Missionary from Utah

[RU-LDS-2]

Hi, guys! I am a 30 year old, just new to this hobby, I am very involved in my church, my family, and my comunity, my girlfriend (soon to be my wife) thinks I should have some fun with my car and since it will be our primary vechicle when we marry, and start a family, it needs to be very dependable. I was given a 1950 Pontiac sedan, My uncle, Parley, Promised it to me if I completed a mission to the church, I feel this was quite an Honor, since my Grandpa bought the car new and enjoyed it for many years, I feel I am carrying on his wishes, by returning his car to running condition, and maybe, even modifying it a bit.
I really like the rat rod look,and lifestyle, and even got a tatoo when I was on my mission in Brazil, it says CTR, and is on my Right calf. Any way, I would like any Ideas from the members on how to make my "new car" look like some of the cars I see on the site!
I have been folowing the forums for some time and feel it is time to "commit" to one by joining the board, I feel this one in particular is the most Family friendly and reflects the lifestyle in which I have been raised, and am comfortable with. Thank you for all the wonderful help I know I can find here! I have tried to post a picture of Gramdpa's car but it won't upload, I'll try to put some pictures up when I post, Thank you!!

 

[joehalford01]

great, welcome to the board, can't wait to see some pics of the car, i'm sure you will make your grandpa proud no matter you build it.

 

[FlatBroke]

Welcome to RRR...
we are glad to have you here and glad to associate with someone such as yourself. All you hav to do is ask and recieve most all the knowledge you need from a variety of different people.
Once again, Welcome aboard....

I also replied to posting pics but don't let me fool you, Gastrick is the picture master and post master. (no matter what the title says under my name)

 

[donsrods]

Welcome to the forum. Glad you noticed the family frieindly nature of it. That was one of the cornerstones Tripper put in place, and we all agree with, and abide by that concept. We have all been accused of being like a "knitting club" by some who didn't seem to understand respect and civility, but we wear that title like a badge of honor.

Now, for your new car. It is so cool when a car has a history like yours......just adds so much to the attachment and love for it. Does the car run now? If you said, I missed that part. If it is a good running car, your plan may be to leave the straight 8 in there and just do some hot rod type tricks, like duals and an engine cleanup. If the motor is toast, then slipping another engine in there, like a small block Chevy might be the way to go. I know sbc engines are like belly buttons, and I would rather see a Pontiac V8 in a Pontiac, but the reason the Chevy is so popular is because they are great engines, and fit with a minimum of trouble. The Pontiacs have the starter on the wrong side (drivers side) and it sometimes causes steering box interferance.

Let's talk about you for a second, because you are a very important component in this mix. What mechanical experience and tools do you possess? You have to be entirely honest with yourself here, because it is very, very easy to underestimate what it takes to redo or build a car, and more people get discouraged (or in over their heads) and give up, than those who actually finish a car. So, tell us a little about that aspect, so we can steer you better.

None of the above is meant to discourage or stop you from this build, but rather to help you make wise decisions.

Don

Oh, BTW, do not use this car as your primary means of transportation.........buy a Honda or other car for that purpose. While old cars are neat, they are still old (57 years old in your case) and things keep breaking. Every part on that car is wearing out, and you will fix one thing, and next week 2 more will break. This is just a fact of life. You can't depend on them for day in day out use. I know some people do it, but this is NOT the way to go. Make this car your FUN car, and keep one with a/c and modern parts to get you back and forth to work, church, the store, etc. I know it seems romantic to drive an old car every day.............the romance will leave you very quickly, I guarantee you.

 

[joehalford01]

Oh, BTW, do not use this car as your primary means of transportation.........buy a Honda or other car for that purpose. While old cars are neat, they are still old (57 years old in your case) and things keep breaking. Every part on that car is wearing out, and you will fix one thing, and next week 2 more will break. This is just a fact of life. You can't depend on them for day in day out use. I know some people do it, but this is NOT the way to go. Make this car your FUN car, and keep one with a/c and modern parts to get you back and forth to work, church, the store, etc. I know it seems romantic to drive an old car every day.............the romance will leave you very quickly, I guarantee you.

i say my 63 truck is a daily, 3-4 days a week i just get a ride to work from my wife

 

[donsrods]

Yep, but you have another, newer car that is your bread and butter car, right?

When I was married, I always kept my Wife in a new, or almost new car. Two reasons: A) She and my Kids were riding around in it, and B) It's called "no heat." If she were in a car that were breaking down, I would be catching it from her, so I made sure that problem never arose.

In the meantime, I always drove an older car (not like classic old car, just older) except when I used one for business travel, then I bought new ones. But generally, she drove the good car in the family, and that system worked for 28 years.
Don

 

[Tripper]

Chick wrecker drivers!

I know it seems romantic to drive an old car every day.............the romance will leave you very quickly, I guarantee you.

Yeah, I haven't met too many good lookin' chick wrecker drivers either!!! Not that I have any experience gettin' towed home or anything!!! ; - >

BoB

 

[Bonehead]

Welcome, to here, from just across the state line.

 

[DaJoker]

Just to somewhat echo what Don said, keep in mind what you think you can and can't do. Of course, there are those of us who just say screw it, and try to do it anyway Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and you have to start over a bit. Also I would heed what he mentioned about using an old car as a daily driver. It can be done, but I would imagine it would cost you more to make it a daily than it would just to buy a reasonably new/used modern car that you know will be reliable. Just my $.02 anyway.

 

[Gastrick]

All these guys seem to pretty much have you covered with the advice, so I'll just extend a welcome to RRR. And if you can't get your pictures posted, PM me. You can email them to me and I'll post them for you.

 

[BruceR&C]

Welcome to the board. don & others have given some good advice. You'll find more of the same as you stay around longer.

 

[joehalford01]

that's exactly right, thats why i say my wife takes me to work most of the time, she has a newer volvo, reliable as can be and with a/c.

 

[Brigham Young #1]

Yes im LDS to

Hi there its nice to see another member of the LDS church on this sight, looks like we have quite i bit in common, I think your cars really cool, i dont have any tatoos but i think rats rods are cool, its nice to find a family friendly sight i hate all those other forums that cuss and have naked pics, were did you go on your mission? next year im going to accept my calling, cant wait to get back and start building a car.

CTR Brigham Young #1

 

[gassersgarage]

I agree that your primary transportation should be a reliable car. My wife always drives a new car (lease) so I don't have to worry about her breaking down (Toyota or Honda is as reliable as you can get, plus her Prius gets 49 mpg combined). On the other side of the coin, when I didn't have any money, my primary transportation was a 55' Chevy 210 2 dr sedan. It had a stroked 327, big cam, 4 spd with 4:56 gears. (But gas was only 25 cents a gal) . Due to rush hour traffic in L.A., driving with 4:56's wasn't a big deal. I maintained my car every week, so it never broke down. It was also my weekend racer (street race), so if it broke, I could fix it before I had to go to work. In this day and age, it would be cost prohibitive and besides, I like A/C and electric windows.