VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Frowning on Hot Rods?

Mike, great point. The aftermarket for Ford products from Model A thru Model C and now even the 40' is incredible to say the least with new steel bodies, frames, etc... Experi-Metal was on the right track but as you said, there wasn't a big enough demand to keep them going. I still remember when they were starting to sell them at Carlisle. I was in awe at how nice they were...

Ray, that was funny. I admire your persistance and honestly as I have said before, I agree with you for the most part with the sole exception of where do you draw the line of something being too far gone to restore?

I think maybe 90% of ford model T and A's parts are available reproduction for certain bodies. All you need is an original block and head to start. Then get a MAC's or whatever catalogue and order in everything BRAND NEW reproduction. Same applies for 1932's also.

Lets face it, back in the early 70s hemmings motor news was the source to find parts and the VCCA. Back then HEMMINGS was divided into 2 sections , Ford parts and NON FORD PARTS.

They up and lumped us in with all that other car debris: ...packards, cadillacs, pierce-arrows, marmons, hudsons, grahams , graham-paiges , mopars, pontiacs, hupmobiles, oldsmobiles, and buicks, they put us in with buicks, oh the pain and hurt !

Eventually hemmings dropped the ford non ford until what it is today.

If I was going to go to the expense of tooling to make a part, i have to look to whats needed for fords because there just isn't enough of us early pre 36 chevrolets to warrant it. Thats fact plain and simple. Their cars sell for more than ours do for the same years.

I guess the sheep mentality with that other brand is going to keep us noted as second class car enthusiasts. But i guess its more fun to go to an event and have the only early chevrolet there.??? Thats just with my 35 coupe, wait till they see shazzbot my 35 roadster, most of them have never seen one before as they only made 76 here in 1935.

mike

Ray, it's important to ensure that actual facts are used in the discussion if we want to enlighten others. Otherwise it just becomes a beat-up


We have have lost almost all of them. By modern safety standards they are not safe. They cannot keep up the passenger loads and timetable workload that is expected of a modern public transport system. Commuters don't care to travel on cute vintage trams, they want a fast, efficient and reliable network.

The only W class trams that still operate are the free city circle trams. They operate as a tourist attraction on a limited timetable and route.


And do you know how many of those buildings fall to ground in a pile of rubble because the Govt cannot afford to restore them?

It's fine to have a building protection system in place but without a renovation budget it doesn't save the buildings. Kevin McCloud (Grand Designs) highlights this problem in his television series all the time.

This is a particularly relevant analogy because; imagine an old '28 Chevy sitting under a tree in a paddock because the owner ran the engine dry seized the motor doesn't have room in his shed for it. A young local has an eye on the car for a hot rod project where he plans a modern drive train but original body. The preservation society says "No, either it gets restored or nothing."

So it sits in the paddock for another 20 years until it has rusted away completely and is taken to the tip. This is pretty common and a lose-lose situation.



That's just not true, you and I both live in the same area and you will (or should) know that since Black Saturday the rules have changed significantly.

Anybody in the state of Victoria, including the Dandenong Ranges is free to remove any tree within 10 metres of a building or 3 metres of a property boundary without a permit. These changes were made to allow home owners to make their properties fire safe without the need to apply to local councils.


Using old parts on modern projects;

I would advocate that anything that keeps the interest in vintage cars alive is good for all of us, restored fans and hot rod fans alike. I agree that I don't like seeing anyone hack up a good restoration candidate to turn it into a hot rod, from what I see we all agree on that. But I'm also happy to see people use old parts on their old looking cars.

I'll finish by saying... be careful what you wish for, as you may get it. Imagine these scenarios....

You may or may not know, but your car has a seat belt exemption in Victoria because it was made before seat belts were mandatory but it doesn't have a child restraint exemption because the requirement to fit child restraints is Federal legislation. So your adult passengers do not need to wear a seat belt but children under 7 must be in an approved restraint and it must be anchored securely. Hard to do that in a timber bodied car! So to carry the grand kids you will have to steel out your Chevy.

What if they decide that our cars have to pass the modern braking tests to drive on the road? Would that be unreasonable? Many road safety proponents would argue that they should face the same safety tests.

2 brake tests from 60kph with a resultant average deceleration of 0.6g, and

15 stops from 60 - 0 to test brake fade

Would our cars pass these types of tests? Be careful what you advocate for my friend as you may find the only vintage cars around will be found in museums instead of enjoying Sunday drives.

Here is a perfect example Ray. Most people would deem this Australian 29' Tourer as a parts car or unrestorable. Hot rodders would walk past it shaking their head. A rat rodder would use the doors as floorboards, put a tractor radiator shell and make some spider web doors for it...

Me personally, I would LOVE to stumble across this car. This one I would restore, big difference from the channeled cowl and smashed door I'm building my roadster around.
Picture found on VCCA Facebook page...

Hi Joe,

In the USA it may be deemed as a parts car or unrestorable, but I share your desire to come accross it as a restoration project.

Cheers

Ray.

It's somewhere down there... Hopefully it doesn't get scraped. Chip shared some photo's of his Pheaton project and I feel in love with it, wood and all...

Skidd,

I did not realize you were such an academic. In fairness to others that may already be loosing interest in this thread, I will be brief.

I am aware of the status of the W class tram, and regardless of your reply, it is a shame and their demise will be regretted.

I think your comments about Heritage buildings are off the mark.

Thank you for updating me on thr Victorian tree laws.

I am fully aware of all seat belt rules and regs in relation to vintage cars, front seat passengers and kids in the back, and I choose not to break the law, so the grand kids will have to wave at the red chev as it goes past for a few more years.

In relation to your what ifs, there are a thousand we could quote from oil leaks to brakes to handling to emission etc.

I will continue to drive the Red Chev, and if the laws change about any mechanical aspect I will either comply or take up a new hobby. If the law wants better brakes, seat belts all round or what ever, each decision will be made on its on merits.

Rather that than the Red Chev become a trailer queen.

In the meantime I will leave the building of Hot Rods to others such as your good self.

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Well I noticed your affection for one 1938 lasalle 4 door sedan. Seeing that and how you despise hot rods , street rods, rattus roddus, I thought I would tell you about a car I ran into a couple of times last summer.

Its not just a 1938 LaSalle but an extremely rare convertable sedan that they only apparently made 263 or so of. I thought walking up to it, damn nice, bright red paint, think owner said it was porsche guards red. It had cadillac hub capped wire wheels on it , that were 15" and painted , not plated which drew me to start to really look closer at it.

Hood was open, hey thats no v8 flattie but a newish cadillac northstar 32 valve all aluminum V8 that was turned into rear wheel drive. A lie down on the grass and looking at the front suspension looked to be a chevy camero or chevy 2 grafted onto the stock frame.

I could see the rear suspension while I was looking around and it had what I think was an older 60's jaguar independant rear suspension with inboard disc brakes and coil shocks.

Owner spotted me eyeballing his car up close and came over. Turns out that interior with leather bucket seats was all out of a newer jaguar.

Well I can see by your previous posts on the subject , that if you had run into this vehicle : your blood pressure would have gone sky high, your brow covered in perspiration and a general feeling of I think I am gonna hurl, up-chuck, coughing the cookies ect.

He took a truly rare rare car and made a street resto rod ?? out of it, doesn't that just make you sick ?

mike

Morning Mike,

If I did not know any better I would say your trying to stir the pot a bit, but I would rather like to think its just a bit of fun. I would how ever like to correct one point.

I dont despise Hot Rods.

Rat Rods, well there just a waste of time money and effort.

Street Rods, well again it depends on the degree of mod. Some can look nice, others are way over the top.

There you go boys, see what you can do with that lot.

Just to prove that despite not being a Rod fan, I can appreciate the work put into one, take a look at this posting from my blog last year.

http://my28chev.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/craftmanship-is-craftmanship-wether-it.html

Cheers

Ray

I'll admit I admire the guys that do full blown 100 point restorations... on old street rods. Say what you want about keeping them original, but the early street rodding scene in the USA and Canada is just as much part of our history. You only need to look as far as the Doane Spence roadster, or Bob Hirohito's Merc to know that those are cars that needed to be "restored" to their builders original work. That said... I'm also against cutting up the rare ones today. I'm more for the "parts collector" style of building, but using a repro, or previously cut body or frame. There are so many dead street rods out there that there should be no reason for someone to cut up a cherry car today...

Hi Brewster,

I could not have said it better myself.

Cheers

Ray

I couldn't agree more about the necessity of having funds available to save some of the "heritage buildings". The historical society (or as referred to by someone as the hysterical society) in our town opposed a development in our town because there was a building which they wished to preserve on the property. The contractor graciously donated both the land and building to them,and he also dismantled the building and left it in their care. Twenty years later due to neglect and lack of funds the remains were used by the local fire dept for training and the land was auctioned to raise funds for a different project.

So true...Years ago, there were so many of "our" precious original's out there that "hot rodding" them was no big deal...Things of course have changed and now most would agree it's a sin to "wreck" perfectly good original "oldie"...