I sure don't call mine a rat rod! In fact I get mad when people do.But paint and interior are not in budget for now...

 

To me, yours is a hot rod, not a rat rod. And I think it looks great just like it is.

 

Thanks Joe!Maybe after the house and the big 56 M500 are rollin I'll get back on it.
Still missing one garnish moulding for a drivers door if anyone in Ford world has one?

 

Dang!! You mean I didn't have to do all the work on my vehicles and would have been just as cool?!!! I guess I put a lot of wasted time in my F-2 and now the '37 Buick. DANG!!!

 

Nope, you would of been cooler!

Funny Bob I spoke you a few times online when I was building the 37, I didnt know you were such a hater, that's too bad. I can appreciate what it takes to restore a car or truck back to stock original, it just isnt for me.

I have a lot of fun with my cars, if you are in my area just stay out of the left lane cause the "unsafe scrap" 47 caddy with the LT1, 4L60E, and 3:08 gears just might run ya over

 

Around here those are called potential...
Just wish they were easier to find.

 

Amen to that! Pa is no place to find vehicles with patina-ed paint with solid metal. I see you are in Berks.... I used to live in Ephrata.

 

I'm not a hater, just have my opinion. I've seen your posts on the internet about your Buick, it's a lot of work and can serve as a prime example of a modern chassis swap that can be done. The rat rods I've seen, and I really don't consider your car a rat rod, are a conglomeration of rusty junk gob welded together with no sense of safety, only shock value. If a person wants to weld a bunch of rusty, jagged metal together and set I on their front lawn for the entire world to see I say let them do it, but please, don't drive it down the street at 60 mph and especially if it's coming toward me and mine. The other thing I have against these contraptions of death is it just fuels the arguments of the government bureaucrats who seem to be constantly waging a war to get old vehicles off the road and make our hobby more costly and harder to enjoy. The death trap contraptions with jagged, rusty parts and pieces that are not safe to use, like socket U-joints on steering shafts and parts of wrenches in place of tie rods are used as prime examples of why old cars shouldn't be on the road. The unknowing can't, or won't, differentiate between rat rods and carefully crafted vehicles, they just see an old car.

I also like shiny paint and polished chrome. I figure if I'm going to put a lot of work into something I might as well make it look nice. Paint can be expensive or it can be done cheap by using hardware store paint. IMO, again, my opinion, a car covered in a cheap coat of hardware store paint looks a lot better than a layer of rust.

 

Original Hot Rods.

 

If you want a vehicle to move your can from point A to point B, then most cheap four bangers will reliably and efficiently do the trick. The vehicles we are all enthusiastic about are based on design, (art if you will), and the simplicity of the past. Which factor makes your motor run depends on you and your taste. I believe creativity plays a huge roll in the Rat Rod world. Making something out of almost nothing, a bunch of miscellaneous parts that have no business coming together to form a mode of transportation. Ironically, the reason some of us hate them is the same reason some of us love them.
I've seen some that I've considered really neat and others that I thought were a waste of someone elses time and money but that's how artwork is... subjective.

Good post.

Wally

 

Bob, your before and after shots show that you've put a lot of time (and money) into those vehicles. And your F2 looks great!

But in some of these "unfinished" rides, I can also see beauty in the before shots. Maybe some of them never get a pretty paint job, and maybe that's the way the owner likes it.

I hope to some day either learn to do the needed body work on Betsy, or pay someone to do it. I'd prefer to learn. And if she ever gets a nice paint job, I'll have to buy that. Maybe I can save money doing the prep work.

I haven't seen anything identified as a rat rod that I care for, but that's just my taste.

 

I actually don't think I have a lot of money in any of my vehicles. I never keep an exact tally of the money I have put into my projects. The rough estimate for the F-2 is about $3K but that was about 20-30 years ago over a ten year period for the initial restoration, I did all of the work on the truck myself including body and paint. The Buick is probably about the same so far with maybe that much again until it's finished. In today's money it will work out about the same as the F-2.

What I find funny is when people find out I own four old vehicles they right away think I'm worth a small fortune and many make comments about them. If only they knew I start out with old beat up relics no one else would want and put a lot of work into them. I also keep the cost down quite a bit by not only doing all the work myself but doing a lot of horse trading for parts. I have been extremely lucky when it comes to buying parts vehicles, getting parts I need and selling off what I don't need.

 

Great pic

 

Bob , don't go rogue on us .!! You should have seen some of the heaps at Daytona this yr. Happy New Year to you & your faimly .

 

Well, your F2 LOOKS like you have a lot invested in it. A good paint job makes just about anything look better. And since you did that paint yourself, kudos to you.

I'm no painter, and I would probably just waste a lot of paint trying to do it.

I have kept exact records of every penny I've spent on my truck. And I'm nowhere near "the end", but at least it's drivable today.