The Rat Rod
We purchased this project on March 25, 2010.
In addition to this page, there is an entire section dedicated to this build:
Here is what the Rat Rod looked not long after we bought her:
May 16, 2010
The shift knob and valve covers were added by me…
…otherwise the car looks like she did when we brought her home.
July 7, 2010
As you can see, the Flying Tiger Theme is coming along nicely.
The new mirrors and new tail lights are visible in the above pic.
The trucks bed has been modified…
…as the lower panels behind the rear wheels are now gone.
July 12, 2010
We changed the blue stripes to black and finished painting the bed.
Also added were the Japanese Rising Sun Kill Logos and Hell’s Angels.
Still lots to do before the car’s preview at Rust-O-Rama on July 17th.
July 16, 2010
Here she is! Ready for Rust-O-Rama.
The car obviously needs A LOT of work before she’ll be driveable…
…however, it’s been fun working on the paint & theme.
Being able to take the car to a show this season is a treat that we did not expect.
I hope she is well received at tomorrow’s show…
History
The rat rod was built by Aaron Post of Wallowa, Oregon.
He built the car from scratch, including the custom frame.
Here is Aaron with the rat.
This pic was taken as we took possession of the car.
I’ve been doing my research on how I wanted to build a rat rod.
This is how I would have built this truck.
To me, it looks just “right”.
I wanted my next project to be a polar opposite to the RoadMonster.
The RoadMonster has every creature comfort imaginable…
I did not want to build a fiberglass bodied,
cookie cutter suspension-ed, billet mobile…
…that looks live every other fiberglass bodied Ford hot rod…
NO ONE has a hot rod just like this one!
I want this rod to be raw and real, if that makes sense…
To me, this car just screams “HOT ROD!”
I’ll be spending the next couple of months making a few changes…
I love the foundation that Aaron built.
I just want to complete the project my way.
Stay tuned for more!
-Stewart
March 27, 2010
I thought I’d go over the rat rod’s specifications…
Rat Rod Specifications:
-1936 International Pickup cab, chopped and channeled.
-Smoothed Custom All-Steel Cowl.
-Junkyard box section with custom tonneau cover and tailgate.
-Junkyard grille.
-Custom made tube frame. Z’d in the front and rear.
-1949-54 Chevrolet front axle.
-Ford 302 V8 w/ Holly intake and carburetor.
-4 Speed Manual Transmission.
-Custom made Lakes Style headers by Aaron Post.
-Weiand Aluminum Intake / Air Filter.
-Ford Ranger Rear end, with triangulated 4 Link Suspension.
-Speedway Motors 15 gallon poly fuel cell.
-15 x 10 Cragar SS rear wheels powder coated red.
-MG spoke front wheels powder coated red.
-Jim Beam bottle radiator over flow bottle w/ custom bracket.
-All-Aluminum three spoke steering wheel w/ quick release.
-Speedometer / gauges mounted in custom aluminum dash.
-Full custom steel floor / trans tunnel.
-Die Cast Vintage Taillights.
-Red Billiard Ball Shift Knob.
-Ansen Finned Aluminum Valve Covers.
-Military Jeep View Mirrors.
-Flat Olive Drab Paint.
-P-40 Warhawk “Flying Tiger” paint graphics.
-New Battery.
Coming soon:
-New Windshield.
-Headlight Switch.
-New Front Leaf Spring to raise front end – Posies Super Slide #1009 S.
-Air-Ride Rear Suspension or Coil Overs in the rear.
-Front Shocks.
-Front Shock / Headlight Mount Brackets.
-Front Disc Brake Conversion.
-15″ Spoke Wire Front Wheels powder coated in red.
-Wide Whitewall Tires (Front) Firestone 710-15.
-Rear Firestone 1000-15 Whitewall “Cheater” Slicks.
Soon to be installed (have the parts):
-Red Bomber Seats.
-Speedway Motors Seat Mount Brackets.
-Red Seat Belts.
-Electroline Headlights.
She sure looks good in the garage next to the RoadMonster.
The RoadMonster sits low.
She usually makes other cars look tall…
Well…
Not next to the Rat Rod!
Stay tuned as we get the Rat Rod ready for the show season.
-Stewart
Update April 24, 2010:
Slowly but surely, the new parts have started to arrive.
The new red seats are amazing!
Not too happy about the look of the red belts and red seats though. The seats have a bit of burgundy in them.
Not much, but enough that the red belts look too red. We are gonna get another set of belts in green, brown, or something…
The Speedway Motors seat mounting brackets are perfect for this car. Very nicely made.
The Electroline recast headlights are going to need a bunch of work and we still need to choose bulbs.
Just ordered the tail lights. As they are used, I don’t know how much, if any, refinishing we’ll need to do.
Also, I don’t know if they are 24 volt or 12 volt. If they are 24 volt, I’ll need to swap out the bulbs.
We don’t have a headlight switch either…
The headlight mounting brackets I bought are not going to work out. I’ve gotta find a different set of brackets. These are too short.
I still need to find the best place to mount the headlights, but the brackets I have sure won’t do it. Guess I’ll sell them on eBay.
The vintage military Jeep mirrors are going to work out great, but I’ve still got to fab up some custom brackets for them.
Just bought some cork gaskets for the vintage finned aluminum valve covers. I am waiting for the mounting studs and nuts so I can install them.
Stay tuned, as we should have enough parts on hand soon to get some serious work done!
-Stewart
Update June 30, 2010:
We’ve been painting the Rat Rod and have started to add the graphics.
The Shark Mouth and Eyes came out great.
Sam masked them out.
She still has to outline the eyes and mouth.
Also, we have lots more to do in the graphics department.
Stay tuned…
-Stewart
Update: July 7, 2010
Sam and I have been busy.
Rob helped out too.
As you can see, the Shark Mouth, Eyes,
and Stars & Stripes Graphics are almost done.
We added a battery this weekend, changed the oil,
and installed a shorter oil filter that does not hit the frame rail.
We have both vintage military Jeep mirrors installed,
after fabbing up some custom mounts.
The bed still needs to be painted Olive Drab and we need to finish the rest of the graphics.
Rob swapped out the orange wire loom in the engine bay with black loom.
We have a goal of completing the paint and graphics by July 17th for the Rust-O-Rama Show.
Stay tuned…
-Stewart
Update: July 20, 2010
The Rust-O-Rama show is fast approaching.
We’re continuing the work to the graphics.
Partway through, we decided to change the color of the side stripes from blue to black.
Sam also added the Hell’s Angels logos on the rear of the cab.
This has been an interesting project for perfectionists.
Sam, Rob, and I are used to striving for perfection in everything we do…
…be it artistic or work related, that is just “us”.
Perfection has been the whole point of the RoadMonster project.
This concept that imperfections can lead to perfection…
…has been hard to grasp.
We are slowly getting used to the idea that, on a Rat Rod…
…imperfections can add to the car’s perfection.
We debated a lot about painting the frame and suspension.
That said, the patina looks really good.
Ultimately, we decided to paint just the exterior of the body…
…and leave everything else alone.
Here is a great example:
Take a look at the headers.
They ARE NOT symmetrical.
The passenger side exhaust is lower than the right.
MUCH lower.
I cannot tell you how hard it is for me to NOT tear the headers off and re-work them until they match.
However, part of the car’s charm is her imperfections.
Stay tuned as a group of perfectionists by nature allow imperfections to remain…
…as they strive for Rat Rod perfection.
-Stewart
Update: July 16, 2010
Rust-O-Rama is tomorrow.
The Rat Rod is ready!
The biggest change we have made in the past 48 hours is adding some red to the shark mouth and finishing the shark mouth.
There is a lot of work in that mouth!
We then went over the whole car and did a lot of paint touch-ups.
Rob did some detailing, and I installed the tail lights.
It will be fun to see how the car is received tomorrow at Rust-O-Rama.
Stay tuned…
-Stewart
Stewart! The rat rod is awesome!! Love the ford powered v-8. Give me a call sometime and maybe we can synchronize our car show schedules.
Later,
Wes
Hey Wes!
Thanks for the props.
Going to some shows would be great!
-Stewart
Man I miss that rig! There where many nights spent messing with different issues and so on with the rat. It would love you one minute and make you walk a mile back to the ranch the next. Me and Aaron had big hopes and dreams for that just not the time and $ it deserved. Glad to see its in good hands.
-Charlie Murphy (co builder with Aaron Post)
p.s. I was at work when Aaron sold it to you. One of these days I’ll have to meet you and see her again. Hopefully we will be driving the Plymouth hot rod with a ford 351 we are working on next to you and the rat.