Thread: Describe your Rat Rod project here.

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I just got whiff of this rodent thread my comp has been down for o few days hehehe.MUHAHAHAJAJAJAJAjajaja I am goin rodent style fer shur now just got my( roller )for the hammertone paint hehehehehe .Rat rod here I come flat black is where IIIIIII started from!

Yawn, DDSS. Hope ya like it and want to keep it forever, nobody will want to buy it. Rodent rodders don't spend money, remember??? They just stand on their pedastals and look down their noses at those of us who actually take pride in our work. Rebellion??? Protest??? Naw, just don't want to take the time and effort to do it right the first time. I like shiny things, shame on me. Oh yeah, main reason there wasn't a lot of fancy parts in the 50's is because no one made them!!! All this self-righteous mumbo jumbo about rodents being real hot rods is pure BS. People built them that way because they didn't know any better. Way fewer cars on the road, good handling and good braking was not an issue as it is today. Like I said earlier, if you wanna protest, then protest something worthwhile. IMHO, most rat rodders just don't have the time, money, patience, or experience to build a decent car, so they hide behind this malarky that they are doing it the old way. Oh well, who cares??? Maybe you can fool some people, maybe you can fool yourself. But you ain't fooling me!!!!

WOW..I've NEVER seen Dave get the red arse before.

Sorry for the blow up, I just put more credibility on "been there, done that" people on this site than I do "gonna do, wanna be's" that drift in and out of here with nothing more to offer to a forum then agitation. I guess if it was stated that it's not what I want but it's where my abilities and cash ran out I would understand it better. Any job worth doing is worth doing well. This old adage should apply to all aspects of life, including Hot Rods. If you don't have the time and money to do it right the first time, where are you going to find more time and more money to re-do it. I don't put a time limit on my projects, when it's done it will be done right. Somewhere between 6 months and 6 years is just fine with me when i am building something for me. I don't know, maybe it's just a matter of how many laps you've made in the world of Hot Rods.

Just an observation. Has anyone noticed that the main method used to justify rat rods is knocking (so-called) "red rods?"

If I may cut and paste my 2 cents here from another thread

And if I may add to the steel vs fiberglass debate, I am not opposed to fiberglass as a material, I am a huge fan of Ed Roth and his bubble top creations, which were made of fiberglass. (I had the honor of meeting Ed at a car show before he died) Fiberglass also makes cool grille shells with canted quads and drawer pull knob grilles. I also don't have a problem with really expensive cars, if I had 50 grand to spend, I'd spend it on old cars, too. The reason I'm building my car as what will inevitably be called a rat rod is because I like the way they look and I think the style is very creative. Something really different. It'll have 4 brakes and a steel floor, but it won't have much paint on it and it'll never be mistaken for someone else's car.

Rat rods are not by definition unsafe, and not all "rat rodders" hate every finished car on the road. It's the lack of creativity (off the shelf unmodified fiberglass bodies, 350 engines, boring paint jobs) that rat rodders don't like, and unfortunately, some rat rods are just as boring and predictable as the cars they were built to be different than.

I will always rank creativity above fit and finish, and someone will always disagree with me.

so another words .....who gives a "rats" ass??

I don't get it, Hambiskit. Do you mean "in other words"?

ok now that i'm half blind from catching up on a LOT of posts, this newbie will put in his 2 cents.

no matter what year/style/make of vehicle, I have always believed that a "rat" rod was a creation made up of whatever parts you could scrounge up, and come out with a dependable driver to rely on and take pride in. Just look at Rover... started out as a couple of brothers hacking & welding up whatever Jeep parts they had around, and build some rugged as hell 4x4's. yeah, they were as sexy as a slab of pig iron, but they got the jobs done...

many topics have answered questions i had before joining the board... gasser solid axle front end setups being one of the latest "wild hairs" i had. my "affliction" (so my fiance calls it) or my addiction to classic and custom cars has ranged from 6th gen civics all the way back to 60's impalas and now my current daily driven 57 shibby ugly duckling 150 series;and i sold the 97 civic for double the purchase price of the 57!

hell i had even mulled over the idea of doing a straight axle socal VW conversion since the cars are a snap to build. too many ideas, so little time, and no garage..

Rat rod ...hummmmm...my little pony is not really a rat rod but It is ratty....I am in the beginnning stage of making her what I want....fast , mean, and drivable on a daily basis..as when I start doing something on her I go without wheels till shes done...
http://www.say10tattoo.com/Pics/pics.php

Ratting out an almost-muscle car.

1978 Mustang II, fastback, T-tops. Hilborn-style scoop, dual quads, and a baby tunnel ram jutting about 9" above the hood, headers with exhaust cut-outs, 225/40R14's on Centerline rims.

I was looking for a paint job / appearance package I could do on the cheap; I've decided to paint the body with John Deere black, replace the (peeling) Targa band with snakeskin-print vinyl, swap out the Mustang grille pony with a Jolly Roger, tint the windows as dark as legally possible, and affix a mondo decal of my avatar across the rear hatch window. The end product should be a nice mix of muscle-car lines, rat-rod attitude, and modern (read: ricer punk) style.

More photos!

53 Plymouth Belvedere, flat black, lake pipes, red black & white interior, red flames, wide whites on red wheels, flathead 6 cyl. original 6 volt electric system. Just installed new home made floor pans, new clutch, new brakes and hoses, new shocks. Gettin' ready for new wire harness and 12 volt conversion, and hopefully a 331 HEMI!

Haven't seen this thread for awhile. I was down in Vegas last year at The Strip and saw a few Rats that I think would fit in here.

Larry M.

And another one.