Welcome to the forum, and I think you stated your goals pretty well. Nothing wrong with a rod in primer and a little rough around the edges, as long as you said the magic word..........."safe."

I still tend to refer to my on hold '39 Dodge as sort of a rat rod. I incorporated some elements that lean that direction on purpose.

You mention advice for a beginner. If I can offer one thing it is to have a fairly firm image in your mind of what you want to build before you start. You will make changes and compromises along the route, but the basic essence should remain pretty much the same. Figure out what kind of car turns you on. Some of us are hardcore fenderless roadster types, some like full fendered coupes and sedans, some like cars from the '30's or '40's etc. You have to determine what kind of car you really want.

Second piece of advice is to consider buying a running or near finished car the first time around. It gets old real fast when you have been laying on your back for 2 or more years and the project is far from done. We who have been doing it for a while understand that timeframe, but many first timers get discouraged and bail out.

Third piece of advice is that whatever budget you set will be exceeded two or threefold........maybe more. Don't let that discourage you, and just consider it like any other pastime..........they all cost money.

Forth piece of advice...........ask lots of questions and listen to what more experienced rodders are trying to tell you. You have gotten off on the right foot by not coming in and trying to stick rat rods down the throats of people who do not necessarily cotton to the term or genre'. You were polite about it and stated that this is simply something you want to do. No one can argue with that.

Good luck with your build plans.

Don