My 49' Ford Rat Rod build...

[Ford49Rat]

Hello everyone, this is my first build and build thread so here goes...

I'll start from the beginning and catch up to where I am now...

I started out with finding a 49' Ford cab, hood, and fenders. I bought them locally and started doing some research on options to building a rat rod.

 

[Ford49Rat]

I then moved on to looking for a frame setup, and here's what I found.

S-10 frame

 

[Ford49Rat]

Next, I was impatiently looking for the perfect motor.
Weeks later, I came across this Chevy 350 motor that was built and ready to go.

 

[falconvan]

Great start!

 

[Ford49Rat]

Thankfully the frame already had motor mounts on it set up for a Chevy 350,
so it was an easy drop in.

Also, locally I found a fully rebuilt Chevy Turbo 350 transmission which I now
have hooked up as well.

The doors were very rough on the bottom as you can tell in the picture, so
I had some decisions to make about what to do about them.

I found a great deal on some 15x10 slot mags with superwide tires as well for
the rear.

 

[Ford49Rat]

I decide to cut the rust off of the doors at the bottom...
I think it looks a lot better and will keep it the way it is.

One problem I have come across is the steering column, which is my next task.
I wasn't thinking when I channeled and lowered the cab, that the distance
between the floor and the steering wheel would be greatly diminished.
So, I had to cut a separate hole in the firewall to raise the steering wheel
as high as I could to have a comfortable ride and not let it get in the way of
my legs.

Problem being, there is a substantial angle from the end of the steering column
to the shaft on the steering box. There is a knuckle at the end of the column,
and I welded up some homemade socket knuckles to try to work out the angle.

I'm not sure if it will work, but I'm more worried about the safety issue too.
I'm thinking about getting rid of the socket knuckles and putting in a shaft
from the column knuckle all the way to the steering box shaft and having
another knuckle just like the one on the column up at the steering box shaft.

This picture was taken yesterday and where I am in my build right now.

 

[Ford49Rat]

I also picked up an early 1950's Chevy stepside bed to put on soon in the build.

 

[soltz]

Looking good, your doing a good job of work and thinking. For steering knuckles check your local pick a part junk yard and look in the foreign section, Subarus are good, a lot of the smaller imports use knuckles some bolted at each end some with a short shaft built in. Used them on my willys build and worked great.
Good luck and keep up the good work.

 

[Toad]

Looking nice, keep up the good work & keep us posted! [cl

Toad

 

[Ford49Rat]

Looking good, your doing a good job of work and thinking. For steering knuckles check your local pick a part junk yard and look in the foreign section, Subarus are good, a lot of the smaller imports use knuckles some bolted at each end some with a short shaft built in. Used them on my willys build and worked great.
Good luck and keep up the good work.

Thanks. I will look into these. I'm thinking the two knuckles at each end with the short shaft built in would be my best option. Thanks again!

 

[Ford49Rat]

Looking nice, keep up the good work & keep us posted! [cl

Toad

Thanks! I'll start to keep the build updated more as I go.

I look forward to the rest and getting help and advice from everyone.

 

[Ford49Rat]

I have set the bed on the frame approximately where it will be permanently.
It is a short bed and measures exactly to the end of the frame where it should
be. Does it look too long to be on a rat rod? I have room to cut about 6 or 7
inches off the frame and shorten the bed that much with it. Would you cut it?

Also, since I have channeled the cab and bed down on the frame, when I put
a floor in the bed, there will only be 3-5 inches of depth from the floor to the
top of the bed...is this normal in my situation or is there something I can do to
make it have more depth?

 

[animal]

IMHO, the bed looks too low. I would mount it where the top of the bed was even with the beltline on the cab, if I were doing it, but that's just my opinion. I also think it would look better shorter. Cool project!

 

[Ford49Rat]

IMHO, the bed looks too low. I would mount it where the top of the bed was even with the beltline on the cab, if I were doing it, but that's just my opinion. I also think it would look better shorter. Cool project!

Thanks for the reply!
The only problem with mounting the bed higher on the cab is the drivetrain
would not longer be hidden by the bed, but would be visible underneath the
bed...and I'm not sure if it would look ok if the cab was sitting lower than the
bed...The upside to raising the bed would give me more depth inside the bed.

I've added another view.

 

[JBailey]

I agree the bed needs to be raised. If it was me I'd raise it to the beltline on the cab then add metal to the bottom o the box sides to match the bottom of the cab. Your project is looking good, keep on posting those pics and updates!

 

[Dirtyrat]

I agree, with the bed raised however, you may need to extend the bottom down to the bottom of the cab for the look you are after.

 

[Ford49Rat]

I agree with you all. I think I am going to raise it up to the belt line of the
cab and add however much metal to the bottom to make it flush with the
cab. Thanks for everyone's advice. I'll update as I go!

 

[animal]

Good plan! I'm looking forward to updates.

I agree with you all. I think I am going to raise it up to the belt line of the
cab and add however much metal to the bottom to make it flush with the
cab. Thanks for everyone's advice. I'll update as I go!

 

[oldsteeljunky]

Looking good man,keep us posted.

 

[Ford49Rat]

Now I need some more advice...

Would it be best to add sheet metal to the bottom of the bed or "donor" metal from part of another vehicle/scrap parts?

Also, how would you attach it to the bed? Weld, rivot, etc?