I know that many here don’t like resto mods But think about what was going on in the 30s, 40s 50s and into the early 60s Guys were hotrodding cars by adding at the time modern figments to increase performance (yanking out that old flathead and dropping in 283 SBC) and with many Kustoms adding comfort items What doyuall think?
I hope so because I’m going to eventually be turning my family heirloom ’51 Ford into one. I love traditional and would love to keep it in that configuration but I’m wanting to drive it and enjoy the car. My wife and I want to drive it to Alaska to see the northern lights and tour the country so going Restomod/Pro Touring is the way to go. The way I look at it you only live once and you might as well do it in style
I'm on the same page as lostn51, and am planning a very long trip in my Caddy that just lost another Olds, so am going to go to the "dark side" and go with a new LS, but keep the TH400, and hide all the electronics.....hope this don't ruffle too many feathers.
For a young hotrodder today on a limited budget with a good body shell can pull a plethora of parts from the junk yards and build quite the kool Hotrod everything I have is vintage with the original engines, that’s what I like but I can really appreciate a modernized older car, one with real technology modern computer controlled cars get better performance and are more efficient I never understood the fear of modern cars, after all when things go bad the car will actually tell you what is wrong
I've been doing this for years. It used to be a fairly inexpensive way to play with cars. These days, its getting harder to locate candidates that can be good parts donors. Junk yards don't have many rear wheel drive vehicles left in them any more, and what is left is picked over and their numbers are dwindling. These days it more like piecing a car together, one piece at a time. It can still be done, but its more challenging and more expensive. Getting the modern electronics to cooperate with parts from different years of even the same vehicle is hard and just the conversion kit can run $1,000+ easily. This is a "resto mod" its on a modern 4x4 chassis, with modern disc brakes on the front and drum brakes on the rear. It has a Mopar port injected EFI motor, a computer controlled OD trans with a lock up converter and 3:55 gears. It has modern seats, 3 point seat belts and shoulder belts, and gets 18 mpg @70 mph. It gets driven year around (even in the snow and salt) and saw 9500 road miles in 2023. This truck, in 2021/2022 (11 months) cost over $9,000 in parts alone (before the paint and body work), and I ran across a lot of deals while building it, and I've done this many times before. This one is also a resto mod. It too has a modern chassis. A throttle body EFI V6, a 5 speed OD trans, and a 3:55 limited slip rear. It also has modern wipers, heat and defroster (no AC), modern seats with 3 point belts, disc brakes (front) drum (rear) and a power rack and pinion steering. This one has been on the road since 2012. It has been in 25 States and has traveled over 100,000 miles since it was built. This car cost less the $2,000 to build in 2011/2012. The differences in the build costs are mostly the increase of the cost of replacement parts. Both started with donor vehicles which supplied the basic parts then those parts were replaced with new/rebuilt replacement parts. I used nearly every useable part from each donor in both builds.
In my mind (scary thought heh?), Resto-Mod cars could or could not be HAMB friendly. My 40 Buick is getting upgraded, but all the stuff is on-topic. Full frame swaps and late model powertrains for reliability/comfort is great, and now there is a place to post it.
Many of us will likely be gone by that time, but where will hot rodding be in 25 years? Will all the old traditional stuff be squirreled away in hoards, museums, and rarely driven? At that point the ls engines will be an old dog just like many of our current rides. Shoot, their initial design is already over 20 years old. I’m not a fan of converting everything over to them because it gets too common. They do have some appeal though. They make horsepower as easy as falling off a log, plus there are millions of them out there. IF I was going to build one it would have to be carbureted. I DO like cross brand engine swaps, and one of the better recent ones I’ve seen had a 6.0 litre iron headed ls stuck in a modern Challenger with a turbo on it and it would sink stock hellcats like a torpedo. I’m sure it pissed off the Chrysler guys but I’ve seen some Chrysler engines in Chevy’s that were pretty cool too.
I'm loving this. I've always loved the Hamb, but haven't been hamb friendly. This is a place my old truck Rusty kinda fits the resto mod scene. It looks somewhat original but is all modern S10...can drive it anywhere. Tbis will be my favorite forum. Lol
Traditional Hotrod’s can be built on a budget will require many swap meet searching and whole gaggle of patience the engine can be the biggest hurdle I was fortunate that my flathead v8 29 roadster came with a good runner
Things related to cars change as we age. When I was under 60 I didn't concern myself with power steering, AC, ride comfort. But in my 70's/80's those things became more important if I were going to enjoy having a hot rod or older car. I recently sold the car in my avatar because I like to drive my cars and since it had no side glass I only drove it in nice weather and in the central U.S. the weather changes frequently. Now I have a 32 Dearborn Deuce roaster hi-boy with a top and side glass and if get caught in the rain can still enjoy it. It is certainly off-topic on the traditional HAMB board. My 52 Buick (which I stopped using as my avatar when I changed wheels) has a modern drive train and AC, PS, PB and other creature comforts but looks somewhat stock externally. I drove it to the StrayKat 500 last weekend and encountered a lot of rain. Some folks decided to cancel going due to the weather and that is their prerogative. My 54 Chevy pickup looks pretty stock except for the stance but also has a modern drive train and it currently is my daily driver. I really enjoy traditional hotrod and customs and following the traditional forum but at an age where health issues dictate more comfort if I'm going to drive my cars. I'm glad to see this off-topic forum.
Me being from the performance car era, have always liked the modern drive trains, but I also like the older body styles. This was my first HAMB era car I built (about the time the HAMB was born, but before I knew about it). All Mopar, it had a cross torsion bar front suspension (from an 82 Chrysler 5th Ave) attached to a homemade rectangular tube frame. It sported a 318, a 904 transmission, and an 8 3/4 rear end with 3:23 gears. Created from these humble beginnings, I assembled the above car that we drove 77,000 miles over the 7 years that followed it being road worthy.
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