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hellou everyone!

My name is Filip(23y/o) and i come from country Croatia...for ones that dont know where it is: google it Im have studied mechanical engineering and naval architecture and now im in CNC machines business.

Since there arent ANY hot rods in my country, i plan to build the first one and could use any help that you can provide for example: i need a car to start with

Hello Filip and welcome to the forum. I guess the first thing you need to do is to determine the type of car you want to work on. First, the period in which the car was manufactured. 1920's, 1930's, or a car of later vintage. Then to choose whether you want a closed car such as a coupe or sedan or an open car such as a roadster.

Generally speaking, the formula for a fast hot rod includes using the lightest car (kilos) and the biggest motor (liters).

hey tech

dont worry, i have the whole car in my head for some time now

1930 A coupe, channeled(thinking of Z-ing it too), chopped, fenderless, ww's on stealies with moon hubs, front dropped axle with hairpins, probably standard 350 chevy since they r easiest to find here in my country(mostly from camaros), would like to put dual 97 stromberg's, i got old army paint from 70's...i dont know what else to say...did i left out anything?
I like traditional look so i will go that way...
But the first thing is to find a project car...need body and frame with susp to start with so i will post in cars wanted...
Thing that got me going in this hot rod world is when i saw as kid that yellow 5w coupe in American grafitti

Since this IS my first hot rod i will need any help that you can give me..any advice is good...
Thanks!

Filip

A most excellent starting point would be this tutorial from Brian Rupnow....
http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28617

And this most excellent buildup by Don....
http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23618

Welcome to the forum. Every time I see one of you guys outside the US building one of these it amazes me. I can only imagine how much trouble it is to get parts that we take for granted here, and how much money it takes to do. Shipping parts in alone must be a real hassle.

I just saw a thread a guy did somewhere else, on a Swedish car show. The cars were gorgeous, and spot on. What dedication to the hobby.

Keep us posted on your progress, it will be fun to see.


Don

Thanks alot Tech...these r really helpfull and are just the thing that i had in mind when asking help...
Any good books that you recommend? Something like SB chevy rebuild, chassis fabrication etc.
And is it possible to find a good body, frame and susp for about 1500$? unmodified ofcourse
I know its not alot of money to start with but i also do need to ship it in container over the atlantic hot rods in europe are quite expensive so its better for me to go this way...

thanks for the welcome Itoldyouso..or easier to write, Don

well, like i said above i hope to build the very first hot rod in my country...there was one T model before that i saw but i didnt consider it a hot rod cause it was all butchered up with ricer shit, spoilers, wings and that sort of crap...too bad for the car...was looking for it but didnt have luck finding it. And its a kinda of extra joy to build something that is not so common(in my place) and hard to build...makes me wanna do it even more...hehe

First thing to determine is whether to use a genuine (gennie) original steel body or a fiberglass reproduction body. Same with the frame, original (not particularly recommended because of rust and cracks accumilated over its 77 year life span) or reproduction. It's not particularly difficult to construct your own frame if you do the research and use care, paying attention to detail. I don't think USD$1,500 is going to get you all that far in the whole scope of things, however most hot rod projects are long term, so you wouldn't have to have all the money at the beginning of the projectl. Look at Don's roadster project. He started with the goal of having a running car for USD$3,000. He has far surpassed that figure and isn't finished yet.

There are many books to choose from to begin your education. Here's a google link to get you started...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...ot+rod&spell=1

i would definitly go with original steel body...when it comes to frame, original or home made, whatever will be better, thats why i asked for some books on that matter...i have planned that 1500$ for body, frame(- that if i make it myself) and suspension(complete susp with front and rear end without brakes, wheels, tires)...kinda semi complete rolling chassis ofcourse...if i can go cheaper on that, i will...

Filip, with all due respect to you, either you aren't paying attention to what I'm saying or you are completely out of touch with reality.

If any of us on this forum could put together a semi-rolling chassis for $1,500, we'd all be doing it. There would be nobody to answer your inquiries, we'd all be in the shop twisting wrenches.

I doubt if you could even pay for crating and shipping of a gennie body for $1,500, not to mention the cost of the body. I just went on ebay and searched. There is not one for sale. You might keep checking ebay and put a "wanted" ad in Hemmings Motor News.

Good luck.

hmm...i apologize tech...seems that i have misinterpreted some of your words...never mind, im back in reality now
well, ship container cost a little bit over 1000$ from USA to a port in my country(ive done it before)...but i have a diffrent budget for that also i have a guy in states that will pay, ship and all that for me so that seller that im buying body from doesnt have to deal with that...

so what i come to is that for now ill try to find a good body for money that i can afford...if that will be 1500$ it will be great and if more than that, ill try to figure out something...
thanks for the help and some perspective tech!

OK, great Filip. The problem is that the supply of gennie tin of that era has all but dried up. The rat rodders seem to be grabbing what is left, even the rusted-out hulks. They won't use fiberglass reproductions. As a result, anyone with a halfway decent body wants an exorbitant amount of money for it. Have you looked in the backwoods and gulleys in your country?

Keep looking and good luck.

BELIEVE me when i say...there are NO 20's, 30's US cars in someones backyard, barn or whatever in my country...looked for years and no result...everything is or bought in EU or imported from states and as far as i know, some 10 of that era cars are in my country, mostly original restorations.

Time to raise more cash or lower your standards. Last time I saw a cheap original tin car was 8 years ago a guy near me had a 1930 Ford roadster body with no floor, a trunk lid that could be either a trunk or a rumble seat lid, two doors, a dash, but no windshield or any thing else for that matter. He wanted $800 for it. All it needed ....WAS just about everything plus $20,000 to get it on the road with fresh cheap paint. Haven't seen any original tin that cheap since. Maybe I should have grabbed it up for $800, but I didn't. Yeah I regretted it for about 20 minutes.

Really don't mean to rain on your parade but, you are just unlikely as hell to find something in your price range and desires anywhere in Europe/Asia. Might find something half buried in the dessert or in Africa or India. But still unlikely. Your best shot may be to save your money, use your education and experience and build/fabricate your own rod from sheet metal, steel, fiberglass and miscellaneous parts. Get a 4 banger to move it around... those should be relatively cheap and plentiful over there (like a YUGO small block ) Big job, not impossible and been done before by others.

BTW, welcome to CHR. Hang in there, you'll get a lot of help here for your project.

Thanks for the welcome Mopar and for your input on all this...
Well, ill be ok with a body like the one you described...i know a very good coach builder here so sheet metal wont be a problem i supose...
V8's are not that rare here...as a matter of fact they r quite cheap when u look at it..for example i have my eye set on a 454 V8(i think its a mercury engine) with auto tranny, full runner for about 1300$ and it has low mileage..the thing is that gas isnt cheap here as it is in states so that V8's arent popular and they sell cheap...
I still hope to strike a jackpot and find a body that i like