Ha/gr guys i only used the names i knew were ha/gr it came out 57 years old mopar sled/esfod since they are useing inline flat heads we will call them old spirits in a new body. The aussies i left intact they are old spirits in new bodys also . I should have said ha/ gr guys only but we enjoyed hearing from the other hamb builders as well
Hi Don! It looks like you just started first and are still in the lead. Stay that way for a long time. Joe
Chronologically challenged? We're all a bunch of kids, it's just that some of us have a few more miles under the belt.
Yeah I think nearly all of them have posted here before , they must have some level of interest or they wouldn't be on this part of the HAMB?? Our rail will be started seriously next week, picked up the motor back in December and bought the tube, a few weeks ago, but had to take time out for a family emergency. All fixed now, and work begins on Feb 1.
Well since we are talking about age.. I happen to get along alot easier with the younger crowd than I do with people older than me. Of which there are very few. Most people my age, When I tell them I'm building a race car for me to drive. They look at me like I fell off my motorcycle one to many times..I'm not ready to find a recliner and sit there till the end.. I WANT TO GO RACING......
And your point would be?? Why the hell would anyone want to turn into a vegetable, there's too much neat stuff needing to be done!!
Hey guys my grandpa worked every day untill he was 86. All his friends that retired and sat around died in 6 months. So he said F#ck that and never stopped working. He was not a hot rodder by anymeans but the theory still holds true. Once a person sets on their ass for to long they can't get up! Point is get up everyday and do something. Lots of us "young" guys need help from an experianced albet grumpy mentor. Godspeed Dusty
My friend Len Perry raced motorcycles from the age of 16 (1929) until he died at 91, won many big international championships and races, he promised his wife Jean that he would retire (from racing) when he reached his 80th birthday, so he made a big fanfare of it, and retired at the end of the season....and then promptly came out of retirement in time for the next season of classic racing. He still raced his 1929 Velocette in the Vintage classes right up to the year before he died, and won a race on his 62 Manx Norton against stiff competition two years before that. As ThingyM says STOP moving and DIE.
I hope when my time to breath my last I'm sitting in the staging lanes waiting to make one more pass. Roy
Believe this or not.. I raced MX untill 1985.at the age of 50 I decided to call it quits because of the need of a hip replacement..And in 1982 I was number 1 in So.Cal. as an Old Timers MX Assn Master rider. Also Master rider #1 in points.. Still have 4 motorcycles. Only ride my DRE 400 Suzuki now for fun....
I'm 34 about to get started on my HA/GR. All I can say about age is, well I look up to Bill Hines. The Lead Slinger is still shootin lacquer and torchin lead with a fat cigar in his mouth! He turned 80 somethin this year. Me i was born about 40 years late. So I lurk read and try to learn all I can from those who lived it. I thank you for sharing with those of us who missed it.
Can't say I am building, but the dream and a few parts are still there. Work and my photography "hobby" are seriously in the way. 63
Jim your photography work is outstanding and your detailed pics of the first HA/GR cars has surely been a help to others
I'm 39. What appeals to me is the DIY aspect and the required investment. I've wanted a FED forever, but the reality is that at this stage of my life I'd be lucky to run it three times a year. There are other things I want and need to be doing while I'm young enough and as you guys prove you can be running a rail in your 50s and beyond. My thought is an HA/GR as a starter car till I have the time to devote to something faster.
My God.. If all these guys that put their age down, Were building HA/GR cars..Man we could have national events...
if you are are good at scroungeing up parts and think about what your trying to do you can build one of these cars for a small cash out lay. This is a ideal place to start or finish depends on where your at in life
i totally understand not getting along with people you're own age. i am 24 but it seems like everytime i go out to the bar, me and some of the "young at heart" crowd are arguing about whether that yellow ford would actually beat that 55 chevy in real life. i love hot rods, sprint cars, drag cars, kustoms, etc. and an ha/gr car would be an awesome affordable project. run what ya brung drag racing reminds me of our glory days in high school ruling the county roads in a 383 '68 camaro. any ha/gr cars in nor cal or oregon?
In the last week or so, I've already scrounged up a set of Model A frame rails, a Ford rear end, a Toyota steering box, a set of spindles and hubs, quarter elliptic springs, and two sticks of tubing. I have a line on a Ford 223 that runs great (I used to own the 59 Ford pickup it came in), and I have a top loader four speed under my work bench. I also have a small aluminum radiator and electric fan, tach, guages, switches, and a cool stainless steel battery box with a hinged lid, (built it about twenty five years ago, and never used it). I need some sheet aluminum, a chunk of tubing for the front axle, and some exhaust tubing for headers, and I'm just about set! My daughter is moving her houshold items out of my garage this Monday, and a friend of mine is taking my old Sprite to build an old school Altered Dragster. As soon as I finish up a couple hours welding on my friends circle track car, and it's gone, I have my garage back! Stand back, it's gonna happen! To say I'm excited would be an understatement!!!!
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