Just tonight the Vilocity Channel had one of their programs turn a beautiful shinny black, whitewalled tired, sweet 1950 pickup into a dull black/charcoal, low-riding souped-up hotrod. The owners seemed well pleased.
I can understand turning a good candidate rat-rod into such a machine but a prestine pickup into one is beyond me. I just can't get my mind around this.
Did anyone else see this particular show? What are your thoughts?
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Humans don't have respect for other humans. We can't expect them to have respect for history. I remember when guys used to take bodies sitting out in fields and make hot rods out of them. Now they pull super nice original cars apart and rod them. Then they think they've done something special. You will notice than in another ten years that very car that was so special, no longer is because pearlescent green is no longer in style with over stuffed black velvet so no one will want it. These "personal" cars are just that, creations that always fall out of favor because they have no significance. I don't mind mild customs to make a car a better driver especially if that car is a common one. There is a guy right now rodding a 31' Caddy cabriolet that was complete and only needed some light restoration of the fenders left then total paint. He's going with a SBC and already parting it out. While most of us don't like it he had the money to buy it, bought it, and now it's his right to do whatever he wants to do with it.
Years ago a friend of my father hot-rodded an L-29 Cord. When he was finished he took it to the show in Auburn, and got a lot nasty looks. The fact was he resurrected a scrap heap from the junkyard, and made a nice machine out of it. I don't think the naysayers really appreciated the effort he spent in building that car.
On the other side of the coin, taking a perfectly nice L-29, and cutting it up Gas Monkey style is legal, but is also detrimental to the old car hobby.
Years ago I was restoring a 1934 Chevy 3 window coup , I ran out of money and a friend of my dads offered to buy it and finish it. He finished it alright , he made a street rod out of it. All my hard work and money for not. If the car is too far gone to restore I can understand hot rodding it but its a crime to destroy a good car!
Charlie thinks its his job on chat to stir the pot, get the troops all riled up, toss some crap olut and see if it sticks.
Lets put it this way, makes a whole lot more sense to buy a pristine car/truck to make a street rod out of it, than to take a field car and attempt to make a silk purse out of it. Its done but at what cost ??????
I have seen a 1931 Cadillac cabriolet done up as a resto rod , street rod. Also a 31 pierce arrow, 32 Lincoln , 36-36 cord, 32 nash big series phaeton.
Far easier to plunk in a newer motor and trans, swap out the radiator. Redo the electronics/wiring. Change rear end, upgrade the drums to disc brakes with power booster.
And if you bought a decent car, no floors to replace, no paint and body work, no upholstery. just saved a whole lot of money.
Rat rods are made from field finds, the rustier the better, nobody I have seen takes a nice car and craps it out, unless its a faux finish .
Interesting thing............discovery network and discovery velocity are full of TV shows about modifying cars. I cannot think of one tv show on a major network that's specific about 100 restoring cars ????? Is there one ?? ????? If so whats its name and where is it shown ?
I agree with what has been said and really agree with Mike Lynch on having a program dedicated to restoring a car to factory specs. I've often wondered why such a show is not made. They could pick a fairly easy car such as a tri-five Chevy or a Mustang where parts are readily available. I used to enjoy Fantomworks but lately they have fallen into the cursing and throwing things and they don't use resources to find parts. Graveyard Cars is also good but have lately gone into Hemi crate engine installations. Restoration Garage is ok but to many high dollar and foreign cars.Chasing Classic Cars is also Ok if you are a millionaire. The rest of the car shows are just plain stupid,and there are dozens. Used to be no one messed around with Corvairs but lately people have discovered that stuffing a SBC or other engine into the back seat is the thing to do. I've seen quite a few ruined forever. Ed Bittman Dade City,fl VCCA#47508 TA#99
ED BITTMAN...................I am not saying there should be a TV show for restoration of a car...........the problem is that restoration , its a long term project and the show would have to be able to cover 5-6 INDIVIDUAL cars segments a year over the course of 20 shows which is about what they commit to the first year.
I would think a 64--70 mustang would be one I would think a 67--70 camero would be one Either a model T or A ford I would think a 55--57 tri 5 Chevrolet I think there has to be a corvette of the 57--67 era Definitely either a 48--56 ford 1/2 ton or the same in a Chevrolet.
If a restoration show only covered one vehicle over the period of a years shows ( 20 ) where is the audience. ??????????? Once you focus on a specific year and make you just blew off anybody who doesn't own one after 3 shows or less. My favorite show is BITCHIN RIDES , with Dave Kindig and crew turning out great cars. Formerly the Boyd Codington show was the best around. Chip Foose also did a great show but the whole pretext of swiping somebodys car, pranking them, and turning out a super quality car in 7 days was way too much work in that time period. Even with a crew of 30 people. How do you get parts delivered in 7 days or less ??????????
Just recently a 69 ? camero was brought out of storage after being worked on for 16 years to be finished with a 650 cu inch BBC able to make 2000 horsepower. Another vehicle last week was brought out of storage( pickup ? ) , a bunch of work done and owner ran out of money and it went away again.
I like Wayne Carinis east coast show ": chasing classic cars ". I love the old Stutz's he has purchased 1921 and 1932. The cars he manages to buy and unfortunately take to auction and sell off. Well cannot keep them all.
Waynes fascination with mega dollar Ferraris and porsches and Mercedes loses me and reaching for the remote..
Re people hot rodding corvairs. I have not seen a mid engine conversion on one of those since the 70's. I have seen a few of the Pontiac Fieraros ??? with motor in back crossways, swapped out with small block chevy.
Its all about having an audience, selling advertising, having a host that's likeable and a time slot where your going to reach people. You can google you tube with a subject matter on restoration.........make roadster top bows steam bent and spend a whole day watching a multitude of people making steam and bending.
I have said it before a few times. I own 3... 1935 chevrolet standard series : roadster under construction, phaeton, coupe 3 window. They are all STREET RODS, classified as RESTO RODS. Cars that look bone stock but sit different and have a little rumble to them. Bodys are all stock steel, as is seating stock. The phaeton I purchased in 2016 has full jaguar 1968 XKE suspension with jag wires, 305 sbc with 350 TH. paint is very red acrylic lacquer done in 1980 in Virginia. Coupe I have owned since 1970 and its been a street rod since 1964. It has a crate ZZ4 putting out 420 hp 4 speed auto, full independent front and rear jag suspension. Car is black nitro lacquer with wire wheels
lastly my giant headache, my 35 roadster. It has a Chevrolet crate 383 ...465 hp backed up with a dual disc clutch and tremec 6 speed stick. Has full independent suspenstion......kugel front , jag xke rear, duval windshield from Australia. Has NOS right front welled fender, pair NOS running boards , left rear fender nos and a lot of other nos parts. Its a project, all that was kept from the car I purchased in TENN is the main body, everything else was scrap hidden under 3/4" of tar.
All 3 of my cars bodys sheet metal could be purchased from me ( if they were for sale ) and placed onto a stock frame & driveline and in a given amount of time, driven
I watch shows like Bitchin Rides to see how they do things and LEARN.
It seems that there are some that fail to understand our point of view. Sad that. But that's the way it is.
More, there are those who go on and on about their personalized vehicles in order to try to bend us to their way of thinking in an attempt to justify their own. Seems to me only someone with a weak position would waste their valuable time in order do so. But who am I to judge. Just not my cup of tea and no amount of attempted persuasion is going to work.
CHARLIE, quick get back to your keyboard and create some other subject to create discord among the members.
Stir it up , get that pot boiling , let no subject not be breached , get the other old farts screaming, off with his head.
Are you still peeved that you took your car to a cruise or show and nobody looked at it ??????? maybe your car is bland and boring ?
Whats your next attack scenario, round up all the street rodders and rat rodders on site and toss them into the hot rod scrap heap, because you don't like them.
Your point of view is that this site is about the restoration of Chevrolet vehicles. I agree it is its main purpose to answer questions people have about how to repair their particular vehicle. I actually contribute a fair amount of responses to attempt to answer people questions in the 33-36 section primarily. I am not sure I have ever noticed you responding to repair problems . Easier to just throw bullcrap out there and see if it sticks.
I type in information and offer a comprehensive assessment of what their problem is. A lot of answers by others are bare bones, devoid of correct information.
I like restored cars, can admire their styling and peculiarities of operation. But I don't want to own one. I want my cars to be able to travel 70 MPH if I want to. I want my cars to go around corners without looking or feeling like they are going to tip over . I want my cars to accelerate smoothly. I want them to ride smoothly . I want them to stop in a short space if I have to. I like the look of an old car, but with modern driveline.
While we are at it...........what about all those 55 and up so called restored Chevrolets with incorrect motor and trans. There is so many modified Chevrolets, corvettes, trucks , corvairs , novas, cameros, s10 trucks , blazers, and all the other stuff. You going to round them up too and dump them into the scrap heap because they do not meet YOUR CRITERIA.
When they chop the top they end up welding the remaining stubs of pillars back together. Those pillars were made with multiple pieces inside, creased and formed at different angles to give strength. The hotrods end up with pillars welding back together with joints confined to the outer sheet metal.
I also tire of hearing how bad drum brakes are. My 1951 1 Ton brakes have almost no wear on the shoes after ten years and forty thousand miles and I have never experienced brake fade.
My 1951 1 Ton is now on the road! My 38 Master 4 Door is also now on the road .
Personally I am not a proponent of chopped tops. The 33--35 Chevrolets generally are not chopped as the windshield and side window height is designed with just the right height visually. The use of wood as structure 33--35 would be a deterrent to wanna be choppers .
Its not that easy seeing out the stock windshield on a 34-35 std 3 w coupe to see stop lights . I have to use GM traffic light viewers so I do not get a sore neck bending to see the lights. I cannot imagine trying to drive my cars with chopped windows.
Fords of the era 33-36 were always much more readily available and generally the top gets chopped to balance it out. Seeing how the ford bodies are made reproduction in steel and much more plentiful they get done.
It may be informative and encouraging to note that in the January 1971 edition of the G&D the "My Story" article by Kenneth Orme he wrote the following in regard to his looking at a 37 pickup he was interested in buying: "I thought the Chevy would look sharp with mag wheels, dual chrome exhaust stacks, a white tonneau cover over the bed, a metallic paint job, and a small Chevy V8 hidden under the hood."
Latter, and after he had done minor clean-up of the truck, he stated in the article, ""Then I went to my first antique car show. (as a spectator) There went the mag wheels, chrome stacks, along with the V8 engine". Enlightening that.
Pictures (5 in all) show the completed pick-up as it may have come right off the dealers show room. It did have white-wall tires but with neither the white tonneau cover nor the other modifications he has at first considered. The pictures showed a beautifully restored black pick-up with the six cylinder Cherrolet engine with no modifications indicated.
Now, in my opinion, Mr. Orme clearly changed his mind in order to align himself with the wisdom of valuing restoration and preservation of old Chevrolets just as the VCCA Club intended. In my openion his decision is praiseworthy.
Charlie
As the joke goes the last thing a redneck says just before showing his lack of good sense is, "Now you buds jess whatch this rat chere." Seems the same thing someone may say who wants to modify a stock vehicle. Something like, "Now youse guys just whatch and see what I can do with this baby." (Note the smiley face, etc.) Mild example follows:
into a dull black/charcoal, low-riding souped-up hotrod. The owners seemed well pleased.
This is crazy taking shots at one another....why?
as it may have come right off the dealers show room. It did have white-wall tires but with neither the white tonneau cover nor the other modifications he has at first considered. The pictures showed a beautifully restored black pick-up with the six cylinder Cherrolet engine with no modifications indicated.
(Note the smiley face, etc.) Mild example follows: