Ratzillas new look

[luckyfasteddie]

Hey dog the kick stand is for rusty old bikers like you, and me.I rode a matchless 650 twin across rte 66 from Fresno to joplin mo in 1959. Blew the engine there and bought a 1950 Chevy pickup and hauled it home.Imagine i bought a good running truck that was only 9 years old for 500 bucks , used some of my Navy mustering out pay. 66 was a two lane oil slick country road in those days. I saw it before it became a fake tourist trap.LFE

 

[Willowbilly3]

I like that one better too. I just sort of made the same decision with my truck.......I sold the '39 Plymouth grille shell on ebay and when I start on it again I'm thinking '35 Chevy grille.

Looks good Ed.

Don

I'm using a sectioned 35 Chevy grille and like it alot.
I like the truck better in the first picture but would like to see it without the hood sides.

 

[Willowbilly3]

Well thats very interesting Mr B I bought my cab and grill at the same time and I was well into my build when I saw pics of your ride. Ever since I have wanted to do my front end like you did. And now I have done it and you like it the old way. Well I can switch from one look to the other in about 20 min.so I will probably be running it both ways , also i dont know which way will look best when the top is off and its a roadster. I also have changed the strut top brackets. Originally I had the struts attached to the tower metal to metal I took them off and used the original Fiero connector that actually has a rubber type bushing at the top. It has made my ride smooth right out. Put my original tall tires on today and took a ride and it was verey smooth , well as smooth as a 32 straight axle can be Pics are the new strut tops we fabed LFE

I think you need to build 3 trucks, or put velcro and zippers on this one.

 

[luckyfasteddie]

glitch with nerd

My computer kid ran into a problem with his eq,he wont be back till tue next. so no u tube for me over weekend so I guess i will just continue working on Ratzilla. Pics of in the bed roll bar and in cab roll bar.If something dont look right please chime in I am inventing here LFE

 

[luckyfasteddie]

missing pic

Last pic didnt come up it shows vert in cab bars sutting in their approximate location

 

[Bonehead]

I think it looks great, but I always knew you had an eye for it anyway. You must spend some serious "sit back and look at it" time.

 

[luckyfasteddie]

sit back time

Yeah Jeff I spend a lot of time in that soft chair also good bud has an eye for this stuff and he manages to stifle my bad ones.few more pics,THE CHAIR,Devil standing guard,windshiels mock up - more wood stuff, Magic tool, Windshield frame made out of that free strong angle iron =bed framesLFE

 

[joehalford01]

looking good lfe. i almost saved the last set of bed rail frames becuase i was thinking the same thing; looks like it works. I didn't though, no room here to store stuff and my wife would have a fit.

 

[FlatBroke]

That rollbar looks pretty stout....
Just don't go testing it the hard way..

 

[cycledog]

Hey dog the kick stand is for rusty old bikers like you, and me.I rode a matchless 650 twin across rte 66 from Fresno to joplin mo in 1959.

Did your kidneys survive?

From Fresno to Joplin on a Matchless!....I think I would have needed a butt transplant after that.

 

[luckyfasteddie]

Young and stupid

I was young and stupid then . After a 4 year drinking binge in the U S Navy SeaBees , my kidneys were on vacation. Nothing really changes , just goes around . Now Im old and stupid. Is there a lesson in this somewhere? LFE

 

[cycledog]

I was young and stupid then . After a 4 year drinking binge in the U S Navy SeaBees , my kidneys were on vacation. Nothing really changes , just goes around . Now Im old and stupid. Is there a lesson in this somewhere? LFE

Know what ya mean, I used to try to ride year round, and around here that means real cold and snow on the streets, at least I waited for the streets to be plowed. I would probably do again for old time sake if I thought my wife wouldn't find out.

 

[luckyfasteddie]

more progress

When we took the top off we realised we had a problem with the cowl wanting to sag,and we saw that the weights needed to be lower so the beer keg BBQ would fit. when we took weights off and loosened the bottom bolts holding cab to frame it sagged,making a FIX mandatory.I had been thinking a front roll bar would add to the safety factor so we made one out of material on hand-2x2 thick wall tube.We welded 4 - 1/4" ,4"x4" steel plates to the fire wall , ran 4 1/2 ' grade 8 bolts thru and into nuts welded to the 2x2. This allowed us to draw the cowl to the unmovable 2x2 and when it was plumb and the doors worked ok we locked it in place Now cowl seems to be firm and unmovable and best of all doors work better than they ever did. More on them later . LFE last pic has nothing to do with any of this , it is how we attached the hair pins to the frame

 

[Bonehead]

I was just thinking how there are a lot of new guys who will go right to this post with no knowledge of what you have going on. They will be scratching their heads....."weights?"

 

[luckyfasteddie]

weights

Over the summer we added 717 Lbs of weight to the front to help with the ride. New angle iron brackets for weight relocation caused us to have to relocate one water line. Attaching the cowl to front roll bar worked so well we decided to do the same in the back. We welded a 1/4 " plate accross the back of the cab just under the seam. We ran a bolt thru at each end and attached it to the rear roll bar bracket,snugged them up and Wa La back of cab is now locked in place same as front. LFE

 

[luckyfasteddie]

steering update

Went back and looked at Dons hotrod bible,and revisited his under dash system. I had my steering col bolted to the bottom of my dash board and it really needed a better system,of course after looking at his wiring narness and me changing stuff made me dress up my underdash wiring. Threw the new Indian Blanket I got at the hotrod hoedown over the back of the cab to see how it would look and give my brain something to think about.LFE

 

[luckyfasteddie]

Bear Claws

Couple of weeks ago I stopped at the local rod shop. The owner is building a 50 chevy pu for himself.He had just finished installing some bear claws . They worked so well and looked so safe I said to my self why are you using a door latch that is almost 70 years old .A no brainer so i ordered a pair 94 bucks with S&H got em in went real easyLFE

 

[luckyfasteddie]

more claws and new hood?

Couple more latch pics and taking another idea from Don decide to see what a hood would look like on the roadster set up. I kinda like it , another project to add to the list. Computer nerd is in town and is coming here this aft to hook me up. LFE

 

[luckyfasteddie]

I need the nerd

See I need him posted wrong pics LFE

 

[luckyfasteddie 2]

back as LFE 2

Got the bear claws in , doors fit and work good,had to put the top back on to do it , needed everthing in its proper place,now i like it better with top on ,cant make up my mind. Also put the weights back in they are now about 4" lower giving me a little extra room for the Beer Keg BBQ that I still havent located or should I say we havent found the one I like . Still tinkering with 29 grill shell ,guess hood will have to wait till spring,when my welding son is available..LFE 2 pic 1 is my parts storage area or touching up the patina area #2 weights in place # 3 top on and weights #4 grill less laid back so radiator cap will fit under hood,simulated hood lines with masking tape a la Don