Folks Of Interest "Rat Rodding" in general (not OT, not a rant).

Not sure if most of you folks follow any other boards or not, but as of late I've noticed that "rat rodders" are getting tired of deathtrap "rat rods", and moving ever closer to Hot Rodding.

Can I support these crazy ideas that a "convergence" of sorts is coming?

Here's a recent post from KillBillet:

Just Curious.....why all the scary builds?
http://www.killbillet.com/showthread.php?t=15461

And one from OSR:

confused car enthusiasts
http://forum.olskoolrodz.com/showthread.php?t=48593

And thus, the HAMB membership grows...

What do you guys think? Has anybody else seemed to notice folks migrating away from not only the term "rat rod", or the transmogrification (to change or transform, often in a grotesque manner) of traditional hot rodding it's some to represent?

This is just an observation, not a rant or trying to stir up ****...

~Jason

 

Rat rods are what lured me in, but I found The HAMB before old skool rodz could get me...

 

I totally see where your coming from, and Its the exact thing Ive been noticing..

The killbillet thread was a decent read on the subject.

One thing Im not surprised is how many jack***es still have there head up there *** thinking unsafe cars are cool!

 

Rat Rods make no sense to me. Building a pile-o-****, for the sole purpose of having a pile-o-****????? Come on people, take a little pride in your workmanship.

 

The term Rat Rod has it's place. There are cars out there that are just plain unsafe, badly built and lack the necessary esthetic appeal required, to be traditional Hot Rods.
I use the term Rat Rod when it's appropriate, not in a degrading fashion, but in a descriptive way.

 

I got a question for ya. How do you find time to work on a hot rod with 5K+ posts here plus two other sites I didn't even know existed? I don't care what someone calls my car its mine and that all that matters too me. Please don't take this the wrong way I just gotta know how ya do it.

 

Gimmicks. Seems like that's what most RR are. People get tired of gimmicks after a while. Styles that are timeless, will always be ...well... timeless.

 

It's difficult to properly describe a true rat rod without being derogatory

Rust is ok, patina is ok, an odd-ball collection of mis-matched parts is ok.... But hacking up perfectly good sheetmetal for shock value is very un-cool in my book.

 

Is it still a ratrod if it is painted?

 

i resent that remark! i will have you know all of my piles O **** are exceptional piles O ****!

 

I used to spend a lot of time on the H.A.M.B. (especially in the winter), but lately there is so much "newby stupid ****" questions (such as what should I do with my '65 Pontiac rusted-out 4-door sedan, put a 289 in it?) that I find myself being on here less and less. Oh well, more time in the garage. Really, I think this forum is being ruined by newbie idiots, but I, for one , have no idea what to do about it.

 

fixed it for you

 

I use the term Rat Rod when it's appropriate, not in a degrading fashion, but in a descriptive way.[/quote]


Well your way nicer then I am...I use it only as a degrading term, AS in that thing is a piece of **** ,bend over grab your head with both hands and pull it out of your ***! kinda way

 

That depends. Rattle-can florescent green does not a paint job make.

A "ratty" rod that the owner is in the process of improving is one thing......

 

wait til you have been here for 10 years and you might be REAL tired of

"whats this car worth" and "how do I convert from 6V to 12 volts?"

 

I never heard of "rat rod " til the last few years,,back in teh day,,"a rat bike " existed you would see them at swaps and shows and stuff,,and they were bikes that were on the road for life,,some had crazy **** attached to em,,or rigged repairs that worked just fine so were just left that way. They were taken care of in that they stayed running and on teh road,,and the repairs were made with what $$ and knowledge the owner had,,I'm sure there are cars like that...alot of them had character and got to be known ,,guess you could call the big Road Hog ( big bike with the car motor ) a rat bike

and at some point people stared building things to look that way on purpose JUST TO GET ATTENTION and in my eyes thats what "rat rods are" just another form of "look at me" and the more outrageous the more attention

whats that saying ..even bad publicity is good ??

 

I saw a ratrod style car recently that the owner insisted was not a ratrod because it was gonna be painted...............

yeah, he was new to cars of the 30s.
I am very curious as to why newbies are so drawn to ratrods and their obsession with using the frame out of a totally different car