Hot Rods Talk me out of a gasser street car

https://lexington.craigslist.org/cto/d/1941-plymouth-deluxe-coupe/6404351105.html
Pricey but its a 41 and wanting to trade for muscle so???

 

I was getting ready to post that same lead. Looks like a decent car, may be the one My Uncle owned in the Mt Vernon area back in the 60's. I love that body style, it would make a great g***er clone, 392 or 426 Hemi.

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Like I said, educate me. People have a difference of opinion of what a rat rod is. Some will look at a hot rod and call it a rat rod because it is an over used term used by the unknowing. Painting a car flat black does not make it a rat rod and flat black is not a rat rod look.

 

Drove a 37 Plymouth coupe back in the 90s , daily driver worked 327 , lowerd out back , lifted up front and I loved how that straight axle drove....I drove that all over the place...yes you can drive em everyday...

 

https://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/cto/d/antique-1949-plymouth-3/6421007941.html

 

If you want a street g***er, do it. If I could afford to build one right now I would, but it would also have to do STRIP duty. Thats just me, got to race.

 

To me a rat rod is a thrown together piece of **** with half *** (well really with 1/4 ***) build quality licence plates for panels gay *** spiderweb gussets chain for headlamp mounts piece of **** my wife's 1960 Electra people call a rat rod sometimes and it makes me so pissed it's not shiny has original paint but it is not a rat .flatt black or Suede as the idiots call it today is ok it's just that som any call it a rat rod when it's flat black because that's what most rat rods are I'm just saying this is my opinion I mean my 65 Nova is really really correct G***er from the 9.3 olds to the hairpin frontend even a blown small block but it has dual four fuel injection because I drive the **** out of it and don't want to mess with carbs on it all the time some might think it is a ******** poser because of the injection that's fine think what they will but I have driven mine 1200 miles in a week with slicks spool 4 speed and all and still bust off 10.50s et Sorry git off track point is a rat rod is a piece of ****

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^^^^If you read no other comments on this thread, read this one.^^^^

It is not just the most sound advice you are going to get, it just might save your life.

 

Exhibit A, maybe not the era of car you have in mind but food for thought.
Not sure what cl*** this 55 raced as but it does have licence plates.
This car hooked me when I was a kid when I first saw it in the magazines, blown/injected BBC, no bumper, dropped tube axle, perfect example of what I'd screw together.

 

Sounds like we have 2 different threads in 1 here. G***er build ,and what is a rat rod.You have asked for opinions. You know what they say about opinions.
I will say this , at the HRR in Bowling Green. There seemed to be an over abundance of "g***ers" there. Specifically , the 55 chevy type. Personally I thought about a 56 g***er myself, because i have 56 stuff. Now i very rarely give any of them them a second look. Squirrel just drove his g***er half way across the country. so they can be built to drive safely. and yeah i prolly would look at a g***er with a 392 in it.
JMHO

 

A perfect example of a good, functional (well, as close as a mechanically injected, blown one can get) street g***er, rather than a nosbleed stance street freak.

Center-of-gravity is a big deal, in a car that has to corner.

 

G***ers are still in abundance. I see them a lot. I like them. I like the look. I like the noise. I drive my buddy's g***er and have a blast but the steering is hard. G***ers are at almost every show that I go to and are crowd drawers next to the flame throwers. It cracks me up to see them at the beach areas because people don't know how to take them. I would build one if I had the time and money. If it's what you want then build it. Have a blast with it.

 

Hardly any g***er type cars around here in central Pa. I wish I saw more on the street , and strip. Except for the events at Beaver Springs Drag Way, do not see many.

 

My coupe has a dropped axle and it drives very well. A straight axle properly set up can drive almost as well as any car. Especially on good roads.

 

Ya, I don't ever see any around here either, never on the street and maybe a couple a year at the local shows. I think it's mainly that most of the cars around here seem to have been built in the 90's,as sad as that is.

 

Only Squirrel's car is NOT a G***er - It is an Altered Wheel Base Car

 

Which arguably could have made for even less desirable handling, had he not built it right.

Short wheelbases, solid axles, and leaf springs all round, leave a lot of places to make mistakes in a car that has to corner.

 

Yup, it's even stupider than a run of the mill G***er.

And today, it turned 20,000 miles since I got it running on May 22, 2014.

 

Better hurry up and get that "Bare Cooter" done before you wear that Chevy II out!

It's certainly not a trailer queen. HRP

 

G***er's were NOT a "Fad" 40 years ago. In the late 70's (that would be 40 years ago) The Gas Cl***es were just about gone from Drag Racing, the cl***es were dropped and the cars pushed into Comp Cl***es by the mid to late 70's. You rarely saw one on the street anymore, you were much more likely to see a Street Freak, which was a Cartoon version of a G***er with the whole car jacked up like a 4X4. In fact I would say that G***er's Never were a "Fad" until the early 2000's. The Gas Cl***es started in 1956 as street legal drag cars and slowly morphed away from the street legal requirement (but most other rules stayed similar) with the hey day being mainly in the 60's. By the early 70's the cl***es were were fading away. But during that era they were not a "Fad" but a serious race cl*** with some street driven versions, many of which were raced as well. The "Fad" came about in the early 2000's and continues today. many are still being built and some get it right and many others are poor interpretations of what a G***er really was with ridiculous nose high at***udes and sketchy handling, neither of which were a real part of the gas cl*** cars. For the past 15 or so years it seems that all you have to do is jack up any pile and "Instant G***er" - which is not only Not what they were but a real insult to those of that were involved with the real deal.

 

heh...it's time for some maintenance. I need to change the rear end oil, trans fluid, flush and add antifreeze to the engine, take apart and lube the spring bushings, pack the front wheel bearings, etc.

 

LOL, the difference is you built a car that was meant to be driven and driven hard - unlike the poorly thought out cartoon **** that many seem to slap together

 

I should have really been more careful about my wording. Holy smokes. I have no interest at all to build a hot rod that has street signs for floor boards, hacked and chopped and left rusty and flat black. I never understood the jalopy Herman Munster “rat rods”. Enough on that. I went out in the shop today and dug deep. I have almost enough stuff to put together a hilborn for the Hemi. I’m going to go look at a 41 Plymouth Coupe I found locally. It’s got some race history from the 60’s. It’s been a full blown g***er 40 years ago. The guy put it back together as a street car and believe it or not has a clear ***le to it. It has a lot of potential. I’ve been building road race cars for many years now. I can’t tell you how many “ ill handling cars I’ve fixed”. I’ve seen cars with 1” wheelbase differences, stupid Ackerman, bump steer out the *** because of poor rack installations etc. this car is fairly sorted but just tired. I drive all of my cars and this will be no different. I mean after all it’s a car that I would just take locally. But then again, I flew a piper Cub from NC to California too. Thanks for the advice. Hopefully this turns back into a g***er thread and not a RatRod definition thread.

 

Man, you should re-read your thread ***le.

 

I look forward to seeing it. Spend a lot of time in Nashville now with Kid living up there. At one time there was a 46 ford G***er type for sale around the Murfreesboro ...I think.You could always do a Willys

 

You only have to satisfy one person in this world and that is YOURSELF.

 

Herman Munster didn't drive any rat rod,..

 

I agree with you on rat rods, but the g***er fad has been going on since it was coined at the track in the 60's and is probably gonna stick around.

 

My Shoebox..Beam axle in front and leaf springs all around..Height is close to stock, about an inch up in the front and about an inch down at the rear, sits about level..Handles very well by design and some luck..Engine set back 10%..Red primer..Drove it to the track, raced, drove it home..

 

I think any of the 38-41 Plymouths look good straight axled. If I had my pick of any prewar mopar I would do a 40 dodge. 1. I like the grille better. 2. the fenders don't have the bottom ridge, so if you want to cut them even with the rockers, it look cleaner. 3. Doesnt have the 3 speedlines on the lower rear of the fenders like the 41 ply, so if you radius the rear fenders it looks cleaner than cutting off the front of the speedlines.