But as part of a recent nationwide competition, he had to build one in 30 days.

Rat Rod magazine chose Ross at random to be one of the competitors in its annual Build-Up competition. He had to take a picture of the piled up parts he was going to use to prove he didn’t get a head start on building it.

Ross, 59, got help his son, Travis, 38, and friend Stephen Kolbeck to help, working up to five hours evenings and all day Saturdays and Sundays to get it built in 27 days.

Ross said he got into the sport because hot rods are “fast, loud and cool.” He started building hot rods with Travis when he was 8 years old.

“But like any kid he loved it for a while then got over it,” Ross said.

Travis picked it up again in high school when they started building race cars together.

Ross’s grandson, Tyler York, 16, has taken it up, too.

“It’s a three-generation thing,” Ross said, adding it has helped bond the family.

It’s been good for them, he said. “It gets them away from (video) gaming and all that, and gets them out in the garage and building stuff,” Ross said.

They know what they are doing.

“We can work all day and not say two words to each other,” he said.

Part of the fun of building hot rods is finding parts for them. Ross said they will go all the way to California to automotive swap meets, which he compared to giant flea markets.

“Parts are a little rusty around here,” he said of the Pacific Northwest region.

In the Rat Rod competition, the trio took the vehicle by trailer to Grafton, Ill., where it was part of a major car show. The next day they drove across a bridge over the Mississippi River with a police escort to St. Louis, Mo.

“It was a super cool parade of hot rods,” Ross said.

He said unlike some car enthusiasts, his team does not have a win-at-all-cost mentality. Just the opposite is true.

“We’ll even part out our own car to help anybody,” he said.

In this competition, they helped another driver who had a car that wasn’t running.

“He drove it to St. Louis the next day and even won an award,” Ross said, adding that the truck driver-owner was thrilled about that. “It’s fun. We like doing what we do.”

Ross’s team also won an award called the Road Warrior for being the most road-worthy vehicle in the competition.

“We don’t just go to car shows,” he said. “We use our cars.”

Ross, who owns Norm’s F100 Parts and Service in Arlington, said the Rat Rod Build-Up was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but he’s not done. He likes to compete in the nostalgic drags at Pacific Raceway and Good Guy Car Shows. He also wants to try his luck at a major competition in Phoenix, he said.

“I want to build another hot rod,” he said.