Gonna pay Ratty 46 a little visit.

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donsrods

donsrods

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
10,476
Location
fort myers florida
Paul (Ratty 46) and I are getting together this weekend at his place near Atlanta so I can pick up the castoffs of his '46 Ford. He is putting everything new in it, and he treated me VERY fairly on all the stuff he doesn't need. A true hot rodder and general all around nice guy, he could have made more by parting this stuff out, but he really wanted it to get in the hands of someone who would appreciate it.......and I DO!! :)

So, I have the car and trailer all ready to go and am leaving tomorrow am. It's about 600 miles each way and I'm going to take it easy, so it should take 10 or maybe even 12 hours.

I have my camera ready to go and I will snap lots of pictures of Paul's car and the other cars in the shop where it is located. We talked on the phone today for a while and it was nice to put a voice with the name. Hope he is one of the guys who we get to hang out with at Turkey Run and maybe Billetproof.

Don
 
Thanks guys. I plan on really taking is slow, so I should be ok. Hurricane Fay has passed that area already, but I probably will get some rain. I'm pretty excited about going and meeting Paul and getting to see his car.

Don
 
Good to see someone that appreciates the parts getting them. Have a fun & safe time, don. Want to see you back here safe & sound.
 
Hehe, it wasn't the snakes and gators I had to worry about, it was the remnants of hurricane Fay. Rain was so thick most of the trip up cars all were going 35 on I 75 with flashers on. Took 11.5 hours to go 600 miles.

Well, obviously, I made it ok, but it was white knuckle time all the way back because Paul gave me waaaaaaaaaay too many parts. I didn't know that '46 Fords contained so much cast iron. Must have put 1500 pounds on my little trailer, but Paul had a system of tying it down that worked perfect and nothing moved one inch.

First off, I have to say that Paul and his beautiful wife Donna are about as nice as people get. Felt like they were old friends that you grew up with. I am so looking forward to seeing them at Turkey Run, and they will fit in very well with Gastrick, Hotroddaddy, and Jim Robinson (from another forum) Paul and his wife are a very nice couple and made me feel very welcome. I hated to leave so quickly, but I had a long (12 hour long) trip back home.

As for the car stuff, Pauls '46 is a terrific start for his hot rod. The car came from Kansas, and looks it. The body has two little spots in the dog leg of the fender braces that have very small rust holes and that is it, just patina and a couple of surface rust areas. Even the floors are mint. I envy him for owning it. He has it in a race car shop to have all Chris Alston suspension, 13 inch disc brakes, 9 inch rear with a four bar setup, etc installed. This shop does absolutely amazing work. I got to see some of their fabrication on other cars in there, and it really makes me realize what a hack I am. Their work is top drawer all the way. Paul is pretty modest himself, but he showed me some of his tig welding, and it looks like a machine did it. He builds parts for motorcycles on the side, and does some very professional work.

So, here are some pictures from "Dons Big Adventure"

Don

Here is the shop that is doing his suspension work.

triptogeorgia001.jpg


These are some pictures of Pauls '46. Pictures do not do it justice.

triptogeorgia003.jpg


triptogeorgia004.jpg


triptogeorgia005.jpg
 
And finally, here are some pictures before I departed.

This is Paul and his friend from the shop, Jerry. Paul is on the right.

triptogeorgia012.jpg


And this is my little trailer which was not used to maybe 1500 pounds of cast iron being sat on it for 600+ miles. Those little tires were very hot every time I stopped to check things over. :D

triptogeorgia014.jpg


triptogeorgia015.jpg


triptogeorgia016.jpg


Paul had a totally different way of loading it than I planned on, but D*** if he wasn't right. Not one thing moved the entire trip, not one inch!!

Thanks again Paul for a great weekend and lots of nice parts for the next project. Looking forward to seeing you and Donna again at Turkey Run.

Don
 
Sounds like you had a good trip Don except for the weather. I'm glad it all worked out well. I'm starting to look forward to meeting everyone at the Turkey Run. Man that Sheppard shop is playing for keeps. I love to look at things like that but I always walk away feeling like a hack.
 
I felt the same way Bill. You know how people post all the time about the work we do, but when I see the kinds of stuff these guys turn out I realize there is a whole nuther world out there beyond anything I could ever dream of turning out.

Bill, you will really like Paul and Donna, they are just super nice folks and I know they will fit in with all the other guys who we get to see at Turkey Run, like John, Jim, and the others. I thought immediately of how you guys would enjoy them as much as I did. No game playing, no attitudes, just very, very nice people who care about others.

The only incident I had on the trip was some clown backed into my traier while it was parked at the motel Saturday night. My license plate was bent over and the taillight broken. I walked the parking lot Sunday morning and found a white Saturn with damage to the exact spot that would have kissed my trailer, and he even had rubber on it from my tire, and red oxide paint and lots of scratches. I had the desk clerk get him on the phone and he apologized (I think he knew he did it) so I told him to just leave $ 10 at the desk so I could stop back later and buy a taillight. I don't know if he did because I just left Georgia once I was loaded up. The $10 wasn't the big thing, I just wanted him to know I knew who he was.:mad:

Don
 
Yeah, I parked right where the night clerk told me to, and there was plenty of room. It just made me a little mad that he left no note or anything, and he had to know he hit it because the trailer was moved over a foot or so, and he had some serious damage to his right rear bumper cover. So, I went to Advanced Auto and bought a new light and fixed it before I left because I didn't want to get stopped for a broken one. The license plate straightened right out too.

Funny thing is, that white pole is on the back of the trailer because people kept running into it all the time. Every time I would use it I would be stopped at a redlight and BOOM, someone would creep up and hit the back of the thing. I guess being a flatbed it was below their line of sight. The pole is white PVC and I have not had a problem since adding the pole, until this weekend.

Don
 
sounds like a good trip... that xlr is insane and i caught a shot of a fox coupe, red, in the background!

do you mind if i steal these images of the xlr and use them on the svt forum?
 
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