Safety- Randy Curran

I just saw a post on the Hamb http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/rebuilding-after-the-crash.991650/ about an accident that really messed up a nice hot rod. He was only going 35 mph but its still scary how much damage can happen at a relatively slow speed but it is just metal so it can be repaired and fortunately the driver walked away with just a concussion. Now we all build hot rods and customs to the best of our abilities, we're not rat rodders for god sakes, but no matter how well built our cars are, the unexpected can happen. Now this car was very well built, best of everything, it was even raced so it had to pass tech inspection but it still hit hard and really moved some things around. The engine shifted, the frame was tweaked, its a mess but again the driver was OK. We all need to remember the safety factor when were building. No matter how cool something might look, it has to be able to put up with the rigors of the road or the track. Light might be right but overbuilding certain parts is way better.

An example at the moment is my Dad's '41 Plymouth. The suspension is stock as are the brakes, so it has drums all the way around. Drums can be setup fine but my Dad is older and sooner or later my kids will be driving it too, so we thought about it and decided that a disc brake kit would be perfect. My oldest (he's twelve) is apparently wise beyond his years and said 'would you rather pay for the disc brake kit now or hospital bills later'. I do believe he's right.

So what do you say people, do we bring safety back into the equation? Speed is great but wouldn't it be fun to be able to share it with our kids too? That would really be hard to do when your dead. Build it strong or don't build it at all.

Yuck.  Its being rebuilt and on Nitro!