Thread: Rides " Ratrods"

Tweet

I watched Rides " Ratrods" last night and learned a new prespective of the term "Ratrod", it's just people that drive there hotrod if it moves and is road legal, they don't let it sit till it's finished, they also do it cause of low budget, the people that were interviewed on the show said they would get painted and finished just driven b4 there finished or even " Cosmeticly appealing ", they wearn't the rat rodders that ran it without brakes, the rod they built was a '27 T that was chopped 4" and channeled over a '31 A frame that was Z'd, had a older V8 Buick and a 3 speed caddy trans, and the steering box out of a '52 ford pickup, they didn't say what rear end it had, it had '49 Ford Drum brakes all the way round. I guess by the way I'm doing my car, I could be considered a rat rodder, soaking money into it when I have it and drive it when I dont but, I'm gonna paint it for too long, b4 summers out. The '27 T had no roof and I think the only window it had was the windshield but I could be wrong.

I too watched the "Choppers" hot rod club take a ten inch chop out of "Bad News" I was hooked! The best part was the comment they made about the Rat Rod term, saying it was established by fiber-bodied billet laiden fat cats with perfect paint and everything else the best parts suppliers good supply thinking that thier all metal, all original un-painted rods where "Rat-ty"!!! Those guys are purest's in the hotrodding world and I for one appreciate to no end what they do. It was an awesome look inside.

I thought that the show was great...it was really nice to see some "normal" guys workin' in a "normal" garage, buildin' a rod the way the rest of us do...with the parts we can get, and when the money & the time is there.

I quit watching "American Rodder" or whatever it was called with Boyd Coddington, cause' to me, it isn't reality...I imagine that I could make a pretty cool rod too if I had unlimited funds, a crew of 20 or so, my own paint & body shop, and a brand new crate motor, built to my specs and a huge garage...

I like to see "real" people working on their projects, something that I can relate to better...

Yeah, b4 I watched the show I thought that they were just meant to be ugly but, now that I watched the show, I actully think some are kind of cool, like the '27 especially, only 1 problem, I know where a '27 T is that I could probably get for little of nothing and my mind started turning but, I have to concentrate on the '51.

I quit watching "American Rodder" or whatever it was called with Boyd Coddington, cause' to me, it isn't reality...

Amen!

I also hate the contrived conflict. I guess they think it makes the show more interesting. It just sends me to the kitchen for another cold one.

I also like the guys that hand Boyd $300K, then show up on the last day, take the car home and say "Look what I did." BFD.

Originally posted by Hot Rod Angel
I thought that the show was great...it was really nice to see some "normal" guys workin' in a "normal" garage, buildin' a rod the way the rest of us do...with the parts we can get, and when the money & the time is there.

I quit watching "American Rodder" or whatever it was called with Boyd Coddington, cause' to me, it isn't reality...I imagine that I could make a pretty cool rod too if I had unlimited funds, a crew of 20 or so, my own paint & body shop, and a brand new crate motor, built to my specs and a huge garage...

I like to see "real" people working on their projects, something that I can relate to better...

American Hotrod is the name, I watched the test show abour year b4 it became a searies, the 1 where they built that yellow and blue '33 Ford roadster, was the last and only 1 I watched, I don't even have a garage but I still have a hot rod, Rides yesterday was more of somthing I could relate to, I don't have a sawsall so I'm limited to a hacksaw, I don't have a huge garage ( or a garage at all ) and a 110 Stick Welder and a can of bondo, that's what I have and that's what I use although I'm not pulling the body off the frame and not really stripping it down, just fixing and modifying as I go along.

Wood floor and no roof?? I guess I'll stick to leaving mine in the shop til it's done and driving my daily driver. It doesn't take mega bucks and a huge shop to build a hot rod. Just my way, I guess. I don't like putting something on the road til it is done.

I watched it as well. Thought it was a good show and even the guy's building the car said they didn't like the term "Rat Rod" because of the negative conitation. They did say they were starting to except the term as they were hearing it more often? If I'm not mistaken I belive the motor was a flat six and not a V8? I too liked it because it was more on my level and not the Mega Shop like some of the other shows. I however was not impressed with the wood floor but they did say they were building a period car and that is what they would have done back in the day.

I now see why no two people agree on what they saw at a crime scene . . .

The "T" on the "Rides" program was chopped 10 inches, and they didn't reinstall a roof. It had a 49 or 50 Olds engine, a 6-deuce manifold w/ Stromberg 97's and a Cad/LaSalle gearbox. They put an early Ford axle with split 'bones up front and early ford juice drum brakes all around. The floor was wood, and they didn't paint the car or install any kind of interior. It was put on a Z'd (front and back) A-bone frame, and had a deuce grille shell.

What impressed me was that they built a car the way many of them were built in the 50's and 60's. Primitive American hot-rodding as it used to be.

All that being said, I'd never want that car for my ride . . . at least for my main ride.

Ok Columbo, either ya got one hell of a memory, took notes or taped it Which is it ? Don't make me send in my partner he's in a BAAAADD mood today!

Memory, of course. Ya want the serial number of the motor?

Since ya cooperated I'm gonna let ya off easy this time. Your sentience is community service help'n fix my ride.
Book'em Dano

I liked the fact that there was nothing to go wrong, really it is ugley, yes but that 1 was probably safe for day driving, it had brakes although should have had disk brakes up front but, it was a period hotrod, it followed the Kiss rule, they diddn't have fancy tools, just good welding skills and a hacksaw really, it shoulda had seat belts causa the roof not being there. It was a bit to primitive for my tastes but it was cool.

Well, if we're going to get around to corrections....................

Ultimately, for those who were out at the refer getting a brewsky, the only part of the A frame they ended up using were the front sections ahead of the firewall. They didn't make mention of it, but the rest of the frame was fabbed from 2X3 box tubing with a round tube crossmember in the rear. What impressed me about it was their use of gussets and fish plates at the Z's, very well done.

Also, it was unlicensed and running open headers, at least to make it to that show in the park.

As for the "rat rod" name, Weesner (the artist) attributed that to Gray Baskerville, from Rod & Custom, who planted the name on them despite their protestations. It was the guy, Deron, who owned the '32 3 window, who has whining about the "plastic car" guy's attitudes. Ironically he had to display his own version of "eliteism" in his "rant".

Originally posted by Bob Parmenter
It was the guy, Deron, who owned the '32 3 window, who has whining about the "plastic car" guy's attitudes. Ironically he had to display his own version of "eliteism" in his "rant".

I hear ya... I noticed the same thing, and found the reverse snobbery quite funny.

Where I'm at, finding original old bodies is quite difficult. It's tempting to me to make a period correct rod with a glass body, complete with flaking paint and airbrushed rust. I wonder how many people I could fool.