1939 Chevrolet Custom Rat Rod
A lot of money in this one to look “ratty” but built right with all the power you can handle and reliability too. It is powered by the huge big block 472 V-8 Cadillac motor which takes up a third of the truck! Over top of the painted block and Edelbrock intake manifold sits a Holley 750cfm carburetor dumping the fuel into the engine that is attached to a Turbo 350 automatic transmission. The engine has just been refurbished with a new cap/rotor, points, main seal, an alternator and custom “Ratillac” head covers as well. The compression has just been checked and is perfect. It sounds just like it looks with all of the screaming coming out of the Lake Style headers down the side. It has a custom made air scoop to bring the air in and an aluminum radiator to keep it all cool with no overheating problems. It gets fuel from a 12-gallon tank located in the bed of the truck.
The rod sits on a custom reinforced frame with a 4-link suspension and coil springs in the back. Up front, you will find inverted leaf springs with friction shocks over top of the disc brakes making stopping as easy as it is getting it roaring up to speed. The rear-end it out of a 90’s era Chevy Silverado making it as durable as the rest of the truck. You really have to look at the pictures to see all of the custom touches this truck has because they are everywhere! The classic Coca Cola bedliner really stands out as does the classic grill and airplane hood ornament. She sits on a mismatched set of classic steelies with road slicks on the back and Michelin’s in the front over 10-spoke aluminum wheels.
The interior is detailed just like the rest of the truck with bucket seats, a monster shifter covered in metal, cut up Pennzoil can over the hump, speed limit signs for the interior of the doors and special made bucket seats that encompass the whole look. The patina’d dash board is nearly impossible to recreate with such continuity and looks incredible holding the original gauges. There are a set of aftermarket one’s right underneath to monitor what is going on underneath on the driver’s side.
