My main piece of advice is to just get over what other people are calling your car. My daily driver (F1 pickup) gets called everything from a Model T to a Studebaker and yeah, sometimes a rat rod. It sounds like you have the rest under control. Unchanneled on Deuce rails sounds like it will take care of the radiator height problem. And you're fixing the tail lights. And well... it just wouldn't be a proper post from me if I didn't disagree with something Samiyam says. So I say The stance could easily be pulled off if you're building a 60's style car. (check out Bleeds roadster, Evel's coupe, and Tuck's roadster in progress)
Its not a Studebaker? I suppose next you're gonna try and tell me that its not a hemi. I still think it has too damned many bolts in the rocker covers and I'm pretty sure that Brad agrees with me. Well the meds are kicking in real good I think I better get off here and go try and do hot rod stuff.
Like other's have said...no matter what people are going to call your car what they want to call it. Just about any build that doesnt have shiney paint and has been customized in some sort of way that is pre-1960's is most likely going to be called a rat-rod by most car enthusiasts who just don't get it. I think most people who use the term dont intend to use the "R" word as offending. i dont think the "R" word is offending call it what you want and they'll call it what they want. it's always going to occur no matter what you drive. Make it into something that YOU want to drive...not something that will be appealing to other people. No matter what; youre always going to come across someone who doesnt agree with what you did to it, etc. Make it into what YOU want it to be. While i agree with your frustration over fellow car enthusiasts i must say that if youre changing it around just for the sake of trying to deter people from using the "R" word, i'm not so sure i can agree with that It's a nice ride with a lot of promise. i must say i like it for the most part; just the way it is. change the paint, fix the tail lights and i think its pretty slick
Farmergal I think that most things can be taken as not offensive as long as they are not spoken in malice. I think the only way to know is to be there. I do agree with you, I think for the most part people just say it because they don't know any better. The term gets old after awhile but we need to remember they are just people and it doesn't matter so much what they think at all. I like the direction that the sedan is taking personally but like I mentioned earlier there is nothing wrong with it the way it is. It appears to me that like many rods from days gone by it is just morphing into something else.
Only about 1 out of every 10,000 people have any clue as to what the proper nomenclature is to describe a dragster, a funny car, a stock car, an antique auto mobile. Let alone the more intricate definitions of custom, hot rod, street rod, rat rod, tuner. The vast majority of the general public at large has no idea of what they are looking at, and in some ways it's better that they do not. If they did they might get to liking it and next thing you know Honda would be introducing a Hot Rod model for them, just like they tried to retro all our classic motorcycles. Yuck!
I don't think it looks too bad! I wouldn't call it a "RR". Everybody has their opinion of what they would change. I think it's more about the color than the build. I think the only thing that will make the "RR" comments go away these days is a shiney paint job. But who really cares what people say. My Merc got called a "RR" once at a show. I said "REALLY?"
I really don't understand why everyone here has such a hard time understanding that the rest of the non-hot rodding outside world has latched onto the term "rat rad" to describe the type of car that the rest of us rodders would call a "traditional hot rod". If you bothers you so much just re-program your brain so when someone is trying to give pay you a compliment and says "hey man, nice rat rod" just replace "rat rod" with "hot rod" or "custom" and you'll get what they're trying to say. Most people DON'T know so why make a big deal out of it? And who freakin' cares anyways? At least they don't call it a cute dune buggy.
Its further along than my '29 is, so I can't bitch! hell, it's just fine in the before pics, so the after pics should be real nice! Why were the taillights up so high? Hidden fuel door? Oh, and kudos to your Dad, take him someplace nice when the cars done.
"nothing chevy on my Ford" What a classic comment!! As a kid I watched my Dad build a deuce coupe in the early 50's that was well engineered and a real life example of the fabled "traditional hot rod". Mercury flathead with two deuces, wire wheels, all the stuff that fit the profile of a hot rod in the day. For a dude who saw the real deal from the start, all this other stuff to me is more "late model" by comparison. To see a car that has that authentic look is very much appreciated yet today by some folks.
You've got a nice father for getting you those goodies. I hope you take care of that man above and beyond what's expected of you.
The taillights were high because the car was low. I wanted to put 37 ford lights in the wheel housing between the tire and car. But it would be so low and unsafe. I got my rails and a replacement sub floor. Got the rails leveled and squared... gonna install my A crossmember tomorrow. Oh and i scored 5 16x5 inch ford wheels! Now i have my rears! I have 16x4s for the front already!
btw, i forgot to mention, i really like the car as is, but your new direction sounds just a little better!
I have not been on here for a while and when i came back i saw the sticky about using 'RR'. May i ask please what happened or why the anti 'RR' stance? i realize a good many of them have got plum silly and unsafe but surely some are well planned and built machines? (just for the record, i'm not building a RR either!)
Thanks for the good wishes! And yes i liked the car as it was but it deserved to be finished nicely! I got my front crossmember in and the body sitting on the frame. Still have to trim the rear horns and the wheel wells for frame clearence... Im starting to get excited!!!!
Chrysler has the PT Cruiser, had that other abomination (The Prowler), & GM has the HHR stuff. Could you imagine a modern version of a Model A, or '32 with safety bumpers, airbags, and a big ole' nav. screen? The horror, the horror....
Ok so I'm begging to think I messed mentioning the RR bullsh*t. I just wanted to post my build so people could see what I was doing and give me some pointers but if this thread is gonna turn into a big RR debate and overshadow my build maybe I should just start a new thread. Come on ratvrods are dead and this car is gonna be far from one.
the word is only a problem if you are a ten year old girl and can't handle what other people say....who gives a fuckin shit....honestly when someone tells me what words to use and what words i can't..... enrages me more than any two words ever could....get over it ....lots of weak people here can't p.s. i look forward to watching the build and i can see what and why you are doing it ...doesn't mean that nobody is going to call your car whatever they want.
I built this in the 70s when the sport was calling The Hot Rod a Street Rod. I did not like that then and I don't like Rat Rod now. Just my opinion.
The uneducated strike again, I have friends with awesome finished hot rods that get the rat rod deal. fuck'em if they can't take a joke. It just goes with the territory. Have yourself a good laugh and move on. ~sololobo~
Let's see... It's primered, completely empty interior except for Mexican blankets, drags the tail, and has the grill shell out of position, and you guys wonder why people call it a "rat rod?" Now that's some funny shit. NOTE: I always stuck with Hot Rod Magazine's definition of a "hot rod" as any vehicle modified for better looks or performance....
GETTING THIS THREAD BACK ON TRACK..........nice work and game plan. The side shot on the rails looks killer!!!
Oh boy I thought I was building a street rod but it has been called a R__Rod on one more than one occasion. So what is it? Ya can call it what you want but all I know it is going to be fun and it is being built safe for the road. It may not be the $85,000.00 build and not win any awards. But it is mine and I take pride in what I have done so far and summer is just around the corner. Time to get back on it.
The Jalopy Journal
