I am not a truck guy, but this got my gears turning...

"BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast." (boxerfanatic) 01/07/2014 at 15:59 • Filed to: custom, rat rod, potential, truck, project ideas.

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And it looks rat-rod sort of cool.

I like external-fender beds on trucks, even though they are maybe slightly less functional in terms of cubic feet of space in the bed.

I like motorcycles, and I could see this being a cool motorcycle carrier, and modest trailer-towing rig. To haul motorcycles, I would fold down the tail gate, have a pair of tire width rails with wheel chocks at the front of the bed, and tie-downs integrated into the wood bed floor in the bed and maybe tire rails on the inside of the tail gate also.

I would also make the whole truck, or at least the front fenders/doors/cab below the character line as that brushed copper orange that the rear fender has.

I would be tempted to put a bed bar on the outside of the bed, a tube bumper and hitch receiver on the back, and tail lights fitted into the back side of the fenders, rather than tacked on to the sides of the bed. It would be tempting to put an LED light bar on the top of the bed bar, and tie the diagonals back, around the rear fenders, to the sides of the bed, or to the ends of the tube bumper.

I like the meaty tires on black steelies for a lowered 2WD truck. I would probably keep street tires, rather than this being a drag truck on slicks.

I also had the idea of widening the bed, pushing the fenders out a bit, and maybe adding similar slightly wider boxed fender flares to the front fenders/doors, shaped similarly to the rear fenders, to make it a sort of wide body, with all four fenders being wider than the doors on the cab, as well as wider than the bed sides... which is a bit of an old-school look.

Then, beyond that, what might also be a cool custom fabrication, would be to extend the rear cab wall with some sort of curved 5-window extended cab customization, and maybe a little more bed length as well, (for motorcycle carrying) on a longer wheelbase frame.

I am not a big fan of SBC engine swaps into other brands of car... but this is a no-brainer for an SBC or LS engine swap. If it were a Ford flare side, I would say a Coyote 5.0.

CalzoneGolem > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 01/07/2014 at 16:03

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This is the Roadkill truck if you weren't aware.

http://www.hotrod.com/feature_storie…

Party-vi > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 01/07/2014 at 16:09

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Very cool truck - I think it has an LS6 with an automatic trans with a Gearvendors OD unit. Very cool.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > CalzoneGolem 01/07/2014 at 16:09

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Great, the LS swap is already done! :D

Thanks for the update, I wasn't aware of that.

CalzoneGolem > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 01/07/2014 at 16:11

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They've said pretty unequivocally that they will not sell it. So you'll sadly need to make your own.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > CalzoneGolem 01/07/2014 at 16:20

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Not surprising, I guess.

It is just an idea in my head.

I don't have money for a project, not even a motorcycle for the back... so mostly just a mental diversion. :D

Usually I don't get my gears turning like that for trucks, though.

There are probably plenty of 70's chevy truck donors... in rust-free parts of the country. All the ones around here are probably piles of iron oxide flakes.

CalzoneGolem > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 01/07/2014 at 16:26

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They have an episode where they haul some mini bikes in the back of it I believe.

BJohnson11 > CalzoneGolem 01/07/2014 at 20:49

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They also put unspeakably large amounts of money into that truck. Like, I'd wager damn near 20 grand in parts. That LS6 is worth a lot, so is the brand new, manual valve body turbo 400 with a gear vendors OD (I think it was a 500). Same with the loaded Ford 9", all the Aeromotive fuel system, and more.

CalzoneGolem > BJohnson11 01/08/2014 at 08:09

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I'm not disputing you. There is a mountain of cash in the truck, but I think a lot of that stuff was given to Hot Rod.

BJohnson11 > CalzoneGolem 01/08/2014 at 10:40

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That's true. But I was just adding that, in addition to them likely never selling it, the asking price wouldn't be as low as some may speculate.

CalzoneGolem > BJohnson11 01/08/2014 at 10:51

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Sure enough. I love these builds with the badass innards and ratty exteriors. I want go not show.

BJohnson11 > CalzoneGolem 01/08/2014 at 11:04

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Same here. The muscle truck was the inspiration for my current truck project.

CalzoneGolem > BJohnson11 01/08/2014 at 11:11

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Pics?

This is Rat-L-Trap. It is currently in pieces getting the rear suspension rebuilt and the frame prepped for paint. I plan to rivet in some panels for doors. The plywood doesn't do it for me. That's pretty much the beginning and end of the body work. I may chop the windshield. That visor is right in the middle of my field of vision.

BJohnson11 > CalzoneGolem 01/08/2014 at 12:38

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Here she is. If you search for "truck project", I've posted a bunch of short build threads and updates I've done with her. I thought it/I was fairly well known around these parts, but perhaps not.

And yea I've seen your Rat project. It's pretty sweet. I think a chopped windshield would look very nice. That's gotta be an old body thrown on a new chassis no? It seems like the frame extends way too far past the grill. I like the project though, keep working!

CalzoneGolem > BJohnson11 01/08/2014 at 12:47

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I know you. The truck not so much. I'll have to troll through your posts and research. I think we've got the same wheels.

It's a s-10 frame. The engine has been moved to the tranny cross member and another tranny cross member has been added further down the frame.

BJohnson11 > CalzoneGolem 01/08/2014 at 12:50

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Cool stuff. Did you do all that frame and body mods yourself, or was the project like that when you bought it? Either way, I approve of the project.

CalzoneGolem > BJohnson11 01/08/2014 at 13:17

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My dad and I traded a '49 Dodge Business Coupe shell and engine for it as it stand in the picture show. We weren't making progress on the Dodge and his health was failing so we looked for something running that we could putter around in and fix.

I ripped the bed off and the took the rear suspension completely a part. It needed to be done. I hope to have it on the road this spring and the front half apart next winter.