Features Age vs. mindset and hot rodding/racing

You do know he's going to take offence to you saying things like that about his grandma, right?

 

I certainly hope not. But if it makes things better I will install power steering and power brakes in her hotrod.

 

That damn little white ball is hard enough to hit when it's sitting still, nothing sits still for me. Master's week. I can't be in a foul mood on Masters week! I have to miss the opening round as the Portland Swap Meet opens Thursday at the racetrack. Golf will have to wait. 15,000 steps and buying stuff I don't need beats golf on TV.

 

I've been eyeballing this thing that doesn't have a horrible price on it as a rod trot/swap meet cruiser and I could stick Billy in the back and go. My knees will never survive the Portland swapmeet if I walk.
It would work for the race track but not for he Expo center.

 

I dropped 45 pounds since September (I don't have anything else to do all day but work out). I am actually looking forward to the walk Thursday and the temps are looking like 65-70...for the swap meet????? Love the cart though. I almost bought a Harley AMF cart last year, Orange and black with a tiller. Put some Screaming Eagle graphics on it. Looking cool!

 

I like it! Its got bigs & little wheels, looks to be channeled some and nobody can say "too bad its a four door.

 

I'll be 103 when Adriatic's timer goes off & I sure hope to read any responses then! I've been through most of the accidents/injuries/broken bones/surgery mentioned above, and it does take longer to accomplish things these days, but I live for the sense of accomplishment that comes from figuring out how to adapt & do what needs done, and the pure joy I get from driving what I've built! I want to thank all you "older" guys for your comments on this thread; your at***udes & remarks have been the bright point of the week for me, and real motivation to get back out in the shop!!
PS; if anyone wants to get a visual on why someone would consider Power steering, get on the web & search the video of the gentleman manhandling the 1959 Tbird (with manual steering) around a road course. (or drive a 41-58 ford with original steering at speed on a winding mountain road,,,) For me it's all about making your car what YOU want it to be.

 

He doesn't drink, he's a vicodin man. I was addicted to it myself at one time, it ****s!

 

Take care of your knees , you’ll miss them when they’re gone !!
Sage advice from my dad looking at me kneeling and laying on a cold concrete floor.

my back is fubar along with sciatica in both legs , I’m 47 this year .

I act and feel for the most part I’m 25 !!

when I got married and had our first daughter , I sold my 69 lincolin . As I thought “ I’m a grown up now I need a sensible vehicle “
Well that lasted all of 3 months and bought a 79 vw rabbit gti then a year later my 50 fleetline !!

age really is just a number , how you “ feel” is the true age you are .
I know guys in there 30’s that act and feel 60 I know guys in there 80’s that still think they’re 40.

creature comforts are not a fail or pussing out , but just getting to a point in your life where you value comfort over other things .

my days of bouncing around in a low Ryder pick up or vw are gone , I’ll take a big comfy bench seat in a full size car any day .

still not at the point where power brakes and ac are a necessity, but I would not say no to them either !

 

New Year’s resolution this year is to let everyone live their best life- right from the dogs to the grandmothers in our lives. It is working out pretty well so far. ps- can someone correct that to tiger?

 

@Robert J. Palmer, just to make sure of the facts, I went back and looked at your profile and some of your earlier posts. You're a welder and fabricator, and by the looks of it, you've spent all your working life as what we Boilermakers who worked in the field called "shop rats". At your age, I was climbing 90-foot-tall oil storage tanks one-handed with a 50-pound box of welding rod on one shoulder. I welded, threw scaffold boards and swung a hammer fitting together all the stuff that the "shop rats" fabricated all day long in whatever the weather happened to be, not inside a shop out of that weather. No ********, it's a fact, and it's a fact that daily actions like those took a toll on my physical well-being. Could I still do that? No, I couldn't. Because I did, my body took a beating that at the age of 81, has made it very difficult to get up and down from under a car to get tools or simply make it to the bathroom to take a piss. I hope that when you reach my age, none of this happens to you but the odds are that you are going to experience a lack of mobility. You will resent it, just as I do, but it will be a reality.

 

I see what ya did there…….

 

The body ages, that is a fact of life. But, if one keeps it in fairly good shape, the activities, including strenuous hot rod building and ***embling seems easier. there is no denying that the older one gets, the less one is able or wants to be relaxing in retirement. Despite the available time...


Hello,

Perhaps, I was lucky to start racing in my teenage years and that sharpened my mind/body reactions. That activity was a weekly thing and kept at it until I went away to college. Then the most active thing was having to wrestle a huge football player in a college cl***, one on one. That gave me some aches that I never knew existed.

But, overall, my teenage years perhaps trained my body to accept all sorts of bends, twists and reverse arch back angles in my long time surfing adventures. Since I could not knee paddle due to aching knees, I had to lay down to paddle and that in itself was a killer, on my back, when having to paddle long distances to get to the waves or trying to get into the waves.

The years playing football helped me absorb body dings and bruises. Yikes. That plus constant angle arch bends and lower back twists until the adult years in surfing caused a few days afterwards of pure, long hours of napping on my side. Ha!

Jnaki

One would think of doing some nice cruising around in our 20 something low key lifestyle, but a short hop on the Harley Sportster at the beginning to long 50-100 mile rides for pleasure and business began to take its toll. The vibration on the surface roads was like a m***aging method, but for some reason, when I reached the destination, the aches started the moment I swung my leg over the seat to try and stand straight up. That was a short moment to allow my body to constantly adjust to the seating angle.

So, the years of retirement was a great way to constantly relax and enjoy the surroundings. Traveling where and when, no time limit on our stays, anywhere. One of the most enjoyable moments was being the caretakers, 24 hours for 5-6 days a week of our little toddler granddaughter. We raised a son, now we were able to raise a precocious granddaughter. It was like being young parents all over again.

But, it was a good thing my wife and I stayed in good shape walking miles up and down hills, eating right and getting plenty of naps to rest our old bodies. As active as our granddaughter is/was, we had to keep up to have even more fun… Our adventures sailing on the ocean and large bays was easily done as we were fit enough to enjoy the warm sun and blue water contrasting with the blue skies. It is/was a great way to relax and enjoy life as it should be, in retirement.

Note:
The eyeballing of the green light on/off at any stop light, these days, always reminds me of the learned response as a teenager. At the drag strip, it was an advantage to learn the quirks of the green light saga. But, on the street, it and the C&O Stick Hydro always gave me an advantage for a head start... YRMV

 

....Marty, this is a huge factor ....I even stretch out before I get up out of bed, to piss the one time I do during the night...
Stay hydrated...
practice your balance daily....or I do at 74 years....tell a 40 or even a 50 something to do that
I have refused to get a car lift because it forces me to get the jack, the jack stands or wheel stands, roll in and out from under the car and get up and down...I don't have to pay for a gym membership either
and why get hydraulic brakes when you can have mechanical...
I need to excuse myself to go haul water and then pull a bucket curl cylinder on my backhoe to rebuild....it's my power shovel and improved my life quality like the crane did for heavy lifting
thank God we don't belong to this place because we all build and drive cars that all look the same....

 

I just heard this phrase a couple days ago.
“Pay for it now or pay for it later”
I’m 48 and still in really good health. On no meds and no gl***es. Readers are coming, I know.
At 45 I took my last PT test before I retired from the Air National Guard. Didn’t have to but wanted to. I was the oldest one running that day and was the second to finish. Maxed out everything but the run.
If you want to fill your body with **** and then set around you’ll pay for it later.
Obviously, some things happen anyway and we deal with it.
Staying mobile and strong is my goal. Strength for go and not show.
I’m a youth pastor and I refuse to be outdone physically by these “youths”. One evening in cl*** I was challenged to arm wrestle the “strongest” boy in cl***. He is strong and it was a challenge but I let him know who was stronger. I had to. By the way he is a ninja warrior kind of guy. I heard him whisper to the other guys after the match, “ He’s strong”.
With all that said, I urge you to do what you have to to be able to do what you want to do without having to use the excuse, I’m old.
Don’t sit around!

 

If you ever hit a rut sideways at 90 mph you'd know why power steering in a sprint car is appreciated. That and the fact that sprint car steering gears are around 9:1 ratio.

 

At 63 I built a 24 by 30 garage by myself other than the concrete. Shoveled the roof off 3 times as it was winter. At 66
I built my mother an addition on my sisters house. At 69 I had my first back surgery for spinal stenosis , At 72 I had my second. Everyone ages differently, and changes can be rather sudden. I was rebuilding my brothers sun room 2 months prior to my first surgury., now I am limited to lifting no more thsan 30 lbs.