Page 40 - Issue 44

very depressed, as he couldn’t work or do
other things as he normally would. One day,
his wife Alissa literally pulled Justin off the
couch and took him to the garage, thinking
that getting Justin working on his rat rod
would be good therapy. That's where Justin
rediscovered his rat rod.
His long-term memory began to
improve by leaps and bounds, and things
came back to him quickly. But before diving
back into the '38, he got his mechanical
chops back by busting out a Volksrod. "It's
like working on a lawnmower", laughed
Justin, commenting on the vehicle's
simplicity. His confi dence restored, he got
back to work on the "Death Rat", as named
by his children. He was still working on it a
week before RatCity Rukkus 2017, when it
was fi nally drivable. But two days before he
was supposed to leave for Las Vegas, he
ripped out the rear end doing a celebratory
burnout. Oops. A quick thrash and it was
back together in time for the Rukkus, where
it took the coveted Best in Show trophy.
Justin acquired his truck in a trade
that netted him the cab, doors, headlight
buckets, and frame. With the help of his
buddy Ron, the body has been chopped
nine inches, channeled eight inches, and
sectioned another ten inches to radically
change the appearance of the old truck.
Ron also supplied the bed, which originally
came from a '32 Ford. Before fi nding it's
way behind the radically altered cab, it
was narrowed by a foot and a half, and
shortened by two feet. Inside are two
bucket seats, made by Justin out of
expanded metal and chain. Between the
seats is a vintage fi re extinguisher and a
valve plumbed into the brake lines that
render the rears inoperable while locking up
the fronts during a burnout.
It was Ron to the rescue once again
when it came to the front suspension,
setting up the split wishbones and suicide
axle. 19-inch '32 Ford wires backed by
Speedway disc brakes complete the front

40 RAT ROD MAGAZINE ISSUE FORTY-FOUR

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