Checkin' in.

I apologize in advance for having time to browse all day for a week or 2 but not taking the time to introduce myself, sure is a lot of things here to attack my attention span.

I'm James and I live in Windsor, CA in Sonoma County / SF Bay Area / Northern California - whatever sounds good to you! I'm fast approaching my 30th birthday at the end of this year, recently engaged to a far better woman than I deserve whom I've known for 13 years and been in a relationship with for nearly 6. When I was young and goofy (13 years ago but still a little young and a little goofy) I actually proposed to her as well as the '65 Mustang fastback she drove. Car has since been wrecked, but she's only gotten better so getting to actually propose to her has fared me much better over the years.

I've enjoyed old iron since I was a kid but never been in the spot to learn hands on so much, outside of a few years of auto body in high school and painting a few cars here and there. A friend of mine had several old cars, my late uncle Jim Davis out of Solano County http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...cle-solano-county-ca-looking-for-info.930616/ with his largely home/self built '32 5 window was an exception, but my access to him was limited. He had the bug big time, and while I always asked about his 1919 Dodge he had that was complete albeit in complete parts, I never talked my dad into letting me pick it up. Would've made a great father/son rod project - but hey! Life.

Anyway, I have no experience with drivetrains, no old cars, not a homeowner, still searching myself for career aspirations, etc,. But, I am hoping one day sooner than later to pick up somewhere, anywhere - and get started. I tend to love cars that I don't fit in (I'm 6'7") and Jim's '32 was like a sardine can. In reality, throwing the Dodge tub on some rails may have not fit me any better, but not always the point.

Being as that I know less here than most likely everybody, I likely won't comment much outside of appreciation for others posts and efforts, but I'm hoping that I'm able to take advantage of the information provided so thoroughly here and learn a thing or two, maybe even connect with some locals who might want to spend time showing a monkey the ways of the wrench.

Sorry to ramble, happy to be here! Thanks HAMBers, admin (Ryan and others?) for maintaining and creating such a resource.

 

Is it me or is the hobby fairly difficult to get into without spending a ton of cash? I've been hammering several online sites for local cars looking for a reasonable priced non-rust bucket, mainly 4 door late 40/early 50s Chevrolet's and shoebox Ford's and there are a handful, but none that aren't totally fucked with and in pieces for too much cash. Found one 1950 Fordor a couple hours away but never heard back from the guy, had title and a V8 and from pictures looked like a good project for someone like me who both doesn't know shit about working on cars, loves this era of design, and wants a low-buck cruiser with 4 doors so my future family can enjoy it with me.

Lot of drivers around $7-10k on HAMB and other local listing sites, but am I totally clueless thinking that a cheap 4 door project is still able to be found for cheap?