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Rat Rods Rule

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BinaryData

Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2015
Messages
23
Hey Guys, and Girls (do these exist here? :confused:)

I'm new to this forums as you all know. Something I've wondered about for awhile is;

How do you tall guys do it? Do you have to get specific cabs to work with your height?

I'm 6'5", and I weigh about 350lbs. Part of my summer goals is losing weight, the more weight I lose the more I can do in the shop. I fit into the 79 Ford fairly well, but the ONE rat rod I got into, I practically kissed my own arse. It was terrible. Are they all like this?
 
I'm no expert. The way I look at it is you build it to fit you. If you are tall you don't channel the cab over frame,you would Z the frame. You use a longer cab. You could use an early 30s sedan cab and shorten it so it looks like a pickup cab with a window behind the door. You could limit your chop or not chop it at all. The nice part about building custom is that there are no rules other than making it safe. I used a 49 f0rd cab because it was a little bigger than the 47 and earlier fords. I saw a 49 ford style truck cab that had about 6" added behind the doors. I assume this was to give more leg room. Also the longer a cab is the more the chop looks more exagerated. Long story short. Build it to fit you. It's no fun if if you are not comfortable.
 
Kenny c is right on the money. Build it how you like and the rest of the world can kiss! I built mine to fit me and the people I thought likely to be passengers with me. A tall person likely would be uncomfortable to downright unable to get in.
 
Most of the 30's - early 40's vehicles have small cabs, people were smaller back then. The late 40's and up cabs are larger for bigger people, but even they can be small if chopped and channeled too much.
 
There are some cabs a guy your size is never gonna be comfortable in no matter what. In general the 20's and early 30's cabs are tight - even if you stretch it for height, they are narrow. Mid 30's and 40's cabs are better. Late 40's to mid 50's cabs are wider still, but get harder to make look right as a fenderless rod. After that your into the square cabs.

If you lower the cab on the frame, the transmission is gonna push up into the cab which means less foot room width-wise. That can cause problems with 3 pedals and monster feet.

Chop the top or raise the floor means lowering the seat so your head doesn't hit, but then your knees might be in your chin.

On RRR, we always tell guys to do mock up test fits before they start cutting metal.
 
Build it to fit you! I have a buddy who is around 6', he built a 4 door sedan and turned it into a 2 door. He pushed his seats back into the passanger compartment. Makesnit super roomy!
 
There are 6'5" guys who claim their chopped and channeled pickup fits fine. I say they never drive it far then. I like the idea of a stretched cab but haven't seen many stretched behind the doors that blew my hair back. I think 4 inches in the door looks a lot cooler and plus your arm still rests on the door and not rammed into the rear of the window opening if you like driving with your elbow out the window. Just my 2 cents
 
There are some cabs a guy your size is never gonna be comfortable in no matter what. In general the 20's and early 30's cabs are tight - even if you stretch it for height, they are narrow. Mid 30's and 40's cabs are better. Late 40's to mid 50's cabs are wider still, but get harder to make look right as a fenderless rod. After that your into the square cabs.

If you lower the cab on the frame, the transmission is gonna push up into the cab which means less foot room width-wise. That can cause problems with 3 pedals and monster feet.

Chop the top or raise the floor means lowering the seat so your head doesn't hit, but then your knees might be in your chin.

On RRR, we always tell guys to do mock up test fits before they start cutting metal.
*groan* I forgot about my feet. I have a big foot too. 14s - 16s. Blah! :(
Might wanna look for a COE! [ddd

BoB
COE? I'm still new with terminology, sorry!

@ Everyone else; thanks for the responses. I was looking at a few Sedan style cabs, my very first post about the rat rod is what I was going for. I eventually want to do a topless build, but baby steps, baby steps!

Something like this - Craigslist - 1946 Ford 1/2 Ton

Going for a look like this RatRod

or

Use this cab 1941 Dodge Military Truck

Trying to get a good idea of what should be done after I fix this truck of mine up.
 
COE stnds for Cab Over Engine. Somewhere on here is a thread with definitions and abreveations. I'll see if i can find it for you.
 
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I don't know how to do an attachment but I found it. Go to search in the black bar at the top of page and type list of definitions. I came up with a thread called Very silly question. That thread has a lot of stuff that helps describe some of the foolishness that is done here.
 
There are a lot of different ways to do things. I have seen chopped and channelled sedans where they did it like the mini-truckers and dropped the floor boards around the frame. I've seen other cabs(30s) where they actually widened the cab by adding 3-6 inches to the center of it. Made the doors longer, added 6-12 inches to the rear of the cab, chopped just the front of the roof. The list goes on and on. Whatever your size is, build it to that. Doesn't matter if anyone else likes it as long as you're happy with it and that it is comfortable and safe to drive. I got one friend who is 6.6 and upwards of 300lbs and used to daily drive a VW bug. Of course if you're really tall, you could whack the roof off and call 'er a day.
 
You can extend the lower half of the firewall 5" forward to help with your long legs and big ole feet [ddd
Then you can set the engine forward a little too.

312B770B.jpg
 

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