Okay guys - how many of you are either into or know someone that's into Rad-Rods?

I never even knew there was this kind of group around until we had a neighbor stop by one day that noticed our cab sitting at the door of our shop.

Well, tonight we're sitting there on the porch having a couple beers and doing our nightly chit-chat and hear this loud rumbling going down the road. They turn in and end up in our driveway - three (3) Rad Rod trucks. They're nothing perfect (and not meant to be), but are they cool. The one guy brought this 32 by our house a couple months ago to show us his newest find (got it dirt cheap and in good shape). Tell you what, throw some flat black on it, put a spruced up the motor in it and man is it a cool looking machine. Just happens that the spruced up motor he threw in that 32 Ford is a 1940 flathead he had laying around and it sounds sooooooooo cool. I told Steve when they left that I never realized that them old flatheads had that much power (well at least from the take off we saw). The three that stopped by are heading up to Orlando next weekend for a Rad-Rod show. Wish it wasn't tax season so we could at least go and look around.

 

I like 'em - my next one will be primer only. A flathead 'sleeper' can be a lot of fun. Everybody judges the outside ...... and ..... surprise! Plus, they're just comfortable. If your ride to too perfect you hate to take it out on the street.

Sounds like you two had a nite to remember and yes, the SOUND of a built flatty IS memorable.

 

I've always been into the primer thing. They are called Rat Rods...just meaning low buck, tradtional, pure function hot rodding. That's how I have built one of my trucks, just to be functional...nothing more.

 

I've never been sure if they're called rat rods 'cause they're always on the 'ratty looking' side or due to the almost universal 305/350 bellybutton powerplant where the hood should be. (they're called rat motors - to you guys not fluent in bowtie-speak)

Carlene might be on to something tho - it's always 'rad' to see a flathead V8 in one such rig.

 

Actually - I thought the guys called them "Rat" rod's but wasn't sure. I typed all that about them coming by and then went back and changed all the "Rat's" to "Rad's" just to be sure I didn't offend anyone. I figured that if I was wrong, Rad ain't a bad interpertation, but Rat can be taken soooooo wrong in sooooo many ways.

Either way - that 32 with the 40 flathead was one of the coolest thing's I've ever seen/heard..

 

I think that they're cool too. I got a flathead that's waiting for just the occation now.

I thought that they were called rat rods because at first they were mostly rods that were built in the '50s and '60s that had been stored in a barn or something and just had the mechanicals fixed and not the body. Or maybe the famous Rat Fink had something to do with the name.

 

AFTER SEEING THE CONVERSATIONS BACK AND FORTH ABOUT RAD-RODS.......I THOUGHT I WOULD TAKE A FEW PHOTOS AND DISPLAY MY MIDDLE AGED CRAZY PROJECT.

I AM 54 YEARS YOUNG AND LOVE THE RAD ROD CONCEPT OF PUTTING TOGETHER A VEHICLE FROM OLD JUNK YARDS, COMBINED WITH THE SAFTEY OF USING NEW PARTS LIKE BRAKES AND LIGHTS.

THIS IS WHAT I WOULD HAVE BUILT AS A KID.......BUT I HAD NO TIME AND LESS MONEY THEN, WORKING ON A FARM/RANCH AS I GREW UP. THE ORIGINAL HOT ROD BUILDERS USED JUNK YARD FRAMES, MOTORS AND BODIES..........THAT IS ALL THEY COULD AFFORD, AND IN MOST CASES HIGH PERFORMANCE PARTS WERE VERY SCARCE. FROM THIS FINANCIAL HARDSHIP, CAME LOTS OF CREATIVITY AND REALLY NEAT, FAST AND HOT CARS!

THOSE "JUVINAL DELINQUENTS" ARE NOW GRAMPA'S AND GRANDMAS........THE NEW GENERATION IS JUST DOING THE SAME THINGS EXCEPT WITH MAYBE A FEW TATOOS MORE!

SEE PHOTOS IN "HARD TO FIND PARTS" 1938 FORD PICKUP
HOPE YOU ENJOY AS MUCH AS I DO WHEN DRIVING....I AM 16 AGAIN!!!

 

Hi Tom - Welcome to FTE and the 1947 & Older Forum.

Nice looking truck you have there. Sounds like a fun ride also.

 

There is something so wicked-cool, so down-to-earth, so primal about a rat rod. I can't decide whether to leave the natural patina (rust) on my '29 project, or to cover it with black primer, sometimes refrerred to as *suede* paint.

 

I built one back in 1969...A '39 Ford Standard, (front end looked like a '38) 5 window coupe, 347 Pontiac with 3 dueces...and flat black primer...applied with spray cans. Never should have sold that thing. Maybe I'll build another one.

 

I'd have to go with the "ratty" interpretation also (the small block GM motors are referred to as mouse engines, big blocks are the rats). My dad is about to embark on a 37 1-1/2 ton we pulled off the farm. With only about 40k in miles, we are guessing the flatty will probably fire up, even though it's last set of plates were from 1959....

--Mike