Rat Rod mistakes

Constructive criticism: things that could be done differently

Everybody has their own vision of a rat rod, but some like the International truck cab/Grand Prix stick out like a sore thumb and make you wonder, what the heck were they thinking? I thought I'd start a thread with some pics of things that could be done differently. These are all subjective to your own views, what one person likes another will think looks like crap. Feel free to comment and add your own pics and thoughts.....

My biggest gripe-nose heavy out of proportion front ends-


Good looking truck, until you check out the front end:



The grill is way to forward to run fender less and hood less, making the whole truck look nose heavy. On top of that, the grill shell is taller than the cowl, again giving it a funny, nose heavy look.

Just a pet peeve of mine, is proportions. Add your own thoughts and things that you think might have been done differently, might look better or work better. It can be body or chassis related. It might just help somebody to look at something differently.

Everybody has their own vision, so it's not black and white and I'm not saying they're wrong and I'm right, just trying to add a different view on things.

Biggest mistake is critisizing other builds without ever having built one yourself.
Open IFS on the whole look like crap but time and talent to finish a car needs to be applauded.

tires

my opinion only, valid where prohibited, for official abuse only

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lFS don't bother me at all, but whitewalls on about 99 percent of the rods they are on look awful ...

but as the saying goes ''beauty is in the owners eye''

each to there own, every one can find fault with something on your'e ride, l tell people l built it for me and not them[

Later

Well, maybe I was wrong in saying mistakes, unless you are dealing with safety issues. I was thinking how some vehicles have "the look", while others leave you scratching your head.
And I've seen some goofy looking suspension systems that had me wondering about their safety. Just wanted to point out some things that could have been done better.

But I have to agree with Skull, to each his own....

And I have built a few cars in my life, the Maverick was the last one I did from a shell, and the 36 Dodge is under construction right now, just need to get a few things outta the way so I can get started back on it again.

If this thread is going to step on somebodies feelings, I'll just delete it. That wasn't what it was intended for.....

Safety issues are a completely different matter.
IMO the reasons 'Rats' are looked down on is because of some of the downright dangerous crap out there that are called rats.

EnglishBob said:

Biggest mistake is critisizing other builds without ever having built one yourself.

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very true!!

One of my pet pieves is when I start talking to guys about their cars and they try to come off as they built it, with in a few questions, I know then I get the "well I helped the guy that built it" I cant tell you how many times I have heard that

I'm going to chime in here if I may...

First off, I'm a bike builder and not a car builder. That said, I build bikes for people that I like. My vision of what I think is cool is just that, mine. I do whatever I think looks appropriate for the bike, and it just so happens that some people don't have the same taste.

And, there are people in this city that build bikes too. A lot of the time, I don't completely agree with certain aspects of the bike, but I tend to reserve public judgement knowing that the same thing could very well happen to me. And that would suck...if I cared what people think of what I do. Don't get me wrong, the customer's satisfaction is paramount, but he's the guy paying for the end product, not the internet.

Now, I've got this old truck. I'm tinkering away at it, doing the required repairs to make it safe. The rest, is all based on my own personal taste. Most people don't like the 20's I put on it. Oh well, I do...and I worked a lot of overtime to pay for those wheels, and I'm the guy working late nights in the garage measuring, re-measuring, cutting, grinding, etc.

I'm doing this because I like doing it. If people like it, awesome. If not, constructive criticism is always welcome. But if you don't like it "just because", then hit the bricks pal.

This site is great, I've learned a lot in the short time I've been here. Learned about things on cars that I never knew exsisted. I've spent more time researching and ebaying and googling in the past month than I ever have in my life. I also had no idea that dudes put their cabs on IFS frames at times. I live under a rock it would seem...


But I digress...

On to this truck:

I think it's cool. It's not my cup of tea style wise, but I can appreciate the time this person put into building it. He's probably not any different than the rest of you/us. Working late nights in the garage, doing favours for the wife so he can work in the shop when there's free time...the money spent, etc.

It's also a huge learning process. I can guarantee that he'll not build another truck like this one again. I remember the very first bike I built. The parts I made, and the stuff I did to it...looking back at it now, I'd NEVER build a bike like this again. But, at the time, I thought it was awesome...why? Because I BUILT IT MYSELF, and I was damn proud of what I did.


Taking something that is 30,40,50 or 60 years old, and bringing it back to life and driving/riding the crap out of it is cool no matter how you look at it.

Here we go again......

BTW, couldn't agree more Mr. Crown!!!

My biggest thing is the IFS on a fender less ride.... Yuck. And just because it's flat black with red wheels don't make it a Ratrod!

That truck embodies why I have strong feelings about using S-10 frames on fenderless rods. Right after safety, I am most concerned with the balance and stance of a build. So few cars totally nail it (including my own) but some are just not in the gane.
Even using an old truck and leaving off the fenders can have the same effect. Look at how the nose overhangs on 38-39 Fords and Internationals. I have a buddy who chose to go fenderless on a 39 binder and it's a homely mutt. He is a great mechanic and top Dodge/Cummins tech but just don't get it on the aesthetics of a hot rod. He's had literally hundreds of projects over the years but never a fenderless hotrod. I tried to tell him but he's a stubborn sort. And now he really thinks he nailed it because the truck gets a lot of attention. I'm sure the guy with the blue truck does too.

Mr.Crown said:

If people like it, awesome. If not, constructive criticism is always welcome.

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I guess I stuck my foot in my mouth. That is more in line with what i was thinking when I started this thread, constructive criticism instead of right or wrong. Since I can't find a way to delete it, I'll see if I can't edit the original post to reflect that.

Bamamav said:

I guess I stuck my foot in my mouth. That is more in line with what i was thinking when I started this thread, constructive criticism instead of right or wrong. Since I can't find a way to delete it, I'll see if I can't edit the original post to reflect that.

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I knew where you were headed with this thread. I just don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to the building a "rat" with an S-10 frame or not debaucle.

As willowbilly said...some people have "it" and some don't.

rainman said:

Here we go again......

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Here you go again! People have a right to their own opinion and I personally don't think this thread is out of line. Yet!

Like WB said, some people have style and some people don't!

Toad

Mr.Crown said:

I knew where you were headed with this thread. I just don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to the building a "rat" with an S-10 frame or not debaucle.

As willowbilly said...some people have "it" and some don't.

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Thanks Mr. Crown, after I read your post i went back and tried to correct where I screwed up originally to make my intent a little clearer. Maybe it makes a little better sense now as to what I was trying to get a discussion started on.

stance

it took a little bit of fananling to get the stance correct on my truck, but l think l nailed it.

the 3O some has all the adjustable style coilovers on the front & rear so that will help get the stance on that one correct.

the lFS on that frame are the trick tubular A-arms that will look better than the stock factory ones, so while it is still out in the wind, the over all look ain't as bad as it could be.

and it's a personal thing, but whitewalls just don't belong on rat rods.

Later

i know what your trying to say as i believe most ifs look like they set to for back. i have been trying to build on a budget sence the wife has been taking care of her parents (last 6 years) i have a plan for fenders but don't have any yet, and when it came to get parts for a disc brake setup it was out of my budget. the plates where about $120.00 each alone and then everything else on top of that it's a dodge a100 axle. one of the guys that was working on the new shop sold me a pinto for $100.00, cut out the front and scraped the rest and now i have a ifs in my roadster. now i will never call it a rat but it is a hot rod. i hope my placement is better then most ifs. by the way with everything i have bought, made and what has been givin to me i have around $1400.00 in it now. these are old pics, i don't have any new ones yet as i am trying to build a small garage right now, but i have the streeing and a set of lakes style headers on it.

26Troadster - put a hood top (no sides) and some skinny tall tires on that and it would look like a 20/30's style race car.
I know it's a of a 4door, but it still looks right.

26T, it looks good to me!

I'm not downing IFS, my Dodge is running Toyota IFS. Some will like it, some won't. The nose heavy look is what I don't care for on some cars.

IN GENRAL... The nose heavy look. Big honkin' frame horns sticking out. Attempts to put 32 style grill shells on wide body cars or trucks. Rear wheels centered poorly with the truck bed. Poorly chosen tire and wheel sizes. Bad choice in rims. (I have no problem with big rims and rubberband tires on the right car) International truck cabs put on Grand Am bodies. Late model steering columns in old cars. Anything unsafe.

I am generally opposed to IFS on open wheels but don't mind a nice clean set up. Grille placement and stance are the 2 biggest areas where a lot of builders miss the mark. Take the Milner coupe. Everyone rants about it but the grille sets way too low and what would otherwise be a sharp hotrod just hurts my eyes to look at it.
Come to think of it, the attitude of the body is off too, the front needs dropped.
I think threads like this are good, lots of people just don't understand but if they see it getting discussed, they might have an Ahah moment. Much of what I think looks right I got from reading Baskerville, little things like keeping the wishbones and the drag link parallel with each other and with the ground.
People, even here, bristle up and say they don't care what anyone else thinks, it's their car yadda yadda. What a load of crap, almost every one of us is building rods that we want to be appreciated for something, traditionalism, shock factor, bling, whatever.