Almost 12 months and I m still here

[Northstar T]

Let me pose a question. Is the term rat rod used by the unwashed masses to discribe any car that dosen't have a complete paint, bling and interior?

Not by this unwashed mass. I see a fair amount of cars that are either unpainted or have a permanent primer coat that I would NOT insult by calling a rat rod. in fact some of the coolest cars were never painted or had a bit of "bling" added.
Rat rod to me = poorly made junk. a mismatch of parts thrown together by incapable hands. their reward seems to be who can gather the most insults. I try to help those people attain that goal.

Russ

 

[LarryH]

Let me pose a question. Is the term rat rod used by the unwashed masses to discribe any car that dosen't have a complete paint, bling and interior?

Pretty much. Last summer i had my '56 Chevy hauled to the muffler shop for a complete exhaust system. The guy that owns the shop has been a street rodder from birth. I was telling him my plans for the '56 "It'll be flat gray to look like gray primer, with blue and white tuck n' roll". "Oh you mean like a rat rod".

 

[one finger john]

Gerry, the midlife crisis I alluded to was from your statement "They remind me of my 20s. When a T bucket got the same reaction and the "Norms" looked down their noses at ME and MY RIDE. " I can almost hear strains of "Born to be Wild" in the back ground. Your defense of R.R.s as an art form is correct (most could be called "art cars") but all of us on this site have seen WAY too many examples of engineering and fabrication gone bad. So when you do create a Rat Rod, what will it be? Form over function? "Art" over form? Rust over paint?

John

 

[TexasT]

Yes sir it is, Biff Buzby burger good place to eat and hangout, If you dont mind the youngsters in their corvettes and mustangs that think they rule the world

 

[fordsbyjay]

I like rat rods, super low, I don't car about flashy paint jobs just cool, fast and low. Unfortunately throwing an old scrap pile together and calling it a car is gonna hurt the whole hobby when one of these "welded chain" steering components fail. There is so many haters against hot rodders already why feed the fire? Now provided the use a little common sense in the steering and brake departments who cars if they want to make a steering wheel from connecting rods or some other crazy thing. That is what makes the hobby so good. Who wants everyone to drive red 68 camaros? YUK!

THE DUMBEST THING I HAVE SEEN IS THOSE TRACTOR GRILLS.

 

[Ted Brown]

I love this, opinions are like belly buttons, everyone has one

 

[Northstar T]

I love this, opinions are like belly buttons, everyone has one

perhaps some are afraid to show theirs?? what say you obi-wan? :kiltdance:

Russ

 

[deckofficer]

I love this, opinions are like belly buttons, everyone has one

Aw Ted, you don't get off that easy. Air your opinion or belly button.

Bob

 

[one finger john]

Aw Ted, you don't get off that easy. Air your opinion or belly button.

Bob

Or both.

 

[Gerry]

Gerry, the midlife crisis I alluded to was from your statement "They remind me of my 20s. When a T bucket got the same reaction and the "Norms" looked down their noses at ME and MY RIDE. " I can almost hear strains of "Born to be Wild" in the back ground. Your defense of R.R.s as an art form is correct (most could be called "art cars") but all of us on this site have seen WAY too many examples of engineering and fabrication gone bad. So when you do create a Rat Rod, what will it be? Form over function? "Art" over form? Rust over paint?

John

Maybe 'No Surrender' from Bruce is closer to it!!!
You have (as always) hit the valve stem on the head, so to speak. How could I build a rat rod that is actually a RR. Not sure if it would ever qualify so I would end up with the RR guys pissed off at me along with the guys on the 'other' side of the coin. Still if would be fun trying just to see how far I could go down that route before the engineer in me kicked in.
The thing that kicked this off is that my wife always buys me a few American DVDs of rods etc at Christmas. This year there was a couple on RR. Kinda grabbed my imagination.
Gerry

 

[Gerry]

Not by this unwashed mass. I see a fair amount of cars that are either unpainted or have a permanent primer coat that I would NOT insult by calling a rat rod. in fact some of the coolest cars were never painted or had a bit of "bling" added.
Rat rod to me = poorly made junk. a mismatch of parts thrown together by incapable hands. their reward seems to be who can gather the most insults. I try to help those people attain that goal.

Russ

Very well put, Russ

 

[RPM]

Gerry I am with you, I like a well done rat. We sell lots of parts to the rat crowd. Now iI don't care for the unsafe steering and brakes you see on some, nor the open driveshafts I have seen. Check out this rat, these guys build some really nice cars. [media]http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=twisted976#grid/uploads[/media]

 

[Gerry]

I have seen pics of that one under construction. Cool
Guess the scrub line rule has gone out of the window.!!!!
Gerry

 

[RPM]

I have seen pics of that one under construction. Cool
Guess the scrub line rule has gone out of the window.!!!!
Gerry

Pretty sure it has air ride on it.

These two guys build these cars then sell them for big $$$$$. They build them the way they want and just sell them when they are finished. They build about 1 a month.

 

[409T]

Let me pose a question. Is the term rat rod used by the unwashed masses to discribe any car that dosen't have a complete paint, bling and interior?

Excellent question. I've seen many "Rat Rods" that were constructed using tens of thousands of dollars to make them strong, safe, and more importantly, to make them look like they were cobbled together over a weekend. The paint jobs alone on these cars can approach 10K. A good friend has one that took 300 hours of body work and paint alone to make it look like it had never been touched. It is sitting on a TCI frame with all name brand suspension parts and body parts that were once straight, but now have been intentionally aged through paint and sanding.

So to answer, I agree with Northstar T in that maybe there needs to be a few more classifications of rides. I don't think the term rat rod should be used to describe every car with a flat black paint job and seemingly mismatched parts. If I had my way, rat rod would be reserved for those cars that were produced or converted to this look by way of skill and effort, and something like junk rod would be used for the rest.

Jeff

 

[one finger john]

Moving a little bit off center in this conversation, i have seen NEHR SpeedCraft move into properly constructed rat rod territory. All the engineering is there, proper frame, well thought out interior (as far as space utilization), its low, scrub lines thought out. What's not to like? Instant, socially acceptable, throughly engineered, safe Rat Rod. But it comes with a price. $12,000 plus. You might be able to get away with spending $15,00 total. OR have we forgotten T-Odds T that is carefully, artfully, rusted (faux rust) and aged to perfection. (Like the A wheels that he put on it.) Also the new T from Speedway that's a low boy. Rat Rods all. There is even a thread or two in the HAMB about changing a rat rod into a properly engineered hot rod. Most require a complete redo in the frame dept. The modern hot rod is basically 70 years of tradition unhampered by progress. Yet in every step of the evolutionary process (40s, 50s, 60s, ect.) if they are assembled with care & forethought and driven within the limitations of the engineering, the cars are reasonably safe. No worse than a motorcycle of any year. It probably comes down to how the car is put together and how it is driven. And we all know how youth and enthusiasm can effect the end result.

John

 

[Corley]

This is starting to sound like the HAMB, with the strong opinions being expressed.

Personally, I usually find something interesting in just about ALL types of cars, and especially the ones where the owner has done the build / engineering himself. If he just goes to the store and buys a bolt on, then someone else has done the interesting part in my opinion. So, yes I too like to look at Rat-Rods. (And I don't even know what the definition of a Rat-Rod is!) Some, I wouldn't ride in, just like some 'T' buckets I've seen that were a bit sketchy in the engineering area. Still, I like Corvettes, pickups, kit cars, motorcycles, ATVs, jeeps and Jeeps (some of you probably didn't even know there is a difference), '53 Studebakers, and even tri year Chevies and '49 Fords, just to mention a few. Even Anglias, Fiats and Saabs have some interesting engineering in them! Hybrid engineering is interesting, as are electrics, and even homebuilt aircraft and boats. There is something to be learned from them ALL!

Probably my least favorite rides are the jelly bean cars, that all look alike, and usually ride like hell, and make a bunch of unessesary noise for no good reason except to be the same as all the others. Have you noticed how they all seem to get trashed before long? Buy a white Honda Civic, paint the hood flat black, lower it to the ground, stick a big fat exhaust on it and you'll find it in the junk yard in a year or two, (actually at about the same time the driver goes to jail for gang activities and drugs.) JMHO

Different is where it's at for me, not sameness... It's great to see how someone else did it, when they deviated from the norm. That's why I love Gerry's car, he didn't follow the crowd. And if he built a Rat-Rod, I have no doubt whatever that it would be safer than most 'T' buckets out there, and extremely 'interesting' to observe and examine. You see, it's pretty obvious to me by now that Gerry is an engineer, and not just an assembler. Good on you Gerry, go for the rat next!!! (HINT: Work faster on the rat, or you won't live long enough to drive it! HA!)

PS I also hate Harley's with straight pipes, because they give me a headache, and I just can't imagine what the attraction is...

 

[Youngster]

It's true you can learn something form strange places. I just finished looking at thread on a home built car off another site. NOT my kind of build but one thing I thought was cleaver was the use of a aux. air tank converted to a fuel tank. Cheap and easy solution for some on here too.

Ron

Oh and by the way Russ, you are anything other than a member of the unwashed masses!

 

[Mike]

I always want to see people driving something safe. I really feel we have an obligation to build safe rides. There are other cars sharing the street and roads and most people have had a passenger on board every now and again. If you want to risk your life, don't let me stand in your way. But none of us have the right to endanger others.

Beyond that, I say whatever floats your boat is just fine with me.

I've been getting a kick out of watching Cafe Racer on the boob tube each week. I certainly wouldn't want one, but to watch the passion some of those fellows have for breathing life into older bikes is worth the price of admission.

I have a pretty good friend, who is restoring a T roadster. Would I want one? Nope. Do I have a lot of admiration for his restoration? Absolutely. And whether I want one or not doesn't fit into the equation, because HE is spending HIS money on something HE enjoys and something HE wants. If it makes HIM happy, what else matters?

Last time I checked, it was still perfectly legal to march to the beat of a different drummer. So may it ever be.

 

[EX JUNK]

You have expressed my sentiments exactly, Mike. I have a saying, "aint none of my money in it" that applies to a lot of cars. The ONLY thing that matters is that it is built to be safe.

Jim