The conversation was struck via Forrest and many of the Knuckle Skrapers are also UofI Alum. Next time I see Dennis at a show I'm gonna shout "YOU VANDAL!"
The most fascinating thing about this for me isn't the radiator location, it's that these things are road legal. Around here cars sometimes have trouble passing the check because the owner fitted them with factory alloys since the last check. I reckon test centers around here would just spontanously burts into flames if you brought any of these within earshot of them.
They generally fall into a "homebuilt/kit car" category depending on the state. The other option is to use a factory built chassis that has a vin number and existing title. Home built cars has to adhere to some very basic road standards, like light size, placement, output, brake lights, indicators etc there's a bunch of other qualifying needs to get a title and register it but none are all that difficult to accomplish and still build something this unique and "rough". If using an existing titled factory built chassis and registering the vehicle under that existing vin/titke you have to adhere to whatever the standards were at the time the chassis was built. Example would be if the safety equipment requirements at the time the original donor was built required a lap belt, your build needs to have a lap belt and even that only applies to states that require periodic safety inspections to maintain registration. Insurance can be a different animal and most states make insurance a requirement to register so you could face difficulty getting sone wild build insured but from a basic state vehicle requirements standpoint it's practical free reign on what you want to build. Compared to the millions upon millions of factory built cars on the road - rat rods, hot rods, classic restomods etc make up such a small percentage of vehicles on the road that most states see it as a non-issue to leave their legality very open. The line of thought is if you are driving a custom built car with no airbags, seat bets, roll over protection etc and you get hurt/die in a car accident that's on you, you knew the risks.
@@LukebeingLuke I think Australia has a good compromise with modified automobiles, from what I understand you may modify your car but an engineer has to sign off on it for safety reasons. In some parts of America it's not uncommon to see cars bouncing down the road because of bad shocks/struts , worn out suspensions and structural damage to the body and chassis.
Love exposed motor look. Rear mounted rad is nothing new but i like the clever engineering and imagination on this. Full marks for using something other than the V8 smallblock. Very cool rod.
I quit reading Petersen Publishing magazines when they became a subsidiary of GM: “Look what we shoved a 350 and 350 into this month.” Maybe they weren’t owned by GM, but Petersen sure was cozy with GM.
@@kennethjackson7574 many of their publications used to be great. Then Hot Rod Magazine stopped featuring actual Hot Rods and Car Craft stopped focusing on customizing. Street Rodder became "lets show you to weld Brand X IFS kit into your frame" and of course as you say, the obligatory 350/350 instal feature. I much prefer originality and creativity over cookie cutter rodding!
The 6- cylinder rat-rod is probably a joy to take through windy roads.... Nice wide low-end power curves are what inline 6's are known for.... Several very nice cars there... This one was probably a JOY to take through the Twisties, with it's equal weight distribution, very Low C.G. and wide stance... I imagine that log manifold with the good sized plenum and the 4 single barrel GM carbs really gave this engine some pulling power in the bottom to mid-range.... Very nice set-up! It would be really cool with a Kandy green paint job!!!
@@michaelmartinez1345 Now you're talking! Candy green with purple pinstriping, tuck and roll upholstery, chrome reverse rims with whitewalls, sixties show car style!
@@martinharris5017 Yeah!!! That car would look AWESOME with work like that!!!! I really like the rear mounted radiator to evenly distribute the weight over the four wheels, and that low C.G. and wide stance!!!! That thing probably handles turns like a go-kart!!!! The in-line 6 he's using is an excellent choice for tractable-smooth power delivery through the turns....I would install a couple of aftermarket sports-car bucket seats up in front to keep both people firmly / comfortably placed, with some decent shoulder belts... Yeah, that thing would be the big fun on the photo that was shown of the road winding through the mountains....👍
Had an old rotted and ragged out 34 chevy that had been sitting on my property for decades, i was moving and it had to go. So i threw it on craigslist for 400 bucks. 2 guys show up to look at this rusted out heap that had been rotting away for 40 years out in a field. They start talking about building a custom tube frame for it, installing a new big block chevy crate engine and thousands of dollars worth of other mods. He offers me 300 bucks for it, i tell him 350 is the least i'll take and it goes to the crusher tomorrow otherwise, he refuses to pay that and leaves. The next day i get a call from this guy asking me if i was ready to do the smart thing by selling him that old car for the 300 bucks, i told him: you're one hour too late because i just had it hauled away for scrap metal. He becomes unhinged and yells "i cannot believe you scrapped that for the difference of 50 lousy dollars" I yelled back at him " i cannot believe you showed up, talked about spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours worth of work to that thing and then let it get away from you for that 50 lousy bucks"....of course i really didn't crush it, i sold it that same day to another guy for the 400 bucks. But, there is one extremely cheap and arrogant guy out there who thought he lost out on his dream rat rod for 50 lousy dollars(as he put it!)
WOW!! Smart kid & sweet car. What a nice place for a cool car show. We camped there when I was a kid and they had deer hanging around all over that were friendly and could pet them and take pictures and feed from ur hand. Also an old movie theater and gondola ride to the top of the mountain and junk everyone should check out.
Yo it doesn't get better than the Dennis gage geeking out over rat rods club and cars and to his credit they are one of a kind badass creations so Dennis has good taste!
This is why I'm jealous of Americans & Canadians when it comes to Rat Rods. In Australia that vehicle would not be allowed on the road for so many reasons you wouldn't believe. It's an impressive build
Awesome host. I subbed from his energy alone lol. Very passionate and excited about cars. Thats how it should be. Thats the type of person that should be teaching automotive classes
Dont hate me for saying, but I really think this car would look really good with a paint job, no fooling. I believe with the way the back slopes down and just the style of this car it deserves some paint.😎👍
I'm not familiar with that engine but the two center exhaust pipes must have two exhaust ports dumping into it. I think the Ford flathead was like that in the center.
One of the best straight 6 engines that I really am I was the 302 GMC they came with the two-barrel carb and a 3-in exhaust and the engine was only 4 in or 3 in longer than the other Chevrolet 235 and stuff.
@@MyClassicCarTV only the Town of Wallowa was hit. High winds elsewhere. My grandson and I were caught in the camp trailer when it hit 6½ minutes of very large hail.
All the people worried about the radiator, while I can't stop looking at the 4 carbs and the double 4 pipe exhaust manifold in a SIX-cilynder engine! I guess it will not idle very well... Lol !
When I was 17 (47) I had a car with air conditioning that I piped into the engine compartment.. Was far from perfect but it got me another 6 months out of the car.
That's actually a Peterbilt muffler shield on the back of that car- a Kenworth would have round holes. Rat rod guys are a different breed in that they are very resourceful and excellent engineers/ fabricators. Love your work too Dennis! Thanks for sharing.
"Excellent engineers/fabricators" I thought the whole point of the rat rod aesthetic was to have a car that just looked like it was tacked together from old parts aka: antithetical to the idea of "excellent engineering."
I was thinking it was a 4 because he has so much of it tucked back under firewall. I do need some education though... I'm only seeing 4 exhausts and 3 intakes... they share intake in pairs, and middle 4 share middle two exhaust?
@@kylee.woyote7237 considering the only information of it is coming from racing, i'm confident that that's where it came from edit: especially when literally all of the tutorials on how to do it are on drift and road race builds
what you see on youtube is not the majority. there's a lot more ppl building cars than you think, nobody ever did stop building wacky cars, you just don't see them.
Dropped cable ten years ago, yet this show has always been a part of my gearhead culture…well done Dennis and MCC crew! Love the work and inspiring stories.
Man this was a good interview. It's neat seeing a creator explaining all the ingenuity it takes to come up with machines like this. This is two guys shooting the breeze about a very nice piece, and that's all we need. This bad boy speaks for itself.
Early Saturday morning with coffee and Dennis Gage. What more could I ask for?👍👍. Dennis talks about his early career and education as chemist and corporate R&D. I think he was responsible for Pringle’s potato chips. Note the mustache on the can? Am I correct Dennis? Or is this just incorrect rumor?
I love it. The first thing I noticed about it was not the missing radiator, but the fact that it actually had real wheels and real tires, complete with sidewalls. You don't see much of that anymore.
@@tyttuut On most newer cars the tread is just wrapped around the out side of those huge diameter ghetto reehuums. It has to have a bead molded into it, but no actual sidewall.
@@tyttuut No it's not, they literally have under once inch of sidewall. Basically can't make it any smaller because it's to the point where it's just a super built up bead with a tread. Even new OEMs are using there stupid huge wheels for looks. Ride is terrible, weighs a lot, and they bend constantly. But, it masks ugly disproportionate body lines.
That is so cool, I would love to build an in-line 6 hot rod myself but life keeps knocking it away. Very impressive. So Dennis is smart who would have known. 😎
Finding out the Dennis has a PhD in chemistry was also neat. Nice rat rod builds too. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Agreed. Never heard that before and I've been watching Dennis on tv for probably 20 years
He helped created the formula for Pringles chips , hence the mustache dude on the can.
@@rdhudon7469 No shit!?!
looks like he is really putting that degree
to good use
RD . NO FKN WAY
Never would have ever thought "This guy has a PHD in chemistry", that's really cool
The conversation was struck via Forrest and many of the Knuckle Skrapers are also UofI Alum. Next time I see Dennis at a show I'm gonna shout "YOU VANDAL!"
The most fascinating thing about this for me isn't the radiator location, it's that these things are road legal. Around here cars sometimes have trouble passing the check because the owner fitted them with factory alloys since the last check. I reckon test centers around here would just spontanously burts into flames if you brought any of these within earshot of them.
They generally fall into a "homebuilt/kit car" category depending on the state. The other option is to use a factory built chassis that has a vin number and existing title. Home built cars has to adhere to some very basic road standards, like light size, placement, output, brake lights, indicators etc there's a bunch of other qualifying needs to get a title and register it but none are all that difficult to accomplish and still build something this unique and "rough". If using an existing titled factory built chassis and registering the vehicle under that existing vin/titke you have to adhere to whatever the standards were at the time the chassis was built. Example would be if the safety equipment requirements at the time the original donor was built required a lap belt, your build needs to have a lap belt and even that only applies to states that require periodic safety inspections to maintain registration. Insurance can be a different animal and most states make insurance a requirement to register so you could face difficulty getting sone wild build insured but from a basic state vehicle requirements standpoint it's practical free reign on what you want to build.
Compared to the millions upon millions of factory built cars on the road - rat rods, hot rods, classic restomods etc make up such a small percentage of vehicles on the road that most states see it as a non-issue to leave their legality very open. The line of thought is if you are driving a custom built car with no airbags, seat bets, roll over protection etc and you get hurt/die in a car accident that's on you, you knew the risks.
Washington doesn’t have inspections
Wish we had some more freedom like this in europe
@@LukebeingLuke I think Australia has a good compromise with modified automobiles, from what I understand you may modify your car but an engineer has to sign off on it for safety reasons.
In some parts of America it's not uncommon to see cars bouncing down the road because of bad shocks/struts , worn out suspensions and structural damage to the body and chassis.
there's still places in the country that don't have inspections at all. if it's insured & has turn signals on it you can register it
Love exposed motor look. Rear mounted rad is nothing new but i like the clever engineering and imagination on this. Full marks for using something other than the V8 smallblock. Very cool rod.
I quit reading Petersen Publishing magazines when they became a subsidiary of GM: “Look what we shoved a 350 and 350 into this month.” Maybe they weren’t owned by GM, but Petersen sure was cozy with GM.
@@kennethjackson7574 many of their publications used to be great. Then Hot Rod Magazine stopped featuring actual Hot Rods and Car Craft stopped focusing on customizing. Street Rodder became "lets show you to weld Brand X IFS kit into your frame" and of course as you say, the obligatory 350/350 instal feature.
I much prefer originality and creativity over cookie cutter rodding!
The 6- cylinder rat-rod is probably a joy to take through windy roads.... Nice wide low-end power curves are what inline 6's are known for.... Several very nice cars there... This one was probably a JOY to take through the Twisties, with it's equal weight distribution, very Low C.G. and wide stance... I imagine that log manifold with the good sized plenum and the 4 single barrel GM carbs really gave this engine some pulling power in the bottom to mid-range.... Very nice set-up! It would be really cool with a Kandy green paint job!!!
@@michaelmartinez1345 Now you're talking! Candy green with purple pinstriping, tuck and roll upholstery, chrome reverse rims with whitewalls, sixties show car style!
@@martinharris5017 Yeah!!! That car would look AWESOME with work like that!!!! I really like the rear mounted radiator to evenly distribute the weight over the four wheels, and that low C.G. and wide stance!!!! That thing probably handles turns like a go-kart!!!! The in-line 6 he's using is an excellent choice for tractable-smooth power delivery through the turns....I would install a couple of aftermarket sports-car bucket seats up in front to keep both people firmly / comfortably placed, with some decent shoulder belts... Yeah, that thing would be the big fun on the photo that was shown of the road winding through the mountains....👍
So glad to see you're still shooting cars Dennis! I had no idea about the PHD. 👏
I am drawn to unique powered rods. So cool!!!!
Gotta love a build with the good ol’ 6 tunnels of fun!
Awesome "Jay-Loppy" 👍😎
Lots of cool rides there!
Always happy to catch a citation in the background of things sweet
Had an old rotted and ragged out 34 chevy that had been sitting on my property for decades, i was moving and it had to go. So i threw it on craigslist for 400 bucks. 2 guys show up to look at this rusted out heap that had been rotting away for 40 years out in a field. They start talking about building a custom tube frame for it, installing a new big block chevy crate engine and thousands of dollars worth of other mods. He offers me 300 bucks for it, i tell him 350 is the least i'll take and it goes to the crusher tomorrow otherwise, he refuses to pay that and leaves. The next day i get a call from this guy asking me if i was ready to do the smart thing by selling him that old car for the 300 bucks, i told him: you're one hour too late because i just had it hauled away for scrap metal. He becomes unhinged and yells "i cannot believe you scrapped that for the difference of 50 lousy dollars" I yelled back at him " i cannot believe you showed up, talked about spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours worth of work to that thing and then let it get away from you for that 50 lousy bucks"....of course i really didn't crush it, i sold it that same day to another guy for the 400 bucks. But, there is one extremely cheap and arrogant guy out there who thought he lost out on his dream rat rod for 50 lousy dollars(as he put it!)
Damn,it's been a long time since I've been to a car show. I'm overdue.
I would have tried three side-drafts, just because it is so low-profile otherwise. Still cool.
WOW!! Smart kid & sweet car. What a nice place for a cool car show. We camped there when I was a kid and they had deer hanging around all over that were friendly and could pet them and take pictures and feed from ur hand. Also an old movie theater and gondola ride to the top of the mountain and junk everyone should check out.
I live about 150 miles from Joseph but I never heard about this event--I would have driven up there.
All respect is due to Dr. Dennis Gage. This guy makes everyone he talks to seem like a star. Protect him at all costs.
Gee, thanks!!
@@MyClassicCarTV I mean it. I’d love to see Dr. Dennis Gage, Gale Banks, John Davis, and Barry Meguiar at the same table just having a chat.
Yo it doesn't get better than the Dennis gage geeking out over rat rods club and cars and to his credit they are one of a kind badass creations so Dennis has good taste!
That ride is SWEEET!!!! Love the inline six....
😍💯 That's Munster ! ❤ 🍺
Perfect resonation. And placement of the radiator. Very Cool.
I have seen this car in person. In spokane wa, it's pretty sweet
This is just beyond awesome. Pure hot rod .
that straight six sound great !
I love your content, and you have a Phd, but that guy at the end looked like, "Dude, quit slapping my roof". lol
I absolutely love rat rods. Beautiful vehicle
This is why I'm jealous of Americans & Canadians when it comes to Rat Rods. In Australia that vehicle would not be allowed on the road for so many reasons you wouldn't believe. It's an impressive build
this thing is so unique and I love it!
A 4 Banger would be just as cool. I guess whatever engine you come up with will be the one you use
That's one cool rat rod.
Thanks for the Video!
“Paint Optional “
So cool, not much out there much cooler than that. Can't wait to see the finished nose on it.
Man..... I love Denis Gage.😎
I had more fun in Jalopies than any other cars I owned ....
Awesome host. I subbed from his energy alone lol. Very passionate and excited about cars. Thats how it should be. Thats the type of person that should be teaching automotive classes
Thanks!
The back of that car kind of reminds of the old Opel Kadet.
PHD in chemistry.....well I'll be Darned!
That guy should come to lead sled spectacular in Salina Kansas.
They all should!
That's cool he's got a PhD in chemistry the car is badass love it I like where I put the radiator how he did it awesome job👍👍🙏👌💯😎🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲👍👍👍♥️✌
Dont hate me for saying, but I really think this car would look really good with a paint job, no fooling. I believe with the way the back slopes down and just the style of this car it deserves some paint.😎👍
I think it looks good with the patina. But I do agree with you. The very clean engine exposed with the patina is an interesting choice.
Rat rods rule
I’d love to ride in that beautiful car!
I'm not familiar with that engine but the two center exhaust pipes must have two exhaust ports dumping into it. I think the Ford flathead was like that in the center.
correct
Living the Dream.....👍
I like that car a lot
Absolutely cool
So awesome 😎
The owner seemed extremely annoyed.
Don't let that stop you from discovering more great content!
I recognized the grill right away. The grill in my cooking grill is the same stuff.
I love how good I am when it comes to basic knowledge of automotive and I knew the radiator would be in the back
Them pipe sound made turn their heads. Is that an aircraft rolling behind me back?
friend of mine drove his 60 Rambler without a radiator all winter in Columbus Ohio.
I guess having the radiator in front is a drag.
HOA's love this kind of stuff in the neighborhood.
One of the best straight 6 engines that I really am I was the 302 GMC they came with the two-barrel carb and a 3-in exhaust and the engine was only 4 in or 3 in longer than the other Chevrolet 235 and stuff.
I would guess radiator in the back
Must be somewhere near all those holes in the trunk.
It’s gotta be fun to drive! Making heads turn.
frankenstein creations are cool
Sounds pretty much like a farmall "M" tractor...👍👍
I’m not a fan of the rust but it looks cool
Ding Dong Daddy from the USA 🇺🇸 🔥 Hot Rod 🔥
Putting the radiator in a less efficient place just to look cool. 👍👍👍👍👍
I was just in Joseph on August 10th and in Wallowa for the F3 Tornado and Hail Storm with 3" hail.
😳 Holy cow! I didn’t think Joseph got weather like that. That’s one of my favorite places on the planet. I hope it didn’t sustain too much damage.
@@MyClassicCarTV only the Town of Wallowa was hit. High winds elsewhere. My grandson and I were caught in the camp trailer when it hit 6½ minutes of very large hail.
That had to be pretty scary! Glad you guys are ok.
All the people worried about the radiator, while I can't stop looking at the 4 carbs and the double 4 pipe exhaust manifold in a SIX-cilynder engine! I guess it will not idle very well... Lol !
That 235 6 kinda sounds a bit like a straight 8. Maybe due to the way the exhaust collectors are set up?
"Threefiddychevycratemoder."
A rad looks right.
I love it
Makes sense why the engine is completely exposed
🛠 Very cool 😎 👍
Jeez that thing is loud.
The radiator is obviosly in the turtle deck.
Heck yeah
When I was 17 (47) I had a car with air conditioning that I piped into the engine compartment.. Was far from perfect but it got me another 6 months out of the car.
This would be cool with a Franklin air cooled engine
Too cool. Where’s the tank to feed those 4 Rochesters?
Filler cap under the roll bar behind the seats at @1:48
Bluetooth radiator
the side vents was the give away
Doesn't sound like it runs very well. Back to the intake drawing board . Car is cool though
Some cycle fenders and a decent paint job please...
This guy is the nardwuar of the car world must be said
So much fun
Cars women will all ways be my down falls
I would've thought it didn't have a radiator as it has an entirely exposed engine, why not have the air just hit the engine to cool it?
Because that wouldn’t cool it enough.
💙
I want one
he spent a sh*tload of money - and forgot to PAINT it !!
He actually spent very little money and not painting it was a conscious choice. 🙄
I thought it was filled with grout ,I'm disappointed
Needs to be tuned. Advance the timing and lean it out just a bit..
OMG... that guy is still alive!?
Which guy??
That's actually a Peterbilt muffler shield on the back of that car- a Kenworth would have round holes. Rat rod guys are a different breed in that they are very resourceful and excellent engineers/ fabricators. Love your work too Dennis! Thanks for sharing.
True on KW having round holes and Pete having slots, had both trucks
You can literally order that exact piece of perforated sheet metal with the margins off of McNichols.
Gross!
"Excellent engineers/fabricators"
I thought the whole point of the rat rod aesthetic was to have a car that just looked like it was tacked together from old parts aka: antithetical to the idea of "excellent engineering."
What I imagine is the piece of chrome is laying on the ground in a scrap pile and the guy says,
"what's that from"
"Old kw"
"Can I have it?"
"Sure"
So nice to see a straight six on a rod instead of the typical over powered, over weight V8 . Looks better that way. Great car cobbled together!!
Totally agree!
I like the look. I’d prefer the power of the v8 tho if it were mine. Nice to admire all the unique builds out there.
I was thinking it was a 4 because he has so much of it tucked back under firewall. I do need some education though... I'm only seeing 4 exhausts and 3 intakes... they share intake in pairs, and middle 4 share middle two exhaust?
@@vernzimm I thought that also. I must take a closer look again when I have time.
No such thing as too much horsepower
This is why I love the classic car and rat rod community.
I agree!
Same
@@toddtouchberry👍👍
putting the radiator in the back is from drifting and autocross
@@kylee.woyote7237 considering the only information of it is coming from racing, i'm confident that that's where it came from
edit: especially when literally all of the tutorials on how to do it are on drift and road race builds
He even has Rat Fink. I'm sure Big Daddy would approve of this ride !
no doubt he would. that car is the definition of ratrod and probably the coolest one ive ever seen and im 51.
Roth 'n Roll.
Good to see there are still people thinking outside the box when building cars
Amen !
Yep. Nothing says progress like turnip cart suspension and carburators...
Rallye cars and Hillclimb cars have been doing this since like the 70s
what you see on youtube is not the majority. there's a lot more ppl building cars than you think, nobody ever did stop building wacky cars, you just don't see them.
@@Comfy_Bed glad to hear it.
Dropped cable ten years ago, yet this show has always been a part of my gearhead culture…well done Dennis and MCC crew! Love the work and inspiring stories.
Man this was a good interview. It's neat seeing a creator explaining all the ingenuity it takes to come up with machines like this. This is two guys shooting the breeze about a very nice piece, and that's all we need. This bad boy speaks for itself.
Early Saturday morning with coffee and Dennis Gage. What more could I ask for?👍👍. Dennis talks about his early career and education as chemist and corporate R&D. I think he was responsible for Pringle’s potato chips. Note the mustache on the can? Am I correct Dennis? Or is this just incorrect rumor?
Rumor.
@@rockettcustoms6266 not a rumor
All those things are true.
@@MyClassicCarTV pringles daddy!
I love it. The first thing I noticed about it was not the missing radiator, but the fact that it actually had real wheels and real tires, complete with sidewalls. You don't see much of that anymore.
I agree, i like some big rims, but not on every single damn car on the planet
I think most tires have sidewalls. The tread would just fall off if they didn't.
@@tyttuut On most newer cars the tread is just wrapped around the out side of those huge diameter ghetto reehuums. It has to have a bead molded into it, but no actual sidewall.
@@geraldscott4302 That is super wrong.
@@tyttuut No it's not, they literally have under once inch of sidewall. Basically can't make it any smaller because it's to the point where it's just a super built up bead with a tread. Even new OEMs are using there stupid huge wheels for looks. Ride is terrible, weighs a lot, and they bend constantly. But, it masks ugly disproportionate body lines.
I can’t get enough of the front end. Just staring at nothing but engine. Very cool. What a presentation
That is so cool, I would love to build an in-line 6 hot rod myself but life keeps knocking it away. Very impressive. So Dennis is smart who would have known. 😎
I would think that with the right know how it could be reasonably affordable. I'd love to do a straight 6 Ford 300 hot rod.
Thanks to rat rodding for offering a new life to rusted, abandoned cars like the forgotten hulk in King Crimson's "Dig Me"