Hot Rods How long have you been building hot rods/customs?

First car, Chevelle at 14 in 1980. Dad always looked out for me. Never gonna stop.

 

by wicarnut posted Jan 20, 2014 at 5:27 PM

I was born into the hobby and my first wrenching experience was working on my Dad's Midget racer. My Mother was a nurse and always worked Pm's, Dad had a Shell station back then and he watched me during the day when she slept, kept the racer in back of one of the bays, he gave me wrenches to "fix" the car, to keep me occupied and out of his way I'm sure. I would check all the nuts and bolts to make sure everything was tight. I Got fired, apparently I loosened the head nuts, V8 60 flathead engine, blew a head gasket instantly warming up for hot laps, we lived 8 blocks from State Fair Park, West Allis Wi., 1/4 mile dirt inside the mile track. My Uncle Chet was the driver from 52-58, 52 I was 4 years old, went back to the garage , got a new head gasket, fixed, they raced, all good. I was no longer given wrenches, then promoted to cleaning polisher work. Another Kool memory, I drove the Midget on the trailer, then sitting in the car on the trailer towed to the track. One of my jobs at the station was to bring out the candy dish if any kids in the car when Dad was pumping their gas. One of my Mom's favorite stories, she was napping and I took the oven door off, it fell on the floor and woke her up, they hid the tools till I got a little older. car is updated, myself drivng it 1974, I built the engine, painted it, into my 21 year racing hobby 1970 - 1991

1948-1974 . by wicarnut posted Jan 16, 2014 at 3:15 PM

Jk first car 57, by wicarnut

 

About 50. I'm 67 so was a late developer. Had an avid interest before actually getting going though, but that doesn't count does it?

Chris

 

Bought my avatar at a farm auction when I was 13 with money I earned picking tomatoes. Who says child labour is detrimental to your well being. That would have been in 1975. I brought the mouse nest that had been the ownership to the MTO, they said I had to get a declaration from a notary . I went to the lawyer on main street who did the job for two bucks, on the promise that if I got into trouble, I would use him as a lawyer. He has since retired without me as a client. I fooled around with dune buggies and mopeds before that, but didn’t technically own them, or hot rod them although they really were jalopies. Mark me down for 51 years.

 

62 years now. Before that I read little hot rod and go kart magazines and day dreamed a lot.

 

First car at 15, modifying/making it my own from day one.
Actual "building" came later.
70 yrs old, so 55 years.

 

Pretty much the same answer as the OP for me. I'm 62 and started helping my dad with Model A restorations probably when I was 10-12. Started building a 67 Camaro at 13 and had it ready to drive when I got my license the day I turned 16.
50 years and going strong, but maybe a little slower some days.

 

Bought a POS car to drive to school in 1975. 17 years old. Learned mechanics on it. Learned body and paint from the best a couple years later. So 52 years. This pic was 1979. Same POS after I fixed it up.

 

Had a neighbor around the block with a red '39 Chevy coupe when I was a kid. I'd wander over and 'help'. Did my own first hot rod (O/T small SUV with a SBC) at 17. I'm 50 now. So...33 yrs plus the 'helping'.

 

Man, you guys are old…

 

Only 59 for me and yes, I'm old.

 

I started working on cars in the mid 1970’s but didn’t really do a full build until the late 80’s when I started having some extra income. I’ve lived the lifestyle though, with countless hours trying to make less than perfect cars a little bit better. If that counts, I’d say 50 years…

 

Been turning wrenches since I was a kid but mostly on boats (dad was a Chris Craft guy since he was a kid in the 50s), but I did do all the work in my own cars and fixed um up, etc. Only two hamb friendly tho, so by the actual measuring stick, not very much time spent on old cars.... Maybe a decade. A little more maybe. Bought the second one pretty much complete tho, so that shaves some time off too....

 

First one was a ‘35 Chevy pickup in 1962 when I was 15. The ‘31 in my avatar pic is 1964.

 

I'm 58, not sure when I started, Dad used to let me help put the car off the road, and then back on the road starting when I was 11-12ish, take the battery out, pull the tires off etc. then charge and reinstall the battery, put the tires on etc. later he let me clean and pack the front wheel bearings.
When we took the car off the road in 1985, I stripped it down to the front frame.
Built the engine that's in it now in my parent's ba*****t in 85-86.

 

I've been messing around with rods, customs, bikes, and race cars for about $250,000.00 now.

 

58 years for me.
17 years old, built in 1968 High School Auto Shop, 283/3spd.

Current. My builds got a lot better over those years...but the rest of me has got a lot worse.

 

Overhauled my first motorcycle engine in 1971 at 12 (Yamaha 100 Twinjet) and started building my 51Pontiac at 13. Been playing with this stuff since then.

 

35 now, started tinkering with cars at age 16. Didn't start my first actual build until about ten or so years ago.

 

At 15 I rebuilt my first engine and my first paint job shortly after that, so about 53 years. My current project I have been restoring it only for 49 1/2 years.

 

I'm turning 76 this fall, and bought my first old vehicle at 13 yrs. from my uncle. It was a 1947 International panel truck that he'd parked behind the barn because the soft plugs rotted out of the block. I got it for $25 and within 6 months I had replaced the soft plugs, rebuilt my first carb, tuned up the engine, got a used Simca bench seat from the wrecking yard and installed it. Polished out the brush painted dark blue body until no brush strokes showed, and painted fenders and running boards gloss black.
It was a beauty I think, and once finished all I did for two years was drive it around his farm every time we went to visit. When I turned 16 I got my driver's license, and went straight to the farm and brought my tuck home!
Ever since that first old car I've always had more old cars I built, or flipped, or parted out. It just seemed like I got very antsy if I didn't have some project going all the time.

 

46 Year's and yes I'm Old!

 

From the day I was born this was part of my life! When my father came to pick myself and my mother up from the hospital he had three gifts for me, a teddy bear, a Matchbox car, and 7/16", 1/2" and 9/16" Snap-On wrenches.

I was in the pits at my first race half mile dirt when I was three months old, and at my first Winston Cup race just a few weeks later! Mom and Dad always took me to the races and swapmeets with them. As a result I leaned a ton about cars, racing history and met the heroes of our sport!

Dad always took me to race shops when he was helping on his friend's cars.

Dad "teaching" me how to weld as a toddler





My first official job as a member of a race team!



Dad and myself with my 53 Chevy.


Myself with a King!



Rick Rudd



Junie Donlavey





The body is mount I just can’t find the photos right now.

Progress has been very slow due to a family matter (sickness).

 

I started in about 1961 or 2 working on my Cushman scooter, my Dad helped me. Soon, I was working on other boys scooters. A few years later I put a 430 Lincoln engine and transmission in a 55 Ford Fairlane . Ever since then, I’ve had some sort of project, hobby, since those years. My avatar car, is the only project I have at the present moment, that I can discuss , here!

So….put me down for 63 years!


Bones

 

Started in 1974 when I bought my first vehicle, a 1938 International pickup when I was 16 .

 

About 60 years for me, would have been longer but my dad said "NO" to the '32 Chev coupe I wanted to buy when I was 13 or 14. Think my avatar pic was taken about 57 years ago...

 

Hello,

We were fortunate to live in a larger house when we were little, in 1953. We had lived in an old comfortable Craftsman styled house near the Terminal Island Freeway from 1948 to 1953. We found out later in 1955, as were sightly older that the old house location was near the newly created Lion’s Dragstrip. But, it wasn’t until my brother got his first car, a 1951 Oldsmobile two door sedan that our hot rod adventures began.

In 1953, our dad saved enough money to buy an old, but new to us, 900 sq. ft. house. It was a larger house than before. It came with an extra backyard Rumpus Room that was a designated extra playroom. Plus the yard was huge. It was one of the early tract homes built in the Westside of Long Beach.
1956 with a 51 Olds sedan in the garage.
But, when my brother went to get his first car, a 1951 Oldsmobile two door sedan, that started it… At first, I was the maintenance guy who happened to be the hubcap exchange kid, when all of my brother’s friends came over weekly to gather as teens. Mostly, it was our mom’s cooking that drew most to the waiting delicacies for lunches. Yum!

When they gathered, I was able to scrutinize all of the old cars parked in the driveway and street. From just being the hubcap exchanger to move the cars from the street to the main front driveway became my job, too. So, I got to drive those cars a short distance and start the physical stuff of putting on/off, the varied hubcaps from one car to another.

Then my brother allowed me to install some sparkplugs in his car. Then more things happened along the way, a Model A Coupe towed/pushed into our backyard to start our hot rod build. That lasted almost a month, got it running and shiny, until the two cars, 51 olds and Model A Coupe were sold and up rolls a new 1958 Impala.

A 1958 Impala in the neighborhood was the newest car for my brother and it started the adventures at the Lion’s Dragstrip a few miles away. The teenage cruising scene had this car as a new one and it was fast.
Now, Saturdays were all day/night events at Lion's Dragstrip. Our parents liked it due to us being out of the house all day and they got to be alone... ha!

From that time on, I did all of the maintenance and rear axle exchanges, weekly, until I was able to be a licensed driver. Just before I got a license, my brother allowed me to race in some drags at Lion’s Dragstrip with the Impala. That was fun. He trusted me with everything necessary to keep the motor in tune and race when necessary. I even filmed all of his races in the cl***.

Jnaki

But into the late fall of 1959, we found an old 1940 Willys Coupe in our old neighborhood. That started the complete tear down and modifications for our new Gas Coupe Cl*** hot rod.
Now, it was still all day and nights on Saturday and during the week, we were doing things to make it run better. We (I) took a break on Friday nights for sporting events and cruising.

From that point on, the work on cars was my responsibility if I wanted to drive it to school. So, the Impala became my car, shared with my mom until I bought a flathead powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery for my surf adventures.
Now, I was gone all day Saturday AND Sunday for our long road trip adventures. Our parents could not have been happier, since they knew where we were, but now, they had all weekend to do stuff, take short vacations and go places without a couple of reluctant teens. Surf adventures opened up our experiences to see more of coastal So Cal and Baja Mexico.

Then as the 35 mm film cameras came into daily lives, I started photography through college and 10 years later, my wife and I bought a 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery as a project car. Now, a new direction was open for us and we started the long 6 year ownership/modifications/road trips…YRMV

 

1955...

 

Built my 53 Bel Air hardtop in 1962 and haven't alowed down since.