Technical This poll is for those of us amateurs with no formal training

Just curious. There are a lot of amateur hot rodders on here. So considering how well you can build a hot rod i.e. the welding, body work, fab work, etc. just how would you rate your ability or skill an a scale of 1 to 10?
I think I would rate myself a 5 since I sometimes get the shakes and cannot see well anymore and I have to redo a lot of my work before I am satisfied with it.

 

I rated myself as a four, in this "group" maybe I am not even that good
If I rated myself against the total population I'd be a seven or eight, because most people can't even paint the walls in their own house. I am happy to be able to do what I can........but am jealous of those of you that I see here (and other places) that are really skilled.

 

This is barely a fair or reasonable question. Some people are very humble and would rate themselves average when they are clearly much better than that, while others are hack supremes with delusions of grandeur. The rest of us do the best we can.

 

I rated myself a 6, but what the hell do I know. I am a life long learner .

 

Can you rate past ten? [emoji23]


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I was gonna vote, but there weren't any negative number options.

 

Are you using the Vietnamese measuring system where #1 GI is the best and #10 GI is the worst

 

God granted me the gift of gab, I can talk a good game I have also been building hot rods since I was a teenager, IMHO I am very accomplished at some task, there are other things when it comes to building that I consider myself mediocre and I do my best to continue to push myself to improve.

I would like to say after all these years I rate myself myself high on the scale but in reality I am nothing more than a hack, I can do it all but I am in no way a professional. HRP

 

Vietnamese measuring system where #1 GI is the best and #10 GI is the worst

then vote "5" you're safe either way...

deeper dive is: what are you trying to do at what level of difficulty ? I've seen folks here create masterworks from literally scraps of sheet metal, whereas I unbolt one part and bolt another on, hardly a chance to be a hack ..(but I manage anyway LOL)

 

How about "I'm pretty good at everything but not very good at anything"

 

I am an excellent fabricator, my metal work always turns out perfect on the fifth or sixth try.

 

I don't think that I am able to accurately grade myself, but those who see what I have done, can easily pick out where my strengths and weaknesses are... I do know that my mechanical skills are WAY better than my sheetmetal ones, & that fact is OBVIOUS!! After all, isn't anything thinner than 1/4" sheet metal??

 

probably need to use the Vietnamese scale mentioned above.............

 

Well, let's see.....I can basically do everything. That being said. I do somethings really good and other things maybe not so good. So I'm gonna jump right in there somewhere in the middle. Definitely not a professional. Just another life long old car/hotrod fanatic.

 

Yeah, thats kinda like me, a Jack off all trades.

 

I don't know how I rate. I can do most all the mechanical and wrenching but, I can't do a bit of body work.

 

Since you don't have a ZERO on the scale, I went with a "1". I have not been in the position to ever try my hand at it.

 

Well,,,,,,I went by the description in the question.
I rated myself a 1 because I really am not talented at the fab and body work like some here .
As I have stated in other posts,,,,,,the craftsmanship by many here amazes me .
They would not claim a 10 but I regard talent and ability to take an old 80 year old piece of iron and reclaim it from the dung heap as being that good .
And from many others,,,,,I would say a 5 or 6 is fair for many,,,,,7-8 for others .
And yes,,,,there are a few in the nether regions with me,,,,,a 2-3-4,,,, .

And not just hot rods,,,,,there are beautiful customs that are works of art on here .
I salute all of those guys that can do magic,,,,and make it look easy,,,,,because it is not easy .
But,,,,,how many Michael Angelo,,,,,Rembrandt,,,or Picasso are there ?
And even they looked at there work,,,with a critical eye .

Yep,,,,I’m a 1 !

Tommy

 

Rebuilding and mechanical- 7
Fabrication, metal finishing and paint- 3
Averages out to a 5. Sounds right

But I'm learning more every day!

 

I give myself a 7-8. Every time I do one I get better. I can do all mechanical work, all "rustoration" and sheet metal, all assembly. I don't do paint or upholstery and I am learning more about body work and paint right now.

 

Figjam

 

Tough question/poll, I say that because I could make a set of mounts up to put a xxx in a yyy.
Then I’ll see something on the HAMB and look at the mounts made, and I’m like “WTF” that looks like. Factory job but better
So I stay hidden in the shadows and plug along

 

Budg.... it never fail to amaze me WHAT I see from the shadows ..

 

Well if a 10 is a Riddler car then that pushes the scale way down. If we are talking garage built then I would say a 6-7 for me. I think anyone could aim higher but at what point do you say screw it it's a driver.

 

When it’s mechanically sound.

 

Im a jack of all trades & master of none....but, I keep trying.


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What do you consider "formal training"?

I took a year of auto shop in high school, went to university and got a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and took some community college welding classes. I guess that's too much?

 

As long as I can keep doing work that satisfies me and my wife [my worst critic] I'm happy.

 

Well, I'm self taught,, I can weld like a mad man, I can build an early ford chassis that will hang right on in corners and stop when needed, no twitches or scary moments. Although I'm not great at finish bodywork, I'm real good with the patch panel thing, got twelve full builds under my belt.
As said, self taught, but I have reams of paperwork, books, manuals, reference material, and of course the three o clock in the morning brainstorm. I also bought the best tools I could afford, but I never had a mentor, I learned by watching, crawling under cars looking at how it was done, custom motorcycles looking for ideas and craftsmanship, and doing things three times. As my head got bigger, I learned more, till my head got so big I couldn't carry it around anymore, Now I'm good at staring at stuff waiting to see when it'll do itself.

 

HRP hit the nail on the head...I think I'm better than I probably am. I can do most everything in a build well enough as to not get laughed at. Some folks find my skill sets amazing, while professionals would probably find my skills...uh...questionable at best. Yep, just another hack.