[Good Frosty]

There is a late seventies Ford truck hood in our pile of garbage, I would like to cut it up and make something out of it, kind of like the guy said he did in rod and custom with a 50' something GM hood. There is alot of Big-Truck junk in our scrap-yard too. I could weld together a roadster with dualies, a gas international 350 and trans, a enormous straight axle, and a really thick frame, and not spend nothing. (Probably be a nightmare to drive) Theres also a 6-cyl 63-Chevy Viking flatbed in there too, but the cab is almost gone, and the frame is really crappy looking. But it has a nice dash and instrument cluster, and the fenders are good too, along with most of the glass. I could have bought a new cab for 20.00 dollars a month or two ago, but I didn't think to. Now its crushed...

I'm trying to find a frame for my 53' Mercury/49-Linc' convertible. The floors are completly gone from this car, from one side to the other, the only pieces of a floor are in the trunk, even the seat bracing is cut up and rusty. One of my friends has got a $100 Monte Carlo I could use, but I'd feel a little bad about sawing up a 2-door, even if its G-body junk. I'd like to put this sheetmetal onto another car's chassis and floors, and just weld and glue it together so it can be drove.

-GF

[ccb]

i like the drawlings. be sure to save them. having a concept is the first step, and a rough idea of what is si. a small truck cassis is all designed and can be picked up for what ever you want to spend/fix. make the body fit the fraim. let the auro enginers do the frame. make it new parts as needed. great idea, keep us posted.

[Good Frosty]

I started measuring on my old 50's Semi-Cab. It was about 6-feet 9-inches wide. It was a bad tape-measurer but I think it was pretty accurate. Its another 3-inches on either side of my ranger's cab, so I think it would be too big for a mini-truck, unless its sectioned. I might just stick a 48' Ford Convertible cab I found in the woods on it.

I found a crappy 76' Lincholn with a 460 for sale, I'm thinking thats what I'm going to use to build my Lincholn/Mercury convertible. Plus the fact that its an actual Ford Smog-"Monster" is pretty cool. Should be able to push my massive convertible along pretty good. And its the right width (Their both like 8-feet wide)

I can also keep some of the funky Lincholn body on there too....I could actually just use the back-portion of my Convertible and keep the Smogger front, and It would still be wild looking.

-GF

[inkfxinc1]

Can someone send me the plans to build a rat rod frame from scratch b/c the link is not working. Inkfxinc1@aol.com is my email..thank you!!

[Chopt 48]

Good Frosty: The Monte Carlo frame is around 2 inches shorter in wheel base than the Mercs. I had to stretch one that much but I used most of the Merc floor. In your case I think I would hunt for a doner car with a matching wheelbase as the convert. I think some of the four doors are pretty close. Take a look at the late 70 mid 80's Olds Delta 88 and buick of the same size.
The photos of the ones that I have seen done use a lot of the firewall from the doner car so cut it high if you do it.

Frosty, there was a guy in the PNW who showed up at rod trots about 6 or 7 years ago with just such a roadster.. truck frame, dual rear wheels and a roadster body built from pieces. A monster sized rig that got a lot of attention.

Ink, there really arn't any set "rat rod frame" plans. It is pretty well "run what ya got and make it work". The whole concep revolves around taking somthing that is cheap or better yet free and making somthing hot out of it.

[Good Frosty]

A guy told me where there was a couple of 54-Ford bodies at. So If I do build my Convertible Lincholn/Mercury, I'm going to splice the Stretched out quarter panels onto one of the 54's. My car has no doors, or anything, since it was two-cars that some kids welded together back in the early 60's.

I was thinking of cutting the top of my merc-quarters and the stretched fins off with a Sawzall, then cutting the same pieces off of the 54. The welding the Merc-top to the Ford bottom. Since the lower half of my Merc is pretty rough.

I started getting together pieces to build my Ford-Truck hood vehicle, and tomorrow I'm going to start cutting....should be interesting.

-GF

[badbuggy]

I started with my length of cab, desired wheelbase, length of motor and tranny. I had the measurements wriiten down on almost every part before I started, so I had very few surprises.

[Hi-Line Performance]

I joined today just so I could post to this thread. This Chevy truck rod (the one with the spider web design on the radiator) is exactly what Im looking for as a project. Does anyone have any pictures or know of any that are along these lines. An older Chevy truck cab converted into a rat rod. Also has anyone built a newer rod using an S-10 cab with one of the convertible top kits set back as a sorta bucket rat rod. Along the lines of the Toyota mini truck rod. Sorry if my terminology is off.

[badbuggy]

I am glad you like it. I started with a truck cab. I built the frame from box tube in the back and round tube in the front. There is a full in cab rollcage. the floor of the truck is aluminium. I built the radiator shell and bed from scratch. The front axle is TCI, the rear a narrowed 9 inch. It has four wheel discs, and a 292 Yblock with a truck tranny. Jeff

[wishnevsky]

that is pretty cool.. how did you make the radiator shell? I think there are some pix of the toyota truck i cut he roof off ove on my journal..

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jour...age=5&reverse=

[badbuggy]

I rolled the edge pieces and used 16 gauge sheet metal for the sides and top. the web is 1/4 in cold rolled and if you could see it, there is a steel spider on the web as well. Jeff

[wishnevsky]

cool... i am just starting to play with metal, and every little bit of information helps..

[dingodong]

That will not really be a ratrod by defininiton. A homemade car of no make or vintage is what your talking about & the licensing dept. will never let you do it in most states.
You want to start w/a titled car body. I suggest you get a 46-59 2dr of any available make that has good glass & no major dents. Cut the floor & firewall out & lift it up on camperjacks. Then get a modern car [70's or 80's]that has some structure to it [rather than just being a unibody shell] cut away all it takes to fit [use a tape to measure important things like wheel base, axle width, etc. before chosing a doner car] this modern 'chassis' up into the vintage body-shell. I did this w/a 54 Chevrolet and a 85 Amc eagle [yes I do have 4wheel drive! & 28 mpg]. I'm currently using it as my daily driver. It has cost less than $2000 so far including registration [which was no problem]plates, and liabilty insurance. I used only a reciprocating saw, angle grinder, tinsnips,jacks & other hand tools on my driveway...no shop, no lift, not even a oxytorch. You could use a welder to make it a very finished car or bolt it togather in case you want to change chassi later. Obviously there are a ton of details as to how to complete this operation & it would vary from project to project. I made up my "plans" as I went along. People ridiculed me, & said it wouldn't work. It was a lot of work, but it drives WAY better than most other rods I've seen people build. So yes it can be done on the very cheap.

[wishnevsky]

thanks... i have a title for the "Bondo Bucket".. it is supposed to be an 86 toyota pickup... In this state, titles are easy.. North Carolina) many states dont even want titles for ten years old..

[Good Frosty]

I can get titles for my cars, I have connections. So its really not a problem for me. Just some thoughts.


I'm trying to, or will be, buying a 70' Continental. 460, 365 "Gross" HP (About 240 net) and I've been told its got a 9-inch. The body is very...molested. And the trunk is missing (No idea why)

I'd orignally intended to build my 53' Lincholn 2-seater on it. But I think I might let the welding-class put some structure in it one day, and I'm not into rivetting wood into the body to hold together...

I have a thing for big vintage trucks though, so yesterday, we was setting the walls up on my house with our 54' Boom/Telephone-Truck, and I thought about how awesome it would be to have that cab, and fenders, on a smaller frame. I'd always wanted one without hood sides, but I figured it would be scarier with it on. Because you couldn't see what was under there. Theres room for a big-block too...

Then I thought about the Lincholn. The wheels might stick out a foot or two on either side of the hood sides, and It might be a little bit long. But everything would go together pretty good. Plus, it would be a HUGE pickup with a HUGE engine. Might be a little bit scary looking (Exposed frame, crappy paint, truck kind of looks angry anyway) but it would be awesome.


-GF