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Hot Rod TV.........

7K views 44 replies 34 participants last post by  problem solvers 
#1 ·
What do you all think about Hot Rod TV??? I like the show but man do those guy have some deep pockets. I think these guys lost the whole concept of hotrodding quite a while ago. These guys are too good to use anything used, it just seems like to me they buy all the new flashy high dollar stuff. The should call the show Deep Pockets Hot Rod TV. :D
 
#2 ·
Or how about "Empty nest TV", about as realistic as an infomercial on late at night. Maybe they should call it "Product showcase TV", I certainly am tired of hearing about anything out of a box called billet [product name here].

Does anyone ever get their hands dirty on the show? The idea of "HotRod" as fashion statement for the rich kinda sickens me, look at what they have done to Harley Davidson!
 
#3 ·
I wonder if they get all of that go fast stuff for free, like free advertising for the products they use. Have you ever noticed that 9 out of the 10 cars they do all this work to is there own personal vehicles. These guys think everything has to be new and pretty to make a hotrod, has anybody else who ever watched this program see them use anything that was used. I saw them once do a build up on a 350 Chevy they bought from a boneyard and the only thing they used on it was the block and they contemplated about buying a new one. These guys think everybody who hotrods has deep pockets and that you can only go fast with new and flashy products. They need to get in touch with the real world, not everybody has bottomless pockets like these two do. I would like to put them to work on my car and see how squeeky clean they stay. :D
 
#5 ·
Maybe we should come up with a special name for these High Dollar rides compared the the true home built, used parts, you did the work rods! I don't think of these show cars as rods, they belong the a certain kind of collector who buys his prize and shows off somebody elses work. You buy it, you build it, you drive it!


Todd
 
#6 ·
I really don't like HRTV. they realy never take the time to show you anything. It's one thing then they go to the next thing. I havn't watched it for about 2 months now.
The should have a show on how to's. might even give you numbers on parts that are interchangeable. and the list can go on.

As for building hot rods. It's a great feeling. BUT: some guys can't do some of the things on the rides, or don't have the time. Sure build them, drive them, and enjoy them.

But you also have to look at the other end of rodding. If it wasn't for the guys that buy the rods that are built. The guy that sold the rod wouldn't have the money for his next project.
So there is pro and cons about build or buy.
You can build a rod for over 100K or you can buy one for that. Or you can build one for 15K or buy one for that.

To me it dosn't matter if you build or buy. Just don't have your nose up in the air. and be honest, yes i built it or yes i bought it. Just enjoy the hobby.

You can always tell a ture rodder: If you see a rodder broke down on the highway. How many other rodders do you see stop and try to help. Or how many do you see keep driving.

just my 2 cents
 
#7 ·
Originally posted by bigheadedforddriver:
<strong>Amen, I am even getting that way with all the hot rod magazines. They say they have budget buildup for your motor that costs three times what i payed for my car.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Car Craft is pretty good with the stuff that they do, but I do have to say that some of their "budget" motors are pretty pricey.
 
#9 ·
Don't get me wrong I love car craft but this is an expensive hobby and if you cant do most of the work you have to pay someone else and thats where you alomost have to be rich. I am a middle income guy with a family so if i cant do it my self i just wont do it. What gets me goin is guys driving around in there hot rods that have no knowledge what so ever about what they are driving. Hell if I had the money id probably pay someone else to do it also.
 
#10 ·
People these days have forgotten how to do certain things. Why do we always feel the need to pay full price for things? I got a kid at Circuit City to drop the price of a PDA by $20. Not a huge savings, but hey it's something. Also, we've forgotten how to barter for things. Say you can't paint a car by yourself. Talk to the local paint guys and see if there is something that you can do for them. If you're an accountant, do his taxes. If you're an electrician, see if he needs new lights wired in his shop. What's the worst that people can say? No? You never know until you ask.
 
#12 ·
OK how about this lets start a new magazine and call it Grass Rootes HotRoding and sale it for $2.50 with a lot of how twos,and make shore that the photos show who is doing the work has dirty hands like mine most of the time.and the photos of cars are dayly drivers,typ Hot Rods. <img src="graemlins/mwink.gif" border="0" alt="[mwink]" />
 
#13 ·
personally I think dean skuza couldn't do caca on his own. If I had a sponser, I would run tf/fc, have my own show and use only new stuff. now Trucks, and Horsepower tv do show more hands on....
1meancuda, I *****ed so much, that my local oreillys gives me an employee discount to keep me quiet.

please Ohioans, DO NOT be offended. its just that dean is a weenie, and don't get me started on 'cam'... but he's not from ohio so I guess i could......

[ February 25, 2003: Message edited by: crazy larry ]</p>
 
#15 ·
Remember 'Shadetree Machanic'- I used to watch as they built a 'T' bucket, but then somebody said Total Performance donated all the parts--- (don't know if it's true)- but now I was scootin' around the TV and they got a different show (w/only one of the original guys) called 'Two Guys Garage'... the pocketbooks get bigger and the talent gets smaller. I go to shows and guys look at my build books w/ME in every picture DOING the work and they still say BS.... they don't believe you can build a driver, show it, drive it home and STILL save some dollars. 1meancuda you said it- argue for the discount 'cuz most of today's prices are so inflated they CAN give it to you cheaper...
 
#16 ·
One thing you can be sure of; when Joe Bluecollar finds a good thing, someone will goldplate it, and sell it to Ritchie Rich, so he can feel special.

Didn't the Beach Boys and Elvis start the trend?

I gotta say, some of those 6 figure magazine cars by Barris, Alloway, and Trepanier are spectacular, tho'.
 
#17 ·
For whoever was talking about a real hot rod magazines, they have em, they are just hard to find. The big magazines stay in publication not from the sales of the magazine, but from the ads and the tech articles sponsored by manufacturers.
If you get a chance, check out Car Kulture (CK) DeLuxe, Shop Rag, or even the Rodders Journal (my friend Ric's '40 ford was in TRJ a little while ago and its a completely home built car).
 
#18 ·
The fact is all magazines exist by the money generated by advertising with the possible exception of Consumer Reports. There is nothing wrong with that, it's business. There is something wrong with expanding pages of ads without a corresponding expansion of articles. I really don't care for the "Tech" articles taken from the instruction sheet of a manufacturer's kit either but they do have their place. Since the body of knowledge of Old-time, or old-style, hotrodding never had an internet to spread the word, it exists in us older guys minds and the old "little" book magazines we have hoarded since way back when. Many young people, and older ones too, enter into the building of a car without one whit of experience and won't spend the little money and time it takes to read a book to gain the rawest most basic knowledge of what they're trying to do.
 
#19 ·
I've got an idea. We'll boycott the overpriced chrome shows on TV and start our own internet site. Everyone can write in with questions and local experts will give their advice to the newbies. People who want the authentic hot rod experience can learn as they go, learn from their mistakes (and others mistakes) and be able to say, "I built it, myself."

I suggest we call it "Hotrodders.com" :)
 
#23 ·
windsor8 said:
Wouldn't you love to see the out takes of these hot rod shows? We all know that things don't always go together and fit like they should.
I bet that guy on Trucks has slung a couple wrenches across the room. I like that show and its the only one I watch now. He gets dirty. Sure its new parts but look what he's putting them on. He is not afraid to cut and weld on new parts.
 
#24 ·
Parts that don't fit

That's what the whole thing is about. We call it modification. Try putting a restored steering wheel for a 1959 impalla on a flaming river column. I'll bolt on, but the horn won't work. You have to modify new parts that by the way were very expensive. That's what they don't show you on the shows and probably why they bicker so much.
Years ago i heard an interview whith Don Gartlets griping about losing a race because of new parts not working properly on national tv. It kind on makes it OK to assume that the part will have to be tweaked to work on everything and every time. That's why I have a lathe, mill and heliarc.
 
#25 ·
It's the same on here at times.................you get guys asking if there is a "kit" for this or a "kit" for that............like a "kit" to put a 318 in a 1930 Essex............Give me a break........People need to learn that hotrodding is all about making that 318 fit that Essex by cutting and fabbing some steel and making it fit.....That is what its all about, not just going down and plunking down hundreds of bucks for something that you can make yourself for next to nothing.

On the other hand, I just paid $100 for a pair of brackets to convert my Pontiac to front disc brakes............I am not going to screw around with something as important as brakes..............although, looking at them now, I probably could have made them, but I would rather have the peace of mind.
 
#26 ·
It's just TV

The truth of the matter is, it's just entertainment. All the motor head shows are there to sell products and that's all. The cars and actors are part of the TV show format. The format dictates nice clean cars and new parts to go with them(they sell these parts). They can't have some greasy dude with front tooth missing because a wrench slipped and knocked it out. The sponsors don't give rat's butt about the cars, only the bottom numbers on what's sold because of the program. For every one of us motor heads, who build cars from whatever we can find, there are ten who think the TV guys and the cars are how it's really done. Most men don't have a clue as to how their daily driver functions.
I find the thing that works for me is to shut the TV off and go to the garage. In my garage there is a greasy dude with a few bloody busted knuckles and smile on his dirty face doing the real hot rod thing, that dude is me! :mwink:

drive it like you stole it, Dave
 
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