Great story Ryan, I have loved cars from every era I can think of early to modern. Nothing like the lines and power of a Duesenberg to the cars of the Thirties, Fifties, Sixties and the modern supercars. I have had a hard time finding a project due to the wide interest. And the fact I am cash strapped for a new hobby. This weekend I had the chance to be up close to some sweet sounding radial airplane engines (the T-6 sent chills up my spine). The other great sound was a Blown Flathead with straight pipes, I think my ears are still ringing (thanks Skot) Kettleman
Show him the Camaro pic Ryan. It's been a while and a lot of the newer guys don't know. For me the cars are the stabilizing force in my life when everything else gets out of line. Sunday night: Toilet breaks and is running constantly. Shut off the valve, Run to get new guts for it and find the parts I need in the 4th store I go to. Get home, replace the guts and turn the valve back on. Now the damned valve leaks. Finally get that packing nut tightend up so it barely drips and stick a bucket under it till I can get it replaced later. It's now 1:30 Monday morning and I have to be up for work at 4:30. Monday Morning: 6AM at work. Somebody pulls a manual fire alarm at work and we have smoke in the building. Get everyone evacuated and the fire department in and start looking. Finally find it's a fried transformer on an HVAC unit on the roof. Isolate the power, blow all the smoke out of the building and get everyone back in to work. An hour later respond to an altercation in the parking lot, separate them and get them off the property. rest of the day is a typical Monday, busy with a few surprises to deal with but pretty normal. Hanging around late at work to get the reports done on the earlier stuff at 6M and we get another fire alarm. Evacuate, get FD in and find a second HVAC burned up a motor. Standing there with the fire chief as they're loading their stuff back in the trucks and I'm getting the building alarm systems reset and he say's "That your Chevelle over there? What year is it?" So we talk cars a few minutes till they're ready to pull out. Seems he drove a Barracuda in high school, and his first car was a Stude Lark. Monday 7:30 PM: Finally headed home, stuck at the 3rd red light in a row and it's 98 degrees. I'm cooking in the car and I've about had it for 1 day. Then a car coming around the corner honks and waves. As the light changes, the first guy comming towards me yells "Nice car man" out the window as he rolls by. Up to the next light to hang a left at the hotel next to my neighborhood and see a deuce roadster and a 29 coupe in the shade in the hotel parking lot. The guys standing there having a smoke wave as I go by and I figure what the hell. I turn in and we talk cars for about an hour right there in the parking lot. Just me and 2 guys I've never seen before. The worm has turned and the world is back in a happy place as I pull into the driveway at last. Then I head into the bathroom and realize the damned bucket's almost full. Oh well...
Cool blog Ryan. I enjoyed reading that. And Smokin Joe that was funny, probably because it is so true the way stuff like that happens.
Listen to your friends, today you try to protect them(kids) from banging their heads on the ding room table, tomorrow their on their way to college and have some "issue" with you. I relate to your mind set, it's all I know and like others the addiction has gotten me through some real rocky roads. Thanks for all your efforts on the HAMB web site
That's funny Jeff,LOL! Wonder if anybody else gets it? "I'm Bob...and i'm an HAMBoholic..." My wife see the change in me. I was on the HAMB all day,last Sunday. She kept saying''You're still on there?" The only guys who can relate to you are other HAMBers! My friends can't look at a car,or a pile of parts and visualize it done. It's a sickness,I tell you. Tylenol ain't gonna help...
I realized I was addicted recently when I noticed that the "you last visited" always showed a few minutes ago. I'm refreshing that window throughout the day automatically now. My free will has gone. Only the HAMB remains. What's worse is that I work from home, in an office over my garage. So if I ever lose total control I will find myself down there, welding, grinding, painting, wiring. Some days I wish I could work in an office so I could relax and not feel guilty about wanting to walk downstairs...
Ryan you are awesome. You inspire a lot of us here. Who wouldn't want to be in your shoes? Two hot rods, and two chicks! Keep it up. Thank you. Crash.
As most of the people here, I understand and experience exactly what you're talking about. There's something in the soul of a real 'car guy' that makes these things happen. I can't think of any other kind of "guy" (football, baseball, woodowkrers, etc.) that have this kind of mentality. Preach on. oh, and a '92 vette is a C4
I have spent hours upon hours thinking of what i could do with my many projects, wondering what the next big project will be, if i had that car what i would do with it, and hundreds of other things with similar topics. I've come to realize I am addicted to cars, trucks,tractors,vans,boats, and just about everything else that has some type of engine, and makes loud noises like vroom, or put put, or choo choo, or something. And my addiction does not stop with traditional rods, or customs, theres also the late model truck addiction, the low rider addiction, the old tractor in the shed addiction, and sadly the DONK addiction, plus alot of others. I enjoy spending hours talking to my dad and my grandpa about the "Old Days" and hearing about cars i could only dream of owning, doing things i could only dream of doing, and so on. I've come to realize at my young age of 17 that it is my responsability to make sure my children will be able to expierence the things I have, and beable to see the old cars i have, and get the chance to ride grandpa's tractor down the road. And hopefully they will also be as interested in these things as i am. I am waste deep in projects and can't stop thinking about them, what i could do to make them better, and i hope i am always this way. Long live the car addiction and long live the HAMB.
that is funny ! I got it, and thought about it before I read this post !Ryan is are leader punch is good M,mmmmmmm biasis ply flavored me sleep now till next post. zzzzzzzzzzz...
One of my favorite Journal entries yet! The best part of now being a stay-at-home Dad is lots of time with my 2 kids (soon to be 5yr. old boy/2yr. old girl) and lots more HAMB time! My son just started riding his bike with no training wheels this week. As I watched him ride with a big smile on his face, I was so happy for him, yet at the same time I was sad, as this is yet another milestone in his life that has come and gone. Before I know it, they will be grown and gone, and I'll want all these days back. Far more than any car related event in life... Enjoy that little girl as much as you can every day! And thank you to Marcie for letting you devote as much of your life to the HAMB as you do!
I started early, about 4-5 years old. My grandfather was a born engineer/mechanic and he had a wonderful place called a farm maintainance shop. It had a belt driven drill press, a belt driven bench grinder and anvil, a few hammers and assorted tools and a old buzz box welder. With this mediocre assemblage of tools he managed to keep a farm running, the local cars on the road and when time permitted design and build some wonderful things to make his and my grandma's life easier. I started following him around like a second skin as soon as I could walk. His patience, willingness to teach and a seemingly endless supply of used engines, transmissions, electric motors and attending hardware fostered a love for mechanical things and how they work that has consumed almost every waking moment of my life. I've drag raced, oval track raced and built street, competition cars and hot rods from time I was 14 years old and hopefully will have an automotive project in the plannning/ building stages when my heart pulses for the last time. I've been blessed with the worlds most understanding wife and a heaveny father who rains his grace down on me without pause. I could not begin to imagine a more perfect life. Along with everything else my later years have been visited by a wonderful invention , the computer. This is a tool I swore to never partake of as it was too modern for my tastes. Again, with my wife's urging I ventured into the basics and shortly after "discovered" the HAMB. This fasinating tool demands every spare moment I haven't got a wrench or a welding torch in my hand and I thank Ryan for giving us an outlet for our hot rod affliction. Frank
Yup, that was a pretty cool post boss. The only thing worse than being a younger guy with back problems is realizing how long you'll have to deal with them. Years ago I came home from the pharmacy with a bottle of Soma and my dad kind of laughed. I asked what was so funny? He says, "Oh nothing, back in the 70's we called those sidewinders." "Why?" I asked "Well they make you walk like this." and he stumbled laterally across the kitchen and used the wall to guide him out.
Great blog. All the way through it I was thinking, "yep, that's me too". Especially the part about driving in traffic and mentally lowering, customizing and repainting many of the cars I see. Or identifying taillights, or wheels, or side trim that would look good on a particular project. Or thinking of a good use for a particular component, and then imagining that it would be worth building some particular vehicle, just to use the cool component in the cool way I just thought up! One of my common symptoms is that I'll decide my next car will be a '40 convert. Or maybe a '65 Impala. Oh, look, that '39 Dodge sedan would be cool if you just slammed it and painted it. I really like early Mustangs; maybe I should buy one. Gas prices are really stupid, I should buy an oval-window beetle. All these plans fighting for position, and I'm still a coupla years from finishing my current project! Anyway, thanks for sticking the mirror in my brain.
I thought I really had an obsession until I found the JJ/HAMB, there are other people like me. I've been told I've been this way since I was a baby. I feel inadequate, I only have 17" monitors... one Mac and one Dell, the Mac can do RSS, so the HAMB threads swirl around on the screen saver while I work on the Dell, and I keep a pile of scrap paper under my keyboard, todays doodle is a green '48 Ford sedan shortened into a PU cab, '40 Ford PU fenders and a moon tank in the grill, and a wheel idea for DIRTYT's Plymouth I haven't PMed him about yet. I have 4 envelopes full of stickers to send out at lunch time, and all I can think about the 2 extra hours I have to myself tonight to dick around in the garage because the GF is getting a pedicure until 7. Not that I wish you any pain, but I love your backaches Ryan. P.S. Thanks for giving me an audience to sell my stickers to.
I may be new to this site and only posted a few times thus far. But the more time I spend on this crazy thing, I realize that along with the wrenches and 1/2" drive sockets that line our tool boxes, the HAMB is another important tool that we all utilize to passionately build our rides. But unlike the physical tools that get laid around our filthy garages at the wee hours of the night, the HAMB is a tool that comes inside and on the road to helps us build some unique friendships as well as some much needed inspiration. I would have to say that along with talking to some of you fine folks out there, I absolutly enjoy Ryan's blog about everything that is automotive and the tangents that stem from his passion. Ryan's passion for the Customs and Hot Rods is obviously deeply rooted in his love for everything automotive and mechanical. There on the Jalopy Journal, we get a chance to explore and expand some aspects of "Hot Rodding" that we may or may not have known about. Things that are not so much traditionally related to cars that we are used to seeing. I know that because of this site, and because the posts along with the people behind them, I have expanded my scope of what I find interesting and appealing. When I attended this years Great Race opening ceremonies, I went there with a "wider eye" then ever before. From reading and listening to people who passionately care about automotive structures, I was able to go and look at everything in a different light. Now it was not just Coker's '32 ford roadster that stuck out, it was particular vehicles that I had never seen before. I was respecting the craftsmanship of the construction instead of flocking to a particular make and model. The riveting on some of the cars made me think in a different light all together in regards to how the mechanics of a particular car can be just as interesting if not more then the high gloss paint that covers some of that work up. So all in all, I guess I am trying say that we are all pretty much right there with you Ryan. We all can relate to the stories that you post in one way or another. We may have different grinds from 9-5 but we are all thinking about our cars or the others on the road from the time we wake up to the time we fall asleep and a bit more if we are lucky. Anyways that my Two Cents, Thanks and Keep up the good work.
The worst is being a car fanatic with the "sickness" and not having a rod in the garage! Or driveway!
Man Ryan every time you open up a little - I can feel it coming before I even read it. It's almost as if the words were coming from my own mind. I stare at dual 24"s every day as well. I have AutoCAD open on one side, a drawing manager on the other split with the Internet Explorer - (tabbed out - w/HAMB running behind the scenes all day long). Guess that's why I never post anymore. I am reading the posts between doing my job - posting would suck up too much time so I save my thoughts for when I go home. But by the time I get home I have buried myself in a thousand different "builds" and I have lost the train of thought I may have wanted to convey on the forum.... I have chronic insomnia - usually because I am disassembling something in my mind. When I am not thinking of HOW to build something I am thinking of how I can manipulate my money/parts to ATTAIN something. I used to make fun of my uncle because he has bought and sold just about every kind of car - which I thought was dumb (stick with one sweet car and make it as cool as possible, right?) - but now that I am older, I know.....I know too well.....There isn't enough time on the planet for me to have and cherish all of the cars that I adore.... Speaking of which - my taste in cars goes in about every direction. I have even seen Hondas (gasp) and thought - goddamn that's cool. If I had a Honda I'd...........
My wife and I are pretty much the same as the rest of this group. We live and breathe this stuff, we gawk at the same cars whizzing by in traffic, we see traditional "old" things in everything we do. As our 5 year old grandson tells us....."why do you guys always watch "white" movies??"...........meaning of course that every time he comes over (he lives next door) the TV is on TCM and a fine old black and white movie is playing. And, naturally, the reason is that it's fun to spot that BRAND NEW 1936 Ford in the background.......or see what Cary Grant or James Cagney will be driving next.
I have always felt the same way. My dad is pretty obsessed too. Suprisingly perhaps, my 2 year old son seems more afflicted than both of us. The little guy must say vroooom vrooom 50 times a day pointing to the motor in his die cast 40 Ford. I just hope theres stuff on the road worth obsessing over when he's my age. I hadn't ever really thought of car folks being the sane ones, but I do feel that it keeps me sane. I often have a really hard time hanging out with "civilians" as Barnett describes them. I am happy when I am working on the car, hanging with car folks or spending time with my family. All other activities are just taking time away from my family and cars.
What a great look into the workings of the mind of a mad man. Not to mention how this, (the HAMB) comes about.
If I owned that 1/2-ton, how much would I lower it? Check out that new Boxster Id love to have a silver one with red interior. A modern nod to the Little Bastard. There is a perfect little model-a roadster. How in the hell do I not know that guy? That reminds me, I need a hair cut. I wonder if the boys will want to get their hot rods together at Avenue this weekend? LOL!!! I know exactly how you feel on this one, freaking traffic bring out the demons in my mind haha!
It never shuts down. Seems like every old picture of my family-from my dad as a kid until today has someone standing in front of an old car. We've owned close to 100 tri-5 Chevys, a few Impalas, A flathead powered Model A pick up (since 58, soon to be mine,) a 36 Chvy pick up, (since 54, still in the family), and others. I have no occupational connection to automobiles, just a life-long obsession with cool cars. My dad likes 55-57 Chevys, I went to Mercs, Oldsmobiles and Buicks. It's all the same love, just a different direction.
I spent most of my young life.. 20's and 30's with a chronic lower back pain. It was't until I reached 40 did it stop. It wasn't because I didn't have the same issues, it was because I finally came to grips on my inefficiencies and learned how to walk, stand and bend over and work without causing the muscles to pull and strain literally dropping me to me knees. Above all, I learned how to strengthen my back with special exersizes. Now, I can spend hours on a ladder, under a car or over an engine with no issues. I may not write as well as you Ryan.. but I'd give that part up for alittle sanity. Great post by the way.... I really don't know how you keep up with all you do. Thanks! I for one appreciate it.
wow, what a blast from the past. i remember this from a year or so ago, and thinking that ryan needs more sleep. just like the rest of us.
The Jalopy Journal
