Hi! I am a H.A.M.B.newbie, my name is Bill. According to Ryan in the Read This First! post, I guess I would cl***ify myself as an old fart, but with not much of a past, and will be starting my project with my oldest son. I worked on my dad's farm in south Texas in the 60's, drove tractors, worked on scooters, go karts, minibikes, and some cars, built Revell model kits, but never built a hot rod. I am joining the H.A.M.B. because it seems to be a hot rod watering hole that will be of help with my project, and I think the philosophy as I understand it is you get out of it what you put into it. In 2009 on my 59th birthday, my son told me to come over to his house to get my present. He opened the garage door, and my jaw dropped. He bought me a 57 chevy bel air 2-door sedan "rusty roller" project car so we could work on it together. It needs a lot of work, and looked like a lot of fun. We started taking it apart right away to get it ready to separate the body from the frame for some floorpan and body work. In August of 09 my wife was diagnosed with lung cancer, so the car project and funding was put on hold, and we did a lot of remodeling to the house to make it clean for her. She survived chemo and 35 radiation treatments, and as of March 1st, she continues to be free of any new signs of cancer. So the car project is being revived with her blessing, we are stashing some startup cash and my son is coming over this weekend for some planning. She and I started on a trip on route 66 that August and went from Chicago to Springfield MO, and we just got back from the next piece and got through Kansas. In May we will be taking 2 weeks and driving to the end in Santa Monica CA. When we get back, we will be back in build-mode, spending a lot of time getting on with the body and frame prep. What I had in mind is a somewhat period-correct 60's hot rod ( the one I never built, and not a g***er) that would look a whole lot like the black donor car that became the Todd Haas Chevy g***er. I never understood why such a beauty would need a makeover, not that there is anything wrong with the Blue one - I just had a soft spot for the black one. What we have in mind is to separate the frame and body, clean them both up and move on to the rest of the build. Current thinking is building a 383 mouse motor with corvette valve covers, roller cam, tri-power, Tremec 5-speed O/D ******, Hays clutch, Currie rearend with Deaver suspension, , Wilwood brakes, American Racing Torquethrusts, slicks or drag radials that will fit in the stock wheel wells, and either black or white paint - undecided. My son and I go round and round on the stance, suspension, exhaust, and I am learning a LOT from him. Technology has made huge advances since the sixties, but I think it is the fundamentals like horsepower to weight ratio that sometimes get overlooked. I plan to mostly drive the car, but want to take it to the strip a time or two and see if we can get it to produce an under 12 ET and 120-130 MPH. That will just tickle the hell out of me! I do not weld - yet, but will be planning to learn, and expect to get some hot sparks in my shoes, shirt, and wherever else they go. Since I am in the ignorant phase, I may post some fabrication questions when we get to that point. The forum looks great, and I look forward to reaching out to you guys periodically. Thanks, Bill
Bill welcome do something on it everyday no matter how small a project, it will come together in no time. where at in kansas iam in merriam close to downtown kc mo.
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