T buckets

enjenjo · December 08, 2006, 10:17:37 AM

I was looking at the Ts that Don and his son are building, and had a thought. I have owned a couple, one racer, and the other street. How many of us have owned one?

GPster · December 08, 2006, 11:22:06 AM

I started building one years ago that as mostly of the (Rat) rod genre before that was popular. The front end was a straight tube axel that had been intended for a drag car. I had happened on a set of '39 Lincoln spindles and brakes but I also had a set of 12 spoke brake-less wheels for it. The front of the frame was the rear frame-rails for om a Model A frame. They had a nice taper to them and because of the front suicide crossmember I didn't need the front curved pieces anyway. The grill shell was off a Coshocton tractor wich was wide enough tohide the Maverick 200 in straight 6 with a C4 behind it. The frame under the body and through the "kick up" section to the rear crossmember was from the front of an older International Scout. They were 3" x 4" rectangular tube and had about a step already formed into them. The rear crossmember was 2 pieces of 4" channel welded face-to-face so that they appeared like more 3" x 4" channel. They held an "A" rear spring that I had mounted on a mid '60 Dodge car rear end that I had put station wagon brakes on (11" x 3") in case I wanted to run with the brake-less spindle mount front wheels. The steering was a Maverick box set-up on it's side to run a draglink like Pete and Jake did (but it sounds more expensive if you use the same parts and call it Mustang) The body was probably from MAS that three people before me had gotten disgusted with and I built a roll bar with back triangular braces that looked like a '23 turtle deck when you pop- riveted flat sheetmetal on them. I sold it for $600.00 so that I would have cash to buy a $1.500.00 running '48 Ford sedan. The $600.00 was what cash I had in it. There were a lot of parts that were freebes from friends but I never felt good about making money from something that had been given to me. The guy that bought it was driving it in two weeks. He brounght it by to ask me a question about how to take the twist out of the front axel. He had used the Lincoln brakes on that "drag style" front axe. It must have been made out of thin metal for a weight advantage. The Lincoln brakes had twisted the axel so that it had negative caster between the spindles and the radius rods. GPster

Dave · December 08, 2006, 12:12:36 PM

my first car was a 27 tbucket turtle deck small block re built it 2 times then sold it. The most uncomfortable car i ever owned. at least you can set down in a 28 to 33 roadster and get out of the wind and rain somewhat. It still was fun though and i won a couple trophys to boot.
Dave

Ohio Blue Tip · December 08, 2006, 12:40:28 PM

I built this bucket in th 80's and drove it about 30k miles.

Leon · December 08, 2006, 01:07:38 PM

We built and owned one for about 6 years, had to sell it because it was too hard on my back.

Rayvyn · December 08, 2006, 10:45:34 PM

Quote from: "enjenjo"I was looking at the Ts that Don and his son are building, and had a thought. I have owned a couple, one racer, and the other street. How many of us have owned one?

I restored one about 4 years ago. It was an original Andy Brizio body and frame that was custom built in the mid 70's for an old A.M. radio station, KLAV in Las Vegas. It had a West German Ford 171 C.I. V-6 Mustang motor up front.

It was sold to an advertising guy in the 80's, who retired and brought to Florida in the early 1990's where it sat outside for about 6 years rotting away. Another guy picked it up for a couple of years and left it sit. When I got it in 2001, it had a big ugly wing that stuck up over the back of the car, which promptly got chopped off. The body had custom made aluminum pans and covers that attached to the bottom of the fiberglass body.

The front hood was a rotted out 3 piece aluminum one, which I redid and had louvered. The motor was pulled and rebuilt, the chassis repainted, and a new aluminum driveshaft was made. All new wiring, stereo, seat deck, backboard, lights, steering column, upholstery and dash were all added by me, along with TIG-ing up a few small holes in the aluminum gas tank.

It wasn't too bad to drive, after I shortened the steering column and raised the seat up and back a few inches. It would get up and move pretty good when I stomped on it.

I sold it about 6 months after I redid it, to an advertising executive for the Checkers fast food chain. He happened to be in one of the eateries when I pulled in, and made me one of those can't refuse offers. The last I heard, the car was repainted with black and white checkers, had goofy advertising plastered all over it, and it was beat to H3@#L.

donsrods · December 09, 2006, 12:30:59 AM

I've always thought T buckets were a great way for beginning rodders to build their first car. They are relatively inexpensive, easy to build, and fun to drive. Or, they can be tricked out and become showpieces.

I think a lot of us (at least my generation) got our first look at a real hot rod every Friday night watching "77 Sunset Strip." Grabowskis Kookie T was, and still is, my favorite bucket.

I'm starting to get pretty stoked about getting my little T running, because it has been 7 long years since I have driven any rod, so I figure I had better finish it quick, before I get too old to climb over the side.

Don

GPster · December 09, 2006, 08:56:48 AM

Quote from: "donsrods"beforeI get too old to climb over the side. Don

Where there's a will there's a way. I had my accident in May of '93, I came out of a Coma in July and in August I figured out how to get out of a wheelchair and into a side car (and is was still in the hospital til October). You might have to play down the entrance into the car by spinning around the pole of the tent covered entrance to the sidewalk but if you want to try it anyway I guess there are masters of that art to be found at Strip Clubs. The thing that bothers me most about them as a starter car is the title/licensing. I've never started on a car that had the high initial investment as the purchase of a kit and having to keep receipts for everything. Of course this might be the reason that the longer I work on something the less it is worth. I wonderwhy the King didn't mention his Knight? GPster

Uncle Bob · December 09, 2006, 09:31:27 AM

The Rod & Custom issue in '73 that had the Tom Daniel artwork of a few track roadsters did it for me............I was hooked on the style. Took a few years, quite a few actually, but finally ended up with the one in my avatar. Last I saw of it was pulling away on a transproter headed to Indiana. They're a little tight for my size, but still find myself stareing longingly after some of the really well done ones. The fun per mile factor is pretty high.

Crosley.In.AZ · December 09, 2006, 02:27:19 PM

Never owned a T.

Worked on a few......

moparrodder · December 10, 2006, 12:44:55 PM

I have always wanted one too , but the closest I got was help my middle son get one a few years ago from a guy in Herman Nebraska that had lost interest and didn't have time to fix some vital things it really needs to be really safe on the road, like front brakes!! So we got it home and running and trailered it to a few shows and just putt slowly around till we can get the things fixed. I know it goes way too fast!! Here is a pic of Chad in the front drive.

There are so many ways to do one that makes them stand out and be different from each other like this one we saw at the T Bucket Nationals when it was in Omaha Ne. a couple of years ago. This guy was a blacksmith by trade so he had a welder and torch setup on the back , and pulled a trailer made of just a bucket for luggage and such.

Some day I would like to get a C cab T to build like the one in the events section of the 2001 Indy show on page 5 next to the last pic on the left side. They have more room and the possiblities of individuality are endless. Does anyone know who or where of a company that makes one? TIA. Bill

Bruce Dorsi · December 10, 2006, 01:15:54 PM

Quote from: "moparrodder"
Some day I would like to get a C cab T to build like the one in the events section of the 2001 Indy show on page 5 next to the last pic on the left side. They have more room and the possiblities of individuality are endless. Does anyone know who or where of a company that makes one?

Hope the link works:

http://www.rodnrace.com/2325ford.htm

If not, you can find the C-Cabs bodies at Rod N' Race (rodnrace.com) in Cumberland, Maryland.

I, too, have been a fan of T-buckets ever since I saw "Sunset Strip" years ago.

In 1995, I decided to build one, but after pricing components, I found it was cheaper to buy an already built and licensed 'Bucket.
....So, I bought one, and changed it to my liking.

I still have it, but it is apart now, for more upgrades.

Crosley.In.AZ · December 10, 2006, 03:17:13 PM

found a photo of a T bucket I worked on.

);b(

had to pull the engine out to get at the tranny.

donsrods · December 10, 2006, 04:19:27 PM

I have a saved picture of that T bucket in my computer. It is a very good facimile of Norms T.

Don

Crosley.In.AZ · December 10, 2006, 06:37:41 PM

Quote from: "donsrods"I have a saved picture of that T bucket in my computer. It is a very good facimile of Norms T.

Don

it was built as a copy of Norms.......

seems like the guy that owned Action Performance bought it when the place was located in AZ...... I've got a 8x10 photo of it hanging on the wall in here.