Tudor Rat two of four seats??? fuel tank??

wessider

wessider

Active Member
I must say I have not seen a Rat rod with a rear seat!

I kinda like the idea of going out for dinner with the wife and another couple in the rod. Seeing as none of my close friends have a rod it might be nice to share the experience with them. Though i suppose i shouldn't care about others, as selfish as it may sound, I'm building it with my own hands for me right! besides, if they loved cars as much as i do they would build one themselves.

Is the rear seat idea worth the cost and effort?
The rear seats wouldn't get used much, any one regret having only two seats?
I'm thinking with only two seats the ride becomes more of an escape...time to yourself and maybe the wife... kinda peaceful.

As you can tell i'm undecided. A:confused any imput may help me from making the wrong decission.:confused:
 
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Car needs ta has room and belts fer the rug rats of yur kids kids. When me kids little rug rats where with me they would always take grampa fer a walk after supper and most trips led to me old T-Bird Convertable...

Hugh...............................................PTP
 
At first I was gonna make my model eh 2 dr sedan into a extended cab pick up but lately I,ve been thinking to make it just a sedan like it is . More room in back etc . You could seat 3-4 people . But a 2 dr rat with back seats means the wimins have to climb in and out of the back . One dirty spot on one top or pants and means one real dirty look for rest of trip/evening.
Maybe you could make a 4 dr sedan rat rod ??. Maybe kinda like an old hearse looking thing , but with a tall T look . That would be different ..77.
 
small tank and four seats -vs- big tank,two seater

I think I'll forget the rear seat idea and use that space for the fuel tank and battery. that should still leave enough room to store some small stuff behind the front bench seat.
I know this is the way most people have done it. I started this post to find out if anyone mounted their tank and battery somewere different leaving enough room for a rear seat.

32 tank - won't work on this frame
running board tanks - won't work as it's to be fenderless
 
I'm going to use a back seat
The tank is going behind the seat back and will be sealed from inside the car with a welded bulkhead
I've made a door below the tank so the tank would come out between the framerails out the bottom if necessary
The diff. would have to be R&Red but I feel better having it sealed off and anyway if you do make it accesible you'll never have to get at it.
Makes no difference really if you're driving a "A" you've got gas nearby
battry will go under the seat it the middle on it's side (Optima)
 
Thats where my tank is gonna go too , either upright behind the seat , behind a bulk head . Or under the bottom of the rear seat also in side a horizontal box type affair . Battery is gonna be tucked inside of frame rail in a box near passenger frt seat to passenger firewall area .
Remember most modern day passenger cars the fuel tank is under the back seat with just one layer of body meyal between it and passengers . And Gm station wagons used to have the tanks shoved up inside the 1/4 panels ..77.
 
tank location, safety issue?

slick i nver thought about mounting the battery on it's side. as long as its a dry cell why not eh! The laws do state the tank must be enclosed in a fire bearing wall/divider to seperate it from the passengers thought...right? how do you guys feel about the tank made to take the shape of the rear body if i'm not running bumpers. I'd think getting rear-ended could cause the tank to rupture. Would it pass saftey in that location without a rear bumper?
 
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Just my $.02, but try and build as much safety into your vehicle, particularly regarding the fuel tank!

Bgbkwndo.
 
See probably if you had a tank made , even by a certified welder . Mounted inside the back of the body and it split open . I,m thinking the ins co would back outta that situation pretty fast . Edit note Tank inside a box of course .
I,m leaning more towards under the body flat tank that goes from side to side . I was looking at some new styled plastic tanks at a wreckers the other day . Maybe mounting one up against the floor under the back seat . With a box type shield under it , to protect it incase of u joint failure . ( my chassis has a safety hoop for the d/shaft)
funny ins co,s ok,d a zillion Gm wagons with fuel tank shoved up inside the 1/4 panel . But a tank inside the back of a hot rodded A sedan body would probably get coverage deleted if in an accident .
Those gm wagons the tank was only protected by a very meager crash bar inside the 1/4 and the body metal of the 1/4 . I remember as soon as one of those tanks even leaked a lil bit you could smell the fumes thru whole car . On hot days , even with out a leaky tank you could smell gas fumes inside if you drove around with the back window down . But then again a multi zillion dollar corp said it was an ok design , so it must be so .
Is there anyone on site with an A who could chime in on their tank location and manufacture..77.
 
tank location

deffinitly the fuel tank needs to be located out of the cars body and under the floor. I haven't finished the floor in the rear yet so i,m going to mount the tank to the frame above the rear crossmember, and below the rear window and raise the floor to go above it. that way when the floor sheet metal get welded on the floor structural steel it will close the tank off from the cars body and passangers. the other idea it to use two tanks, one on either side to the drive shaft and link them together with the fuel pump in the middle. I want the weight of the tank and fuel centered as much as possible so the tanks would hve to be the same size.
 
I love the idea of my car being four door!

I have a lot of friends who do very talented body work, suggest that I can section out and completely remove the back doors. (needless to say that it is A) a lot of work to cut out almost half a car B) takes a lot of talent) but I really like the back doors.

That and I like having the back seat for my folks to someday sit when i take them for a ride ;)

~adam
 
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