History I'm curious-How long you been at this??

I'm 41 and started at age 14 Three cars that never saw the road before 16 all 72 lemans .Each in different stages Body ,mechanical ,or cosmetics Many other's were learning experiance and practice .The stupid things we do as a kid.1st car I did by 22 and destroyed it in an accident.3 month's after a 2 year build.Bought another 72 chevelle and restored in a year. Drove the shit out ofthat one.Car was black and black bumpers .Shiny gloss black. Body paint motor I did on that one.Did more on next and next one after that.Ive been very fortunate in life. Between my dad and I we have most of every tool imagined,Except for bead roller and planishing hammer.Luckilly he does'nt live where I live .Because we have two of each almost.A few things i have to drive over to his house for.Im probably on my 15th car by now .Body and paint .That's including cars I did years ago for customers. Sorry I never took pictures of most of these cars .Didn't want to waste money on film Just wanted to buy more parts.

 

I've been aroud the custom scene since I was around 12, you know, my dad, his friends lots of 1980's car shows. Funny thing is that even back then with the street rod explosion my dad and his group always leaned heavily toward what is known as traditional now. I guess that's why my friends(sons of my dad's friends) and I follow the same style. Don't get me wrong I went through the mini truck/sport truck phase and so did most of the guys I hung out with but we all came full circle back to our roots. I've been working on these old jalopies for about 10 years now I guess, I know, not long at all but that's what I love, where some of you know it all, I learn something new every day, and that makes it exciting.

 

There is picture of me sitting on the roof of my dads old pick up when I was around three sanding. My dad was a huge gearhead, and owned a speed shop. I was fortunate, but by the time I was getting of age to drive, my folks didn't have very much cash. I worked my ass off and bought my own car....a 72 Nova. I won't waste time saying everything I did to it, since its not HAMB friendly, haha. SInce then I have owned a retarded amount of muscle cars, bikes, and fast shit in general. I have always wanted something old and traditional, but its hard to build up north, and be able to afford it. Now that I'm in Texas....IT'S ON! My wife thinks it's a disease, not a hobby. haha.(I shut her up with a 54 Chevy) The in-laws suck too. They live by Dave Ramsey....try building hotrods with that noise around.

 

Oh Hell ya, he Said the same thing at Ascot raceway ! now do you remember put another candel on my birthday cake ? LOL

 

Cool Groucho! I might have started about two years ahead of you but you have me beat in the long run. (im 43. plus, you get way cooler stuff to work on ) My dad hated this shit too. This is me and my uncles car.

 

I am 55 My uncles were members of the redondo Romens, I grew up in the area till 68, but I was had by 61 my uncle john had a 57 fairlane my cuz had a 55 ford see a pattern my first two rides were a 29 ford PU, and then a 57 fairlane. After moving to Ore in 68 I found my new step dad had a brother that owned a wrecking yard ! thats when I learned about cars and the work it takes to build them. all the time my new uncle Hershel watched and smiled,

 

My uncles were great! They even taught me how to customize my trike.

 

Funny I should discover this post tonight and then follow another Brookings guy!! I'm 60(in a week or so), been into cars for as long as I can remember. My Dad was a mechanic, which I thought was cool as hell and I always hung around him whenever he was wrenching on something. First car was a '55 Chev 2dr post, he put a 283 in for me, but then said " It runs fine leave it alone!", when all could think of was putting all the cool stuff from Hot Rod magazine on it!! I know now, that after working all week on other people's cars, he didn't want to have to correct some shit I tried to do.
Since then I've had a '36 Ford, '39 Ford coupe, chopped '48 Chev PU, Chev six-powered FED, '34 Ford coupe, and I'm dinggin' around on a '29 roadster. And, even though Pop thought messin' with cars was a waste of time, I learned a lot from him and have enjoyed the hell out of it.
AND the HAMB is so freakin' cool 'cause I get to see and enjoy all these cool projects underway all over the country!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I just turned 65 - had my first car (47 Merc coupe) at the age of 14½.

dj

 

been doing this for over 20 years ....not bad for a 37 year old when i was younger all my friends used to help each other out on there cars we got real jobs and families now its pretty much a solo venture "work wise" on the cars ....but i dont let that stop me im a tenacious little monkey

 

28 now, shit I am getting old fast. old man is/was a carpenter, I grew up racing MX, rode pro for 2 years, went to coolege bought a house with a little girl who put up with me and bought a "hot rod" I like the depth that comes witha traditional car. I can listen to old guys talk about years gone by for hours. The work that goes into any old car to be your own is just undescribeable. I hope it never ends.

 

I'm 65, started working on cars when I was 10 or so.
Built the usual models, worked on everybody's car even
my own. Never had any money as a kid. Went into the
Army for 4 years, always had money there (LOL), got
married, worked on everybody's cars, kept mine going,
put kids through college. Started many cars, junked them.
Finally retired in March of this year. Still got my fingers in
the grease. We'll see.
Matt

 

Congrats on the big 6 oh! You sure don't look it! No wonder that car of yours is so damn cool! ........................if you dont know his car check it out.

 

groucho ..great topic.
I must say hello to you at some event, as we have friends in common.
any way,some of you guys have great stories and even better pictures..awsome
I am 33 and working on cars, from restorations, to just making the car your own with personal touches has always made feel good...my pop was always tooling with cars, so its just part of me from a young age..
Brian Sperling
SPERLINGBUILT.COM

 

41. Started tinkering with bikes and go-karts around the farm at age 8. Started going to the races at 15. Saw my first supermodified in 1986, and I was screwed... I dove into mechanics and fabrication just so I could build those beasts. Guess I got pretty good at it... I've worked on just about every type of race car there is, and now I'm teaching it.

 

46, Dad brought me into it. Started out with Schwinn Beach Cruisers. Thought I was going to get a bike for Xmas. He gave me a WEBCO Monoshock Frame and a wrench set. I remember the words to this day. "You want a bike, build it!. Few years later, I moved on to Model T Fords. Dad was into restored "T"'s and Vintage speed. First car I changed plugs on was a 49 Ford. He never let me use his tools, (Now I understand Why) he painted all my tools "Traffic Cone Orange" cause he wanted me to take care of them and was tired of hitting them with the mower. Dad's long gone but we still have his 14 & 22 Model T, they are stock and will remain that way. I've gone from Fords to Chevy muscle and now back to Fords.

What a great thread. <O</O

 

I'm 31, and was born into a car family. My dad was a real car guy, who could fix / build anything. I did not spend as much time as I should have with him in the garage. Dad died the first day of my senior year in high school. After that I had a couple of bikes which held me over. My brother was killed in a mc accident when I was 21, and I ended up selling my final bike that year. Got married, had two boys, and bought my first hot rod 3 years ago. I am struggling to learn, but with the help of my dads friends and guys like algon I am learning. The hamb has been an extremely valuable tool also. Thanks to all who are willing to spread their knowledge.

 

It's mostly Rocky's fault. Him and his friends were stuck with me, so I got a peek at stuff I wouldn't have seen otherwise and have been junk ever since. I'm 53 this year. Got my first car ('52 Ford tudor) at 12. Left home at 14 to street race full time.

Spent 23 years playing music, then got my first gig in the hot rod biz (Bob Drake Reproductions) at age 40. Since then, I've been the Forrest Gump of hot rodding, rubbing elbows with people I don't deserve to hang with and having one incredible adventure after another. Started freelancing (fabrication) at shops as Gosson Bros Racing in 2001. The last eight years, I've also been freelancing for the car magazines, opening yet MORE doors! Who'da thunk it?
Scotty

 

I'm 54 and had the bug since I was 6. I drew cars made models and could name every car on the road by age 7. My dad was a used car dealer his whole life so we had every car he took in for drivers. He was never really into Customs or Hot Rods that much, so I am self taught and self motivated in that area. I built Muscle cars for years, till I got tired of the scene. And have been into Hot Rods and Customs ever since. There is no turning back now!

 

im 51 been around cars all of my life my dad has built street rods since i was a little kid dad still builds cars he is 71 still has 2 ..32 ..5 windows..2...32 roadsters a 40 pickup 68 ss427 impala a gt mustang and a convertable z..28 my son is 19 and has a chopped model a and 7 other cars needless to say we are all car nuts its great

 

43, got my current 39 project car when I was 14.... worked on the car pretty much on my own with the exception of the final paint and body, drove the car a little in the late 90s once it was "done"..... but the truth of the matter is that a lot of my workmanship just plain sucked.

So last September I started tearing into the car again, and moved along at a pretty good clip until I got busy at work again...

I should be about 2 months away from getting the car done once I get started again.

I have completed LOTS of car projects over the last 25 years, but strangely I am still working on my FIRST project.

Clearly, I have enjoied working with my two sons on their projects, and working with them on mine the most.

Yesterday I bought my daughter a 60 Falcon, she has told me that she wants to work on the car with me. Looking forward to this....

God and family first, old cars and family at the same time is pretty cool...

 

I hate to break the news to you but as kids you and I could pass as brothers. I'll see if I can find a photo.
Later,
Dick

 

Can't help it, I was born this way...33 years old presently. Started with crayon drawings, hot wheels, pedal cars, go-karts, coaster-cars, Tyco slot cars and scale models. First project car of my own was a 1963 Nova 2 door hardtop, when I was 13. I have had countless old cars and projects since then and I continue to drag more crap home!!!

 

I'm 63, started messing with machinery around 8 but would take things apart to see how they worked before that. Did the model car thing and built coasters and other contraptions out of junk then at 15 I drug home a broken down Henery J .

 

i guess i'd have to be one of the biggest noob on the hamb... i've loved cars for as long as i can remember.

im only 24. currently learning to be a auto body specialist (taking courses), i dont know exactly where im taking it but i just know i wanna build cars, for me. i lurk on the hamb from time to time, i cant seem to stay away so i know its really becoming one of my interests and passions... been trying to learn as much as i can. and so far i've just been dreaming. i wanna do everything and hope one day i will.

 

When I was about 14 my dad told me I was just going through a phase. Not sure when it will end, I'm 65 now and still going strong with the cars. Don't see anything changing in the near future.

 

Dad got me and my brother into this stuff. We had our first old cars at 14, and the old man told us in order to keep up and drive old cars we had to learn how to build them and fix them when they broke. Still at it today. Others hobbies included playing musical instruments (bass and 6 string guitar), and damn near all forms of motor sports, except new, jap rod, fake cookie cutter stuff. Build it, drive it, crash it, build it again.

 

I'm 52, started at 15 with a '57 Chevy I still have, started taking money for fixing cars at 15, became state certified at 17. Now old cars are just a hobby, but one I've stayed with and will 'till its time for the pine box. Current project is a '30 Ford coupe

 

How long have i been doing this? lets' see...i was born in '49 so...

 

built models all my life , dad wasn't a hot rodder, got married and raised a family, now my son is 28 and its my turn to play....but my body hurts lol