How To Build a Cheap Hot Rod (Motorbooks Workshop)

You can use older materials, but hoped for newer information.

I'm a complete novice to the world of hot rodding, and my actual interest is building electric cars. What makes this book so great in my opinion is that the author starts at the beginning and challenges you to pin down what you really want to build and challenges you to plan it out a little better. The reality check of a price list for all the components of a hot rod is really great.I love the color pictures. Most other books are black and white, and the cars look crapy. Not here, the paint jobs and interiors are shown in full glory.The tech sections are great, and show everything in great detail. For example, the "how to install an independent front suspension" section has 17 color pictures, over 5 pages, with generous text under each picture. The whole process is explained very well.The only thing where coverage is lacking is the engine, but that's good in my opinion. Including it would have made the book much bigger and expensive. There are other books out there that cover just the engine. Here it's pretty much "mount the engine", and that's it. The author does recommend to test it on a stand first, which seems like a good idea. The whole book contains a lot of ideas and methods that only someone that's actually done the work knows. Highly recommended.

Boyd Coddingtons Hopw to Build a Hot rod" is a 99% word for word copy of of this and you won't notice unless you read the fine print at the top of the page. A few photo's have been changed (same cars in different colours) and some big pictures have been added between chapters. I think this "the original" is better as it has an extra paragraph here and there and also has some costs that are not included in this version. Boyd Coddington had nothing to do with the other book except writing the intro. Although a really good book it is not really that comprehensive, they show you how to build certain types of chassis. As an intro to rods even if you are not building this book is easy to read and a good read at that. I did like "How to Build a Traditional For Hot Rod" by Mike Bishop and Vern Tardel is not as pretty and although at first I didn't like it, after more reading I found it has a lot more detail.

I happened to leaning toward building the kit that this book featured. The book helped me look at all the issues I would face in a build and made me comfortable I could in fact be successful if I decided to move forward. This is a must read if you are planning on building a Speedway Track T. This kit was designed to use an drive train from a compact rear wheel drive vehicle. The authors budget was significantly higher than what I would consider CHEAP, however the detail allowed me to compare item costs, inflation (book is 5 years old) and items I could substitute to reduce overall costs. My only other disappointment was that the finished product was never presented in the book. All the components were shown, but apparently the book deadline came before wiring completed and painting could be done.

I've been considering building a Speedway Motors Track-T kit, the car that is featured in this book. So I bought a used copy of this book as a preview to what I'd be getting myself into. I was pretty underwhelmed with it. The book is filled with general knowledge. Things like: "Are you on a budget? Well visit a swap meet and buy used parts to save money!" Additionally the author paid many people to do things that budget rodders usually do themselves. Welding, Sheet metal forming, etc. This is supposed to be a book on how to build a CHEAP Hot Rod. If you plan on building a Speedway Motors Track-T kit it would be worth it to have a copy of this book on your shelf. Otherwise I'd skip it.

This book has some very good information, but it is also written for those with far deeper pockets than mine. I believe a person could copy what he sees and come out with a decent Hot Rod, however it seems the majority of the work is dropped off with a shop and a blank check with the directions Make it pretty. I can see where the Rat Rod Rebellion comes from, this is a high dollar endeavor where the thickest wallet wins.

Great book for someone who needs to plan and begin the vision for building. The author does a great job at laying it all out on a vision bases for building. If you have been around rodding for a while and known the basics this is great reminder to get the heartbeat thumpin of what could be, but if are looking for an in depth book or a specific catagory of interest I suggest looking for a book pertaining to just that subject!

I bought the book to learn in detail how to build the Speedway Motors 27 T kit. I was disappointed that half the narrative is generic. There is a lot of discussion of how to select the right car for your build etc. Much of the detail I was anticipating was glossed over. And the worst part, the book ended with the car still under construction. Like so many hot rod projects, it is incomplete.

A book any enthusiast doer should have.👍🏼

A book for hot rod enthusiasts, but essential reading for all of them. Good service and book in as described condition.

Ok but dated read

Just leafed through it as of yet. Looks to be a good resource for a hobbyist or non-professional builder.

Not a lot of detail