Oldschool rant

[Willowbilly3]

Well, just what is oldschool anyway? I went to an old school when I was a kid in the early 60s. All 8 grades in one small country school with outhouses and no running water. We walked on nice days, it was only about a mile and a half and wasn't even uphill both ways.
I really don't even think most people throwing the term around even know what it is and I don't either. I see Paul Sr. talk about an old school bike and then build something with a foot wide back tire and all new off the shelf parts???
At one time it really did mean something, like maybe what Vern Tardell builds. And it for sure didn't have anything to do with today's cartoon rods that take everything to some new extreme.
Let's hear your idea of what the term means. I'm just an old fart that can't sleep.

 

[Bonehead]

It has turned into a catch phrase, Similar to the term "rat rod", and hundreds of other things that have lost the real meaning and twisted and turned, and only a handful of people know the real meaning. Nothing you can do but hang on for the ride. But you also have to realize that people tend to generalize, and group things into a basket when they talk. My truck has been called a rat rod and old school, it is really neither.

 

[Tripper]

Old skool RR!!!

My truck has been called a rat rod and old school, it is really neither.

Bonehead,
You're right, you're truck is definitely an... old skool rat rod!

BoB

 

[hotrodron]

This is an old school

 

[joehalford01]

an old skool car would be one that was built with no extreme ideas. it would use things that were extreme or new when they were new ideas back in the day. I haven't been around rods for very long so I'll use a lowrider analogy. A clean simple 64 impala with all the usual 90's customizations that would be totally un-original in what it incorporated but instead would have to draw it's originality from the color combination or the fact that it is super un-original because in it's custimization incorporates old skool ideas, not new. This would actually make it original because everyone else is trying to re-invent the box with new and cool ideas.

 

[Willowbilly3]

????
Well, I think I will coin a new term, like "No school" How about "School's out"
OOh!!OOHH!!..I know!! RatSchool. There it is, the defining term for the new way to butcher old tin. I like it. Ratschool. You will be hearing a lot more about this style real soon I'm guessing!!

 

[hotrodron]

Graduation day at Rat School!

 

[donsrods]

What most of the traditionalists forget is that "back in the day" (another term I don't understand......whose day?) we guys who were there were not afraid to swap things or change things to try to be more modern. I see where the small block Chevy is disrespected on some forums, but the fact is, when they first came out in '55 just about every rodder was pulling out flatheads and other engines to put one of these in it's place. We were also putting other engines like Olds and Caddys in place of flatheads too.

I know flatheads look cool and have a certain romance to them, but I owned a few cars with them and they were not all that great. HP was low, and they tended to run hot. Not knocking them, but that is my personal opinion.

The first car I saw locally with the new Chevy 265 swapped in was a nice little '32 roadster a local machinist owned. The car was really well done, and he pulled out a built flathead and slid the 265 with two fours into it's place and we were all slackjawed. It was just that cool to see this modern OHV engine in there.

So when someone tells you that this or that is not traditional, they either have a very bad memory or were not actually there to see what we were doing.

Don

 

[wyattjosh43]

If you guys are old skool am I Pre-Skool

I grew up aroung my uncles machine shop from the 80's up. I have seen alot of weird and fascinating things go in and out of that shop. He was into drag racing and circle track. He built alot of parts himself from what he had, no money just alot of time. He's seen it all from V-4's to reverse rotation small block chevy's ( they used these for circle cars to throw the torque into the turn). He used to tell me that 600 inch keith blacks were'nt as fun to build as an old flatead. Trying to scrub every last drop of power from what you had, I think I could consider him an oldskool , cant stump him engine dude.

 

[chopper tom]

Old school, new school,middle school,or no school ???? Who cares? Now days it seems people want to put you into a catagory for every thing that you do !
When i was growing up you built it your way ,not to fit in a catagory.
never even herd the term street rod till i was about 18 .It used to be a hot rod or a custom plain and simple.no bull about how you done something either because people was just happy to see an old car on the road [used to be a rare site around hear when i was a kid ,now every one seems to have one]
why does everything have to have some new fangled lable on it now days??????????

 

[Willowbilly3]

Old school, new school,middle school,or no school ???? Who cares? Now days it seems people want to put you into a catagory for every thing that you do !
When i was growing up you built it your way ,not to fit in a catagory.
never even herd the term street rod till i was about 18 .It used to be a hot rod or a custom plain and simple.no bull about how you done something either because people was just happy to see an old car on the road [used to be a rare site around hear when i was a kid ,now every one seems to have one]
why does everything have to have some new fangled lable on it now days??????????

I have to agree in part but everything has some sort of identifying moniker, even a chopper.

 

[rustybeercan]

M-o-u-s-e!

Graduation day at Rat School!

Ron,
Looks like you were in the wrong school there, I think that was mouse school!

BeerCan

 

[cycledog]

Cap,
Why must you always make sense?

 

[Bonehead]

That's why he got promoted to Captain, right there! yup.

 

[chopper tom]

I'm with ya cap,but it seems some people want to be verbally in controll of what we build now .i love when somthing crazy gets built and it blows conventional thinking away and people dont know what to say.their for thay cant put a lable on it.
Thats why i like livin in these hills ,it takes for ever for trends to come,if it reaches here at all .i can build what i like and it doesnt get scrotinized as much .
I have always had a problem with the ''old school'' term it sounds like pepole are tring to be cool or something ,its just dumb sounding to me.but now it seems that i use that word everyday too.i guees its just hard to adjust to new things.
A rat rod is just an unfinisd hot rod or custom to me,radical or not.but people hav made it into a trendy thing .
although it's nice to ride around in an unfinised ride and have some fun with out being hasled by the law ,because they think your driveing a rat rod !
But i keep listining to hear where the goverment steps in and starts complaining about us driveing junkers and all this open exhaust palution and try to put a stop to it any day now ,because the rat rod movement is getting out of hand.and too much lime lite!?
Oh brother, i can see this being a heated disscusion!

 

[Willowbilly3]

I'm with ya cap,but it seems some people want to be verbally in controll of what we build now .i love when somthing crazy gets built and it blows conventional thinking away and people dont know what to say.their for thay cant put a lable on it.
Thats why i like livin in these hills ,it takes for ever for trends to come,if it reaches here at all .i can build what i like and it doesnt get scrotinized as much .
I have always had a problem with the ''old school'' term it sounds like pepole are tring to be cool or something ,its just dumb sounding to me.but now it seems that i use that word everyday too.i guees its just hard to adjust to new things.
A rat rod is just an unfinisd hot rod or custom to me,radical or not.but people hav made it into a trendy thing .
although it's nice to ride around in an unfinised ride and have some fun with out being hasled by the law ,because they think your driveing a rat rod !
But i keep listining to hear where the goverment steps in and starts complaining about us driveing junkers and all this open exhaust palution and try to put a stop to it any day now ,because the rat rod movement is getting out of hand.and too much lime lite!?
Oh brother, i can see this being a heated disscusion!

Probably why Ryan axes any thread with the term now.
You guys have some great view points reflecting your maturity and love for the life of a gear head. But we do need labels to describe things, that is just part of the human language. And langueage is an ever changing thing.
We were building rat bikes about 20 years before anyone ever heard the word ratrod. And not very long ago old school was just that, keeping the cherished way of doing things with more ingenuity and not much aftermarket.
A lot of you guys like the radical truck cab rod and I think it's great because there are tons of good old cabs for cheap and it is an expression, but old school? Hardly, flat black and red wheels? I doubt it. Rusty and crusty? no way. So I guess I am more sure about what old school isn't than about what it really is.
I do know this, I have been around and I just don't see these old cars on the road anywhere. I know some guys drive the wheels off of them but I think more builders are discovering that they just aren't that much fun to actually go anywhere in so they get drug out on Sat. night to the drive in or local cruise and that's about it.

 

[chopper tom]

''Wow''thats deep willowbilly,i can dig it.
I really like lotes of differant things ,i'm not a hard core typ of person and i dont beleive in the ''life style'' move ment either.diversity makes life interesting!
i can't help but wonder what tomarow morning would be like if we woke up and their were no more gasoline.how would these life style people fill .
i can see me turn too art more and custom house's or some thing .