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