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Rat Rods Rule

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the reverend muddy grimes

Brother Binder
Joined
Sep 9, 2009
Messages
1,239
Location
Springdale Ar
does it bother anyone else that among our own we hear, "it's just a rat, how nice does it really have to be?" Ok, my ihc is a rat, its a rat because I have limited funds and limited skills. That dosent mean im not going to make it as nice as I can with those funds and skills.
Rant over.
 
It's almost an oxymoron to be a perfectionist and like rats, but I understand what your saying. I agree wholeheartly. Sniper
 
I think people focus too much on the labels and titles. We all do the same thing... build hot rods. I have book called " The Ultimate Guide to Hot Rods & Street Rods" and this book has everything from traditional rods to rats.

I feel the same way. I'm making mine as nice as money allows... no I can't afford a polished dual ram intake with 2 $300 carbs, but it's going to have power windows, a stereo and a decent paint job (mostly because I'm a custom painter).

There is a LOT of gray area in the term rat rods. Just because it's a rat doesn't mean it has to look like ****.

There are also a LOT of "rats" that I could never afford.
 
Didn't sound like a rant to me, just the truth! I build mine as the money comes. I can't just write a check to a builder and tell him what I want. Wish I had that kind of money, but I still wouldn't do that. I like building them myself. That's the fun part for me! Anyone else feel that way?.....CR
 
for me the best part is searching for parts. I love crawling through salvage yards, and talking to guys who collect parts. I just hate to see guys who purposfully get the worst , nastiest part and say, its just a rat. I want some pride in my truck. It may be the only one i ever finish, and I want to be able to look at it and go, hey that may be the best I could do, but it isnt bad at all.
 
I agree that our "rat" should be as nice as we can afford and most importantly safe. My 42' would be called a rat but it is really just an in progress hot rod that is going to take many years to be painted and have door panels and such. I know mine will most likely never be finished. I have an Olds 350 that runs great but I am talking to a guy with an Olds 455 needing a rebuild and that is what I want in it. My point is as yours, have some pride in our workmanship.
 
I guess rat rods have a lot to do with money spent. Its just part of how rat rods came to be. But can a guy with money build a rat rod? Yep. Does that mean its got to have sh*t parts? Nope. Does it need to be dirty or unsafe? Not a chance.

What makes a rat rod a rat rod to me is the unconventional approach to the build, first and foremost. Its building with what you've got or can get. Numbers do not need to match, nor do you need to stick to one manufacturer or style. Its a mish-mosh of well chosen parts that creates a new and unique ride like no others. You will never find another like it. An expression of the builder himself. Perhaps that is why we find a rat rod is built, not bought.
 
I passed this thread up several times, but it sucked me in finally.

Time is my enemy. I made a deadline and I'm going like mad to stick with it (and having fun doing it). I also have a self-imposed yearly budget for all my vehicles together, but that rule can be stretched if need be. My skills aren't the best yet, but that can be compensated with by time - which I don't have.

I occasionally having to remind myself that "it's just a rat" or I'd end up with a 12yr long restoration project stuck in my garage. No fun to me. So I'm playing it on the fast and loose side - except for safety!
 
does it bother anyone else that among our own we hear, "it's just a rat, how nice does it really have to be?" Ok, my ihc is a rat, its a rat because I have limited funds and limited skills. That dosent mean im not going to make it as nice as I can with those funds and skills.
Rant over.

i will make the very prettiest/cleanest/best/nicest/safest car i can with my skill and budget.
if i had lotsa money?
it would be perfect.
 
If democrats and republicans could get along our country would be a better country........ if traditional, street, rat rodders could get along our rods would be even better than they are... or at least the scene.

Can't we all just get along and encourage each other to build the best/safest rods we can with as much personal style/traditional style as one wants to present.
 
You know I normally don't post but I follow alot of the builds and watch the stuff you guys do and all I can say is I'm impressed . I go to alot of car shows and I have alot of younger guys come up and ask questions about the cars that they are building with what funds they have (which is limited) and tell me that they ask alot of the guys with high dollar cars questions and they tell them that they're just rat rods and walk away , I tell them build what you like and don't worry what anybody else says , do you own thing in your own time . Oh and by the way , I don't have a rat rod I have a fiberglass 32 coupe that I built and spent way to much money on , but the one I'm building now (36 Chevy low cab pickup) is more fun of a build and it won't be a high dollar build, I just want a safe fun ride and nothing that takes 40 hours to clean.

Rocky
 
this took a turn somewhere. what im talkin about is not how much it costs really, but about not caring because it just isnt your high dolar build. no pride in it. just slapping it together. I just think we should do the best we can, not throw it together with the "its just a rat" as an easy excuse to be lazy, or to make it ugly.
 
I use to not care for rats, but now they catch my eye more than the megabuck rods as I have really grown to like them. The creativity and no rules approach to building makes them unique and mixing and mashing of not always so perfect parts really makes a statement. I'm building a roadster pickup from scratch from fairly modern junk yard parts and hoping to get it running by Summer. Here in Paso Robles we used to have one of the best cruise and car shows on the West Coast, but the cheese and wine crowd blamed the rat rod crowd for high security costs and shut it down.
 
this took a turn somewhere. what im talkin about is not how much it costs really, but about not caring because it just isnt your high dolar build. no pride in it. just slapping it together. I just think we should do the best we can, not throw it together with the "its just a rat" as an easy excuse to be lazy, or to make it ugly.

it dont matter what i do.
it's just a ford in a chevy after all..........;)
 
To me its not about the money,also I don't like spending a lot, its about the look.Just because I like the old,patina , not perfect look, doesnt mean I cant build a car that has good craftsmanship,design and quality in it. I like to come up with my own ideas and fabricate stuff, and finding old unique parts is a lot of fun. Its like my everyday work,furniture and cabinetmaking and design.I dont like the factory type of look,but that doesnt mean I build crap. My stuff has way better joinery and quality then the factory stuff, I just like the real look of wood and craftsmanship more ,like the old antiques. Same with the cars,just because I like the vintage look doesnt mean it has to be designed and built like crap.
 
i feel the same....if you have any rust on a car you can call it a RAT, but i perfer low-buck funrod made to go fast and scare yuppies and people that spend 40,000 to have someone else build you a car and paint it to look like rust and buy everything either on-line or from catalogs and not look in junkyards and talk to the old timers and see what they have in the old barns and in attics....it to easy to build a rat ...not easy to build a low-buck funrod
 
does it bother anyone else that among our own we hear, "it's just a rat, how nice does it really have to be?" Ok, my ihc is a rat, its a rat because I have limited funds and limited skills. That dosent mean im not going to make it as nice as I can with those funds and skills.

None of that stuff bothers me!!! When I park my lo-buck ratty car at shows & it has a big crowd around it... I just laugh!!! [ddd[ddd[ddd

BoB
 
I don't think it is so much about the $$$$ either. It's more like an aversion to billet, chrome and $20,000 up paint and cubic dollars spent to buy and have someone else put together.

I appreciate that stuff too, have been there and done it. But if I am going to spend 12 hours in the shop working on something anymore, it has to be a somewhat original "to boldly go where man has never gone before" project, and it has to be different when it's finished, not just another color of the one next to it.

"Rat" has become a little bit of catch-all for non-conventional. I'm good with that. It is the original basis for hot rodding. For me it is still about craftsmanship and performance with what's available; so, while being able to appreciate someone's honest effort, a poorly constructed vehicle isn't going to be as much appreciated as a well built one.
 
Guys, let me reprint something from my website. I think this may help to get us all back on track. Spring is just around the corner. The weather will be getting warmer. Let's not be concerned about what the other guy thinks, it's what we think that's important.


Let me begin this page with a rant.
I build hot rods, I do not restore old cars. I don't believe that only Ford parts should go into a Ford, or Chevy parts into a Chevy. Each auto maker has made some great cars and trucks and some not so great cars and trucks. In hot rodding we pick and choose what we want in a vehicle. We build our rides as unique as ourselves. If we choose to build a Ford body on a Chevy frame with a Chrysler engine, and we attach Cadillac tail lights and Studebaker headlights, then so be it. This is our artwork, and to fit all these parts together in an eye appealing manner takes imagination and skill. During the 1950s, Detroit leaned toward the hot rodder for new ideas. These came out as innovations such as the Corvette, the Mustang, seat belts, dual headlights, recessed door handles, custom outside mirrors, glitzy hubcaps, custom steering wheels, widetrack wheels, lowered stance, and plush, cushy interiors. Today, American cars are assembled in foreign countries of plastic and tin and sold for big dollars. We hot rodders have chosen to go back to the American way with American cars and trucks built in Detroit, of good old American iron and steel from Pittsburg. We will build OUR vehicles OUR way, with OUR money, OUR sweat, OUR busted knuckles, using OUR ideas, to fullfill OUR needs, wants, and desires. We will continue to share OUR knowledge with each other, and as each new generation comes to us to learn, we will pass the torch in hopes that they will continue when we've parked OUR vehicles for the last time.
End of rant.
 
Good point, its about ART as much as building. Your vision and build is your canvas and your expression of what you think looks cool. It doesn't have to cost a lot, but its also R & D using parts never intended to be used together, but a little backyard engineering and voila it works. Hey it don't always work well and thats the cool part, tear it out and try something that works better. With a little fabrication the posibilities are endless. I mean if you want, you could hang a 90's eaton blowers on a V8 or six or four or find a turbo off a saab and hang it on a olds motor. Theres no right or wrong in terms of what you can do, only discovery of what works well in your application. I think thats the neatest part of rodding in general, taking parts that were mass-produced and putting them on something thats one off. Or even cooler a stroll through the hardware store using parts one wouldn't even associate with automotive applications and making it work. You like patina, great leave it alone, you like flat paints, no problem, you want flake or lace hey be my guest. The only thing to think about is what is cool to you, traditional rodding is in itself a oxymoron in my opinion, what is tradition? In whose eye is it traditional, what makes it traditional. If it sounds like I'm taking a shot at one particular group perhaps so, but rodding is about building and hanging out with other builders shooting the **** after you've driven the car miles to get there, it ain't about buying a car and trailering it and hanging out at a rod show without a clue as to what parts on are the car except those the builder told you he used. Rant over, sorry got long winded and probably wandered from where I started.

Regards,

Rev. Don
 

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