Features Age vs. mindset and hot rodding/racing

I am 78 and I still do the same things I did when I was much younger. I never give my age any thought when I am working on one of the old cars. I am very active and I exercise every day. So far, I have only had to have one hip replaced and that went great and my cancer has been under control for over 5 years. Life is good. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people with health issues that cannot be helped. Everyone is different.

 

For sure much is at***ude, but we all age and part of aging is having a whole host of issues. I look at my 15 yr old dog as an example. I will say I bumped into two guys at their booth in Hershey last Oct. I mentioned I was about to turn 60 and felt I was running out of time having just come from TROG and wanting to race there one day. Then they mentioned they also were there, but had raced and both were in their 80s! Told me I still had lots of time. lol!

 

I'm about to turn 65, and "getting old" stuff is starting...eyesight changes, high frequency hearing loss, memory getting flaky, blood pressure, new pains in the joints, etc. I decided it's time to take better care of myself, so I can continue doing fun stuff with cars more while I'm still alive and somewhat capable.

I went to the doctor last fall about SI joint pain, and of course got the blood pressure warning...so I looked into how to deal with that, and decided to change when/what/how much I eat. And got sent to PT for core strength training, which made the pain go away, now I do my exercises twice a week. I was a very skinny young man, but put on 60 lbs over the years, and took off about 30 of them over the past 15 years, but still felt overweight. With the diet change, I wound up losing the rest of the weight, I'm back down below 140, like when I was in my 20s.

Over the past few years I've noticed my stamina when doing labor or trying to run was pretty low, so I decided to start running, to build that back. I've been working on this for the past few months, I can now run 10k, not at a very fast pace, but not bad for a beginning runner my age.

I pay attention to how hard it is to steer, shift and stop my manual old cars. I'm still doing OK there, but I realize the day will come when I just don't have the strength for it, and I'll figure out how to deal with it...but driving them often while I can will help me put that day off several years, I hope.

One of these days I'll get my (just starting) cataracts removed, and driving at night will be easier.

One of these days I'll get some hearing aids.

I'm planning to run a local half marathon this fall.

I can fit in old cars real easily, compared to most guys my age. Turns out I'm now skinnier (BMI) than 99% of men my age.

 

we really deteriorate after 50 and it gets worse as time goes by. at age 66 I ride my bikes (never really stopped completely) walk around the lake and hike once in a while. that was not enough so I bought some weights and do sit ups. I am more fit now than I was 10 years ago. I also stopped buying boxes with pictures of food on them to pop in the microwave and eat real food from the produce section instead.
trying to avoid being one of those guys who have to rent an electric scooter at Goodguys until I hit at least 90

 

One thing you learn as you get older is that every injury that sidelined you for more than a few days will come back to haunt you. Some minor, some major; everyone is different. Yes, at***ude can matter but physical limitations rarely care about that. And sometimes life just deals you lemons through no fault of your own. Virtually everyone on my mother's side of the family gets dementia/Alzheimers; it got my sister. But no one on my dads' side. A roll of the genetic dice for me. And while my sister was otherwise as healthy as a horse until the very end, I got dealt some issues early.

At age 13 I had major surgery on both knees. This wasn't due to an injury, but to correct a genetic defect. No arthroscopic surgery in those days (1964), they filleted both knees open and drove a bunch of steel staples into both. They're still there. Four months bedridden with casts from my ankles to my crotch, when they were finally cut off I was handed a pair of crutches and sent out the door, no such thing as rehab in those days. I permanently lost 30% range of motion in my knees and the only PE I was allowed in school was swimming. That's when I found out I was allergic to chlorine... Mr. Runny Nose all though high school... LOL. But one thing I was told at the start was that I'd 'probably have back trouble later in life'. That turned out to be true, I ended up having to have surgery for that too, although I made it almost 40 years before I had to have it done. Plus other side effects from all this.

Don't get the idea I'm whining about any of this. It's just the way it is and has been for long time. In spite of all this I had a 30+ year career as an industrial/commercial electrician and learned to adapt to the situation. You do the things you need to do so it's easier to do. I still own and drive a manual shift car, and while my avatar and '60 Sunliner are AT-equipped from the POs, I do have the parts to convert them and hope to accomplish that at some point. But will admit that I live in a rural area, if I lived in an urban area with heavy stop-and-go traffic I might re-think that.

I've got a life-long friend who was nearly killed in a construction accident, a two-story framed and sided wall fell on him when the wall jacks failed. Yes, at***ude does matter. He was told he'd be lucky if he ever walked again. It took him almost 15 years, but he eventually got back into his trade, he just lowered the scope of the jobs he could work. But like me and many others, it has caught up to him. Personally, I have about 20 bend-overs in me on any given day. Exceed that, and I'm not worth a damn for several days. So pointing out guys diluting the 'purity' of their builds by adding modern conveniences that allow them to continue to enjoy them is ********...

 

probably the best tools in my shop. have been working out for years. Put equipment in when our gym closed for covid

 

My best advice at this point has little to do with aging and more to do with proofreading...........

Here's the real question. Who here would give up their left nut to be 44 again?

 

Agree on old injuries. Broke my hip skiing close to 25 yrs ago. It’s really starting to affect me lately. Same with my right knee after tearing my ACL as a result of hitting a hydro pole head on while racing. Both those injuries affected my mobility. I’ve had several other surgeries over the years as well. Was always told after surgery that I would develop arthritis, but so far so good.

 

I am currently 78 and have been building hot rods, race cars, and doing restorations since then. I admit that I don't move as fast or as easily as I once did. However, the desire and drive has never slowed down. I just turn the speed down to match my current situation. As I have said in other threads, a couple years ago, someone came into my garage while I was tinkering on my avatar roadster and asked how old I was and why I was still doing this. Well, I have aged a bit more, but the reply is still the same, "because I ain't dead yet!" Since I began at age 14, I have restored cars, hot rodded cars, raced cars, worked everything from new car get ready to service manager in dealerships, ran my own shop, and happily buried myself in the automotive world until my legs got so bad that I retired and had both knees replaced. I walk a little slower these days, but still spend time working on mine and friend's projects. I still brings me great pleasure to be involved with all this. When I die, they will have to put tools out of my cold dead hands! I have worked automotive and aircraft all my life and doing that has given me pleasure and a feeling of accomplishment that nothing else has. Wood has always been a magic substance that I have been able to make sawdust and splinters out of! By now my sawdust and splinters are of Olympic quality but just sawdust and splinters none the less. It has been a lifestyle that I wouldn't trade for anything. I am truly blessed to have had a lifelong p***ion that paid all my bills, allowed me to express my desires in metal, and to REALLY enjoy my life. If I croak tomorrow, I have nothing to complain to St. Peter about at the pearly gates when I arrive, except for flies and wood! I was fortunate to have a deep p***ion that allowed me enjoy my life and work! I have seen and heard from people that went into the family business or something else rather than pursue their p***ion because of external pressures. Both my parents wanted different careers for me, mentioned them, but never pushed their desires onto me. For that, I am eternally grateful! I believe that I hear my hot rod calling me out to the garage now, so I must answer the call!

 

Hershel McGriff ran 100 laps on a 3/8 mile paved oval at 90, but he is the exception.

 

At 76 I read this and it’s “o yeah me too”. Relatively minor back surgery and cataracts both in the scheduling stages now.

I spent last summer barely able to walk. Turned out to be a side effect of a statin medication. I’d been taking it about 5 years, no problem. Finally a couple friends tipped me off. Much more common side effect if you’re over 75. Lesson for me, keep an eye on the side effects. Things change over time. Use a good medical web site (I use the Mayo Clinic one). Cost me a whole summer of activity. But I’m back out catching up in the garage now.

 

I changed the steering in my ‘34 because the stock setup steered so hard it was no fun to drive. The choice was change or sell. I’ve put a/c in a couple of my rides because 100 degrees is common here. Being practical is no sign of weakness.
Critical comments about how people deal with their build choices is really shortsighted. As noted, many of us deal with age or injury issues and it seems to me more productive to applaud those who adapt and enjoy their hot rods.

 

I'd like to be 30 again. Quit racing motocross then, still kicking the younger guys ***es. But the wife wanted kids.Still feel pretty good considering at 68. But it's slowly catching up to me. Wouldn't give it up for nothing. Both of my hot rods manual steering and brakes. No problem.

 

I'm 42. Since 16 I've only had 4 vehicles with working AC. Van has it but is never used. My 53 Chevy is actually a factory power steering and auto trans car. One of the first things I did was convert to manual steering and have plans to swap to a manual transmission. Despite brake upgrades brakes are also manual lol

 

Once again, we have someone who did not read the words/post as it was written but instead chose to interpret what was written and put their own spin on it -

 

I saw something recently. It went something like this;

Instead of thinking
I wish I was 20 years younger, I could do so much more
Instead think,
This is my one day at this age from when I'll be 90, I can get so much more done.

 

It was 101 actual temp one Saturday the wife and I took the 31 out for a drive. I remember looking at her and saying this aint bad. Of course no Ac.

 

*** drugs and rock and roll sure were fun. Now time to pay the piper.

 

I mean.....

 

Only if I could go back to that time period, simpler times back in '92 !

 

Age vs mindset.
I have an illness that I inherited through my family tree, which 1/2 is pretty questionable because it was something the medical profession didn't identify until about 40 years ago. At this point, it has been determined that about 3% of the world population shares my illness. They tell me it is more male dominate, and that it will eventually kill me, my needed organs will simply quit working. No exercise program in the world is going to help my physical condition, several exercises will increase the speed of my body's deterioration.
At 69, I have outlived the oldest age of every male on both sides of my family tree except one, and he is currently in his 90s and has never shown any effects of my condition, which generally turn up in the mid 30s. My condition is basically controlled by medication (10 pills everyday keep the highs and the lows mostly in check) and has been monitored every 6 months since I was 33.

Parts of my body don't work nearly as good as they used to, some of that is directly related to some of the things I've done to my body over the years, some are the results my illness has placed on my body, some are a combination of both. Its been a good life, and I intend to keep doing as much as I can and enjoy the life I have left, be it short, or long term. I know some adjustments will be coming.

I don't want to be the guy that blames old age as the reason some of the things already have, and probably will be changing in the not so distant future (including the power steering, power brakes, auto trans, probably AC, and doing less on work on my own vehicles as time moves on). But the reality in my life is, those things will be needs if I am to continue enjoying cars in the future.

As much as we hate to admit it, we really have very little control over our future! The only thing we really have control over is our at***ude about life.

 

I am just going to say this, I am 79 my wife is 77 and she has earned here creds in spades for crossing between Texas and Washington and back in hot no AC hot rods and trucks.
The ******** artists are always saying that it isn't a real hot rod if you have _____ or _____ on it and then you ask how many miles a year they put on their real hot rod and it is usually well under 1000 or they don't have one that they have ever actually driven. first trip out of the box in 1981 for my 48 was 1943 Miles one way. Abilene TX was so hot that the tar was melting in the asphalt . My wife was in the camper shell dipping ice water out of the cooler to cool our two year old off some with a damp cloth . She has earned the right to make the next Texas trip to McGregor, Blanco and Austin with AC in the 48. The truck will have power steering and power brakes. Both AC and powersteering might end up being electric so they don't show under the hood and block the view of hundreds of bucks worth of finned cast aluminum .
On the other hand the roadster I am building will be so bare bones and most parts in the build are 56 or earlier and that 56 truck. rear axle looks like older Chevy torque tube axles. from behind. The whole idea of that car is for it to look like it was an early 30's two seat race car or could have been. If it goes more than 1oo miles from the house it will probably riding on a trailer behind the 48.

 

Interesting Thread, Save It, Read it when You are 74, Rewrite your thoughts and compare.

 

Huh .I've went back a dozen times, and tried to find exactly what was your point. Don't think I ever really found it. I even deleted some of my comments that were beneath me. I am a tig welder by trade,65 years old .No gl***es, probably could use a tuneup .Knock on wood. That doesn't mean that I think you should give up welding because you need helpers in your gl***es.Maybe you should just quit until your power of the mind fixes them. There is no one that believes more strongly in the power of the mind than I. But ,for you to come on here with a few examples of Iron men on the track, and then try to limit how others deal with their projects that might be trying to go out on the long trek,****s. When's the last time you went out on a cross-country jaunt in 30s Hot Rod? It's not exactly like I remember it in 70s,or 80s,or 90,s 2,000s ,2010s,2020s, .Get on your Horse, and ride.

 

Why do sprint cars have power steering? Guys must be wimps!

 

Clearly..

 

Well, Jesus suffered like a mfkr.
I can deal with a little suffering.
I think it's only right, only fitting.
And I'm grateful if I can keep ****in' around with old cars.
Thank you, Lord... for everything.
God bless all my HAMB brothers.
Happy Easter everyone.

 

This little collection of weights makes a huge improvement to my health, and my work paid for it through our benefits package.

3 to 4 days a week I do some yoga and then weights in the garage.
There are lots and lots of YouTube videos you can follow to do workouts that are appropriate for your age and ability.
One YouTuber called manflowyoga seems to have exactly what I need every time, like “yoga for men over 40” or “yoga for a stiff neck”.
I keep meaning to message him and ask for “yoga for before driving a racecar”

since I started this, working under the car or crawling under the dash is much easier!

 

The surgeon who rebuilt my right knee told me he sees more runners needing new knees than any other hobbies put together. In my case it was years of MX and Enduro dirt bike racing, and of course a wicked crash that broke my knee and ended my dirt biking at age 32.
His suggestion was to NEVER run at all! He said the best exercise anyone can do if they want to stay in shape is swimming. 2nd best is bicycle riding. Neither is hard on joints and swimming involves more than just legs to exercise.
Too late for me as I did the damage when I was young.

 

Thanks for the warning...

Swimming and cycling take so much effort to get set up to do.