Ratrod style trucks and flat black paint

[shortymac83]

Originally Posted by crazy longhorn

You want gray? Here you go....
http://community.webshots.com/user/hotrodhorn ...I do agree with Andy on the gray primer......it is good to show all the body imperfections (shows it all!) If you plan a sweet paint job, that has a d@mn straight body under it, that light gray primer will show you where you need to work....for a rat rod, flat black is the ticket. Im thinkin "ratrod" myself.....but really have to ask the ?.......if the bottom side has better paint than the top, & the stinkin thing will run 140mph.....is it really a "ratrod"? crazyL

that depends. If it's held together with spit and bailing wire, and runs 140 mph, then yeah it's a ratrod. These ratrods that have chrome everything with flat black paint, or the ones that look completely spotless aren't real ratrods. A real ratrod is something that was pieced together with junkyard parts to go as fast as possible for as cheap as possible. what does that mean? straight pipes with no mufflers scrounged from under a caddy, a flatty ford or early chevy mill with every speed part known to man, a rearend from a junked oldsmobile, a rusted out Model T body running on a pair of model A framerails, and the front end from under a truck. Seat? what seat? if you really want one, grab the cheapest seat you can find. steel wheels, no hubcaps, and the brakes that came on the axles you found in the yarde. paint is the cheapest thing you can find, no matter if it's bright purple that's as shiny as chrome or turd brown primer.

Actually, if you wanted to be completely authentic, get an olds 303 or 324, or an early caddy. before the 283 came out, those ruled the streets, and were what everyone was running.




THAT is a rat rod.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by shortymac83

A real ratrod is something that was pieced together with junkyard parts to go as fast as possible for as cheap as possible. what does that mean? straight pipes with no mufflers scrounged from under a caddy, a flatty ford or early chevy mill with every speed part known to man, a rearend from a junked oldsmobile, a rusted out Model T body running on a pair of model A framerails, and the front end from under a truck. Seat? what seat? if you really want one, grab the cheapest seat you can find. steel wheels, no hubcaps, and the brakes that came on the axles you found in the yarde.

THAT is a rat rod.

We talk a lot about this over on another hard core forum I belong to. What you are describing is a death rod, not a rat rod. The difference is crappy old brakes, leaky, worn out engine, etc....

I painted my car suede orange way before it became popular. Lots of folks went crazy over it, and lots of folks asked me what color I was going to paint it. Kind of gets old after awhile, explaining to folks that it is done already.

[shortymac83]

I'm not advocating this, but I think you'd agree that that is what a rat rod originally was, and what the ones of today are modeled after. If I was going to build my truck into a rat rod, I'd leave the body exactly as is, with a killer drivetrain. I "might" rivet a new floor in there so I can have seatbelts that actually work, but that would be optional. What does this mean? doors that latch sometimes and are falling off their hinges, bedwood that's half rotted out, and rockers that don't exist anymore.

rat rods were meant to go fast, not stop well or be safe. modern rat rods (at least 99% of the ones I see) are pushed off a trailer, loaded down with chrome, running flat paint, and pushed back on a trailer. That's not a rat rod. nowadays, you want to build a rat rod, why not go with what the old guys did? have rust pitted chrome, a few rust holes, maybe bullet holes, but with brakes and seatbelts that have been upgraded. then you're safe, and you've still got a rat rod.


BTW, if you'll reread what I wrote, I said that these cars have the best motor possible. blowers, mechanical efi, 11:1 compression, you name it. back in the day, it was all about going fast. if the rest of the car was good enough to hold the motor in where it was supposed to be, that was good enough.

[crazy longhorn]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

We talk a lot about this over on another hard core forum I belong to. What you are describing is a death rod, not a rat rod. The difference is crappy old brakes, leaky, worn out engine, etc....

I painted my car suede orange way before it became popular. Lots of folks went crazy over it, and lots of folks asked me what color I was going to paint it. Kind of gets old after awhile, explaining to folks that it is done already.

Some of those old rods were THAT scary! when I was a kid, i rode in a a '30 A 5 window coupe.....6" chop, 6" channel, fenderless, running a little "Duntov 270" (270 hp 283 with dual quads, for the guys that arent that old ). it had a 4spd trans & 57 chev(i think ) rear diff. the d@mn thing ran cheater slicks , & had 2 wheel brakes (rear!)......yes it went a bunch quicker than it stopped! I still remember the sound of 8 barrels of carb opened up(no glass in that old coupe helped!) that was a "rat rod".....not mine, but I still have a really soft spot in my heart for an old A bone The last one that Boyd built , is not a "ratrod", but made to look that way! Many of those old home built rods were NOT safe My thoughts on a true "ratrod".....she is home built, with no trick parts(what you scrounged up & rebuilt). they should be safe to drive, & with disc brakes & such available, that shouldnt be too much trouble in the '90's? too many "so called " rat rods , are not what they call them crazyL

[smokekiki]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

We talk a lot about this over on another hard core forum I belong to. What you are describing is a death rod, not a rat rod. The difference is crappy old brakes, leaky, worn out engine, etc....

I painted my car suede orange way before it became popular. Lots of folks went crazy over it, and lots of folks asked me what color I was going to paint it. Kind of gets old after awhile, explaining to folks that it is done already.

That is one of the big reasons that SCTA and NHRA were started.To many "rat rods" where death traps.Something had to change or modifying cars was going to be banned back then!

[special-K]

[Quote:How could something like this ever go out of style?]...It did,for many years,as did the many styles that came after.Hot Rods Are Forever,but building trends keep evolving.I do think now that it`s back,this style will always have a place in the Rod World.