Rhapakatui Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 My build is to include all of the running gear of an Infiniti j30 tucked into (and sticking out of) my 78 king cab. I am already designing a custom bedthat will leave a bit of the rear coil spring visible from outside the truck. I'm going for the rat rod custom thing so I'm okay with different. Just got the front end of the Infiniti out and am getting ready to haul it to my shop to begin the fabrication on it and the front struts are really tall. I stuck my fender up to the tire to get an idea how tall and yeah, they're gonna be over the hood. Question is, do I keep moving forward and cut the hood out around the towers? Or do I regroup and look for shorter struts? The former may be more hardcore looking or totally stupid. The latter would look more stock and cost me. What do you think? 1 Quote Link to comment
Bullet_theory Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 My build is to include all of the running gear of an Infiniti j30 tucked into (and sticking out of) my 78 king cab. I am already designing a custom bedthat will leave a bit of the rear coil spring visible from outside the truck. I'm going for the rat rod custom thing so I'm okay with different. Just got the front end of the Infiniti out and am getting ready to haul it to my shop to begin the fabrication on it and the front struts are really tall. I stuck my fender up to the tire to get an idea how tall and yeah, they're gonna be over the hood. Question is, do I keep moving forward and cut the hood out around the towers? Or do I regroup and look for shorter struts? The former may be more hardcore looking or totally stupid. The latter would look more stock and cost me. What do you think? run it without the fenders, use the hood, do a body drop on the cab and bed.... and rat it out completely just my .2 cuz i havent seen ANYTHING like this that or delete the fan, make the front grill and bumper and such fit, run the rad in the bed, baja style and run electric fans.... and mabey a electric water pump to make up for the extra length of the cooling system Quote Link to comment
kaoss Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 2 things that I'm sick of: The term "Rat Rod" People quoting pics. Narrow that and throw some flairs on the fender, and try to make it look decent. Don't use "It's a Rat Rod" as an excuse to build something ugly, as seems to be the latest trend. Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Those springs will be compressed under load so they really won't stick up that high. You might look into coilovers for better packaging. Quote Link to comment
Bullet_theory Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 2 things that I'm sick of: The term "Rat Rod" People quoting pics. Narrow that and throw some flairs on the fender, and try to make it look decent. Don't use "It's a Rat Rod" as an excuse to build something ugly, as seems to be the latest trend. 2 things im sick of; people that bitch because of terms like "rat rod".... get off RAT sun ... because most of us are fans of the rat/patina look...go join benn over at nissanminis if you want show room quality bagged, dragging, nissan's..... and who are you to assume this guys project is going to be "ugly" people that care about having to scroll down a bit further... aww poor baby, your finger has to move a few more inches... get off the couch tubby side note you cant narrow the infinity front clip as he has it... research b4 posting also deffinition of "rat rod" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_rod "A rat rod is a style of hot rod or custom car that, in most cases, imitates (or exaggerates) the early hot rods of the 40s, 50s, and 60s. It is not to be confused with the somewhat closely related "traditional" hot rod, which is an accurate re-creation or period-correct restoration of a hot rod from the same era. Most rat rods appear "unfinished" (whether they actually are or not), with just the bare essentials to be driven. The rat rod is the visualization of the idea of function over form. Rat rods are meant to be driven, not shown off. Sometimes the customization will include using spare parts, or parts from another car altogether." ~wikipedia 1 Quote Link to comment
INDY510 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 . Way to stay on topic bro......... :lol: Quote Link to comment
Bullet_theory Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 . Way to stay on topic bro......... :lol: :rofl: yah sry... but im pretty curious on how this infinity/ 620 fusion will work out.... Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 :rofl: ... but im pretty curious on how this infinity/ 620 fusion will work out.... Ditto. There's another Guy on here doing it with a q45. Think his final look is going to be different than mine though. 1 Quote Link to comment
kaoss Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Summary of His original question is: "Can I use the Rat Rod Excuse on this, or is going to be ugly?" My answer, don't use the rat rod excuse, try to make it work and not be ugly. I understand that I'm on a site named "Rat"sun, but damn this entire "Rat Rod" thing is getting out of hand. There is a lot of horribly engineered cars and trucks out there, and it's ok, it's a rat rod! And as far as people loving the ratty look, how about that section and chopped 620 with cantilever set up with the bags in the cab? That's as about as ratty as it gets, and 98% of the people on this site hate it. Don't worry about my other memberships, I'm on 2 Lighting/HD truck sites, and I'm about 10 mini truck sites, I see it all. I love Ratsun.net And why quote pics? It's just plain rude. Especially when someone posts 13 pics, and a person has a question on pic 8 of the series. Maybe I'll start a how to not post pics thread, seems like this site would benifit from it. Why would I research infinity front clips? Don't give a damn about them. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Fight fight fight! IBTL! Oh wait... this is my thread. Calm yo selfs. 1 Quote Link to comment
kaoss Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Yeah sorry about that. Let me know if you change your mind and need advice on narrowing a Toyota truck front clip and laying this thing out. ;) Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Will do. Thanks for the advice. I'm looking for multiple opinions. Quote Link to comment
Bullet_theory Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Rhapakatui i found a thread on the q45, ... sohow will your final look differ from his? because so far i see a main difference, hes using the 620 engine subframe instead of the infinity's... and the 620s rolling/suspension gear. and it seems your going the opposite way Quote Link to comment
Jesse C. Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I go with Retarded Jalopy! Rat Rod is too generic and mainstream, even the original beater builders don't use it anymore. Bottom line, have fun and don't try to label your build with a Generic Term. Quote Link to comment
Bob3 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 . I built them both. They are totally different. You tell me . . . :blink: Rat-Rod? Rat-Rod? It doesn't matter what you call it. Build what you want and enjoy it! ;) . 3 Quote Link to comment
Dirk Diggler Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'm designing a rat rod z at the moment, pretty much a z with the front end cut off and a frame welded up to it. I say go for it, who cares what other people think Quote Link to comment
king bee66 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 im going with jalopy, but then, im a purest check this out, does anyone else remember the picture from the top? i quoted it just in case kaoss forgot what it looked like 1 Quote Link to comment
Bullet_theory Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 check this out, does anyone else remember the picture from the top? i quoted it just in case kaoss forgot what it looked like :rofl: oh btw i found Rhapakatui's build thread.... the thread eluded me.... till i noticed it was in his signature *facepalm http://community.ratsun.net/topic/26924-77-620-kc-build/ Quote Link to comment
yellowdatsun Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Honestly, from the description, and the picture posted, I don't think it's going to turn out well. If you look at the Ratrods out there, by far the best ones have the front axle stretched way forward of the engine. When the guys just take a pickup and remove the front fenders they look like ass. 1) Ditch the front J30 suspension completely, because it's going to look bad. Go with the stock 620 torsion bars, it will look WAAYY cleaner. 2) Maybe stretch the front of the frame to pull the axle forward. As mentioned above, rats look best with the axle way out there. 3) You oculd easily use a 620 frame as a starting point, and drop the J30 engine on it. 4) Maybe use a narrowed 620 grille, and stretched fenders/hood? To do this all properly, it's going to cost you a lot more than you think. Quote Link to comment
pharouh Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I vote for letting them stick out. I'm tired of the 'r ' word too,but it's not a big deal to me. I'm getting an image of this in an industrial way, if that makes any sense. Not polished and shiny,but not really ratty either.Gutted interior,roll bar,fender flares screwed on,etc. Silver and black maybe? Just my weird thought. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I vote for letting them stick out. I'm tired of the 'r ' word too,but it's not a big deal to me. I'm getting an image of this in an industrial way, if that makes any sense. Not polished and shiny,but not really ratty either.Gutted interior,roll bar,fender flares screwed on,etc. Silver and black maybe? Just my weird thought. You know, that is actually a very good assesment of where I'm going with my build.... I've been saying "rat rod" because I didn't know what else to call it, but I've looked at real "rat rods" and I'm not really making my truck look like those.. maybe taking a few ideas from 'em, but definately different. I don't want a longer front end. I do want fenders. For the color scheme, I've been trying to figure a way to copy the look of mill scale on sheet metal and then put a pattern over it... I have a very specific idea that I've been working on for months, but not sure how to pull it off... if I can't get it right, then I was thinking of just doing matte black with gloss black over it.... I want to build a steel grill, probably from grating. My materials are coming from my job as a structural fabricator. We build structures and equiptment for the oil drilling and refining industry around here and that's how I'm building my truck. Maybe I should coin a new term "Industrial rod?" P.S. I have considered making a welding rig truck out of it also, since those seem to be the thing to soup up around here. Quote Link to comment
pharouh Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Sounds like you've the stuff to do it with. I like the idea of the grate grille. Not sure how you would do the mill scale. Maybe a sponged on finish then a matte clear over it? Quote Link to comment
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