The Hypothetical deuce Lives!

That's right...

 

Acey,

good luck with your 3 window, when you get more done on it post some more pics, then pic out the real hambers posts to read and pay attention to those!


JEFF

 

Y'all are trying to turn this into one of your "I get it, and you don't" deals. That's BS and it ain't gonna happen. This has nothing to do with this particular car, I was asking a question about the line between what is real and original and what is basically handmade out of badly damaged sheet metal. You brought my profile up and questioned why I would bother with paint dabs and the like on a restoration of a Corvette or musclecar. We are talking about restoration vs remanufacturing. Big difference. As example, some of the musclecar guys will take a VIN tag and build a car around it. Take the repro Camaro bodies available now. You can basically build a 69 Camaro. Is it a 69 Camaro? You tell me. Just trying to see some opinions.

 

One hell of buy! Good luck!

 

Why are you trying to turn this thread into anything other than what it was intended to be in the first place? If it has nothing to do with this particular car and you have a question to post,.... start a new thread ! and see how long it lasts, that specific topic has been beat to death on here.

You look at "restoration" like it's some big deal, but frankly it's a dirty word around museums,.... the word there is "conservation",.... and frankly, the second you change the drivetrain components, do body changes of any kind, and deviate from a 100% concourse correct car,.... you can throw the word "restoration" right out the window,..... the fact is that YOU DON'T GET IT !, it ain't BS, and it is gonna happen,..... thats my opinion !,..

I urge you to start a new thread and get your other opinions there.

 

Maybe you can do all your welding underwater to prevent warping.

Just kidding, I couldn't resist. I'm in a similar situation with a 23 roadster I just bought. Sometimes I wonder "Is there going to be anything left of what I bought when it's done?" But that's not really the point.

 

You should have said " Deuce Roadster does not have a air conditioned shop and this heat is tough on a old FAT guy "

I love living in the South ... but sometimes the HEAT and the HUMIDITY is tough ... plus I am not as motivated at my age as I once was. The A/C and the HAMB ... help keep me in the house, not in the shop.

 

Sweet.....32 is a 32....and now you have one!

 

Dan said..."The only rust out in the entire car is right abouve the header panel in a couple spots. Its just going to take a lot of massaging. I really truly believe that this car can be all the way brought back to be as nice as any other 32 3 window on this site. It will just take time and persistance. Im just happy to have a car with very solid metal."

Sounds to me like Dan is taking a nearly rust free, although heavily tweeked very rare and desirable '32 - his dream car - and bringing it back to it's former glory using nearly all the original '32 molecules. Just don't see your point as it applies to this thread and this very determined 20 year old fellow hot rodder.

Go for it Dan, and keep us posted on your progress after you finish school and get back on your deuce.

Lee

 

I not trying to turn it into anything. Apparently you are. Couple of points. You don't post a thread on an internet forum unless you want or are ready for opinions. Some opinions may differ from yours. Second, hardly any thread stays on topic completely and they all go off on tangents. That is why they call it "discussion." As far as restoration, you aren't going to hurt my feelings there either. Restoration can be many things. I take it to mean restoring something to as close to like new condition as possible. Correct is important too. Apparently you only read part of my profile. Or, only chose to quote selective lines from it. "Conserving" is taking an existing example, doing your best to stop the deterioration and preserving it. Hardly what most are doing here, and this particular situation is the opposite. They are conserving the original Declaration of Independence. They restored the Statue of liberty.

 

Muscel cars ruined the hobby as we knew it.

 

My sentiments exactly! But, to each his own. If you are happy with that deal - I'm happy for you!

 

Soooooo,....

Seeing you like to classify things,. where do you classify Traditional Hot Rods,... or even Hot Rods in general? When you chop a top, replace a entire drivetrain ,suspension, interior, glass, paint, a small or large patch panel,... surgery on the floor, wheels & tires,.... when this is done, will it have little in common with the car that it was originally. Other than the molecules that make up the metal. What does it take to be a Hot Rod or Restored car,.. At what point did your 40 Chevy (which I seriously love the chop on,.. best chop on a 40 Chevy sedan I have ever seen,.. and I seriously mean this) cease to be a real 1940 Chevy ?

With all these changes and given your own criteria, I want to know your opinion on this. Also I would like to know your thoughts on "restoring" a very rare COPO or HOR car that was just short of being totaled,..... would they still be a COPO or HOR car? or should they just be scrapped, or used for parts ?

Oh yeah, and as a side note,... I had once worked at the Edison Institute / Henry Ford Museum,..... And I am painfully aware of the differences between Conservation and Restoration.

 

When I saw the pics I thought " this should be interesting ". I'm the last guy on here to talk about traditional, being I'm building a glass 29 Model A Roadster, but I just want to say that my second hot rod build was a 1940 Chevy 1/2 ton that makes this Deuce look like it's almost done, the cab had a tree fall on it. I liked the truck and I had a vision of what I was gonna do with it and I did it! It took me 8 years but I did finish it. I had all sorts of people tell me I was crazy, and, well, you know the story. My point is that was a 40 Chevy truck and I went forward with it, why, It's what I wanted. A Deuce three window is your dream and by God you've got the first step done, now start taking the next steps that will bring your dream to reality. Paid to much!!! Me to, and have never been sorry I did. Good luck, take your time, and enjoy the journey. If I was'nt 61 years old I'd love to take on a challange like this, maybe next time!!!!!

 

I paid 6k for my 5window body and it was a tin can compared to that. 5K for a real 3window is one of the best investments you can make in todays day and age. Remember you are working with true American history there, not yesterdays fiberglass. Just wait when you do pull in next to a "street beast"...you will feel like a P.I.M.P.

 

Thanks for all the support fellas. I appreciate it. Unfortunately im back in seattle and about 400 miles away from my deuce and my family in idaho! So all the positive comments and PMs are helping me out a lot! The hotrodders around seattle are some great people. Two HAMBers in particular have really helped me not hate my life here. Ironbuyer, and forsakenfew. Those guys are badass and i owe them a lot. Again thanks guys. Thanks to Harms Way and Deuce Roadster for offering help when i need it. Im sure I will!

 

Sounds like good enough reason to me. I've seen some pretty rough stuff turned into real beauties. It can definetly be done ... and I think you're the man to do it.

It sounds like you have a cool thing goin' on. Take my advice ... savor the moment. Enjoy your friends. There'll be time for home and family later on. And by all means, don't let those room mates get you down. It's all in your perspective ... and YOU control that.

And one last thing ... keep in mind while you're dealin' with everything now, when you wrap this stuff up, you got a DEUCE waiting for you to work on. That's some cool stuff right there!

 

hey I got to agree, everyone has that special car they always wanted..for me it was a 49-50 ford with a mild chop..wanted one since I was 12 years old.. finally 26 years later I got one..bought it here on the hamb, guy was asking 4800 or trades, so I traded a triumph hardtail I built.. now everyone tells me I was crazy for it.. car needs floors,rockers, quarters, no interior in it, and the engine and tranny need to be rebuilt.. they look at it and see a old car they dont think will ever be more then a heap.. when I look at it, all I see is the finished car.. to me it wil be worth every penny I sink into it.. its these types of cars that you cant put a price tag on.. I think you got a hell of a deal on a dream.. good luck!

 

There is something very special about the hunt.

You dream about a certain type of car ( Brand, Year, etc...)

You track one down, negotiate a price with the owner ( who might not be thinking about selling in the first place )

You see the poor little hulk laying neglected in the bad shape that it is in, but you envision how you can make it better.

You get to experience the joy of bringing it home, realising its yours now.

And you get to work.

Honing your skills in the process.



You probably wouldn't get all of that from dialing a 1-800 number...

 

well said metalshapes. simple and to the point.

Dan, you've got your dream car. keep building that bad boy in your head till you get back home to start bringing it back to life.

in the meantime, you can start honing your skills on the zigzagatron. that fat pig needs plenty of help!!

 

Thanks A-Hole!

 

Sometimes the HAMB can be priceless.

It's pretty easy to find threads where everyone is wailing 'look at all this great vintage tin, rusting away into the earth, and the SOB who owns it won't sell it, he keeps saying that he's gonna restore it but we all know he never will and some day the crusher will get it'.

And here we have a thread where some are essentially telling this guy that he is crazy for doing just that -- saving something rare that no one else has in the last, what, 70 years?

Original is original, and no matter how much art and talent and craftsmanship can go into recreating a part (yes, steel is steel) there is something 'different' about working with real original stuff and I am sure that most of us here on this forum know exactly what I mean.

Furthermore, if most of us did not feel that way, there would be no swap meets or junk yard searches or anything like that. We would all be on the metalcrafters forum agonizing on how to get that perfect shape into whatever part that we happened to be fabricating at the time (not that there is anything wrong with the metalcrafters forum, just trying to make a point).

 

Man if I thought I could re-shape metal to bring it back I would have been all over this too. You've got plenty of time to get this thing going and more than enough sources here on the HAMB that will be willing to lend a hand at any time.

3wLarry's car was pretty rough when he started, that car turned out o.k.

 

Acey's post had absolutely nothing to do with " restoration vs remanufacturing " - YOU brought that into this thread! Let him enjoy the excitement of his new project here and start your own damn thread on restoration vs remanufacturing if its that important to you. Again , congrats on your purchase!

 

Back in the day I read with much interest how John Buterra brought his lil john coupe back to life using three different bodies, and it was beautiful when I first saw it in person. Only to get disappointed after Fat Jack bought it and showed up to a show I was at and it had about a 10 inch long 2 inch thick piece of bondo missing from the top over the drivers door where a box had landed on it durring transport. Any way my point is they were trying to save 3 windows in the 80's to the point of combining 3 to make 1 they have always been worth saving.

 

Do you mean taking an original car and cutting it up, restoring a car that was already a hotrod, or "conserving" a nice original example of a "traditional" hotrod? No, I don't think you knew the difference between restore and conserve. At least when judging by the way you used it in your response. Back off man. You are not intimidating me. Let's be honest about this car. There is not a square inch on the car that is not damaged. Roof is toast, so is deck lid. so is door (that is pictured). half a cowl. driver rear quarter is really bad. the skin on the cowl and rockers look good. (at least from pics) not saying the car isn't worth fixin'. I am saying not for 5k and not for a first timer. He is going to have to be very talented, have lots of time, bags of money, be a very good welder and metal man, and the patience of Job to see it thru. I wish him all the luck in the world, but it is gonna be tough and in the end, very little of what is in the picture will be with the finished car.

 

Wow,.... you must live in a very little world, Yeah I do know the difference between restoration and conservation, I worked at the Edison institute for 5 years in the "conservation department" and I had worked at Geddies Auto "Restoration" in Plymouth Mi. as well. your credentials (as far as we know) was in your last post where you said "I take it to mean" .

As for your "Back off man. You are not intimidating me" comment, I am not trying to intimidate you,... I could care less,.... you wanted to start a dialog and get opinions going,.... I gave you my opinion and you got your hot little temper going,........ Let's be honest here, you just love trashing this project, maybe you have Deuce envy, maybe you judge others by your own abilities and can't see how anybody could save this body,.... maybe you haven't been around traditional hot rodders long enough to know what passion can do for you in saving a car,.... I have asked you some questions in a attempt to get some of the dialog that you wanted going and you didn't answer any of them. As far as it not being worth 5K ?, I told him, if for any reason he abandons the project, I want first right of refusal.



Could either of these cars be saved ? we need your expert opinion.

 

You sir have spent way too much time in the insurance business,,,you feel like he spent too much money and thats just your opinion.

Granted a lot of us would pass,,,but like it or not he IS starting with original sheet metal,,very few cars that are built today don't need a piece or two replaced here and there with new or aftermarket sheet metal.

I applaud this guy for have the balls to tackle the rough ol' 3 window and go after his dream Hot Rod.

Will he accomplish his dream?,only time will tell but I'll be pulling for him because I to am one of those Deuce Lovers myself. HRP

 

aww the sound of pounding metal in the morning

 

Some of you guys got a little off-topic arguing about crap. I'd fix it myself if the car was offered to me for $500, but that's just me. Did this car come with a title? Then it might be worth the $5,000 - I don't know that. Anything is worth saving or fixing, it's just the prices that are scaring me.