Tardel is awesome. There just aint alot of older poeple left that do an did the things he is doing back in the early days. He has done it and really kept it simple. Simple always pays off ind the end. He has went out and made parts to work for us on the old stuff, like the F100 wedge, new F sterring box ears ,etc. Even went as far to make a new stock style center crossmember so you aint got get that 500 original on ebay. I understand the humping the legs and all. I feel there is alot of talent on this board and alot goes unnoticed etc. It all about helping each other and to me I could really care less if this guy get this or this guy gets that. Ryan, the Tardels, and all other builders and car lovers is what makes this site. This roadster is perfect in my definition. If you dont believe me than just look at all I know Rusty
Hey, Revkev--I, for one, completely respect your opinion and your right to it. And you should be allowed to voice it without repercussion on a public forum. BUT, consider this a personal invitation: come out to San Francisco, call me when you get to the airport. I'll drop what I'm doing, come pick you up with a fresh cup of chickory coffee from Just For You (to get the day started right) and I'll drive you straight to Vern's place north of Santa Rosa. After a day at Vern's place, you'll have a complete picture to base your opinion of the man and his shop and cars on. If you're spending any time on this board at all, it's worth it, Revkev--it'll change your life. Swear to gawd. And dinner's on me before I take you back to the airport. STONER
Bottom line, if ya can't at least appreciate this roadster for what it is, you are on the wrong website.
That car is what I would build.When or who set the standards on HOT RODDING,and how they should look? Nit picking a car apart is not what it`s all about as a lot of us know here on the HAMB.Looking at somebodys speedo to see if it drivin or not is dumb I my self don`t have speedo cables hooked up in any of my cars.So does that make me a trailer queen? And what a car coast today is only what a person will pay for it dosen`t make it a bad thing. Just enjoy what you have in your garage and respect others for there tallent. Endsville Franco what do I know I only clone cars...................
The problem is that you appear to be grasping at something to dislike about the car. The car is head and shoulders better than about 97% of all 32 Roadsters built in the last 20/30 years. Think about it... What you see as 'faults' in the car are merely differences in perception. There's nothing 'wrong' with those choices, they just aren't the way you would have done them. The minutia you are bickering about, labels you as a crusader and thus limits the amount of respect you're going to recieve for your opinion. There are bigger fish to fry.
Ya stoner... I am really revkev...flight booked...I will call upon arivale...heheheheh NOW I usually gravitate to the channeled, east coast, late 50,s early 60,s style cars...thats my preference. BUT I cannot stop looking at this roadster. This car is is a great balance of the old and new, not overdone and very taste full and classy. it shows knowledge of og parts, refinement and restraint. "SOME PEOPLE HAVE SOME SERIOUS ISSUES THEY NEED TO WORK OUT WITH THEMSELVES"
"Of Criticisms, Critics and Critiques,..." As some of you know I was a friend of Frank Mack and this is what I learned from him,... The first time I had my first Hot Rod out of the garage, where other car guys were, the first comment's I got was,... "well if it were mine I would have,.....", which started a hailstorm of the other guys telling me "what they would have done",... made me feel like a real idiot, like everyone else in the world of cars had a handle on what was cool with Hot Rods except me,... I doubted my taste and opinion, like other guys opinions were all that mattered,... I left my house that night all jazzed up about my car and went home wanting to put a tarp on it. When I talked to a good car friend he asked me what they were driving?,.... well most of them had there parents cars or the rusted out daily turd they were driving until they got there car finished or found there "dream car",.. it seemed that most of the criticism came from the guys that didn't have a driving car or a car project at all,... I started to feel better. Years later I was somewhere with Frank Mack, and just like every time he had his Track T somewhere, some one walked up and said cool car but those are really stupid looking headlights,... more often than not they would just criticize the headlights or laugh at them and walk on,... once I asked Frank "Why don't you just change the headlights? nobody likes them and,......" Thats as far as I got! I felt the wrath of Frankie, He looked me in the eyes (with his one good eye) and said "I like em' and thats all that matters,.. I have been told since I put this car on the road to change the headlights, I've been told to get rid of the flathead, put different wheels on it,change the grill and track nose, I've been told to change every aspect of this car from one "Expert" or another, most of whose cars look like a,.... ( gonna have to use your imagination here but Frankie could be pretty colorfully).... If I had changed one thing on this car it would gradually become less and less my car and more and more someone else's! and there not who I built it for !" He was the first to tell me, You will get enough "help and suggestions" any time you show a car to choke a horse,..( He went on) usually from guys that want to impress others with there wealth of knowledge,... If they really want to impress there friends let em' build a car!,... and enjoy all the "Other Experts" that will tell them what they would change and what he did wrong!" If your building a car to get mass approval from every one that is into traditional Hot Rods,.... your doing it for the wrong reason and it will never happen,.... build the car you see in your minds eye, for you and enjoy it,... you will hear plenty of criticism,... just like the builder's of all the prominent historical Hot Rods ever built did. I would love to have the talent of the Tardel's
I really don't understand this crap sometimes. Some R-tard who just assumes the whole country has to have an "inspection sticker" on the car or it isn't driven, voices his opinion and people get ruffled up. None of my cars have inspection stickers on em cuz Florida doesn't require them. I guess that makes all of my cars trailor queens too. Granted, he put a stupid statement or two out there in his post but other than that, they were just his opinions of the car. Who freakin cares??!!! Let him put the car down then go about his business. He doesn't like the heads on the flatty... big f-in deal! Do I agree with what he said, hell no! I think he sounded like a jealous little bitch but what difference does that make? He said what he said, but don't jump on him for not thinkin what you think about the car. Another guy has his panties in a bunch because the frame and body didn't roll out of the Ford plant decades ago. Who cares? It still LOOKS just like what rolled outa there... So what difference does it make if the body is gen-u-wine Ford, Brookville, Gibbons or hammered out by Moal?? It looks exactly like what it is supposed to look like. So yeah, yeah... bring on the crap for me now cuz I've stirred the pot by sayin this stuff. Ya might as well stuff it cuz I couldn't care less whatcha got to say. This is the way I think and that's the way it goes in my book. If you wanna hate fiberglass or aftermarket frames... go ahead. But when you get the "it ain't real unless..." type of attitude, you kinda sound like a moron. We are all here cuz we like old cars. Tardel built what looks like an old car... and no matter how critical you wanna be it is DAMN nice!!! I doubt there is a guy or girl here that would turn down having the chance to drive it, much less own it (if it could be afforded). My stuff, you ask? I knew the "What do you own? Must be 'glass or gold chainer car" comments would be coming. All 3 of my T bodies and my 55 Special are steel. All the engines are either nailhead, 50 Merc flatty or 56 Hemi. Am I rich? Nope, but always looking for a good deal and smart enough not to blow my cash on shit I don't need. So, my rant is over with one last thing to say... How about lookin at cars for what they look like and not jumpin all over the builder or owner because of some preformed ideas YOU have about what makes a car, a real car. Not only will people be more willing to talk to ya, but you might not miss out on some cool stuff.
Stoner, thanks for the offer. I'm sure it would be a blast. kilroy, after reading your post I went back and re-read some of mine. Guess I did sound like kind of a jerk. Ryan, and Vern, sorry I let my mouth run faster than it should have.
Many times, I don't respond to a post, if I have nothing to add that hasn't been stated before. This rod leaves me speachless. Nothing new to add. It's just a spot-on example.
Simplicity, understated style and the classic look of a traditional hot rod. What's not to like? Although I am a biased deuceaholic, I think anyone who cares about hot rods can see this car is done in the same style as the holy grail of the past, such as the Doane Spencer roadster, and they would be a liar if they said they wouldn't want it in their garage. Then they would change the little things they didn't like, and make it their own. That's what we do, and that's what makes hot rodding great, to each his own. By the way, I stopped at Vern's place with a bunch of friends (the Lake Area Roadster Club) on our way to the '05 LA Roadster Show and spent the afternoon and evening with Vern. A nicer more down to earth guy you won't find, and he is just doing the what he wants to do, building old hot rods his way. A class act that deserves all the praise he gets. I still have the "Avoid the Boyd" sticker he gave me that day (and only if I would put in on my car) proudly stuck on my rear spreader bar of my roadster. That's the only sticker I need on my car (not a trailer queen with over 48K and 5 trips to LA on it).
They dont get any better then that car, I wouldnt change a thing on it. Funny thing about the Fred Jones rebuilt sticker though. As a former Ford line mechanic I can say in all honesty that the words Fred Jones and quality are an oxymoron. The wording we used was Id rather be dead then stuck with a Fred. They had a 50/50 chance of holding water. Sorry if that offends anyone but I lived it every day
Well I have to go play the lottery and pray I win. If by some miracle, I did , I would get in line for my daily driver. Trailer Queen, I don't think so
Rolo, You guys built a beautiful car! and yes I would give my left nut to have one. Great to see you on the Hamb. Say hi to everyone up at the ranch. See you all soon. Thought I would throw in a little pic from last year. Happy Holidays Chuck
That Roadster is right up there with my favoutite all time car the Henderson Roadster in its traditional beauty and simplicity. All the guys trying to pass off some rusty cut about to hell POS as traditional should take a real long look at this car.
Lots a good lessons in here. Ryan, you should make THIS THREAD required reading before anyone posts to the HAMB. But the mental image of somebody humping Vern's leg... - now that's just sick :-0
My congratulations to Vern(we spoke on the phone for years but have never met) and his crew for putting together this very fine 32. My one and only "complaint" or "observation" is this. The description of the car lists Kelsey-Hayes wheels BUT perhaps due to camera angles or my half-blindness, I don't see any bent spokes in those wheels...which means they are just plain old factory 35 Ford welded wire wheels like every other 35 Ford came with as stock equipment NOT the ultra-desireable bent spoke Kelsey-Hayes accessory aftermarket wheels. The speaking of the name K-H indicated to all hotrodders from the earliest times until the last ten years or so when young lads who didn't know, and still don't by and large, that they were talking about K-Hs line of accessory "goodies" not K-Hs run of production line wheels for stock Fords. Give me a break.
I think there are very few cars that any one person sees that are "perfect" to them... we see stuff and want to change things... that's "hot rodding". Sure, sometimes those things are "quirky"... but often times, there is a story behind those "quirky things". If there is something that is just "wrong"... so be it, and who gives a flying fuck if someone points it out. But other things just may have a reason... a reason that the uneducated may not know about, or understand. A lot of modifications happen because we have talents or abilities that are showcased in those things on our cars. It was that way 60 years ago. Like a bolt in crossmember that has perfect welds? If I was a kid in the 60's... and had a hack saw... a hand drill and a file... I could cut, fit and maybe tack weld with an oxy torch and a coat hanger a mount, or crossmember, together... strap it to my bike... and take it down to the local blacksmith shop and have "Bill" weld it all together for me. Once home, I could drill some holes, bolt the fucker in... and go on to the next thing. Yea... true story... and kinda fun to tell when someone asks this friend of mine "Why didn't you weld the crosmember in... that's stupid to bolt it in!" I used to get it a lot with the Roach Rod... guys would say "Why didn't you put a flathead in it?" My answer would be "I want to haul ass... not sit on the side of the road and watch it leak oil" or "I have 3k in the whol car... I couldn't afford one" or "The car is patterned after a CRA roadster that a friend of mine used to race at Oakland Speedway in the mid 50's... he had tears in his eyes when he first saw what I had built... and HE was actually there in the 50's" All true... and all said in a nice way to explain the things I shouldn't have had to have explained. Also... whoever said "What do YOU have?" to the guys nit-picking... that's spot on, because most guys nit-picking don't have a pot to piss in. Sam.
I think you're half blind. Original ford '35 wires have 8 sets of spokes on the hub that protrudes and "Kelseys" have 10. It looks to me... and it may be a bad camera angle... that there are at least 5 sets on half the hub that I can see in that one pic. But then again, what do I know... I'm oly 37 and have only been around this shit for 37 years. Sam.
Also the top spokes on a kelseys cross with another top spoke twice (unless they're original 15" ajustable spokes, not the ones my dad made so many of) and 35s only cross another spoke once. Those cross twice. Having 35s on it would have ruined the car for me. Jimmy
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