Thread: Just A Hobby frame

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Tim Thompsons 32 is featured in the 1994 November issuer of Street Rodder. The frame is from Just A Hobby. Still around, where, website?
Thank you
Craig

Barry Lobeck bought them more than 20 years ago.

You won't find a website. Phone number is (440) 232-0210.

Thank you. I called and spoke to someone and they were helpful in getting me one step closer to a 32 loboy.
Craig

Not to take away from the Just a Hobby product, and certainly not away from Lobeck who has a tremendous eye for style and stance along with a good reputation, while the quality is good there are some things to consider. Mostly depends on your sense of detail and your priorities.

Thompson created quite a stir by posing the car with a pack of Lucky's to emphasize the stance (not to mention the unusual color choices for the time) . There's nothing unique in the Just a Hobby rails to allow that stance, it's all in the crossmember setup, basically making clearance for the suspension/axles. What I personally don't care for in the Just a Hobby rails, along with a few others who do it the same way, is they're fabricated from flat sheet stock rather than die pressed. If you don't have the eye for detail it doesn't much matter that the bottom of the stamped rail side reveal and the top of the rail edges have a "squared off" appearance. This is caused by the nature of welding the edges of flat stock. A modest amount of rounding of the edge can be accomplished but is limited so as to not "break through" the weld. The stamped rails (e.g. American Stamping, Dearborn Deuce, Jim Weimer, maybe others) have an eased edge that looks both more original, as well as better finished.

There's also the matter of transportation cost (albeit a very small fraction of what the total build cost will be), and travel if you want to check on progress if you have someone else build the frame. One western alternative is Hot Rods and Custom Stuff located near San Diego. They make a Deuce frame with 3" more "kick up" in the front http://www.hotrodscustomstuff.com/DS-frame.html Here's an example of a low boy they did with detail pics of the chassis to give you an idea how they did it; http://www.deucesteel.com/richards.html
Or, even a little more "insane"; http://www.deucesteel.com/houston.html
Member "Robot" on here has one and will probably chime in when he sees this thread. Randy makes these frames from American Stamping rails to start with, and adds his front clip, boxing, X member, so on.

Another choice that I've recently had experience with is Kiwi Konnnection; http://www.kiwikonnection.com/
They also use American Stamping rails, and are good folks to work with as far as getting custom features applied, though they don't have a "super low" option listed on their site, they have the ability. One (among several) of the things that really impressed me was the extra care they took to round the edges of the boxing plates, especially where they show in the engine compartment. Again, this involves the issue of a right angle weld of flat stock. It's a little difficult to photo well, but below are pics of how they did it. It takes extra time to bevel the edges so that deeper weld penetration can be accomplished to accommodate the additional grinding to sculpt this nice of an edge (albeit because of physical limitations it can't quiet duplicate the stamped edge as you may see). This, btw, is the normal way they do it, not special for a particularly picky customer.

Just some things to think about.

Bob, Thank you you for taking the time to point out some of the finer points of frame construction. There is a lot to learn.
I was originally in contact with Randy Clark at Hot Rods and Stuff, a few years ago. I got a quote from him on a rolling chassis. This was during the construction of my highboy. The top pic.
I also went to the home of Dave Iverson, and Jill Allen. He created the Deuce frame with the 3" kick in the front. The lower pic.
I did see the Mike Richards car at Puyallup this year. Nice looking car, except the nose.
I am doing my due dilligence to determine which one I want to use, because I want to be satisfied with the build for a long time.
I will definetly look at all of the choices out there. Distance is a deciding factor, along with the cost of shipping.
Thanks again.
Craig