Rat Tigra

[066 Tim]

http://antiblingrides.com/wordpress/?ta ... olet-tigra

Thought of you chaps (edit: and Chapettes)... never thought of newer vehicles under going the rat treatment... interesting.

[021 Chad]

Guilty pleasure

Thanks for the post Tim.

[168 Derek S]

submarine deck cargo right enough.
my boys all excited about that rusty look, I cant get my head round it at all
guess I really am a FOC

[020 Brad]

Definitely a good discussion point.

[127 Gordo]

Rather like the 'distressed' look, but I'd have a flat lacquer or something on it to prevent the metal rusting away.

[168 Derek S]

my boy tells me its some kind of special application they do to get the effect without the car actually rusting or generating further oxide.
the ones he showed me on line were mostly VW's in the US where they are looking for that dry desert sand blasted paint to oxide effect that you see on some barn finds or cars that have been taken over from dry desert states in the US to be restored. I saw a station wagon at the beach hop a couple of years ago that was a fresh import from Texas or one of those states and it had that look to it, basically the paintwork was shot.
the ones the boy was showing me had the big wheels with massive camber, most of them had old roof racks on them piled with junk too (whats that all about?)

[127 Gordo]

The 'pack rat' look?
I don't get the excessive camber and stupidly low look either - i like the 'Q' car look, where it looks like it's barely capable of running under it's own power, but is thoroughly tweeked under the skin with engine, suspension (maybe 20-30mm lower), brakes, etc, done and wheels a bit wider and maybe slightly larger diameter but with premium rubber on them. In extreme ccases, different makes/models of wheels, but the same sizes and offsets.

[021 Chad]

I'm with Gordo, that look works so well.

What a lot of the guys do is remove all paint work and apply a rust promoter like lemon juice, vinegar, battery acid etc. They re-apply until the 'look' is achieved and then they have two options. Either cover it in WD40 and re-apply every once in a while or clear lacquer.

[066 Tim]

I've always liked the rat look, never had the chops to try it out so will be having a play on my rustiest Gemini parts wagon... (have enough sub standard parts to replace everything I steal off it)





Sold the bonnet so will be having a ferrous oxide red bonnet in its place, stealing bumpers for my red work wagon so will have the crappiest plastic gemini bumpers I have.
Has some excellent aged stickers on the back and several old repairs/scrapes/scratches/dings that will lend themselves well to the ratty look. Also have some nice leather seats with cracks in the leather and split seams... Scored a rust spotted chrome air filter for it for free the other day... will be looking for some of the fore mentioned roof racks pref cheap or free... basicly want this car to not cost me anything (much) and will likely sell it @ Kumeu come summer... assuming me and my mate can bodge up the rust repairs and get it legal... reckon if we can pull off the rat look successfully I should be able to get $1500 for it which I can then fund a new paintjob on one of the cars with... anyway thats the plan, we'll see.

Will be trawling the interweb for all the cliche rat job touches I can put on this car without going too far overboard...

Any suggestions or offers of parts will be welcome.

Just keen on recuing it rather than stripping/scrapping it...

[066 Tim]

Forgot to mention, hasn't been washed in years and has a lovely philm of scummy green stuff living on it....

[021 Chad]

Number one feature of any REAL rat and to make the whole deal work. Pull that motor out and clean / chrome / paint everything. That engine bay should be a work of art, also the motor needs racy cams

Any good rat should have an engine bay you can eat out of. It's all about the contrast.
But hey thats just my view of it.

[066 Tim]

First attempt at Rat bonnet... paint stripper didn't eat all the paint as I hoped, what do you's reckon? Think I like it, will take sander to it and expose a bit more bare metal probably although there is a bit showing on edges and high points... critique away!

[021 Chad]

It looks aweful.

[168 Derek S]

I would media blast it, soda or glass.

[066 Tim]

needs bare metalling will use up the last of the paint stripper and see what that does