It seems that you will always come across the occasional yutz that calls himself a hot-rodder...You all know the ones...The "My car is better than yours will ever think of being" kind of guy, who prides himself in stroking his own ego.

Case in point...

I know a guy, that I do a lot of signage work for, who has more money than sense. He buys cars like they're going out of style, and keeps all of them, in a very nice, temperature controlled warehouse. He buys these cars, because they are "original" or "the Twenty-Fifth or Fiftith Anniversary Edition" or because "This is number such & such of only so many made"...

He doesn't buy them because he has a passion for them...he buys them because he thinks he needs to, to impress people...

Don't get me wrong, he's an OK guy, but he is definately very impressed with himself, his money, and his collection of cars...
Very few, of which I might add, ever get driven.

He brags about maintaining these vehicles himself, yet, whenever there is a problem with one, the only thing he does is take it to the local mechanic to fix the problem.

I can safely say that he is the only man I have ever met that wears rubber gloves when checking the oil, because he doesn't want to get cruddy...gimme a break...

Heck, I'll be the first one to admit that I don't know much about engines, and working on them, but, just a week or so ago, I trouble-shooted the problem he was having with his 47 International truck...After sitting still for 8 years, he decided to put this little truck in the parade. And bless it's heart, it ran like a champ for the parade, and then started acting up after the parade. Come to find out, he hadn't drained out the old gas, the stuff that had been in there for the past 8 years...he just topped it off with new gas & let 'er rip. When it started acting up, he decided to drain the fuel, replace the fuel pump, and made sure the fuel lines were clean, but it still wasn't running right...like it wasn't getting the fuel it needed...

I asked him if he had tinkered with the carborator any...and he said that had nothing to with it...
So...while he had the hood up, and was inside fiddle-fartin' around, I tinkered with the carbs a bit, and what do ya know...it runs fine now...go figure.
I guess it must've just needed to be loosened up a bit, after sitting for that long, I imagine there was just gunk stuck in the carbs that worked itself out when I messed with it...I dunno...I just got lucky, I guess...

I'm no mechanic, but I do know that you need fuel & fire to run, and if you don't have one of those, I know where to start looking for the problem...

So, I guess what I'm tryin' to say is, no matter how much money you have, or how many cars you own, if you don't have that passion, the one that runs through your veins and fuels your imagination, you aren't a "true" hot rodder...

Because, it doesn't matter what you drive, or how it looks...this passion is what sets us apart from all the rest of the yuppie-snob--"It's just a phase I'm goin' through"-wannabe-rodders...

Just my two cents...

Now...can someone help me down off this soapbox??