rusty car owners please stand up

I was just accused of building a "rat" rod and not a hot rod because my car doesn't have paint and is rusty by a fellow HAMBer. I was just wondering how many of us are out there with rusty cars. I thought i was building a hot rod the way the guys back in the 40's and 50's did but i guess i am just jumping on the band wagon. Like the poser that just called my car a "rat" rod.


what ya think?????

 

lets see, you last thread was talking about how you just had "fuck off" written across your decklid. to me, this is asking to get this type of disrespect from others. i dont know, how easy is it to be nice to someone that is telling everyone to "fuck off"? i saw it, and im not so pleased with it and im part of the younger croud. and remember, in the "old days" the dreams were to have a car that looked good along with ran good. all the primered cars were the ones that were waiting for the paint job, not the finished product. ive got no problem with your build, just if i had kinds, i wouldnt want them to see your car at a car show and for them to think that that is something appropriate. just remember, everyone here is to help out one another, not to bag on eachothers rides.

 

Does anyone else think it's funny when guys get all bent and puffed up behind their keyboards... I'm mean seriously. When you paste Fuck off all over your car what do you expect to get in return?

Man, that is one bad ass car! Okay, cool you guys had a good time friday night layin' lines and stuff. But come on, get over it. Cool cars are just that. The owners know what works and what doesn't.... and (personal opinion here...so I'm okay with you being offended) painting "Shitbox or an equivelent on the back is not cool. Rust is okay, so is primer and paint. But good taste is always good taste and shock value is just that. So, if you wanted a bunch of attention.... Guess what? You got it. Now get over yourself and move on

 

If I remember correctly that fuck off is also tattooed on his arm let alone his car I also was offend buy that as so should the photographer who shot the photo you have to be a real ass and you get what you deserve when people see you or your car and yes you are correct your rusted out non 40, 50, car is a rat rod and not a hot rod you need to think before acting

 

I think you need a pair of glasses. None of us have FUCK OFF tattoos.

 

Matt,
Some people are going to get it, and some won't. The thing is that there is WAY more to worry about then what some cat called your Rod. Personally, I dig the hell out of your car, but then I remember where the term Rat Rod came from and who the people were that first turned the phrase.... But that don't matter.

As for it being said by a fellow HAMBer, and reading the replies you got here, I have to say the HAMB has become a softer and somwhat more Political correct place than it was even 5 years ago. But that is just my opinion, which I know carries very little weight.

The advice I have to give is the next time simply walk to the back of your car and point to the deck lid and then walk away.

 

I can't imagine this car looking any other way than it does.

 

Im sorry, but if you think thats how it was done in the 40's, and 50's, you have been misenformed.

Despite the fact that you have tried to discredit me in the past (and no, Bo Huff really has nothing to do at all with the history and development of the custom car), I am in no way trying to be mean, nasty or vindictive, but I think you need to go read a few books on the history, talk with some real old timers, and do more research.

First off, in the 40's and ealy 50's, these cars were only 20-25 years old. being that most of the early cars were built in southern California, the dry climate didnt cause the rust issues we have elsewhere in the country. So they started out with a generaly rust free, solid car, far from the rust buckets we have to try and save today.

Second, paint enviromental restrictions were far from what they are today, making it much cheaper. You could get a car painted back then for $15-25, if you had no means of doing it yourself. Cars were driven in primer untill the owner could afford paint. The goal however was a fast, but handsome looking car.

In the earliest days, cars often ran their original paint jobs, but what does a 20 year old paint job in a dry enviroment look like? Probably not too bad. Worn in a bit probably, but far from covered in surface rust.

So please look at some books (Pat Ganahl, Don Montgomery, etc) that cover the early years of hot rodding, and see what the cars looked like. There are also MANY posts here on the HAMB covering the early cars, and you will see that they were well finished.

You can build whatever pleases you, Im not going to give you a hard time over that, but a rust free body, in primer, or in paint (shiny of course) is the actual traditional way.

 

I dig the car.......a lot! I also wouldnt want my grand daughter to think it is Cool to put fuck off on the back, but thats not the question.

Rat rods have thier place. The difference in time and money between a rat rod, and a nicely painted and upholstery chromed out billit barge is enormous. I think this is the reason there are rat rods.
(opinion) People with not too much money but understand cool, build them.
Other people who cant build them but understand cool, like them.
Then at that point, it becomes its own thing.
Then others want to copy it, even if they have the means to buy tons of billit, and the time to build those outragously perfect machines.

I saw at our local hot rod friday night gathering a couple weeks ago, an absolutly beautiful car. I didnt know it at the time, but it was a fiberglass body with holes drilled and rust painted on. Fooled me. the car had to cost $60,000. Thats not cool to me, again, just my opinion.

 

just one more opinion here!
Tank you are building like we used to
the difference that I see is we had more choices
. we could buy a running car for 25-50 bucks. like a one owner cherry 28 A coupe for $35, my 41 chev coupe with new paint, lowered,new uhpolstery 50 bucks. these were all drivers and very few had the luxury of building a car from scratch. these were our only transportation. couldn't park them very long because walking was never cool.
I lived in Pasadena californicate and we thought the same as Chad that all cool cars were in California, because we read the same magazines (that didn't have the budget or need to travel around the country) the few article that were from around the country the cars were just as fast but usually five year behind us in style. I've alway thought east coast customs were goofy.
one misconception about primer is the early lacquer paints had a tendency to crack, most experts at the time believed that the lacquer primer was at fault. so alot of customs were driven in primer (because it was their only car) for months while spraying, blocking and curing before shooting and rubbing out 40 coats of lacquer. so primer was always accepted. no one every flipped you shit for driving a primered car, but rust was never accepted for a driver

 

have you ever seen any pics of cars out on the salt flats. if you were racing the car no one gave a shit about paint. look at some pics some time half of the cars are nasty looking with brush paint. you might want to research the "old days" as you call them before talking shit to someone else, like you were around in the "old days"

 

There is enough room for everyone. I don't care for the vulgar words and think it will most likely be rewarded with unwanted negative attention.... As far as style, anything goes... after all it is art/self expression. Styling is aways evolving and elements from the past will always be found in the present and the future. I for one am glad to see a future in the car hobby... I remember the bleak days.. To each his own and mind your own business. I have found the ones who criticize the most have the least to offer (and often have done the least). This IS America, do whatever you want as long as no one gets hurt in the process. Exercise that freedom! There are folks that would have us all driving generic grey four sedans with the hood welded shut. Some would take our cars away, make us walk and ride trains.

 

yes i know about the saltflats. and what does salt do to a car? it makes it rust. i was talking about how the cars were on the streets. driving everyday. not the ones set out for racing. is he building a traditional race car or a hotrod? if you havent seen his other post, you should go look at it.

 

he is building whatever he wants. my point was the not all cars were nice. and alot of the salt guys drove there stuff there. so they were on the street too.

 

i'd realy rather not. i'm fairly comfortable.


i did'nt realize how rusty my 47 coupe realy was on account of all the bondo they used to fill in the rust holes. i'm slowly fixin it all though. i have'nt had it called a "rat rod" by anyone, that i know of, yet. i guess if you build a car a certain way and it has a little "patina" on it (weather intentional or not) some people don't know how to describe it any other way.

 

would you call this traditional or a rat rod highboy 04?

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=246485&d=1164437793

 

sure its a traditional car. it was built at home by some regular joe. the fuck off part.... who cares its his car.

 

thank you for your opinion

 

"RUST NEVER SLEEPS"...............It will eat your car eventually....fix it and paint it.

 

now i'm not a fan of rusty metal. its just not my style. but i find this really funny because that car probably sat around for 50 years and thats all the rusty it got. now i dont think its just gonna rust away over night all of a sudden.

 

I think someone with 'FUCKOFF' painted on there car either:

A. Doesn't care what anyone thinks or;

B. Is starved for attention and screaming "LOOK AT ME!!!"

Since you asked what we think, I gotta go with B.

As for painted or not, it's your car, do your thing. None of my projects have paint right now, and when there 'done' some will and some won't - cause that's what I want.

 

I think you need to define "rat rod" and "hot rod" then your car can be placed into one of these "catagories". I would call your car a rat rod because it doesn't have paint and is rusty. Or maybe it's an unfinished hot rod. Are you going to paint it? (I hope you're going to paint over that deck lid, but that's my opinion)
If your car is not a rat rod, then what is a rat rod? Is there such a thing?

 

Back in the 50's in Minnesota, when we were young and broke, the first thing we would do after buying (my '35 Ford tudoor for $65.00 for instance) a car was get a rattle can of primer and shoot the rusty spots. It made it LOOK like we were working on the thing. Usually there was no intention, or money to go any farther. There was enough money somehow to put a hopped up 24 stud in it. Most teenage hot rodders in my era and area did the basics; lower, loud pipes and primer spots. If you had more money, then you did more. For every nicely done (and finished) car, there were dozens as I have described. So, if a person now days wants to represent the 50's, you can build to represent the finished few or the ratty many.

 

answer..................................read the decklid

 

An excellent Zen question. What makes your car NOT a ratrod?

 

do i REALY need to say this again?????? ok. you asked for it!!!




no offense to the mentaly challenged. God knows i am at times.

 

i love that pic...

 

All the more reason to act responsibly. Unfortunately it's the few who get the most attention that those outside the hobby judge the rest of us by. I'm afraid that the way things are going, they're going to ruin it.

As far as the question of rust goes, it ain't traditional, but I do like it on some cars.

 

...I gotta go poo poo...