Lons 50 Stude "Rat Rod"

Bruce Bump

Bruce Bump

Forum Owner-Moderator
My buddy Lon has his Studebaker on its feet after working on it all summer.
350 Chevy 4 bbl in a Chevy S-10 pickup chassis. He has no plans to pretty it up either. I particuarly like the 4 speed on the tree with a lockout reverse. He is springing for noise padding and some simple interior.

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That is too cool Bruce , I bet that thing will boil them tires with the small block in it.

You old farts build some neat stuff , someday I'll be an old fart too. : )

Thanks for posting it.
 
Dwane Oliver said:
That is too cool Bruce , I bet that thing will boil them tires with the small block in it.

You old farts build some neat stuff , someday I'll be an old fart too. : )

Thanks for posting it.
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There's no fart like an Old Fart they say.
What is cool about this car is there is no catalog aftermarket parts anywhere. Lon built or modified everything. The radiator presented a big challenge. The firewall was another one with the distributor in the way he has to remove the cap from the inside of the dash.

The glass iis being made right now but the regulators are a challenge to straighten out. The drivers side had a bullet hole. He,s not fixing any bullet holes or painting the body.
 
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OK, I'll be the first to ask. Why do all that work and leave those rat rods looking like they were just dragged out of a junk yard? I'm sure there's a lot of mechanical work and money that has been invested in them, but they don't appeal to me in the least. I'm not trying to start a controversy, just that it's not my thing. I used to have to drive vehicles that looked like that. These days I like them shiny and clean looking, with all the amenities.
 
Rat Rods are sorta a reaction to slick and clean Street Rods. In the 50s and 60 etc. hot rods were looked upon as anti social...and worse. It was fun being an outlaw, so to speak. Now, if you go to a 'show and shine' it's mostly 'Mom n' Dad n' Buddy and Sis' with a 36 Ford with perfect paint and a Lokar 'billet' rear view mirror and an automatic transmission. Everything ordered from Speedway or Jeg's catalogs. Rat Rods are, largely, a 'looking back' to the old days like when you were 22 or so and had no money and few skills and built a car out of what you had. If a person has that conception of the history of hot rodding it is easier to understand the Rat.
 
Well described Oldsalt
I remember my first car didn't even have a body. It was a shortened 1953 Oldsmobile frame with a Ford flathead V8. The gas tank was a beer keg and Mom upholstered a pair of VW bucket seats. My brother and I painted it blue and orange with a brush. It had a flat windshield and was so high geared the clutch would slip but once it got rolling I could squeal a back tire for a block.
 
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