I plan on taking this turd, And turning it into something along the lines of the black rod Dayton uses in their ads, I plan on doing the work myself from start to finish and if all goes well driving the rough up rod in black primer this next summer. It is a 25 Chevy and I plan to keep it all GM just because. I am thinking about an S-10 rear en, I hear they work well in these uses, recommendations welcome. I am looking at Speedway front/rear suspension kit. I have to figure out what style front to use on the car, suggestions are welcome here as well! I am thinking about taking a late 30s GM hood to create the hood and Grille ***y. Any ideas here are welcome as well. The wife thinks I am nuts but I know I can pull this off. I have wasted to many years working on rebuilders, it's time to go rodding!
LOL, I really must be crazy but I have to give it a shot! And I want something different than the norm.
well it all depends on the paradigm you are basing your norm off of...to the hamb, that's outta the norm. to the rest of the world, it's just a boydesque high dollar rat rod so it's really in the norm there. i actually like the basic look of it, though there's a few things i'd have to change about it were i to drive it for sure.
The second picture is just a vision of the look I am after. But I sure as hell don't plan on this being a high dollar rig! I will build the frame myself. I will do the body mods to the best of my abilities in my garage. I am building the engine myself. Just what is a Rat Rod anyway?
just click on the little search link in the middle about 2" from the top of the page and type it in...it's a subject you don't wanna touch. lol i was just mentioning it because that's how it would be seen by the general (uneducated/ignorant to hot rods) population
Thanks, I am learning post by post what I should look at doing. I like the old style look as well as the sleek new stuff, but I also can listen to Country and Hard Rock music mixed in with some Gospel. If I can stay away from Ford parts for the build then I am all for using traditional parts. I am open to suggestions guys since this build is currently in the planning stage other than the driveline. 350/350 combo.
I thought about this last night a bit. I really want a traditional rod but I want to use all GM stuff like I mentioned before. What should I use for the front suspension? What suggestions do you guys have for the rear suspension? The little green rod on the cover of Custom Rodder also has a look I really like. Can I do this style car with all GM vintage stuff? LOL, am I crazy for wanting to stay all GM?
I was all about gm for a long time. Still am but right now i own 3 fords and two chevys. I wouldnt worry about it. early gm front ends are ugly i think unless you cut em down into qtr eliptics. there ya go thats your way to stay all gm it would look good on alittle modified too.
How about a 3 spring modified? Do a search. Use the Parallel leafs in the front, Model A or T transverse in the rear with a kickup. Shorten the body, fab the hood and use a cut down 40 Chevy p/u grille. S-10 rear and maybe a Chevy II 153 with a 5 spd? Some wires or Chevy artillery wheels? The Dayton car is waaaay TOO trendy to be traditional, particularly with the cartoon wire wheels. (IMHO) Yeah that's what they do, but they also make some *****in' 16" 72 spoke vintage sprint style, that would have been in better proportion.
Dont sweat it a few thousand bucks and some sleepless nights it should start to take some shape. You might be better off just building from scratch buying a premade cowl and going from there. I sure would like to see your progress pics.
You could do an underslung front suspension using Chevy stuff. Try searching "underslung". Sorry not a fan of the S-10 rear. I would use a 55-62 chevy rear. Much better looking. the rear will hang out there for all to see. The rest could be kept all GM easily. Clark
FYI the "Dayton" car was build by Dan Webb for his daughter Ashley, it's featured in the current(33) issue of the rodders journal. sure it's a high dollar car, but i don't dismiss it as just another high dollar car, it pays homage to race cars of different eras in a very interesting package. thise wire wheels are art compared to some cnc milled billet hoops(and i'm a cnc machinist!). FWIW i'd go with a modern 4 banger of some sort over a v-8 in a car like that.
I have been kicking around a 4 banger. I need to sketch out the car and play with the look, I really like to hood and nose on that Dayton car but I also like the modified look on the budget car on the mag cover I mentioned earlier. Thats whats cool about this stuff, you can do about anything you want as long as you stick to a theme and make sure everything works together.
LOL, well she did. Then she ran out and spent a bunch of money. Said if I could waste it on cars she could waste it on getting her hair and nails done.
Yes, that is the other look I really like. I want to use wire wheels but something more stock that what they did on the Dayton car.
The Jalopy Journal
