was in much better shape than I knew.

First hot rod was junk, but still loads of fun.

 

My '57 210 was warmed up to keep it running.
My girlfriend used to want to borrow it and go 'cruisin'.
My first 'hot car' 55 Nomad. Ex drag car, gutted tin, too loud, 3 shades of primer paint
was despised by her. She never drove it and began to look at other guys

 

Just Average With Firepower Motivation ..(1965)...

 

My first real hotrod project was a '40 Chev coupe I bought for $50 in 1968 from a coworker at the Cadillac dealer we worked at. No seats, and all primered out in flat black. Put a lawn chair in it to drive it home! I parked it in my parent's backyard and soon after got drafted. When I got out of the military I bought my buddy's dad's 1959 Chrysler Imperial and he and I dropped the 413, Torqueflite, and rear axle into my coupe. Put a pair of VW bucket seats in it and terrorized the streets. Never did anything more, so it remained flat black, but was very solid and straight! I eventually sold it to another coworker for $375 and he still owns it to this day. But kinda ruined it in my opinion as it's a beautiful custom car now with a SBC/TH400. The old engine and trans sit in the corner of his garage and he wont sell them.

 

It was solid, complete and no rust but worn out. It has gone through 3 or 4 “rebuilds” since the day I brought it home in 1973. I did everything but the paint ( traded a Yamaha 360 Enduro for paint and body) and learned a ton over the years working on it.

 

I love hearing stories of old hot rods haha. You guys are a lot more talented than me! Mines rough! Here’s mine that’s almost driveable. I still need to build the exhaust, finish the floors, remember how I wired it, and hook up the radiator to drive it around. I rattlecanned it black to get it all one color, but there’s a ton of bondo in the lower parts of the car that I want to redo one day. And as others have said I’m sure I’ll redo more stuff as I drive it around. I already redid the wishbone mounts and dash. Pie cut the bones instead of hanging the wishbones down 6” below the frame. And redid the dash because the last guy had a spot for an AM FM radio.

 

Technically this is the first one for me, that got completed. I had a 1947 Ford coupe that was my first but it was never finished and was traded for the body I used on this car.

 

Pretty crusty but it got m e started.now resides as a planter

 

My Chevy was pretty rough. But it was a 57, and mine. Actually kinda quick with a 327, M21 and 4.56's. I was 19 years old and over the moon.

 

Never really considered it as a "hot rod" but 1947 did qualify it as a street rod way back when. Made all sorts of mistakes building it and it hasn't moved since 1996 but hopefully I will get back to it before I die. At least it has been garaged the whole time. If only I could remember where I left off.

 

My first hot rod...built this in high school auto shop (1969).
A really nice '48 Chevy coupe I bought off a neighbor, for only $50 because the engine was blown and a tree had fallen on the hood...add a $125 '57 Chevy (4 door) that donated it's 283, 3spd and rear end. Drove it all through my Senior year.

With my high school girlfriend.

 

My 1st HAMB friendly build.

Gary

 

Me with my #1, about 1964.

 

I bought my first car at 14. I decided that it was time for me to get mynown car. I told my dad that I wanted my own car. His response was, "you can have a car as soon as you can buy one on your own!". Three weeks later, I told him that I had enough money. True to his word and a bit surprised, we headed out to find my car. We ended up at a combination used car lot and junk yard, called Beseler Motors. There I found my dream car. To anyone else, it wax a clapped out 48 Ford coupe, but to me, it was just what I wanted. Home it went, my dad lost his 1 car garage and I was in automotive heaven. I got it semi safe and running and on the road shortly after my 16th birthday. In reality it was not much to look at. BUT, I got it running and driveable (barely), and it was mine, all mine! I had it on the road for my senior year in high school. Full of primer spots and all, but, I had a car. It kept me busy keeping it on the road, but the last thing I wanted to b, was the dreaded "P" word, you know, pedestrian! I drive it the entire year and sold it to a guy down the street from me that wanted a beater to fix up. The next car I had was a 53 Mercury Tudor that looked terrible but ran like new. I paid $92 for it as it sat on the back row of the local Olds dealership. The odd thing was that, for some unknown reason, the dealer wasn't getting me my title. I finally found out why, when I picked up my girlfriend from high school one day and had this guy in a VW almost fun me off the road to make me stop. He demanded to know where I got "his" car. It turned out that he had the entire car rebuilt, except for paint, to give to his twin sons to drive. They lived with his ex-wife and were surfers, thus the bad paint job. The points had burned out and the twins traded it in at the Olds dealer, promising to get the title to the dealer. The guy turned out to be their father and wanted to know HOW I managed to get the car. To make a long story short, the owner refused to surrender the title to the Olds dealer until he got paid in full for all the money he put into the car that he had rebuilt for his sons, now living with his ex-wife. The Olds dealer was threatened with the loss of their license because they sold a vehicle that they did not have title to. And, I got a perfect operating Mercury for all of my $92! The dealer spent over $600 1965, to get the title from the father/owner. AND, I got my title finally. I talked to GM at the Olds dealer and he told me that they never had SO much trouble with a $50 trade in in their life. They were happy to almost double their money with me, until they found out they were snookered by a mother and twin sons that never had the title. It drove it for two trouble free years and sold it to a co-worker for his wife to drive and they just loved the car.