---New to Rat Rodding, on a Budget please Help---

[The Rookie]

Hi, I’m just getting started building my first a rat rod. I’ve worked on cars for a few years now, I started out with 60’s muscle cars, so the Rat world is all new to me. I found a couple of simple sights on how to get started building a rat rod, so I have the crash course. I was immediately hooked, and went out and bought a 1930 Chevrolet truck on Craigslist. I found an I beam from a 1935 Ford model A and a Ford 9in from a 1970 Mercury Cougar. I’ve been looking at all of the different ways of setting up the suspension with the hairpin radius rods any suggestions for what I’m working with? Also all of the wood is gone from the truck, any one have an idea of how to rebuild the roof, back of the cab and the roof? I’m on a budget and all of the prices I have seen so far for the transverse leaf spring, hair pins, spindles and everything else I’ll need is out of my price range! Please help a rookie!

 

[wrecker55]

welcome rookie, look through the builds section and ask the guys with similar projects how they dealt with the problems, anyway good luck, lots of helpful ppl here, and of course we like pix

 

[Sam_Fear]

Welcome to RRR! Hmmm...a rat rod on the cheap - is there any other way? Post some pics of what you have to work with so far - we like pictures! Dig through the build threads - lot's of good info in those.

Might help to re-post about your axle with the question in the Title. Catch bigger fish with a better lure, kinda thing...

Did anyone mention we like pictures?

 

[LOWANDRATY]

welcome to RRR

you can buy everything you need right here on RRR everyone has stuff for sale all the time, when you asked about rebuilding the roof and rear of the cab, are you asking how to do it, or what to use, if it is what to use there are all kinds of ways of getting buy on the low price side, for the roof you can always buy a roof cut off of a old van and start cutting metal from it, any scrap yard should sell you a complete roof for cheap, that way you can get corners, flats and the whole top cut from 1 van roof, or better yet buy a complete van or car and start cutting it up and use all kinds of stuff from it and scap what you dont use, that way you may make a few $