Hot Rods As we get older ~

Well maybe not so "golden" years, but better than the "dirt nap", or the nursing home, not knowing your name and/or what cars you ever owned.
My Dad at 84 is in the hospital for over 4 months, surgeries, recoveries, and some dementia.
So having your faculties, and still being able to enjoy the toys, even if they are automatic power this and that, so be it.
Just a case of evolution in your own journey and experiences... PS wonder if Ed Isky still drives the T hotrod he has owned for like 70 years

 

Growing old ain't for pussys.

 

I'll be 68 in March, and as each day passes, I wonder whether I'll be in good enough health to finish my hotrod '29 AA before I die or become incapacitated. Monday I backed the daily driver into the garage door before it was all the way up. $200 damage. Tuesday, arthritis in my left hand made it difficult and painful to change the oil in said daily driver. So between mind and body, I am coming to terms with the unpleasant possibilities of aging. I won't stop trying, though, and someday when I scrape up the funds, I'll do a build thread on the H.A.M.B.'s longest project (started in '74). So there!

 

I am fortunate at 66 that I only have the occasional ache. I shingled an 8 in 12 roof last year. It was going slow so I hired a couple of college students wanting to make summer money roofing. I taught them shingling and how to form flashing with a a pair of angle irons and clamps for a field brake. I humped most of the shingles up to keep them moving. Then I did a roof in the fall with my nephew for my brother in-law who was is crippled. Climbing scaffold for a summer is good exercise and really appreciate that I am able to do it. I don't recognize the old guy in the mirror as he does not reflect the inner boy but we get along.

In 72 I had a 69 Mustang with a 427 transplant that was built to about 500hp. It ate clutches and ended up with a heavy truck clutch. The PO built it to go drag racing and it was complete except it had the stock rear end that was around 3:1 so it could go well north of a 100. The car was an animal and after a couple years I sold it before I killed myself. The clutch was ridiculous for pressure. I would like to go manual when I build my 40. I am researching power assisted clutches to be able to drive for as long possible. I am not sure how practical that is but time will tell. There is holding a std on an uphill at a stop that makes one lean in favor of an automatic. Everyone has to sit on a persons rear bumper and no one is used to a cars that can roll back a foot going between brake and clutch.
A friend bought a Shelby AC cobra replica that was well built with a 427 side oiler. He took me for a rip recently and it was good to hear the thump & feel the shake of a 427 again. Beautiful engines.
Back to original train of thought. Power assisted clutches as a way to extend ones driving years?

 

I'm 68 and am an inspector in an oil refinery. Constantly climbing scaffold. Going over/under big pipes, small pipes, watching concrete pours, casting concrete samples for compression tests, rebar inspections, climbing around the racks for welding inspections. Lot of physical activity. I feel fortunate I'm still able to do this work. Had back surgery 15 years ago and every once in awhile I'm laid up for a week or so but eventually everything gets back into place and I'm back to work. I feel extremely fortunate that I'm still able to do the job that I do. I think about retiring but it gets too boring around the house and while working I get good exercise that I wouldn't ordinarily get at home. Additional benefit is that the pay is pretty good.

 

Many years ago I flew with a real Motor-head, flying the old Cobra helicopter over the VN ricepads. One day while hovering low firing off the rockets out of the wing pod, one went off just leaving the pod, most of the damage done was on the lower portion of the AC and where the ammo drums are located. The guy in back (I was in front) caught some fragments in his left leg. Short story, we both were sitting in the racks on a Navy medical ship when the doctor came in and pulled the curtain close around the Motor-heads bunk. I was thinking this can't be good. I could hear the Doc saying that he would be medically unfit to fly, always walk with a limp and would required the assistance of a cane, no more running, and the leg would go numb from time to time. All in all he was taking it all pretty well, saying I can live with that, I can live with that. The last thing the doc said, was that, "oh by the way, you will not be able to drive a standard clutch auto or truck, well that is when all hell broke loose. My Buddy wanted a medical program with lots of physical activity to get that leg back in shape. Well he got the leg back in shape and even got back on flight status. Driving his big block, 4 speed, muscle car was never an issue. So I guess if he can do it, most of us can.

 

Clutches are only for starting and stopping, and in an emergency you can do without for that too...

 

At 63. Used to look forward to retirement, being lazy, doing whatever Id like.
I really believe having a physical job sucks at our age. BUT....
It forces us to keep moving, makes us bend down, Lift, push, pull and most importantly get our heartrate up with a good sweat.
Yes, this provides frustration, aches and pains and when we stop in the evening. We are too tired to have fun. We think again of the days passing us by....
Now after seeing many friends and family, pass away, become inactive and getting heavy with knee problems and high blood pressure and sugar.. I realize, this hard working old body has no other choice if I want to stay healthy.
Yes, Id stay busy if I retired. But not nearly as busy and active as I am working.
Does anyone have a good profession that will keep me virile?

 

Know what should be happening when hot rodders are get older? Prices for parts should go down, but they aren't! Some older people have too much money to spend on cars.

I'm just jealous.

 

Damn!!!!----Never heard so many problems!!----Guess I'm just lucky at 84!
Everything working good!
Always liked the option of manual shifting, especially a 4 spd. thru the mountains.
My choice of a hyd. clutch has proven to work great for 300,000 miles now.
Don

 

I always cringe when some tough young guy quotes Hunter S. Thompson

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

I don't think they realize what could be in store for them if they actually live like this.

 

I suppose the old adage of "If I knew I was gonna live this long I would have taken better care of myself" rings true to a lot of my fellow Hambers..my downfall started with a '56 Panhead and multiple broken bones and a compound fractured ankle and a plethora of broken bones since then. HRP

 

That, right there, sums it all up. Keep at it as long as you can.

 

I have my coupe listed for sale here on the HAMB and on Racing Junk. I love my coupe........... coolest damn car I have ever owned.......in my late 50's it was very cool. Now in my getting to the end of my late 60's, the header noise has passed the acceptable level.........it's a hot rod.........it rides like a hot rod........sadly, the thrill is gone and I blame it on my getting old.......
still drive it every chance I get........

 

Hi warbird1.Chasing oil leak on a R985.Hope you took a BIG lunch and a sleeping bag.Never saw a radial that did`nt have a case of the drizzles,drips and drools.Had a friend that was a member of the local American Legion post in Fl where I grew up.WW1 vet.He flew the rotary`s in WW1.They had a total loss lube system that used CASTOR OIL for lubricant.YECKKKKKKKKKK.And yeah fellow hambers,growing old SUCKS.Just turned 71 last month.Some mornings I wake up and I swear my HAIR even hurts.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Im still driving a stick. My two 66 GMC one has a SM420 granny 4 speed. the other a powerglide. Yep at 65 the knees back and eyes don't work as well. Don't hear hardly anything but my pecker still works ok! I drove a backhoe that had a electric push button atop the front bucket control handle to activate the clutch. It was stick shift no clutch pedal. Case 580 super K if I remember correctly.

 

Yep the castor oil fumes caused the pilots to get loose bowels. so they cut a hole in the fuselage and had jeans with a rear flap. They tried to be flying over enemy trenches when they felt the urge.

 

I'm with ya on the header noise...swapping out my headers for cast manifolds after the holidays...I've installed resonators and an h pipe and the drone is still pissing me off. Back in the day the louder the better but the ringing ears from work and drumming has gotten OLD.

Sent from my QMV7A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Just turned 79, and it seems that my legs are showing my age more than anything else, but I keep trying.
My 31 Hiboy roadster has a 4 speed and a hydraulic clutch TO btg. from McCleod, and a 11" clutch also from McCleod. My '40 coupe has a T4 and a hydraulic TO brg from American Driveline pushing a Ford Motorsports clutch, and seem stiffer thaan the Hiboy. I'm still able to drive them and do still enjoy shifting gears, The Hiboy's tag reads "3 PDLS" and the coupe;s is :3PDLS2. I keep hoping that driving them will build my leg muscles back up, but I think the nerve damage from a badly messed up back is permanent. One last ditch attempt if it gets too bad is a dual disc clutch, which I understand requires a lot less spring pressure than a single disc.
BTW, the mechanical advantage required to multiply your leg/foot pressure in order to compress the springs in a pressure plate works the same whether it be applied by levers or hydraulics, just easier to set up and get proper geometry with hydraulic. No difference in pedal pressure if travel is the same on the same pressure plate.
My shop only has 8'6" ceiling, so a lift won't do too well, but if somebody were to actually produce that powered creeper, I'd give my shriveled up left nut for it

 

At least I wasn't working on the R3350 in the AD... that thing is one big oil leak!

And yes, I know the "frustration, aches and pains when we stop in the evening" I'm still up on ladders, under aircraft and in Hell Holes every day. Guess it helps keep me going, but just wish it left me with more time and energy to work on my own stuff...

 

If your'e like me, the question of the day is what hair?

 

It's called the "golden years" because it's the time in life when you fork over all your accumulated gold to your doctors !

 

Tim here on the HAMB and I were transferring a pair of 283 short blocks from a oily pickup box trailer to the back of my Rocky Goodtime Van [TM] in a rain storm when I slipped carrying the weight of one of them...had to have vertebrae surgery on my back...all happened 10 years ago
After many hours of physical therapy I'm back to 100% and I drive manual transmission cars...even my daily driver HHR panel has a 5 speed. If I absolutely HAVE to change to an automatic trans I'll do it but at 68 and 1/2 I can't wait to take the first drive in my 34 ford coupe with an 11 inch clutch and a muncie trans...

 

Yep, Gettin old darn sure ain't for no sissies

 

Got to be honest. At 6'3" it's a bit of a pain to stoop over to get into the 4" chopped coupe but I do it because the car is so much fun. At 68, I also have to admit I love the 700r4 and B&M ratchet megashifter rather than a 4 or 5 speed manual.....must be getting lazy in my old age.

 

When I was building my yblock for my 57 I ran across a Schafer(sp?) clutch on epay. I think it was rated at 3500lbs. Pedal pressure was waaay over the top. It's a wonder it didn't bend the linkage. Drove it for a couple years wondering what I was thinking when I put it in. One thing, it certainly didn't slip. Last summer I sent a core to Fort Wayne Clutch and they built me a 1500lb one. Works great. Might have done it sooner but my right knee is my bad knee.

 

I have a 1700 lb Zoom 11" diaphragm truck clutch in my Ford. With the hydraulic clutch it works well and hooks up if I decide to beat on it a bit. I had a very heavy clutch in one of my '64 Fords. That one tore an arm off the z-bar.

 

Can't grow old by bein a fool. I got all my physical limits early, and I'm just a 57 model. "Fuck that pain, work through it, don't be a pussy..." was the battle cry from the elders. I shoulda listened to my body instead of them but too late now. If all I could roll was an auto, so the fuck be it. Got something to say? Where's your car? It's a stick? Good for you. So, is the message getting delivered? Like many above have said, as long as you're out there in the trenches that's all that matters. Have the fun any way you can and offer a Singlefinger salute to anyone who mocks it.

 

Tell 'em Jocko!

What I was thinking. Danny should subtitle the thread "What Ails You?"
But seriously, a worthy topic. The sorry truth.