Hey guys, I wanted to write up an introduction for the H.A.M.B. So you guys could get a sense of who I m and what I'm hoping to accomplish with my build. My name is Mike, I'm 40 years young and I live in a small town called Middleboro M***achusetts. I'm a dad of two great kids, I'm divorced (hence buying a hotrod) I'm the owner of a small painting company servicing the south eastern part of M***. My p***ion for cars started at the same age as most it seems, mid teens and quickly led me to buying cheap fixer uppers to bomb around in and fine tune my "driving skills" @ 14-16. Haha not legal, but I know I'm not the only one. My attention was grabbed by the all mighty muscle car and at 16 I found myself the proud owner of a 1970 Camaro SS hugger orange, Blk gut, 350 w/ a 4 spd. Then to a beautiful 1979 Pontiac Trans-Am 30k mi. w/ a 401 Blk w/ tan gut automatic set up for road racing w a cage and a whole bunch of goodies and go fast parts. I droves this car my senior year in high school and several years after. I've had several nice cars but the nicest by far was a fully restored 69 Camaro I bought from a guy in Carlisle back in 1996. A year or so after I bought the car I was in a bad motorcycle accident and was forced to sell it to pay medical bills. However the vanity plate still hangs on my garage wall. 69SS350 I also found out at the ripe age of 21while i was recovering from my accident I was going to be a dad. So I did what you do and raised my son Cace (KC), I started a business at 22 and then came LIFE; the wife, the house,new vehicles no more toys and another child at 26. My daughter Sydney. Cars have always been a p***ion but my first love was motorcycles, I've been an avid motocross racer since I was a teenager and have traveled all over the country racing. I've raced in New England mostly following the NESC motocross circuit and have made so many lifelong friends over the late 25+ years. However all things must come to an end...having my son just get his drivers license and getting the urge to drive and soon be headed off to college, I thought I'd hang up my boots and sell the bikes. So with hesitation and knowing if I sold my bikes, I was buying an old "hotrod". I listed 2 of my 3 race bikes for sale and I sold the first one within 24 hrs. Before I left the parking lot of the meeting place with a whole bunch of cash just burning a hole in my pocket I was calling on a 29 ford Tudor in NY. Ed answered the phone, I asked if he still had the car (it was listed 28 days prior) "Yes, I still have it and I'm sick of people pullin my chain". "If you want it come buy it!" I explained my situation and I wanted the car... A week later I was there with an envelope full of dead presidents and purchased the car. Cloud nine ! It was a bumpy start when I pulled the body from the ch***is but one I figured it all out things got better fast. In the meantime my second bike sold and with the additional hours from long days and weekends I have been putting in over the last two months to help support my new hotrod lifestyle. I've been able to purchase some pretty cool / rare parts and the ultimate AV8 motor...a 8ba from Josh and Matt at New England Speed & Custom in Somers CT. It came all set up w/ a 2 pop offy intake and edelbrock script heads. The motor will be finding a home in the beautiful A frame I found after some digging, in a ba*****t of a gentleman who lives on CapeCod I've been to NY ME NH RI and of course MA buying every traditional period parts I can find or afford, not to mention the HAMB Marketplace and eBay. I have several pics of the parts for my build posted in my thread. 29 Model A Tudor in Ma. This is my first hotrod and intend to build a late 40's to mid 50's traditional hotrod. I've always been a fan of the era and appreciate the simplicity and what the time had to offer. Especially the cars. I've met so many nice people and have been blessed to have made some instant friends with some old hotrod guys, who have said they feel like they're p***ing the torch to me and that my enthusiasm and energy remind them of them back in the day. I'm excited to start my build, the parts are finally all coming together. My car will be mocked up first in the form I received parts in. Including the frame, motor, wheels, old bias ply tires for rolling it around to the dented up primered body. I plan on tearing down and blasting and painting over the winter and having a "finished" car in the spring/summer of 2016. (That's the plan) even if I'm close I'll be happy...hell even if I'm not close I'm still gonna be happy ! I know at some point I'll be cruising in a a car I built w my own hands the way it's supposed to be ... I'm going to have many questions along the way, I'm going to make mistakes when describing parts, or describing my questions as I go. There has been so many "things we did" back in the day threads, posts and stories from people I've met, that I get dates, years of parts and other things mixed up. I'm still learning...I've taken a lot of knowledge in since the beginning of April 2015 since I joined. It's been a whirlwind to say the least. Thank you to all that have helped me so far by guiding me and answering questions in my thread and look forward to your ongoing additional support. This is my sedan the day I bought it Thank you for welcoming me to the family... Mike L. This is the frame I'll be starting my build with. Once I sand the several gallons of body filler off of it.
I've been following your other thread, and just logged on at 5:30 am and you're already on here looking at tech articles, so I can tell the hook's in deep! Congratulations on your recovery, your family, and your new found (sorta) p***ion for the World of Hot Rodding. Good luck with your new car; "A"s are the way!
The tech articles / threads I'm reading are ones that came up in my search for front spring pin / shackle diameters (bushings and non bushing pins). Mine aren't fitting. But I'm going to post that up in my thread if I can't get the answers I'm looking for. Thank you btw. I appreciate it. M
Here's the link to the build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/project-29-tudor-in-m***.971966/
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