Hey their Guys,
Thank you so much Ratdaddy for taking the time to swing by and check in with us.and yep, I stand corrected on posting that the Fog light idea was yours. I was reading a post by another Cruiser who had inquired about the Mod, and you had advised him of this idea followed by Marc a little further down the post where I borrowed the photo's from. Since you had posted first I assumed it was one of your many cool thoughts on Mod's as always, but after doing another quick search I confirmed Marc had indeed posted this Mod a lot earlier on. So be it. Correction noted.
I am a big advocate for trying to think outside the box, and try to follow that old saying "Innovate, not imitate". As I have said many times before, my number one problem whenever I go to an all PT Event is that since their are essentially their are only a couple of Body Kits available, and to go along wit that their are very limited parts being made for the PT anymore as well. With this said, it just kinda feels to me like their are a ton of PT Enthusiasts out their who are almost stuck in a proverbial box when it comes to customization. I mean don't get me wrong, their are a ton of way cool Cruisers out their, but for example, lets say you gather a bunch of PT;s together at a show lets say. They are all heavily customized but, how many of them either have a regular off the shelf bolt on PTeazer, or Xenon front end, roll pan, and so on? Its an entire row after row of cool custom paint, audio/Video Systems, etc, but other than that, they are all pretty much cookie cutter custom using the same body parts over, and over. The same thing happened once again when the Lambo Doors first came out. At first it was cool, but now everyone has them, and were back to less personalized cool customization, and more of the same cookie cutter blending into each other which to me in a way kinda just sucks for lack of better words. I mean, what if all of the houses in the world only came in three different floor plans? Sure you could paint them different colors, and add bolt on accessories, but at the end of the day, everybody still has just a slightly different deviation form the rest which is cool, but at the same time a bit boring ans redundant to a certain degree, don't you think?
My Father was a Metallurgist by trade and had owned both a large full production precision Aerospace Fabrication, and Oil Tool Machine Shop. He started working in the Ship Yards up in Washington, and even worked on the construction of the Alaska Pipeline, and the Grand Coulee Dam. His Shop built everything from missile racks for Naval Submarines, to huge wave guide towers for television signals, to parts for the NASA JPL Laboratory in Pasadina which were custom built directly for the Space Shuttle's, and more. I was just a kid at the time, about 9 or 10 but have always hung out at the Shop learning to build and fabricate stuff for myself rather than just go buy stuff. Maybe that is where my philosophy comes from, I don't know, but to me, true Customization is taking something and making it your own. Making your own stuff with your own two hands instead of just buying bolt on stuff and calling it a one of a kind Custom Car.
What I am trying to say is, I really wish more people took a little more creative freedom and made cool stuff themselves rather than be happy and satisfied looking like everyone else. If you ever went to a Mini Truck Show back in the 80's, or even a Custom Van Show back in the 70's, they were all different, most of them did a ton of the work themselves, and a lot were way customized to the hilt, and had tons of coolness! Where is that passion, and personality in the PT Community? It feels to me like something is just missing!
This is why I like to try to make my own stuff whenever I can, and I love to see people making things for themselves as well! It doesn't have to be big. Just something that you did on your own that is 100% you, and not store bought bolt on's, but something only you have which sets you apart from everyone else. To me, that is cool, and I wish more people did things like that!
Sorry bout the Vent, but I just wish more people caught on instead of copying everyone else. Once again,thank you Ratdaddy for posting here, and if you have any more cool ideas, or pic's of past Mods, it would be so way cool if you could post them here for us, and I am sure would be much appreciated and admired. I for one didn't make it on the scene till after your wreck and unfortunately never got to see many of your Mods, and would love to learn more, and see all that you did to make your ride unique, and truly your own, and thank you to all the rest of you Guys who have posted here, and taken an interest in daring to be different! You Guys Rock!
Go easy, and I will catch you all later.
Candyman