RANT: Low buck junk vs. traditional hot rods...

Zenor & Petejoe I agree... I just don't have the heart to tell this guy "That shit doesn't belong on your car" without making me look like a Mr. Knowitall asshole.

As for skulls, webs and crosses, I NEVER said they weren't cool, just not cool on a fuckin 1978 Monte Carlo 4 door!!!!

and no, i didn't refer him to the Hamb. Should I have? It would have given Grimlok and Ryan a fun time deleting posts.

 

Oh BTW you guys automatically assumed he was young.

I never said his age.


He was mid 30's. If he had been 18, I never would have posted this.

 

It's amazing the things you get away with saying when you have a smile on your face.
I even get away with shit here by putting a few smileys around.
Everything tastes better with alittle sugar added to the medicine.

Right away.. i go back to bad memories I've had about experiences with a few young guys in their 20's who had very cool tradition rods built by themselves.
I can recall approaching them to talk about their cars and end up finding them totally unapproachable. No smiles, no attentive gesture of your presence.
And most notably ... no interest in giving information or carrying on any conversation.........
Its almost like ......
My way is the only way...I'm too cool and even though I have not met you I have already formed an opinion of you... type of attitude.
Half the guys I hang out with in the He Man garage are in their twenties and thirties. The best group of down to earth, caring individuals anyone would care to meet.
What I'm trying to say here is..
Just be careful on the impression we are trying to convey.
The Hamb Ideology even though in other forums may have a negative hard ass reputation for reasons i dont understand......
But I truely believe we need to gently lead the ignorant, fallen and misguided future Hotrodders.

 

A four door '78 Monte Carlo? that's gotta be rare. As far as I know, there was never a four door Monte Carlo of any year, ever. Maybe it was a Caprice Classic or Impala? Not that it would make that much of a difference, I'm just trying to visualize this thing and I was thinking Monte but if it was a four door, that's different.

 

HE said Monte Carlo, but I think maybe it could have been a Grand Prix or Cutlass with M.Carlo badges? All i know was that is was a 'G' body in primer

 

I realize that most of you on here werent even around in the 50's so I can excuse some of the rants as from the clueless.

However the bolt on junk and rattle can primer has been around since the 50's and earlier. JC Whitney, Almquist, Honest Charlie and numerous junk shops had catalogs full of pin stripe decals, phony continental kits (the type that was just a shell that bolted to the trunk lid ala 53 Ford options), air horns mounted on fenders, fuzzy dice, fake louvers, fake dual exhaust, Buick portholes, Bermuda bells, weird hood ornaments, 9' bumper mount whip antennas so you looked like a cop (many cop radios were just above the AM broadcast band then), fox tails, and I could go on for an hour!

Some of these guys never graduated to real rods and customs, a few did as they met someone who didnt treat them like shitholes. I had a neighbor who added whatever new doodad he could find to his 49 Chevy. He never understood why I was more interested in taking off door handles, trim, ornaments, etc. He thought I was destroying the beauty of my 49 Ford or 49 Olds.

 

I feel exactly the same way when i see rat rods.

 

Did the spider caps go on recently???..last i saw it it had lancers, skirts, lakes, and spots....a 60's 50's custom.

 

Huh...WTF?
The guy just wanted to talk cars with you.
Pull your nose outta the air.
"just like you"??? What some 19 year old shitter that thinks he's done it all and seen it all and is the end all authority on rods & kustoms.
Gimme a freakin' break!

How are you going to learn anything new if you know everything already?

Geeez....
If this is how the young guys are then the future of traditional roddin' is doomed

 

Maybe people should stop taking themselves so seriously.

My favorite vehicular statement these days is when you see the guy who has purposely gone way over the top with the "rice" treatment. Ever see the picture where someone actually bolted a park bench to the decklid as a parody of the big spoilers? That's pure genius. People should put more sarcasm in their rides.

I think the Monte Carlo of Death would be great if the guy was doing it as a goof. Then it's like he's picking on all you old fart rat rodders. And ya'll deserve it. Lighten up. Christ. But, the fact he called it a "hot rod" and acted like it was cool ruins the whole effect. So, for that matter, kick his ass if you see him again.

 

the way i look at it (not that anyone's interested ) is that building cars is an artform, and like any other artform it takes a long, long time to master. the people with spiderwebs, skulls and iron crosses plastered all over an 80s g-body probably aren't people who have had a life long interest in cars and developed an appreciations for the subtleties of the artform. more likely they've seen a few cars they looked "mean" and "evil" and they thought it was really cool and decided they wanted one. they missed the finer points of the cars though and instead latched onto the less-subtle things like skulls and whatnot. it's more of an image thing i guess. people who are into ricers like them because they're into things that are new and cool and cutting-edge, not because the cars are faster than other cars or because they have nicer lines. i'd be willing to bet you'd be hard pressed to find a ricer that didn't have a internet-enable gps phonecam the size of a pack of gum and a $4000 computer at home...

as far as "low buck vs. traditional"... there's nothing wrong with a low buck car if it's got some class and some style, but it ain't gonna have much class if it's got rust holes in it and it's all cobbled together from whatever was laying around or whatever was on sale at autozone. money helps, but on the other hand even a car with all the coolest parts isn't nessesarily gonna be a cool car. blown hemi in a chopped, ground scrapin 51 merc with 24" spinners? flathead powered 55 chev gasser with 57 cadillac caps and wide whites? to us it's ludacris but someone who doesn't know the first thing about cars might not know the difference.

anyway, that's my $.02, but what do i know, i'm just some punk kid who's never even built a hot rod

 

Well at least it was a Malibu and not a civic. hell i might even drive a Malibu. Drop a big block in it, maybe put it on airbags, paint it black....Uh oh i think i just sprouted a mullet....

 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Where is the rule book that states what is a hot rod and what isn't, and who wrote it? What is the criteria to be a "real hot rodder", and when did you graduate from hot rod school? I'm amazed at how many of you guys are bashing other peoples likes and dislikes. Who put you in charge, and what are you're qualifications? I have been heavily into cars since I was old enough to drive, (appx. 16,) so where does that put me in the qualification area? I guess you would have to know how old I am now right? Well, maybe I'm 20, or maybe I'm 50. Exactly when will be an "accepted" hot rodder? Do you have to own a specific car, a specific number of cars, a specific year of car, or what? I've always been confused on this subject. Maybe someone here can shed some light on this so we can all know for sure if we are real hot rodders, and if nobody can come up with a legitimate answer, then all you ball kickers should keep you're comments to yourself, or as was requested by somebody on another similar post, show us a picture of you're perfect ride for all of us to enjoy so we know for sure that you have the authority to be a ball kicker!

 

Yeah, there is a lot of cars out there that I just don't get. I have to say that the Monte Carlo described sounds like one of them. On the other hand, I have had people laugh in my face about some of the shit that I have owned and liked, not a good feeling for sure.

 

My Grandama had a Monte Carlo.

 

Zumo if I describe the car a bit better can you photoshop it?

 

This long and somewhat rambling post - aside from a few sensible posters - illustrates well a little theory of mine.

That being, most guys on here would rather post an opinion than comment on a tech or historical article.

All of which makes me wonder why some are here.
It doesn't seem to be about the cars....

 

OSR aint THAT bad, but I agree this guy probably read it and watched too much Discovery Channel

Who the hell in their right mind thinks a '78 is old school.....

**shaking head**

 

While we're ranting, I think what sets apart the real car people from the ones we're at least tempted to look down on is the dedication to car stuff. I think a lot of the ones that I have a hard time snubbing are the ones that are into a fad that cars can be a part of (vintage clothing, rockabilly, etc.), and so they decide they need an Ol' Skool Rod to complete their "look". Either that, or they are into mechanical things, but it's always changing: this month it's rat rods, next month it's jet skis, after that it's tuned imports, then it's those miniature motorcycles... and so on.

The people that have been car people for a long time, with a fairly narrow set of interests within the car hobby, say hot rods in general, are the ones we click with. These people come to the HAMB and stay. (Even if they don't say much.) THese people are easier to get along with, because they're more like us. But you never know when you might be talking to someone who has jumped onto a fad, but then it sticks (possibly because you were kind enough to share your passion for this kind of car!), and they eventually become a highly-respected member of our community. Those are rare, but they certainly do exist!

 

Here ya go:

 

Well put. I guess thats what I was trying to say.
Thanks Hamb!

 

I think this whole issue comes down to each persons individual preferences. While I also may think that the Monte Carlo in question is a piece of shoe, maybe its all the guy could afford and he just spiced it up in what I also believe is a really ugly way. He may be trying to be cool because he never has been and that is the only way he could. I have a friend that used to hang out around the Barris shop years ago and ,although its cool as hell now, he was just a dork that used to hang around a happening place. He bought some mid 50's undesireable car and did some work to it. I saw a pic of it and although I cant remember exactly what it was it was a really nice custom in my opinion. When I told him how much I liked the car, he told me that all the customers and other people around the shop used to make fun of it because they all thought it was ugly/not in style.
As long as there are individuals, there will be individual style and who knows.... One of them might be the next trend....which I'm fine with as long as it dosent include Monte Carlos.

 

Well said...

 

About 10 years ago I was trying to drag a 57 Chebby home and as I turned up the alley the tow bar bent because the wheels wouldn't straighten back out.
As I was cursing a young man came up and offered to help .I stuck him in the car and drug it the rest of the home. The next day he wandered up to see the car again and show his wife what he got to "DRIVE" yesterday.
He knew nothing about cars , he had white spoked wheels and side pipes on his Ford pickup.
Today he is my best friend and has spent thousands of hr's in my garage including digging thru the brush looking for tin,scraping undercoat and sweeping the floor.
He gets a woody everytime he learns something new,he thinks a Plasma cutter is magic.
He listens well ,he is always ready for a roadtrip and just think ,I could have ruined him by telling him his stuff was junk 10 years ago.

I was told years ago by a very smart man ,"we are judged by how we treat others"

 

goddamit!! i always swear to myself im not getting involved in these threads. but here i am anyway..i deal with this shit all the time mainly coz i have the only hot rod type shop in my area. these kids (and adults) come in all the time and waste my time, usually with lies about cars there biulding or have biult trying to impress me. but im always nice to these people . my buds always say stop being so nice or there gonna be back.. well im starting to agree with them, by being decent to these guys i waste about 10 hours a week listinin to this bull shit, and they dont take a hint to get lost so i can work. a lot of the time the older guys 50s 60s etc. are worse(im 34) they come in and think they are gonna school me on customs! for instance they see my merc and tell me they had a chop"n" channeled merc just like mine in high school . everybody did!! they dont know what channeled is. they think "chopnchannell" is one word. then bend my ear for an hour with bullshit stories that could never have happened.. when they leave i cant stop myself from saying "take it easy stop by anytime" what the fuck is wrong with me?? i have never typed this much in one sitting in my life ! i guess this thread struck a nerve.....dave

 

Yes, yes I can.

 

What's wrong with you? Nothing, you're a shop owner with a reputation to live up to. Being nice to a potential customer, even an annoying one, is always good business practice. I had my own trim shop for a while and I had some doozies come around. But I felt I had to be nice 1) it's how I was raised 2) they may spend some money and 3)if I was rude you could be assured they'd bad mouth me all over town. Sad, but that's how it goes.

When the really annoying one came over I always found somthing to do with an impact. They don't hang around very long when the compressors going and the impact is wailing. And if they did, I'd ask them to help me do a really messy job. "Hey, you wanna learn something? Grab that OTR truck tarp and help me open it up." Those filthy tarps sent 'em running.

That or I'd hide when I saw them coming.

 

I did one of my all time best burnouts outside auto shop class in 1986 in a Monte Carlo. I even got congrats from shop teacher Mr. Curione. Rock on!!!!

 

It seems pretty simple to me...

Keep you car period correct.

Billet doesn't go on anything that couldn't be carved out of aluminum at the time.

Painted wheels don't go on anything that came with chrome wheels.

Six dueces don't go on a 302.

If you are gathering up the old shit to make it better, fast, and one way cooler ride (which we all love)....well done.

just a FNG opinion

Ps EFI in a roadster blows.