{"id":30595,"date":"2016-09-27T10:19:35","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T17:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=30595"},"modified":"2016-09-29T09:36:42","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T16:36:42","slug":"30595","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/30595\/","title":{"rendered":"This Ratfish Wagon is One Mean Ride"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ratfish<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Todd Clyne had a hankering for a ’48 Willys rat rod for some time, but this particular project was no mere solitary, confine-yourself-to-the-garage-every-weekend kind of deal. Though Todd’s brainchild, he made sure to keep his son, Trenton, active in the build process in a way that doesn’t happen so often any more in father-son relationships. This chopped, fire-breathing Willys was the result of a love for cars and a dedication to craft. Certainly, a few fathers could learn a thing or two about raising their kid with the creation of this monster, dubbed “Ratfish.”<\/p>\n

The project began when Todd found an abandoned Willys Jeep in the middle of a Minnesotan wheat field. As the old steed was quickly becoming a home for mice, he took the classic Jeep back to his garage and began a long, exhaustive overhaul. As the floor was comprehensively rusted, Todd cut it out and replaced it with a frame made of 2×4 3\/16″ rectangular tubing. The effect this had was that the heavily patinaed Willys frame, which was chopped 5″ at the top, could sit directly on the frame.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ratfish<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then the motor was thrown in. An AMC 401 using a .030 over became a 406, and the internals were given a serious makeover. Larger valves, roller rockers, custom billet pistons, and aluminum valve covers helped make up the motor, and an eye-catching set of ceramic-coated headers connected to a 3-inch exhaust, flowing out through Flowmaster mufflers to give the car a distinctive sound and an amazing look. Comp Cams’ Mother Thumper camshaft and a Holley 780 carb net somewhere in the 500 horsepower range, and there’s a 150-shot of NOS in back for a bit more grunt. With the various pieces anodized a brilliant blue and striking A\/R fittings adorning the engine, it certainly contrasts the weathered look of the exterior.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ratfish<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The spaceframe is mounted to the 727 transmission, and the 12-point rollcage is integrated into the entire system. With this skeleton, the vintage Jeep gets rat rod styling, added chassis rigidity, and a bit of safety along the way.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ratfish<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A set of beadrolled, handmade bomber seats were attached to the beadrolled floor, which was mounted to the frame. Then, the factory wheel tubs were beadrolled back into a semi-factory position on top of the new floor.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ratfish<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Following that, shock mounts to mount the QA1 shocks were fabbed and welded to the frame. Then the frame was removed and sprayed with a paint mixed with stainless steel, to insulate Ratfish from the harsh Minnesotan elements.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ratfish<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then the gauges were added, the tachometer mounted to the dash and the quick-released steering wheel bolted on, and the spartan interior was near complete. Though it’s all business with the shift lever of the manually-shifted 727 transmission standing proudly in the center of the cabin, ostrich skin cushions adorn the homemade bomber seats and carpet on the floor gives an air of civility.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ratfish<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With gobs of torque on hand, the rear end had to be built sturdily, though a few hiccups came up during the tuning process. First, a 1977 F150 31-spline, 9-inch was used to try and harness the thrust. A few hard launches, and the original Ford 9-inch was no more. Briefly, a spool took its place, but since it pushed the burly Jeep into a bit of understeer and made it a chore to drive, an Aburn Pro posi with 4.11 gears was finally picked to deliver that power to the ground.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ratfish<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ratfish is a piece of artwork to many, an eyesore to some, and a hellraiser to all. It’s also the result of a lot of elbow grease and a father and son with a shared ambition. It’s a shame kids don’t get introduced to cars in this fashion much anymore, since it’d keep a lot of Hot Rod and racing clubs well-stocked for the years to come. Let’s hope that there are other instances of family bonding like the kind that yielded Ratfish.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ratfish<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This chopped, fire-breathing Willys was the result of a love for cars and a dedication to craft.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":30605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3700,3470],"tags":[4396,364,41,3846,2683,4885],"class_list":["post-30595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-vehicles","category-news","tag-featured-cars","tag-jeep","tag-news","tag-rat-rod","tag-tommy-parry","tag-willys-jeep"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/featured-30.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s42YSK-30595","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30700,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30595\/revisions\/30700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}