I think I know where you are headed. Is this really a question as to whether or not we are willing to accept a 70's build as "traditional" since the styles of the 40's 50's and 60's have gained acceptance as being hip? Well, my response is that I would respect and appreciate the build as it takes talent, money, and effort to build anything in any style, but no it is not something I would consider building. The kind of guy that would build it? Maybe someone who remembers that era as their "golden age" of hot rodding. Part of me is actually curious to see when this starts happening. Lets play again!
Ya know it's funny, on one since, it's my buddy fathead, thinkin' bout lil' John,,,and his funny lil' T (not a slam) He has insperation (sp?) and then there is trad. side that say's hmm..... Then there is FACT....mo-fo builds a car....did you????...Fatty may!! ( isn't he cute )
Did I build a car? Hmm funny you ask. How about building? Is that still acceptable as an answer mighty judge of the cool?Oh yeah..should I mention it's a daily driver? How about that it's a '63 Nova? Is now a good time to mention it's chopped 3.5 inches? Is it okay with you that I did it myself? I was only putting what my opinion was on the subject. I didn't diss and I didn't moan. It was open conversation and I put down my 2 cents. And speaking of the trad side, Is that a trad styled car in your avatar? Just wondering... And YES.........I do tend to defend myself by being a complete sarcastic asshole when I fell that is what I am approached with. (Enter big smiley face I'm incapable of producing here)
If that happens I am under orders to repo your pomade and orcabetty. On the bright side you can trade up to a porn-star mustache and some hot chocolate muff.
did people dig your idea of a vega motor or a 2.8 v6 in your chevy hell no! at cruise nights do people freek out and call you a "genius" now? i belive they did tonight haha. i have a "what if" for you... "What if for a moment no one had to worry about what other people thought. and where you would "fit in" what if it was just about cars and having fun again. ok so that was two but u get my point. And you are allowed to build what ever you want your mr 70's and can get away with it. as long as it has a 8 track player in!
hahaha man did u step in it deep. that car in his avatar is only a x drag car from the late 50's thats driven DAILY all year round in michingan. i went for a ride in it on a 30 degree day with snow on the ground doing burn outs on cobble stone.. ok enough drama back to the 70's
What if; people kept making and still made quirky cars like Jim Babbs Subaru powered midget T or Roth's Rubber Ducky or Kent Fuller's Volksrods and they were accepted as "KOOL" parts of the greater HOTROD TRADITION? Instead of Those were from the '70's I think the hobby currently lacks an understanding and acceptance of what used to be the biggest part of hotrodding, experimenting with new ideas. And it's all Lucas' and his damn "nostalgic" American Grafitti movie's fault.
heck i like alot of hotrods built in the 70ies just often the show rods can be kinda vulgo but reading old hotrodding magz from the 70ies doesnt hurt my eyes its much worse in the early 80ies in my opinion... its just something with the gelcoat alike red paint and yellow paint they used in the 80ies, i do like red cars and yellow cars but there is just something about the cars from the 80ies that the color makes even steel car look like glass cars... and the terrible graphics... i can stand some cars, actually i kinda like the zz top 34, guess i liked it when it came and i saw it on mtv as a kid but anyhow early 80ies is more terrible then the whole 70ies (except the 70ies showrods, and ok alot of the panel paints and interiors from the 70ies suck also darn now i started to think back more but anyhow... alot of the cars was pretty cool...)
Getty oil (The British) would have still had control of the fuel he needed to get it off the ground... Waterloo... Is'nt that a British term for a pisspot? What if at the beginning of the century, Henry Ford had stayed the chief engineer for Cadillac?
What if you used mohair instead of that cheap cloth copy of mohair? If its your ride you should have the real deal right? I already don't like it, well I like most of it, I don't like the wires and you really need to beef the little ford and loose the damned hood. Can you smell what I'm sayin here? Now answer me a question, have you called MAS? What can you get just the axle and batwings for? Sorry too lazy to dial the phone and would really like one of those axles for my altered. Edit: damn I forgot something. The coilovers are cool, gives you that 1320 look but when you bust one in Stale Sandwich, Oklahoma, or Pig Snarf, Wyoming (no offense to the OK guys) you're there dad. Just being practical here. You are going trippin' in that '70s ride? I here the Sunshine is good this time of year.
Just goes to show that "what if's" concerning what has already come to pass are futile. But that was not the intent of the thread. One thing that I got from the opening suggestion was, the suggested car build'assembly doesn't really fall into the realm/concept of "Resto-Rod" very well. It sounds more like a fendered, brass lamped FadT but hopefully with more taste. I actually liked some brass lamp FadT's but only when they didn't try to mix brass with chrome or nickle.. All brass, or All chrome works. At the time, middle 60's-70's to present, guys who were concerned about the dwindling number of complete, stock cars being torn apart just to make a Highboy, or channeled car (sound familiar?) they started, preserving as much of the original car as possible, even down to using engines of the same make and inventing really short waterpumps for Ford small blocks so they could squeeze them into Deuces without cutting or even "bumping the firewalls. The only parts changed were suspension,and that was bolt on's if possible, and the bodies were preserved or restored to stock, much like the "art" of the Lowrider "bombs" were/are then and today. Most of them, well, a lot of the "leaders" in the style were very concerned with keeping the car "resorable to stock" if desired in the future. Which is why it irritates the hell out of some of "us" when we hear someone say "I just bought this lotally preserved, 37,000 mile Briggs leatherback from some dumb-ass farmer's wife and the first thing I did ws yank the body and cut it down to just a cowl and back panel, mig spotwelded the rear door skins on it and made a modified out of it... Well It's not quite done Yet... (And probably never will be, but the original Briggs is certaily done-for!) So, I think, other than assembling a body from bits and pieces of alreaady torn up cars, making a complete car into a today-driveable "Resto-Rod" is the most honorable thing a person can do with a complete classic. Even collector/restorer/preserver Jay Leno has come over to the "Resto-Rod" side or the force lately! Cool thread Fat! How to open up the mind and think about design, tech thread! Yea! (National Inquirer type announcement, Fat Hack needs a new name, he's not fat any more!) (disclaimer; all of the above are just my opinions... As if I could be using someone elses here? Here kitty, what do you think about....)
30+ years ago Dick Scritchfield couldn't easily find a Deuce touring to build his Resto-Tub out of so he bought one in Australia... (I hope he doesn't park it outside, now that he and it's residing in Hawaii.) And it hasn't got any easier! So, we need to at least attempt to persuade guys from parting out the few center door T's that are left when they find them.. Right?
I was gonna say Boyd Coddington's center door T after you said it was black... John Buttera's was brown... Sam.
Man, ain't that the truth! And the beauty of it is that "new ideas" don't actually have to mean MODERN PARTS!!! All it takes is an open mind and the guts to say you "built it for yourself"...and MEAN it. Thats what separates the guys like Buttera, Fuller, Bleed, Plowboy, Werksman etc from the other guys who just FOLLOW the trends...(Sorry, for some reason I can't remember THEIR names...)
WOW, thats deep Hack. Yet sadly true. I remember those days as a young lad(even though it was the early 80's for me) of driving our cars to runs, that right "rod runs", not to be confused with "cars shows". Although I agree with you on some level I doubt I'll ever drive a pink 37' with purple water splash grafics down the side though and color matched grill and bumpers. I can't remember a time when I didn't think that looked like shit, although It not quite as bad as some "Ratrodz" I've seen. Drew
Cool discussion. You are making people look at it from a different angle... A great discussion to have, say, the week after TECH Week...
Somehow I missed the RESTO ROD lean in this post... What the good Dr J said was so on the mark I was replying to HIS post I guess...NOT this thread! I'm not up for that RESTO stuff personally, but hey...knock yourself out! You do realize a proper RESTO from an early car is gonna be major bucks OR just a junker, right? The build is severely hampered by the modification limitations such a style adheres to. The whole style is BASED on limitations and judged accordingly. And it WILL be judged by every half-assed EXPERT you run into. (Ohhh...you DO realize those are the wrong style cowl lamp, don't you?... Shouldn't that year bumper have the RED centered widget...etc.) I'd rather build an obvious Hot Rod and tell that entire crowd to fuck off... Just thinking about them aggrevates me. Rock...ON Boyd!
There was a dude just trying to sell me a model T body a few weeks ago. I says sweet lets go look at 'er. So's we head down to his shop...I see the center door...and I told him I wouldn't be able to use it for what I want. He says how 'bout $200 bucks, I says no I'm good but I know this guy with big bucks that loves this ugly shit. He says cool. Big buck guy calls me up and says thatnk for hookin' me up with that T. I say's sure thing. He says, only paid $1000 for it. I hung up the phone and puked on myself! Aint that some shit luck? Oh and to the kid talkin shit about regret...Ooooh boy are you dumb! i'll bet ur ugly too!
Actually they don't. Sorry I just need to interject something here. The first time I remember "Resto Rods" being trendy all they were was a basically stock looking body with a basically low performance mill stuck in the engine bay. Most of 'em wouldn't pull an old sick woman off a bed pan. If a rod isn't going to look souped up it should at the very least be a wolf in sheeps clothing. Or not be called a rod at all. I don't see that happening anymore now than I did the first time around. There is nothing cool about all show and no go. Sleepers rule.
FatHack,you Lord of Disco you !! I can not tell you how nice it was after a long holiday from the computer world (much distain for the PC), to find you emitting words of prophecy still ! You are still one my favourite things about this place And i agree
HAHAHA....thanks In all reality though, I think this a good tech piece....stepping back and looking at the hobby as a whole...On one side you have guy's that just love to smell rust burning....blowing their nose and having it come out black (that's me ...well not so much the rust part ) And then there are the family types that have three kids shuved (sp) in the back of the Deuce Sedan legs out straight with cooler and luggage under them; because there is no trunk. Driving to Florida or Oklahoma, maybe St. Paul or Kentuky...as a family. (which is who I was )... Different strokes...ya know Peace Oh yeah, I also wanted to point out Fathead,,, you can't by a Deuce for 2500 bucks anymore.....okay every now and then you hear of it, but rarely
Amen but you know, i knew someone would drag out the resto-rod idea. i wished i wouldve saved that winged radiator cap now. i could have had an auction for beer money.
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