Tgtack 779 #1 Posted August 1, 2018 (edited) Thought I would share the latest work on the 551 Rat Horse. I picked this up from @dells68 at the PA show in June. It is a Rat Rod based on a 1961 model 551. It is powered with a 6.5 hp Predator engine. When I picked it up it was in a clear coat over rust. Pulled it apart and sandblasted it and repainted in flat black with blasted cast iron sheet metal. Repaired the head stand and restored it to it's original upright orientation which allowed the hood and fuel tank to mount in their original positions. Shortened the steering shaft to mount a three spoke deep dish lawn ranger steering wheel (hub bored to 3/4" dia), and shortened the shift lever. Fabricated a heat shield to cover the top of the engine and direct the hot air from the blower housing away from your right leg, and installed the Predator performance intake and carb jet. This past weekend it was pin striped by Rudy (out of Sandusky) at the New London Ohio FARM show. Am contemplating installing a flipped front axle to drop the front, and may drop the trans mount to lower the whole tractor, and replacing the black wheelie bar rollers with a new pair of red hub WH deck wheels. This fall will get a custom fabricated polished stainless steel exhaust pipe and muffler and a set of retro headlights. Looks a lot different from when it came home in June! Edited August 1, 2018 by Tgtack 11 10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dells68 7,494 #2 Posted August 1, 2018 Glad you got this little guy Tim. It's nice to see someone else put their own twist on it. Very nice job!! 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Machineguy 876 #3 Posted August 1, 2018 That’d be WAY cooler to ride around at the dragstrip instead of a lame pit bike scooter!!! 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 24,087 #4 Posted August 1, 2018 WOW! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 26,501 #5 Posted August 1, 2018 Looking awesome!!! The stripping is an excellent touch. 8 hours ago, Tgtack said: Am contemplating installing a flipped front axle to drop the front Here is one idea for dropping the front end. This method gave about a 3" drop on my Suburban. 9 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarkS 122 #6 Posted August 1, 2018 Pretty cool looking!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 59,548 #7 Posted August 1, 2018 Wow Tim, you don’t mess around! I was just wondering the other day if you’ve done any work on your grand daughter’s B-80... but it looks like you were paying attention to this little guy. I didn’t think it needed anything but that heat shield you thought about at the big show, but what you’ve done is pretty awesome! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 46,690 #8 Posted August 1, 2018 Nice Tim ...REAL nice... Dan beat me to the spindle fab idea but ever give any thought to some 6" LR fronts? Might be too small tho??? I temporarily put same later style long frame fronts on a 401 just to be able to roll it and do like the looks tho! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tgtack 779 #9 Posted August 2, 2018 13 hours ago, pullstart said: Wow Tim, you don’t mess around! I was just wondering the other day if you’ve done any work on your grand daughter’s B-80... but it looks like you were paying attention to this little guy. I didn’t think it needed anything but that heat shield you thought about at the big show, but what you’ve done is pretty awesome! Nothing on the B80 yet, this fall after building is up. Rat Horse was far less work and wanted it ready for rest of shows this year. 1 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
