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How much for a beat up little ratrod like this?

29K views 184 replies 54 participants last post by  Youngster 
#1 ·
Hey,

I'm a real newbie and I want to get in to hot-rodding to have a little
hobby on the side, and I was wondering how much I should expect to
shell out for a beat up old hot rod like the one of these:




It doesn't have to have a really great engine or be in good shape or
fast as long as it runs and drives under its own power.
 
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#102 ·
Gabriel said:
Hey,

I'm a real newbie and I want to get in to hot-rodding to have a little
hobby on the side, and I was wondering how much I should expect to
shell out for a beat up old hot rod like the one of these:




It doesn't have to have a really great engine or be in good shape or
fast as long as it runs and drives under its own power.
notice how many people are looking at rat rod threads. is that billy gibbons pick up truck with the surf board built by a "pro" kirby stafford who owns a "custom paint shop"!!!!!
 
#103 · (Edited)
playsinthedirt said:
hmm... i like hot rods. all sorts. its a little entertaining to read about a bunch of old guys arguing about whos the real rodder... um...i think there all cool :thumbup:
Actually, I think the consensus was that they are cool, as long as they are done safely. There are quite a few that are missing little things like: complete firewalls, complete floorboards, windshields that are made of glass (yea, I saw a guy who felt Plexiglas was okay), windshields period, a decent scrub line and front brakes. To name a few.

Build what you like, but don't forget to think about your safety and the safety of others. In the old days, it wasn't hot rods that got in trouble. It was bad hot rodders. Building an unsafe car is the new "bad hot rodder". Disregard of safety measures makes it really hard for your congressman to stand up for our rights, when all the opposition has to do is show a photo of a hot rod done wrong as evidence against.

In my opinion, anyway.

Take a look at this example. Let's play a game called spot the violation! Also, a viewer of this video has called him on it. Check out his responses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwgpQAOfpsw
 
#105 ·
Rat rods rule

Gabriel, you should be able to find a old pick up body for under $1000.00 check on ebay for starters. Do your research on wheel base lengths then find a older S10 you should be able to find one for again under $1000. then just re and re the bodies. It will require some skill to do this but time is on your side. Now you will have a relatively inexpensive ratrod that is safe, one that you'll be able have aligned at your neighborhood garage as it is an S10 and one you'll continuously be able to modify and play with as high perf parts are everywhere for S10's. Enjoy and keep us posted on you project.

John
 
#107 ·
tfeverfred said:
Take a look at this example. Let's play a game called spot the violation! Also, a viewer of this video has called him on it. Check out his responses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwgpQAOfpsw
Maybe its just me, but I see a cool hot rod there that needs a windshield but thats about it. At least he has floorboards unlike many "rat rods", and that hole in the dash...I dont see why that makes a difference.
Seems to stop just fine too haha.


Mike
 
#108 ·
wait a second, is that the ground i see through the glove box? i bet if he tired real hard he could get a rock to fly off the front tire and smack'm in the head!
That's what you see thru the glovebox because it doesn't have a firewall in it. Of coure the car was no safer when it was a drag car than it is not because the engine used to be a 6 pop sitting in the passenger seat. They wanted to keep it nastalgic, hence the original paint and no firewall :rolleyes:
 
#112 ·
The interesting thing about both of those pieces of crap in the videos is that NEITHER ONE EVEN COMES CLOSE TO REPRESENTING WHAT HOT RODS WERE BACK IN THE 50's. They're just cobbled together rust buckets and if it wasn't for bailing wire and bubble gum those two piles of junk would probably fall apart.
 
#114 ·
It just seems rediculous to me to build a car that if you let the air out of any one tire...either part of the frame or body..or both is going to hit the pavement. That would not be too cool with a blowout at 60 mph. I don't remember any of the old rods being built like that.
 
#115 ·
Henry Highrise said:
It just seems rediculous to me to build a car that if you let the air out of any one tire...either part of the frame or body..or both is going to hit the pavement. That would not be too cool with a blowout at 60 mph. I don't remember any of the old rods being built like that.
I doubt you would have to let air out at all to scrape. I bet you have to jack the car up to get in a driveway to a house or any other type of gradient.
 
#116 ·
The popularity of cars like those posted (completely unsafe, cobbled up, junk) will IMO cause at the least very close scrutiny by law enforcement, of any project that has the unfinished look to it. About the time one of those clowns has a blow out, crosses the center line and meets someone head on, there will be a push in the states legislature (backed by the insurance industry) to either flat out ban them or put so many requirements (like requiring current safety standards) on the build that it will become almost impossible to build a car.
Imagine how well that will go over with the majority of rod builders.
My .02
 
#117 ·
What I want to know, is who does the safety inspections to allow these crap cans to get plated to drive on the road?..... Here, every vehicle has to have a safety certificate in order for you to buy plates for it.
 
#118 ·
Well, I'm pretty sure a windsheild, headlights, windsheild wipers, and a few others are required where we live. Most of these cars lack those.

So their not street legal, sure, you could get away with Plexi-Glass, and maybe skimp the windsheild wipers, and side markers, but there is just a few things you should do for yourself and the car.

Which, is pretty much what everyone is complaining about.
 
#120 ·
poncho62 said:
What I want to know, is who does the safety inspections to allow these crap cans to get plated to drive on the road?..... Here, every vehicle has to have a safety certificate in order for you to buy plates for it.
I have not seen anything like those dangerous things on the roads here, but there is no inspection what-so-ever in Arkansas. None, nada, zip, zilch :nono:

If you have a title, an insurance certificate, proof that you payed your taxes, and pay for the tags, you are legal here. Believe me, it is scary enough with the 15-20 year old cars that they drive around here. :(
 
#121 ·
Most states that no longer have a safety inspection have laws that allow the cops to pull you over and make you get the heap towed home right on the spot -- or tow it to the impound yard for you. I know they at least insinuated that when SC did away with the safety inspection farce years ago. Depending on who you knew, you could get anything inspected anyway. The charge was someting like $15 -- with $5 going to the inspection station (any local service station that applied -- it was more a way for them to get a little business than anything else, certainly wasn't worth the 20-30 minutes time!) and $10 to the state... heck, total may have been $10, there's been no inspection for about 10 years now! Anyway, someoine in the state gov figured out it cost more to administer the program than the state was getting, so they did away with it instead of raising the cost. I've only heard of a few stories where cars were pulled over and forced to call for a ride home. Most of the time they give you a ticket and tell you to drive home and park, only tow if you get caught again with the same violation. Always a few that try!

I worked a summer at a service station changing tires and doing inspections when I was 16! The inspection was simple enough -- make sure turn signals, headlights, horn worked properly, wasn't exceptionally loud, and the windows weren't cracked anywhere to impair visibility. A few other things -- mirrors in place and intact, and things like that. The owner came out and put the sticker on, and he gave everything a cursory glance when they walked in and asked for an inspection. If a car looked questionable he'd watch while I went through the steps. If it looked like it wasn't likely to pass he'd turn the owner away without taking the time to check. For him this was more a service for regular customers.
 
#122 ·
roots

I hate to say it folks but thats how rodding started and don't tell me theres old timers out there that don't remember having a string for a throttle and sat on a milk crate till they got a pay check to get a throttle and a seat yes some of them were poorly built and that guy should have installed the fire wall and a window. if you ever sat in a tank in ww2 then that car felt pretty safe for the day.
 
#126 ·
playsinthedirt said:
can you explain to me why you have such a negitive opinion about this? i dont understand it
Ask an honest Q get an honest A...I really hate it when a bunch of self rightious idiots act they know everything about hotrodding and then confuse it w/safety issues, the racing industry,magazines,censorship,paint vs rust vs primer foolishness, and all the rest. I think the core group who dominates any web site are always going to be that way...See for example the girly boys over at ol skool [& can't spell] rodz. I also hate people trying to put an age or face on hotrodding. In fact who ever coined the term Ratrod didn't do anyone any favors in the 1st place, but if it wouldn't have been that it would of just been some other name for the trendy to strive after & the ignorant to whine about.
 
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