Thread: rat rods

Tweet

In my opinion, the whole rat rod thing is so vintage, in a good way of course. Yeah, there's no kidding that a cherry '57 Chevy, or '34 Ford are both amazing cars, but it is kool to see a rat rod in the crowd. As of now i'm doin' a '69 el camino restoration, but the following project will hopefully be a '51 Merc. That nostalgic style is coming back. Primer black paint and whitewalls, big white headers. Now that's a nostalgic rat rod.

I am building a Barris-style '57 F100 pickup. I say building because I don't think I'll ever be completely done with it. Some Saturdays, I'll be out in the garage and I'll come up with something else to do. The latest is a 3" section through the cab and hood.

Chopped 3", channeled 3", sectioned 3"(in progress), bobbed frame, Kustom tailgate leaned forward 3", bed sides extended 3" to house '59 Lincoln Premiere taillights, '56 Pontiac Safari rear split bumpers with overrider, '56 Caddy bulllet front bumpers, door solenoids, Yankee mirrors, NO emblems, suede black paint, red steelies with '57 Caddy caps, 3" whites from Coker, 1 1/2" pleat-and-roll interior (including headliner), air ride suspension, you get the idea.

It's never been to a show, and no one has ever taken a picture of it. The look is similar to Barris' Kopper Kart show truck, or so I've been told...

any for sale 283

I like rat rods as a general rule, mainly because nothing I have is ever finished and its not another billet rod. What I dont like is people who build their cars bad intentionally. I hate it when I see a billet laden "street rod" proffessionally primered black and the yuppie owner swears its a rat rod or a hot rod. Thats probably another stock 350/350 in it as well.

To me Rat Rod speaks of the "Shifter's" style cars, like the shortened chop'd 'n channel'd Tudor with Blown somthing or rather, much taller than the roof, which (I think) looked so dang tuff!! but not legal or practical, there are other works of art, which aren't so extreem, which I reckon fit the category also.

I would say, somthing which is 'well built' (read 'safe') in primer, brushed/rolled/sprayed-on or what ever, using 30's/40's bits, a traditional rod. Somthing which was built in the 'backyard' using scrounged/swap meet bits, to the owners taste, budget (??) and has the 'look' of an early jalopy, gow job, jigger, hopped up crate, or whatever you choose to call 'em.

I know that many times in the early days, safety wasn't usually at the front of the minds of those building 'hot rods'. ie. book shelf brackets used to hold a coupe body up after a channel job etc.

traditional vs nostalgic?

I would say maybe nostalgic is a rod which has 'nice' paint, built to early specs??

What do you reckon, these are just some of my thoughts.... I'm only a young'n gettin into all of this 60/70 years after the event.

Outback.

I'd happily call my model A a traditional rod.

My latest project what do you guys think, rat rod or not? I have'nt started on it yet and I'm not sure what to make yet. I keep going back and forth on engines to, BBC or blown sbc. Some thoughts would be appreciated.

Cool, cool! '34 Chev body channeled on a Ford frame, means you'll have lots of options. Looks like a '32 Ford grille too?

Ultimately it's going to depend on what you want from the car. If you go the hardcore rat rod look you could leave that quarter patch as is, drive it in primer and enjoy. Neither the BBC or the blown SBC would be quite "accurate" for the hardcore, shifter types. Either you'd have to go for an sbc dressed up '50's style, an Olds, Caddy, or Hemi, or a cool lookin' Chev six!!

If you intend to keep the car for a "long" time (whatever that means) then you may want to think differently. Can't tell for sure, but it looks like you still have only the wood bracing inside. If you were going to unload the car in a few years or less, and the wood is still holding the body together well, that would be fine. For the longer term replacing it with steel tubing would be better for maintaining integrity of the body and the body work you might be doing. Someday this "rat rod" craze will fade. At that point, if you keep the car, you may want to build it to a higher standard. That quarter panel patch is going to take a lot of work to get smooth, especially around the belt line reveal. If you've got the skill and the time it could be a satisfying project to repair that and anything else similar on the body. If you have to hire it out it's going to run your cost up a bunch. Again, if you "love" the car, go for it. If it's just something passing through your life, it may not be worth the expense.

Thanx Bob for your opinion.I do like the car , I don't see many 3 window steel cars around here , I heard that the 3 windows are more sought after and are worth more ,any truth to that? Anyways , here's a pic of the grill , you thought it may be a 32 ford , I'm not sure it came with the car , you can see that the hood and grill lines dont mach. Some help IDing what I have would be GREATLY appreciated.

here is another angle

Nope, not a '32 Ford, but from this angle can't tell what it is for sure.

OOPs, you slipped in the second pic while I was posting. Yeah, that looks like a '34 Standard grille, maybe the hood is from something else.

I personally like 3 windows better, and in Fords they've been more popular over the long haul (although early '30's 5 windows currently are enjoying a renaissance) but I don't know there's any significant additional value at this time.

Thanx for the info Bob , thinking about what you said I think I'm gonna it do right up and not go for the ratrod look . I might keep it fenderless if I can and put a mustang IFS in it . I want it to look good and drive good. I'm just looking for the street rod look I geuss.

For a car that tough looking you need a GM motor. How about a later Buick nailhead with a trio of strombergs with straight linkage, all hooked to a muncies 4spd. If it was me I wouldnt touch a thing on the body, I sware that way youll get ten fold the attention from people.

cool, it's your car and far be it from me to tell you what's best for you. However, since you started out asking for thoughts here's some on the suspension thing.

Usually a highboy with independent front is thought of as "hi tech" or "smoothie" style. With all that hardware hangin' out in plain view you would be best served by something that has a "clean" look. Take a look at a Heidt's "Super Ride" or a Kugel front suspension. Both use a coilover design with a modest, but adequate sized upright for the coilover attachment. That would be the "elegant" look. The one thing you've got working against that whole image is the body being channeled over a Ford frame. It doesn't play into the "smoothie" appearance. Too many changes in visual plane, shadows, that kind of thing.

Now if you're going to keep the car for yourself the rest of your life, anything goes. And this is where we get into that "dare to be different" ...........................let's say discussion. Different is great. That's part of the rodding thing, creativity. But so is artistry. Different for the sake of different will often times yield ugly. And most people aren't attracted to ugly. When you go to sell the car, if that's where you'll be some day (which is about 95+% of the time), you'll get punished price wise, if there's anyone at all that is interested. And I'm not advocating cookie cutter either. Just consistency in style or theme.

With the raw material you have there a "vintage" theme would be both easier, and more appealing to a broader range of rod enthusiasts. Beam or tube axles (to me a straight axle is just that, straight, usually tube, not with the "S" bends at the ends), can be made to drive, ride, and handle reasonably well. It takes a good mix of steering geometry, panhard bar, spring and shock. And they play to the vintage theme.

No slam intended here, but below is an example of different for the sake of different. But to my eye, and I would guess to most, there's not much artistry here either. This car sold a few months ago for far less than the probable cost of parts and materials. Just some thoughts.

Dude!! Nostolgia rod that thing! The basic lines on it are too good to boydsterize it. Just clean up that scar on the rear 1/4, put in a nostalgia motor (that nailhead sounds cool as duck) and tidy up the line where the hood and radiator meet (or in this case don't meet). The car will tun allot of heads, shouldn't cost too much and will be a heck of allot of fun to drive.

That's my $.02 USD
Abe

Thanx for your input guys , I'm gonna give it some more thought. It will be a little bit before i start it but I want to know what direction I'm gonna go with it before I start. If I come across any pics online I'll trow em up to see what you guys think. I've never done a car this old I had a 68 chevelle , 69 ss396chevell3, monte calo , and my 55 so I might be asking for some more help for ideas on this one.
Thanx again