if you can,t do metaiwork your not a rodder?

[donsrods]

The other thing is that some of us just want to get to the end of the build and get the car on the road while others actually love the build process all by itself. Some people don't care how long it takes, they enjoy all the fabrication work and see every little bracket as a challenge to see how nice and unique they can make it. They also are not afraid to cut something up and start completely over again if they don't like the way it is coming out.

Personally, I get to the point where it is "good enough" and I quit there.

Don

 

[sawzall]

Some of the skills that people develop have to do with when they got in to rodding, for me I started in the mid 60s, at that time if you knew where to go you could get late 20s to40s complete cars for a song like $100-$200 and the bodies did not need any panels made or patched if they did you found one that did not! all the focus was Engine trans and suspension. I hate to say this but I can't believe how many early ford front axles I just threw in the trash because people wanted independent suspension. I fabed fully independent stainless steel fronts with disc brakes for everything from model As to forty fords long before they were available everywhere. I couldn't attache it to the frame but the guy I worked with was and is a great welder. So am I a hot rodder,? I have a 1923 ford coupe that I bought in 1982 for $300 the body panels are almost good to use as they are they still have Henry's black paint and a kit frame for a "T" bucket, quick change rear end and I just got a 4" dropped tube axle for it, wheels and tires I already have. I am going to run a dohc 4 cyl. engine with a 5 speed I will need a lot of help with the frame work because I can't weld....Am I a rodder? I will make every bracket and piece that will attache the afore mentioned parts to the frame. Am I a rodder?

 

[billy]

sometimes i feel like a poser
because i more or less hired my buddy J.P. HENCHMEN C.C. to build my car.
all i did was brakes/wiring/interior/kingpins/steering/glass
yaddayaddayadda

 

[soltz]

We do what we can

sawsall, right on, I bought my first car, 1959, model A for $15, age 14, learned a lot and lucky enough to have a mentoring 75 year old bodyman help me.
billy, see title, and you love it ya. [cl
hot rodding is what you make of it,(read that some where)[S

 

[Old Iron]

Billy, at least you aren't taking the credit for the entire build so, quit posing
Honestly, being a rodder is as much a state of mined as anything.

 

[mikec4193]

Hey 30SX

I love to patch rusty metal and leave all the welds showing...went to school for it back in the early 1980's didnt really use it until maybe 10-15 years ago when I got my own garage to tinker in...

No bondo for me ever....I just finished a rebuild of a 1947 CJ2A Willys jeep and you can see every patch I put on it...over 50 patches on the tub alone....

Most folks dont understand my way of thinking....well except the folks that frequent this website...

My smelly old 2 cents...

MikeC

 

[MercuryMac]

I'm going to underline something that Old Iron said, 'Being a rodder is a state of mind'. We shouldn't start pointing the finger at someone else because they do things differently. There are rodders that only collect projects, or some that tinker on everything and haven't spent a hundred dollars in their lives on anything, some can bash tin into phenomenal shapes but not see the missproportions of their creations, some can weld up the heavy gauge stuff and not the tin, some can buy the nicest finished rods imaginable, some like to drive them and some like to build hodrods, and many have quite a few of these attributes. Hot rodders are just like people; there are all kinds. We need all kinds to keep this hobby alive. The secret to success is to know your strengths and know your weaknesses.

 

[bob w]

To be a hot rodder all you have to do is have a hot rod. You don't have to build it. Likewise, to be a biker you need a bike. You don't have to build it. Lots of bikers, not many build their own.

If you don't have a hot rod then you are a hot rodding enthusiast.

If you are a hot rod builder you can be anywhere from a 1% builder to a 100% builder. Almost all builders have some work done by others so almost no 100% builders.

That's my take on the subject.

The only posers in my opinion are people that have their pictures taken in front of other people's cars and claim it is theirs.

In the same vein, people who take credit for the work of others.

On rare occasions if someone is looking at my car and sees some crappy (in his view) workmanship, I just say that the guy that did the work was an idiot. I don't tell him it was me.

 

[kenny c]

I agree with every thing every one has said. There are very few rodders that can do it all. There are welders, body men, mechanics, designers, automotive machinists, painters, pin stripers, upolsterers , people that can wire them. plumbers for the brakes and fuel and air ride, glass cutters and the list goes on and on. if you have the desire and heart to be in this hobby you are a rodder. I don't feel like a true rodder yet because I haven't finished my first one yet but some day I'll be there.

 

[IronRat]

The other thing is that some of us just want to get to the end of the build and get the car on the road….Personally, I get to the point where it is "good enough" and I quit there.

Don

Don - Get that 100%, I was more in touch with my inner perfectionist at 17. But, at 57 I understand now we humans have an expiration date. My goal this year is just get it on the road. I can learn to weld…next year.