Nads,,i think i know what yer saying,, i work and work on my junk...at least 3-4 times during the week after a hard day of working on late models all day long,then all day saturday and most of sundays,,sometimes after all the work it seems like im going nowhere...i mean,i look at my ride and it looks the same way it did a month ago... after spending my free time and the lil amount of extra money on my shit,,,grinding wheels,cutoff wheels,primmer.bolts, etc... ..it sucks...but its part of it...and sanding sucks too.. ...yeah,,sometimes i wonder why im doing this...then,i set back and grab a cold one,,,i wouldnt have it any other way
I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE! "back in the day" FUCK THAT This IS the day!
I drove the Fairlane to the junkyard on friday. I had to, its the only damn car that I have that is running. I hauled my torches in the front seat, my toolbox in the backseat. I got to the junkyard and the fellas were working on an old Chevette..... People kept coming in to get parts driving 10 year OLD trucks and the like..... Everyone who came in just about shit their pants over my Fairlane. I even did a one legged burnout for them just to drive the point home. The entire time I was putting that car together, I thought I was wasting a lot of time and money.....I questioned myself on a daily basis... Friday though, THAT was the best day I have had for a LOOooooong time. I felt like a king. And as far as that stuff about us not being anything but a pale imitation..... Bullshit. The forefathers had junkyards FULL of cheap stuff to work with. We have less to work with and we are still doing it. Old cars do suck. But minivans SUCK MORE! ! !
and Nads,,there will be people who try to question YOUR standings,,,but stand strong in the fact that you are ACTUALLY out there in your garage doing something and not pretending to be a "HOTRODDER" on the internet.... being in the garage means a whole lot more than talking shit on the internet.. later
i do iti to get away from the wife and kid. i've gone through 4 cars in the last year? i think i've got one i want keep for a while now, depends how things are going at home. funny thing is my wife says she'd rather have me go through cars than women.
I'm glad you brought this up Nads..I was thinking along the same lines for the last week..my 56 Dodge that i have been working on for the last five years is now sitting in my back yard..Yes i should be driving it but it seems that life doesnt want me to have a toy that runs..I have had the car at a guys house and through no ones fault but my own i tried to take a short cut. I live about five hours away from where my car was and it was putting a huge strain on the relationship with the wife and kids not to mention the money of having to drive up there and spend money on gas and food. So i have my car at this guys house and he was doing the wiring for me i dont have alot of patience for some things wiring and body work are on the top of my list. I get this idea that i am going to have him button the car up so all i have to do is go and turn the key and get the wife and kids and go have some fun,right..well it started off a good idea all i lacked was the wiring..spark plug wires..rigging a throttle cable..and installing a radiator. This should have been a simple thing and i should have just brought the car home to do it but i didnt it sat at the guys house for over a year they tried to start the car but were not familiar with the MSD ignition i am running.. they fried my box..of course it was a bad box they couldnt do anything wrong..they sent the box off to be fixed this was during the summer when the box comes back they still cant get the car to fire. I get a call that they are dragging my car behind a truck to try and get it to start..something is locked up but it made a big pop and now the motor wont turn over..you can see where this is going.the list goes on i told them after the truck pulling scenario just to leave my car alone and i would come and get it. Two weeks ago i finally get it home.. The battery is dead so i trickle charge it. turn the key look at the fuel gauge there is no pressure look in the fuel cell ..no gas.. i call the guy he says we put 2 gallons of gas in it..this will just barely fill the line from the trunk to the fuel log. Find out they stripped my fuel log and fittings. Put 5 gallons of gas in the cell turned the key noticed the distributor walking when you turn the motor over. The bolts way to loose. tighten the bolt up get it where everthing is on tdc turn the key and BANG we come to life.. I'm really happy call my dad and ask him why his buddy and him couldnt do this and i start the car so he could hear it..he doesnt have an answer i hang up the phone and went to address the first problem i noticed when i picked up the car. The freeze plugs are blown out of the block i put new freeze plugs in and start the car it runs for about 30 seconds i have this huge Bang that shakes the whole car and i shut it down..I find out that they had never put any anti freeze in the car just water and of course it froze they thought i might be lucky and the plugs did there job but it turns out that there might of still been some ice in the block and when i sealed it up and started to do a break in on the motor the steam had no where to go.. That is their guess what i'm left with is a destroyed engine Not only is the block cracked and i have a milkshake in the oil pan but i also have this real neat silver metallic coating on the dipstick....I have had the car covered since that weekend not really knowing what i am going to do. I thought about selling off everything and getting a new car even went as far as to look at some but one of my friends that has a 32 five window was here when it blew apart..he came by and we went for a cruise in his car ..no particular place just a long drive with no talking just the sound of the engine and the country side whipping by.. I'm not going to buy that new car..and i'm not going to do something that no one has never done before..But i have this board that has people like me that i get to read what they are going through. I have met skilled craftsmen, artists,and even authors that i would have never met had it not been for the board and old cars..no i dont post alot but i'm here reading every day..and i have my friends that when i'm down will come by and get you out of the house and give you that adrenaline rush you need to keep youre mind focused..Yeah the new car was fast that i looked at but as i test drove it no one looked at the car..i was just part of the herd..in the Duece.....We were the wolf... In my thinking it is the people and the cars that have made me stick to the older iron..it was never to do something cutting edge and to be the first. it has always been about the speed,the rumble that starts you a new heart beat or the whine of the blower as it stuffs you in your seat and you cant catch your breath. The challenge of how am i going to make this part..or the better one how am i going to put this engine in this car..i have been around these old cars all of my life my dad has been into them all of his it does have its up and downs but i wouldnt trade it for anything..
and that's the beauty of it Nads, zero sense. I like the phrase I read that I think Robert Williams used to describe the Roth shop when he worked there 'Creative Insanity' Also the fact that we can still do it in this world of rules. Enjoy it why we can, we are lucky to live in countries that allow us such freedoms to practiced openly. It doesn't matter what the rest of the wrold may think about what one is or isn't doing, the fact that you are doing, whether it has been done in the past or not doesn't matter. As one does stuff they do it in different ways than others have done in the past, whether it is a better way or not doesn't really matter. I better stop. Just enjoy what your doing Nads!
EH Nads! Whaddya what for that chevy? I'll do you a favor...Stop sanding, I'll fly down and pick it up... And POW! , no more sanding! Now about that coupe you got..... I'll bring a friend to pick that one up too, if ya want! -J.
[ QUOTE ] If ya really wanna analyze something...look at why we get up every day and leave our families to spend 8-12 hours with people we really don't like so that we can have STUFF. [/ QUOTE ] I've been trying to figure that out for the last 30 years.
Nads!...you have certainly stirred the pot on this topic. I kinda liked what TinBender said in my own translation,"live for today, be happy and true to yourself!"Were all students of this lifestlye and yes many of the styles/looks we charish have been done over and over. What is new will be old and what is old will be new! WE at least keep that torch burning bright for our kids or at least the next generation of gearheads that embrace this passion of creating ART on wheels. I still get a huge pump driving my beast or seeing some young cats coming around the shop to check out the rides or at the very least getting to gether with my fellow brothers of the tin for afew brews. Maybe I'm still in the honeymoon period but then it's been almost 30 years and this passion or sickness or better yet....love is still burning strong in my heart....and most definitly in the hearts of most of you Hambers on this page and on this web site!!! My the holy spirit of high octane anoint your soul!! AMEN!
Vanguards of a movement? I guess I missed the part where I was supposed to be fighting a battle? I've already won. Paint your Falcon black and add pinstripes and red steelies or throw a set of '35 wires on a Volkswagen and it now becomes a hot rod. Everyone is a hot rodder now, who cares? It hasn't changed the way I'm building my car. Innovation and forethought. I've been designing a spoon pedal bracket in my head for over a year as I worked on other parts of the car. I made it last weekend. I was pretty pleased with myself as I welded it up and even more stoked when a few world famous hot rodders stopped by this weekend and gave it the nod of approval. Art, craftsmanship, and friends. This hobby is great. It makes perfect fucking sense.
I think the Paki is just becoming "Hindi-for-a-day." He re-read "Sidhartha" last week and his wife won't let him go on a self-finding journey to the Goddess-Prostitute so he's meditating on the frivolity of all his material goods. And he's right. But as a sworn MATERIALIST I find it preferable, and more honorable to the Earth Mother to "honor" cheap old material than to "need" expensive new material like the Madison Avenue advertizers try to brainwash us into believing we need. One of Pat Ganahl's last editorials before he left R & C talked about having fun with this hobby but not making it your religion or a replacement for religion. and that's all I will say about religion since I just remembered it's vorboten... You go Nads! Right on! Now get back out in the garage and sandsomemore.
"Why'd they put the South so far SOUTH?!?" ...not just an obscure Bugs Bunny quote, but a philosophical quandry that anyone who's spent 23 hours cramped into the confines of a standard cab, vinyl seat equipped, no air conditioned Ford Ranger driving straight through from Michigan to Florida is intimately familiar with! The miles wear on the nerves, your eyes will blur, your speech will slur...and even the ass-jolt of Van Halen's 5150 album at maximum volume will no longer suffice to shake the cobwebs loose...and yet... ...the road goes on forever! But...after the seemingly endless voyage over countless miles of concrete strip, with the occasional break for fuel or a quick meal at a Waffle House...you finally reach your destination! And the party begins! After you sleep through the first ten hours, you wake to reap the rewards of your long, hot, restless trek...the sun, the girls, the beaches, the pools, the food, drink and good times! Halfway through the next day, that long, dreery, boring drive is all but forgotten and you spend every waking moment partying hard and living it up! And thus, ye shall party hard and live it up whenst your Epic Sanding Voyage is done! (You're already IN Florida, you lucky prick...all that's left is to dig it! )
So its some kind of Zen thing? Like wax on wax off? -the long boring part before the shining glory? Maybe Ill take some time off from work, I need the therapy. Paul
Nads you bleedy Vagina!!! If I see you in Vegas this year I'm gonna stick a frankfurter inside of you. Drink just enough Wiskey that your knees don't knock and it takes the boredom out of sanding. Now get back into the garage and sand like the bitch you are!!!! XOXOXOXO Mike
See Nads, your so loved..... we all get tired, take a break and enjoy the family for awhile, you will know when you are ready to get back on it..
[ QUOTE ] This hobby is really fucking stupid, it makes zero sense. [/ QUOTE ] I probably shouldn't even be posting this, being all new and stupid, but what the hell... NADS, I read your post over twice and I can relate to a good bit of it as well, even though my 62 Chevy "is not really hamb material". I'll throw my .02 at this one too. We all get there from time to time. Most likely need to take a step back and relax for a while. You'll get there eventually if you want to. If not, fortunately it's not life and death, it's a car. So don't beat your self up too bad. Even though my truck is too new by most hamb standards and it was just a mild low buck build that I could barely manage because of funding and my lack of build experience. It was great to get it on the road and drive the hell out of it. Knowing I did it, makes it so much more fun for me too. Sh!t, It even runs the dreaded cookie-cutter ever-reliable sbc and 350 automatic tranny. Heaven forbid, a guy take advantage of the most commonly used set-up in the history of American automobiles for the sake of cost and availability. I'm rambling again... Excuse me... where's that Nurse... Relax and enjoy. Be thankful you're still in a position to accomplish a restoration. It will work out. You can do it. And most of all - F*CK stereotypes and the horse they rode up on. Be you - DO what YOU do... (G.B. 4 Dr. P) whew...
Everything great has been done before. That doesn't mean that a chopped deuce five-window in canary yellow on chrome reverse is no longer bad-ass. A double-stop guitar solo in 1,4,5 pattern still sounds bitchin', even after Chuck Berry did it decades ago. It also doesn't mean that you still can't wear an Isky cams t-shirt, levi's (enter cuffed here if you're a kulture geek), and some black chuck taylors, and not feel comfortable. Hell, T and A has been done many times before, I know I've done my part to keep that one goin'. Relax, don't overthink, and keep the flame burning. Sometimes we all need a break. Just some half-assed advice from a newbie.
[ QUOTE ] Sure "it's all been done before"...........but not by me. [/ QUOTE ] Dude, you took the words right outta my mouth! I was gonna post the same damn thing, you beat me to it! -J.
Keep your chin up Nads....once you get past the sanding part, it starts getting fun again....look at the bright side of things...at least you ain't sanding something really big....block sanded on my '59 Cadillac for about 3 1/2 months...5 days a week...8-10 hours a day...uhhhhggg!!! Sorry...it brings back nightmares....don't get discouraged man...the payoffs in good feelings, cruising with buddies, and the thumbs up while driving down the street are all on their way...you and your car are just "payin' your dues" as us musicians say....
I wasn't so much bitching about the sanding but the fact that what we're doing is really displaced in time. It's almost as dumb as Civil War Reenactments but much cleverer than say, sci fi conventions. I had a girlfriend into that sci fi dress up crap, she took me to one of their enormous shindigs, boy did I feel like a fish outta water. She probably would view VLV or Paso with equal disdain. I went to the convention with her anyway because I really wanted to get laid. After feigning some interest she finally let me have my way with her three weeks later. I guess it was worth it, kinda. Don't ask me if I had to dress up like an Alien Viking Wookie though, the answer might disturb you But now that I'm solidly married and all, I realize I'm not building this stuff to get laid. I'm not even sure WHY I'm doing it. The house is a mess, it takes time away from the kids, I have giant grey boogers up my nose all the time and my shoes are dusty. Now if I had a garage it would speed up the process, but I'm at the mercy of Florida's notoriously changeable weather. Sometime's it's raining on one side of the house and sunny on the other. I guess the long winded point of my rant is that 99 percent of the world thinks we're dumb asses, I can live with that. What I can't abide is people who think that what we do is really clever. Especially the newbies who think this shit is 'rockin!!!' Really clever was done decades ago, now all we're doing is rehashing. Even the best builders out there aren't really pushing the envelope, just reconfiguring it. I'd have to say that virtually every car on this board had/has a reasonable facsimile of it sometime/somewhere. Enough of one that Joe Public can't tell the difference anyway. Regardless, I'm in it for the long haul because I can't help it. I'm a sucker for punishment. Yo SLC Mike, hopefully I'll see you in Vegas, I hope we don't get as juiced as we did at the first one.
"Especially the newbies who think this shit is rockin!!!'" Don't know who this was aimed at, exactly. But I'm only one of two who tempered my post with the fact that I'm a newbie to the board. And yeah, after 24 of my 31 years spent being a hot rod junkie, I still think this shit is rockin'! Nads, we're all burned out from the "kulture" coattail riders and sometimes it does get old to get the wierd stares from John and Jane Normal. Just keep it all in perspective. Barris, Winfield, Kong, Roth, Meyer, all those guys made our hobby from nothing but raw materials from the earth, Detroit, and their imaginations. True, we will never recreate that ingenuity but we are still reaping the fruits of thier blood, sweat, and bondo boogers. My six-month old boy will likely hold a wrench in his hand one day and think what he's doing on his traditional rod (damn well better be) is really clever. I'll make sure to remind him that it's from an age-old blueprint, but I won't teach him that it's pointless. After all, by then we'll need more keepers of the flame to fend off the "fast and furious" hovercrafts. Keep sanding on your Chevy, 'cause you can. Ask some of the Euro-members on the board about how discouraging building a traditional American rod or custom can be at times. I once got so down on myself, overwhelmed by a body-off project, that I sold it all off in pieces. I was tired of being poor, tired of bleeding from wet sanding, bashing my knuckles, and burned out on the hobby. That was a '40 DeLuxe tudor. Kick myself in the ass everyday. When I saw your post, I thought about that car again and wanted to put a word in for keeping the faith.
So what if most of this stuff is not ground breaking. There is nothing wrong with somebody building an exact clone of a car that has existed before, or picks and chooses details from old cars to combine in his own. I could give a rats ass about the cuffs the tats and the hair, just like I dont wear a pale blue racing suit and string back gloves when I take my mid 60s road race car out. What I think is kind of sad is that a lot of people get so focused on their little niche that they dont dare to look around to see what is going on in other parts of this hobby. And that is new... I am sure that is not the way it was in the old days... If I sold everything, I could probably buy one decent new car. I would have to pay a fortune in taxes and insurance, the thing would depreciate like crazy, it would give me ultra reliable transportation for a while, and it would not make me as happy as my old junk does. That why I'll just keep on doing what I'm doing...
Nad's is right... This hobby is idiotic in many ways. But have you ever thought how fucking moronic it is that a bunch of assholes from all over the WORLD sit at their crappy little computers, getting fat, and talking about Hot Rodding? I have... But then again I'm one QUIRKY jackass....
You know why we like the old stuff Nads? You ever work on something new? New cars are junk, they are put together cheap and fast. Form is second to function. The irony of that is that they don't even function as well as the old stuff. I have a 97 Dodge Neon that has buttons falling off if the dash, broken window cranks and a loose lid on the center council. Paper thin sheet-metal that oilcans when you wash it, and the shittiest cheap ass paint money can buy. I won't even get into the chronically leaky head gasket etc. etc. This car is lucky to be 7 years old and it'll never see 50 - nor will any other Neon, I'd stake my life on that. Beside that car sits a 1950 Buick who's knobs all work flawlessly, the doors shut tight, the gauges work - no dummy lights. the engine fires on the first twist of the wrist, and the only thing missing is the new car smell. My Buick is 50k all origional never been re-built straight 8. Origional drive-train and all. Barely a hint of rust on the underside and you could stand on the fuckin hood to wash it if you wished and it would NOT BUDGE!!!! Go ahead lean on that bitch when you are washing it, not a flex........good girl, **kiss** I love you...... that's why we do it.......
The Jalopy Journal
