Who was your Hot Rod mentor?

dad

 

Cyclone Kevin, and it's been a real trip re-connecting with him after over 10 years of absences.
Interestingly, I find myself in the mentoring role lately with both my stepson, Lil' Man, and a friend's son, and I'm more than happy to return the favor.

 

grandpa and dad were mine, old mechanics and racers

 

Yep--AMT, Monogram, Aurora, Revell as well as Motorific cars, slot cars, and growing up in car-crazy California in the car-crazy '60s. My next-door neighbor built me a Monogram Big T in 1967 when I was only five and I can still remember him walking in the front door with it to give to me. I was hooked from then on. A high school buddy who knew how to build engines was a major influence too.

 

"dj" is ... ?

 

Always been into cars and after I bought my HotRod the guy who steered me in the right direction was Lee Bright.

 

Late 50s, when I was in high school, two guys in our small town helped this kid become a hot rodder. One was a guy named Bruce Tremper who had a lowered honduras maroon '57 Ford Ranchero, 430 Lincoln, white tonneau cover and the guy he worked for, Gordon Ross who ran NASCAR chevy coupes at Agawam, MA. My dad wasn't into cars but he knew I loved them so he poured a concrete floor in sheds behind our grocery store so I had a place to work with a roof and electricity. Built my first motor, 283", there walking up Route 9 to ask Gordon "what do I do next". He put up with all my questions and that motor ran great in a '47 Ford tudor I bought off of him for $50 bucks with the Offy Ford to Chevy adaptor. Sedan was the mule to break in his engines for the race car pushing his welding truck up Route 9. My first hot rod and one of the very few in our little town. Those were the days!

 

I'm with Nocturnal but I'll add AMT models. Always wondered why I loved glueing those models together. When I got older my dad taught me how to fix cars but he hated hot rods. When I started working with my dad at the Ford dealer all the other guys working there helped me (along with plenty of teasing) with my education on cars. Still some of the best
times of my life although retirement is not too bad if you don't count the aches & pains and no money.