4eight0wagons
Well-known member
Howdy all, let me just begin by saying that I am almost positive that the Rat Rodding hobby creates an entire lifestyle moreso than just a hobby!! I recently became a first time father and realized that I must build something for my daughter to ride in whenever we go anywhere. Well, that exploded into an obsession. But, first let me introduce myself. I am a Certified Personal Trainer at a rather large auto maker in west central Ohio. I have a loving and supportive wife, that sometimes rolls her eyes at my ideas, but thats what they are for it think! I always have loved going to car shows and helping my friends with their builds whenever I can. I never really messed around with anything of my own, until recently. I have always been able to figure out the workings of things as long as you leave me alone to figure it out. I get bothered by people that would rather do it themselves instead of showing me how to do it. Basically, what I am saying is, I went and bought a 41/2" grinder and changed my life! HAHA I have always wanted to build something cool, and watched my dad and family always building cool things. I never knew I could. I never tried. I decided that building a wagon for my daughter was a brilliant idea. So, I rebuilt and redid a wagon that her great grandmother gave her. That led into, hey this is pretty cool. I built her another wagon that was low and girly. I quickly found out that people liked these wagons. I wanted a Rat Rod wagon, so I started going to antique stores and Goodwill religiously. I found my beauty, and the ideas errupted. I decided I wanted to, not only build a copper frame for this wagon, but I wanted to teach myself to sodder in the process. After a few burnt fingers it turned out pretty awesome. I used an antique gas can and cut it to make it a cooler! I then couldn't stop myself. I found more wagons and started building. Each one teaching myself something else. I sold a couple (which, seemed to have a very good effect on my wife! haha) and am building a couple to donate to Hospice and Cancer research. Through this wagon building I have realized I truly can build things with cool outcomes. That led me to the decesion, "I need a Rat Rod!!". So, I found out my father-in-law had a 1980 Yamaha 1100 Midnight Special in his barn since 1987. He was going to scrap it, just due to him not wanting it anymore. I saved it!! I am ratting it out!! It is not a priority, but it certainly is always in the foreground whenever I go to the garage. I am learning how to rebuild carbs, remove broken spark plugs, and taming a beast that is wildly out of control. I have named it "Beyond Thunderdome" just because it reminds me of Mad Max. lol I will attach pics of the bike how I found it and also my photoshopped idea...So, these are my ramblings. I am done and if you are still reading this I salute you, and also realize your boredom! ha...I am continually working on new projects and am hoping this all leads to building a truck to haul all my wagons!! I will attach the pics of my projects, let me know if you want to see more of any of them. Maybe, I will just start a thread with build pics of each of them if that would be of intrest to anyone. In the mean time thank you for allowing me to be part. And party on!!
Love the copper framed one too 
