Thread: What I like about rat rods...seriously!

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I mean this as a constructive thread, so I will focus only on the positives.

What I like about the rat rod style of building is the fact they are accepting of the non popular body styles, that have become less desireable as the "art" of rod building has matured.

Guys of my generation (baby boomers) have certain bodies we've come to favor, and we no longer can fathom the idea of rods built too far outside of what has become the "learned" way thay should look.

This has become an "art form", but we have tended to follow the leader too often, in my opinion.

That new viewpoint would also include the odd choices of engine, wheels, and other parts.

Construction techniques have also demostrated a willingness to do things outside the standardized methods.

I am a big fan of doing things with an unexpected twist, so it is actually refreshing to see something unusual, even if it might not be the optimum choice. Maybe this boredom I have is from looking at many of the same trends for almost 50 years, since I bought my first magazine, and discovered hot rodding.

I applaud the supporters for their artistic freedom.

That cool man,i agree ,thats why i purchased the merc,yeah its a 4 door ,but who cares ,its still a cool car,and it deserves the same treatment as a 2 door, im starting to see alot of cars you would never think of rodding but these people are making really neat rods out of them,plus supplies are numbered these days,original steel is scarce, and pricy

That's the reason I chose the 52 Ford pick up over the 50 Ford coupe. The coupe has been done, re-done, and over-done. I chose the 52 pick up because in almost every picture I've seen of a 52, it looks almost stock. Except for the engine and rims, it's stock height, stock grill, or stock interior. Mine will be done differently with a custom grill and headlights, lowered, redesigned dash, and probably exaust stacks. I know mine will end up being called a "Rat Rod" because it will be primer gray, with Indian blanket seat covers. I'll leave it primed because some low life will have no problem keying my expensive paint job. Indian blanket seat covers???...What would be more appropriate for a truck owned, customized, and driven by a Native American. If I do decide to paint it, that's what the theme will be.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by HOTRODPAINT
[B]I mean this as a constructive thread, so I will focus only on the positives.

What I like about the rat rod style of building is the fact they are accepting of the non popular body styles, that have become less desireable as the "art" of rod building has matured.

Guys of my generation (baby boomers) have certain bodies we've come to favor, and we no longer can fathom the idea of rods built too far outside of what has become the "learned" way thay should look.

This has become an "art form", but we have tended to follow the leader too often, in my opinion.




I nominate HOTRODPAINT for President.



He has summed up exactly what I feel about this rat rod thing. With his obvious knowledge in automobiles that are finished well, and professionally done, it is refreshing that he "gets" what these cars are about.

I was getting bored with cars, in general. How many car shows can you go to and see the same reds and oranges, and '32's and whatever before you start to get a little tired of it all? Especially if you have been doing this for 45 years, like me. When I started seeing rat rods I saw a return to creativity and "get your hands dirty and do it yourself." True, some of them are pure garbage, unsafe, and butt ugly. But some are not.

If I look back on my "little book" hot rod magazines from the '50's, I see bubblegum welds, crude brackets,and very questionable engineering. But as time went on technology and peer pressure advanced the level of car building to what it is today.

I think we have the chance to improve the breed of rat rods by example. My '39 Dodge pickup will hopefully be one of the cars that motivates some aspiring rat rod builder to build it safe and roadworthy. It will wear some shade of flattened paint, and use some unusual components, and in my mind follow the theme of a rat.

Some people hate the term (my own Son included) but when my car is featured in some rat rod magazine some day (hopefully) it will inspire others to follow suit with a well built rod of their own.

HOTRODPAINT...........you've got my vote.


Don

I am sure we can come up with ten (10) good things about "Rat Rods" let me see.....



1. Lets me get rid of all those parts in the garage I thought would never sell.

2. Allows young dudes to get creative with out destroying a body I will probably buy for twice the price in the future and try to reassemble.

more?

Originally posted by gherkin350
I am sure we can come up with ten (10) good things about "Rat Rods" let me see.....



1. Lets me get rid of all those parts in the garage I thought would never sell.

2. Allows young dudes to get creative with out destroying a body I will probably buy for twice the price in the future and try to reassemble.

more?

3. Encourage young beginners to try it themselves, even if they haven't developed their skills yet. Since they aren't held to a high standard of workmanship on these, they aren't discouraged before they ever start.

4. Many young builders don't have the better paying trades yet, and the rats are much more affordable, because they don't have start with the higher priced super-desireable components. They can improvise, and use whatever is available.

I like the idea of the modern rat rod being more of a style, than of being a vehicle thrown together. Some of the rats I've seen of late have been so simply built and free from all the glitz that has cluttered up the street rods of the past 10 or 15 years. My son is 20 and has done the hotrod blazer, import car craze and now has gotten interested in the rat style vehicles.

5 using parts that might have gone unused,preserving old tin,alot of people would have passed on

Originally posted by m falconstien
I like the idea of the modern rat rod being more of a style, than of being a vehicle thrown together. Some of the rats I've seen of late have been so simply built and free from all the glitz that has cluttered up the street rods of the past 10 or 15 years. My son is 20 and has done the hotrod blazer, import car craze and now has gotten interested in the rat style vehicles.

I am not opposed to rat rods, even though they aren't what I would choose to build. I can appreciate almost any building style, and appreciate the creativity in the many different genres of the car/bike hobby. Besides the rods, customs, dragsters, choppers, and street machines, I've done lowriders, minitrucks, 4X4s, trikes, Jr. dragsters, and on and on. That is why I don't have a toy of my own. Seven days a week I'm working on somebody's toy, and I get to be involved in everything!

HOWEVER....to build something with bald tires, inadequate brakes, bad engineering, and a disregard for others, is not smart.

It also is not the attitude of a "rat rodder"......it is the attitude of an adolescent, and you have to remember many of these guys are newcomers to the hobby, therefore young in age.

I can still remember when I was very young, and wrapped up in my own needs. I thought bad things always happened to other people, and that I would be able to handle any situation. That was until a couple really close calls, where I was lucky to be alive.

Today I see the folly of my judgement back then, and I also realize that the human traits continue on in the young people of today.

The best thing us older guys can do is make friends of the young guys in the hobby, and try to have a little positive influence.

(I will now write my acceptance speech) :-)~

uhhhhh, uhhhhhh, uhhhhhh- oh yeah, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAX THEM !!

6) To encourage younger car builders to do something constructive with their lives, rather than drugs or some other stupid pursuit.


(when I was a kid, my neighbors would complain to my Mom about all the '50 fords, and Model A's on our property, and she would say "yes, but I know where he is at night.")

And we lived on 3 acres, and they still complained !!!!


Don

Guys,

I usually don't like to get involved in debates like this, but I gotta vent on this one. Years ago in the '60s when I first started building rods, we built them from the ground up. Until we could afford the expensive paint job, we drove them around in rough looking condition. Back then they were called "Rods", when they were finished they were called "Customs". Ever heard of a magazine called "Rod and Customs". Back then it was a small (6"X8") magazine of just that, unfinished Rods and finished Customs. You "Nay-Sayers" almost had me convinced that all Rat-Rods are a POS. The more I read about them, the more I understand. You Nay-Sayers have lumped Rods, Rat-Rods, and POS into one category. If it has a rough looking body, primered, and has a bare interior, it's automatically labeled a POS Rat-Rod. That's not right. A true Rat-Rod is built from the ground up just like your shiny Custom. While you were spending hours on your interior and body to get it just right, so were they. Let me give you some examples:

ROD
Your shiny Custom before it was painted and the interior done. It was built well and safe enough to drive. It just wasn't finished.
RAT ROD
Built well and safe enough to drive, only it has toilets instead of bucket seats (Hey, there's an idea), bailing wire to make it appear as something is tied together, and special paint to make it appear old and rusted. Want an example of a true Rat-Rod???...The Beverly Hillbillys truck. Yes, it was built by the guys in TV land, but it had to be built well and safe enough to drive on the highways. Now that was a Rat-Rod in the truest sense.
POS
A car/truck slapped together in a couple of weeks with pocket change by someone who has little or no mechanical knowledge. Their tools consists of an old fishing box with a claw hammer, butter knife, vise-grips, and assorted wood screws. These clowns will get on a site like this one and call themselves rodders, and spout information that they read on another site...or...
My brother-in-laws 94 Ford F-100. He hasn't done a brake job in three years, two years ago he developed a front end shimmy, all four tires are may-pops and one was filled with fix-a-flat last year. Last summer he spent $700 on a paint job and stick-on flame decals. His friends think it's a great looking truck. It's a POS in the truest sense.

There are guys out there that will take a car/truck and slap parts on it without any thought to safety, and call this POS a Rat-Rod. These guys are not rodders...Rodders know better. It should be labeled as to what it really is...A POS and nothing more. Builders of true Rat-Rods are beginning to stand up in defense of their hard work. Now that I've learned the truth about this issue, I believe I'll stand with them.
End of vent...

Now let me get off this soap box before I fall and hurt myself...

Originally posted by lakota
Built well and safe enough to drive, only it has toilets instead of bucket seats (Hey, there's an idea.......

Just to show how difficult it is to come up with a new idea.......

Or this one.

I didn't think there was any debate on this thread.

You have us confused with those guys who want to argue the meaning of the name, or if it's okay to build one. We are simply discussing the good things about them.......I thought. :-)~