A Rat Rod Wheelbarrow Bucket T Tractor/Kart for my Grandson

I found the bearing the third time I looked in the box it should have been in. Also collected a tie rod and another steering rod. I found that one of the old mowers had a sector gear that will fit, I may use it instead of the original. This one has a ball joint and the one from the donor machine has a shoulder bolt. This may also force a change in the console, but I won’t know for sure until I get the jackshaft in place.

wont you need to move the clutch pedal back since you stretched the frame?

The seat has been moved down to the frame, quite a ways toward the front of the machine. The pedal locations will be determined after I get the tub mounted and I can’t do that until I get the jackshaft installed. I hope to do at least part of that today.
Also, I may have figured out how to use the type 1 Craftsman steering box. We will see.

There is now a genuine mower deck spindle made into a jack shaft on the rat. It looks like it should be a good one. Both pulleys are removable, the spindle housing is bolted in and the bearings can be replaced. I want to drill and tap the housing and put a grease fitting in it too.





I cut the cross member tubing for the tensioner support but wore out. Maybe tomorrow this will be finished and I can move on to the engine pulley and clutch. Oh, that rear pulley, on the transaxle, still needs to be welded too. Then I can measure for a belt.

The right side frame stiffener is tacked in place. The other one is still to be cut to length and both will have to be welded permanently. I also need to weld up some places on the front axle stiffener.

I did figure out the steering for sure. Now to finish the design of that. My ‘visualizer’ has aged like the rest of me. I used to be VERY good at designing in my head and being able to ‘see’ the finished product, but that gift is fading.

If you tap that spindle and put in a grease zerk. Be sure to remove the seal on the inside of the bearings.

Looks great!

Thanks! I did remove the seals on the inside to inspect the bearings. I’ll remove them, clean them and grease them when I put the fitting in. Thanks for the reminder.

That spindle idea is great. I just can’t seem to get that out of my mind. Solves an issue I was trying to figure out in the past. An idea that I ditched several years back because the best idea I saw was on carsandcameras YouTube. They made a jackshaft. The spindle is so perfect.

Thanks! I agonized over buying bearings or making something. But, the spindle came back up and asked to be tried. It is made to handle all sorts of abuse, so I’m hoping that the thing will work. It is quite well made with two large ball bearings spaced a bit over 2” apart. Fingers crossed. Plus... it is a cool looking doodad. I have 3 more from the two mower decks I have like that. The others would probably work too, but this was the shortest one. I wanted the pulley spacing as close as possible for this build.

To make it work, I had to move the drive pulley down on the spacer. I cut the center of a pulley out and welded it to the spacer. That way, the splines in the shaft and the pulley still work as designed and the spacer is now driven. Then I welded the pulley on the spacer to match the distance I needed.
The other pulley is welded to the center of a mower blade. That let me use the star drive on that end and made that pulley removable too, if I want to change ratios sometime.

Did some cutting and welding and thinking and sitting...















There will be a guard over the belt and pulleys, under the seat. It may be made of a snow blower chute if that piece of metal fits. It will be hinged and latched for safety. 







The rear belt drive system is finished, now to find a belt that fits. I added a cross member to attach the tensioner to and there will be several more probably. The front end has been reinforced with weld, due to the changes I had to make to clear the steering rod.
I’m not sure what will hold up the dash panel, but it probably won’t be that gray box, it is there as a support for now.
It looks like the steering box will work nicely. I have a steering shaft with U-joints that will allow the steering wheel to be at a good angle, AND to be moved forward and backward. Thanks to ebay and a dead Range Rover.
Now to move on to the clutch design and mounting and engine pulley. And more welding and designing of the ‘tub’. It has to be PERFECT. GRIN...

When they started selling GT40s to the public, you had to go to England to be ‘fitted’ for the seat and interior. Today we had a ‘fitting’ for the Rat Rod. 





Another wheelbarrow gave it’s life for the project. Now we have a full firewall and dash support. 



I am looking for some 1/4” steel rod now, to form the sheet metal to fill the spaces. There will be a flat floor and some complicated sheet metal between the parts. The curved sections will be made out of 1/2” conduit. One section is in place as a test. It is the same diameter as the old wheelbarrow tub, so it may continue smoothly (it is clamped where it is for convenience right now) around the dash. The windshield frame may well be made from that too. 
Now we have seen Model T folding tops... sigh... 

Here is a 1919 Buick. 



I have what I believe is the cowl from a 1919 Buick. It is nicely Nevada rusted, but solid. I found it out in the mountains years ago. It got dragged around to the Rat Garage today to see if it may become a hood for this thing. Should be suitable for a Rat Rod, being over 100 years old.

A 40 mile round trip to Home Depot and a lucky find at the only fresh produce seller in town today. He had all sorts of goodies. I got sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, peaches, a cantaloupe, tomatillos, YUM! He said that this is the end of the season. He gets his produce from Idaho and it went ‘instantly’ he said. 

Got a bunch of things including some 1/4” rod at Home Depot. Then I did a bit of messing about with the Rat Rod. I ‘forged without fire’ a Model T windshield mount bracket from a bit of old bed frame. Gotta make another of course. Then I cut the 1919 Buick cowl in half after studying it for a while I think it will make a cool hood for the Rat. Piano hinge down the middle should make it perfect. I found some ready made louvers on a junk generator too I think. 
Then I cut the curved conduit I made yesterday to fit the rig. And, made a second one just like it. Good to do that. Both were welded in place. I’m getting good at welding thin rust to other stuff. After clamping the tub and firewall to the frame, and welding in the curved tubing, I made a pattern for the filler bits. Maybe sheet metal cutting and welding tomorrow. Also, I think I will make a piece of conduit to curve up and over the ‘dash’ area, connecting those two curves. That will give a nice strong support for the dash and steering wheel mount/mechanism. 

A good day was had by all...   

Lookin good! This is turning out great.

Thanks! I’m having a ball. Renewing old skills and adding new ones, plus making a great toy I hope.

You can find good sheetmetal in odd places. I have a trailer that my neighbor gave me. It is an ancient utility bed for a pickup, mounted on a frame and made into a trailer. One of the doors was falling off, so I finished the ‘off’ part. Then I laid out the patterns for the metal floor of the Rat and cut them out. To my surprise, the inside is like NEW. Amazing. Anyway, it is nice stuff and works. 



I got the right side welded in place nicely. Then got in a hurry and messed up the left side. The outer panel is cut to overlap the floor panel but I got that one backwards, side on top of the floor. Grrr... cut it off and tacked it in place and quit for the day. No loss, just frustrating. 






The extra row of black dots on the left floor panel is from the mistake. I will be cutting a panel to fill the center section and it will overlap front and back and both sides. That will add some stiffness to the floor. The entire body will be one piece, bolted onto the frame so it can come off for maintenance. 






The pic above is a Model T windshield mount bracket. The pic below is the part of a bed frame that holds the caster. It can be trimmed to look like a Model T bracket, and 1/2” conduit is a perfect fit into it. Windshield frame headed this way! 

I went out this morning and started welding... and ran out of wire. I was using .030 and it was working nicely. Grrr... so I did a few other things while considering the long drive to town and back. I have .023 wire. I looked up the spec/settings and realized there isn’t much difference for what I am working on. So I just dialed up the wire feed and all is well. Of course after a few welds, the wind came up again. 
I did manage to get the body welded together and bolted down. 
I followed the designer’s lead (the ones who designed the frames for these things) and used the self threading bolts. There are zillions of those in the parts bucket so I thought, “why not?”. They worked great. I welded some angle to the base of the firewall and used two existing holes in the frame to bolt that down, then used two of the holes in the wheelbarrow (after drilling the frame of course) to bolt down the back.
 Super! This thing is strong. 
If you want to buy a tool to work on mowers, those step drills are the berries. I have been using a couple for the last several days and they just work. Good stuff for this kind of thing. 



I stuck on a couple of tires to see how she is looking. 



Then I decided to retire to the design chair for a while. Gotta get that steering box mounted and make a clutch pedal and brake and gas pedal. I think the original clutch shaft will work, and the pedal can come up through the old steering arm hole. I may pivot the brake (separate from the clutch) on the clutch shaft. 
The steering box has to be disassembled completely to get all the plastic parts off so I can cut off the steering arm and reposition and extend it. Looks like the drag link can come through the firewall OK and everything should clear nicely. 



That’s the angle bolted to the frame and welded to the firewall. There needs to be a frame come up from that angle to stiffen the firewall and support the hood that may or may not be created.

Those curved pieces of conduit stop where they are now until I figure out the steering shaft and wheel mounting.

I’m getting comfortable with the design of the remaining bits of the drive train and steering system. I think there will be a tower just behind the firewall and the steering box will mount 3 or 4 inches above the floor. The extended shaft will allow me to ‘re-time’ the sector to work on the right side properly. The drag link can come through the firewall leaving clearance for the gas pedal and brake pedal. 
I found a clutch shaft on one of the LT1500 carcases and it should easily become the brake shaft. The existing clutch shaft can be moved back a few inches and work too. The shifter shaft is also in the plan. Coming together... 

I took the body off the frame today to do some measuring and fitting as well as welding up the under side. I also laid out the steering gear for planning. 






After that I disassembled the steering box and shaft. The center support bearing on the steering shaft was a press fit, but I made it a slip fit with some sandpaper strip. Now it can be disassembled more easily. I willl be doing some serious cutting on these parts in order to get them to fit where I want them. I think I will mock up the ‘tower’ that the steering box mounts in and see how it all works, then start chopping.

In other action today, we visited one of our boys and it seems he is upgrading his FJ Cruiser. He bought a new fancy aluminum front bumper, winch and skid plate. He GAVE ME the old parts. 
These are pics off the net, the goodies are in the back of my truck now. BUT, this may become Rat Rod parts or whatever. Rollbar? Skid plate under the rear axle? What fun! 

An update finally. Sunday was a bad day for me. My allergy to Rabbit Brush nearly drowned me. I took drugs and slept most of the day. Yesterday was better and today not bad at all, with no drugs at all.

I’ll post a bunch of pics and then explain...

So, yesterday I decided the best way to build a support for the steering box and steering shaft and wheel would be a console. So, the snowblower box got cut up to make it. It had two hexagonal holes on each side and a large round hole on each side. 
I cut those out for use later. The round holes got welded back in for access to assemble and disassemble the steering box while it is in the console. That is the only way it would fit. The hex holes became supports for the steering shaft extension, so the drag link would work. 







That is an axle shaft out of a snow blower in the pics above. I stuck it through the console to get an idea of how this would work. The stuff hanging on the end of it is the bronze bushings that fit the hex holes and the steering arm which I cut off of the steering box by cutting the welds. 


Today I built the steering box mods and bolted the console to the frame. I ended up welding the middle of a broken 3/8” drive ratchet to the steering box shaft. I needed the extension to be removable for maintenance and this was the easy way. That left me with a strong 3/8” square drive sticking out of the steering box. I then welded a socket to a section of 3/4” snow blower axle which became the extension. It all works! 





After I figured out where to cut off the extension so it would go through the firewall, I modified the Range Rover steering shaft assembly. I removed the rubber link and bolted the pieces together. After cutting the Craftsman steering off short, I ground flats on it to fit the Range Rover coupler. 
The large diameter part near the steering wheel is a splined extension section. That will be cut short and the original support bearing (on the frame in one pic) will be mounted on top of the console. I think the steering wheel will be removable, ala race car. Cool. I may also have to make a flat steering wheel, not sure yet. 





I removed the body from the frame and bolted the console back down to check for drag link clearance. Good news, the drag link can be a simple straight rod and will clear nicely. Tomorrow I’ll cut a hole in the firewall and bolt everything back together and make the drag link. Then I can move on to the clutch and brakes and throttle. I needed to get all this done so I know how much room I have to work with. 







The pic above shows the access hole for working on the steering box. 

The pic below shows a gnome my wife found in a box of junk. He may become the gas cap. 





I think the original clutch/brake shaft will become the brake shaft since it is in the right place and already has the detent for the parking brake. I have another clutch shaft that will be mounted somewhere and become the clutch shaft. The throttle will be a simple cable operated thing I hope.

More steering system cobbling today. I do think I will make my own ‘Model T’ style steering wheel with the ‘reverse dish’ to make it fit better. I got the steering shaft modified and a drag link made. Lots to do yet, including bracing and trimming the steering box extension. 



I was able to shorten the splined section of the steering shaft and get it mounted. Not finished yet obviously. 

The steering box is now functional, the body is bolted back in place. Now I can proceed with the clutch and brakes. Still need a steering wheel support. 

So...












The bars are 2 or 3” too high, but I wanted to see if they would fit. I MUST get the thing running first, but this is just too cool to not do.

I was wondering what you may be thinking about the front.

I got the frame reinforcements welded today and the steering box more centered. Then I laid out possible clutch and brake and shifter parts. 
Tomorrow I have to pick up and organize tools so I can get the RTV back into the garage before bad weather. I can move the Rat on the work table with the forks on my tractor. Also, the tractor shed has to be made ready for bad weather. It may be a few days before I get back to the Rat Rod.

I’ve been working on other things but managed to steal some time for the Rat. Yesterday while I was supposed to be working on cleaning the garage, I managed to cut apart a drive pulley. This idea may help others who intend to use original drive pulleys to make their own version. I used a 1.5” hole saw, made for cutting metal, and cut both pulleys off the drive tube. The small pulley went quite well, with no guide (but in a drill press). The second one was a bit off center, but no big deal. The tube must be cut and the pulley can be welded straight when it is put back on a drive tube. I did drive a piece of wood into the big end (nothing sticking out of the pulley on that end) to allow centering but was too lazy to locate the center and drill it first. I should have done that.
Anyway, I have this: (I intend to make a small and large drive pulley version. My clutch design should allow the same belt to work with either.

Today I laid out the clutch parts and mocked up a version. I also visualized the shift mechanism and the brake setup.

Can anyone tell me why the mower makers use a ‘push’ instead of ‘pull’ brake rod? Sure seems better to pull a rod than push it for brakes. Mine will probably be pull since it will be LONG. It may get a support at the center too.

Here is what the clutch setup may look like: (everything is just clamped down and set in place, nothing permanent)









Lying on the transaxle is a blade lift rod assembly. It may become the shift mechanism, using that old rusty brake handle I have. Time to get that cleaned up, shortened and installed soon I hope. 



I am hoping to make the shift lever have detents for all 6 forward gears and neutral and use the ‘squeeze handle’ as a lockout for reverse. 
I intend to use the existing clutch/brake shaft as the brake shaft and put a sleeve over it on the left side to operate the clutch. We will see. 

The extra idler near the jackshaft is to allow plenty of ‘grab’ on the jack shaft pulley and to be adjustable to take up slack when/if I change drive pulleys.

I also worked on what I was supposed to be doing... cleaning the garage. Maybe the RTV will be back inside tomorrow.