Rat attack

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/02/2012 (5058 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When my friend, Albert Seguin, told me he was building a rat rod a couple of years ago it caught me off-guard.  

Seguin already owns an absolutely stunning 1934 Ford street rod that is among the nicest rides in town. His car is the type of machine rat-rod owners like me dream about. It’s painted to perfection and covered in killer flames. It also has enough chrome under the hood to make a jeweller jealous and, as an added bonus, it goes like stink.

“You already own one of the nicest cars in town,” I told Seguin when he unveiled his plan to convert a 1936 Nash Lafayette coupe into a rat rod. “Why the heck would you want to do that?”

His answer also caught me off-guard: “As much as I love my ’34 Ford, all I ever do is worry about it. There’s so much money invested in the car that I’m afraid to drive it. I just want to build a cool old car that I can hop in and drive without worrying about getting it dirty or scratching it.”

And so the journey began.

Seguin found the cool old Nash for sale online on the popular Kijiji website right here in Winnipeg back in 2010 and bought it for the tidy sum of $3,500. The seller had already done some work on the car, including new floors and a Mustang II front end, but had abandoned the project several years earlier.

“It was buried in the guy’s garage under some lumber and a few bundles of shingles,” recalled Seguin of his rare discovery. It may have looked rough in the garage, but once Seguin cleaned the building supplies off the car and rolled it outside and onto his friend Tim McCrae’s flat-deck tow truck, it was a sight to behold.

“We were amazed that the guy let it go for as little as he did. The seller actually said that once he saw it on the back of Tim’s truck he realized he could have sold it for way more money.”

With the car safely tucked in his own garage, Seguin surveyed the situation and realized that although the car looked fairly complete, it would require considerable fabrication skills to get it roadworthy.

While shooting the breeze at the annual Hot Rods and Harleys show-and-shine at Harley-Davidson Winnipeg back in the fall of 2010, Seguin asked me if I knew of anyone who could do some metal work on his new/old Nash.

The first guy who came to mind was my neighbour and longtime friend, Jeff Copp, the owner of MRC Custom. Copp honed his skills in the family steel business and for the past few years has been working as an independent contractor at a local metal fabrication shop. In his spare time, he builds all sorts of amazing metal creations, ranging from stock cars and hot rods to cool aluminum accessories for race trailers.

Seguin wasn’t in a huge hurry to get the car finished so, on evenings and weekends for the better part of the past two years, Copp has transformed what was once a rusty bucket into what is now best described as rolling art.

Highlights included the installation of a three-link rear suspension, a rear-end from a Ford Explorer complete with disc brakes, a new radiator cradle and considerable metal repair of the fenders, rocker panels and factory running boards. There’s also cool features like a recessed fuel-filler door, a rear firewall, custom battery box and a new set of gauges in the custom dash. Copp also hand-made new front and rear bumpers and a custom grille.

Other work included fitting and installing a freshly rebuilt 327-cubic-inch Chevrolet V8 engine and a General Motors 700R4 automatic transmission complete with overdrive.

I happened to roll into Copp’s shop last weekend, just in time to help him install the motor. An aluminum highrise intake manifold with a pair of four-barrel Holley carburetors topped the works off perfectly.

“It was a lot of work,” Copp said, “but all it needs now is the finishing touches and Albert has himself a 76-year-old car that is basically brand-new.”

Seguin still has a fair bit of work to do to get the old Nash on the road, but hopes to have it rolling by this summer. After a serious motorcycle accident several years ago, he can’t work in the shop at the same feverish pace he once could, so he plans to take his time and call on a few more friends to help out with the interior, wiring and plumbing up the brakes.

Local legend Gord Dunger, or GOD as he’s known in the hobby, will also be commissioned to do the final body work and apply the paint.

“I’m not going to go overboard on this project,” Seguin said. “I’m totally impressed with the work Jeff did and am now looking forward to making the car a reliable runner.”

When the topic of paint comes up, Seguin is quick to offer up his colour choice. “Flat black,” he said with a grin. “It’s a rat rod, not a show car.”

Seguin plans to cut up an old Coca-Cola machine and use the colourful metal for his interior door panels. Other cool touches include the use of wrenches for door handles.

“That’s what I like about this car — there really aren’t any rules to follow.”

Although rat rods have sometimes been dismissed as unsafe by many custom-car builders, their rising popularity has seen more and more projects like Seguin’s hit the streets. They may look tough on the outside, but underneath they’re better than new with fresh power trains and modern brakes and suspension.

“I’m excited to get it on the road,” said Seguin as he sat in the car in Copp’s shop last weekend. “I’ve been into cars my entire life, and this old Nash is my new favourite.”

willy@freepress.mb.ca