racer135
Well-known member
Howdy y'all, I'm from Australia and I'm really hankering to build me a rat ute ASAP.
The name's Sam or racer135, either one is fine.
My 2 current cheap options at the moment are:
- A 1950-51 ford single spinner ute my mate's dad bought ages ago but never got around to restoring.
It's in pretty bad shape if i remember correctly so it wont be too hard to attack it with an angle grinder, chop about 2in out of the pillars, channel it so its got about 6-8in of clearance, some zoomies pokin out the front guards
- A 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 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!!!!
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.
For this one though, I'm gonna make 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). 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%20RODS/RAT_PHOTOS_17/6efc_3.jpg
I got bitten by the rat bug (or just the rat?) about a month ago. I just love the idea of the creativity you can put in, and the head turning at the very low price compared to the price of building a shiny head-turning vehicle.
So, 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!!!
The name's Sam or racer135, either one is fine.
My 2 current cheap options at the moment are:
- A 1950-51 ford single spinner ute my mate's dad bought ages ago but never got around to restoring.
It's in pretty bad shape if i remember correctly so it wont be too hard to attack it with an angle grinder, chop about 2in out of the pillars, channel it so its got about 6-8in of clearance, some zoomies pokin out the front guards
- A 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 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!!!!
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.
For this one though, I'm gonna make 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). 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%20RODS/RAT_PHOTOS_17/6efc_3.jpg
I got bitten by the rat bug (or just the rat?) about a month ago. I just love the idea of the creativity you can put in, and the head turning at the very low price compared to the price of building a shiny head-turning vehicle.
So, 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!!!
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