The V8 Hotrod Blog

Thanks to Nigel Lockley who sent in some pictures for the Totrodders Area ...Check them out... and email us with your Totrod pics !

A warm welcome to all the new arrivals this week... to all the businesses listings their services and parts supply and to all the Individuals listing parts for sale....great to see the listings coming in....if you have registered but have'nt listed yet .... what are you waiting for !

Posted by Ratman @ 22.54pm

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Friday 10th February 2006

Website Hots Up ! What a week ! The site has been really busy, first off is a welcome to all those that have registered. Now that you have, feel free to use our automated system and put your listings on, its really easy and once you have done it you will see. If anybody needs any help send us an email. To all of those that have put listings on we thank you too, you can see how popular your ads are under "Most Popular Ads" in the Directories.

The USA Hotrod Parts Directory is now fully up and running, its just a case of letting the USA Hotrod community know !

On that note any help with promoting this Website would be great...please let all your Hotrod buddies know about us, it will really help get the word out and we would really apprieciate it. If you are a Business could you put us in your links section please. Remember we have one huge links section...they're called the Directories !....make sure your link is included in as many relevant categories as you like !

We now have a "Featured Business" spot on the Homepage and will be selecting Businesses to feature here and also hope to have soon a "Featured Listing" for parts and vehicles.

The Totrodders area now has a couple of Games loaded up there, they are really good fun. If anybody has any other good Hotrod related games let me know...and also would like to see some pics of your Totrod either finished or in build up stage...for our "Shed Scene"...anything from a Rat Totrod to a Bling Totrod we want to see them all !

It was great to see our visitor hits go blasting through 1000...this only registers genuine visits...so pretty good we feel for only being launched for 24 days !.... Thanks to all !

Posted by Ratman @ 23.35pm

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Sunday 5th February 2006

New Homepage ! Had a good tidy up of the Homepage, cleaned it up a bit with less mess and easier navagation, hope you like it !

The UK Hotrod Parts Directory is now fully up and running with lots of people continuing to register and I see the listings are starting to appear. I had an idea, if you listed some items on Ebay lately and they did'nt sell why not just copy and paste them here, they stay here until sold as you have complete control as to when they are removed. So have a trawl through your Unsold List and give it a go.

The USA Hotrod Parts Directory and Rest of the World Hotrod Parts Directory are also now up and running and we will be starting some promotion for these areas this week. We are also going to start promoting the whole site generally, as we are a bit more up to speed now, with virtually all bugs gone. So please let your best Hotrodding Buddies know about this new website, it would be a great help. Ask them to do the same, pass it on, cheers.

We now have a Totrodder Area, so get together those winter project pics and some details and we'll put them up. Imagine the delight when they see their pride and joy on the Net !....something they can tell their mates, school and relations ! ...I'll put some fun games in the Totrodders Area in the next day or two....I think I've got a Drag Racing Game somewhere so keep an eye out !

Posted by Ratman @ 23.19pm

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Thursday 2nd February 2006

Normal Service is Resumed ! On the phone first thing this morning to sort out our glitches and pleased to say I think we have resumed normal service. There may well be one or two more bugs out there so let us know if you find any.

Completely taken aback by the amount of Hotrodders and interested parties who have registered and the listings are flowing in and should increase everyday. Remember to list your Rod if its for sale, as soon we will be going LIVE to Scandinavia and Europe and all communities will be able to look at all listings, so may see some more Rods being exported !

I have added a Electrical & Wiring Catagory as asked for by several people. If you think I have missed anything out let me know for consideration for entry to the Directory.

Now that the UK Hotrod Parts Directory is up and running the next job for me is to tidy the Homepage up a bit, its been a continuing improvement job since we started !.....the Directory was the main part but I do think the Homepage is due a face lift before we go World Wide !

Nice to see that the FREE gearbox that was on offer has found a new home....and remember , if you have some sucesses from this site let the world know via the "Comment in our Guestbook" ...now called just "Your Say"

Lots of things in the pipeline including a "Totrodders Area". I just thought its about time our future Hotrodders had their own place to have there say, show off their rides and their build up pics of projects on the go....perhaps not a "Garage Scene" but a "Shed Scene" !! So get those pics and stories ready !!

Posted by Ratman @ 23.55pm

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Wednesday 1st February 2006

UK Hotrod Parts Directory is Launched ! Well, about 6.00pm today we launched the UK Hotrod Parts Directory...and it all went a bit daft !.....and gradually came to a halt around 8.00pm....the Directory crashed !....too much volume. It seemed that it was just the main Directory that wasn't working, everything else seemed to be ok.

For those technically minded this was the message I finally got around 10.30pm......

Sorry for the inconvience! The filesystem mounted at v8hotrod on this server is running out of disk space. Some operations have been temporarily suspended to prevent something bad from happening. Please ask your system admin to remove any files not in use on that partition.

About 10.45pm the Directory come back on but not at 100%...it seems some of the images are not loading.....just got to make that phone call in the morning to sort out this glitch.

All in all an exciting day, the basics are now in place just a couple of glitches to sort out.

Thanks to all those that have registered and to all the great messages of support.....I really do think that this is going to work....!

Off to bed now for an early night cus by 'eck I've had some late one's trying to get this up and running !

Posted by Ratman @ 23.21pm

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Monday 30th January 2006

Server Upgrade ! Server Upgrade, basically the site has grown and the system that keeps all of this live to the outside world was not big enough, so had to commit to upgrading but it means that there is masses of space for everyone's listings.

Been real busy on the Uk Hotrod Parts Directory and hopefully can go live on Wednesday or Thursday of this week....The USA and Rest of World Directories will open very soon after.....also hope to add a Scandinavia/Europe Directory soon too.

It was great to see the Visitors reach and pass the 400 mark as there has been no advertising or promotion yet apart from letting the Uk's NSRA Forum and Uk-Hotrods know of our plans....so real pleased we have an audiance even in these early days....I've said it before but ...thanks for the support !

ok...now where was I....W....is for Whitewalls.....

Posted by Ratman @ 23.57pm

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Saturday 28th January 2006

Nearly there ! Well, we're nearly there....we should be ready to go LIVE with the UK Hotrod Parts Directory next week....just sorting out the last bits of the Fully Automated System that we are installing. This is going to be a great way of doing things....anybody thats want to list their items can submit them, edit and modify them, load pictures and delete any part....each person will have full control over all of their own listings.....you will be able to search for Keywords, look at the most recent and/or the most popular listings.... contact the seller and email your favorite listings to friends.....24/7.... all for FREE !!!.....But the main concept of having the parts listed in alphabetical order and not just a list of suppliers remains central to the way that we will do things.

I've updated the Homepage with more of an introduction on what we are aiming for and also the last comment in the Guestbook goes out live on the Homepage in form of a scroller.

So there you have it....nearly there.....hopefully the UK Directory gets launched early next week.....So get your listing details at the ready, bookmark us and check back soon !

Posted by Ratman @ 23.45pm

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Wednesday 25th January 2006

Homepage gets a make over ! Spent some time today sorting out the Homepage...looks a bit better than it did but certainly room for improvement !

I've noticed the page counter has been steadily increasing, nearly 300 visitors now, which is great because we are still at construction stage and not yet at full speed and fully launched....so to all those that have visited and are interested on how things are progressing here I would like to thank you for your support.

You may have noticed an Ad's bar from Google has been added....well, its just a little tool to help keep this site on air.....as this site is going to be FREE to anybody that uses it and as I have no membership fees and are not part of any other associations or stuff like that.....any expenses for this project will have to be covered by me. Its those clever people at Google.com that run and host the ad bar.

Posted by Ratman @ 23.50pm

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Tuesday 24th January 2006

A is for Airbags...B is for Block Huggers... www.HotrodPartsDirectory.com is now up and running and so now this new Domain and www.V8Hotrod.com lead to the website....and also now, every page can be accessed via every other page....everything is linked.

All 3 directories are at Stage 1 of Construction and I've been opening up the Listing Index...A is for Airbags...B is for Block Huggers...etc... with more catorgories now listed but could still do with some help so keep the suggestions coming in.....so rack your brains and let me know via email at "Contact Us" or via the Guestbook....remember....what we are building here is basically a Ye*l*w Pages for Hotrod parts.

I'm thinking of opening up the opportunity to everyone to list their relevant Services and parts....Companies and Individuals....New or Secondhand.... so lets say...under the "Carburettor" section in the Listings Index, a supplier can list their company details if they supply New Carbs...and say if someone has a secondhand Holley for sale they can list it under this section too.....something on the lines of this but still thinking it through.

Also hope to have....and working on....a fully automated proceedure for putting your details in of what you supply and/or have got for sale ....the idea being...you choose the section you wish to go in, declare whether you are a Company or Individual, load the details and the system will automatically load it on to the website....thats the idea and plan...just a bit more difficult putting it into practice !

Posted by Ratman @ 22.50pm

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Monday 23rd January 2006

Website Starts to Grow Well, the website has certainly grown today ! First of all, I've added a Guestbook so you Hotrodders out there can have your say on how you think things are going...had some messages of good luck for which I'm grateful..Cheers !....So now they have started the ball rolling lets see some more postings with ideas, suggestions or just to tell me I must be mad to set this up and should be out there working on my '32 !...whichever way you feel about this site - tell the world !

I let the good people at the NSRA and UK-Hotrods in the UK know that this site now exists and have had a nice supportive comment from Holmsey (www.UK-Hotrods.co.uk) and others in the Guestbook - Thanks.

There are more things happening on the Homepage and this will continue to develop and change, with today, the beginnings of the Parts Directories. The USA Hotrod Parts Directory has started to have its index put in...could do with some help with suggestions to add to the alphabetic listings...I just put the first things that came into my head, just to try and give you a better idea of the concept....and as you can see, from the index it will then go to the page where the contact details will be of suppliers,etc...UK and Rest of World are not yet activated. I've also put a return to Homepage on this Blog Diary Page for easier navigation and over the next few days all pages will link to each other.

I decided to register a new domain name that I'll use to link to this site, its www.HotrodPartsDirectory.com and it will be up and running in a few days....then both domains will bring you to the same site.

After several comments !!...you know who you are !....I've taken out the Idling Flathead sound when the Homepage loads as I think it was doing a few peoples heads in !!....I'll develop that side of things soon and just have a separate cool sounds page where the Totrodders can play and annoy everyone in the house....with Idling Flatheads, Screeching Tyres, Flatheads Racing, and so on....so look out for a "Cool Sounds" tab on the Homepage soon.

Posted by Ratman @ 23.35pm

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Sunday 22nd January 2006

What Ya Got Innit Boy ! Just added the "What Ya Got Innit Boy" button on the Homepage....give it a try, the "Tot"Rodders will love it !

Been rearranging the homepage and this will continue to change.

I've got to put a return to "Home" link on this blog page so for the moment you will need to use your "back" button in your browser.

The picture added to the Homepage is of my '34 English Commer Woodie....."Under Construction"...like this website !!

Posted by Ratman @ 23.30pm

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Friday 20th January 2006

Flathead Welcome to V8Hotrod Been busy constructing the site, working on the Parts and Services Directory. I will keep suppliers listed as US, UK and Rest of the World, possibly split up a bit more if plenty of contacts from one particular country.

Keep the info flowing, I hope to have the framework of the Parts and Services Directory as soon as possible. I'm working on it !

Hope you like the Flathead that welcomes you now.....best sound in the world !

Posted by Ratman @ 8.45pm

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Wednesday 18th January 2006

www.V8Hotrod.com is Launched

So there I was in the middle of yet another project, this one is a rat '32 Ford roadster, when I thought....whenever you need a part or are looking for a bit of professional help on your project, you always then have to start trawling through the monthly publications or get on the forums and ask around.....I thought wouldn't it be cool if you could go on one website...select say...Moon Caps....or....Limefires.....or... Whitewalls...and there it would be listed ..who sold them and their contact details.......its all very well seeing an ad that says...Danny's Speed Parts, Santa Ana, Calif...blah, blah...but do they supply that particular part your looking for ?.....if not its back to the forums....back to the publications...back on the telephone looking for the next contact......so born from this frustration I came up with this idea....why not have a Website that has a parts directory where you can select the part you are looking for and hey presto, a list comes up of suppliers that supply that particular part...seems a straight forward idea....it just might work !......So I set up V8 Hotrod to see if it will....and hopefully with the support of you, my fellow Hotrodders, as well as parts and services suppliers out there helping me get this info up together, we can make life a bit easier when looking for that next piece of the jigsaw that is your future ride.

So there you have it ! The concept. Of course along the way we'll have some fun, I'll put up any cool stuff I find and if anybody out there finds anything relavant that could be included on the website then please forward it on to me.

OK, now its your turn....I need good info on where all types of parts can be found...not just someone that has one part for sale (hopefully have a classified section for that soon) but parts and services suppliers...engine parts, suspension, bodies, wheels anything and everything....Remember only Hotrod, Streetrod, Dragster or American Classic related.

The linage listings will be free and hopefully I can offer some bigger and better banner type ads to anybody thats wants them.

Posted by Ratman @ 6.05pm