[DougGass87]

some of you were talking about ranger fornt ends earlier in the thread....

i was under my explorer today putting the front bumper back on and took a halfway decent look at the front suspension....

lookes like if you were to build some tubular radius rods and switched to coilovers or a transverse mounted leaf spring (traditional style) instead of coils, it would look halfway decent and ride really well.....

i did notice that in big letters on the arms, it says "DO NOT BEND-HEAT-WELD"

i am assumeing that is because they are cast, but as long as you knew what you were doing and used the right stuff, i think you would be fine......

[badbuggy]

Originally Posted by 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.

So what is the "defininition" of a rat rod, it's not in the dictionary?

[DougGass87]

Originally Posted by badbuggy

So what is the "defininition" of a rat rod, it's not in the dictionary?

personally i am just tired of that word all together....

people who build a car with all new parts and paint it flat black call their cars "ratrods"

ask any TRUE rodder what they think of the term and 95% of them will tell you to **** off.....

[Nightfire]

What's a rat rod? build whatever you want call it whatever you want. My cars are and will always be hot rods, not rat rods.





Mike

[Good Frosty]

Okay, if you want to see an Fenderless S-10 front-end, on a traditional car, look at this. Low-budget.

Model-A

From the front, and side, It looks pretty decent, If you didn't have anything else to use. That car looks pretty crappy though. The big Bend in the frame sticks out right underneath the Cowl, and for some reason, they used a Mustan II rear, which is noticeably narrower than the front end.

Anyway, If you built a body to fit on an S-10 frame, and not have crap hanging out, It wouldn't be that bad if you set it up like this one.


-GF

[Waksabi]

i like a nice flat black old sckool ride.

the "ratrods" were always the beat up cars at the drive-in that didnt run right. theyed goof on themself about how nappy their ride was.

[DougGass87]

im tellin ya, if your going to go independent, ranger and explorer front ends are the way to go...

[Chopt 48]

I am not fond of the term "rat rod" either, from the get go it implied a crude, unsafe piece of junk that someone without skills slapped together.
you see the "Rat Rods" in Old Skool Rods and wonder how many of them are the new version of trailer queens. The opposite end of the "Pro Fairground" scale but most appear to be vehicles that would get you a ticket and probably towed the first time you drove on a public street.
I am all for building a low buck rig out of the parts you can pick up for free or low bucks but there is a point where one still has to look at making it safe and hopefully presentable.
Along with safety items It should have a bit of wow factor.
Sit right with a proper hot rod stance.
No unecessary clutter, such as bulky front suspension on an open wheel rig.
Have onlookers from rodding backgrounds discussing what they would do to it to bring it to the next level.
Most of the Mini truck frames can have the scabs knocked off them pretty easy and be made presentable under an early pickup cab (Pre 48 for the most part). A 41 Chev pickup cab w/o fenders is great/ a 48 Chev cab is butt ugly w/o fenders. If I can find the photos of a truck that a friend in Texas built in the early 70's I'll post it as an example. At that time outside of the engine and wheels he probably didn't have 200 in the truck and it won several awards at runs in Texas at the time. The same truck could still be done for under 2k including engine and wheels.
Now lets see some photos of some of these projects posted.

[DougGass87]

Originally Posted by Chopt 48

The same truck could still be done for under 2k including engine and wheels

depending on what you have to start with and who you know, you could build a reliable, low buck rod VERY cheap......

take me for instance, i have an olds 307, 2004r trans, 10 bolt rearend, 2 sets of steel wheels with tires....

all i would really need to have a driveable rod is a chassis, body, radiator, good carb, and front end/steering/suspension parts, and some other little odds and ends....

once i have the body work done on the 56 and have it driveable, i intend to do just that.....am going to start collecting parts for it soon....

i want to build a 4 cylinder (probably a 2.3 ford) 5 speed lightweight roadster.....something that gets good mileage, looks decent, and can be driven anywhere (weather permitting)

[wishnevsky]

I think the Rat Rod fad has reached the apogee point. Lots of people jumping on, not much originality being shown... And i have a real issue with messing up vintage iron to make a punk rock icon.. But i won't tell you not to do it..not my job.

and the point to me is that in 1955, a Model T was about thirty years old and probably worn out.. So today, i feel the spirit is to get a 30 year old worn out small something and rebuild it with a bigger motor and some goofy accessories...After all the original "Kookie Car" was a pretty funny ride..

So i got a 80 toyota Pickup and made a doodle bug out of it..1,000.00 total including 100.00 for a title bond, and 100.00 worth of genuine Moon parts, just for fun...Well, floor mats and shift knob... But it tickles me, and people smile when they see it..

Next is a bob-tail crew cab 66 chevy pickup, i'm going to to weld on it today.. maybe less than 2,000.00, counting a new motor and trans and radiator. that was a 25.00 64 chevy for the body, a 200.00 66 for motor and doors and lots of welding on sheet metal... it looks bad, but at least i'm learnind to weld...I might even spend 20.00 on a chrome differential cover.. like wow..

next a 80 toyota pickup made into a roadster, hope to have that running next year, and a 62 falcon ranchero to fix up and sell...And there is this cute and free 70 Opel wagon that is begging to be brutalized somehow... Gasser?... Funny Car?... chop off the top and make a touring jalopy?..paint it flat black with shark's teeth and flames?... the possibilities are endless...

I wonder if VW wheels will fit?... that would make life real easy...

[Good Frosty]

My grandpa got a Buick/Opel for free whenever he lived in Michigan, it was a decent running little car, but he already had one (a 65' Impala SS, 327, 300-hp, Yellow with black interior ) So him an my great-uncle (His brother in law) took a hacksaw and cut the roof off. They used it as a dune-buggy until the Police (Which my grandpa had a rivalry with) hauled it and his Buick Skylark off to the impound.

-GF

[wishnevsky]

a sad tale... it's odd but ive already had a few offers on this thing.

[DougGass87]

i just had another thought about the ranger/explorer front ends.....

what if you were to:
-cut the end of each i-beam off (with like 8-10 inches of beam left, we will call these "stubs")
-made a "fork" out of say 1/2" or 3/4" steel and bolted them to the "stubs" with 3-4 3/4" Grade 8 bolts
-build the axle to any width and weld it to your "forks"
-bolt it to your "stubs"

you would have an axle that you could weld safely, have modern brakes, and lots of wheel choices.....

[DougGass87]

OR, instead of makeing the "forks" and then making a section to weld between them (makeing a weak spot at the welds)

you could:

-make the axle from just 2 pieces of the 1/2" or 3/4" with the "forks" made into it
-bolt it all together
-make sure its how you want it
-cut a filler and weld it in to make the axle one piece with the "stubs" bolted to it

that would be much stronger.....

[Good Frosty]

I just had a pretty good idea.

We are already talking about un-orthodox front ends on un-fendered cars, and cost is a problem, but you also have a different, or ugly front end, how about this...

Take a Pre-48' Vehicle (Or whenever they lost the straight axels) preferably a truck. Make sure the frame is sound but the body can be shot, because you just need the frame/front-end. This is so you could pick it up for scrap prices. Take the body off, move the engine/trans crossmember back, lower your steering column, fix up some brakes, then set you body on it. You have a decently traditional looking front end, a pretty good (SKINNY) frame and chassis, thats probably already got the standard V-shape. Or its wider at the back than the front, and you didn't have to do as much work as building your own frame, or making a heretic front end look "right".

I saw a 51' Chevy truck frame without the body on, maybe it was a little earlier, but it was straight axeld. It looked pretty decent actually. It could use some cleaning up, but it wasn't that bad. Not as bad as an S-10 or something, and actually looked a whole lot like a Model-A chassis, just a little bulkier.

I found a 46' Ford Pickup in the woods (Like everything else I usually find, there is a ton of crap back there. I live in junkyard country aparently) The roof of the cab is pretty rough, and the body is really "Shot". (.22) but the frame is all together. I have owned 2 trucks like this one, and the are X-framed, and as far as I remember, have traditional tube-styled straight axels under them. The frame does move sprawl out at the back I think. If it was shortened, and the crossmember maybe moved back, it would make a good chassis for a Model-T. Which is what I may end up doing.


Anyway, finding a older straight axel'd vehicle might be a little easier than converting a ranger Twin I-beam to look like a traditional front end, or paying $500.00 for just a straight axel. I would say you could do some searching and come up with something for under $500.00. Even when your done, you could sell you cab/body off to someone who is wanting to stick it on a S-10 frame or something to get some of your money back.


-GF