Raunchy Rat Returns

The rat's back for another round of work here in the horsepower shot. And hey, we're glad you joined us.

Now, we call this project the raunchy rat, although it's really a 29 Ford Roadster that we're transforming into a cool retro rat rod.

Last time it was in here, we built it a motor, a Ford flathead, of course, using parts we got from shadow rods and Goer's

hot rods. Oh,

we also pumped up the power with a magni super charger.

We've got the body back off of the frame so we can put the motor and transmission into place. Now, we're gonna go ahead and bolt the transmission mount up and use that as a guide to weld in our new motor mounts. Now, in case you've looked close enough, we've already got mounts on our Pete and Jake's chassis,

but they're set up for small block Chevrolet. So they've got to go

curry,

I better start lowering it.

Now,

that's right on.

After bolting the transmission to the mount,

we square up the front of the motor between the frame rails and measure for the new mounts.

Then after cutting them to the proper width

we can weld them in place. Now, the mounts and bushing kits to cut down on the chassis vibration both came from chassis engineering.

Well, we've got plenty of broom with body off. We're going to make sure the raunchy rat has brakes and a clutch. All thanks to this kit we got from Pete and Jakes that includes a dual brake master cylinder,

a single aluminum clutch cylinder

and aluminum slave cylinder. Plus we got the pedals we need.

And last but not least this frame mount with a welded on pivot too.

But before we can install this stuff,

this original bracket for a single master cylinder has to go.

Then the bracket welds up to the frame an inch from the top

and we can bolt up the master cylinder

and the clutch cylinder.

Then the pedals slide onto the pivot tube

and with slide hardware, we attach the plunger to the brake pedal

and connect the clutch master cylinder to the clutch pedal.

Finally, the slave cylinder, which is what activates the clutch pressure plate when you shift gears. Basically, here's how it works. You press in on the clutch that moves fluid from the clutch cylinder over to the slave through this fitting,

pushing a cylinder up and moving these pieces together. And that's what activates the throw out bearing.

Hey, while we're down here, I'm gonna go ahead and measure from the transmission seal to this edge of the oak. So we can get us a drive shaft

with that handled array to set the body back onto the frame. This time though, we're gonna take some measurements so we can cut the firewall to let it clear the engine.

Now that we have the frame back under the body,

may I have to say this thing looks awesome even without the body all the way down. Now, after taking a closer look, we're gonna go ahead and remove the whole lower section of the firewall

and we get rid of it by removing some rusty bolts

and drilling out a few rivets.

Next, we'll lower the body again to check for clearance

and build a tunnel out of square tubing. So the transmission will clear.

Now with the frame off again, I'll lay in the firewall. I just

fed up,

trim the recessed area for the oil filler relief

and lay in this top plate.

Finally, after marking the area for the transmission,

we can cut the excess firewall. So the transmission will clear,

got the rat down on the ground now, so we can do something about a floor board for it.

This starts with some sheet metal, cut the links so we can

first just lay them into place

and with the last piece down,

we can drill and pop rivet in place.

Then we laid down a layer of this hush mat material for insulation against noise and heat.

Now comes the fun part. You might remember a few months ago we went souvenir shopping on the streets for these. Well, really, we got them from a friend at the police department. But wait till you see how we use them to finish the floorboard.

Oh, just in case you're thinking about the remote.

There you go.

Hey, welcome back to the home of the raunchy rat. Now we just got done recycling some old street signs to finish up our floorboards. What do you think? Now, I know it ain't exactly artwork but it is definitely different and that's what rat rotting is all about.

Hey, to get the full effect though, let's lay in our new seats.

And for these, we hooked up with a guy named Richard Amy out of Manteca California who hand makes these bomber seats with 5052 aluminum using real aircraft rivets.

Nice,

very nice.

Next, we got to get the body back on the frame

so we can measure for some modifications for our clutch and brake pedals.

First, they need to be a lot shorter for our channeled body.

Then after cutting a hole for them in the floorboard,

we can weld them in at an angle to make room for the throttle pedal which mounts to the firewall with two bolts.

We also cut a hole in the floor for a shifter. Now, we picked it up from B and M and it's a sport shifter that's actually made for an S 10.

Now, the hole may look a little large, but we're actually gonna mount our ignition switch back here

by the way, that long handle is going to be even longer after this modification.

Now, remember those pistol grip shifter handles from the sixties,

those Mopar guys ain't got nothing on us.

Hey, now, in case you're a little concerned that pistol only shoots blanks just like you, Joe, I hope. And it's got a boat through the barrel now, so not to worry.

Ok, now that we got the body bolted to the frame and got plenty of clearance. Good time to bolt of the starter, which is a power master XS torque starter.

And

don't believe what they tell you about size matters.

This mini starter can churn out up to 200 ft pounds of torque. Next, I'm going to jump back in the car to install some gauges. Now, when building a rat rod retro is the only way to go. So we picked up these old time gauges from auto meter that give you a nostalgic look with the accuracy of a modern core meter. Just check out the needle and the chrome bezel. Since there's no way to get the wiring inside the stock dash. We're not in the gauges right here on top of the center console

with the holes cut. We can drop our center console back in place and install our gauges.

Now we can move on to the fuel system and we're gonna start it out with this little pony keg. Now I went ahead and cut the top of the keg where the handles are off, so it would fit in the car. Next thing to do

is go ahead and drill and tap it for a dash six fuel line.

Now, the keg is just the right size to fit in our trunk

with the trunk floor, slid underneath the fuel tank in it bolted in place. We're ready to finish the rest of the fuel system, but that will come after the break. So make sure you stick around.

Hey, welcome back as we attack our raunchy rat here with some more work. In fact, we're getting ready to fix up a way to feed this Ford flathead. However, let's roll the recap and show you what we've been up to. So far,

we installed a new hydraulic clutch and brake assembly

laid down a floorboard with sheet metal

hush mat material

and top that off with of all things street sign.

We modified the clutch and brake pedals to properly fit in the car

and install the throttle pedal.

And we modified the new shifter which got a shifter knob that aims to get attention.

Then we bolted up the starter,

cut some holes for the gauges that we installed in our homemade console

and finally mounted that beer keg fuel tank.

Now, we can install our Haley HP 125 fuel pump with a building

regulator and billet base. Now, this thing flows 100 and 25 gallons per hour.

Here's a tip for you. Any time you build a fuel system, you wanna make sure to run a filter after your tank and before your pump, if not, you could run into a few problems. One get trash in the pump and kill it or two, get trash in the carburetor and start the engine for fuel. So we went ahead and picked up this Earl's in-line filter and we're gonna install it after the tank. And before the pump

next, we can complete the fuel delivery system by running some Earl's prolate hose that will cut to fit.

Well, now that we got a system to feed our flathead. Let's do something about cooling it.

This is basically a stock 29 radiator that walker shortened for us and you can see on the back it's got

inlets on top

and two outlets on bottom

that'll match up with those dual water pumps.

It bolts up in the stock location

then with hoses installed from the radiator to the water pump

and on top from the engine to the inlets,

the system is finished

since we're running our flathead with forced induction. Thanks to the blower, we need an ignition box like this MS D six BT M. Now, it not only offers a more powerful spark with an adjustable rev limiter, but also has an adjustable timing retard that works off of boost pressure. Now, I know a lot of normal people would mount this on the outside of the firewall or somewhere near the engine compartment. But we're going to be a little different since it is a rat rod.

This is where the fuel tank used to be.

Now, it's gonna be home to the ignition box

which will secure from the top with hex nuts.

Next, after disguising it in an old can and using a hose clamp, we can mount our MS D coil on the firewall.

Well, for wiring on our rat, we're going with a painless performance eight circuit modular T bucket wiring harness. It's got all the basics for the headlights, taillights, brake lights and so forth

and it's color coded for easy install. Now, here's a good feature. The fuse box itself is modular so we can add circuits later if we need to.

Well, next time you see this thing, it's gonna be wired up and with any luck we'll be firing up that flathead. Well, I'm pretty fired up about what's coming up next. A visit to a legendary circle track to hang out with some Saturday night racers

before they hit the big time. They all paid their dues on the short tracks of America's Heartland,

like Music City Motorplex here in Nashville, Tennessee, a

track with a long and rich racing history.

In fact, probably more stars of NASCAR got their start at this little track than any in the country.

It's anybody's guess who'll be next.

I love to go pro. Uh, we think about that a lot and, uh,

we, uh,

we, we hope we got a shot at it. I don't know, but I,

I don't really like to get up to the level of the truck, maybe a couple of cars some day.

Daniel Bolden is a rookie in the super truck class. His dad and teammate Ricky has raced here at Music City since the 19 eighties

to get his son ready. Ricky put Daniel in a legends car for a couple of seasons.

You gotta be a driver being one of them. If anybody thinks they look at that little car, them boys ain't driving, you're wrong. Them guys are on the wheel. They, their driving is harder, harder than anybody out here.

This is only Daniel's third race behind the wheel of his Ford truck, which like Ricky's has a 351 Windsor, single, two barrel car and two chassis.

Now, Ricky raced in numerous classes before settling on super Truck.

We've all sort of found a home right now truck really like that. My wife is involved. These guys here, none of them get paid. Believe me, they get some food and cold drinks and the guys that help me are fun to be with and we have a big time

in your blood that really,

I

just

get it.

Yy being around it.

We always seem to do good in a longer race. We got a 75 lap race. And, uh,

yeah, I think, uh, I, we'll be fighting for the victory tonight

if we don't run, but 10 races, that's fine. We wanna win 10 races if we do, that's what we're here to do. Daniel's here to get experience and we know he's not gonna run up front at this moment.

We want him to get laps in and we're trying to get him up there by the end of the year to get him a position where he could win.

The best way is learning. Get up to speed. Don't drive over your head load. This thing up after your race tonight, come back next week, get some more laps under your belt.

Each driver gets two qualifying laps to determine the positions in tonight's 75 lap race

where my goal is this year is to start off the year. Get the top 10 and it's work away top five, top three and win a few for the years over. So that's,

that's really our goal. Keep this thing looking good like it is right now.

Well, Ricky qualified third. He had a 20.8 74 and Daniel was 21st with a 21.64 but that's a really good lap for a rookie. So, uh,

we're pretty, pretty excited about it.

A

few hours later. The race is on Sandra and the other crew members serve as spotters offering extra eyes and encouragement to the teammates

during the first few laps. Ricky holds to the number three position.

Daniel runs near the back

and may be a little too far back.

Several laps later. Car number 13 slides sideways on turn three and without time to react gets t boned by car number three. Then the fire show begins

and

thankfully the drivers make safe exits, the buyers put out

and after a long caution, it's back to racing

by now. Ricky has fallen back to fourth place, but not for too long.

Good

there,

play it, play it,

play it

and with about a dozen laps to go, Daniel decides to collect his own muscles.

Come

on

now.

Still there. Still there.

Good job. Good job.

We didn't get to check our flag but we done good. We got something to build on.

Uh, looking forward to next week.

We have fun with it.

We're still in one piece and micro pass the next week

and you'll be better next week, I bet. Right. Uh, we will be a lot better next week.

Made a few more than, uh,

in a way. These are the real heroes of stock car racing.

The guys and gals who pay for their own parts,

their own blown engines

and race for the sheer fun of it,

living out their high performance dreams every Saturday night.

Well, here's yet another race vehicle that belongs to the Bolden team. It's a Bandera

race car that's built for entry level racers 12 years old and up,

it's powered by a two

cylinder four stroke Briggs and Stratton motor that makes about 30 horsepower.

It has a live axle on the rear supported by two shocks and to stop it, one disc brake. And here he is the driver of this car, Michael Bolton. Now, Michael, what made you want to get involved in the sport?

Well, I've been up in the stands watching my dad ever since I can remember my brother, he's been a big help. He's taught me how to get around the small track in Nashville.

My mom, she's been supporting me ever since I started racing.

Well, uh, what kind of success have you had with this car? First year racing? I had a couple of top fives and one win and, and then this year I had eight wins and one championship and both years I won the Tennessee State points championship.

Nice. Do you have any plans? You know, maybe one day making it in a big, big deal at the cup race. That's my plan. We'll try to get up there, get, get pretty good from there and retire and

do that. Make some money, huh?

Well, man, I appreciate you bringing the car in the best of luck to you. Why don't you jump in and, uh, let us hear it run?

That young man's got what it takes to make it

and Super Chips has got what it takes to make your late model Mustang wake up to more power. It's a new flash pack that plugs into your diagnostic port and within 10 minutes you'll have quicker throttle response, better shifts and improved midrange. The price should be within your range too at about 450. Well, that's it for this week's horsepower. We'll see you next time.