Mike Burroughs of Stanceworks motors is a custom-car visionary. He is known for pissing off purists with his irreverent builds, such as K-Swapping a classic Ferrari. For the 2019 Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA) car show, he decided to build a hotrod unlike anything else on the road: the ultimate rat rod truck. His goal was a gnarly yet driveable vintage truck with a race-ready modern drivetrain. Burroughs wanted the resulting vehicle to turn heads while remaining street-legal, even capable of operating on pump gas. His hotrod truck didn't need to be practical, but it did need to be both cool and driveable.

The numbers alone are enough to crown this 1931 Ford Model A truck the king of the hotrods: With its custom frame and roll cage, the truck weighs in at just 2,200 pounds, while its NASCAR-ready V8 drivetrain punishes the pavement with 800 horsepower.

Then there is the coolness factor: the bare metal cab and matching custom headers earn compliments wherever this road-legal rat rod roams.

A Hotrod History

This hotrod 1931 Ford Model A Truck by Mike Burroughs Stanceworks Is The Perfect Rat Rod
Via: Stanceworks

Burroughs first bought a running and driving 1931 Ford Model A pickup truck. But as he began to modify the truck, he realized most components would need to go. Burroughs sold the operational stock drivetrain and frame, but he kept the cab and the nose cone. First, chopped the cab down three inches for a lowrider look. When he lowered the roof, he made sure to keep the rollup windows and tilt windshield operational.

Burroughs cut the front eight inches off the hood and the chrome grill-shell to give his hotrod a stock-looking nose. In every way possible, he kept the flat gray paint and ratty patina of the original truck.

This hotrod 1931 Ford Model A Truck by Mike Burroughs Stanceworks Is The Perfect Rat Rod
Via: Stanceworks

Then Burroughs began fabrication work. He built a rectangular chassis mirroring the Model A truck's original lines, bending and welding tubular piping. He fitted a sturdy tubular roll bar where the truck bed once rode. Then he spray-painted the chassis to match the flat-gray color of the Model A cab. In the racing-truck-inspired rear frame, the Model A boasts exposed shock absorbers, cooling fans, and an ATL Racing fuel cell.

Burroughs hid LED headlights and a supercharger heat exchanger behind a custom louvered grill to maintain the simple, blacked-out style.

This hotrod 1931 Ford Model A Truck by Mike Burroughs Stanceworks Is The Perfect Rat Rod
Via: Speedhunters Dino Dalle Carbonare

The truck sits on racing rims designed for Mazda's RT24-P record-setting racecar prototype: 18x12.5 inches in the front, 18x13 inches at the rear. Burroughs attached the modern rims to the hubs with a custom-built center lock hub and a single, retro-looking locknut.

The exposed engine bay benefits from eye-catching equal-length headers, custom bent out of stainless tubing by hotrod fabricator Robert Chavez. The headers end at a 3.25-inch collector pipe. Then the pipe crosses under the truck and exits behind the opposite fender well, without a pesky muffler to block the V8's throaty rumble. The entire exhaust system is finished as a dull metal to compliment the original truck cab.

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800-Horsepower Model A

This hotrod 1931 Ford Model A Truck by Mike Burroughs Stanceworks Is The Perfect RatRod
Via: Stanceworks

Though Burroughs works on many types of cars, he sought to keep his Model A hotrod as purely Ford as possible. Burroughs salvaged a 5-liter Coyote V8 from a wrecked 2011 Ford Mustang GT. He mounted a 2.6-liter VMP supercharger and set it to make 12-14 PSI of boost. Burroughs ultimately increased the Mustang engine's ponies to 800 horsepower. The truck cab is so narrow, if Burroughs had installed the Mustang transmission, he wouldn't have had room to install foot pedals. Instead, he mated the hotrod engine to a Jericho WC44 "Dogbox" transmission developed for NASCAR, via a McCloud RXT Twin-Disc clutch rated for 1200 horsepower, complete with a lightweight aluminum flywheel.

For driveability, Burroughs fitted the truck with metal fuel lines so it can run on standard gas station E85, ethanol flex-fuel. The truck boasts four fuel pumps: two lift pumps pull fuel from the fuel cell, and two more inline high-pressure pumps deliver the gas to the supercharged engine.

This hotrod 1931 Ford Model A Truck by Mike Burroughs Stanceworks Is The Perfect Rat Rod
Via: Speedhunters Dave Thomas

Cooling is accomplished through a supercharger heat-exchanger in the truck's stock 1931 nosecone, as well as a rear-mounted radiator. Stacked with the bed-mounted radiator are both transmission and engine-oil coolers. The engine is fed by an electric water pump, the radiator cooled by a pair of electric fans that keep the engine at about 180-degrees--even at a standstill in LA traffic!

Burroughs reports that at full speed, the truck is terrifying. It accelerates like a rocket and corners like a go-cart. The front suspension is a double-A-arm setup, featuring adjustable H&R coilovers. The rear suspension keeps the 9" positraction axle on the road through a bell crank four-link pushrod setup with exposed coil-overs mounted at cab-height. The custom drivetrain leverages rack-and-pinion steering, which was the most difficult component to fit into the tiny chassis. Finally, aggressive Michellin P2L rain-slicks keep the truck on the road in all weather. Though Burroughs recycled a couple of components of the 2011 Mustang donor, he custom-engineered all the suspension geometry himself. The entire truck took the veteran hotrod builder just five-and-a-half months.

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A Drivable Rat Rod

This hotrod 1931 Ford Model A Truck by Mike Burroughs Stanceworks Is The Perfect Rat Rod
Via: Speedhunters Dave Thomas

Many hotrods are built as sculptures and are nearly impossible to drive. Burroughs wanted to be able to hop in his rat rod truck and enjoy the experience. Besides working windows and a fold-down windshield, the interior features foam-lined racing seats. He decked the interior out in hand-riveted aluminum and airplane switches. Finally, the windows and windshield are all tinted glass.

Burroughs shop--Stanceworks--is located in southern California. Residents of the world's hotrod capital often see his street-legal 1931 truck prowling the roads, complete with its cool, vintage California black plates.

Sources: Stanceworks, Hoonigan

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