I'm torn about Vintage Stock Car Racing - ADVICE, THOUGHT, FEELINGS?

All right - I stumbled across a vintage stock car racing group here in Maine, and I met one of the members yesterday. He was a VERY nice guy who spent well over an hour showing me around his "shop" and all the neat vintage stock cars and future projects telling me ALL about what seems to be a really neat way to enjoy old cars for cheap.

I'm already looking for a car to get started on, but I've kind of run into an internal conflict.

The cars these guys and gals "fix" up to make the stock cars out of are pretty far gone, but some of them have the potential to be amazing hot rods. It almost pained me to see some of the decent tin that they weren't about to hesitate chopping up to put a roll cage in, etc.

What I'm wondering is what's the general consensus from HAMBers on this. I know we have a few members who run vintage stock cars. A lot of the stuff these people run was never ever going to see the road again, and that's cool, but some of the stuff they haul out of the woods gives me a phat chubby it's so nice.

I want to do this, I guess the thing to do is make sure I start with a complete unsalvageable rust ball (although many of you have proven time and again that ANYTHING can be fixed with enough creativity and patience).
I'm looking for advice and thoughts.

Maybe I'm being too sentimental, but I'm hoping the time doesn't ever come when I'll have to decide if I want to turn what I find into a stock car, or the basis for my next project.

 

Sounds far more interesting than todays cookie cutter racing. Just find something that would have otherwise met it's end in the crusher anyways.

 

if you want to build a rod build a rod if you want to build a race car build a race car screw what anybody thinks

 

You're being too sentimental. These bodies could rust away in the woods or get used for fun. Where's the harm in fun with cars?

You can't save 'em all so save the ones you can and let the owners of the others do what they like with 'em. if you wanna build an old stock car, build one and have fun. Don't waste enrgy gnashing your teeth about the ones that you can't have.

 

I'm not worried about what anybody thinks. This is a very PERSONAL conflict. I love the idea of saving something from the crusher, but I'm almost afraid EVERY car I find inthe woods will look salvageable for a hot rod to me. I mean some of the stuff the gentleman had at his shop waiting their turn for the mods and rollcage would make a lot of HAMBers weep.

 

All right - YOU GUYS ARE RIGHT! I'll cross that bridge when the time comes, I just want to have fun with these people. Thanks for the talking-to.

 

I dig it, and I'd probably get into it if I didn't have so much invested in drag racing.

John56h is way into it and will probably have a good perspective.

Some of these bodies or cars are so far gone, especially in the northeast, getting them back to nice rod condition is tough. So go ahead and use 'em up if they're too far gone.

Some people would cut up a Pic***o to fit their favorite frame, so whatever.

 

whats the difference between a hot rod and a race car?
really.......its just a different style
think of it like chopping the top on a 32 coupe
some people dont think you should touch the sacred metal
but to alot of people....its improving the car
if you want a race car....find a body and build a race car
I'll bet you have just as much fun with it as you would with it on the street....maybe more
i know i have a few project in line to be "strictly" race cars....and one is exactly 75 years old this year....

good luck
Zach

 

A lot of the vintage oval race cars I've seen were built using only the roofs and window surrounds. Everything from the beltline down was sheet metal.....so find a rotted away body that nobody would want anyway.

I found the back half of a '32 sedan in a clump of bushes and gave five bucks for it. Built the rest.

 

I have a '46 Ford coupe that has been a stock car since 1959. It could be returned to the street with a " little" work but why? Find your self a car body and go and have fun---delight in knowing you saved another car from turning into a pile of **** or getting crushed.

 

Racing is as traditional as hot rodding gets. It's the very reason for the first hot rod.

 

heres one we had at the rust revival last month! he's goin to restore it back to the way it was...he wont race it however...he's very crippled up!

 

find some old rusted out heap drop a big *** motor in it and go have fun. course im a person if i see a old car in really good shape it should be restored, if the fenders and **** are ****ed up beyond reconigition take um off and hot rod the hell out of it.

 

The difference between a hokey (decommissioned) racer and a street rod is headlights and a tail light... Left hand out for turn signals. Beep-Beep!! Out of my way... 400HP coming thru!!! (or whatever HP they made back then).

 

I'm all for it.... hell, I'd give you a car (52 Dodge Wayfarer sedan) if you were closer!

 

Wow - you guys make it seem so simple - I almost feel foolish for asking.

Wish me luck in my search, these guys and gals know how to have a good time for a nominal fee.

 

pron9ne motorsports deals in old modified stock cars. They have ole blue and the woodchopper on display. I know they have at least one restored modified for sale and probably know of others around . Give them a call ask for Rick, They are in R.I. 401-447-4202 tell them Carl Gould told you to call . Good luck

 

I once read in a British bike mag not to be afraid to ride the motorcycle you just restored, because then you get the fun of re-restoring it once it wears out again. Try thinking of it that way.

But yeah... try to start with something that wouldn't ordinarily get a second chance.

-Dave

 

I've helped out some of the vintage stock car guys around here, and I've yet to see any of them use a body that would have been worth making a rod out of. At least 3/4 of them started as the remains of 40-50 year old stock cars hauled out of junkyards or the woods.

 

Thanks Orange Crush - I suppose a phone call would help, but I'm gonna have to do this on the CHEAP. Like free and scrounged parts cheap.
Although the gentleman I talked to yesterday seemed like he could hook a guy up with some seet deals, he even mentioned a flathead he has in storage...

 

I have bits and chunks of left over 30-31 Ford coupes that have donated parts of their bodies to fix others. Some day I'm gonna take all those s****s, a bunch of sheetmetal, and a couple thousand foot of welding wire, make it into a body and go racing. That is if I don't keep robbing the pile to fix other bodies. Maybe you could do the same.

 

HAHAHA!!! If I had a pile of miscelaneous 30-31 Ford parts laying around, I don't think I'd be sitting here typing right now!!! Nope, this is going to be starting from scratch, aside from the 235 I'm going to pull our of my 50 Chevy.
The rules for competing are pretty stiff, so no GIANT engines, or heavily modified blocks, although this guys daughter's car was sporting a racing flathead. MMMM-baby.

 

A 235, eh? It may not be the fastest car on the track, but with the right pipes, it will be the loudest. By the way, if it's an original 1950 engine, it won't last long in any sort of stock car race. If it's a newer full pressure 235, disregard the previous statement.

 

Nope, you were right on with the original ***umption - it's all original and from what I can tell, damn near worthless, which is why it's coming out of the 50. Even if it's just to make this future stock car a runner until I can find a decent vintage mill to put in, it might be fun to hear it run, even if for only a short time.

 

My next door neighbor's son owns a '57 chevy that was used at our local track about 3 yrs ago.Now it's been sitting about 10 feet away from my home office for a year .It's beat up ,missing parts and an eyesore. I keep telling his mother that there are many local salvage yards that would haul it away...The guy in his mid 30's has no money and the car will never see a track again ... It would be a perfect candidate for a vintage stock car . PAUL

 

Junkyard Jan has a nice 38 chevy vintage race car for sale at a very reasonable price.. PM her she checks in on the hamb every so often..All it needs is a engine and trans.. I think the car has some history.. Bobby..

 

Thanks Bobby -
I checked out the ad, and as much as I like her car, I'm afraid that it's against the rules to have a tubular frame.
These guys are running three different cl***es, Bombers, Early Modifieds, and Early Late Model (50-59?) Modifieds. I think their goal is to make their cars as close to the original cars that first ran the dirt tracks in 49. I pored over the rulebook last night and was surprised at what is and isn't allowed, but it all sounds very feasible.
I think I'm going to shoot for the bomber cl***.
While I was there, the gentleman, Ron, fired up an original racer from 1950 with a flathead that just purred like a kitten. I think that sound and smell, more than anything else, convinced me that I have to get into this ... NOW.
Again, thanks for the tip.

 

I've been fooling around with vintage stock cars for about seven years. If you kick over enough stones you'll come up with a body that is good for nothing but a race car. During your search, it is very possible that you'll run across some other bodies that are reasonably priced but are "too good" to cut up for a stock car.

Is it a shame to use one of the "too good" bodies? Maybe....but not if it would have met a worse fate anyway (crusher or rust).

If it were me, I'd look around at what's available and if you end up with a car body that would be suitable for a hot rod....then do what we're doing and make it BOTH. Our intentions for the 1933 Chevy we're working on, is for it to be legal for both vintage racing AND the street. We plan to have removable lights, so it can be converted for track or highway easily.

Here's a link to our build so far:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=165476


I understand what you are saying about not wanting to "waste" a good body on a project that could be completed with a very rough body. There are a couple of cars in our club that I would have liked to have had a chance to buy the cars they started with before they chopped them up for track racing. One was a 1932 Chevy 5 window coupe and one was a 1937 Plymouth coupe. Both builders have told me that they had the whole car when they started, but 70% of them went into the s**** barrel.

 

Wait a minute...Your going to build a vintage race car that you plan on actually racing? For cheap? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...gasp....HAHAHAHAHAHA.....gasp.

Ok now that I have that out of the way, once you actually start racing these things, reality sets in and you realize that the better the starting point, the better the car. Soon every old car you see you begin looking at it as a potencial race car, screw that hot rod stuff.

Racing: Its an addiction. Worse then any drug ever available. Hot rods on the street were a result of watching the cars race, by guys that couldn't afford a race car. I've been "out" of racing for over 20 years, but all I have to do is attend a race or two and the wheels start turning again. Its fortunate for me that our local track doesn't hold vintage races, I'd be screwed. I have a 37 Plymouth coupe in my bottom garage that would be a perfect vintage race car, like the ones they raced at our local track in the 60s.

If you think you must built one of those vintage cars, do it. The feeling of ruining a "repairable" car and the fear of spending a lot of money will shortly go away. Gene

 

Vintage cars can be had cheap, but it takes a lot of beating the bushes. I'd tell you to go see my buddy, but he usually wants more than most guys would for the same stuff. Watch eBay, though, I see them go $500 or less for a real original car on there. Sometimes some really terrible cars, too.

If you could run a tube frame, about $4000-$5000 will buy a running car.