New Rat Rod Talk forum at CHR!

[Bob Parmenter]

Yet another welcome sign of continued growth of the site.

As a self professed Keeper Of Odd Knowledge it might be interesting to point out a few things . A site like this doesn't just happen. It's human nature to think of something like this as always being like this. (was I the only 3 year old who thought his parents were always adults?) Like most things of value it starts as an idea and grows from there. Brent of course deserves all the credit for starting the site. In his Christmas letter he noted we have in excess of 16000 members now. But he didn't carry the water alone. Just for fun I took a look at the members roster. If you sort by "date joined" you'll note that on pages 533-544 there're some 300 names representing the total of membership for the first year. Though not the largest in numbers of posts, many of those folks paved the way for the future growth of CHR. In those days before search engine optimization, and the referral potential we enjoy today, it was the pioneering members who greeted each new member with whatever info they could share. I noticed that someone said it's nice to see that CHR "now" opens for rat rods. In my experience it has always been open.......................for all types of enthusiasts. Okay, make that enthusiasts who don't mind playing well with others. In those early days of maybe gaining only one member per day (average) we rarely had one of the "my purpose in life is to piss people off" types. Nowadays we get a few more, but happily they're still an extremely small number. Again, that's life. They nearly always filter themselves out, with rare intervention from moderators. Hopefully it will remain so.

A couple examples of what I mean are from page 533. Each of these guys has less than 1000 posts, but both still contribute today. They choose not to do what some might consider frivolous posts, just good hot rod knowledge sharing. Weeg still makes meaningful suggestions from time to time, sharing his many years of experience. For probably the first three years of this site's existance, our go to (and only) guy with the day in and day out hands on experience in automotive painting is Spraytech. Of course I'm leaving out a number of others for the sake of brevity. And this isn't meant to slight the contributions of others who have come along since who also contribute daily to the ebb and flow of club interaction.

When Brent started this there was no guarantee it would take off. Afterall, there are a lot of other rod oriented sites out there. But over time we've weathered good times, sadly a couple bad, and progressed as "old blood" and new have meshed and grown together. There's no reason it can't continue as long as no one poisons the well.

[gasser t]

thanks guys, lm one of those guys that isnt leaveing because of rough water. i will take my lumps good and bad ones, peace out

[DennyW]

Oh Rats, now what ? Might as well add the Hot Rod Bikes also, some of those are pretty cool also. As we are starting to see on here too. I think there should be several forums. One for all kinds of hot rodding, rat rodding, or any type of hot rod style or type. Might as well go deep. What do you think ?

I think that Merc is going to look like a COOL HOT ROD ALSO.

[mrmustang]

Originally posted by DennyW
Oh Rats, now what ? Might as well add the Hot Rod Bikes

That would be a whole different web site

http://www.clubchopper.com/

[donsrods]

GREAT MOVE. I think all this for or against stuff is just because of the word R A T being used. If you substituted "homebuilt with traditional technology and looks, with the parts and equipment and money available to me to build this" you probably wouldn't get many arguements. But that name is just too long.

I also think this new forum will elevate the level of rats via better construction. After all, if I see my peers are building rats, but building them with nicer /safer brackets, etc. I may be motivated to do the same. Peer pressure is a powerful motivator.


And for the nay-sayers, it's like the people who complain about objectionable tv shows...........if you don't like that program, TURN THE CHANNEL. If you don't like the rat rod forum, click on the others.

GREAT MOVE BRENT. THANKS.

[DennyW]

Well Don, that was my point, to get the Ya's, and Na's to make a comment.

You are right about the name thing as far as I am concerned. I lived, and was raised at a time where Rat wasn't a good word. The car or truck, the way it's built, really doesn't have the Rat name attached to it. The structure of the build is the most important, what ever the name is you give it.

Have you ever lived where Rats Roam Around ? That may give you an idea why the Name is Lame.

[donsrods]

You are right about the RAT name thing. All I know is that it is nice to see young (and older) rodders building something with their own two hands again, as opposed to just writing a check to a Boyd type. It's also nice to see young boys and girls doing something constructive, rather than crime or drugs.

Sure, the workmanship won't quite be the same, because it is difficult to complete with a car built with computer driven lasers, etc., but the end result is the same, both cars give the owner satisfaction. Plus, the first question I always get when someone approaches my car is "Did you build it?" It feels real good to say "Yes." What would I say if I just wrote the check?

Right now I know 2 or 3 guys near my home who have some very high-dollar cars, and can afford to build a few more, but who are knee deep in building what they proudly call rat rods. They voice the same reason as me for building mine, they are just a little tired of the billet, afraid to park it anywhere, cookie cutter rods and are having a blast using their creativity for a change. After all, how many rods can you see with the same 350-350 combo before you start thinking of taking up golf? (Don't get po-ed all you 350 guys, I've got one I'm saving for a future car too)
But it is really refreshing to look at the engine of one of these rats and see a Y block, or Olds, or Buick (even straight 8)

When you look at one of these things and see the thought the guy put into some weird shifter or goofy exhaust, you know he did it the way it was really done back when this Hot Rod thing all began.......in his own garage using his own hands and brain. When I started building cars there were very few aftermarket companies out there. We made every bracket, etc. Anyone can save up and buy a Lokar shifter, but how many can build a shifter from scratch?

Finally, regardless of how much money a person has in their rod, or how nicely finished it is, the real purpose of all this is to join the car community and get to meet and talk to other rodders at cruises and shows. It is like boating. It doesn't matter if you have a 14 foot boat or an 80 foot Yacht....you are still enjoying the same water and sun.

That is what I like about it.