low-buck steel ratrod

You know, speaking of rat rods, I saw something the other day on the web somewhere of a rod that used a Toyota pickup cab. Now, you can laugh if you want to, but to me this makes a lot of sense. You can cut the roof off and have a steel-bodied roadster with operating doors and integral windshield. You could mount a pony keg fuel tank in the rear or a shorty bed or whatever. Use an "A" or "B" radiator shell and you're in business. I think I'd use the Toyota frame from the firewall rearward (maybe shorten it up from cab to axle) and weld on a home-built 2" x 4" frame from the firewall forward to mount a beam axle and transverse spring.

With all the talk of a $3,000 rod, I'll bet you could do it with ease this way.

You're right. I saw one years ago made from an old Jeep pickup body. They channeled it, cut the top off, made it fenderless. It was Chevy powered, and actually pretty cool.

Do you have any pix of the Toyota rod?


Don

No I don't Don, sorry. :(

id feel safer using an old frame then a new one sorry tech, but i deliver new "safe?!?!?!?" car parts and lemme say this the suspension pieces are ungodly horribly cheesy pot metal! core supports made of pure plastic or sheetmetal so thin u could break it if u stepped on it!. nevertheless it does sound like a neat idea**)

Here is some input from farna on another forum. He brings up something I had not thought about, that you would have a built-in title with a build such as this.....
I've often considered such myself. I'd start with the smallest pickup I could find -- an old Dodge Ram, Mazda, Chevy LUV, Ford Courier, Toyota, all early to mid 70s -- nothing as new as a Ranger or S-10. Should be able to get one for near junk prices, though the engine is liable to be junk also (who cares?). After stripping off the body (but don't destroy/dispose of it just yet!), I'd mount the engine where I wanted it and and look at that front suspension. One way to handle that would be to hide most of it. Put the radiator in front of it and see how that works. If you can live with the looks mount the cab right behind the engine. If the back of the cab clears the rear wheels perfect! Cut the top off the cab and use that for your "tub"!! Build/buy a model A/T looking bed, do a little metal work around the cowl (probably stretch/fair it out a bit), and get a radiator shell. Motorcyle style fenders for the front is fenders are required. The four cylinder front springs will be about right with the engine set back, and the pickup rear leafs should be about right too. Moving the engine so far back puts more of the load on the rear springs than the empty truck had, and less on the front springs.

If the cab is to wide it would be easier to take a chunk out of it than to build your own tub. Unless you want to build something more along the lines of a T roadster -- pretty much a flat deck with "wrap around" bucket seats! Not sure you could get that licensed though. With the truck frame and cab, you could legally license it as a whatever year truck, another reason for using a modified cab as a tub. Might have to section the cab too, or chanel it over the frame. That would be some work, but would eliminate a lot of paper work for registering the thing.

So what to do about the front suspension if it just doesn't look right? "Front half" that frame! Cut it right behind the old crossmember and make a stub frame for a straight axle. That will greatly reduce the fab work and material cost. New steel isn't that pricey, but the way. If you have to pay someone to weld it that's a different ball game!!

How's this for a low buck steel bodied Rat Rod...

52 Ford pick up.........$500
68 Chevy 327...........$400
88 Chevy TH350........$30
89 Chevy drive shaft..$20
89 S-10 frame...........$250
89 Caddy steering col..$30
Misc parts.................$200

Total so far................$1430.


http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-...705/hrpic1.jpg http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-...705/hrpic2.jpg

Cool.:3dSMILE: :3dSMILE: How did the S10 frame swap work out? Were most of the components in the right places, like steering box, etc. Plus, you get later brakes, etc.

Who says rod building has to be 'spensive?

Don

The S-10 frame works great. The 327 engine was a drop in, the TH350 bolted right up to the engine, I had to move the trans mount back a few inches. I changed the 2 pc driveshaft to a 1 pc. Drilled and bolted the cab and bed right to the frame. Had to cut a few inches off the front and rear of the frame for the fenders and bed. The Caddy steering column goes throught the firewall above the old floor mount, so it's a straight shot to the steering box. Gotta change the rearend to a 4X4 rear (4" wider). It's 5" off the ground and I haven't even lowered it yet. So far , no major mods. Everything seems to be trim to fit and bolt on. If you're interested, I've got the whole swap on a website.

www.geocities.com/lakota_circle_dancer/swap1

Dude:

" I build hot rods, I do not restore old cars. I don't believe that only Ford parts should go into a Ford, or Chevy parts into a Chevy. Each auto maker has made some great cars and trucks and some not so great cars and trucks. In hot rodding we pick and choose what we want in a vehicle. We build our rides as unique as ourselves. If we choose to build a Ford body on a Chevy frame with a Chrysler engine, and we attach Cadillac tail lights and Studebaker headlights, then so be it. This is our artwork, and to fit all these parts together in an eye appealing manner takes imagination and skill. During the 1950s, Detroit leaned toward the hot rodder for new ideas. These came out as innovations such as the Corvette, the Mustang, seat belts, dual headlights, recessed door handles, custom outside mirrors, glitzy hubcaps, custom steering wheels, widetrack wheels, lowered stance, and plush, cushy interiors. Today, American cars are assembled in foreign countries of plastic and tin and sold for big dollars. We hot rodders have chosen to go back to the American way with American cars and trucks built in Detroit, of good old American iron and steel from Pittsburg. We will build OUR vehicles OUR way, with OUR money, OUR sweat, OUR busted knuckles, using OUR ideas, to fullfill OUR needs, wants, and desires. We will continue to share OUR knowledge with each other, and as each new generation comes to us to learn, we will pass the torch in hopes that they will continue when we've parked OUR vehicles for the last time.
End of rant."

- From Lakota's site.

:toocool:

Yup, that's my rant.
I'm still getting hate E-mail from guys on the Ford website about putting a Chevy engine in my Ford, and I was banned from posting there months ago. Putting anything other than a Ford part on a Ford is called "Going to the Dark Side". Putting a Ford body on a Chevy frame with a Chevy engine is called "Going to the Evil Side". Oh well, that was then and this is now. Back to the subject: Rat Rods.

Merc in a Chevy...COOL.
How do you describe that? Chevrury??? Checury??? No matter. Be proud of your ride, you've earned it.

BTW, You're right Denny. I do like it here. I visit this site at least once a day. If it wasn't for guys like you, Tech, Bob Parmenter, Dave Severson, TooMany, Henry Rifle to name a few, I'd still be on that Ford site spending $4800 on after market products to add IFS, power steering, power brakes, front discs, reversed eye springs, and torch work to notch the frame for a 2" lowering. I got all of this and more from a $250 junk yard frame. I have you guys to thank for all the replies to my posts. Sometimes you didn't respond to my questions. This told me that the answer is a "no brainer" and I should go back and look. Sure enough, there was the answer staring me straight in the face.
Again, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

OOPS....

Sorry Ladies, I should've known better. I've been trying to get my wife to join the site. She's working on a 70 Ford pick up that's been in the family for years. She wants to keep it "as is" meaning better steering, brakes, and performance, but no bodywork. HMMMM...That sounds like Rat Rod to me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lakota

Yup, that's my rant.
I'm still getting hate E-mail from guys on the Ford website about putting a Chevy engine in my Ford, and I was banned from posting there months ago. Putting anything other than a Ford part on a Ford is called "Going to the Dark Side". Putting a Ford body on a Chevy frame with a Chevy engine is called "Going to the Evil Side". Oh well, that was then and this is now. Back to the subject: Rat Rods.

---

thay would hate me iv got ford 360 pistons in my gm 2.5 iron duke :D

im looking for a s10 to do a modern day rat rod(is what i call it)
thinking of a 4"to5" chop top
ford 9" rear on later bars and coils
bring the rear axel to the back of the cab
then do a strech to the front and sold axel
some kind of rad and cover no fenders or hood
the motor is a 151cid 2.5 block w/ 360 ford pistons, chevy 250 I6 rods, a153 crank, a boat head w/ 202-160 valves, a costom 4 barrel intake. (called the mustang killer)
and a 4 speed manual trans

Hey Nitrous--keep me posted on your progress with an S-10 rod. I have been considering the same thing, although your idea goes a bit further than mine. I have been trying to find pics of an S-10 without the box or front fenders/hood/grill. I have this vision in my head what it could look like, but so far its stuck in there!

I kicked around this idea myself, but instead of moving the rearend forward, I thought about moving the cab and motor backward, and mount a grill shell behind the front crossmember. For an even more stretched out look, how about using a long wheelbase frame or an extended cab frame. Wiring would be a snap as only the headlight harness would need extended.

i dont like the look of the s10 front susp.
so im going to build a frame

Nitrour Nut, how about just re-framing from the cab forward. Saves time, money and engineering skills?

yes i have thought of that and thats what i will prob. do.

old thread, but i think this is a good idea, sorry about the crazy old thread revival though, but this has me going in a new direction.

I ran across this a couple of years ago, don't remember where, but it could have potential. Especially if you had an old used up s-10 sitting in the back yard.
Attachment 43174

Attachment 43175

Now mind you I said potential.:whacked:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dlotraf33

I ran across this a couple of years ago, don't remember where, but it could have potential. Especially if you had an old used up s-10 sitting in the back yard.
Attachment 43174

Attachment 43175

Now mind you I said potential.:whacked:

---

This vehicle has been trashed many times on a lot of different sites . I personally think it embodies all that ratrodding is about . But then again , being main stream is not what I'm about . Different strokes for different folks makes life interesting . How many of these have you seen .

Found these in somebody's show coverage-60's Chevy

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rc57

Found these in somebody's show coverage-60's Chevy

---

The fit ,finish and paint job scream street rod/custom . However I doubt if this vehicle would have been built if there were no rat rods. It's rat-rodding taken to the next level . I love it and others done the same way -finished and painted .There are a lot of ratrods out there that would get a favorable rating from the nay-sayers if they were finished and painted . Even when flawless , a cookie cutter 32 Ford or 57 Chevy just doesn't get the juices flowing for me like they did pre ratrods .

I love the way they incorperated the tell tail signiture look of the front hood/grill into the fire wall!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by luckyfasteddie

This vehicle has been trashed many times on a lot of different sites . I personally think it embodies all that ratrodding is about . But then again , being main stream is not what I'm about . Different strokes for different folks makes life interesting . How many of these have you seen .

---

I actually had somthing similar in mind. With some sort of fuel injected 4 or 6 set up with all the computer and such from doner car, SMOG Legal. I thought I hadnt seen that before. Well until now.:LOL: Just goes to show its very hard to come up with an idea that no one has done before. I thought no one would be dumb enough to chop and narrow one of those 50 international trucks and rod it, except me. But I have found several in the build process although none narrowed. Oh well it was what i found. Although I still think its "Ugly Betty".:D

[QUOTE=dlotraf33;384194]I actually had somthing similar in mind. With some sort of fuel injected 4 or 6 set up with all the computer and such from doner car, SMOG Legal. I thought I hadnt seen that before. Well until now.:LOL: Just goes to show its very hard to come up with an idea that no one has done before. I thought no one would be dumb enough to chop and narrow one of those 50 international trucks and rod it, except me. But I have found several in the build process although none narrowed. Oh well it was what i found. Although I still think its "Ugly Betty".:D[/QUOTE


My engine is a fuel injected V6 ,computer etc. It don't rumble like a v8 and looks a little puny ,but if gives me better than 23 MPG all day long.

I never saw this thread, this is cool! I love the one that used the front drive transverse engine and put it in the back; I've tossed that idea around a few times. My daughter is getting ready to trade in her 2000 Bonneville and I thought about hanging onto it to see what I could build out of the drivetrain/front suspension.

i got around 800 in mine but its not a rat.its a 63 nova wagon . i put it on an s10 frame,chopped the top and have a 454 for it -400,and a nice rearend.but i got most of my parts given to me.its a matter of bein at the right place and havin a few good friends or i couldnt even think about it.i just plain got lucky.

1947 international rat rod,350 4-speed,s-10 chassis. $200 invested so far. 1952 el camino,350,700r4 auto,new wheels and tires. $4000.1930 chevy rat rod pick-up chevy v8,auto,runs&drives $700.

I just have to figure out how to explain to my wife that the reason we're not trading it in is because i want to chop it up and build another project. Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by falconvan

I just have to figure out how to explain to my wife that the reason we're not trading it in is because i want to chop it up and build another project. Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all.

---

Yeah sometimes they just don't understand.......... The other side of that coin is........ As long as I'm cutting and grinding in the garage she knows I ain't out chasing tail...........:D Of course I'm getting too old to care, and probably would give up before I caught it anyhow.....:LOL:

my hubby is happiest when i take my menopausal self out to the garage. :LOL:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by techinspector1

You know, speaking of rat rods, I saw something the other day on the web somewhere of a rod that used a Toyota pickup cab. Now, you can laugh if you want to, but to me this makes a lot of sense. You can cut the roof off and have a steel-bodied roadster with operating doors and integral windshield. You could mount a pony keg fuel tank in the rear or a shorty bed or whatever. Use an "A" or "B" radiator shell and you're in business. I think I'd use the Toyota frame from the firewall rearward (maybe shorten it up from cab to axle) and weld on a home-built 2" x 4" frame from the firewall forward to mount a beam axle and transverse spring.

With all the talk of a $3,000 rod, I'll bet you could do it with ease this way.

---

I like this idea.I have a 1993 ford ranger that I would love to do something like this with.I have to work with newer iron because I can not find anything old around here that they dont want a mint for.**)**)

I gotta agree with a lot of you that using the s-10 frame is one of the easiest ways to go, especially if you can swipe up a full roller and go from there with modifications to the chassis for the body to align correctly, another popular frame set up is a 90's dakota frame since it is in the same class as the s-10. Their popular since their frame dimensions are similar to the older cars 20's-30's so picking on up is cheap and the modifications needed are not as tough and the aftermarket parts are more readily available, giving you modern steering and brake dynamics while keeping your old body (chose a make and model) and go from there. plus when titling it if you don't have the original cars vin/cowl/body tag available the tax paid on a lil s-10 is alot less than trying to retitle as something else.

Best bet is just find a junk yard special and just get a cab off some farmer john with some extra lawn art and when it comes to bolt ons like lights and what not, the skies the limits, i always am looking for an odd part with nice lines that i can use on a project. there are just too many cool styling cues each manufacturer has used over the years to limit anything to it has to be this or that.

the old hot rodders built their cars custom to stand out, to be different, and nothing was off limits. to say you can't do this or do that cause the old farts never would approve? approve? i over heard someone tell a guy you can't run a mustang II front end with an open front end low boy? like he really was building it to get somebody to check it off and get some self proclaimed purests approval. the whole point wasn't to get approval, it was to stand out, run fast, and be different than the rest of the pack. Building your rod was suppose to be pushing the limits and trying to use the most technology or with the most guts to try somethin different and push technology.

it wont matter if it's a 3 grand rat or a 30 grand street rod, if you built it you already did more than most that will look at it and give you their expert opinion based on what they read in the latest rebel rodz or hot rod mag and never have once pounded out a piece of steel. It's yours. Build it like it's yours, drive it like it's yours, let others oogle over yours.

keep it kustom!