Hot Rods Do you avoid the rain?

I could put plugs in the holes that should contain wipers, but to be honest, it's basically a hollow can of a race car for the street and even if I were to hook up a defroster, I'd still have to deal with 12 inch wide street slicks and deep tread skinnies up front- almost guaranteed to swap ends at first puddle.

 

Sometimes.

 

no garage queen here

 

Nah, Dance in it. It's a gift. But wear Goggles if driving in it, 70 mph rain drops sting a little.

 

Just yesterday I delivered a beautiful 66 Charger original Hemi car with 36,000 original miles to a well know Mopar restorer in New Baltimore, Mi for some minor work, guess what..... He lived a 1/4 mile down a dirt/gravel road! I jokingly told him it was bumpier than a "Donkey Path"

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

I don't avoid the rain as much as I avoid the people driving in the rain. I drive the cheaper vehicle when it rains (the panel truck). I hope to change this in the future....which means my location.

 

agree !!!

 

Not my car but my picture from a rainy B'Ville...I'd drive-it and I bet Anthony would 2

 

Yes except when it’s raining…

 

Hello,

My first paid for car was a stock Flathead powered, 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery. I thought I would feel bad losing approximately 200 horsepower that I had when I borrowed my brother’s 58 Impala at first. It was his car and we both used it as a daily driver, but after 1960, it was used to transport him to doctor’s visits and short hospital stays. He did not drive any more at the time.

So, when the opportunity arose, I was able to negotiate a good price for the flathead sedan delivery.

Now, I used both to take my brother to his visits and stays. He also liked to go to the beach, as well, in the sedan delivery as it offered more privacy in the lower seats. It made him feel like he was still a part of his friends, although he did not see them for at least a year. He was usually busy at the doctor’s office.

Despite the sunny So Cal atmosphere most of the year, it does rain in So Cal. The street we lived on was about three blocks from the Los Angeles River and during rains, the river flows so fast, towards the ocean, nearby. The constant rains are the main cause and as our local streets of the low lying neighborhood starts to flood, it drains into the L.A. River.

The daily drive to school had to go out of our street to get to PCH, so I could go South to the high school. But, getting out of our own neighborhood was the problem when it rained.

If one goes to the last car seen on the photo. That is in front of our house on the Westside of Long Beach. All of the streets drain into the L.A. River nearby.

In order to get to PCH at the end of our street, we had to get through this photo of the flooding. PCH had steep curbs and it all ran to the drain closest to the L.A. River three blocks away to the East. In rainy weather, this was the way to go. Why? The other streets always had tons of folks wanting to get to work and took the other exit to PCH. The line up caused many “tardy days” at school.

So, on those rainy days, I always took our own street to the PCH crossing. But, as the photo shows, more flooding as one approaches the exit onto PCH.

Jnaki

I was told way back then, “water always wins…” In those rainy days, despite the hot rod sedans or in my case, a flathead sedan delivery, it was true. But, one had to know alternatives to still get where it was necessary in the rain, floods, or traffic jams.

The only problem was the lack of a good windshield wiper on the 1940 Ford front window. It was minimal to say the least. When the alternative was to drive the 58 Impala to school, the windshield wiper was huge and so was the front view out of the windshield. So, there is that.

One has to make the choices when driving a hot rod or cruiser/racecar. YRMV

Note:

Before the construction of the flood control walls to keep the LA River in check all of the time, and way before the homes developed on either side of the LA River, the history is interesting. The area adjoining the LA River was called an "Alluvial Flood Plain." As the rushing waters of the river flows out to the Pacific Ocean, it gathers top soil from the areas back along the river, even as far back as in the western inland areas of the Los Angeles City proper.

As it flowed unen***bered toward the ocean, it left plenty of good soil all over the whole area. The spread looked like a fan design, hence the name Alluvial Fan. By the time our homes were built and the flood control channel was designed, the properties had this outstanding soil in their yards. My mom's garden was a miracle. Throw out some seeds and in a week, even without constant care, a plant grows. Put in a small gallon size plant and within a week or so, it is taller than the 7 foot tall fence height.

It was a good place, but if the flood control channel were not developed from Los Angeles all the way to the ocean, our house location would have been a forest, not a tract home from the 40s.

The flathead sedan delivery was reliable and plowed through mid rim height waters as if it was a boat. Usually, with the brakes pushed in to at least keep the brakes in contact and warm/dry as much as possible. As bad as it was, we never got stuck in our neighborhood or on the way to school.

 

Since it's not yours, I'll say this, that guy is a box of rocks short the rocks and the box! Salt is nasty on metal; salt water is just cruel. For a photo op? Whatever, not my car, not my money. Drive them in the rain if you want, but I'd advise against driving them in a vat of acid.

 

Sometimes … it’s unavoidable

 

My grandad bought a '59 Willys Jeep station wagon brand new, spent 1 winter in Vermont before selling it to my dad & going south. Rust bucket by '68, Dad said he welded 20+ square feet of new sheet metal into the body, by '78 you couldn't tell. Couldn't stop the rust.

 

I can't help but wonder why guys see driving in the rain as some badge of honor, or look down on guys who worked hard to build a car and don't intentionally drive it in the rain?
A car that doesn't see the rain doesn't mean it's a trailer queen or garage queen, it simply means the guy doesn't want to make a mess of all the hard work he did to get it looking great.