Hello...? Is this thing on?  

Yes it is on! What's on my mind, is that I'm bummed there will no longer be an ego-rama. I do, however, understand.  

really like the models with the cars. i love the magazine just wish it was a lot bigger  

I'm right there with you, Dan G. I think everybody at R&C is bummed about Asphalt Ego-Rama. Kind of the end of an era.

However, we're excited about the Rod of the Year and Custom of the Year competition this coming weekend at Americruise in Lincoln. I'm in St. Joseph, MO right now (Wed evening)--to adrenalined up to sleep. We just wrapped up the 4th full day of the Americruise East tour with Air Ride. We're about 20 cars strong right now and having a blast. We're drawing crowds every time we stop for gas or to eat or when we show up at our hotels. Tonight we hooked up with a whole parking lot full of local rodders at a burger restaurant, who came out just to just to check out our tour and welcome us into town. We'll be posting photos starting Friday.  

Glad you're having fun out there. This past weekend at Dragway 42 in West Salem, Ohio, they had a great event. All old school rods, a gaggle of rockabilly bands, racing all day. Best part, no attitudes or trailer queens noticed anywhere. This weekend is the Blue Suede Cruise here in Norwalk. This thing is getting pretty big too. Anyway, keep having fun!  

Wassup guys? I wish I was with you on the Americruise. But as with other car guys, too much going on to be able to get my ride on the road. I have a 62 T-bird that I'm working on. I'm swapping out the drum brakes on the front for a set of discs off of a 66 T-bird. I'm also doing a rebuild of the front suspension, so there is nothing attached to the front. Makes it kinda hard to drive!

The car (which I've nicknamed Birdzilla) is going to be a unique custom. I'm going to lower the suspension, remove some unneccessary trim, and put on some classy looking wheels and tires. The engine is where I'm taking a different route. All of the 'birds that I've seen featured usually have a stock rebuild with a little flash applied. With mine, I'm going to swap out the crank for a 428 crank and low compression pistons. This will turn my stock 390 into a 410 Mercury engine. Stock 410's have a lot of torque, but with the addition of a set of better breathing heads and an Offenhauser dual-quad intake with two Edelbrock 600's, I'm going to have one hell of a torque monster!!! I bought a set of mid-sixties chrome Mercury valve covers to further let everyone know that this ain't your daddy's T-bird. I'm even going to use the 410 badges on the car, maybe I'll use a set of Merc hubcaps on the car. The exhaust will be dual glasspacks ending with a set of old-school flamethrowers. So what do you think? I'm hoping to have the car road-worthy in time for the Goodguys event in September in Charlotte. I hope to see you all there.  

While we're on the subject of fun:
Follow along with the Americruise coverage from the fairgounds.
There was a surprising amount of participation in the autocross and go and whoa competitions.
We'll try to put up as many photos as possible throughout the weekend.
You can follow along right here --
http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/eventcoverage/0607rc_americruise_index_page/

Nick  

Hello, TimB, good idea to have this forum just to bounce off a few thoughts.  One that came to mind for me was that the Sept issue's editorial from Kevin talked about the build up of a rod for under $10K.  Then the first article was a beautiful 29A roadster pickup.  But it wasn't just built up, it was TCI, Brookville body, et cetera.  I figured without labor and smaller parts, close to $14K in majors.  Probably a $30K investment minimum even doing a lot of the labor.  I'm probably one of your typical readers with no Backyard Buddy lift, painting booth, generous garage space, and don't work in a body shop/welding shop/upholstery shop.  I think Kevin is dreaming or smoking something.  The October issue had no follow-up, so maybe he is coming to that conclusion, too.  What do you think?  

That Model A roadster pickup was definitely not an example of an under $10K hot rod--however, we know they're out there. There was a Caddy-powered '23 T on the Americruise East Coast Tour that was built for just over that amount. Editor Kevin Lee made the challenge to readers in his editorial to send him photos and budget break-downs of cars built for less. We've received a few responses. Let's get some more. And does working in a large, well-equipped shop invalidate a low build cost? I don't know. What do you guys say?  

Does working in a well equipped shop invalidate a cheap build up. Man that is a tough one. I think that no matter who you talk to, they will know somebody, with whatever they may need to get the job done. Isn't that what motorhead friends are for? I really don't think we should expend a lot of time and thought worrying about it.
In my case, I bought a '23 International for $2,000, tried to sell it for $3,500, I took $3,000 cash, and a '37 Dodge pick-up in partial trade. So, depending on how you look at it,I have a project '37 Dodge, and I'm $1,000 ahead at this time. A rod can, and in this case, will, be built on the cheap.  

In considering low cost rods, I was intrigued by Gary Carter’s ’28 ford on page 50 of the September issue.  The no chrome and the “Toyota four-banger” looks like it might qualify as a low cost rod.   I hope R&C re-visits this street rod for cost, style and home build-ability.  If anyone can find a web page about this car, please post it here.  

Go to www.rodandcustommagazine.com/eventcoverage/0609rc_austin_hot_rod_auto_show/
to see the car zook's talking about.  

First, a little apology: Kevin's editorial was in the August issue, not the September as I stated.  In fact I didn't receive my Sept issue until day before yesterday, a full week AFTER I got my October issue.  So I just assumed the previous issue where Kevin's editorial was published was the previous months.  Strange mail, I also just received my Hemmings July issue last week, a full two months late!
I agree that we can't and shouldn't put some dollar value/expense for help received from friends, or for shop time donated by a friend.  Makes the problem complex, though, when some of us would like to try to build a rod up for $10K but can't duplicate the favors or scrounge the 350 sitting in the garage.  Maybe the project isn't can you build one for $10K, but what can you build for $10K?  Then one can at least judge whether or not he wants to drive a rod like the Toyota engined one shown where he lives and in what weather conditions.  Just a thought.  

re: 10k rod-even though you don't work in a shop or have a welding/machine shop/fabrication background there are ways to learn this stuff without going broke. I took a body shop class at the local community college and did all my patch panels, straightening, and learned how to weld. I also got a brief education on painting. when no local shops would paint my project fo any price I bought a cheap gun, pumped the guy at the paint supply place for info, read all the magazines I could find , and shot it in my garage. turned out pretty good for a rank rookie.  

We're going to stir things up again in an upcoming issue with some genuinely low-dollar hot rods (as in, under $10K). Should be real interesting.