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Hot Rods Ever try to re-create that first hot rod

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by HOTRODPRIMER, Oct 28, 2016.

  1. I know this question won't apply to everyone but I would imagine there are more than a few that have thought about stepping back in time and building that special car or truck today with out the confines of that original tight or non-existent budget.

    It was fun and I had a ball building and driving it but with the addition of twins we needed bigger car and the decision was made to send the truck down the road.

    12004093_611305132342989_4093420841095141380_n (2).jpg

    Fast forward about 30 years later and I wanted to build another truck and this time the pickup was a couple of years newer, a 32 without the restrictive budget of the Model A.

    I managed to build the new truck for about what I sold the first one for ~ with the exception of the purchase price of the truck. HRP DUSQ_rod_runs-vi.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2016
  2. louisb
    Joined: Oct 13, 2008
    Posts: 1,126

    louisb
    Member

    Mine would be a T touring on '32 rails. Or at least it would have been if I had the money at 14 fo finish it. It never got much past the dreaming stage and a rusted out body.

    --louis
     
  3. seb fontana
    Joined: Sep 1, 2005
    Posts: 9,113

    seb fontana
    Member
    from ct

    Loosely put my first hot rod was a go kart, what a conglomeration of junk!..It did move my butt around but i would never want to recreate it..Some things ya just gotta leave in memory..Oh, nice truck!
     
  4. Chaz
    Joined: Feb 24, 2004
    Posts: 5,016

    Chaz
    Member Emeritus

    I always I always wanted a 30's coupe.
    I was working on a cabinet job for a customer and saw an unfinished 33 Plymouth Coupe in his garage.
    I told him I'd trade all the cabinets and their install for the coupe...
    NO WAY! I love that coupe he said. I wished him well with it , finished the job, and sent him the bill
    for the price we had agreed upon.
    A few days later I got a call----- "Is that offer still good? "
    I assured him it was and picked up the coupe a few days later . Signed the bill "Paid in full".
    I built it up as if it was the car I always wanted in high school. Here's a pic.
    I learned a lesson. High school was a loooong time ago. I channeled the car so severely that
    I had to call for help everytime I got out of the thing. I finally sold it. It was a fun car, and I still enjoy telling the story.

    33 plymouth.jpg
     
  5. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,339

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Kinda, sorta am. My first hot rod was a snarky V8 Pinto, I have no real desire to re-create that. But through a weird series of events, I wound up putting the motor from the pinto in a friends 4 speed '64 Falcon with a third friends toploader clutch and scattershield. None of us had enough money to get a car together that summer by ourselves so we pooled our resources. Last year I bought a factory 4 speed '65 Futura project car, and that original block and 351W heads from way back in 1975 will wind up in that car.
     
    dan31 and Phillips like this.
  6. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,788

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    I'd like to, but it would be off topic. It was a '66 Mustang coupe. Had all the goodies, but being a beginner, I screwed it up cosmetically. I'd love to go back and do it all over with what I know now.
     
    Texas Webb and HOTRODPRIMER like this.
  7. 32fenderless
    Joined: Jun 7, 2007
    Posts: 391

    32fenderless
    Member

    How about your second hot rod? And instead of recreating it just buy it back. I built this willys truck between '93-95 and sold it in '99 to build a '32(which I still have)Found the truck in June this year flew out to Reno with my Dad who was a huge help in building it and drove it 24 hours back home to Iowa. IMG_1477692591.415438.jpg


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  8. upspirate
    Joined: Apr 15, 2012
    Posts: 2,299

    upspirate
    Member

    I've THOUGHT about it to get into another fairly easy, but I decided not to!
    First was a Shay replica '29 roadster that I thought I'd just change wheels & tires to make it look like a street rod. (was into them in '85) Then I needed to change this and that.......etc etc etc.
    We drove it everyday for 4 1/2 years,61,000 miles, drag raced it, traveled from here to Mich, camped, pulled boat.
    All in all it was actually a great little car , but I wouldn't do it again.
     
    HOTRODPRIMER likes this.
  9. Off topic or not why not build it? a lot of us have off topic cars,I
    be often wondered why someone hasn't started a OFF TOPIC car social group for something like this. HRP
     
    Petejoe and zombiecat like this.
  10. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,788

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    I was into muscle cars then. I've basically moved on. But every now and then, she pops in my head. Honestly, I'd just about forgotten it, until this thread. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!:D
     
    HOTRODPRIMER likes this.
  11. I tried to, but with some up grades and a different color.
     
    HOTRODPRIMER likes this.
  12. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,339

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    I cant even figure out WTH is on or off-topic on here any more, seems like as long as its a pre-'66 body style, the build style doesn't really matter anymore. You cant even TALK about what parts are from what time frame anymore, and non-modified fifties cars seem perfectly acceptable, we called those "Uncle Daniels" NEVER considered them hot rods, or street rods, we just thought of them as "old cars", nothing to do with what we were doing. I would just consider it a street rod forum, and act accordingly, but I always thought of street rods as modified pre-48 cars, we aren't even that, so I'm not even sure WHAT to call it.
    What the HAMB says has never really had any effect on what I would build anyway, so I guess its a moot point.
     
  13. Blue One
    Joined: Feb 6, 2010
    Posts: 11,499

    Blue One
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Alberta

    You did it Danny and then you sold it.
    I loved your truck and I really like your old sedan too.
    For me the truck would have been a keeper.
    I know we can't keep them all though.
    Larry.
     
    HOTRODPRIMER likes this.
  14. As soon as I find another 53 Stude starlight coupe:cool:.
     
    HOTRODPRIMER likes this.
  15. Raiman1959
    Joined: May 2, 2014
    Posts: 1,427

    Raiman1959

    I would like to, if I could afford the darn thing now!!! I bought a 1959 Austin Healey for $300 cutting firewood to pay for it (from a fellow my grandfather knew) that was black and silver, with wire wheels, when I was 15....it was missing a few things, but mostly intact and ran the year before I bought it.....I never could afford to buy the parts needed to get it running correctly at 15-16 years old, and living in the backwoods, far from everything:(....I tinkered on it now and then, and my mother said it was ''just taking up space'' next to the garage....my 1st week in boot camp in San Diego, my dad sold it for $500 and a used chain saw:eek::confused::mad:------------------Austin Healey's have gone up a fair price since then....not in my budget future!
     
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  16. Bill Rinaldi
    Joined: Mar 23, 2006
    Posts: 1,877

    Bill Rinaldi
    Member

    I kind of touched on this subject on the "Old Farts" site. My first real, complete, hot rod was a 23T, built track roadster style. I've always wanted to build another one like it. A few years ago the guy who now owns it (for the last 42 years) bought it up to the NSRA Kalamazoo event. It was really neat getting to drive it again, BIGGEST problem was ME!!! I'm about 40lbs heavier and 46 yrs less limber!!!! OTHER PROBLEM----I'd still like to build another one like it, with a stretch here and at week here. Hey I can still dream about it!!! Thanks HRP for the post. Bill
     
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  17. wicarnut
    Joined: Oct 29, 2009
    Posts: 9,181

    wicarnut
    Member

    NOW !, You got me Thinking !, I'll be daydreaming/spending some time looking for a rusty 57 Chev 210, 2 door coupe, then I'll have to steal a few stop signs to fix the floor, pop rivet patches over rust holes in body, Bondo it up and rattle can primer, Next, hit the junkyard/recyclecenter for a 348 tri carb engine complete w/ tranny, 3 speed, spray can rebuild, chrome air cleaners and bolt it all together. JC Whitney seat covers, baby moons on wheels I reversed and let's not forget the $5 tires from junkyard, actually purchased recap street slicks. Just described my first car 1964 16 years old, only cost around $ 400/500 back then. I had a ton of fun w/ that POS (Street Racing, Cruising)and traded it for a beautiful 56 BelAir convertible from California. (Another Story) WAIT a Minute, I just realized, I would not be happy today w/ that car, My standards are a little higher now, I want a Nice 57 coupe, AND don't want to build anything anymore, Have talked/looked at some that are for sale, looking to trade my 51 Merc AND trades take time, which I have, To be young again w/ the knowledge/experience gained through time AND to have the endless energy and ambition of my youth. THANKS ! BUDDY, Now I'm thinking/daydreaming !
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2016
    HOTRODPRIMER likes this.
  18. CAL
    Joined: May 5, 2005
    Posts: 396

    CAL
    Member
    from Neosho Mo.

    Must be nice to not have a tight or nonexistent budget Let's see I'm 52 so maybe by the time I'm 80 or 85?
     
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  19. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 59,239

    squirrel
    Member

    I still have it....I've been working on it since 1977. Here it was in 1979, when we dropped in the 396.

    [​IMG]

    I still have that motor, it's worn out and apart and not in the truck any more. I thought about putting it back together that way, but probably won't.
     
  20. Flathead Dave
    Joined: Mar 21, 2014
    Posts: 4,029

    Flathead Dave
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from So. Cal.

    Been thinking about another V8 Pinto when I finish my coupe.

    Sent from my SM-G930T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  21. traffic61
    Joined: Jun 15, 2009
    Posts: 1,558

    traffic61
    Member
    from Owasso, OK

    I pray that before I go to that great gig in the sky, I can build another '56 Chevy like my high school ride. My son keeps on pushing me to pursue it and maybe in a year or two I can begin.

    I don't care if it is a show worthy piece, it's predecessor sure wasn't. I just need my personal little time machine to escape for a few hours behind the wheel.
     
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  22. Larry,I absolutely loved that truck but something had to go to come up with some quick cash,I do miss it. HRP
     
  23. atch
    Joined: Sep 3, 2002
    Posts: 6,203

    atch
    Member

    I'd love to, but probably will never be able to afford it. It was borderline on/off topic. A '64 Sporty Fury. Originally a 383 4-sp black/black/black car that got "upgraded" to a 440 from a '68 GTX, necessitated by a catastrophic failure of the 383. It was undoubtedly the highest horsepower car I've ever owned and it was a screamer by 1970 standards. With the 9" slicks I carried in the trunk (ya know; just in case) it would carry the front wheels most of the way through first. Engine was mildly upgraded; double pumper Holley, Jardine headers, minor head and valve work, etc. Back then it was (more-or-less) just a 6 year old used car. To recreate it nowadays would cost a small fortune.

    HOWEVER, Clarence (see avatar) is hamb friendly and I've been recreating it for 43 years now.
     
    HOTRODPRIMER likes this.
  24. No....I put a 396 in an old 409 4 speed factory tach 1964 SS in the mid 70's.....if we knew then what we know now.....still don't want to recreate it.....but maybe I'll start a thread on it.....
     
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  25. 56sedandelivery
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 6,694

    56sedandelivery
    Member Emeritus

    First car I actually "built" was a 56 Chevrolet Utility Sedan I paid $80.00 for in 1972; no engine or trans, those went into the guys truck, and the title was in the guy's, dead, FIL's name (that was easy to take care of). 375HP 396 and a Muncie 4-speed went in the car along with a 5.38 Positraction! And yes, it was a street car! I'd love to have it back, but since I sold it, it's been through at least 6 different owners, including me owning it twice. The last time it was for sale, the price was $56,000.00 BIN on E-Bay!!! Full on, 8 second, street car. It does't matter that I'm on my TENTH 56 Chevrolet; I'd still like to have that car back, but I don't think I could re-create it without selling the house. Now I'm not going to sleep tonight. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
     
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  26. Like many, mine's a bit off topic but was pretty cool for a high school kid in '85 - late 70's Malibu G Body. I was (and am) highly influenced by the Ohio-look that Barry Lobeck popularized so mine had mild lowering via cut coils (pre-Belltech spindle availability), factory dark red on red on red, smoothed and cleaned up, Hot Rod mag-inspired 400 SB from an old station wagon, custom narrowed 9 inch, killer exhaust. REALLY wanted a Gale Banks twin-turbo setup! Also wanted to narrow and tuck the bumpers (but didn't know how) and mount some polished Halibrands but couldn't afford them so had a local shop rehoop a set of factory six-slot rallys to 15x6 and 15x8 and painted them a charcoal/magnesium color - made for a cost effective substitute. Car wasn't the fastest around but was fun, affordable, hot transportation.

    I want another one!!

    Steve
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2016
  27. Still have mine. Built it the first time at 17. Rebuilding it for the second time 20 years later.
     
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  28. junkyardjeff
    Joined: Jul 23, 2005
    Posts: 8,681

    junkyardjeff
    Member

    I never really had a hotrod but would like to build my first car that was a 65 Galaxie that might uncle bought new and I destroyed it.
     
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  29. ClarkH
    Joined: Jul 21, 2010
    Posts: 1,545

    ClarkH
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Re-create my first hotrod? Good Lord, no! With more money, tools, taste and talent (relatively) at my disposal, why on earth would I want to recreate that POS?

    I remember my boss at the Texaco seeing it for the first time. The car wouldn’t run, and my buddies had helped me push it there the night before. For some reason, the sight of the car made my boss nostalgic about his youth. “I grew up on a farm, and things were different then. Harder. Hell, we didn’t even have indoor plumbing. Just an outhouse. Every few years we had to dig a new hole and move it.” Then he pointed at my car. “You know what? That thing looks exactly like the old hole!”

    And sadly, he was right. The thing was a high-school nightmare that was never, ever right. Sold it to another pipe-dreamer. A month later I showed up for work in a '65 Ford Country Sedan with a 351, headers, 4bbl and posi that hooked up like crazy. What a sleeper. "Now that's a car!" my boss told me.
     
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  30. I just did, but made it nicer, having more skills, time, patience, and money than I had as a 16 year old kid. It took me five years and more than two thousand of my hours, and I don't know how much money, but it was a ball doing it.

    The original was a 1929 Ford cabriolet with the same motor, but dropped with a Moredrop axle and 5.60x15s. The rear was 8.20x15s, all on 49-51 Mercury wheels. Blue green paint and white top.
    The new is the same actual car, with a somewhat hopped up Model A motor, with dropped original axle and 5.90x15s with 8.20x15s in rear, all on 49-51 Mercury wheel centers and new hoops. Paint is dark blue with tan top and interior.

    [​IMG]
    This version is so much nicer, and still fun to drive, constantly reminding me of the fun I had fifty plus years earlier.
     

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