Hi John,
You're in about the same boat I was in a couple of years back, contemplating retiring and ready to build/buy that street rod I'd always wanted. I dove into the "build" side, probably at just the wrong time considering the economy because there are a ton of really well built cars out there today that can be bought for a lot less than it costs to build, but the building process is a ton of fun, too. A quick "google" brought this list, which has e-mail links for some groups in the sunny SW. Might be a starting place...Arizona Hot Rod, Street Rod and Classic Car Clubs Welcome to CHR, by the way!