We're loosing the younger generation !!!!

cfish, Here is another newbie that has been scared off by rude posters here. I still read but ask a question like "my axle to radius rod pins are frozen and a 20 ton press still won't budge em, help!" NO WAY, I can get all the abuse I need elsewhere. I think it is a problem on all forums due to everyone being annonamous. If we knew the home addresses of all posters you'd see everyone get real polite all of a sudden. I will still read, but post? Never!!!! well except for right now LOL

 

There are cool guys here?

Nailhead please...

Now that's cool...



Now I'll give a newbie/FNG a hard time when they don't get it. And I don't really care if they're 14 or 40. It's pretty easy really, READ! But lately there has been a rash of BS posts, I think Denise is on to something with the trolls coming to yank our chains. This is the best damn board out there for these cars, period. Some of the guys, me included, get a little protective, it happens. But I have met some of the best friends I have, dudes I consider my brothers now, right here. I gave them shit and they gave me shit. The world isn't all fluffy feel good all the time. And hell this is the kinder gentler HAMB, I'd hate to see the crying that we'd have if it was 4 or 5 years ago...

 

Yup it's just a word huh? I will stand and stare at a "Street Rod" and apreciate all the skill and hard work that went into it. I will also look over a traditional "Hot Rod" and remember good times cruisin' Valley Rd. in the 60s. But I must admit I will stare the longest at "Ratrods". Remember when "Chopper Motorcycles" were outlawish? Same thing! If it is built safe why would anyone else care what I like?

 

Its rather simple really, you come here you read the rules you get a feel for the place and you join. And like anything in life where you are new you have to pay your dues, you cant expect this place and all the people who have been doing it for decades to welcome you with open arms (like a sports team the rookies always catch the shit, but you put up with it and listen and youll gain some respect). And like someone else said listen twice as much as you speak. Im 26 and notice that the younger generation for the most part is a tad arrogant like the world owes them something, and I dont mind the older and more experienced guys on the board bringing them down to earth a bit. If they have a true passion for what the hamb is about then they will keep coming back and eventually learn, if not they can go keep making there unpropotioned, rusty, unpractical cars.

 

Warning... drama content: It isn't just primered cars, rusty cars or cars "artfully" constructed of old road signs, beer keg taps, 'coon tails or shopping cart seats that get called rat rods. What do you think J.Q. Public's reaction would be if he was shown the photo of the car below, without knowing anything about the car or the owner? (no offense to the actual owner of this car is intended or implied here).

You guessed it, he'd call it a rat rod. Why? Well, that is the current contemporary slang for a car looks unfinished, Le Beater, a junker. It looks like a beater car that the owner has no pride in what so ever. It looks to be a car owned by a person who can't even afford a 200 buck paint job. Perhaps it's general condition questions it's safety (would I ride in it, JQ Public asks himself?). Is is sexy, cool, got a good stereo? Probably not. Is it faster than my buddy's new Mustang? Doubtful, but possible. The defaut category for most old cars that look like beaters these days is rat rod.

Still, they are strangly attractive, in a conceptual, counter-culture way I think. Why would JQ be attracted to a beater? Perhaps the freedon NOT to keep his car waxed or shiny all the time? To show everyone he doesn't give a damm about trends or other's expectations? To even be a little illegal? Living on the edge? Well, now, isn't that what hot rodding was a few years back?

Personally, the term rat rod doesn't bother me at all, expecially as it is just about impossible to tell the difference between an unrestored, old school rod that is lacking proper care and some RPU rat rod with a patina paint job and a mail box for an air cleaner. But if you have a "traditional car" however, at least you could paint it properly and make it look like you have some pride in it. Ya know, like the cars in the old hot rod magazines? Like the old AMBR cars of the 50's. Nobody is calling them rat rods, are they?

Ducking for cover... Gary

 

yeah i'm an fng but i just wanna learn and get some help with my project. i enjoy getting on here and learn more. i'm also a pinstriper but also want to learn how to build traditional stlyed hot rods and kustoms and be able to do it right the first time (of course with a lot practice). i enjoy seeing and learning what to do and what not to do. i need to get my pics of my art work up here. but yeah, i don't want to be known as a know-it-all who doesn't know. i'm strictly here to learn and enjoy being on here.
by the way, i'm only 18.

 

"there is a pennance for being here, and that is sitting down, shutting your mouth, and paying attention. AND.... and... this must be done for longer than it takes to play a video game."

This is all too true. The 'younger' crowd is way too thin-skinned, lazy and lack true commitment to withstand the heat in this kitchen (generally speaking). Even so, there are exceptions. Many I have met here on the HAMB. Folkes like Inkoret, Sinister13 to name a couple.
Docwatson pretty much put it all together better than I could. I'd vote for him for president...
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Ya know....maybe there needs to be a separate posting location for newbies or younger generation who have so called "stupid questions or want to ask about RatRods". That way, those who want to really help can respond there and the "roasters" can choose not to go there.

I've been around for a few years (age wise) and have stayed with the pre-60's cars. But honestly, I don't know squat about new car technology. If there was a "New Car HAMB" and I went there with questions, what sort of answer would I expect to get....and beyond that, would most of the experts be younger than 30 years of age? Probably and my questions would probably be considered stupid.

This whole discussion of what hotrods are and what makes 'em work has gone on for many years and I don't believe many of todays "experts" really know as much as they seem to because they were never there.

I can recall in the late 50's and 60's, it was uncommon to see chopped, channeled, raked or but-dragging cars roaming the streets and they were not pegged "hotrods". They were called "my idea". But now, if you look at the HAMB, the majority of what is called hotrods are not hotrods in my opinion and (as defined in my generation).

So here's a stupid question.....is this car considered a hotrod or is it disqualified because it looks like a RatRod and has no top and ain't dragging the ground?

But what do I know....I'm just another FNG old timer.

 

I never called you a turd Doc. I hoped you would see it. I knew your response would be entertainnig. you made a good piont. I think its funny when you riuo guys up. Doesnt make it right though

 

Doc's post is all you need to read here...THE END. Grow a pair and stay, if you can't, leave.
I'm 33 and read the rules and then posted, I did not lurk for a while before posting, and haven't been flamed for anything. WHY? Because I read the F'n RULES
And Harry, I just haven't got on your threads to flame you yet

 

FNG,,,what a stupid way to lable someone you don't know or have never met. I am 65 and have been rodding all my life so I come here and now I am a FNG,,,

What, you say that also means I am new to the message board,,,does that mean I am in training to post? Hell I ran message boards this big years ago so that can't be right.

FNG is not a correct tattoo to burn on anyone man. Think of it this way,,you have a job, you know more than your boss but your still a junior exec.

I also hang with the young crowd, the rat rodders, the s10 hoppers, the outcast. Why, because they are inventive, they are young and full of energy and, despite what you say or do, they will be the rodders of tomorrow long after your gone. I also hang with the young crowd because the old crowd is to wise, to cynical, to full of themselves and to full of shit.

 

Anybody who's joined since about 2003 has no concept of how brutal the HAMB could be...

It's how we kept ourself lean and mean and on track.... If these guys are running away now from the lack-luster, restrained and unimaginative bashing that goes on today, they'd have swallowed their keyboard in '99...

I guess if they can't take a little ribbing and 'Correcting,' they aren't really that intersted in Traditional Rods to begin with... Let them leave...

The HAMB has never suffered the Arrogant and Ingnorant or the Thin Skinned, gracefully...

That being said, I'd hazzard a guess that the guys doing the lion's share of the bashing on here lately, don't really have much of a clue either...

 

Everyone should go back to page one and read Denise's reply! That is the situation, it's all a big fucking game for the shithead's on the other boards. Check it out, sometime.-MIKE

 

Remember... the younger generation wants a ribbon for just showing up.

 

Interesting post. I find it interesting how just like in so many other areas of life people seem to get hung up on terms. In order to fit in we have use the "right words." I couldn;t care less about the terms people use... I want to see what they can do. I've been jumped on here a couple times for using the "wrong words" - who gives a shit? But I am not an 18 year old kid either. I''ve been building cars of ALL kinds since I was 15 - that adds up to 26 years of expereince. And I LOVE all kinds of cars.

I just figure that people who pick at other people's words have too much time on their hands, or they are really insecure. I don't have time for that, I have cars to build. I rarely get to the HAMB anyway. I have to work 2 jobs, and all my spare time is spent in the shop either working on one of my cars or someone elses. I just don't have time to read all the posts here. I get here when I can, and I post what I can if I have something to contribute. I enjoy perusing when I have a lull at work, (rarely) but I don't have internet at home.

I think the HAMB is a great place and I have received some really good help here. I've asked a few stupid questions and received both ridicule, and good advice. But it helped me see what I needed to see. Age and the number of posts a person makes on the HAMB does not make them an expert, so I don't care how old he or she is, or what their label is here on the HAMB. What matters is if they know what they are doing... where it counts... not on the computer, but in the shop.

It makes me sad that some people get scared off by the cranks... but I doubt most of them give up on the hobby. They will press on. Remember, this thing is a disease, not a hobby. Thank GOD there is no cure!

 

I just recalled something that I'll share with you all...

I won "Top 10 Rods" at the WSRA Corn Roast here in Wisconsin in '02. That day, I was invited to the first CHEATERS show in Milwaukee... which I attended.
Back then, I had a pair of billet rocker arm covers with ball-milled flames on 'em. Man, did I catch some major shit about those covers. Not on some internet message board, but from honest to goodness HAMBers... That was where I learned of the HAMB... right there, that day in Milwaukee. I mean there were HAMB shirts everywhere you looked.
I got back home and joined this freaky little family... and I tossed those ugly-ass rocker covers. Not because I was flamed for them, or that I feared more ribbing, but because those guys were right. They didn't belong on my '32 five-window and threw the whole look off.

Flaming, ribbing, flat-out sarcasm... it gets the point across. If I had turned into a candy-cock whiner and went home angry I would have missed out on some really good times and some major life long friends.

So, if some of the weaker ones leave because of it... FUCK 'EM... we don't need 'em.

My car is virtually unchanged since then, with the exception of the bitchin' spider web grill...
I could give a fuck who likes it and who doesn't...
Russian chicks dig it, and that's all that counts.


JOE

 

That's why you shouldn't "feed the trolls"...

and can you edit the title of the post?
it's l-o-s-i-n-g. ;-P

 

We were all born with zero knowledge. That goes for everyone of us on the HAMB, on planet Earth. The way we learned was by watching, listening and asking questions. That is HOW we learn.

Any questions?

 

my problem and lots of the rest of us is we type faster than we think.

 

Howdy. I'm a younger (28yrs old) guy and I don't come here to be bitched at. I was recomended this site by a friend who has been in the local (London, Ontario) car scene for decades. I came here for technical advice and to see pics of cars that I wouldn't get to see around my area for ideas I may apply to my car. I don't feel I have any duty to "lurk" around for five years before I post either. If members don't respect me for being a "newbie" then too bad. My social rank on the HAMB is not my top priority in life (I have wife, car, house, job, familly, etc...). However if someone does come on here and post something stupid I would hope they have the balls to take what the Hamb gives them because a few elitist snobs shouldn't deter new guys from using this board for the great advice that exists here. And if you see me at a car show and go "Oh, no. Here comes one of those young greasy rockabilly kids who doesn't know nuthin' 'bout cars and is gonna call my "traditional hotrod" a RATROD!" You might be surprised when I drive by in 57 chev and don't talk to you because you're an asshole. I look to be respected by people who deserve respect in return. Someday I'll be broken down on the side of the road again (I've probably pushed my car as far as I've driven it in the past couple of years!) and when a cat drives by in his "traditional rod" or his Boyd Coddington rip-off, the proof of the puddin' is in the eatin': who pulls over and gives me a hand or who drives buy and says "what a piece of junk!".

 

I'm of mixed minds on this... I agree that a ration of shit is in order for a FNG, it's just the way it is. However, I will agree that sometimes this goes a little overboard.
However, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and kids these days (I'm 29) need thicker skin. They also need to learn how to read the fucking directions. If someone took 30 seconds to read the few basic principles of the HAMB, they wouldn't jump into a pile of shit up to their neck from the get go. It's because of stupid, instant gratification people that we have giant warnings on coffee cups that the contents are hot and that toddlers shouldn't be allowed to play with plastic bags. No shit.
Suck it up, stick around to learn, and know how to listen ... and read directions. Is it that fucking hard? I mean, if these people are being run off because they cant follow some VERY simple and basic guidelines, are those the kind of people you want as "future hotrodders" anyway?
Fuck it.

 

HEY! Headlights that steer!! HMMMM

 

You've haven't got a real job if you're labelled a "Junior exec". That title exists so newbies don't get butt-hurt.

Go find ANY guy who worked an apprenticeship and ask how long he had to be a FNG. I clearly remember my boss calling a certain young apprentice all kinds of things (peckerhead was his favourite) until I earned my ticket.

Sorry, anyone who walks in my shop is a FNG until they prove that they're not as dumb as a sack of hammers.

It works that way here too, get used to it.

Shawn

 

Hello, I'm mike and i'm a noob.... been lurking and someday want to build my own hotrod, current dream - Chopped channeled ford tudor A, flathead with gofast goodies.

Started with a bike and working toward 4 wheeled wrenching

Cars, bikes, gofast things, these are all things that get into your soul.
If some young kid or even old kid comes here and asks a question and gets flamed then runs away and never comes back then that would be his/her loss, and they would not have stayed with the project anyway.

Just think, the first time that person digs into an engine and applies a little too much force to a bolt....snap then they give up?! Naah i think that they will start to figure some things out as they go. the other side of that is when you open your mouth and your boot goes in enough times you learn to think before opening.

I have bent broken and completely screwed up so many things that i have lost count, over time you learn from your screwups, some just become happy accidents, sometimes you must concede, take your head in your hand and start from scratch.

Hot rods are like Beer, everybody's taste is different, what might be great to one person the other just can't stomach. In the end don't put yer finger in another mans beer unless you're prepared to pull back a nub or buy him another, either way you're probably going to have a fight on your hands.

By the way who cares what some upstart calls your car, more of the time than not they don't understand what you're going for, or what you have into it, they just think it's cool and want to be a part. Take a second think of how you were at their age and move on. Man was i an idiot then, but i sure thought i knew something.

Still just a dumb noob here. Sweet rides, good info, thanks for listening.

Why does it feel like it's going to get warm for me here......?

 

I saw that too...
Gotta say in all my years I never saw that.

YULE16MET - How do they perform? Do they giggle alot? I'd sorta think they would, being mounted to the axle without benefit of the suspension to dampen vibration... and do they stay aimed where you want 'em...?

Pretty cool though... and nice car too.


JOE

 

Yeah ya right, and if anyone don't like them wheels and tires, screw em! As long as you like them that's what counts. I like your car just fine. You are right about Russian women too. I married one, they rock!

 

One of the early posts in this thread sums it up for me. The kid with the cute Model A said he had Pete & Jake's build the frame because he didn't feel it was safe for him to do it himself. Nothing wrong with that, and I believe that is where the line comes between "Rat Rods" (I hate that term) and traditional hot rods built by people who listen and learn. Those who are willing to listen to advice and learn from it (regardless of age) will build safe, fun cars. Those who will not...well, we've all seen the result.

I first got into teaching so I could share my years of hard won experience with the younger generations; so there would be less worry about something breaking on a junker and killing innocent people.

I've always marched to my own drummer, and it has gotten me some heat here during both my phases as a HAMBer. The cars I design and build are always safe first, fast second; and if they don't fit the mold, I'm willing to accept that. I keep up with what is going on here because I want to pass on the information from those who know this hobby, to help my students make more informed decisions about what to build and how.

25 years of building race and custom street cars has boiled down into 3 simple words: "Don't build junk." For any reason.

As far as getting flamed by the senior members, I've got a big tube of skin thickener...keep it right by the keyboard. Everybody oughta have one.

 

There are rules?

 

Thats the same with the Army (At least ours) you have to prove how much you want to be there.
So, you passed Basic training and IETs (Initial Employment Training)
Fuck, Basic was only 13 weeks and my IETs were 18 months but then you had to do 12 months OJT (On the Job Training) in whatever unit you were posted to. Thats two and three quater years of full time service and your still a FNG, and just rightly!
Then after a few years I had the bright idea to try out for SF, back to square one. Now there is nothing harder to be accepted into than this, seriously, NOTHING. Almost 3000 applicants from a then Army of 25000 is a BIG percentage. 18 months later 14 of us had passed. Now we were FNGs again.
Moral of the story? You want something, you will do what is needed, take the shit along the way and smile about it, ALWAYS go that little bit further. Its the weak who complain, the weak who walk away.

yule16met, that is one nice car mate and I do like the turning head lights cleverly done!
GO ARMY!

Doc.