Customs Where to draw the line... (Customs Only!!)

Well, yeah... it sorta does. There's a generally accepted definition of a traditional custom.

 

Maybe a couple of threads that may help people understand what makes a custom.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84572

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191426

 

Kustom is Kustom... Traditional Kustom is doing how they would do it in the 50s... PERIOD....

 

Well since we tend to work back from the mid 60's, there are 60's customs, 50's customs, 40's customs, 30's customs... as far as the board is concerned after the mid 60's is off topic and we really don't concern ourselves with those.

 

customs stop being TRADITIONAL with billit rims and engine bays, with anything LED in the dash or radio, with those dumb steering wheels that have flames built into them, and when they "lay frame". while i would say flames are untraditional, i think i only think that because i believe they ruin the look of ALMOST any car. as far as the motor goes, do what you want.

 

I dont think you guys are reading what im writing!

I answered the mans question, I believe if you change something then its not original, if you modernize it, its not tradtional, and if its been changed and or modernized it, then it must be a custom.

How could I have not answered the question anymore directly. I even gave the critira I use which is bases for mine and only mine opinion

 

Once again you prove you DO NOT know what a custom is in the context of the HAMB. But thanks for playing. You are at least amusing.

 

Look... What we are objecting to is your feeble attempt to re-define our history. The HAMB is here for many various reasons, one being to preserve that history, and to educate those who wish to learn about traditional hotrods and customs. It's simple. We aren't attempting to re-define or re-invent the wheel.

 

well, in my opinion it would seem that you are getting in over your head and digging the hole you are in even deeper. There is a huge amount of first-hand experience from people who were there back in the day this board is dedicated to, and they won't take too kindly to someone who doesn't get that a hoodless car does not flow like the customs we are talking about here arguing semantics with them.
Paul

 

Ignore my post sorry

 

All the underneath stuff shouldn't come into play as Kustoms are shown with hoods down and closed up as to not break the flow of design the builder or owner was trying to pull off. But then again , I'm nobody.

 

Traditional Kustom? Possibly indefinable, but you know one when you see it....

 

Yes you can customise anything. It seems to me that there is a big difference between what is regarded here as a Kustom (or custom) and a customised car, just like they can be a difference between a hotrod and a hot rodded car. I know what I like with my own tunnel vision, and I'm not even close to being a period perfect guy.People customize rice burners but that don't make them customs or welcome here.
Paul

 

You pretty much nailed it Paul

 

threads like this make me want to go into the scrap business, and crush every old car I see out of spite.

 

better hurry up then, there arent many left

......ah dammit, i dropped my popcorn!

 

Wow, now that's just uncalled for.

 

What a great thread, well worth the hour to read it. I've been trying to find out where my 54 pickup fits in this "Custom" category and thanks to KaptainKustom in post#175 I think I'm going to go with "Traditionally Inspired Custom". Back in the day, and I was there from 54 -61, in our hillbilly half of Massachusetts we built what we could afford and that usually meant port-a-walls,duals,skirts,Chrome acorn nuts and maybe chrome upper radiator hoses.Polished radiator tank and a small a/cleaner.When it was time to upgrade, Alum heads,2 carb manifold,fuel block and red fuel lines. Next up would be real whitewalls, nosed and decked,dechroming side trim, frenched head and tail lites and BINGO all of a sudden we had a customcar not to unlike those in the Little pages. So when I built my pickup I tried to remember the good things from those days and mix with the modern ,safe ,comfortable parts available today.

 

"Traditionally inspired" is how I have always described my kustom, and that's close enough for me to feel comfortable here on this board with all those good folks who were actually doing this shit in the golden days, some of whom I am now privileged to call friends. I don't try to rewrite history, I just like to listen and learn from the people that made it,like our friend in the post above.
Paul

 

To me there are two traditionals, one is a tradition build and the traditional way of building. Being a product of the 50's car scene, I'm 75 and my car is built the traditional way, a T. way of building was going to the junk yard and finding parts that worked. If you had a 48 Ford and got a part from a new 55 Chevy that worked, that was great. Today if you used a part from a 2000 car you are looked down on. Its all a state of mind.

 

Wow....... This thread sure has gotten complex for being about traditional cars.I mean I wonder if the Billet crowd critiques eachother for using to old of billet rims on their streetrods? I wonder if they consider pre 1992 LaCarrera stearing wheel as a pioneering piece for all of the billet stuff? Or is a billet stearing wheel from 1992 just early high tech influenced?

 

Wow....... This thread sure has gotten complex for being about traditional cars.I mean I wonder if the Billet crowd critiques eachother for using to old of billet rims on their streetrods? I wonder if they consider pre 1992 LaCarrera stearing wheel as a pioneering piece for all of the billet stuff? Or is a billet stearing wheel from 1992 just early high tech influenced?


Wow thats good Jeff, and your probally right....I know you run bias on your car and they look great....but do you know how long we have waited for whitewall radials for our older cars....we would talk about it all the time....remember when some guys were cutting whitewalls into their radials..? For me I'll take radials over bias everytime (except on open wheeled hot rods because theres no getting around it, they just don't look right.....however there are some who are running radials off of ups trucks for the rear..they have square shoulders) I have radials on all my customs and bias on my open-wheeled hot rod....with todays conditions of some of the interstates, I think if you were to do any long distance driving, you might reconsider.....I hope you don't think I made this thread about you Jeff, cause I think 'your-the-man'..just my experience of traveling many thousands of mile in my customs...

 

http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671723650

 

Well I wasnt trying to bag on anyone I just think this thread has gotten pretty technical just to determine if a car should be called traditional or not. U-235 ...I am in no way "The Man" but I have always had bias on my car ever since I got it and I just continue to run them because I dont really know any different.I have traveled some miles on my car in the 12 years I have had it but probably not the thousands you are talking about.

 

Here's my conundrum. I want to put AC in my Olds and drive to Austin for the Round Up. And I'll do it on my Diamondback radials. But I'm willing to put up with my ever leaking Hydromatic because I think my custom should have that distinctive short shifting 1st gear. Maybe ship a set of bias plies so Richard D won't piss on my tires. Gotta category for me?

 

BOOM! thank you.

I always had a problem when people would berate anybody who added modern underpinnings to their sled.

I just finished a completely HAMB unfriendly engine swap and my car runs awesome. (so unfriendly a moderator deleted my post for even saying what it was)

My car still has a nice chop, bench seat, steelies, bias plys, yada yada yada...

Sometimes I dont understand what's so "incorrect" about putting a new engine in a custom...