Thread: My hand built Rat.. or whatever it is

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guess I should put up a build log for this, being Brent provided the space

first was to get the steel. which I can't remember what all I got, but I know I got 24' of 2x3x11ga rectangle tubing. 4 sheets of 18ga sheet steel and some 1x1" square tubing

then I got the parts for the frame cut out of the 2x3



squared up the rails and welded them


cut the holes for the front tube and cut rear crossmember.. clamped it all togther and then squared it


welded it, being careful it maintained square



then welded the perches


next was to cut the firewall.. this was done by using a stick cut at the right length and was allowed to spin at the bottom.. draw it out with a sharpie and cut on the line.. I also trimmed 6" off

next welded on the bottom rail of the firewall



next drilled and tapped the frame and the bottom rail for 3/8" 16 thread ( I will also have some other body mounts that mount from the below ). mounted firewall 44" back on the frame

started welding in the window frame/ upper body structure... pics are missing of the lower body structure. but it's just a basic framework of 1x1x16ga tubing. drilled and tapped just like the front.

next I started to finish the framework.. location changed to my grandfathers garage. easier to work on it.





next came time to skin the cowl.. tacked in the center and formed outward gently by hand


it was a bit akward, so it didn't go in straight, and required the filler at the rear


and now the top filler is put in place... the top filler is what the firewall was cut out of..

This looks like a very interesting project,looking forward to watching it grow!

Are you going to put gussets in the corners of the frame where you stepped it up for the rear end? Having built street rod frames (and other vehicle frames) before thats your weak link, if no room for gussets i highly recommend cutting a 3/16 or 1/4 inch "z" plate to cover those joints. if you want to keep it clean on the outside just do a 1/4" plate on the inside of each side of the frame. Go back about 3-4 inches (at least the height of the frame rails (2x3 tube i believe?) on the lower and upper portion of the frame on the "z" for max strength. Nice build, i just don't wanna see problems for ya. Always best to make it a little stronger in the beginning than have it all done and cracking and have to go back and fix it later!

looking good...

Originally Posted by toofast_28

Are you going to put gussets in the corners of the frame where you stepped it up for the rear end? Having built street rod frames (and other vehicle frames) before thats your weak link, if no room for gussets i highly recommend cutting a 3/16 or 1/4 inch "z" plate to cover those joints. if you want to keep it clean on the outside just do a 1/4" plate on the inside of each side of the frame. Go back about 3-4 inches (at least the height of the frame rails (2x3 tube i believe?) on the lower and upper portion of the frame on the "z" for max strength. Nice build, i just don't wanna see problems for ya. Always best to make it a little stronger in the beginning than have it all done and cracking and have to go back and fix it later!

yep. It'll have gussets.. they have always been in the plan and I ran out of 2x3 and kinda got side tracked .. actully I'm thinking more along the lines of cutting 2x3 peices to triangulate that part.. I got to take it all back apart to clean the welds up also.. but I want to get the body built first, and figure out rear suspension so I can mock up ride height and figure out a safe amount to channel it

Originally Posted by no limits

looking good...

what was the ride height on yours?.. I'd like to get as close to that stance as I can.

Originally Posted by Matt167

yep. It'll have gussets.. they have always been in the plan and I ran out of 2x3 and kinda got side tracked .. actully I'm thinking more along the lines of cutting 2x3 peices to triangulate that part.. I got to take it all back apart to clean the welds up also.. but I want to get the body built first, and figure out rear suspension so I can mock up ride height and figure out a safe amount to channel it

Good thinking, i know that kind of stuff is an oversight for some people, didn't want to see ya get going down the road and have a failure, that 11 guage wall is plenty strong straight, but holding at the bends like that I feel it would fail without supports. I honestly wouldn't gusset, the side plates cut to a "z" shape with a 3-4" leg down the tube on top and bottom would be just as strong and cosmetically friendly. Have a '34 Ford coupe with a 'glass body that was built by someone else and the frame is heavy as sh*t!, have like 7x7" gussets in the step up in the rear frame like this, and when its sitting down you can't set it, but just replaced the rear end in it and its just gawdy underneath. Whom ever built it made up for their lack of engineering/craftsmanship skills with going overboard on all the reinforcement under it. the frame is 2x6x1/4" and its no pro street or anything, just a nice cruiser, blown 350, but about the smallest Weiand blower they make, so the frame is not built like that for the track.

Anyways, i know yours is a "rat" and maybe part of your vision is to let that kind of "roughness/crewdness" to be shown. I am too much of a perfectionist to build a "rat". What are you doing for a rearend/rear suspension set up?

well. it won't really be ratty.. but it'll have flat paint, and very little interior ( upolstered 'bomber' seats and that's about it ).. really don't know what to call it.

I pulled the rear end out of a 1994 ZR2 s10 4x4 yesterday. rear suspension is still kind of iffy as to really what I'm going to do.. I would like a paralell 4 bar from Art Morrison, but I might need to mount the bars on the outside of the frame, which I think is ok

mocked in the rear end

put the rear cab wall in today.. next is ither channeling it or putting the roof in

What ya lookin to put in it for a motor? 572 with a HUGE weiand Blower and Top Fuel dragster style headers with a keg tank on the front?

SBC..possibly blown eventully

I just stumbled across your thread Matt. Very cool build. I've seen a few from scratch bodies at shows lately and they sure are different to look at than row after row of conventional ones. A guy at Daytona had a similar one to yours, all built out of aluminum and he had people 10 deep looking at it all weekend. These types remind me of some hot rods from the past like the Milk Truck and others.

Keep it up, you are making great progress in a short period of time.

Don

Don

lower side panels for the cowl welded on, along with roof... would have went farther ( channel 6" ) but I ran out of welding wire