Photos & Story By Rhonda Cooper

Whether sitting in a parking lot, driving the streets of Saskatoon or posing for its photo session for this magazine, Jeff Hamm’s rat rod turns heads and draws attention. The Saskatoon native took his love of cars, combined it with his drag racing experience and created a one-of-a-kind vehicle that seems to defy all the rules of automobile fabrication. Only on the road for four months, the rat rod is already making a name for itself.

It was just a handful of years ago, Hamm, who is well known for racing his 1977 Camaro, had no interest in the rat rod scene. But, over time, he wanted something different and when a friend showed him a magazine photo of a rat rod, it sparked some interest. “My buddy said ‘this is the same thing I showed you four years ago and you weren’t interested.’  My response was ‘now I am,’” grinned Jeff. Looking through a number of magazines Jeff noted different components he found intriguing and thought would be great to put together. With his new mantra of the rat rod is cool, Jeff was fortunate to have a couple of friends who helped him to keep straight during the process.

Jeff had a significant head start on this project. “It was just sitting there in my garage.” ‘It’ was the Camaro’s engine – a 468 big block Chevrolet. It is a LS7 twin turbo V8 engine with iron heads, a roller valve train, eagle rods and has a reported 1,000 horsepower. It has between 14 and 15 pounds of boost. Jeff has not tested the horsepower claim but anticipates that day to be in the near future. “It has a pretty killer fuel system. It has a MSD ignition which is one of the hottest made.” One thing Jeff learned is not to reach for the distributor while the rod is running. The rat rod does not overheat and starts well.

The engine and transmission were the only parts of the project Jeff handed over to specialists. The rest, including the cutting of the differential, he handled himself.

In the fall of 2007 Jeff took a trip to a local salvage yard where he scouted a number of old trucks for potential parts. “I had a budget to stick to and once the money was gone it would be done. Basically I needed an engine bay to house what I already had.” With the truck cab selected, he added other parts such as two different doors, to the salvage yard load and trailered home the pieces of the rat rod. Over the winter months Jeff, with the help of friends, began the fabrication process.

One of Hamm’s goals was to have the rat rod sit on the ground. “I decided that instead of starting in the air and trying to lower it to the ground to achieve what I wanted, I chose to start from the ground.”

This rod has literally been built from the ground up. With the frame on the ground and the engine placed on half-inch spacers, the concept of the rat rod began to take shape. The design called for leaving everything from the firewall forward to be left in the open so the engine would always be on display.

Jeff chose an advanced design three-window cab, which was first bolted to the frame and then welded for strength. Inside the cab is a reclaimed bench seat from an Astro van. This feature was also welded into place. Originally Jeff thought he would have to do some work to it to make it fit the project, but further perusal of rod magazines showed bright, multi-coloured Mexican blankets thrown over the seats. This detail was fixed when a good friend of Jeff’s showed up with just such a blanket and donated it to the build. Others will never need to know what is hidden beneath the cover.

He wanted a steering column with signal lights that cancel. He found what he was looking for and it is now part of the steering with a reverse mounted Flaming River box completed by a pitman arm that points down.

When it came to the box, he removed the tailgate and shortened it by 18 inches. During the cutting process, Jeff was inspired to reverse the box mount. “Nothing was going to be carried back there anyway and it looked cool. After I finished, one of my friends came over and had a knee-slapping reaction to the decision.” It is just another unique feature of the rod.

Hamm moved the front axle forward 18 inches and the back axle forward 24 inches on a Z frame. This decision means the rod is 150 pounds heavier on the back axle than the front. This will perfectly accommodate Jeff’s future plans to launch the car at the racetrack. The homemade suspension came courtesy of a Chevy half-ton. Four air bags, each one rated for 125 PSI, are a key component in achieving the on-road and sitting stance Jeff wanted the rat rod to have. But this is one area that if he had to do it over again, he would install springs along with the air bags.

“I tried to use a second hand Dana for the rear end but a friend of mine suggested I get a new one so it would fit right.” This was one area where Jeff allocated a portion of his budget. Another area was the brakes.  The SSBC front brakes were made for the axle.

The rat rod has a drag race set up. The billet power glide transmission has a transbrake, which means there will be no slippage of gears when Jeff gets the car to the racetrack. Along with the engine, the Dana rear end is a 10 and one-quarter inch differential floating axle from a Ford.

Although the factory gauges are still on the dash, the real gauges are located inside the glove box. The minimal dash does have the switches for raising and lowering the rat rod. Another cool feature of the interior is the connecting rod pedals. The white wall tires are a bit of a mirage. To create the look, Jeff used masking tape to create a template and painted the white onto the rubber. One of the personalized touches of the project is the use of a Hamm’s beer can for the overflow. “I thought it was not only cool but also fitting since my name is Hamm.” It is not every day a builder can incorporate his name into a build in such a unique manner.

If it did not already possess an eclectic look, Jeff mounted a Massey Harris grill onto the front. The grill, along with the first differential, the tires, seat and windshield were all donations, helping to bring his project in on budget.

The rat rod’s maiden run was to Tim Horton’s located on the same street as Jeff’s home. “I felt like I was going to die in it,” he laughed. “It rattled and was very noisy.” Welding the cab to the frame alleviated that particular quirk.

With the rod where he wanted it, Jeff took it to the streets and entered some local shows such as the Martensville Show ‘n’ Shine in June and SuperRun 2008. At both shows it drew inquisitive crowds. “My wife and I were driving down 8^th Street last night and a person tried to ask me questions while we were driving. I motioned to him that we would pull into the Dairy Queen. Once we got there we had a hard time leaving as people kept coming up and asking different questions. A lot of people wonder why it is as it is, so I try to answer as many questions as I can. Sometimes it would be easier if I just had the magazines where I got the ideas from to fully explain it but I do enjoy the interactions.”

So what is left for this project? On the rod itself, Jeff would like to take it down to the steel so it is rusted from one end to the other. “I would like it so when you touched it, rust would also be left on your fingers.” As for performance, he wants to head to the racetrack. He planned to race at SIR’s Aug. 9 Test and Tune, Fastest Street Car Challenge. Unfortunately, on the drive to the racetrack, Jeff discovered the rod was not ready for the track just yet. Hamm is confident that when the rod hits the track it will be a contender. Hamm plans to continue to test and tune the rod in preparation for launching the car into the wheelie. He cannot wait to experience the thrill of running the rat rod in high gear. Until that day comes, Jeff plans to continue basking in the “anything goes” feel of the rod and the attention it garners him when he is out and about.