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

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I'm glad that we're all chuckling now...

Last I knew PA's laws on fenders and hoods haven't changed, but the changes ARE coming. I guess the Gov is a rodder at heart! I haven't heard anything about problems with lowering, I had a slammed S10 Blazer myself for a while. I'm looking into becoming a dealer... if that happens, I won't have to worry about an inspection anyway... or insurance specific to the ride, for that matter. I just gotta figure out if it's worth all the paperwork.

Hmms...the thing i like about rat rods.....

simplicity with design
still head turners

Originally posted by Bob Parmenter
Tough to argue with that. Isn't he from So. Dakota? Besides, who's gonna argue witha guy 6'7" and 300#.

Close Uncle Bob, but LW was from North Dakota. Our big claim to fame is Sparky Anderson and Russell Means!!!!

Baseball coaches and political activists!!!! Imagine that!!!

Originally Posted by Aster

7. Yeah, you get to learn new words and terms like "rust preservative", "what color you going to paint it" and "what's that supposed to be?". I say, let them build whatever they want as long as it meets the rules of the road set forth in your state...if your going to drive it on the streets. If your not going to drive it on the streets, and you want to take it to shows, then have at it....but....wouldn't that make it a trailer queen? You can get caught up in the terminology or, use that energy and time to be creative and innovative in a positive way(building the car).

8. Initiative, Tenacity, Can do attitude, all things I like to see in a young man. I say these qualities are displayed in (oh I hate to say it) "RAT ROD" builders.

Andy.

Nice thread. The way I see it "rat rodding" was desperately needed by the car/street rod scene. You go to the Nationals and walk right by cars that guys have $30,000-$50,000 invested in them without giving them a second look. It isn't because they're not nice cars, but to an extent many of them all look the same. The same parts are available to everyone and I guess if you can dig deep enough you can pretty much build a street rod out of 1 or 2 catalogs. I appreciate the engineering and brilliant ideas that have been showcased in many of today's rat rods. I believe that it has brought many people back down to their roots and that is cool.

Originally Posted by hotrodsigns

Nice thread. The way I see it "rat rodding" was desperately needed by the car/street rod scene. You go to the Nationals and walk right by cars that guys have $30,000-$50,000 invested in them without giving them a second look. It isn't because they're not nice cars, but to an extent many of them all look the same. The same parts are available to everyone and I guess if you can dig deep enough you can pretty much build a street rod out of 1 or 2 catalogs. I appreciate the engineering and brilliant ideas that have been showcased in many of today's rat rods. I believe that it has brought many people back down to their roots and that is cool.

I think hotrodsigns comments sum it up for many of us who are accepting of this form of automotive expression, and sort of understand how it came about.

HOTRODPAINT opened this thread on a positive note, and it speaks highly of this particular forum and the people who participate that it did not become a bash session. I just surfed another forum a few weeks ago, and someone asked how they could create a rat rod out of a '48 Ford truck he had. By the comments from the other members, you would have thought the poor guy had asked how to molest 12 year old boys. They came down on him with every expletive known to man, and made the poor guy feel like an idiot for asking.

I know that many on here are not exactly fans of this term, and I do understand some of the reasons. You feel it is a misrepresentation of what cars of that era were like and what we wanted them to be like. But if I look back to some of my '50's magazines, I see some really bad workmanship and ideas used. True, there were some good cars, but some were really cobbled together, and those made the magazines. Some of the ones I saw on the street were true abortions.

But, I think all of the people who have responded to this thread so far have been very understanding and respectful of the other guys views. That is one of the reasons I like CHR as much as I do.

Thanks,

Don

Originally Posted by hotrodsigns

Nice thread. The way I see it "rat rodding" was desperately needed by the car/street rod scene. You go to the Nationals and walk right by cars that guys have $30,000-$50,000 invested in them without giving them a second look. It isn't because they're not nice cars, but to an extent many of them all look the same. The same parts are available to everyone and I guess if you can dig deep enough you can pretty much build a street rod out of 1 or 2 catalogs. I appreciate the engineering and brilliant ideas that have been showcased in many of today's rat rods. I believe that it has brought many people back down to their roots and that is cool.

Well, it's not just the rat rodders that build using innovation and creativity. There are still a lot of us who build our cars with a lot of things no one else uses. The same parts are available to everyone, it is how the end user modifies them that makes his car unique. A car with only $30 to $50k invested in it is far from being a top of the line car. For the builder with only average fabrication abilities, all the parts sold in the catalog are the best thing since sliced bread. Before you pick on the "cookie cutter" cars you should also remember that the guys who buy these parts spend a lot of money that makes all the manufacturers turn out better parts at a lower cost..... The "store bought" pieces are great for the guy who doesn't have a complete machine shop at his disposal but wants to have all first rate parts in his car. Not all the cars in primer are "Rat Rods", the majority of them are a works in progress and will eventually as time and $$$$ permits, end up with shiny paint and chrome goodies, too......

We all may gravitating back to building our own stuff if the current trends continue. There is nothing, and I mean Nothing, more disheartening than ordering a nice new shiny part for your rod, anticipating its arrival, unwrapping it, only to find MADE IN CHINA stamped on it. I hate that and will never have a chinese part on my hot rod. If it's not made in the good ole USA then screw it, I don't need it. How many parts on a bling bling do you estimate, were made in china? When you think about it, kind of makes you sick to your stomach doesn't it.

Those sorts of things used to bother me, but I have come to realize that the world is in a constant state of change, and right now it is shrinking and becoming a "world community". It's been in the process of doing this for about 50 years.

It will never again be the way it was, with our businessmen manufacturing or selling only in the U.S. It isn't good or bad, it's just the way it will be from now until the next "flood" starts society at square one, again.....so you might as well have an imported beer, relax, and enjoy the lower prices! :-)

Originally Posted by Aster

We all may gravitating back to building our own stuff if the current trends continue.

Don't bet on it. 50 years ago people who dodged Japanese bullets in the Pacific had the same, maybe even more vocal, rant. How'd that turn out?

I see HRP posted too while I typed. Agreed.

Originally Posted by Aster

We all may gravitating back to building our own stuff if the current trends continue. There is nothing, and I mean Nothing, more disheartening than ordering a nice new shiny part for your rod, anticipating its arrival, unwrapping it, only to find MADE IN CHINA stamped on it. I hate that and will never have a chinese part on my hot rod. If it's not made in the good ole USA then screw it, I don't need it. How many parts on a bling bling do you estimate, were made in china? When you think about it, kind of makes you sick to your stomach doesn't it.

Before my one Son got involved with Hot Rods, he was into Cal-look Volkswagens. All of the parts we bought were made in some foreign country, and they were all terrible. Parts didn't fit, and the chrome was cheap flash chroming that rusted immediately. Even the best brands we bought were this way. We will spend whatever it takes to get good stuff, so we were not trying to go the cheap route.

I mention this because I used to make the comment to him that the parts I bought for my hot rods were made right here, and were of much better quality. However, I see this changing, and more and more stuff has "made in China" on it, and I see the quality slipping. Even some very well known brands are going this route, and it is a shame.

I'm not one of these people who will buy only American, because I realize that we are part of a global economy now. I think Honda and Toyota cars are great products, but crap is crap, regardless of where it comes from.

Don

The internet and hi speed travel are turning the entire world into an international community. I didn't used to buy from sources or use shops outside of South Dakota!!! Well, ok that was a few years ago.... Where is it we draw the line on buying only made in USA items??? Certainly not on computers and electronics, hardware, and a multitude of other things. I guess nowadays my concerns are more with the quality of the product rather then what the label claims to have as a country of origin..... Not even sure all of our raw materials used to produce items is all of US origin?????

I'm not one of these people who will buy only American, because I realize that we are part of a global economy now. I think Honda and Toyota cars are great products, but crap is crap, regardless of where it comes from. (QUOTE)

I agree. Foriegn operations don't have a "lock" on poorly made products. It really comes down to what the company, domestic or foreign, is willing to sell!

<vomits> when i was delivering car parts for appleway the import stuff was among the cheesiest. one day i go an i pick up a core support! A CORE SUPPORT for toyota and it bent subaru is the same way only the gm stuff didnt bend, compared to what gm "used" to be its cheesy today, but its not as cheesy as imports today. the import car sheet metal is so thin you actually get paper cuts and it will bend with the tiniest amount of pressure. i feel a hell of alot safer in my friends 66' 4 door polara

The reason I said what I said was because I thought Mr Gasket Corp was a good distributor to deal with (used to be), so I bought a chrome dip stick for my 350. When I got it home I noticed the "made in china" stamp on it and about s..t. It doesn't fit the tube, just sits there and doesn't seal. Never again. I'm not one to go around saying buy American but, it just pissed me off that we can't even make a dip stick anymore. Oh well, your right about, it's not going to get better. We have a generation coming up that can't tie their shoes, read or write in English, and doesn't give a damn about where anything is made. I guess I'll use the chinese dip stick in my GMC truck that was made in mexico and about a hundred other countries that we probably never heard of. Anyway, go for it rat rodders, do the best you can with American made stuff even if it's fifty-seventy years old. There are plenty of people who will just roll over and say "oh well, it a global economy and we have to take what we are given". That's seems to be the lazy way out.