Rat Rod Rules

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Originally Posted by shawnlee28

Nice trailer!!
Hey Dave you could always invite one of the rat rodders over to help you polish on yer ride before the show to better understand the trailer or let em help pay for the parts.:LOL:

In my opinion a trailer is better than sittin in jail for assault when some inconsiderate fool door dings your brand new ,labor intensive ,very exspensive paint job right before the show.:CRY: Unfortunatly most of the people who knock shiney parts or cars .....{A} can not afford them or .....{B} can not do that caliber of work and have had nothing nice before.

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Thanks, should be a nice one. This one will be 32 footfloor length and triple axles, same exterior and door arrangement, though. Lots of nice storage over the fifth wheel, making some cabinets for it soon as my buddy Bart appropriates the stainless steel..... Probably the last one I will buy, so I'm going to make it a nice one.

Only thing I could add on what you said about people knocking show cars and trailers, better also add to the list those who don't have the ambition or patience to build one.... Otherwise it's fairly accurate IMO,,,:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Hey there Dave we already know what we are building and already have most everything to build it. Oh and the only guy IM knocking is you.

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Originally Posted by choptopratrod

Hey there Dave we already know what we are building and already have most everything to build it. Oh and the only guy IM knocking is you.

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:LOL: :LOL: Oh well, long as it's just me..... Soon as you have one ready to either go or show against one of mine, let me know. Sure be glad to oblige you....:) :) :)

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Originally Posted by Dave Severson

:LOL: :LOL: Oh well, long as it's just me..... Soon as you have one ready to either go or show against one of mine, let me know. Sure be glad to oblige you....:) :) :)

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Well I would be happy to compete against you. I know that we will build some kick-a cars and can win a few cars shows with them. I just hope you are ready to go against us. Oh and as one person said about trying to keep the rockabilly image I am doin exactly that keeping the rockabilly image. I just want to let you know if your a jerk to me then I will be a jerk back.

Ok, whatever..... Like I say, let me know when you start building and post us some pics of the progress as you go.... Any idea what you are going to build yet???????? I've got three in the shop, and 4 waiting. Curious what it is you are going to be building.....

Well.....................this seems to be going pretty well. :eek: :eek: :3dSMILE:


Don

Just grouchy today, weather sucks, I'm sick, and now a guy who hasn't yet started on his own car is putting me down for hauling mine in a trailer. Guess he's right, I'm just a jerk. But hey!!!! I'm good at it!!!!!

Boys, time to give your egos a reality check.


Enough said.

Not an ego problem for me Bill. I know what my abilities and inadaqucies are.... I build cars......... As far as competing, I love to compete!!!! Gonna challenge Mike to a wheelchair race one of these days!!!!!!:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

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You know mine is still gonna be the protest against show car/trailerqueens.

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Lemme see. What should I do first? Build a car, start a street rod, or graduate from highschool? Decisions, decisions, decisions. Son, you'd be fortunate to carry Dave's tools - but I doubt he'd let you.

Protest . . . or before and after display? :LOL:

And that's all I have to say about that.
- F. Gump

Look guys, i just dont agree with you on that your sitting there saying that people with low income and lack of skill are a POS, becuase they dont have shiney trailer queens... In my opinion shiney cars are cool ive own a few and still do (i do drive mine though aint skeed) but i also really like the look of the traditional, work in progress or what ever you want to call it... the way I see it is whats the sense in having a badaz car if your affraid to drive it and it has to ride around in a trailer and you park 6 blocks away and drive it to the show so you look cool (WELL YOU AINT)... you ought to just put it in glass case in your front yard so the birds cant crap on it... Now im not saying you dont have skills or money, heck you all are a great bunch of guys that know more about cars than anyone.. but i still dont think its right to put you nose up in the air to people that dont like shiney trailer queens, or in your opinion people that cant afford them or lack of skill to build them...

HARMON

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Originally Posted by CHEVYBOY

Look guys, i just dont agree with you on that your sitting there saying that people with low income and lack of skill are a POS, becuase they dont have shiney trailer queens... In my opinion shiney cars are cool ive own a few and still do (i do drive mine though aint skeed) but i also really like the look of the traditional, work in progress or what ever you want to call it... the way I see it is whats the sense in having a badaz car if your affraid to drive it and it has to ride around in a trailer and you park 6 blocks away and drive it to the show so you look cool (WELL YOU AINT)... you ought to just put it in glass case in your front yard so the birds cant crap on it... Now im not saying you dont have skills or money, heck you all are a great bunch of guys that know more about cars than anyone.. but i still dont think its right to put you nose up in the air to people that dont like shiney trailer queens, or in your opinion people that cant afford them or lack of skill to build them...

HARMON

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Might want to re read that post. He said most people who knock them.... Nowhere in there is anyone called a POS...... the complaint was about folks who bad mouth trailer queens and other shiny cars and HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED BUILDING their own car yet......

but this is the way you guy can be in general to people (kinda grumpy, take the defensive too easily).. nobody on here has treated me badly, but you fellas need to lightin up a lil.. laugh have a goood time teach folks about cars share stories make others laugh... come on just relax....

but its ok for me to bad mouth them becuase i have several projects?

HARMON

I don't care who bad mouths what. As long as they are basing it on some kind of personal experience and not some misplaced conception of kewl.......... I only go as heavy or as light on folks as they are on me..... guess I should be more tolerant of those who don't even have a car and call me stupid for having a shiny one. I'm sorry.

Dave,

what i have said is not directed to you personally... Your very cool dude in my book (not that in may mean much to you).. im just talking about guys on here in general.. they can some times step on toes... and yes some times it may not be on purpose but it does happen... its just i came from a less than medium income and not every one can buy a boydster.. but there are guys out there that have skills but dont have a ton of money to through at a 20,000 dollar paint job... but they still have killer cars.. Im sorry that everyone isnt independently wealthy...

HARMON

Hey, it's a public forum. Toes are going to get stepped on and sometimes trampled on..... Most folks here express their opinion, some take it as a personal attack and the fun starts..... I stick a bunch of money into my cars, not because I'm rich, but because I'm very patient to finish them and am willing to do without a lot of other things to have the money to stick into my cars. Anyone can by anything they want.....provided they are willing to do the extra work and make the sacrifices to make it possible. If that weren't true, I would never have been able to build my first car.... Hope a lot of the newbies in Hot Rodding would adapt the same attitude and get into building the first rate cars they are capable of building.....

I dont trailer mine..........I cant afford a trailer. Wish I had one. Hotrodding is not a poor mans hobby.......I am proof of that.

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Originally Posted by CHEVYBOY

Look guys, i just dont agree with you on that your sitting there saying that people with low income and lack of skill are a POS, becuase they dont have shiney trailer queens... In my opinion shiney cars are cool ive own a few and still do (i do drive mine though aint skeed) but i also really like the look of the traditional, work in progress or what ever you want to call it... the way I see it is whats the sense in having a badaz car if your affraid to drive it and it has to ride around in a trailer and you park 6 blocks away and drive it to the show so you look cool (WELL YOU AINT)... you ought to just put it in glass case in your front yard so the birds cant crap on it... Now im not saying you dont have skills or money, heck you all are a great bunch of guys that know more about cars than anyone.. but i still dont think its right to put you nose up in the air to people that dont like shiney trailer queens, or in your opinion people that cant afford them or lack of skill to build them...

HARMON

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What you think you hear isn't what people are saying. What they're TRYING to say, is: "You're not going to convince me to respect your rat rod when you preface your statement by calling "trailer queens" (a perjorative term, by the way) stupid. That happened in earlier posts on this thread. What people are saying is:

A. Build a safe car.
B. Don't knock my "shiny" car if you want to have a reasonable conversation about your car.

The stuff in bold above doesn't help much either.

Im sorry if i offended anyone by calling their car a "trailer queen" but im not sure of the proper terminoligy, maybe "highway capable" is that better? this is getting steered into the whole "rat rod" discrepency... I prefer my truck to be called a "farm rod" thank you... I sorry i just never understood how someone could put so much time and money into a masterpiece and not ever enjoy driving it around a lil on nice days, it just doesnt seem worth it to me but thats just me... Like my step father has 3 vettes and ive only seen one of them move in 17 years, it makes me sick to see them just sittn there doing nothing...

HARMON

Alright guys i thought we all agreed to disagree on this subject, we already know how this topic always turns out, its a no win situation for all parties involved, so lets get back to the tech stuff and stop with the rat/trailer wars, and just for the record, even when im rich i still would not drive a boyd car, i will however buy a mint duesenburg and chop, channel and section it, boy i can see the cringing already

A couple of things and I will shut -up.
#1 It takes absolutly no money to do a good job.
#2 It takes absolutly no money to block sand for hours on end to make the ride laser straight.
What it does take is hard work and lots of time and lots of patience and comitment to make it look nice.I have way less than 3 grand in this ride and will drive it some to shake it down before the hours of block sanding begin to make it look nice.With eveything done and looking nice I hope to be at about 4000 - 4500 max ! Here is how I will drive it to shake it down{see pic}.Click on the camera next to my name and look at my pics,all it takes is hard work ,like all other things in life.
I could have driven it when I bought it if I wanted rusty crusty and thats allright too,.{Whatever you like is ok with me}..but I would not knock anyones elses ride if mine was crusty and primered ,its just not right.Nobody here knocks anyone else for a primered or ruff bodied ride or small engine.The only thing anyone has issues with is SAFETY .Whether its a 100,000 dollar ride or a 1000 dollar ride is beside the point,unsafe is unsafe period,you just do not see alot of 30,000 dollar cars that are unsafe, soo it looks like everyone is down on rats because these safety issues show up more here than on most rides.

Do like you want and have fun whether its a show car or a rat, just do not put someone down for styling you may not care for and they will not put you down for your taste,they may not like it ,but thats a opinion and thats ok delivered in the proper way.When you post here to let the world see what your doing and most people say its unsafe you need to come to reality that it is probably true and not the best thing to do,I am sure my old car that I had to beat the tie rod ends back on if I turned too quickly was unsafe,you could not tell me anything when I was young,but...when I bounced off the telephone pole from the tie rod end coming off it put a large goose egg on my ego, I started to stop and listen to what the majority said and found they were right.I will not listen to the majoity on the music I like and the clothes I like and my take on life.But when 100 people tell you its unsafe you really need to look at what you are doing and ask yourself ,is it unsafe and why would all these people tell me it was unsafe if it was not?

This hobby is not about conformity its all about personal exspression in ones work and style and rats are just another style you may or may not like along with show cars /dragsters/prostreet/low rider/donk and about a 100 different variations of that theme.From my rusty hulk to Chip fooses million dollar cars they are just personal exspressions of that persons vision and may or may not be liked by others.

Do you guys remember in school/military when someone would mess up it affected everyone .When a safety issue arises whether it be on chip fooses car or a rat and the part fails and lets the car get out of controll goes in the other lane and injures a celebrity or politician or someone rich and they make a stink about it ,we will all have to be restricted or penalized in some way to make everyone happy if the media gets hold of it and causes a stink.You may think you are way back in the stix or nobody is going to be in danger from it but you and thats just not the case anymore in a world with the internet and sattelites and global media.I will give an example,farmers kid in middle town nowhere improperly modifies ride and kills Monica Lewinski in fatal crash.Before you can blink even the little arab huddled down in his hut in iraq just heard it thru aljezzera tv along with every other country in the world in 24 hours or less.

Do what you like ,how you like ,but...do it safe and return to do it again if its fun!!!!!

shawnlee28,

I really enjoyed you gallery that is going to be one sweet truck (one of my favorite body styles)....

And i want to say that i did not mean to stir anything up and hope i did not step on any toes... I was just expressing my opinion that just because someone doesnt have tons of money doesnt mean they can not have a nice car of any liking.... Heck i dont even like what im building right now it just kinda fell in my lap, but im going to finish (to my standard) and drive the crap out of it... I can appriecate all types of mechanical genius pulled out of a field or out of a trailer.... Its just some people need to open their minds a little....

HARMON

Hey chevyboy I todally feel what your saying. I agree some people do need to open their mind a little. Some of these guys dont like you to express you opinion. Oh and you might not want to opologize to some people on here because they will just come back at you when you post a comment on another thread. I also feel the same way you do. Why have an awesome car and not drive it. Like I said before these cars werent built to ride in trailers they were built to drive. If they would have been meant to ride in trailers they would have sold the trailers with the car when they were new. Oh and Henry I have already started to get everything to build my car and should be done within the next two years. My brother in-law that Im building it with has been building hotrods since he was a kid. His first car was a 1953 Chevy Bel-air. His dad also has a Henry Jay I cant remember what year though.

But Denny....only one person in this thread is allowed to have an opinion........

But Denny....only one person in this thread is allowed to have an opinion........


Yeah me, im always right,hehe

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Like I said before these cars werent built to ride in trailers they were built to drive. If they would have been meant to ride in trailers they would have sold the trailers with the car when they were new.

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That's baloney. I could just as easily say that if cars were meant to rust, they woudn't have painted them at the factory. The real truth is that these "hobby" cars are built for whatever purpose the owner wants to build them for.

Nobody here cares how much you drive your car. Why do you have so much of a problem with people who don't drive theirs as much? Nobody cares that you paint your car with barn paint. Why do you care if they lay on a 3-part candy paint? I suggest that you get beyond the idea that everyone has to do what YOU want them to do.

Since the first rat rod thread appeared, rat rodders have been complaining that their rides get no respect. You know why? It's because the standard opening line has been something to the effect of: "Shiny cars are stupid." or "Why don't you drive that trailer queen?"

The bottom line is that I don't know anyone who's been on this board for a while who gives a rat's fuzzy backside (pun intended) what you do with your car. But you're not going to get respect for your ride by bagging on theirs.

Hey Dave I was just wanting to let you know that we are buying a 1953 Dodge pickup to build a ratrod. We will be getting it here soon and will be starting on it later this spring. I will keep you posted on how it is coming along with some pictures.

"....to Chip fooses million dollar cars....."

the only thing that makes them million dollar cars is that name.

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The only thing that makes them million dollar cars is that name.

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Yeah . . . right. It has nothing to do with craftsmanship, fit and finish, top-notch parts, planning, vision, design skills or fabrication ability. All he has to do is sign his name. Yep, that's the ticket.

It's hard for some backyard builders to understand that there are people who build cars, and then there are people WHO BUILD CARS. The Chip Fooses of this world are not in the same league as someone like me who puts a car together. They are super stars in this industry because they have more talent and a vision that most of us only hope to attain. No one gets that famous because they are not exceptional in design and excecution.

Of all the guys out there I respect Chip the most. He not only can envision a car in his head, but he can reduce it to a drawing, then do all the work needed to make it a reality. He is not like a Coddington, who maybe did actual work at one time but no more, he rolls up his sleeves and isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. How many times have you seen him on Overhaulin' sanding away on some project? And I don't think that is just done for the camera's either, he appears to me to not be above doing whatever is needed to make a car right.

It is just a fact of life, some people are destined to become great athletes, or musicians, or whatever. Something in their genes propels them to that level of greatness, and we should not be jealous of their God given talents.

Don

What gets me is ,for a group of people that want to rebel and build rat rods and preach the no conformity anarchy ,.................there sure seems to be alot of rules......:LOL:
No paint
No billit
No trailers
No radial tires
No crate engines
No new shiney parts
I am sure there are a few I missed,but why when you build a rat ,does every other car have to be no good,its the ,,,,,,,,,,,your with us or against us ,,,,,,,,,,mentality that sux ,not your rat.
Just keep in mind that 75 percent of a build is body work,meaning it took 75 percent less effort to build the rat ,than a shiney ride,meaning that if you had that much more time and money in on the rat ,you would start to understand where some of these guys are coming from when you call all shiney cars garbage or billit dressed cars posers,you are offending almost everyone without a rat ,which brings us full circle to the your with us or against us attitude that puts everyone off ,just like Henry said,no one cares what you do or dont paint your car with,its the A T T I T U D E .:rolleyes:

I'm not trying to say that the craftsmanship, etc is not what makes them million dollar cars. I'm just saying the name puts alot into the cost.
If his name weren't on it, but it had the same level of craftsmanship, it would probably cost considerably less.

I know I'm just another kid getting into the hot rod scene, a "backyard builder" as such, but i DO appreciate craftsmanship, i DO know a well built car when i see one, and i do appreciate good looking cars with tons of planning behind them.

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Originally Posted by 71fordkid

I'm not trying to say that the craftsmanship, etc is not what makes them million dollar cars. I'm just saying the name puts alot into the cost.
If his name weren't on it, but it had the same level of craftsmanship, it would probably cost considerably less.

I know I'm just another kid getting into the hot rod scene, a "backyard builder" as such, but i DO appreciate craftsmanship, i DO know a well built car when i see one, and i do appreciate good looking cars with tons of planning behind them.

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How do you think builders like Foose get the name that makes a car they build worth big bucks???? They get it because of the quality of their builds. I don't think many appreciate or would believe the amount of hours and parts money that go into a build like Foose does. Doing a paint job with a rattle can in the back yard is far different from the hundreds of hours that goes into prep and paint on one of Foose's cars--no, not one of the "Overhualin" cars, but one of the builds that take place in Foose's own shop...