You might be a traditional hot rodder if:

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You might be a traditional rodder if:

You refer to 20 year old cars as "new" or "late models"!

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I catch myself doing this one all the time, usually when I'm explaining to a non-car person that, sure, the '32 Ford RPU is old and all, but I'm putting a modern engine in it. Modern meaning a '67 289...

 

Yer at an auto parts store, they ask "what vehicle", and you articulate the year/model that yer rod's mill is originally from. Countless Kragenites and Auto Zonies have looked at me dumbfounded at the sound of, "'57 F-100 with a '63 T-Bird motor".

 

You own a 1963 Falcon More door in rattle can black,serape seat covers,lowered,painted steel wheels,and Maltese cross somewhere.

 

Your sitting at work watching the Mad Fabricators DVD....

 

Yup I have fun at the parts store.
Got a starter for a small block Chevy?
What car is it?
32 Ford!
My uncle's got one of those too, how come Ford out-sourced the engines in them?

I brought in a Model A generator for the guy who runs the local parts place. Set it on the counter and was fooling around while waiting for him. When he got back to the counter I had 2 kids having a hell of a time trying to cross reference the number on my AC compressor! You'd think they'd know me after a while, but they never learn.

 

you swing by the barber shop and when asked, you request your haircut to be "stock".

 

Here's one: Stabbing the gas when you go through a tunnel or overpass. Love the sound of the exhaust.

 

From Fat Hack's list:
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You drop off enough cars at a local junkyard that they just let you rummage through and take what ya need when you stop in looking for a part!


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Oh man, I get this treatment from my favorite junk yard. I was pretty shocked the first time they just let me HAVE the parts for free....

 

......if relatives and friends know your reputation for ruining "good" clothes so when they have to get you a gift it is always some sort of cleanser or an article of clothing that they all know will be sacrificed very soon (if not that same day).

....if your toolboxes are all in order but your house hasn't been cleaned in a month.

.....if you pick up a grease rag that is filthy and use it to clean your hands so you can grab your beer (or a bite to eat).

.....if your kids know more about cars than your wife because you are trying to "bring them up right".

......if you have two garages and you still need garage space.

......if your yard is part of your garage space.

......if you see a car at a show that you know cost the owner 50-100k and you think that it could still be cooler if you could get your hands on it.

 

...if you have ever degreased a pair of 97's in the kitchen sink and then rebuilt them at the dining room table.

..if your girlfriend can rebuild your stock flathead generator and starter and knows more about the electrical side of your rod than you do.

 

Holy Shit! I thought I was the only one who knew about the parking brick!

"You ever carried a brick in your car for parking on unlevel ground...called it your "parkin' brick"!"

 

A good way to tell if your offspring are headed down the same path?

....if they have re-build a small engine in their bedroom. (i.e. Briggs & Stratton or minibike engine).

....if they have a 5 gallon bucket or container of equal volume that if filled to the top with Hotwheels/Matchbox.

....if they have more models than shelf space.

.....if they never use instructions when building models.

.....if they are stealing your paint supplies and tools for their "projects".

.....if they want to start up a bike shop for the other neighbor kids' bikes.

.....if they ask you when they can start swearing at their "projects" when they break (did this one a couple times - hey dad does it!).



Back to the adults (trad rodder)


......if you've ever parked your motorcycle in the house "just because".

......if you flunked math in school but know without even thinking about it what the tolerances are during your re-build and understand technical measuring instruments like a pro.

.......if you've continued to read these replies.

........if you've ever "fixed" something with a part that wasn't made to do what you want it to do.

......if you've never called your car "my rat-rod" when talking to other car guys. (not to be controversial - I am just having fun here).

.......if you can't leave anything alone that has a motor on it - hot-rod lawn equipment or toys, etc..

 

Here's a tip for your parking brick. Find a brick with a hole on it, or if you use a 2x4, drill a hole in it. Tie a rope through the hole. That way, when you want to leave, just roll off the brick a little, and reel the brick in. You've heard of soap on a rope, this is my (nearly)patented "parking brick on a rope"
-Jeff

 

if you dont ask , can this be hotroded? and just do it

 

1- You cant go to the can unless you have a copy of "Hop-Up' in hand.

2- You go to the 'Harbor Frieght' store to look around and leave your paycheck there as you walk out with a truck load of tools.

3- You consider your 1/4" tools as "toy's"

4- When you lay down a good bead of weld and just have to crack open a beer and admire your work.

5- When you consider a honda civic as a 'winter car', rather than a 'hot import'.

6- The sound of high compression, a hot cam and the crackle of open pipes honestly "effects" you in strange ways.

7- As a kid, when the rest of your friends were building up their BMX bikes, you built a chopper instead.

8- You look at olmost everything with wheels and scope out where the 'chop' cuts would be.

9- On holidays, the only time you see the family is to come in from the shop to get a 'cold one'.

10- You try to teach your 9 month old nephew to say 'Hot Rod' instead of ma ma.. ( i lost that one!)

Tony..

 

lol might be a rodder if your seriosuly considering milling the head on your mini bike

 

...if you spend more time working on your car,than you do playing on your computer.

 

...if you're the dad in the neighborhood that all the other dads come to and ask "Do you have a tool that does..."

...you have 100 feet of air hose and a blow gun instead of a leaf blower for clean-up after cutting the grass.

...you've ever stopped off at K-mart on the way to the airport and bought a big Rubbermaid tub, a roll of duct tape and a Sharpie marker so you could get your new swap meet part home on the airplane by checking it as luggage.

...if you've ever had to tell the guy at the security gate that the carry on thing in your hand is the grille bar for a '57 Chevy.

...if you've ever given an engine to a buddy as payment for helping you move six others.

...someone asks you what your favorite car is and you zone out for 10 minutes, finally telling them you can't answer.

...if you've ever had to explain to the cop that your car didn't come with seatbelts, so that's why you don't have a shoulder belt and he should be happy you're wearing a lap belt.

-Brad

 

We had a guy come to cruise night tonight with his new 50 Chevy pickup. Within 1 minute of him parking it, 4 of us were laying on the ground trying to stick our heads under the front to see how he got it that low. Then we left there and I got rust on my pants measuring axles and front bones at a buddy's house. I'm up typing this instead of sleeping because I had to wash the uniform pants I need for work tomorrow and I'm waiting to put them in the dryer. Note to self, change out of uniform slacks BEFORE going to cruise nights! Don't just swap shirts and boogie to cruise night after work.

The good news is I'm getting a set of 39 front bones to split in trade for an extra pair of F-1 shock mounts I had laying around.

 

......if you've ever parked your motorcycle in the house "just because".


guilty of a lot of these, but i just pulled my bike inside last nite, so i could look at it while i watched tv

 

dude..this thread is 5 years old..you bored?

 

You say F that dam car im selling the piece of crap 24/7.Yet cant wait to get home and wrench on it.

 

The top of your kid's swing set is bowed because you hung a chain hoist from it to pull an engine.

 

We couldn`t buy your Hot Rod treasures in the U.K. until the late 70`s I remember my first 4" dropped I beam, I couldn`t believe it was mine & I stashed it in my bedroom till I was ready to fit it to my Ford Coupe. How things have changed for us Rodders here in England...........

 

Bought a new bench grinder and wire wheels...theres always crusty & rusty stuff to clean.

 

Who cares? this is one of the funniest threads i've read yet. I've been having a terrible week and i'm laughing so hard now I can't even see straight and just tripped over a dash in my living room.

 

You are a traditional hotrodder if you know ALL hotrods were Fords until Chevy came out with the smallblock and if you understand that they quit making antique cars in 1948.

After 48, they started making modern cars with overhead valves, automatics, independent suspension and air conditioning.

 

. . .if you have to get on the H.A.M.B. to see if your running traditional valve caps.

 

"....if your toolboxes are all in order but your house hasn't been cleaned in a month."
My house was cleaned sometime before "she" left me.

I just tell the neighbors "Its a museum!"

and now I find out i'm a hot rodder cause I can't fix FI and everything has a carb on it!

 

if you taught your niece some of her first words which were supercharger, turbo, nitrous, hemi and torque.