I've got a bit of "modellers block" at the moment (a combination of being busy at work and the winter weather - maybe I'm suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder !. I keep picking kits up, looking at them and then putting them away again ! - I'm sure you've all been there at one time or another. Anyway delving into the "started but never finished" pile I came across a 32 body that I'd chopped awhile back & looking at it again the germ of an idea started to grow - here's a very rough mock-up.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat.jpg
There's still a heck of lot more to do but hopefully I'll find the motivation to stick with it.
Thanks for looking
Andy

Great start. What engine will you use?

THAT looks cool !!!

That's a mad chop! It looks awesome. This is going to be a build to watch.

Ajay, as I said on another board , this one looks to be a stunner of a build..I can't wait to see more.

Gray

Thanks for the replies guys - spent today trying to figure out how to lower the front & rear suspension (in the original pic it was just resting on the front axle) - the frames been "z'd" front and rear and the front crossmember raised in the frame slightly in an attempt to get it down in the weeds - I think this as about as low as it will go.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat1.jpg
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat2.jpg
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat3.jpg
Kyle 74 - I'm thinking of using a flathead with a Replicas & Minatures S.co.T blower.
Thanks for looking
Andy

Just a quick mock up of the engine - should make for an interesting view through the windscreen when the carbs are added !
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat5.jpg
Thanks for looking
Andy

Fantastic Work Andy! That's A Mean Looking Duce!

:sunglasse

Got a mean look!! Looks sweet!!

Just a small update on the suspension. I had some Replicas & Minatures finned brake drums lying around in the spares box and thought they would be in keeping with the look I was aiming for so these have now been grafted onto the front & rear axles.
I had to widen the track of the rear axle with sprue so that the rear tyres didn't foul the lowered body and used the metal axle pins from the RM 29 P/U superglued to the inside of the brake drum to accept the mounting point on the rims. For the front suspension the drums have been drilled out so that the mounting point on the rim fits inside the drum.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat6.jpg
and just a couple of pics with the suspension & wheels blu tacked together showing the final stance.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat7.jpg
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat8.jpg
Still lots to do - so much for it being a quick project to get rid of modellers block !.
Thanks for looking
Andy

suspension & wheels blu tacked together

Forgive my ignorance, what does this refer to. Can you explain further?

Forgive my ignorance, what does this refer to. Can you explain further?
Blu Tack - it's just a trade name for a sticky sort of putty thats useful for holding parts together where you don't want to glue them just yet - it really useful for putting things together temporarily doesn't leave a residue.
Hope above helps
Cheers
Andy

Looking good Ajay, you got the stance right on it for sure..I like the drum brakes as well, look forward to seeing more man, I've gotta get back on my 32 Roadster soon myself. What color are you planning for this one?


Gray

Looking good Ajay, you got the stance right on it for sure..I like the drum brakes as well, look forward to seeing more man, I've gotta get back on my 32 Roadster soon myself. What color are you planning for this one?


Gray

Hi Gray
I was thinking of matt black with lime green wheels,engine block and perhaps scallops - something along the lines of this RM chopper I built towards the back end of 2006 .
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/crusader9.jpg
Not entirely original but I reckon it would suit the syle of the car.
Thanks for the interest
Cheers
Andy

Looking good. I never understood what Z-framing is. Could you show some pictures or describe how it is done?

Looking good. I never understood what Z-framing is. Could you show some pictures or describe how it is done?

It's a method of "kicking up" the front & rear of the frame higher into the body so that the car sits lower to the ground - hopefully this pic will show how it's done.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/frame.jpg
Sorry it's not very good quality as I had to scan it.
Cheers
Andy

With the suspension sorted I've made some progress on the engine. For simplicities sake the basic flathead block & engine mounts are from the new Revell 32 Sedan although I've had to shorten the mounts, modify the rear transmission mount and enlarge the transmission tunnel as with the Z'd frame the engine sits higher than stock. I've added the pulley's to the engine & blower together and used a Replicas & minatures front cover with side mounted distributor. I've used these carbs & aircleaners as they're not too tall (also form R&M). Finned heads are from Model Car Garage. Because if all the changes to the frame I've had to keep mocking it up to check alignments & ground clearance etc but I think I've ironed out most of the issues.
Interior will be the next headache as it'll have to be reduced in height.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat9.jpg
Thanks for looking
Andy

Not only is the over-all look of this perfect, I think it's excellent you went with the old style finned drums and flathead engine. This is the way I would make my perfect hot rod,( assuming I had all the parts). Really interesting project.

One thing that bothered me when I was building up he engine was the lack of a generator so I went back to Norm's instruction leaflet for the blower and found the following "A third option would be to use a generator mounted on the driver's side head as an idler pulley". Had a look in the spares box for something suitable and came up with the one pictured which I think is from the R-M 50 Ford pick-up. Luckily it includes a moulded in mounting bracket which saves me having to sratchbuilding one - sometimes (but not often) things just drop into place !. I'll have to make a blanking plate for the hole where the "spare" pulley is.
Anyway here's some pics of the engine primered and tacked together - should look cool once the dual drive belts are added.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat10.jpg
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat11.jpg
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat12.jpg
Thanks for looking
Andy

PLEASE make this a rat-rod ? :):)

Realy like the engine buildup so far mate!

On flathead Fords the pulley on the front of each head is for the water pump. One pump for each head.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1357/559928843_756aa3d7d9.jpg?v=0

On flathead Fords the pulley on the front of each head is for the water pump. One pump for each head.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1357/559928843_756aa3d7d9.jpg?v=0

Yeah that's been pointed out to me on other forums - I didn't think it through properly before I posted. :uhoh:

I spent some frustrating time over the weekend tying to figure out a way to overcome the problem of the hoses from the heads to the radiator. On a normal height radiator the water hose outlets on the rad are much higher then the ones on the heads which means that the hoses clear the fan belts. With the chopped grill the difference in height is reduced significantly so the hoses interfere with the fanbelts - try as I might I just couldn't get the proposed set up to work. So I've had to change the heads to front outlet ones and move the radiator outlets outwards in an attempt to get the required clearance.
I've mocked it up in the attached pics, as I want to be absolutley sure that everything fits before painting, and it seems to work - the fanbelts will be "tighter" when they're finally assembled and I've reinstated the missing water pump pulley. There may still be a problem with clearance on the distributor but I can fix that by extending the distributor shaft slightly to clear the hoses. I've still got to figure out where & how to mount the generator.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat13.jpg
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat14.jpg

Cheers
Andy

This looks incredibly badass, I can only hope my Rat Rod pickup matches it on that level. :D

... What color are you planning for this one?

Gray

Maybe I would use this yellow/green primer for the body.
Makes it look special and let's the proportions jump out
(especially that awesome top chop).
What colour is that? Selfmade?

Everybody is using black for those "Rat Rods".

Good engine-choice. Really like it.

This build is looking real hot.
Looking forward to seeing this one done

Maybe I would use this yellow/green primer for the body.
Makes it look special and let's the proportions jump out
(especially that awesome top chop).
What colour is that? Selfmade?

Everybody is using black for those "Rat Rods".

Good engine-choice. Really like it.

Hi
The yellow is just filler primer that I sprayed on to fill a few areas in the top chop - I still plan to go with matt black & lime green wheels (if I can lay my hands on some Tamiya Candy Lime Green).
Cheers
Andy

I haven't made much progess although I've got round to looking at the fan problem. Although Norm includes an option for a fan belt pulley in the blower kit it became obvious from mocking up the engine that due to the chanelling & chopped grille the fan sat way too high above the grille so I'm using a MCG p/e one as it's a bit more detailed than the kit fan.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat17.jpg
Thanks for looking
Andy

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/images/smilies/lurk.gif

As the weather forecast for the Easter break over here is pretty dire (snow tomorrow) I've spent today working on the engine. I had considered using Alclad chrome for the blower, heads and pulleys but have had problems in the past with the paint rubbing off when the parts are handled. In the end I decided to use Zero fine metallic silver base instead. The recesses in the blower & heads were painted with Humrol enamel No 56 to try & give a polished effect to the raised areas. I need to add a coil and the fuel lines to the carbs- not sure if I'll add and throttle linkages as they'll be a bit fiddly and I'm not sure my eyes are up to it !. Anyway here's the pics :
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat18.jpg
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat19.jpg
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat20.jpg
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat21.jpg
Thanks for looking
Andy

Getting better and better with each set of pictures!

Great work!

Scott

Fantastic!

Great job on the engine, nice details !!

Beautiful work so far. Are those pulleys from RMoM? They look great! The whole engine looks great! And I'm loving the chop. This is going to be amazing.

Beautiful work so far. Are those pulleys from RMoM? They look great! The whole engine looks great! And I'm loving the chop. This is going to be amazing.

Thanks Willimo

The R&M blower kit includes all the pulley's for either a single or dual belt set up.
Cheers
Andy

Just finished the last few details on the engine - I've added the coil, starter motor and fuel line for the carbs.
Think that's the engine done now apart from the radiator hoses - so I'm off to chop up the interior next - should be fun !.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat22.jpg
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat23.jpg
Thanks for looking
Andy

Pure Koolness!! :sunglasse

That engine is just brilliant! Adding some contrast to bring out the polished look works well. I agree about Alclad, you need to give it at least a day to harden, but it's still a pita.

Think I've sorted out the interior in terms of fitment - I had to take an angled peice out of the bottom of the door panels to follow the raked body but after a dry run it seems to fit ok. As you won't be able to see much through the windows I'm just going with the stock interior plus seat from the AMT Vickie kit (as it's not as tall as the stock seat) and painting it black. I still need to raise the tunnel to get some clearance on the transmission.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat25.jpg
Thanks for looking
Andy

Love the engine :)

Just an update on a few bits & peices - the lower interior panel shows the amount that had to be trimeed to accomodate the body rake .
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat26.jpg
Thanks for looking
Andy

Last update for a while as it's back to work tomorrow after the Easter break.
Interior's all together now (although not alot of it will be seen once it's inside the body).
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat28.jpg
Thanks for looking
Andy

Phew - getting close to completion now - this ones certainly suffered from the "make one alteration & cause yourself several others" syndrome but the chassis went together without any major headaches.
Just a few small bits & pieces left to do - still got to add the scallops to the body.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat29.jpg
Thanks for looking
Andy
On relection I think I might swap the headlights to smaller ones in the kit.

Awesome work you are doing there Andy. Very impressive.
What are you doing for the body colour or is it black like your last pic?
I love the green trim and engine colour! Very nice contrast in there.

:cheers:
Nenad

Awesome work you are doing there Andy. Very impressive.
What are you doing for the body colour or is it black like your last pic?
I love the green trim and engine colour! Very nice contrast in there.

:cheers:
Nenad

Thanks
I'm just going to leave it in matt black but I'll add some lime green scallops (same colour as the engine block & wheels) to the sides of the body.
Cheers
Andy

Look how beautifull that thing already is :naughty:

Early on the in the build I decided to add some scallops to break up the black on the body so I spent some time this morning masking up with Tamiya tape.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat30.jpg
and despite there being 3 inches of snow this morning ! braved the cold in the garage and airbrushed them Tamiya Candy Lime Green.
http://members.aol.com/jonesandy898/rat31.jpg
I've swapped the headlights to the smaller ones as imo they're visually more more balanced with the chopped grill.
Thanks for looking
Andy

That's a beautiful thing!

Thats just sick! Amazing work!

Great job, looks cool !!!!

Thanks for the interest guys - 2 months on one project is way past my normal build time but hopefully I should have it finished next weekend.

Cheers
Andy

Looks great as usual Andy.The scallops really set it off, and those wide whites are killer!

Dang! :sunglasse I'm diggin' it!

What to say if not awesome?
I like all: the engine is absolutly stunning: clean but super detailed, the body is fantastic too, great choice on the color scheme. BRAVO!

Beautiful and wonderfully sinister looking!

Oh that paint scheme is JUST right. Great work.

It's a Great Start So Far; I really like the Stance !! http://krazyrick.proboards102.com/index.cgi?action=logout

It's a Great Start So Far; I really like the Stance !! http://krazyrick.proboards102.com/index.cgi?action=logout

Thanks
If you'd like to see completed pics they're here :
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=899288
Cheers
Andy

Hey Andy, since you've been back to the thread recently...what steering wheel did you use in that interior?


thanks

Gray

Hey Andy, since you've been back to the thread recently...what steering wheel did you use in that interior?


thanks

Gray

Hi Gray - I did reply to you but posted it in the completed thread - sorry.
I'm not entirely sure but I think the steering wheel came from the AMT Phantom Vickie kit.
Cheers
Andy