"Do what you want" is SOOO . . . overrated

I am still young, but I agree with the idea that there can be too much customization. I like some customization, but when I see a nice old vehicle that would have looked good with some fresh paint that has been slammed almost to the ground and put on some big ugly spoke rims I have to wonder what whoever built it was thinking. Besides, a vehicle like that would be smashed to pieces on a road like ours, so even if I did like the look it would be impractical to build anyway.


Nathan

 

I gotta take a dump

 

First off, I didnt read all 5 pages of this Thread.

Because I'm itching to go out to the garage and work on my own car.


But I think there is an element of thruth to both lines of thinking.

If we kept it all save and predictable, most hot Rods would start to look like watered down & modernised versons of the Doane Spencer roadster
( but with disc brakes, seatbelts, 3rd brakelights and all the other **** scared old men like to weigh their cars down with )

And on the other side we have the cars where making a statement was obviously more important than any kind of practicality or aesthetics.

It seems to me that somewhere in the middle there is plenty of room to move.
And build a Traditionally styled Hot Rod that has its own style, is pleasing to look at ( even 10 years from now when whatever fad is going on right now has faded away ), and is fun to own and drive.



And if that was easy, everybody would be doing it...

 

Young guys have different perspective. Take Headlights for example. Out the gate, most new guys see them as Big Bug Eyes & rather have hidden LEDs or no lights at all. Why, cause they're use to seeing "CatEyes" on the corner of the fenders.

They're on the inside looking out while we're on the outside looking in at them looking out at us. Educate! And, Listen you little ****ers!!!

 

"And if that was easy, everybody would be doing it... "

They are, if you don't believe me just ask them!!!!

How many times have we seen someone come on here and proclaim, "I have been working on this for four years and it has turned out like the pile of **** it is!"
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There were several ugly over chopped,over Z'ed,kicked up front framed,3 foot exhaust,rusty cars here in Knoxville,Tenn,,one word FUGLY,,not TRADITIONAL.

Built for shock value IMHO. HRP

 

I swear if I see another set of spider caps on black rims I will puke

 

Do what everybody else wants is SOOOO overrated.

Like step ford wives. Little cookie cutter houses, and cookie cutter cars.

Probably don't like people with different accents, or skin color either. Just anything different makes some people feel their smallness.

Then they post **** here.

 

That's right.... FNG, because this isn't a community that is reflective of the values ***ociated with traditional hot rods.

I come here to see the craftsmanship demonstrated by most members, but I find the overall ******** at***udes of the few dominate over the rest.

Try to see beyond yourselves.

 

True

i thought it was because they wanted it to look like a "hand-me-down" heirloom rather than a fresh build?

 

My hotrodding mantra is to drive a beast that will frighten small children and little old ladies as I p*** down the street. Prius-driving yuppies shudder. Shades are drawn, playgrounds are emptied, 911 switchboards overloaded when the beast is on the prowl. My BBC sounds like the death rattle of 20 pleistocene mammoths, and I leave a trail of blackened, tar-like motor oil, rust flakes and brake fluid. Behind me I leave scroffulous clouds of blue-white smoke, chunks of dry-rotted rubber and 8 inch wide strips of melted, blackened pavement, the by-product of m***ive oil consumption and peg-leg tire-fire burnouts. Don't worry about that grabbing left-rear brake that causes the wild lurch and squealing stop at every stoplight, or the 1/2 turn of play in the steering. It's normal. Smoke-red eyes behind mirrored lens, I cruise the main drag. Pure, unadulterated FUN. Oh, yea, and the chicks dig it,

 

Areed. In all seriousness, I love the sound of the old mills. I looked at and all-stock original 53 ford buisness coupe last weekend. The original flathead fired up on the first crank and sounded as crisp as new money. Wow.

 

This topic strikes me in a couple of ways. First, I need the 'garage door factor". Like you just opened it and are taking in the overall lines and proportions. Like others have said, sometimes 'less is more' is the best approach. It should enhance or improve the original design. There are exceptions but few pull it off successfully. The other part of this for me is taking a nice original car and whacking it. I feel like an old fart saying this but when I see a nice original and the first comments are 'whack the **** out of it', it bothers me. To me a car like this should be able to continue its life and be appreciated for what it is, there should be enough tin out there that could be given another chance as a rod or custom. I'm starting to understand why some restorers feel so strongly about it. I'm not there yet, but have a little more understanding of their point of view.

 

May I point you all to a build thread where constructive criticism changed the direction of a build and saved another car: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=529578

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The trend that I'm starting to see is that a lot of the guys who are relatively new to the hobby want to chop everything up, and the older guys want to go the other way. You can almost take that ideology to every trend in our hobby. Back in the late '60s guys were taking Hemi cars and SS396 Chevelles and cutting them up to make them faster and wilder, and 40 years later, those same guys are trying to restore them to showroom condition.

I have to agree with Mata's comments, though. If I see another over-chopped, rusty Model A coupe with the top of the rear tires two feet above the decklid, I'm going to throw up. Enough, already.

 

I have been watching trends for over 70 years and it's always fun when something different works, everyone wants one like it. pretty soon it's overdone and no longer different.
every time I see a unchopped 49-51 merc, I have to ask the owner "How much did it cost you to have the roof raised like that" I know it's not funny but I can't help myself.
I cut up everything because I enloy it. has nothing to do with shock value. I just want to personalize it. someday I might even finish one.
I paid $8,000 for a real nice Hemi powered 48 ford in 1991. it's been dead for 20 years now. the Hemi went for the wifes cancer surgery. I have all the pieces to put it back on the road someday lol

 

I believe that every one has the right to build whatever they want, and the only obligation if it is driven is that it is safe. That being said, some guys have no ability to create the vision they have in their head. They need guidance from guys who have done it well. A cool car needs to flow. Proportion is everything. I have a friend who is a builder. a client of his spent 150 grand on a 41 Plymouth, car looks good, but the owner mounted wide 20s that don't fit, and a fuel tank that hangs 6" lower than the rear bumper. He doesn't understand why no one likes his car. I like it here where a guy asks for help in getting his car "right". I like it when a guy agonizes about weather to lower his grill an extra 1/2", or move the wheels forward 1/4". The details over all makes a car from cool to great.


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I was saying less is better long before I was a HAMB member. The only one's that pay attention are the one's who agree with me already I am afraid.

best example I can think of are the fellas that "really want" a bubble top. Yea some of them are cool, but ever ride in one? The word sauna comes to mind.

 

You nailed the problem without saying it directly. He's worried about what everyone else thinks instead of what HE thinks. I'm betting he had it built to "whats popular" intending to win trophies.

From what you wrote, this guy just doesn't "get it" at all. Since nobody else likes his car I'm guessing he'll end up not liking it either.

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What? Equating discriminating automotive taste to racism is just wrong. And if you're trying to say the HAMB isn't a "community that is reflective of the values ***ociated with traditional hot rods" then you really haven't spent much time here.

 

well buddy you are showing us all that you either dont know how to read and understand what you read or you just havent been here very long.because you are dead wrong.there are a few that are ***holes but they are a minority...and there is always atleast one on every board ive ever been to.this is by far the very best out there. these boys are reflective of the values of traditional hotrodding.and there is no other board that can come even close.

 

I'm updating the drive train, and front and rearend. Leaving the body just like it was in 31. Is this against the HAMB code?

 

Don't worry about that, just build... but yes that sounds good

 

WOOHOO! The truth has been spoken! Same with the pickups that have zero space in the bed because its full of frame and gas tank and battery. If you cant haul something in the back, it aint a pickup!

 

Mine looks original except dropped axle and 16" wheels but I have a hopped up A engine with a fully synchronized 3 speed with overdrive, modern brakes, dropped floor in the trunk and a steel filler in the roof

 

I cant believe what I am reading sounds like a bunch of antique-ers.WTF if it aint chopped its an Antique car with a set of wheels on it.I had rather see the rusted hack on the road and some young guy learning something than see it being trashed for s****,Allota cars have been saved thats for sure.Personally I think it has made hot rods more affordable.

 

so after reading this i think i have it; if a person wants an opinion, give him one, but not the way he wants, unless it is the same as everyone else's, if he wants it chopped, he shouldn't, if it is already chopped, it should be unchopped. this forums collective opinion trumps his. be different, as long as it keeps the car the same. if we don't like it he shouldn't either. lets forget Barris....lets keep all model A's original....
is this right?

 

SOOOO....if some people see one more A with tires above the trunk they'll puke, same can be said about a too tall T/A/32/etc.. Black, with flathead, and a set of skinny wires. Everyone has different taste, thank God. This is a traditional site yes, but there's a big difference between 30'a traditional and 1965 traditional, yet they should all fit under the umbrella of the H.A.M.B correct? Everyones taste have changed a little I'm sure since they joined the H.A.M.B. Seems like the original H.A.M.Bers have a strong dislike for the newer guys and their thoughts of air ride and fuel injection etc...but the one thing we can't change is change. Hey, we're all going to ***** about the other guys so called "hot rod" and that's a good thing. It would be way to boring if we didn't, almost as boring as all of us wanting the "same" damn car. Keep on keeping on...

 

I agree with the OP's 'Do what you want, its your car' is w a y past reverent. And those LS motors are not 'bad ***' (if that term isn't ****ing done to death) they are late model performance motors.....-la-de-freakin'-da- do one up some where else already. Ask for opinions, expect the best and worst nancy boy'z. FNG!

 

Yeah sorta like the SB chevy was the late model performance engine for 1955. Why would anyone build one of those?