Black Rat 55

I've gotta admit I giggled when I saw the shopping bag in your cab with the "BIG RED TRIANGLE" on it. It's just SO wierd to see Canuck stuff on a primarily US site.

Wish you the best of luck getting it running this Victoria Day Weekend.

Regards,
Shea[/QUOTE]

Hah, good eye ! Good ol' Crappy Tire - they had the best price on Tremclad paint (Rustoleum).
Pix of the box I made, 18 ga. steel, used 1 1/4" pipe for the top roll, made the stake corners from 1x2" box tube with some trimming & welding to make them look more production-like. Used the original tailgate skin from the 55, it was too big so I lost a couple letters to make it easier to spell , and framed it with 1x1 and 1x2" tube. Last pic shows the compressor, tank, valves and battery mounted.

Spectacular work zzrodder and I really like the proportions. From some angles, the roof resembles a 32 Ford 3 window to me. Again, a really nice job by you.

Some pix in the light of day. Took off the tire condoms too for a better look at it. Got some shorter shocks and redid the headlight mounts to get em' lower. I made up some mounts to use the Model A tailights I had handy, decided not to use the aircleaner that I made shown here, a little too big I think.

Very nice i like [cl

Wow! I would not have recognized it as a '55. I read through and then I got it. Nice work!

WOW! Fantastic the way you brought all the lines together and make them work. Truly original.
You keep looking at it thinking you should recognize what it is, but the rear cab corners are the only clue. Probably because that seems to be the only parts of the 55 you really used other than the door skins that are modified enough to disguise them.

Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful!

Made the grille shell and a stainless grille. Followed thru with the body side shape into the grille shell sides. Also fabbed a stainless nerf bar / bumper so it can be legal and to mount the front plate on the backside. Front plates are required in B.C., going without is just asking to get stopped and can lead to the fuzz looking for other infractions.
Also made the headers from some old Camaro headers and some 4" pipe to make the cones.

Some shots of various fab work. Used the 55 e-brake handle and made a bellcrank/cable linkage to fit it under the dash, welded the modified dash to the cowl. Boneyard gas pedal from a Chevy van, column is from a 70's Ford van, chopped off the shifter and welded on a cone shaped transition piece to dress it up a bit. The shifter is made from a NOS 70's piece I scrounged, made the linkage and topped it with a stick from a 58 Chev truck 4 spd.Built a framework to support the box floor and a hinged framework to bolt the wood to. Also visible is the gas tank I made, holds 18 US gal. Last pic is of the 32 Ford door handle mounted in a small well, trying to blend in another 30's cue to blur the origin of the cab.

More pix. Ebrake bellcrank, another view of the interior, making the exhaust diverter valve and pipe, tailpipe. The knobs below the shifter open the diverter flaps for full on bark.

that is one fantastic truk, really got me thinkin of my next build. not to hijak the thread, you spoke somwhere of a 28 Henway?? you built. and the light came on!! did you have the 28 at the July 1st at Blind Bay a few years ago?? I think we met. any how keep up the good work. looking forward to seeing your truk on the road this summer.

Great photos, thanks for posting them. Nice design on the bumper, grille and exhaust - actually on everything.

verry nice.

Great job on the proportions and some verry clean fab work, will be looking for this one in a magazine when your done if it isnt allready.Sammy

I love the truck. Great work. I bow to your greatness. I never would have thought it started as a 55. I would have thought it would have guessed it was a 33 or 34 ford pick-up cab. And the Chev'ole is great. Most people would glance at it and not even notice the nice work there.

Wrinkles said:

that is one fantastic truk, really got me thinkin of my next build. not to hijak the thread, you spoke somwhere of a 28 Henway?? you built. and the light came on!! did you have the 28 at the July 1st at Blind Bay a few years ago?? I think we met. any how keep up the good work. looking forward to seeing your truk on the road this summer.

Click to expand...

Yes, that was me with the Hennway, I think it was 2007, the Shushwap area is beautiful. What were you driving at that show? We try to hit different ones so it doesn't get boring. Went to Radium hot springs with it last Sept., a 5 1/2 hr. drive, that was a great show, 935 rides in attendance, 80% from Alberta so lots of awesome cars and new ideas for the old memory bank. Actually that was where the inspiration came from to build this new project.

ZZRodder, Thanks for sharing your pics. They sure are helpful. Great looking project. Can't wait to see it come together.

Few more pix of front end also the rest of the exhaust. Made my own mufflers in the style of the old corvette chambered pipe (this would later prove to be LOUD, some baffling required...). Door pic showing some of the surgery scars relocated window winders and latch mounts, new tracks and lower channel. It probably would have been easier to put in power windows than to tweak all the old stuff but I'm trying to stay away from power stuff plus I'm a stubborn SOB. Scrounged some 1 x 12" old cedar boards from a 90 yr. old chicken house form the family farm. It was built from used lumber in the 1920's so no telling how old they really are, I'll put a good coat of flat clear on them to help preserve them .

Pic of the second design scoop, think I still may do it over again... Made garnish mouldings for the doors to continue the 30's look. Bracing and panel mounting framework on the rear of the cab, support ribs for the roof and headliner bows, still see the old stickers on the roof that were on the inside of the hood on the 55, put there in the mid-70's.

I decided to make a metal roller to try to turn out some one off fenders - it's the law here and though a lot guys go without (I have too) , Im not going to give the fuzz any reasons to pull me over. I was a lot of work to feed them thru and many hours spent with the planishing hammer to smooth out the ripples and gradually create the right curve to match the tires. I also ran the edges thru the bead roller to put a lip on them.

I would not have considered that approach - too much work. The fenders came out great. Thanks for posting the photos of the tool.