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70_Fastback: RAT ROD - 193x Ford / 1942 GMC Truck

"daveSanborn" said:
The coil springs you're using now would likely compress an inch..... if the rat rod fell off a cliff.
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Very well put. I stood on the end of the frame and jumped up and down. Very little movement at all...

I assume that I can just swap the coil spring and retain my existing shock assembly if need be?
 
or if you need custom springs made, there is a place just up the road from our shop in St.Marys!
 
From front side look at the bottom two center retaining nuts, if a socket cannot access them to remove, only a wrench, then it is a 9� See photo below.

wy1.jpg



I assume that I can just swap the coil spring and retain my existing shock assembly if need be?
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Yes, you should be able to retain your existing shocks, you'll just need to adjust the coil portion of the coilover. This is exactly where I'm at. To accurately determine the correct coil rating, the rear of the car should be weighed. The weight of the rear of most muscle cars is known by the aftermarket coilover manufacturers, but my '66 is heavily modified and the weight is an unknown. Your rat rod is going to be similar. In my car, there's no spare tire, but the battery is back there. The leafs are gone with the coilover conversion, but that's unsprung weight and technically shouldn't matter. My back seat is removed and replaced with a FG package tray, but I have a one-piece frame using 2x3" boxed steel channel. I have no idea how much the rear of the car weighs, but I'm guessing "lighter". If I buy a set of 250# springs and they're too soft... I'll get into the "keep buying differently rated springs until I find the right one" game.

You should be able to call the manufacturer of your coilovers and inquire about numerically lower rated springs. The factors to consider are: compressed shock length, fully extended shock length and then weight of the rear of the vehicle. This is probably something you're going to have to do after the bed, rear bumper and other rear weight pieces are installed.


or if you need custom springs made, there is a place just up the road from our shop in St.Marys!
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This may actually be your best bet. From where I'm sitting it's difficult to determine the exact weight rated coil spring without buying a darn assortment of them... kinda like buying differently rated leaf springs to get that "perfect" ride height. With anything other than a somewhat original (weighted) car, it's a crapshoot. If you could drop the car rat rod off at a shop and say "make me a set of coil springs that give me an X ride height and a Y firmness"... then the oness is on them to figure out the correct weight, something that they're likely more apt to do anyway.
 
J on the rear shocks where they attach at the bottom are you going to fab a spacer to span the gap between the ears of the shock?
 
I had not planned on it to be honest - but it might not be a bad idea. I can just cut a piece of DOM tubing to sleeve the 5/8" bolt.

I still need to cut some spacers for the heims joint end on the 4-link bars for attachment to the brackets - so I should just cut two extra spacers then.

Thanks for the idea.
 
Wanted to ROLL it out tonight to get a good look at it. She rolls good...!

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It sits damn low. I'll raise the cab a little - more in the front to level it out too.
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"Fast68back" said:
Put one of the tires up on a cinder block so we can see a picture of the watts link articulating... Nice work BTW
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When I moved to the big City - they wouldn't let me bring my cinder blocks - so wood will have to suffice.

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Wow, I don't think the suspension even compressed with it sitting on the block. Did the front passenger tire come off the ground when on the block? :lol Notice the watts link didn't rotate? Yeah you definitely need some softer coilovers.


Keep up the good work J. That rat rod is coming together nicely!
 
"buening" said:
Wow, I don't think the suspension even compressed with it sitting on the block. Did the front passenger tire come off the ground when on the block? :lol Notice the watts link didn't rotate? Yeah you definitely need some softer coilovers.


Keep up the good work J. That rat rod is coming together nicely!
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It compressed a little bit. Check the height of the tires vs. the frame. But you're right - WAY to stiff.

And no - the fronts stayed planted. The front mono-point mounted leaf spring really lets it pivot/sway. Especially since there are no front schocks yet.
 
"silverblueBP" said:
Powder coat it camo.
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My neighbor -- the one who did the AWESOME[nb]NOT!![/nb] nickel plating job on the Mustang's export brace - said they are now doing matt black cadmium coatings. He said it looks really good - and it's a "nice" finish because it's for military shells.

So I may go that route on some stuff...

But honestly I don't know. I would have to do a test piece first to see how it would look.
 
I would find some military surplus green paint and paint everything green, Then get some of you Kansas boys together and rub a patina on it.....

:3sum
 
"70_Fastback" said:
I had not planned on it to be honest - but it might not be a bad idea. I can just cut a piece of DOM tubing to sleeve the 5/8" bolt.

I still need to cut some spacers for the heims joint end on the 4-link bars for attachment to the brackets - so I should just cut two extra spacers then.

Thanks for the idea.
Click to expand...

Glad to be able to help you add to the list of parts you still need to make for the rod. It's looking good .
 
Once you get a carb and bug catcher on there the scoop will be taller than the roof....

I visited West Coast choppers while in CA once, they had a bike in the show room that had a rusted finish to it, it was pretty bad arse. I'll dig around and see if I have a picture.
 
Oy yeah - it will be higher than the roof line for sure. That is the look I want. Think velocity stack...

But I am going to save some cash and get a dual top for the tunnel ram - the single just looks funny with that physically large of an engine below it. It's a visual bottleneck.
 
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