$5,000 TRADITIONAL Rod, can it be done?

[ QUOTE ]
hey jive bomber.... where is that place?

[/ QUOTE ]

It was just north of the airport in Phoenix, AZ. An old man was selling off tons of old cars at reasonable prices. Tommy H from the Checs went and grabbed the car for me till I could drive down and grab it. This was the Summer of 02.

 

so Jay how much did you pay for the puke green door?

 

I have about$1200 into mine so far and I still need a rear end ( I have a 48 but want open), seat, guages wiring ect.,a couple hundred bucks worth of new metal and what ever tires and wheels I decide to run although I have road worthy rolling stock for it.
It is pretty traditional, A frame, A roadster cowl and windshield, T touring back half, 49 flatty and tranny. I did choose to go with econoline axle, steering and pedals because they will work and wewre cheap.
I was shooting for under $2500 when I started but some of the guys here have helped a lot and with money I saved here and there it will come in under 2 grand I think. I could have saved more with a small block ford or chev.

 

[ QUOTE ]
urkillinmesmalls - You know no one regularly flipped their rear crossmember sideways to build the back of their frame. Congradulations, Sam built you a Street Rod frame...or something.
Jim & Sam - Seriously. Are either one of you going to honestly look at what I'm building, see what I post about, what I'm interested in, ask questions about, and generally reply to and still say I'm trying to compare something like Weesner's roadster or something built by Tardell to something with a headlight bucket for a four barrel scoop or a spiderweb windshield frame? That's the vibe I'm getting. It's amazing...and a little spooky. Maybe it's just California. Hahaha


[/ QUOTE ]

I know you were joking, but I still resent the above comment. Sam didn't build me shit. Ask him. He was just the guy laying the welds, it was built by both of us together as a team. I'm still learning to weld...and to fabricate . Take it back Grim....

 

Jesus, it took me two hours to read this post...I'm gonna add this into the cost of my car.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Jesus, it took me two hours to read this post...I'm gonna add this into the cost of my car.

[/ QUOTE ]
Ha! got you all beat! I read it at work so I got paid to read it.
So am I making money (cost going down?) working on my 31 while reading the H.A.M.B.?

 

Jeeeezzzzzzuuuuuuzzzzz!!!!

What time did the PANTY BUNCHIN' SPECIAL leave the station?

Build what you like, how you like, why you like. And don't waste your time defending it to people who don't understand. Or better yet have a sense of humor about it.

Have I said this lately... I LOVE Doc's truck.

 

[ QUOTE ]
urkillinmesmalls - You're right. I saw the post and how things went down with your frame...so I shouldn't have typed it the way I did. Of course I was joking with the other crack and figured you would catch it.


[/ QUOTE ]

Don't sweat it, thank god for the little happy face guys on the web, it's hard to tell when someone is ribbing you.

 

a HAMBer known as Skulker, Garry in San Antonio, Texas, and his brother Richard, recently completed this modified. Under $3000

 

Quote:im with you~!!!!!! and ill take this opp to bitch about one other thing with the new traditionalists.. whats up with the dirty whitewalls even in a magazine spread,or for that matter the whole car being left rusty and dirty seemingly on purpose..hey im only 33 and wasnt thought of yet in the 50s but my ole man and his friends were there and tell me they wouldnt be caught dead with dirty whites or car, and no matter what didnt drive them around lookin like a total piece of shit ,,they always did the best they possibly could with primer spots here and there, or blowin some laquer on it with a vaccum cleaner..but iether way they strived for the car to look nice like the ones in the little magazines.no matter how poor they were..but im no hardcore rockabilly tattoo canvas so i prob. dont know what the fuck im talkin about..

I can only speak for myself, I was not alive in the 50's
either, I built my car how I wanted to, not based on
how your dad or anyone else did.

If you look in the Don Montgomery books of cars at the
races they were not all nice cars or even close, some of these cars would never be in magazines.

I left my car as close to how I found it in the feild, with
rust and rot and cracked windsheild because I like it that
way for now, it is not supposed to be nice. It is supposed
to be fun. And I like the fact that it bugs guys who waisted
there time and money on paint and interior and chrome instead of having fun driving it.

The majority of older guys who talked to me at billet proof
said that they wanted to build something just like the rusty
coupe that the could just have fun with and not care, or
wash or polish. that " if this had been popular when I built
my car I would have done like your"

My thing is I didn't do it cuz it is popular, if it even is,
I just want to drive it and have fun,I can fix the rust and
paint it and I probably will, but honestly I am bored with painted cars. I like the fact some farmer filled the roof by screwing on a sheet of galv. sheet metal.
But what do I know I am some greaser tattoo canvass

 

TOOOSHAY!!

 

[ QUOTE ]
whats up with the dirty whitewalls even in a magazine spread,or for that matter the whole car being left rusty and dirty seemingly on purpose..

[/ QUOTE ]

That is a fair question, and I will try and answer why my car looks that way.
When my Roadster is finished it will have shiny paint and nice upholsery.
But I am still working some of the "new car bugs" out of it and I dont want to have to grind or weld through Plating, Paint or even Primer.
If I did not live in Tucson, I could not do it that way ( the car rusted more in a weekend in Mokan than it did in the two years before that... )
So for me it is a matter of practicality, treating it with WD40 would be investing time in a stop gap solution and I am not prepaired to do that.
Hopefully soon I will have the time and the money to do the last little bit of Fab work, so I can have it blasted and painted.

 

Yes, Jim it can be done.

Here's how.
Channel an A over stock A bones. Probably could get em both for 2500 bucks in not that bad shape.

8 inch rear from a Maverick 100.00
spring, perches, four bar straight out of Posies or speedway 300.00
used, small chevy in any classified in america 500.00
whole front end again speedway 1200.00
Mustang radiator 1-200.00
plastic 32 grill 50 bucks
tilt column out of a mid 70's car 50 bucks
VW bus box 50 bucks
master and brake lines 300 bucks
driveshaft 200 bucks
gas tank 50 bucks... use your imagination, they're everywhere
seat: mid 80's Dodge caravan 100 bucks tops
front window 40.00
wheels and tires 400.00

fuck boxing it, it's a hotrod, live a little.


there you go. I think it's over five grand but I guessed high on all that shit. That is with no favors or existing parts...etc. It can be done.

I like Creases Idea of buying two, using one and selling all the rest of the shit.

Right now I am building another totally traditional (no new parts at all) 34 and dont expect to be in it more than 10K.... so a total budget Model A can still be made.

 

the pu that Sam showed is a rat rod or a hot rod but not a traditional one.

zman, is that $1,000 include shipping cost? take a vanilla folder to the garage and put every receipt you get in it.. It becomes amazing when you look back at the end... I did this when I built the wagon, ti scared me when I looked back at mine..

Its fun reading everyones post on this topic as everyone is so sensitive and thinks it being directed at them... When the question was not being directed at any one car when the topic was started.....

 

Boones, what's that cool lookin' car in your avatar? (soory for the hijack)

 

That's his 53/54? Chevy wagon.

 

its my pos wagon there are lots of build up pics on my site,,, click below

 

[ QUOTE ]

zman, is that $1,000 include shipping cost? take a vanilla folder to the garage and put every receipt you get in it.. It becomes amazing when you look back at the end... I did this when I built the wagon, ti scared me when I looked back at mine..

[/ QUOTE ]

I had gotten a quote on shipping the body and it was $400 via freight. That would still allow me to come in under $5k. And for the receipts I have a file just like I've done for my Buick which I have about $8500 in so far. I plan on getting close to $10k for that with paint....

 

I'm building a T roadster with my grandson..his first ride...I've collected a nice A frame (from a restored car) $100.00, a running '38 flathead $75.00, '39 trans ($40.00), '37 rear (w/brakes) (free), springs (free), '39 pedal assy. (50.00), new glass body ($280.00), Fordson fuel tank ($2.00), Guide headlights ($10.00), '37 front end assy (complete w/brakes) ($20.00), F-! shock brackets (free), wishbones (w/splitter kit) ($20.00), F-100 steering box ($10.00), '28 A grill shell ($10.00), original T windshild frame (free)...for a grand total of $617.00...I figure $1500.00 TOPS to get this car built SAFE and on the road. You can build 'em cheap but you've gotta wheel, deal and hunt for parts...no 1-800 cars for me. (I'll have a blown $1500.00 331 Hemi in my next ride!).

 

Can I build a traditional hot rod for $5,000?

Uh, no.

 

OK I'm still wet behind the ears, but here goes. I think how you view a traditional car is different from person to person. I'm only 34, but I like the cars when they're rough. It allows the person to look at a car and figure in their head how they would finish it. All these cars get such praise until the owner finishes it and then all the opinions come out. "why that color, or that wheel and tire combo?" Hey why in the hell was the car cool before and now it's not? As for my idea of traditional is anything old that is pleasing to the eye. I don't care if the body was made in Dearborn(mine was made in Lansing,27 Olds). I think it needs a I-beam axle, but doesn't matter about spring set up. You can't tell me all the guys in the 30-50's were running around with nicely painted T's and A's. They ran what they had. They just had an easier time getting all the stuff we scour months and years for. So why should the guy with a oddball cowl and homemade body with 350/350 combo that he pulled out of a junkyard not have a treaditonal car. TRADITIONS change from generation to generation. So yes I think you can build a traditional car for under 5 grand. With patience and the right connections and a little luck. My 27 Olds with model a front susp. and 55 ford r/e and 63 chevy 6 is my opinion of traditional and will cost less than 2k. When it's done it will be rusty(it sat in a junkyard since 1929) and have a less than spartan interior so DEAL WITH IT!

 

I keep looking at the cost tallies on these replies, and it reminds me of a competition put on annually by Grassroots Motorsports Magazine. They have guys from all over build two-thousand dollar cars to compete against each other at the drags, in an autocross and a car show.

Since there were discussions on whether to include prices for traded parts etc., here's what they came up with:

The total cost of the car when complete can't exceed $2,004.00 (next year it'll be $2,005.00). You can sell off parts from the car to recoup your initial investment, but the value of the car can't be reduced to less than $0.00, even if the builder makes more money from the unused parts than he/she spent on the vehicle originally. Parts already in the builder's possesion must be assigned a "fair" market value, as do items received as gifts or donations. Labor performed at no cost to the builder does not count toward the value of the build.

Does this apply to building a nostalgia rod for less than $5,000.00? Not really, but it might be worth thinking about if you wanted to make a contest out of it. There are a couple of early darts and a V-8 Corvair that compete in the challenge... if you see the magazine, check it out.

 

what i think would be cool is buildin an FED under 5 grand sure w/ that much of a budget you probably couldnt put a blower on it but i bet it could be done if you built the chassis yourself, motor, painted it yourself and picked up some old "junk" at a swapmeet/get lucky
In fact that'll be my mission in a few yrs...build an FED that would resemble the Dragmaster Chassis yet still meet requirements and just run a 301 in it. Gear it right and get the weight distribution down you may be able to run in the low 11's............ZIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGGG!!!!!

JOHNNY

 

I paid aprox $4000 for the `32 in the pic. I had a set of $250 `40 Ford brakes in my pile of junk . Soo , if an Offenhauser adapter & a Junk-yard 305 chev sb was added ,then this could have been what some of you might have accepted as a "Traditional" rod. To me , that would have been a POS. Hot Rodding starts with the engine & chassis !
A Fresh engine is the Pride of any Hot Rodder , and I still belive that most early OHV or flathead engines would cost $3000 or more if you want a "Traditional Hot Rod engine" .
A $1200 SBC "Crate-engine" might be a way to lower costs , But then you will need a set of nice valve covers..a tri-power intake ..97 Strombergs in GOOD shape, or better yet, Restored... And-so-on ..
BTW .. The Gooch .. Tilt Column ???... Nope.. Don`t think so

 

I keep thinking of different ways of saying the same thing. I'm refining my ideas...

So do you want to have a cool Hot Rod, or a bitchin' receipt?

Build the car you want. If it sucks but "only cost $5k to build!" then where's the victory? Conversly if it cost $1MIL to build and still sucks, where's the victory?

Build every Hot Rod like it'll be your last. Shoot for perfection at any cost. If you achieve it, no one will care how much it cost. They'll never even ask...

 

and the crowd cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!! NIcely said.

 

No.

 

[ QUOTE ]
I like Creases Idea of buying two, using one and selling all the rest of the shit

[/ QUOTE ]

Wish I could take the credit, but my buddy Sandman did it. The car I posted the pic of is his and was built as described. There's nothing on that car that isn't traditional. He drives the living hell out of it.

 

Jim you seem to be the one who is confused.In your build up article in R&C Budget Beater you said it was a traditional rod.By your own definition it wasn't. Not unless they were running small block's &auto trans in the forty's or fifty's.Dont get me wrong ,I like the truck and in fact consider it to be traditional style.You after all did just what they would have done back then.You put the best motor you could afford in it.I wasn't around back then but I understand that the cheapest and fastest way to go faster was go to the junk yard .Buy a flathead V8 or later an OHV v8 and bolt them in your car stock.Easy way to double your power.(probably looked down on by guy's that were building 4 banger's)The point i'm making is dont put down those that use junk yard engines and tell them there car aint TRADITIONAL.Lets face it a stock caddy or old's etc.is still alot of power in a car that weigh's less than 2000lb.Alot of these so called rat rods are true HOT ROD'S built in the traditional style.There just not copy's of the early stuff.I think most cars were built with what you could get your hand's on cheap and easy. The idea being to get your ass on the road with something you built ,designed,and engineered yourself.My car by the way was built for 5000$ and is all early ford nothing on car later than 1939,except for a glass body.I wasnt gonna let lack of body keep me off the road.I consider it traditional .I guess it wouldn't meet your definition Jim but who give's a shit I built it for me and could care less what anyone else think's