Projects Hobby or ??????

Great thread
It’s very enjoyable reading how everyone has taken a different path to the HAMB

for me
I simply get pleasure from taking things apart and putting them back together
most always in a better fashion and definitely with better functionality

I remember as a small child on a Christmas morning getting a car of some sort as a gift and having it in pieces by lunch.
It was a monumental day when I finally put it back together

with regards to old cars it’s 60/40 (working on them/driving them)

I too never had an excess of money
but
found restoring rather than replacing not only a money saver but also very rewarding

Just my thoughts

 

About the same boat you Beaner.
That’s the way since I was 13 years old.
Along the way it’s fun, you learn stuff, get good, people seek you out, a little side gig extra scratch then there’s no time for a day job, and then there’s no time to work on your own stuff.

 

Lifestyle , passion , hobby , necessity.
For me it started with bikes , then dirt bikes and then cars . My older brother and cousins their friends , my friends were all into cars and going fast .
Every week end at the track , Friday night street races car shows etc .
I could not afford new so I bought old and made it cool .
Became a mechanic and it’s what I’ve been doing for close to 30 years !
It evolved from necessity to a lifestyle and now that I’m older it’s a hobby and a stress relief for me .

will always be a part of who I am and what I do .

 

My dad got a few pictures. I'm still working on the same damn old truck, too, 45 years later

 

Amen, man!

 

Trying to keep it as a hobby but. . . . Sometimes it's more of an addiction.

 

Well...
I'm glad I'm not the only one.
LOL

 

Have to have my "daily fix"
on the way to a favorite burger spot yesterday.... life is better with an old hopped up car in it....

 

Like a lot of guys here, I grew up with hot rods, antique cars, trucks, antique tractors, hit ‘n miss gas engines, motorcycles and anything that had a piston in it. My dad was a major motorhead. And it rubbed off on me. My ‘41 Chevy pick up was the oldest vehicle in our high school parking lot. I guess about 25 years ago, I was getting frustrated dealing with early computer crap in my ‘81 El Camino and decided to buy an older (‘70 El Camino) to avoid dealing with that crap. Since getting married, I’ve been driving newer, more reliable vehicles that can safely haul our family. I will always have an old car/hot rod but it has become a hobby…

 

I guess it's a lifestyle, but it doesn't take center place in my life. I don't do the crew cuts or duck tail hair thing though, I leave that to the younger guys trying to recreate an earlier life syle, that's cool, for them. It's just growing up in So Cal cars have just been a part of my life forever. As a kid it was skate boards, go karts, mini bikes (which eventually lead to dirt bikes, and then street bikes), the beach, body surfing, knee boards, girls, hula hoops, guitars, dune buggy's, and hot rods/pony cars and muscle cars. We started the whole BMX thing in our garages, converting stingrays into make believe dirt bikes. It's all just part of the So Cal lifestyle. Everybody I ever knew when growing up was all into the same things, it's just how it was; and for some of us it still is. I'm still playing with guitars, and cars; settled down to just 1 girl 40 some years ago, and haven't been on a skate board in years (and I'm not going to) and I gave up trying to body surf after getting my ass waxed and almost downing; but still collecting guitars and cars.....

 

Lifestyle. All my life I have been obsessed with traditional Ford's from the 30s with updated engines and brakes, not streetrod crap. I am from the 50s and very early 60s. By that time no one wanted a flathead. I started with a 47 Mercury in 1967 and spent years fighting the flathead problems. I even bought a new v8 from Fred Jones Remanufacturing in Oklahoma. Same problems. Terrible design running the exhaust thru the water jacket. It's difficult to believe they did as well as they did. In the late 50s I saw the bounce you get when driving an old Ford with parallel rear springs. No one ever mentions that. All of the hotrods I saw were street cars. Even as a child I saw the division between street cars and race cars. A real race car is not driven on the street. I was never rich enough to consider having a race car so to me a hotrod is a street driven old Ford. No other brand is a traditional hotrod. Those off brand cars may be racecars but they were not and are not traditional street driven hotrods. In 1973 street rods began and they accepted off brands. They called them odd-rods. If it ain't a Ford, it's an odd-rod. That's what the magazines called it and I believe it. I have driven old Ford's and my Mercury for 53 years until I got old and my health demands air conditioning. I did not own any modern cars in 53 years. All old Ford's only. It's really weird that anyone would think that International trucks and Dodge trucks could be a hotrod. Those were sluggish and undesirable. The guys who bought them new were also sluggish, the opposite of a hotrodder. It looks like there are young guys on this forum who think that just because it's old, it is cool and therefore a traditional hotrod. Nope. 49 to 52 Dodge cars were never cool and never were considered hotrods. I spent my life driving old Ford's with updated drivetrains. Traditional hotrods. EDIT: after reading my post I must add. I remember riding in my grandpa's 1937 Ford pickup about 1956. It had a 1941 flathead. He parked it next to barn and I pretended to drive it every Sunday until I got old enough to read hotrod magazines and realized that I could use a small block Chevy to drive it. I begged Grandpa until he said I could have it. It's in my garage now. Lifelong obsession.

 

I'm a car guy. Plain and simple. Have had an interest in cars since I was 10 years old reading a 5 year old copy of Hot Rod magazine. I'm not brand specific, I've owned stuff from the big 3 American makers as well as Japanese and German imports. I've always liked stuff I knew I could never afford unless I built it myself. Lived that dream building stuff for other people, honing my skills and acquiring tools along the way. Done a lot of work for parts and tools that I couldn't afford to buy. Had a lot of projects along the way, clapped out cars needing more than I could afford to put into them, fun until they weren't or until something different caught my eye that I just had to have. Never finishing anything for myself, most never even got to running stage. One 283 I had I put in six different vehicles in three years, and never drove any of them. Lots of ideas, but no money to carry them out.

Finally after the kids were grown, I got a project and worked on it until it was finished. Kept it three years after that, then the old gotta have it bug bit again. I've always loved stuff from the 30's and 40's, but could never find anything I could afford that were worth fixing. I did have a 27 T Tudor body and frame, a 36 pickup cab and frame, and a 38 Chrysler Royal coupe and a 47 Ford coupe at one time or other, but never got any of them even started good, much less finished. They all went away for that next fix, what ever it was at the time. But when I got my 47 Lincoln, it was all different this time. I traded my finished car for it, wife thought I was crazy, but I could see the finished product in my eye. And it's been a keeper, I've had it longer than anything I've owned except a couple of my driver pickups. It's gotten my attention when other things were out of the way. Never spent money on it when bills needed to be paid first, never worked on it when I had other things needing doing. So yeah, I guess it's a hobby. An obsessive hobby, but still just a hobby. I don't do or watch sports, don't really drink, might have a cold brew every couple of years is about it, don't go to parties. It's still not really finished, it needs paint, but I've put a lot of happy miles on it and hope to put many more. I'm happiest when I can build of fabricate stuff, auto or woodworking, enjoy both.

 

Hobby, necessity, ailment-
I do enjoy pulling out the wrenches, and fixing or maintaining. I derive great pleasure looking for that car, driving to the u-pulls, walking the yards (no matter how hard it is raining), finding and gathering those parts. Sometimes this thing kicks my butt like it did two weeks ago. My fleet is not new and I don’t want to change that. I have a disease or an addiction that’s probably the best way to describe it.

 

I think it started as a kid it was just something I did with the grandma in her 56 Ford and my grandpa was a gear head from waaaay back, Cars and hotrods were always there, My uncle used to do work for the guys at i70 speedway and KCIR, id go with him every weekend and watch the races and check out the pits it was all jus normal life. Fast, loud, sometimes one and not the other lol hotrods and racecars since the beginning. I don't think I know any other way now. Its jus as natural as breathing to me. Guess I gotta thank my upbringing and buddies I've made along the way.

 

Better half is big on Geneology, and I play with cars. She has made 10 trips to Poland, has recieved Polish citizenship,
and started a Polish language school for adults to enable her to continue studying, and has run it for the last 10 years.
I spend too much time here, but health has kept me out of the garage for the last year. Things are getting better and I hope to be back out there by late fall. She is good about what I do, I support what she does. Works for us.

 

Good subject!
I don't care for labels. I do, however, like to improve, build, be around and drive old cars as well as hang out with the owners & builders of old cars. In fact, I'd rather do those things than nearly anything else.
I'd hardly call the affliction/passion I have a hobby; A hobby is something one dabbles in. I was into cars when I was a single digit of age. They said I'd grow out of it... they were wrong.

 

Yes, it is a hobby, but this has always been something that I wanted to do. I always hated school from grade school all the way to college. I was always known as the kid who drew cars and didn't want to do anything else.
Unfortunately, I was not able to do that for a living so this is the closest that I'm gonna get to being able to design a car.

 

All of the above. I just took to it as a kid. Helped dear ol Dad since about 10yrs old, he had me mixing bondo, hold stuff in place when he tack welded, by 11-12 I was able to rebuild an MBC DeVillbis spray gun, mix and spray primer. I knew how to use a cutting torch. At 14-15 sprayed my 1st complete, a 62 Ford SWB uni with a Cadillac 390. Got a 3" run on the hood and Dad swiped it off with his finger and fogged it in.
1st car was a 64 Tbird landau. I was proud. He said, "Son, you really like that car?" "Oh yeah pop, I like it..." "Bullshit, tell me the truth." "Well, Dad, I..." "Yeah right. Sell that son of a bitch and lets get you what you want. What do you really want." I ended up building a 69 Camaro out of 2 totals. Prior to we always hustled cars outta the home garage. I actually got to drive a 34 Packard 8 club sedan when I was 15. Drove more Model A Fords than I can remember. It was our life and I liked it. He raced in the early 60s, I wanted to drag race. Ended up doing that too. I got into the actual biz in 81, had a few full time jobs here n there but the dickhead over the top of my bathroom sink always pulls me back in like Pacino in "Godfather III". Hot rods too. Can't help it. If it's fast I want some. Even built a 165HP Mach Z sled. Never wanted fast bikes. Went 105 once on a Sportster so I could say I did it. Been just shy of 165 on I-94 in a Ferarri. I've driven 4 different Duesnbergs, 3 different Lambo Countachs, Jags, Aston Martins, Auburn 12 Speedsters, a Cadillac 16, 2 Cord L-29s (not fun) and 3 different 36-7 Cord 810s. Is it a lifestyle? You bet your finned aluminum valve covers it is. I never got rich in this biz. I do ok, answer to nobody, have some kool shit, even still have the sled (one of these days I'll wake it up).
These days I'm a shameless flipper. I can do better buying and selling vs pushing sandpaper and turning wrenches, but those nearly 5 decades of the wrenches makes the buy/sell life pretty diverse. I don't bowl, hunt, fish, golf, play cards, or do gardening. I'm a car guy. Fkn near all in. These days perhaps a dinosaur and I'm fine with that. Looking fwd to finishing off my 65 389 tri-power GTO. I'd rather shovel horseshit on a hot day than drop an LS in it, but I could pay to have it done if I had $100 for everyone that said I should. The T-rex in me won't allow it. Got an old Shovelhead too. Coming along nicely. More than all of that it's the people and friendships I've had the pleasure and privy to be involved with. I can't imagine anything else. I could fill 2 pages with awesome stories and cars. What else is there? And the HAMB can often be Nirvana, so there's that too.

 

To was born into it. Attended and participated in my first drag race when my mom was six months pregnant with me. We won that race too. It's in my DNA to put it simply.
I presently have five old cars and some even run. I had to step away when my bride died a couple of years ago but a friend that's into all this who had lost his wife too started pushing me back to the shop. Therapy he called it. It does help keep me somewhat balanced these days. Slowly I'm breathing the fumes of my creations again.
It does me good...
r

 

For me it's a wannabe hobby, I have to live vicariously through those that have the infrastructure to support their old car hobby. The only other way I get my old car fix is through building scale models and making art.

 

In the sixties it was a lifestyle in so far as my car / hot rod was how I got around every day. If I raced it, I still had to drive it home. As life progressed it was something lost until my kids got to driving age. Then, until now, it is a hobby.

 

Hobby is probably the best description.
We joke at times that I "rescue" them, like a dog from the animal shelter.
Come winter it is good to be able to spend time in the shop tearing things apart and fixing them.
Come spring it is important that at least one car is available to be on the road.
Started building go karts and minibikes in grade school, got my first car at 14.
Was on # 3 when I turned 16 and got a license to drive (legally)

 

I feed the habits of collector/hobbyists from aspirin tins to Zippo lighters with automotive parts being the main focus.
I sell the past I don’t live in it.

 

I guess it's changed over the last 60 years for me. I started out just wanting to build myself transportation that would be cool, and hoping it might be semi fast. I didn't even have a driver's license when I bought my first ride at 13 yrs. old. A '47 International panel truck that wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but was dirt cheap, and I could fix it up as I approached driving in a few years.
Once I was old enough to drive I had to have something dependable, but cool also, and a bit faster, so I bought my mom's '57 Chev Belair and began making the 283 two barrel engine a bit faster by bolting on some better speed parts.
Over the years as income got better, I did a lot of buying, fixing up, and selling old cars. All in an attempt to feed my lust for something better than I had. I guess at that point it turned into a life style, as it seemed all my spare time revolved around cars for myself, or getting paid to fix up cars for friends. I had a steady job outside the automotive trade, but cars have always been my main interest in life.
Not much has changed today, and I still always want a car that's fairly fast, but having multiple cars today allows me to have something that's maybe not super fast, but gets a lot more driving time because I built it to drive a lot. I'll always have a few hotrods, or specialty cars, as I could never imagine not having them.

 

Fancy name for "butch wax".

 

In So Cal it's a way of life.

 

When I had hotrod shop in Australia I'd have kid's come in and start that conversation with what if......
I wasn't getting my work done in the shop so I took a 4'x8' plywood sheet painted it white with red letters "Speed cost's money how fast do you want to go".

 

I've never felt the need to define my relationship with cars, boats, guitars, etc. I don't see a huge difference between hobby and lifestyle, unless we're saying a lifestyle guy is a one trick pony that only cares about cars and not really anything else? I have always had old stuff around d since I was a kid, starting with motors for my rowboat, bikes, etc. It just morphed into cars and wood boats. Guitars came around in my teens, and they're still probably first on my list...

 

Definitely not a hobby for me! If I had to put a label on it The only word I can think of would be "addiction" I have had many hobby's over the years and they all come and go. But hotrods has never been a hobby for me! I wake up in the mornings thinking about what I am going to do to my hotrods and go to bed at night thinking about what I am going to do to my hotrods. When I go out to dinner with my wife and she is looking at the menu asking me what I am going to order. I just wanna hurry up and shove down some food so I can get back home and go out in the shop. When I am not able to talk my way out of going over to friends house to watch a football game, I take an old hot rod magazine with me. Not that I have anything against football, I mean I truly hope that whatever color team that they are rooting for scores a basket. I can't explain why I am the way I am. I don't know if the fact that My Dad was dragging me around National Street Rod events at only 3 years old (Before "Streetrod" was a bad word) Or maybe It had something to do with me being driven to kindergarten in a 32 ford hotrod. When I was little our only form of transportation was a hotrod. I grew up around them and thought everyone had one. There was always frames, bodies, and customers projects in and around my Dads shop and house. Thats basicly been my life and that is all I know

 

For me, it started as a necessity. I needed to be able to fix my own vehicle at 16 years old with no to little money.

Fast forward 40 years -> Now I own new cars that are designed to go to the dealership for any repairs. Not only is this limited to cars, but new modern household appliances.

Now, I'm looking for anything old and US made to replace all the Chinese throw away crap in my house.