More story-time than all-out build, this post revolves around a keen youngster from Norway who lives in US and has a deep love of hot rods and customs. A stolen daily driver leads him to Craigslist for a replacement, where he finds an ad for what looks like a well-worn farm truck, but turns out to be much more. A closer inspection reveals custom body-work by George Barris and pin-striping and murals by Von Dutch. The sale and handover is not a simple pick up, hand shake and “see ya later”. Both buyer and seller start a blooming friendship that opens up a treasure trove of history thanks to the original owner’s penchant for taking and keeping old photos. The new owner continues to keep in contact to ask questions and pick up parts, and even just cruise around and talk cars. Apart from the car itself, the thread is great just for the old photos from the custom car scene of yesteryear and the series of coincidences that unfold.
Tag: hot rod
My visit to Mooneyes USA
In September last year, my wife and I headed to the US and Mexico for our honeymoon. While I’m not the type of guy to go out of my way to do car stuff when I’m traveling – I didn’t even visit one workshop while I was in Japan! – I discovered that Mooneyes was in the direction we were traveling one day. I would have been crazy not to stop in, I’ve always been a fan of the brand and never once imagined I’d have the opportunity to go there in person. After buying up a bunch of merchandise in the showroom, I mentioned to the gentlemen behind the desk that I was from Australia. Upon hearing that, he asked one of the staff to take us on a little unofficial tour of the place. Apart from sitting in the front engine dragster (the seating position makes me wince at the thought of a diff letting go!), we got to see the Moon discs and tanks being hand spun, and heard a lot about the history of the brand, the building, and some cool stories about the founder Dean Moon, and current owner Shige Suganuma. It was definitely an experience I’ll never forget. Head below to see some of my photos from around the shop (click for larger versions) and please link back to the site if you choose to share them.
I can’t thank the staff at Mooneyes enough for their kindness and generosity on the day. They didn’t have to take the time out of their day to show us around, but they chose to, and that really says something, especially since we were just a couple of tourists. There was a really nice and chilled atmosphere about the place and the people who worked there, the brand is definitely more than just it’s parts and cool logo.
Willys Pickup / ’08 Cherokee
I guess you could kind of call this a chassis-swap, even though the original chassis is retained, albeit highly modified. This Willys pickup is based on a combination of two cabs (’48 and ’58), being widened to fit over the subframes and floorpan of a 2008 Jeep Cherokee, complete with a 5.7l Hemi. I have to say, this is one of the most informative build threads I’ve read. Even by breezing through it like I usually have to (because I want to get it up ASAP on the site for you guys!) I’ve managed to learn more than a few tricks. The owner shows off a plethora of DIY garage skills, such as tweaking and straightening the frame using combinations of heat and pressure, panel beating, welding, metal folding/shaping, and more. He really goes out of his way to share his techniques with his fellow forum members via well-written and documented posts. The whole thing is closer to a hot rod build compared to what you’d usually expect from a Jeep. Don’t forget to catch the rust removal technique towards the end of the thread, definitely one I’ll be bookmarking for future reference.
Thanks to Jarrod for submitting. Click here for more Jeep builds.
BUILT from eBay [video build x4]
![BUILT from eBay [video build x4]](http://build-threads.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/builtbyebay.jpg)
So, I’ve become a bit of a YouTube junky lately. My almost nightly ritual consists of plonking myself down on the couch with a hot coffee, firing up the iPad, plugging in my over-ear headphones, and catching up on all of my favourite subscriptions. Some of those include /DRIVE, HoonTV, Jay Leno’s Garage, Marchettino, Mighty Car Mods, Motor Trend (Roadkill and Dirt Every Day), and of course Petrolicious. For too long I imagined YouTube’s sole existence catered to wannabe celebrities uploading videos of themselves doing something stupid in the hope of going viral. Now I’m more than aware that it’s become quite the replacement for television, with professionally produced channels releasing regular content aimed at specific demographics, making their viewers crave new content just like you would for Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones.
It was during a browsing session that I stumbled across a 10-part series called “BUILT from eBay”, which chronicled the process of four different shops (aligned with 4 different magazines) building four different cars using parts bought only from eBay. While the concept is pretty transparent as being one big commercial, the content is quite entertaining. Hell, you get to see four completely different cars being built without having to read a single word, what’s there to complain about?
Click here for more video builds.
1953 Business Coupe
Back in November I made a post on the Facebook page noting the abundance of European and Japanese rides on the front page. I asked you if you wanted to see some American iron, and the response was overwhelming, so I featured the Bagged 52 Chev. But you were duped! The picture of the car I posted when I asked the question wasn’t actually the 52 that I ended up featuring, it was this gorgeous airbagged and chopped 1953 Business Coupe. So put some time aside, make yourself comfortable, and get ready for an extremely cool car with some top notch DIY metal work.
6.1 Hemi Prowler
I still vividly remember excitedly sitting down to read one of my new issues of Street Machine Magazine as a kid, it must have been around 1997. I turned one of the pages to lay eyes on what I thought could only be a wild concept car or a one-off custom creation. But a concept car it was not, this was the full production model of the Plymouth Prowler, a throwback to 30’s open-wheel hot rods, made to modern specifications during Chrysler’s retro design phase. But there was just one thing wrong, it was powered by a V6. A V6!? How on earth could the beancounters have let this atrocity take place, oh the huge manatay! Luckily, this isn’t a new and used car review website, so the car gracing this page isn’t as it came from the factory. Trey did what Plymouth didn’t and made his own Hemi-powered V8 Prowler, the way it should have been all along.
Bagged 52 Chev
Like I said on the Facebook page the other day, it’s a bout time for some American muscle to grace the front page! During my frequent browsing of one of my favourite hod rod and custom resources, the H.A.M.B., I found a great build of a 1952 Chev. This mid-century 2-door sits lower than a [insert something low here] on a custom frame with airbags. The thread is full of enough bare -metal fabrication of both frame and body to wet your never ending appetite for automotive construction.
VW Bug Pickup
1967 Volkswagen Beetle + roof chop + 1950 Chevy pickup = Bugtruck!
Thanks to Geoff for submitting.
Click here for more ute/pickup conversions. Click here for more VW builds.
Model A Coupe
We haven’t had a good ol’ hot rod on the site for a little while, so here’s one that’s been patiently waiting in my archives. A classic looking Model A, low to the ground, in a gorgeous combination of blue and gold, stunning in it’s simplicity. Notice the distinct lack of rust, skulls, or goofy body proportions. This is my kind of rod.
Thanks to Chris for submitting.
’51 Ford pickup
Almost 2 years ago to the day I featured a hand-built aluminium hot rod named Emerald Tide which took it’s styling inspiration from an artist’s painting. Well the same artist has many more paintings and the same builder is creating another awesome car to match one of them. This time it’s a chopped and channeled ’51 Ford pickup going by the name of Lit Up. I know I say this about many builds but the fabrication work in this one really is simply amazing. The word “talent” doesn’t even come close when trying to describe the one-man, metal-morphing, killer-shop-owning, car-building machine they call Jimmy. The custom chassis rails made from laser-cut sheets of flat metal on the first page should give you a fair idea.