Guest ON3GO Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 im a real big fan of this style, and these cars ppl build just blow my mind, they just look sooooo awesome. i had a line on a 1929 ford that i was even planning on putting a carbed L28 in it and make look like a real rat rod (motor wise too)... but i think a 46-48 Ford coupe would be even cooler! i cant afford a convert, way to much buy in price so im picking up a coupe and will be cutting the top off and making it a convertable.. but it wont have a top at all. the window ill be chopping 3inchs. shaving all rails, emblems, handles, mirrors, wipers, and etc. i have a 350 SBC ill be putting in it but i dunno what tranny as of yet. looking for a 56 ford dash, ill have to cut it 7 inchs or so to make it fit but it looks way nicer. gonna use a dupont chromabase black paint that looks like primer black but its like a real basecoat.. so ill have that look but not have to worry about the primer turning white and rust. deff gonna get some wide white walls, painted steel wheels with chrome caps, and whatever else i can think of.. mix and match parts.. u guys know the game. ive never done anything like this before but it should be fun! will give me some practice on a carbed V8 so i can get Juans (V8dats) Z running good, and would be a nice break from working on Juans Z's, my Z's, and a few friends Z's. for the guys that dont know what a 46 to 48 ford looks like, it looks like........ mine will be no where nearrrrrrrrrr as shiney and pricey, thats a custom, mine will be a rat rod. i do plan on selling it once i finish it, so i can build another one ... anybody else into these cars/style...? mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar240z Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 i love em. i plan on building a few after the z is done, and i'm out of college. i plan on getting a '36 coupe, turning it into a pickup, chopping it, channeling it, and sectioning the body... i made a model of it, and i liked how it looked so i'm gonna make it in real life eventually. i've got a rusty oval window bug i'm gonna practice chopping the top on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5foot2 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 rat rod....... the most over used term of the last 5 years. I think the 41-42 cars are in the same family as the 46-48 years. The latter years have a nicer front end imho. These Fords look great with a 3-4 inch chop if your at all thinking of that route. Be careful just cutting off the roof, it just doesn't look right on some cars. Sometime the diffs between the convertable and the coupe are pretty significant making the conversion tough. If you don't know about them, look into Carson tops. Basically they're removable hard tops. They look sweet. I'm collecting parts for a '30 Model A tub. I'm trying for a '55-'62 period hotrod, so I've picked up an old offy tri power intake and a bunch of rochester 2g carbs, an early 60's 283, most of the A front end part, '53 f100 front brakes, etc. This summer I'll be prowling the swap meets for sheet metal. Should be fun. I have a buildable L24 and I've thought it would look nice in an open early style hotrod. In fact I have a cowl and roof off a very rusty 240 I picked up for parts and I was thinking of maybe using that sheet metal as the basis for a custom bodied rod. Using the L24. I assume you know about the HAMB? http://www.jalopyjournal.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 ya i do.. ya i no its a over used term, and its turning into the whole "JDM" thing.. well not really, haha. but it really is one, or well atleast a Kustom.. ive been reading up on the history and terms, its pretty awesome how it all came to be. the fronts on the later models i dont care for, dont like the lines. the coupes have the same lines as the converts, except it has a panel that sorta lays on the quarter panel/truck... so that will either have to be custom made or i dunno yet. dont think it will be that bad. i rather not have any roof at all, but the windsheild will be chopped alot. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Me and my dad had a 1921 Dodge touring car (cut down to a two seater) project a few years ago, it was in ratrod/lakes roadster style. It never got finished but it was pretty cool. BTW Mike Ole Blue is looking awesome! I havent been on in a while and its a lot different now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phil1934 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 I've got a couple under works, an English '34 Ford with blown Mercruiser 470 (1/2 Ford 460 with aluminum block) and Tremec and a '39 Olds with dual quad 455 and S-P400, both chopped to under 7" windshields, the '39 shaved and fitted with '50 Ford taillights, the '34 wearing all the frills, chrome hinges, handles, bumpers, louvers, '39 teardrops, and both mini tubbed for M/T tires. Go to http://www.jalopyjournal.com and click on the HAMB links. It's the traditional (don't use rat there) rod forum. If you sign up, read the intro section and post there first or you will get flamed. Just passed 2.5M posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdsk8r Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 My cousin is building a "Rat Rod". It's a 49 Ford F-1 cab, hood, and grill (no front fenders) mounted low on a late sixties chevy half ton pickup chassis, with a late model S-10 box on back. It is powered by a 351 Cleveland Ford with a C-6 auto trans. It sounds strange, but it looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trecani Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 I love the 30-40's cars, especially the Licoln Zephyr, would be an awesome project if I had money. Hurry up and do it, stop thinking about it, cause I want to see it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Here is a pic of my 41 chevy, it had a 350/ 4 speed. Unfortunately I sold it about 5 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert dog Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Not necessarily a "rat rod", but I have built and help build a lot of cars. My favorite so far was a '50 Mercury with a 514ci big block in it. It was chopped in 12 places. One of my good friends is building a '36 Dodge "club cab" pickup with a 318 in it. Another is working a '48 Cadillac limo with a Northstar in it... Yet another is building a chopped '58 Chevy pickup with C4 Corvette drivetrain... Yep, street rods are in my blood... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonsZ Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Everyone likes to use the term RAT ROD except the actual rat rodders. I did a little research and to be a true rat-rodder: "Rat rod is a newly developed name for the original hot rod style of the early 1950s. A rat rod is usually a vehicle that has had many of its non-critical parts removed. They are usually finished in primer-like paints and are often period correct. They are very often the conglomeration of parts and pieces of different makes and models. A typical rat rod is an early 1930s through 1950s coupe or roadster with the body set low on the frame, fenders removed, whitewall tires, big-little tire combos, exposed engine bay, home-made upholstery, and lots of power. A Rat Rod is considered to differ from a Hot Rod in a number of key terms. A Rat Rod is generally considered to be a home built, low budget, one off custom that is still often driven and has many flaws and/or imperfections. In popular usage a Hot Rod is now considered to be a high end, high budget show car that emulates the early Hot Rods in style but sports flashy paint high end upholstery and generally rarely see much in the way of road time. (See Boyd Coddington as an example of new-age Hot Rods) In many ways Hot Rod is now synonymous with Trailer Queen (a car that is never actually driven but is purely for display and trailered from show to show). Rat Rods are also sometimes called Custom cars, Kustoms, Leadsleds or Sleds. Most Rat Rods were usually not originally high performance vehicles, but usually a large 2-door sedan with a chopped down roofline, lowered suspension, and most of the trim work removed. They often sport a mixed parts from other cars, i.e. its not uncommon to see a Mercury running a Chevy motor with Dodge rear end." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobythevan Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 I am working on a 34 pontiac, I call it a hot rod, not a rat rod, but it will be a driver for sure http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=106528 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5foot2 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 So on3go, if you opt to go with a IFS and an open drive shaft rear diff let me know. I'd be interested in the parts that come off the Ford. It seems to me "Rat Rod" has become it's own type of car, mostly a hack job that just barley runs and is very questionable when it comes to safety. Eight or ten years ago the cars that carried the rat rod label were mostly cars in progress being driven, on the way to looking nice, not the **** being hacked together today. But I guess that's the way it works when something gets a label. It's a race to the lowest common denominator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 ill be going to a mustang 2 front suspension.. that i know. not sure really what else.. ill keep ya posted. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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