Welding on your RAT

[Mikey]

Ummm.. First, let me start off by saying, just because your welds arent good, does not make you a bad guy or a bad hotrodder.
Maybe you are better at painting or upholstery, or pinstiping or chasing pretty girls!! lol.
But by far and away, the biggest complaint I've heard,at Pomona,Long Beach,San Diego,The Nationals Events and goodguys, is the welding on Rat Rods.
I've seen some really groovy rat rods, with really great innovations.
And I've been invited to some really far out car clubs that really blew my mind! (I.E. meaning I had a great time!!)
One event that comes to my head was the DEACONS in San Diego. Wow! I had fun there! Good bands and dancing,kool chix and good food and great raffles.Good pistripers there too!
No, bout the only thing I have ever heard negatively is the welding of the chassis,frame or other strucual parts of the car.
Most of the time, Ithink Rat rods are just as safe as any other hot rod, and I personally think most hot rods are built much stronger and heavier duty than stock type new cars. (Chinese junk).
But then we come to the welding. Occaisonally, I've seen some bad welding on a few cars. This sends a chill to most rodders.
Hey as long as it's on sheetmeta(a body chop,for instance) I have no problem with it. But if it is on the draglink,tie rod,frame,steering or brake systems, Wow! Look out!
If you are building your rat and your welding isnt that hot, either take a class at night or get someone who knows how to weld to do it. Dont go down the road in a rod that has unsafe joints in it... nuff said,Mikey

 

[Bonehead]

Well said.

 

[BigShem]

ya what he said!!!!!

 

[Sam_Fear]

Here's some of my ramblings about safety that have been bouncing around in my head since the Hunnert Car Pile-Up. I read some comments on the "traditionals" website about the large amount of shoddy craftsman ship on display at the show. There were many more rats than I expected I admit, but then the thread turned to hatin' on rats and the inevitable comments regarding safety surfaced. You all know the bs - rats are unsafe pieces of junk, etc.

Made me think:
Since I've been visiting RRR, safety has always been a high priority here. (KB seems to be the same way)

I'm sure a lot of those bad welds are done by people that either don't know, or think they are better welders than they are. Some ppl are truly idiots, but generally those guys cars don't even make it into a show.

Rats have more exposed critical welds showing than most cars - therefore more potential for critics. Bet some of those great looking fat fenders have some iffy at best welds under them that no one can see to criticize. Do you think the first suicide front axle mod was built perfect on the first try? New original ideas that don't have a long running history haven't been through trial and error real life tests like the traditional ways....

....Which brings me to my biggest epiphany about some traditionalists attitudes about the safety of rat rods and how hypocritical some of those guys are. The guys that many idolize, immortalize, or try to emulate - way back. The ones that started the post WWII racing and modifying cars for speed thing. Think about how those guys thought about safety for a second. The guys that just came back from being shot, shot at, shooting others, and seeing others be killed. Think safety was one of their biggest concerns? Some of those guys were surely suicidal in the most literal sense. A bad scrub-line would surely have seemed harmless compared to your plane being riddled with flak or getting shelled. I'm sure iffy welds were more the norm than the exception compared to todays standards.

That last bit isn't advocating bad safety, just a note on a hypocrisy I saw.

My take is, feel free to endanger yourself if you want, but don't endanger anyone else.

EDIT: And I agree with the OP. Critical frame welds and brakes need to be top notch solid.

 

[buckeyedon]

Sometime you need a plumber you call a plumber. If your welds are marginal
call a welder. It doesn't take any thing away from your abilities. Safety First!

 

[earthman]

I've seen enough at the last couple of shows that i am ready to put distance between me and the rat rod catagory. It looked like some of the welds were left bad on purpose. I like to see some pride evident on a car somewhere.
( hatchet head used as brake linkage on the firewall with part of the broken handle still in it)

 

[Sam_Fear]

I've seen enough at the last couple of shows that i am ready to put distance between me and the rat rod catagory. It looked like some of the welds were left bad on purpose. I like to see some pride evident on a car somewhere.
( hatchet head used as a brake lever on the firewall with part of the broken handle still in it)

How about the rat rod community puts some distance between it and that shoddy junk? Probably like the fake patina stuff. Crap welds are now gonna be the fad? Either way I don't care for someone taking good tin and making less of it. Ratting is raw hot rodding, not purposely making junk for junks sake. That's just stupid.

 

[Bonehead]

Up with Rat Rods.......... Down with Junk Rods!!!!

 

[Daman]

I'll be the first to say my welds look like Sh!t. But they penetrate.
Back when I learned on the farm my dad and uncle would just check em and if they held they were good enough. Now I just grind the extra slag off then they're pretty

 

[PA41]

I'll be the first to say my welds look like Sh!t. But they penetrate.

There ya go..

I've done farmer welding for 20 years and have built numerous roll cages and street cars on a hobby level. You don't have to be a pro to do this, ya just gotta pay attention to the basics. Study--Clean your joints and TURN IT UP.. (and listen to MIKEY -- Good to see ya on the dark side man).

Compared to some of the flimsy factory stuff out, most of us build 'crow bar' level cars. Simple heavy and bullit proof.

Hey Mikey-- Do a 'Welding for Dummies' tech thread--I usta read those 'Welding Basics' threads of yours on the NTBA and got a lot out of them. I believe it was you with the Low Hydrogen tip--"stick the rod IN the Puddle" Drop N drag welding.. That was a great tip - did alot of it.

PA41

 

[atomsplitter]

Welding on any car?

I've read on another forum that some people have been having problems getting their customs approved for the road (VIN) that have a "Modified" frame on the vehicle. In particular there's a guy with a complete custom frame that couldn't get a VIN because he did not have an engineered drawing and the welding had not been done by a professional. I believe this was in California.

Is this a trend......anyone else has heard of this?
Is this possibly the governement trying to combat the home built Hot Rod/Rat Rod?

 

[yone187]

in my opinion rats are bare essentials... but what we have is still essential! just cause the body is rotting, dented, rusty, shot at, broken windows, half painted, etc... doesnt mean the running gear, brakes and frame need to be.

 

[Sam_Fear]

I think there are a few states that require engineer certified frames. Fortunately for me Iowa is not one of them.

 

[CrankShaft68]

I agree with everything said in this thread. Safety is paramount. As someone said “If you want to kill yourself, go for it. Just don’t take the by-standers with you.
With that being said, I’ve been on other sites and been told that if you don’t weld it, wire it and wrench it then you ain’t s@#*! I don’t buy into that mind set. I know my limitations and I’m not afraid to admit it. But there are some youngsters that hear and read this kind of non-sense and believe they won’t be accepted by the “cool guys” if they don’t do it all. So they throw an unsafe rod together just to say they did it all. Until everyone gets on the same SAFETY page there will continue to be badly built contraptions on the road and at shows.
You do your thing and I’ll do mine! Ooh, oops I just slipped and fell off my soap-box.

CS68

[P

 

[Gearhead10]

Good thread. I have to agree that safety is a must! I'd hate to crash my ride cuz I didn't take the time to do good welds. Or be travelin down the road with the family truckster and have someones p.o.s. break and crash into us. I've seen some scary welds done with a stick welder that would probly never let go, Ive also saw a very nicely welded roll cage rip apart cuz the welds did not penetrate the pipe well. If your weldin it up yourself and ? your work, ask a friend to check it over. A grinder is your friend and you can always clean up the weld and go back over it, especially if there are pinholes. [ I have been under some $30,000 fat fendered hotrods in the past and its scary to see whats under there. That is one thing I like about open wheel cars, it forces you to make it right.

 

[Bonehead]

A grinder is your friend and you can always clean up the weld and go back over it, especially if there are pinholes.

But leave some weld when you are finished. I have seen failure in over ground work too.

 

[BUSTEDKNUCKLE]

Well I think I will jump in and add my 2 cents. First I would like to say that safety should be at the top of the list when buiding, brakes,steering,seat belts, and welding to just name a few. I have seen buids here and on the other sites that I just shake my head at. I try not to put down or discurage the person building it, but some people just dont have a clue what they are doing. When you try to add some constructive ideas its usaully meet with less than open arms. There is a number of seasoned builders here, we should all step up and try to steer these guys in the right direction even if somones feeling get a little hurt. Its these buiders that are giving all of us a bad rap. I guess we could call those (crap rods) not RAT RODS. Just my 2 cents..........


Curt

 

[BUSTEDKNUCKLE]

I've read on another forum that some people have been having problems getting their customs approved for the road (VIN) that have a "Modified" frame on the vehicle. In particular there's a guy with a complete custom frame that couldn't get a VIN because he did not have an engineered drawing and the welding had not been done by a professional. I believe this was in California.

Is this a trend......anyone else has heard of this?
Is this possibly the governement trying to combat the home built Hot Rod/Rat Rod?

off topic......

 

[BUSTEDKNUCKLE]

I've seen enough at the last couple of shows that i am ready to put distance between me and the rat rod catagory. It looked like some of the welds were left bad on purpose. I like to see some pride evident on a car somewhere.
( hatchet head used as brake linkage on the firewall with part of the broken handle still in it)

I totally agree with you.........

Curt

 

[117harv]

Many home hot rod builders seem to have the 110 wire feed welder, which is fine and does a good job for most welding, but when it comes to welding heavier steel such as spring perches or pitman arms have a profesional welder do it. If that is out of the question borrow a 220 welder, or take your project to a place where youy can use one. A 110 will not allways get the penatration needed, if you don't have access to the previous and you have an oxy-acetyline torch, preheat the thicker steel this will greatly aid in penatration and help to eliminate the dreaded cold start blobs.