Thread: Describe your Rat Rod project here.

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RAT ROD!!! It's only a label. Like "passionate conservative" It really don't mean anything . Back when I was a kid there were hundreds of rods on the road as daily drivers and about 95% of them were unfinished cars in black or oxide red primer. They were labeled "HOT RODS" back then.
I'm building my roadster to look like it was built in the 50s because I can. I scrounged up most of the parts to make it look like the cars I loved as a kid.
I'm leaving the bodywork for last. When it gets to the point where I can drive it thats what i"ll do. I love the old rusty look of the body but the glass doors will need some of that rust colored paint to look good. I think I'll just shoot them with black primer and leave them out in the weather to fade. The frame and engine will be painted but the body will be rusty for the first year Just to hear the comments both good and bad. Then maybe I'll do the bodywork and paint it flat black. Black primer won't protect it from rusting if it gets wet. I still haven't decided on a finish color yet. I'm thinking of green metallic right now but I might paint it resale red by the time it's ready. You can call it a rat rod if you like that label and it won't bother me a bit. Don't call it a street rod. That label sounds too 70s to me. I did some of those wild 70s paint jobs back then and repainted them a few years later.
I don't think everyone should start from scratch like I did. I would like to build a glass roadster on an aftermarket chassis with a crate engine and all the goodies I can order with a credit card. It would take me longer to do it that way unless I win the lottery.

Streets I know you like to give advice but I'm not sure you'll take any from me but It seems to me you could afford a top quality chassis for your old 34 sedan. At your (our) age you don't know how much time we have left and you could be driving the 34 much sooner without all the backbreaking work. It will also leave you more time to play on the computer.

What do you mean by green or blue airplane hydraulic fluid? The stuff Skank and Gutterboy get is brown and lumpy and tastes like s#!+. I'll ask them to drain some out of a newer plane to see if it tastes better. The one they've been getting it from crashed for some reason.

AL

It's guys like this that give rat rods a bad name. Maybe we need a label for things like this.

"JUNK RODS" ?

Maybe its because im relitively new to the scene, but i think there is enough segragation within the sport without creating division between groups of enthusiasts that are so simular. Were all pulling in the same general direction after all!
For the record i really like ratty cars. The most vivid memories that i have of the cars that inspired me as a kid are the rusted out, patchy beaters that raced along side shiney, well kept, big money machines.
Bieng only 24, im not old enough to remember the days when cars were designed by artists instead of guys in white coats with a wind tunnel, so seeing anything of that era was enough to make me look twice. But maybe it was the fact that it was bieng kept and driven in a manner totally contrasting the usual 'classic car enthusiasts' gentle outing to owners club meets that really gave it drama and sparked an interest with these cars that is with me still.
The glass bodied wish-list rods are something i really aspire to, and the fact that some machines are poorly built is not an issue, you will find a minority of builders cutting corners no matter what type of rod or Kustom trips your trigger.
So lets all remember what were into this lifestyle for.... its all about making some noise and raising some pulses!

Man Al, that '38 or 9 pickemup is precisely what I meant by the builder needing to find a different hobby. There are SO many things on that thing that defy hot rodness.

That would explain why it tastes like s#!+.
My 33 doesn't have the front window valances. I only have the one for the right rear door and the two small rear windows. Jani want's them. If I ever get them packed and get a price on shipping them to Finland.
AL

Streets, i dont think Ratrods are 'a current trend' or a sign of the times, surely it is just another splinter of a great hobby, weather you agree with it or not. Having preferences is fine, but i think to go as far as to imply that owners who choose to run patina'd machines are less capable builders than yourself is very narrow minded, and without trying to sound too condescending i think you get more enjoyment out of a hobby if you keep an open mind.

Dangeroustoy, the truck you posted is totally awsome, its rides like that that are the highlight of shows for me, anyone got any more pics along the same lines?

Well now.............................there's a news flash!!!

Streets "narrow minded" and "hard headed"?!?!? Naw, he's just from NY!

boy!! some of you guys must really get around!! you have the time to inspect every old style "HOT ROD" out ther that you consider a RAT ROD to determine that its un safe and the guy driving it is a squirrel.. talk about lableing us...
and how can you say we all cut corners building this type of car and to call it a POS!!! you know that after hearing this stuff it will be hard for me to pull over and help out some bucks up rod guy thats overheated on the side of the road if thats the attitude there gonna have towards my un finished rod, i'll just keep on motoring, straight pipes, slicks and all....

Well I guess I'm an old beater. a little rough around the edges. Not as pretty as I could be with a little surgery.
I don't care what anybody else thinks about my cars. What I think is what matters. I am the master of my universe, so I can't worry about the little people. I just love black primer and red steelies. Anyone who doesn't get it shouldn't park near me at a car show or cruise because I usually draw a bigger crowd than the cars with Boyds 21 inchers and pearl paint.
Yup I hear some crap sometimes from the guys who spent lots of money but then dogs bark at me sometimes too.
Besides when I do paint one of my rods I have to take all them damn trophies home and that just clutters the place and I still pi$$ of the credit card rodders

AL

(star of THE AL SHOW)

Well, to me this complete thread has gone down the wrong road. True, there are some rods out there that maybe shouldn't be on the road safety wise, but there are a lot more people behind the wheel of a vehicle that shouldn't be on the road, either from stupidity or from self induced stupidity.

You can rag on the cars that don't suit your taste all you want, still won't stop anyone from building what they like.

Funny, but the old school studebaker guys say that anything with a chevy stuck in it is a "lemming". So, when any ask what I'm running in my Studebakers, I just tell em it's a POS Lemming car. If I really cared what they thought of my cars, I would build them per their instuctions. The same can be said for this thread.

Dean

F#^! IT!! I'M QUIT'IN THIS THREAD...U R WHAT U DRIVE...WHATEVER, IVE SEEN THE PICS OF THE TEAL SEDAN W/FAKE BOYDS.... AL SEEMS TO HAVE THE RIGHT ATTITUDE AND I GUESS HIS SENIOR OVER ME HAS LET HIM SAY IT WITHOUT HAVING HIS THOUGHT FOGGED BY THE CRAP "SOME" OR "ONE" FELLOW RODDER HAS POSTED...THANKS AL!!!

I too think that this thread has gotten away from what it was ment to be.
I like the Rat Rod look & like the Credit Card Rods too.

But this is My take on why rat rods get such a bad rap,
1: I have seen where the frame & motor mount welds look like a bird shit on them with no hope of penetration for a SAFE joint.
If your going to build it yourself, go get some training on how to weld !!!
2: Just slap the body down on the frame with a 3/4" ply wood floor & a seat bolted on it .( I have seen some with NO floor boards, just a plank of wood for the seat to bolt to .)
3: No fire walls ( thats always a safe bet )
4: Bailing wire holding radiator, fenders & running boards on.
And thats just after a quick glance at the car.
This to me shouldnt be concidered a rod at all, its just an accident waiting for a place to happen.

The ones I would call Rat Rods are done very well & congradulate them & love looking at their engineering! Some of it is incredable.

I have no problem with a guy that wants a rod & has to have it SHOP built, its his money to spend , he earned it & can spend it the way he wants.
Some guys have the time & mechanical skills to perform the work
but not the money & has to use what he can come up with, but how ever its built make sure its done in a safe fashion.

.........After all, its a great hobby !

Well thats just my MY opinion.........
SprayTech

It seems to me that part of the problem is defining what a rat rod is (kind of like what is the definition of a hot rod). We can all tell junk and unsafe 9 times out of ten, but it seems a lot of people have a different image on what defines a rat rod.

Kind of getting back to the original post, the one vehicle I had that comes to mind as being a Rat Rod was my 51 Ford F1 that I built several years ago. I picked the truck up in a junk yard (big surprise) where it had rested for about 20 years and looked it. I bought the truck mostly as I had a spare drive train laying around (a fresh 302, C4, and 9") and I wanted to try an Aspen sub frame to see how I would like it.

Normally when I do a car it goes in the shop and stays there start to finish, including paint and upholstry. As this was the first Aspen/Volare suspension I had done, I wanted to drive it and make sure I was happy with the way the truck drove before I spent the time and money doing the extensive body work it needed. Keep in mind that when I started driving this, mechanically it was done and safe, upgraded suspension, good brakes, a very strong motor, tranny, rear end, good tires (on plain steel wheels and no hub caps). The body however looked like it was 45 years old and had sat in a junk yard for 20 years.

Streets made a very good point in another post, about it being hard once you have something running good and playing with it it's hard to find the down time to take it apart and do the paint and body work. I personally had an absolute ball driving the truck the way it was. I still laugh about the kid in the Camaro who got his feeling hurt real bad by the "old man in the farm truck". To me this was always a work in progress, I was always going to get around to getiing it back in the shop and finsih it, but alas someone came along and wanted it worse than I did so it found a new home.

Originally posted by Streets
'60's PERIOD ROD in an unfinished state??
OJAI Rick's Pix Model "A"...

Steets, from what I can see, it looks like a "rat rod" and not a "crap rod" to me... and like Mike is trying to say, I think there needs to be some further refinement of what defines a "rat rod".

Back in high school, a buddy of mine had a chance to rescue an abused '59 Corvette. He spent all of his time and money getting the mechanicals in order, and then he wanted to just enjoy the fruits of his efforts. Well, as you might guess, some of the "un-washed" kids at school made fun of his old "junker" car. Little did they know that this car with the rusted chrome and "tree sap" paint finish was actually one fine running car. This lack of acceptance and appreciation from the "social" crowd just added to my buddy's vision of himself as being from the wrong side of the track / bad boy image. In the end, he wore this label like a "badge of honor" and never bothered to do anything about the "finish" of his car.

I don't see a problem at all with the "rat rod" label... AS LONG AS THE CARS ARE MECHANICALLY SOUND! The rat rods can portray the "outlaw" image of rodding and still be accepted with the appropriate respect and appreciation for their work.

Rat Rod or Crap Rod... if the shoe fits, wear it

Dan J

O.K.....I NEED TO THANK STREETS FOR POSTIN THE PIC OF MY SPORT COUPE, THIS IS A "PERIOD HOT ROD" EVERY PART OF THIS CAR IS WHAT ANY ONE COULD HAVE DONE IN 1960. ITS TAKIN ALOT OF TIME AND EFFORT TO FIND ALL THE PARTS TO GET THIS CAR CORRECT. AFTER MY EFFORTS AS WELL AS HELP FROM GOOD FREINDS,,,ITS SOMTIME A DRAG TO HERE THE BUCKS UP RODDERS SNICKER'IN AND CALLIN IT A RAT ROD....IT'S A HOT ROD, ITELL'EM BUT THEY POINT AT A PINK & PURPLE '32 COUPE LACED W/BILLIT ALUMINUM AND RADIAL TIRES SAYING "THATS A HOT ROD"..NO THATS A STREET ROD...BIG DIFF.....ANY WAY..STREETS THANKS AND I HOPE YA'LL UNDERSTAND THAT WE DONT LIKE THE TERM, BUT I GUESS ILL HAVE TO LIVE WITH AS NOBODY SEEMS TO WANT TO STOP CALLING THEM RAT RODS....