Just Can't Gut Tractor Grilles

I am against tractor grills but I must say,this looks good!!!! Very well done right down to the wide 5s and the orange paint! I don't think it would look as good as a coupe,I think the roadster pickup makes it all work.jmho...

 

my eyes my eyes!!!

 

That looks like a shortened model U grille, not a Delux though. It does look a little strange, but, I personally think a good portion of the "goofy" look is the proportions of the car itself. It kind of has that sloped chop, bent frame look going. That can be a real hit or miss look. I'm not sure that any other grille shell would help that much. That cars close, but, everything is just a bit off.

 

i figure it's not MY place to tell people how they ought build their rods
or take a loud opinion on how they did it.

it don't say anything good about a person who thinks they should.

 

Robert Doisneau, Paris, 1956.

http://www.robertdoisneau.com/

Early French rat rodder with tractor grille??? Dunno. Maybe.

 

I like the pedal car!

 

I found this pic of an oliver grille. I think this looks pretty awesome.

 

Two days of this shit? What the fuck has happened to this place? There's plenty of rat rod sites who love this shit. Why fuck our shit up?

 

I totally agree!!

 

Garbage. You need glasses.

 

If we keep silent people will keep ruining vintage tin with this ugly shit.

 

I think we've shown that the exception proves the rule here. There are a few that can be made to look great, but, it takes work.

Haphazardly slapping a stock tractor grille on anything you want is going to look like shit, but as usual, with enough work, and a talented eye, they can be made to work, and provide a good looking different touch. Just the same for using any other car parts, just because it's a car part that was traditionally used doesn't grant it immunity from looking stupid, out of proportion, and rat roddish. Check, and double check.

 

Ha Ha!

You left out 7 pages and 134 posts!

 

You are not alone Richard. Trust me, you are not alone. A buddy of mine told me it's like talking to a dog, they can hear you, but they just don't understand what we're sayin'....

 

this is a prime example of how the lines have gotten skewed & some people who should know better just don't seem to have a clue ???

my understanding of "original hot rods" is they used what they had, & what parts were available to mostly go faster... but in reality, weren't hot rods the 1st shock rods, the look they were after was as often as much as the go fast ( look at the hot rod comics thread & how they were portrayed )... not defending the poorly built rat rods, but IMO, that general trend is only a transition of the vintage hot rod... the addition of a tractor grill probably didn't happen even if playing chicken resulted in sheetmetal damage for car owners in the big cities, but I'd find it hard to believe that early rural hot rodders didn't find a tractor grill appealing if they damaged their car grill & the tractor was just sitting there...

that said, if the current "vintage hot rodders" no longer want to be associated with the "shock rodders" ( we as a culture has slid down that cultural slope so far, it now takes a lot more to shock anyone )... well so be it... however when it comes to looks, I don't think any of you are the fashion police for the world, so we all can decide for ourselves... I think some of those pictured were awefull... maybe their owner like them & I guess that's OK... but I also think a couple of them were done quite nicely...

 

Tractor grills belong on tractors,,the photo below,just hurts. HRP

 

Comeon folks, some of you guys in an effort to be so different are being very conformist.

Why not extend the same distate and hatred to some of the shifter knobs in the shifter knob thread next? Same deal there, some of those creations have no business being a shifter knob. But you know what? The guy who has it likes it and thats all that matters in the end.

Alex.

 

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. OK I lied I puked all over my feet and I don't even remember eating some of that shit.

Ed,
I think it is more like talking to a wall, it is not that they don't understand they are just not hearing it.

 

At least it has the holy grail of all engines, the SBC. It fits right along with the tractor grill.

 

My thoughts exactly Beaner! The worst part is that I see New York plates on that parts car.

This thread needs an enema!

 

If that is Paris, someone Photo Shopped all the dog shit off the sidewalk.

 

Just to clairify... "that one" is not one I think looks OK... that looks almost as nasty as BEANER's shoes.

 

I could see using a tractor grille as a starting point for a custom grille. After a lot of slicing and reforming maybe come up with something in a track nose style but to use one in stock form ???? no way !!!!! When I look at a car with a tractor grille in stock form it takes away from the rest of the car because I know it's a freaking tractor grille.

 

Some of the real early cast tractor grilles look good, but most are not my cup of tea....I don't even like them on the Rats...
Cheers.....

 

People have a right to their opinions and tastes, but people with better opinions and tastes have the right to send them all to the Gulag for re-education...

 

I dont know fellas, this Chris Casny roadster looks pretty tasty...



...but did I hear someone mention Tractor rods ? (forgive me guys)

 

Putting it as plainly as I can this site is about 'traditional' rods..the way it was actually done not how we think it might have been or how we can adapt parts we have to hand that were not available back then.

 

Yea!

Till you get to the tractor grille, then it looks out of place.

That's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it!

 

I think the problem is the word traditional or vintage... just because it was done "back then" doesn't mean it was more stylish, or safer than some of the bird shit welded rats today ( sorry the rat guys didn't invent bird shit welds... likely some of the traditional hot rodders did ) & not every chopped old Ford was done with legendary precision or design concepts...

yes... there were alot of nice ones... but since in those days, most everyone built their own, & welding wasn't taught as often as it is today, & you could get plans in the period magazines... I'm betting there were alot of abominations built "back then" that would be traditional or vintage, that alot of people would like to forget about...

a prime example would be some of these Tractor shells... I'm sure some were vintage, & it looks like for track noses, it might have even been traditional... doesn't mean they all look good, or should have even been done that way in the 1st place... but then those rides aren't ours... we should just roll our eyes & say..."yeh... well if you like that sort of thing" because the owner or builder must have liked it enough to put it on there in the 1st place