What is or isnt a so called "rat rod". Opinions??

midnight sun · July 14, 2006, 07:39:52 PM

Posted some pictures yesterday of the 31 sedan body I picked up. In describing what I was going to build, I said I was shooting for it to be a rat rod or hardcore rod. One of the replies was a request not to call it a rat rod. No offense meant to anyone and none taken but I am curious as to what the opinions are as to what constitutes (or not) a so called rat rod. What are the criteria?

Just curious as usual.

GPster · July 14, 2006, 09:05:41 PM

I personally think the term "Rat Rod" has more to do with the owner and the way he wants to feel he is set apart . I feel that most of the people that object to the term just have no desire to be classed with that group but can still recognize the pleasure of the vehicles, their construction and their ideosyncracies. When I had my Harley I always liked the looks, design and practibility of BMWs but most of the owners wouldn't refer to themselves as "bikers" but some of the people that owned Harlys and would ride 2 miles a week and park their motorcycle outside the same bar as a bunch of others, they wanted to be refered to as "BIKERS". Some people will argue if you use the term and some people will be hurt if you don't. I don't want to argue. GPster

Rayvyn · July 14, 2006, 09:12:42 PM

Quote from: "midnight sun"Posted some pictures yesterday of the 31 sedan body I picked up. In describing what I was going to build, I said I was shooting for it to be a rat rod or hardcore rod. One of the replies was a request not to call it a rat rod. No offense meant to anyone and none taken but I am curious as to what the opinions are as to what constitutes (or not) a so called rat rod. What are the criteria?

Just curious as usual.

I've seen 50K cars for sale on Ebay with ratrod in the title, as well as 2K cars with the same description. I'm guessing it's a matter of personal opinion. Some bikers like the term "scoot or scooter", some take offense at it. It does seem to be a bit overblown now that it's become one of the latest trends, but it's your hot rod: you own it, you build it, you call it what you want. I try not to hang a particular badge on a car. I find them all fun to build and drive, regardless of some fad name or latest style.
IMHO

Crosley.In.AZ · July 14, 2006, 09:33:40 PM

I am not sure what the term "rat rod" eggzackly describes

In the 1980's I knew guys that built rods from what parts they could fine cheaply and with little experience on construction of a car.

one t-bucket comes to mind, the welds on suspension pieces were so bad i would not have driven the car to the end of my drive way.

kb426 · July 14, 2006, 10:32:09 PM

I see about 3 classifications these days. The first is : street rod. We all know what that means. Those that hang around the HAMB have hot rods or "traditional rods" They tend to be low dollar but with good design and minimal paint. The leadsled with flat finsih fits that catagory. The ratrods I see are a collage of whatever the builder can find. The construction is sometimes suspect. I believe that most of those cars are very price oriented. In the last year I have seen several ratrods. Their level of components are not what I could comfortably travel long distances with. The owners have great fun.

tomslik · July 14, 2006, 10:33:18 PM

Quote from: "Crosley"I am not sure what the term "rat rod" eggzackly describes

In the 1980's I knew guys that built rods from what parts they could fine cheaply and with little experience on construction of a car.

one t-bucket comes to mind, the welds on suspension pieces were so bad i would not have driven the car to the end of my drive way.

when i first looked at my coupe, it DID have a rat in it.

guess it still does;)

Crosley.In.AZ · July 14, 2006, 11:04:38 PM

Quote from: "tomslik"

when i first looked at my coupe, it DID have a rat in it.

guess it still does;)

slik ,
don't be so hard on yerself ...... you were speaking of when you were sitting in the car??

nzsimon · July 15, 2006, 02:13:11 AM

What some of these so called rat rods actually are is great big screaming adverts playing striaght into the hands of the powers that are trying to legislate us off the roads

Many of them I wouldn't stand near let alone ride in they are so dangerous they drag all forms of motorsport and car craft into disrepute

I have seen I can't even call them cars with the driveshaft rotating inside the passenger compartment cars with non functiong braeks It will only take one of these guys to have a high profile accident especially involving pedestrianas and you can kiss hot rodding goodbye in your state

jaybee · July 15, 2006, 10:02:33 AM

I'll go along with both Gpster and Simon. IMO the people that like this term applied to their rides are doing it mostly just to get a rise out of people. They're no different than the teens that latch on to the "Goth" culture. Oversized black clothes, dyed black hair, black lipstick and fingernails, pale makeup (boys AND girls) so they look like some sort of vampire, and as many piercings as money and time permit. Then if you even glance in their direction they'll scream "what are you looking at!" OVIOUSLY they WANT those confrontation and will do what's necessary to provoke them. I believe the same is true of rat rodders. They'll deliberately do things that they know are dangerous thinking that'll put them "out there on the edge." They've also imagined that's how things were "back in the day." Now, I wasn't there "back in the day" but everything I know tells me it takes a lot more to be "on the edge" now than it did "back in the day." To me it's a completely different thing than the "traditional builders" who start driving the car as soon as it's roadworthy, but won't cut corners on roadworthiness.

The best advice on cars I've ever got online was "buy something, get it on the road ASAP but make it safe. Drive the wheels off it all Summer. Pick something you want to to improve and do that work during the Winter. Drive the wheels off it the next Summer. Continue that as long as you have the car." I wish I'd have taken that advice. :oops:

40 · July 15, 2006, 10:54:43 AM

There are only two classifications of cars for me....The ones I like.... and....The ones I don't!

I am in agreement that many of the cars seen at the events lately seem to be built with a blatant disregard for safety....I also would not ride across the street in many of them.That said,I see some very well built,safely constructed cars that would definitely be considered "rat rods" by most.....many of them fall into my "I like" category.

donsrods · July 15, 2006, 11:34:27 AM

There is probably no other term that has riled up some rodders like the term Rat Rod. Some guys get really p***** when you utter those two simple little words. Me, I have no problem with it, and actually "get" what they are all about.

I think they are a rebellion against high cost/ billet everything rods that were starting to dominate our hobby. I was starting to get a little bored with it myself, and would go to a rod run and walk by row after row of cars and not really pay any attention to any of them because they all looked the same. It was just like going to a new car lot and walking the rows. But several years ago I was at Daytona for the Turkey Run, and there was a fenderless Deuce coupe there that caught my eye. It was finished (?) in red oxide primer, with patches missing, had an early Olds engine with trips, and had a length of coat hanger for a throttle rod. The entire car brought back a ton of memories for me of how we used to build them, and the small crowd standing around it echoed that opinion.

Now, that being said, what I don't like about some rats is the crappy construction techniques. Some of them should never see a highway because they are a real danger to themselves and every other car around them. An example is one I posted pictures of on another forum. I found it on Ebay, and it really made my blood boil. It had numerous unsafe features, but the worst two were the Craftsman combination wrenches he used for a pitman arm and one for the hand brake. Not the EMERGENCY BRAKE, but for the main brakes !!! It had NO FOOT BRAKE. His ad made it sound like it was the greatest car ever built, and he even used the term "built by real craftsmen" in the ad. I wanted to throw up, and even sent him an email telling him about his "craftsmanship."

I am building my '39 Dodge with elements of a rat rod, but still safe and well built. All these other idiots do is give all of us a bad name. Here are some pix of the rat that I saw on Ebay.

Don

donsrods · July 15, 2006, 11:36:08 AM

Ok, so that doesn't look too bad? Now check out the pitman arm tack welded to the shaft.

donsrods · July 15, 2006, 11:38:00 AM

Or, how about another craftsman wrench used for the HAND BRAKE?

He must have gotten a deal on Craftsman wrenches.

donsrods · July 15, 2006, 11:40:59 AM

And finally, how about these rear shock upper mounts and no perch u bolt on the spring?

Yep, this guy is a real craftsman. Oh, by the way, now for the real kicker. The car actually sold for $ 7000.00 !!!! I went back later and read the feedback the new owner put in after he bought it and he LOVED the car. Was it PT Barnum who said something about one being born every minute?

Don

Ornberg · July 15, 2006, 11:49:32 AM

Quote from: "kb426"I see about 3 classifications these days. The first is : street rod. We all know what that means. Those that hang around the HAMB have hot rods or "traditional rods" They tend to be low dollar but with good design and minimal paint. The leadsled with flat finsih fits that catagory. The ratrods I see are a collage of whatever the builder can find. The construction is sometimes suspect. I believe that most of those cars are very price oriented. In the last year I have seen several ratrods. Their level of components are not what I could comfortably travel long distances with. The owners have great fun.

What's the difference between these classifications, Hot rod, street rod and soft rod?
In which category do you think my ride belongs?
I have fenders on the car so no hot rod. Well I did have some shiny paintwork so it's not a rat rod I guess.

Do you use the term soft rod? Or is it maybe a custom car due to the air ride? I really don't know.
But I like the rat rod attitude with flat black paint or even no paint at all.

Per