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Willowbilly3

A *real* tin magnet
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
7,847
Location
Black Hills South Dakota
A friend stopped by today and showed me pics on his phone of the Vegas rat rod show. He said at least half the cars are custom tube frame with bags and 12 valve Cummins and some old ratty body bolted on. A few SBC and LS engines but nothing cool like Hemi's or Nailheads. One guy had a 3 duece W engine in a 32 chevy coupe, claimed he just drove it down from Canada but it had no heater or side windows and still had the nibs on the tires.[S
 
A friend stopped by today and showed me pics on his phone of the Vegas rat rod show. He said at least half the cars are custom tube frame with bags and 12 valve Cummins and some old ratty body bolted on. A few SBC and LS engines but nothing cool like Hemi's or Nailheads. One guy had a 3 duece W engine in a 32 chevy coupe, claimed he just drove it down from Canada but it had no heater or side windows and still had the nibs on the tires.[S


And 95% of that stuff was probably tosses together $h!+!
That's why I have never put a cummins in one of my cars. Everyone and there mom has done it.

My brother in law are talking about making the trek down in the throwback rollback next year with our current project ol rusty in tow. I just want to see it for myself once and that will probably be good enough[P
 
There was some nice stuff there when I went in 2014, but most of it wouldn't be close to passing a safety inspection here in Canada. I much preferred Viva, at least they had nicely built stuff.
 
A friend stopped by today and showed me pics on his phone of the Vegas rat rod show. He said at least half the cars are custom tube frame with bags and 12 valve Cummins and some old ratty body bolted on. [S

I was pretty surprised last year at Lonestar Round Up when there were tons of bagged ratty trucks powered by turbo-diesels... seemed like everybody got that bug at the same time! :eek::eek::eek:

BoB
 
Makes sense that oil fired rat rods would become popular. The engines last forever while the trucks they come in rot away. They make gobs of tire shredding torque. And you can "blow coal" or whatever that saying is and be a rebel.
It's just another trend. Cool when a few do it and "ho hum" when everybody jumps on the bandwagon. Small block Chevys aren't cool. Now diesels are common so they're not cool anymore.
Like most any hobby, people will take it to an illogical extreme. Some will want to build the biggest, baddest weirdest, most powerful, lowest, rattiest, most ridiculous, etc. so they can garner attention. I don't criticize them much. I just marvel at the creativity of the human mind, even when it runs amok.
The ones that look undriveable and unsafe probably are. They get unloaded from a trailer a few blocks away, driven into and out of the show. They're show cars without the candy paint and angel hair. Enjoy them for what they are.
 
The ones that look undriveable and unsafe probably are. They get unloaded from a trailer a few blocks away, driven into and out of the show.

Can't tell you how many times I've seen guys hauling their crazy ratty creation that's totally scary and undrivable to the show on a trailer then driving in into the show like they drove it all the way there. :eek:

Toad
 
Can't tell you how many times I've seen guys hauling their crazy ratty creation that's totally scary and undrivable to the show on a trailer then driving in into the show like they drove it all the way there. :eek:

Toad

A guy did that up here st billet proof one year and they kicked him out!
We drove the cleopatra sedan 350 miles on that trip in 90° or higher temps. Was a good trip. That's why we build them, to drive them
 
Never understood some of those crazy rides! If you can't drive a car, what's the point? [S

Beercan[/QUOTE

No different than the Roth/Barris era stuff. Often didn't even have guts in the engine. One of Roth's. I think the Mysterion, fell in half in the transport.
Hideous crap like the Druid Queen, pool table car and toilet car, things just go in weird directions and one can only think of it as some kind of art form, not real cars.
 
Never understood some of those crazy rides! If you can't drive a car, what's the point? [S

Beercan


Some people build cars to win the Riddler Award or the "America' Most Beautiful Roadster Award. Others build a hemi powered bath tub or stage coach and put it on a rotating pedestal at car shows to the wonder and amusement of the crowd.

It stands to reason that the same thing would happed in the rat rod world.

Oops, Willowbilly basically said the same thing while I was typing with one finger.
 
most of it wouldn't be close to passing a safety inspection here in Canada.

No kidding. It continues to surprise me, how many of these creations are on the road "legally". Does the term "liability" have no meaning? How are they insured? I can hear lawyers licking their chops as we speak...

That said, we do have some grandfather clauses here in SK. I can register and insure my '38 sight unseen... CHEAP and it would be categorized antique, but the coverage is nothing and I'd be asking for a lawsuit or three should I have an incident of any sort.

Small block Chevys aren't cool.

Bob! You're gonna give me a coronary!

Seriously, I agree with your comments. We often pee on our own parade and we should be happy we have hot rodding in any shape, fashion or form.

.
 
No kidding. It continues to surprise me, how many of these creations are on the road "legally". Does the term "liability" have no meaning? How are they insured? I can hear lawyers licking their chops as we speak...

That said, we do have some grandfather clauses here in SK. I can register and insure my '38 sight unseen... CHEAP and it would be categorized antique, but the coverage is nothing and I'd be asking for a lawsuit or three should I have an incident of any sort.



Bob! You're gonna give me a coronary!

Seriously, I agree with your comments. We often pee on our own parade and we should be happy we have hot rodding in any shape, fashion or form.

.

I think I did have a coronary...:rolleyes: Heheh! I put a Chevy motor in my Ford so the poor thing could run...[ddd:D
 
Not to worry, smallfoot. I put a sbc in just about everything with no thought at all as to what is "cool".
I'll bet there's a bit of deception when it comes to insurance. The companies don't know what exactly they're insuring.
On the other hand, I'm not aware of accidents involving rat rods. Even though this site caters to rat rods they are a small percentage of the hot rod population. Most aren't driven a lot nor are they used during high crash periods like rush hour or bad weather. So the exposure to risk is low.
You can be sure the pork site would highlight any crash involving a rat rod, as much as they dislike them.
 
I think I did have a coronary...:rolleyes: Heheh! I put a Chevy motor in my Ford so the poor thing could run...[ddd:D

The small block Chevy thing is a kind of funny to me. People complain about everyone using them, but they love how cheap and easy they are to build. Make up your minds hahaha
 
I have never understood using a big heavy diesel in something bodied like an A model. Diesel pickups are one thing, rods should have some kind of modded gas engine. Tired of SBC' s? Try a Ford or Mopar, or a vintage Pontiac, Buick, or Caddy. Heck, Toyota made some neat 4 cyl Hemi's that would be cool in a T bucket. Lots of choices out there, leave the diesel to the trucks like they were designed for.
 
Hope you guys know I could give a rats ass what motor anybody uses, but the friendly rivalry between brands needs to stay. I enjoy watching anybody that uses tools to do neat stuff. I like seeing how others deal with the builds...good entertainment!
 
Hope you guys know I could give a rats ass what motor anybody uses, but the friendly rivalry between brands needs to stay. I enjoy watching anybody that uses tools to do neat stuff. I like seeing how others deal with the builds...good entertainment!

Agreed! I wasn't trying to start a ****ing match. Just making a point lol

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