Rat Rod Frame

Project Spotlight: The “Inhaler” 1923 Ford Model T EV 200 MPH Hot Rod

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Hot rodding has its roots in a fringe group of auto enthusiasts who made radical engine and styling modifications in the pursuit of speed. But there is a new breed of hot rodder out there, who are taking everyday automobiles and converting them to a variety of alternative fuels, and they’re not all content to just putter around town at golf kart speeds. Todd Perkins wants to go fast, and his all-electric hot rod called “The Inhaler” has lofty goals…somewhere in the 200 mph range.

What was once a bunch of crazy, greasy guys racing on a dry lake bed is now a multi-billion dollar industry with fans from all walks of life. Many of these fans and enthusiasts are prepared to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars into big money projects that compete for a variety of awards. Others are content to cobble together a few parts from this car, a few parts from that car, and before you know it you’ve got yourself a rat rod. Todd Perkins knows all about hot rods, having been in the custom motorcycle and hot rod industry for 30 years. But he found himself wanting to design a car from the ground up, something unique, that had never been seen before. That was when he started sketching out the rough idea of a vehicle based on the design of a 1923 Ford Model-T pickup, but with a very unique snout. “I love 20’s, ‘30’s automobiles, the styling of them, and the idea was to take ’23 Ford styling and try to bring it forward, make it a little more art than automobile,” says Todd. “But a lot of the styling was influenced by the lofty performance goals too,” he says. “The car has to be low and level to achieve the speeds I was after.”  That was when Todd ran into a wall; there was no internal combustion engine small enough to fit the unique profile of what he had in mind. Rather than sacrifice the design, Todd explored electric motors, and to his surprise found that electric motor and battery technology had come a long way.  Once he was ready to build his car, he found Alex Bandar, an engineer by trade who also runs the Columbus Idea Foundry .  This became the home of the Inhaler project, as this is where Todd welded up his frame, and CNC machined his foam core for fiberglass layup. Inhaler and the Foundry go hand in hand, and both have lofty goals. “The goal for the Inhaler is a 1,200 pound car, 600 horsepower all electric,” says Todd. “We want to achieve over 1 g. in lateral acceleration, with a 0-60 time of around 2 seconds for sure, and a 200 mph top speed.

Updated pics of my front end/steering setup - Rat Rods Rule - Rat ...

I know i have to change this steering setup. I wanted to do another cowl setup but from what i been reading the radius arms are not mount in the right spot. Should i change the whole front end or can i still use the axle and radius arms. The axle and radius arms are welded as one with air bags sitting on top of bars that connect the radius arms together. The spindles are connected with heim ends. I just want a safe set up. Any suggestions on a decent steering setup with minimal bump steer would be great.

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