Apprentice's Rat "Rat-A-Tow-E"

[racer135]

Ok, here we go!

There was this 1947 ford jailbar cab I used to eye off on the way to school on the bus every time we passed it on the 1hr trip to and from school.

I went back along the side of the road with my car today and checked it out.

The guards and front-end/radiator support with the headlights in it are now about 2-4ft away from the cab which has been pushed around by an electrical company bulldozer while clearing under the powerlines nearby.

The rear of the drivers side of the cab is now about 6-8inches away from the bottom front corner of the door opening, so she's pretty bent.

But hey, I'd rather do a ****-load of work on this gift from the side of the road than pay some idiot like $5-6k for a cab!!!

It's ridiculous what people are asking for old rusted heaps (read= gems) now. I reckon if someone actually owned that 47 they would advertise it for at least $1k. Just have a look at ebay australia and see what ridiculous prices they're asking for mustangs!!!! (why that is relevant i have no idea, what was i thinking??)

Tomorrow I shall borrow my dad's trailer and my brother and we shall go fetch the cab and the guards.

So, after I do a bit of carriage-making to patch up the guards, I'll need to find/make some doors, and find/make a bonnet. I'm thinking of replacing the jail bars with a David Brown tractor grille or with some galvanized 1in diamond step-mesh.

I have a Nissan Navara rolling/driving chassis to mount the cab/guards on. Torsion bar front end, with a 6cyl ford 4.1L crossflow engine in it.

I'm thinking of chopping about 2 inches out of the pillars of it, channeling to get it pretty low lookin. Might get a flathead v8 from somewhere and get some zoomies happening.

I'm thinkin of making a fake tow truck back for it, so it will basically be a miniaturized tow truck.

A bit of artwork here and there, "Rat-a-tow-e" along the crane arm, with "Fishy's Gas and Tow Service" on the doors, with a tough muscly lookin cross armed fish with a cap on, smokin a cigarette (HAHA just an idea i thought up the other day after seeing an 50's-looking poster of some muscly cross armed chick in a bandanna smokin a cig). Why a fish? I have no more an idea than you have!!! (wait, now come to think of it, the flying hellfish episode of the simpsons was on a few weeks ago!!! wow, i remember things!)

I'll get one of my girlfriend's mates to do the paint/artwork for it making it look the 50's style.

It will be finished in matte black OR some coats of clear to preserve the wonderful rust and weld work.

Some inspiration:
Tracy Smith's 1939 Rat Rod Pickup. A highly modified S-10 frame-shortened 12 inches. Built by Gas Axe Chop Shop in Ten Mile, TN and Paint and Custom Pinstriping done by Flamin Freddie Smith

Another rod i got some inspiration from:
http://www.streetrods-online.com/RAT..._17/6efc_3.jpg



I shall be asking a few questions around the place as things start coming together, though i don't think y'all be able to answer them since I'm all the way overseas.

Oh well!!! I can't wait to rock up to work in a rat soon! Yerr!!!

 

[racer135]

Man, i don't think this cab and these guards will be any good. They basically fell apart when we picked it up to put on the trailer, and the bumpy trip home.

I might put the dash, and the headlight glasses up for sale on ebay though, might go towards a decent cab.

Might be able to use the guards for rear guards on my dad's 52, but even then they're still pretty sad.

www.cardomain.com/ride/3319659

WHYYYYYYY

*curses front end loader operator who crushed the cab*

 

[Willowbilly3]

Too bad old tin is so high. Around here a little scrounging and $100 will bring you home a good 40s cab. Often free.

 

[junkmagnet]

thats kinda the look im goin for, with the 39 front and vette rear. anything you build can be cool as h**l if you put some heart in it,the one i bought i ended up taking apart and redoing it completely, imagination and foresight is a great thing.....

 

[racer135]

Today got the cab (read= rusted mangled pile of metal) off the trailer. Picked it apart with the forklift to get at the dash, which was ****** anyway. So instead I got the sidecutters out and cut the good wires out of it, pulled off the braided earth terminal, and pulled the push button and heater switch out of it.

Gave the headlight glasses a quick wash under the tap and they are untouched except a tiny bit of rust stain.

Got my eye on a 42 Ford cab on eBay Aus. The seller hasn't yet put it up on eBay, i'm getting them to send me some photo's of the cab, hopefully if it's not too bad, i'll go down there (220km's away) and pick it up for a couple of hundred bucks!!! But, with the luck i've had lately, they'll probably want $5k for it or something stupid.

Had a word with dad, he's currently using the workshop bay to build a roller seeder and a carry-all for our tractor, and he is planning on cementing another 6mx12m bay of our 24mx12m shed, so space is going to be very limited. May be a problem if I end up getting this cab. Have to get the chassis prepped and steering items ready to fit into the cab if I get it, so it takes up the least amount of space, and can be moved around.

I'll have to recover the chassis i'm going to use from nearby our cattle yards and clean it up and oxy torch the tailshaft rollcage from it.

Originally i was going to clad those rollbars with some panels, drop a flathead 8 in it, and use it to race at the local dirt speedway.

I added my old photos of it to my cardomain page:
www.cardomain.com/ride/3319659

 

[racer135]

I was just wondering what peoples thoughts were on using a circa '75 F-100 cab with 47 jailbar guards?

Dad has a spare cab for his 75. I might end up using it, but i'd cut it down to jailbar size first, fill the fillets that are mid way up the cab/body/doors. Have to photoshop one and see how it looks.

only thing is, they dont have the beautiful curves the 50's cabs had....mmmmm......

 

[Sam_Fear]

The 75 cab wouldn't be my 1st choice, but work with what ya got! Not sure what you mean by "cut it down to jailbar size". Do you mean narrow it? You'll need a plan for the windshield. If you have the firewall and windshield frame for the 47, you could use that. The roof and doors might get tricky, but making metal fit is alot easier than glass. Narrow the 75 and cut the bottom 6" off it to get rid of the fillet. Leave the middle trim line. Might be better to narrow it about 4" more in the front than the back. Chop it of course. As for a bed, find some old corrugated tin and use that for sides with a tube frame?

Maybe take a newer slabside bed and narrow and shorten it to fit between the wheels.

Oh, and for the toe boom, use truck frame rails with 1/4" flat steel for X-bracing in between them.

 

[racer135]

The 75 cab wouldn't be my 1st choice, but work with what ya got! Not sure what you mean by "cut it down to jailbar size". Do you mean narrow it? You'll need a plan for the windshield. If you have the firewall and windshield frame for the 47, you could use that. The roof and doors might get tricky, but making metal fit is alot easier than glass. Narrow the 75 and cut the bottom 6" off it to get rid of the fillet. Leave the middle trim line. Might be better to narrow it about 4" more in the front than the back. Chop it of course. As for a bed, find some old corrugated tin and use that for sides with a tube frame?

Maybe take a newer slabside bed and narrow and shorten it to fit between the wheels.

Oh, and for the toe boom, use truck frame rails with 1/4" flat steel for X-bracing in between them.

Cool, thanks for the suggestion for the boom. Yeah i meant narrow the cab's length and width.

Damn it......75 F-100 cab has a fair few areas of panel missing, they were used to patch up dad's 75 runner. And it's got a fair bit of rust in it all over the place.

Didn't realise how much grass had grown up through HRA 1 either till i took a closer look at it.

I'm uploading the photos i took of them today on my cardomain page:
www.cardomain.com/ride/3319659

 

[racer135]

Theres one of those 32? ford coupe utes without the ute part thats been sitting behind a townhouse in my hometown thats been there since i had the ability to remember things (wish i could re-gain total function of that ability!!!).

Might be a possible cab for my project. Not sure what other parts are there, but the chassis and engine are sitting nearby. or, i could turn it into a plain old coupe?

 

[racer135]

I got bored at work yesterday, so i decided to make myself a gear shifter knob for my rat.

I started off with a nut that was laying on the floor in the workshop, and built it up and up and up with 309 Stainless hardfacing welds!

It's like a nut with a major haemorrhoid made of stainless!!!!

 

[racer135]

 

[racer135]

Progress: next to none.

Found a 48 Austin truck frontend (with sheetmetal) which i shall take the radiator and grille for my project.

Also found a 40-series Toyota Landcruiser roof clip on the same property. I'm going to use it as well and i'm currently looking for some 40-series Landcruiser doors to suit.

All i have to do then is complete a cab by making a floor, bottom half of the rear wall of the cab, mate the 'cruiser doors to the 42 cowl, and make a windscreen frame.

I ended up attacking the 42 cab with an oxy acetylene torch, leaving me with the 42 ford's cowl section which is in fair condition.

I plan to give the 'cruiser roof the same rake that the rollbars on the Nissan navara chassis i'm using have.

I have some more updates and photos on my cardomain.com page.

 

[racer135]

Got some 'cruiser doors!!!!

The window area height of the landcruiser doors is 1 1/2in taller than the 52 ford doors, length of the Cruiser doors is 1 3/4in shorter than the 52 ford doors, height of the main panel area of the Cruiser doors is 8in shorter than the 52 ford's doors......what to do what to do!!!!.....

Are the 42 ford's doors smaller than the 52's? Can someone measure up some doors that would fit a 42 jailbar pickup cab and give me the measurements? I just measured up the outsides of the doors i have from the bottom of the door up to where the window starts, then measured from the rear of the door to the front of the door about halfway down the main panel area of the door, and finally measured from the bottom of the door to the top of the door frame.

List your measurements to the nearest 1/4 inch.

I'd appreciate any help.