Hot Rods Quotes to live by...

Here is one I heard years ago and used to have it posted above my work bench:

Think before you act....
Act before you get run over.

 

Jim

 

“It wasn’t so impossible to do…after it was done!”

 

I believe that you have had a very full life......
so full it keeps spilling over, and we get to read glimpses of it.

 

"Die with memories, not dreams."

 

Care,,but not too much...

 

The only thing keeping you from your goal is you telling yourself you can’t achieve it.

 

Almost correct........
Sometimes, the only thing keeping me from my goal is my wife telling me I'm not allowed to do it.

 

Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen. Few in pursuit of the goal.

 

“Living in a world of dreams..”​

“Life is never what it seems…”​

Hello,

If someone could tell us at age 24 and 23 that we would end up so happy and satisfied for the past 60 years, we would have told them they were crazy. It was a difficult time for the whole USA as the times were not the best for everyone. But, as two young college age students, we looked no further than lunch down by the harbor each day. Thousands of students had lunch on campus, but we drove a short distance away down to the blue ocean waters to have a nice lunch and a nap.

The sailboats and even the large powerboats 80 feet long played out in front of our future dreams. Wouldn’t it be fun to go cruising around the world in the 100 foot long power boat by ourselves to see the world from a different angle. But, college age students can still dream. Reality was a smaller sailboat for our weekly adventures, later on of our lives, on the waters of So Cal learning as we battled the wind, waves, swell directions and safe harbors.

Jnaki


No one told us the adventures we would be taking, from college age kids to 80 year old folks looking back at those wonderful times of simplicity we created for our own young lives. Yes, a large power boat would have made a different outlook on life, but our simple coastal beach lifestyle was to our liking and affordability.

When "Spring Break" was a week long get away from college studies, we hit the road for our coastal adventures the instant cl***es were out for a vacation. The local so Cal high schools and colleges just finished their "Spring Break" week and will be back in cl***es on Monday.

For us, a well used 1965 El Camino with 50 k miles was our main transportation. We had low maintenance costs due to it always being in tune and it ran perfectly during all sorts of weather and road conditions.

Well, we certainly enjoyed the “ride” through thick and thin, during our times together to this point in life. We will continue to see the enjoyment in the eyes of our son and granddaughter as they go through life in their own ways. YRMV

 

Jim

 

“It is not a specific thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it.”
​

Hello,

When we all heard and then saw this orange 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery come rumbling into the local teenage drive-in restaurant hang out one Friday night, it was impressive. The rumbling sounded familiar and the driver was also familiar to me. So, the sedan delivery slowly chugged across the pathway to the other side driveway exit. The comments started to flow like a dam burst. What is it, who was it and was it fast? Etc.

It was a first time hot rod build for a long time, old friend from junior high school that was one year older than us. So, his group was not the hot rod build/race group for the most part. The size of that year students was not as large as our teenage group.

Consequently, a Buick v8 in a 40 Ford sedan, this 348 Chevy motor in the sedan delivery and one 56 Chevy sedan with some mods in the motor were about all that normally cruised. Those guys were good hot rod builders, but, it did not spread to others in that year high school cl***.

So, what did that 348 in the 40 Ford Sedan Delivery have? It was a single 4 barrel and possibly a cam/lifter kit. Headers and fairly loud mufflers made the nice sound. It rumbled and when he parked, the open hood showed everyone what was making the noise. The inside were two simple bucket seats in black and the rest of the cave was bare bones.

Judgment as a teen is important. One made many while growing up and learning what is appropriate and not. As this new build came rolling into the parking lot, comments flew like bees ****tering. “The color is weird, the style looks like our plumber’s delivery van, the worse one was… it is not a hot rod I would own…”

Jnaki

So, despite the terrible comments, the sedan delivery had some great qualities. I wanted a station wagon with a 301 Chevy motor and 4 speed for power. But, that was priced out of my range. So, I offered to buy the “new” sedan delivery, since now, the owner wanted to sell it, due to the comments and disappointment on his first build.

By the time we went back and forth for weeks, he finally sold it to me with a flathead motor, not the 348. Instantly, I lost at least 200 hp, but the basic good looks of a sedan delivery with black rims, fit my teenage budget to a sale. Plus, it was "one of a kind," for a teenager.

Eventually, as it was seen at all of our teenage hang out spots and daily in front of our high school, the comments stopped and everyone thought it was cool. They wished they could go to the beach at a moments notice, when the waves were up and firing… YES!

No road trip was too long to take with my surfboard and sleeping bag on a small mattress in the back for privacy. There were even a few Monday mornings that turned into a late start due to the local surf conditions being so good... YRMV

Me on a well deserved nap at one end of a 100 mile road trip… The red arrow, the Flathead Sedan Delivery and the blue arrow is my brother walking in his Everlast Boxing Trunks for his surfing attire. Ha!

 

Hard times create strong men,
strong men create good times,
good times create weak men,
weak men create hard times.

We're nearing the tail end of that cycle.

 

When my Father ran for public office, he used a wooden nickel as part of his campaign. His name and what office he was running for was on one side and “ TUIT” on the other side, of the “ round” nickel! They made a big hit! I still see one once in a while and that was 30+ years ago!




Bones

 

Jnaki, your post stirred some memories for me! I spent as much time as possible on the street, with my 430 Lincoln powered 55 Ford. I knew every hot rod in our town of about 40,000, Muskogee, Oklahoma! So….any time a “ new “ rod showed up we ( our group) were curious! We would watch the car and driver, listen to his engine, see how he styled his car. It wouldn’t be long someone in our group would say “ I think I’ll take a shot at him” . So We would take off, find him in town, challenge him and out to one of our favorite spots to race we went! Lots of times other kids would see us moving and follow and it could become a big event out at “ Han****” the road we raced on the most! Those events could last the entire night. With several races to many races. There was a field we could pull into to talk and ***ociate between races! Some great times!
Thanks for the memories!






Bones

 

Jnaki, again you jogged a memory! Back in the early seventies I was working at a mechanic shop, going to school at night, newly married, living in a mobile home, broke! Like a ton of other kids of my time!
It was getting close to quitting time and all of us mechanics at my shop, were taking a break out side on the gr***y spot near the road. A guy coming to see the boss, parked his convertible Caddy and got out wearing expensive jewelry and was retired and in his late sixties! Looked like he had the world by the tail!
I say something like “ you’ve got it made, I wish I was you.”
He said “ son, I would trade places with you , any day!”
At the time I thought “ that man must be crazy! “ I’m working, broke, in debt , going to school, busting my ***, why would he want to trade places with me because he obviously is on Easy Street!



Fast foward fifty+ years…….I now know what he was talking about!






Bones

 

The very first time I went to jail, it was with two other friends!




Bones

 

I don’t need to join anyone’s argument just because I got invited.

 

Jim

 

"If there's anything I hate more than losing, it's car repairs!"

Tino Martinez

 

What wife?…Now the truth! I have always asked for forgiveness after something followed home I went to get instead of permission. It’s works for 2 Harleys and 3 race cars and we will be married 60 years in August.

 

If it's broke, it's hard to make it broker, may as well try to fix it.

 

Then I've known some very competent people. Sometimes it's even been me.

 

Surprising what can be done when you put your mind to it............

 

"We cannot live better than in enjoying our goal to become better.”

Hello,

It is always fun to look back at being a teenager growing up??? Into a 20 something person. The old tricks of learning how to get along with others still worked, but now, some refinements are/were necessary.

No longer were we the brash teenagers with fast cars that took off late into the night at any time we wanted. Yes, some folks had to spend more money to keep up with the fast guy. Others broke, so more money was spent fixing what was the problem. For me, why fix anything… “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”

I was lucky that my meager teenage pocketbook had enough to go to movies and drive-in restaurants for a late burger and/or snack. The long surf trips took me longer to save up money for food and gas.

Jnaki

With all of those fun activities during high school and the first couple of years of college, one takes a good look at where this is all going. Some of our friends were in the military, now, and others were married with full time jobs. So, where were we supposed to fit in?

College surf transportation very early in the morning… and 10 am cl*** start.

The goal was to graduate and at the time, nothing else mattered. Then I met my future wife as a junior year college student. The whole outlook now was different and I made it a point to get better grades, concentrate on studies and looked forward to our continued relationship.

One of our favorite things to do was to drive the short distance to the nearby harbor and have a nice lunch. It was in the shade of a tiny tree, in front of a 85 foot long power boat with dreams of cruising around in the ocean... ha! Then, a short nap before afternoon/night cl***es. But, more to reality, we always looked forward to our long road trips up and down the California coastline in the trusty 1965 El Camino…YRMV

Note:

It must have worked, as we have been together since 1966 as something must have clicked… and continues to click…ha!

 

“When you hear hoofbeats, think Horses before Zebras”.

Good advice for trouble shooting.

 

Jim

 

“HAPPINESS IS WHEN YOU ARE IN HARMONY…”​

Hello,

If one lives a simple life for all of these years, something must have been in harmony to have a happy life. Things just fall in place, when you are doing something you like. It does not matter what it is, if you are happy, then all is right with the world.
At the time, from hectic college life to getting married to searching for our next step was daunting. But, with my brother and his wife, we decided to take a “family” vacation together.

It did not matter if we had a lot of money, which we didn’t. We just adjusted our lifestyle to match the income. But, what surprised us was that despite the low cash flow, my wife was able to save enough money for us to go with my brother and his wife to a tropical island in the Caribbean for a vacation.

What was supposed to be a month’s stay with what we saved was our goal. With two couples sharing expenses, we would be able to stay and enjoy the beach side rental house, plus our daily food supply. We had “eyes wide open,” when we selected the destination, the cost and length of stay. We were in good hands as we made the reservations.

Jnaki

So, off we were, flying in a jet to the Caribbean Island that was part of the USA. The Virgin Islands. An old surfing adventure friend had a great idea of having a bunch of Hobie Cats to rent out to travelers and locals for their enjoyment on top of the crystal blue waters with great wind daily. He also, had scouted out the island and was getting ready to move to start his new journey.

We were still in the visiting stage and as we stepped into the rental, it was outstanding. We were in “Harmony with the world…” steps down the cliffside to a secluded beach, no surf for board surfing, but small body surfing waves were fun. Blue waters, blue sky, warm breezes and pure white sand then a rocky backdrop along the cliff side. One could swim out a good distance and enjoy the whole aura of this tropical island.

So, we went to town and had a nice dinner. Slightly higher than back in So Cal restaurants, but acceptable. Fresh sea food and the standard dishes most place had on the menus. So, we were set as far as dinners out.

Then after several days, reality set in. Something was not right. We had money saved up for at least a month of living on this tropical island with minimal expenses daily. But, somehow, the groceries went fast, the home cooking was all we could afford and trips to the grocery store was a common place daily as the food stocks were depleted daily. The costs were not similar to So Cal, but so much higher as the week went on to Saturday. The least expensive meal was chips and beer. Ha!

So, we were happy as a couple and with my brother and his wife, we were a good traveling group. But, we somehow miscalculated the daily living expenses and our month stay ground down fast. So, all we had were duty free liquor in our hands… 6 packs of expensive So Cal liquor costs made up for the weeks stay. (the liquor cost was so low, we had to bring some home.)

And, we were sitting at the airport terminal waiting for the next flight out, back to So Cal. Once we made it back to Miami, we checked in and found out our flight was already boarding and at the other end of the airport. (this is old Miami airport, not the new modern one)

So, here were 4 tanned, 20 somethings running through the airport to get to the boarding tunnel. Each with a hand grabbing a 6 pack of liquor. Ha! Our bags had already been checked and loaded ready to LAX. We made it onto the plane and were the only ones not in our seats. Everyone was waiting for us... YRMV

Yes, we had two 6 packs each, carrying off the plane at LAX and had to get a cart to get our suitcases. But, now we were stocked for the next few months of any event that required liquor… ha! And, we aren’t even heavy liquor drinkers, either.

Would we go back again, probably not in this lifetime…YRMV

 

"Sometimes doin it right is the only thing that is left"