Projects The bucket of ugly! A de-uglifying thread...

Not to sure what happened here, but
a) It's amazing how well the T held up (looks like the T's driver probably walked away, but I haven't been able to locate any other details )

and b) Things can go wrong in a hurry! Be careful out there guys!


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Power parking at a car show?

 

boy, I know there are some mini truck haters on the HAMB, but thats going a little too far!

 

Eh...... just brush yourself off, get a lawyer and make it better the second time.



Got hit by a City of Houston police car. The cop failed to yield on a right turn green light. Hit me doing about 35 MPH. No seat belts, but the steering wheel kept me inside. It took almost a year to be fully compensated.

Even though it was the cops fault, the city wanted to low ball the cost of repairs. I pass that intersection about once a month and just smile.

The settlement allowed me to build my car as I originally planned. Looking back, the accident was the best thing to happen to my car.

 

Fred
Blessing in disguise. Your bucket has such a better look now.
Gary

 

Theres something about getting your t bucket rebuilt at the expense of the local cops that REALLY appeals to me...

 

I do miss those Hallcraft wires, though. But they look better on the "fad" T's. My old look was a confusing look. Brought on by a mixture of styles and a fluctuating budget. After the wreck, the plan was simple. Just build a plain, low buck T Bucket.

In the back of my brain, is a T bucket powered by a 235 6cyl, power glide, tall/short bias plies, one long lake pipe running along the side, red tuck and roll and a top. Most likely a touring. But it's waaaay in the back of my brain.

I've had a couple sweet offers for a new project, so following this thread is very helpful. There is a traditional ride in my future. I just need the stars to align.

 

i still love to ride motorcycles... but it's not always all that convenient for commuting, traffic here is pretty damned careless, etc. i can see a T being like a big motorcycle...

since reading this, some parts have made their way into my "storage catacombs" (crawl space under the house) for a future bucket project.

 

Fred ," T bucket powered by a 235 6cyl, power glide, tall/short bias plies, traditional ride" ?
How far back do ya need to go for that? ,In Florida mid 1950s on,we were only thinking OHV V8,before that only flathead V8,no 6cly or strait 8 was thought of as hotrod power in my time that I remeber,I started building hotrods mid 50s. Must of been a few diehard 6cly guys,but far and few between. By the time there were any powerglide auto trannys at all,was a lot of cool V8s around,Olds,Cady,Study,ect.. Point is I just don't think about a 6cly myself,V8 on the brain from way back. Should be def for sure with a 6. I like you T as is now

 

Hi Chip and guys, I have read from page 85 so as to catch up on everybodies happenings. I'm waiting patiently for Georges news too by the way. Now , here is my view on the tri-carb set up and as you know, I'm rather a fan of them, I too back the idea of the triples on top of the 471 huffer as that is also my ultimate goal for my T although I want too use a B&M 145 street blower with a custom inlet to hold the triples. I personally want and prefer the V belt drive over the toothed belts that wine. I'm also keen now to do the Goggle Earth and see if I can find some of those places you mentioned in your extended cruise home the other night.

 

But there was some built in mid 50:s with the GMC six. Not many but you find some in the magazines.
Problaby beucose they were pretty big and ohv and could boost out desent power for its time.
Automatic transmission was not wery common before mid 60:s but sure makes things easyer in a narrow T.

 

Hi Chip and guys, I have read from page 85 so as to catch up on everybodies happenings. I'm waiting patiently for Georges news too by the way. Now , here is my view on the tri-carb set up and as you know, I'm rather a fan of them, I too back the idea of the triples on top of the 471 huffer as that is also my ultimate goal for my T although I want too use a B&M 145 street blower with a custom inlet to hold the triples. I personally want and prefer the V belt drive over the toothed belts that wine. I'm also keen now to do the Goggle Earth and see if I can find some of those places you mentioned in your extended cruise home the other night.
[/QUOTE]
Kinda forgot about posting it here, guess I should spill, I got a '39 deluxe convert. Yes, I'm pretty excited about that.

 

It really does depend on how far you trace the linage of these cars back. AndersF is right, look in the old mags from the fifties and there was a certain batch of guys kinda clustered around San Pedro (Ike Iaconno, and that crew) that built a few cars running GMC sixes including a few drag roadsters that were very "T Bucket" like. If you want go back further, most of our cars came from the remains of old track roadsters no longer competitive by the early to mid fifties, but if you look at what they were running Chevy and GMC sixes weren't uncommon. 'Matter of fact, the Spaulding bros. car was among the fastest ever in '50 and '51 as the cars were evolving beyond what they really were.

I have so many projects "stacked and packed" around here, but one that I would truly like to get to soon would be another of my '23-'25 bodies on a similar wheelbase chassis to my current car, with a turtle deck, track nose, and one of my three carb Falcon sixes that are littering the place aboard...

 

Well it's official, the second, far more miserable half of summer is here... July first every year the humidity goes from 5% to about 20-30%, and the temp never goes below 100. Right on time. Today it was 112, and in my shop even with the swamp cooler on it got to 117 by 2:00. So, I worked on customer stuff 'till 2:00.

After a bit of a rest, I walked out at about 4:00 and addressed something on the 'Bucket that has driven me nuts since the first day.... The body was mounted 1 1/2" off to the passenger side!! It actually was correct at the fire wall, but tapered back to being horribly wrong at the back. Have you noticed I haven't shot many (or any) straight on rear view shots of this car? Yup, that's why! no happy pictures, but I guaranty it happened!!! unbolted everything, pulled the tank, slid it all over, drilled six new body mount holes and tapped them to 3/8" fine, countersunk places for washers to sit, and Loctited the whole deal. All out side on a 110 degree afternoon.

Totally worth it, as now the shifter, gas cap, scoop, and elephant all happily line up! My OCD is now vanquished... Pictures maybe tomorrow.

 

I want it because it's different and in my mind, I see that long exhaust pipe running along the side of the body and 3 Weber's poking out the side of the hood. Remember, I just like well built, not necessarily "period correct".

 

When I'm on my death bed, wishing for a few more hours, the big man upstairs is going to smile and say, "Remember ALL the time you spent making sure your air cleaner lined up on that THING you drove? That was your extra day. Lights out."

 

Hehehe. Not a bad way to spend it, either...

 

I have a question. I'm getting to the point in my T build where it's time to mount the body to the frame. Did you just drill and tap into the tops of the frame rails? I had planned on drilling large diameter holes in my frame and welding in some ~ 3/8" - 1/2" thick drilled / tapped steel plate. Is that overkill? Because I would much rather drill / tap (6) 3/8" fine thread holes directly to the rails than drill / tap (6) 3/8" fine thread holes into 1/2" plate, hole saw those out, then hole saw my frame and weld them all in...

 

Oh, and try to stay cool down there! It got to the mid 90's here today, and I figured that was warm enough lol. I remember the dry heat from my former life in Idaho, but the humid heat I don't do so well in. Better mix up an extra tall G&T!

 

This is the time of year when it really becomes clear why real estate is so goddam expensive here. Mid eighties, with a slight breeze off the Pacific stirring the treetops, couple of scattered puffy white clouds waaaay up there, perfect view of the Golden Ears mountains to the North...
Man, there are moments when I LOVE living here!

 

Okay, well, to tell you the truth, the way you are thinking about IS the proper way to go about this deal. See, I built this frame for my car at the customer's request and under protest out of 3/16" wall stock. Truth be told, all that I have built since then have been of 3/16"! much stiffer frame and better handling car.

So, with the thicker stock, I thought it would be a doddle to simply drill and tap the frame rails and bolt the body down.... That's what I THOUGHT... Truth is, to do this over I would do exactly what you are contemplating. even 3/16" isn't really thick enough to thread enough to really do a good job at holding stuff. And, with the compressibility of the wood floor, and the vibrations of the car itself, truth be told I have been constantly checking the body bolts for tightness. I do have to admit I missed a semi weekly tightening, and one stripped out.

Now, when this car comes off the frame for paint, I am going to get some fine thread 3/8"X1" studs, and then thread them in the frame holes and weld around the perimeter of each. When I drop the body back on, since all the holes are rather precisely drilled, the studs will protrude through the floor and get capped with a thick washer and thin body Nylock nut. That way they are locked and can't vibrate loose, and are securely welded into the frame forever...

 

Hey Whiplash,

Glad to see ya back! thought we lost ya for a bit there.

The talf about three Strombergs has really centered around naturally aspirated stuff at this point. Unfortunately my buddy with the 4/71 just isn't going to let it go at this point, but I have been assured that if it does go somewhere that my house will someday be it's home. So it's natural aspiration for right now.

Kinda sucks too, as I found out last week that my engine has a set of open chambered 350 heads on it! Gotta be a nasty low compression at about 7.5 to or so, which would be awesome to simply bolt the blower on and go... Wonder what a 6/71 would look like?

What I believe I'll end up doing is this. I was given a 267 engine a bit ago, and as most it was pretty much worthless. The heads though seem to be in good shape, and have a slightly larger port than the Original 283 Power Pack heads would, and at 1.72 and 1.50 the valves are the same size as the Power Packs. The better part though is that the Power Packs had a 58cc chamber, and these have a 52.5cc chamber. Sounds like a pretty damn good fit to me! I'll go through them, do a small bit of porting, maybe talk Elpolacko into the use of his valve machinery to cut some larger seats for 1.84 valves, then fill al the holes and disguise the late stuff as early. Then I'll be back up where the compression should be, and ready to bolt on my three twos with something that can actually use them...

 

Thank you for your reply. Guess I know what I'm doing over the 4th!

 

Also, my frame rails are only 0.120", so I should probably not just drill / tap the frame anyway! That would be less than 3 threads to bite... I'm hoping with my short wheelbase and super high tech, aerospace technology (completely kidding) K-member, that my frame is stiff enough. Guess I will find out soon enough.

 

I welded 8 1" x 1/2" round stock, plugs into my chassis and drilled n tapped 10mm to bolt my body down. Nothing has moved yet

 

Is it me or my computer but is this thread reprinting some of the posts?

Falcon george, awesome purchase and wow, that explains the excitment you have felt. Absolutely one of my favourite want to own cars too. You will have to post a photo or two when you can or direct me to the thread if you have already.


Chip, I found a picture of a A Ford Coupe here in NZ that just may excit you with the look of the engine. I realize it isn't a SBC but it still gets my blood pumping hot.

 

These weld nut gizmos work pretty good in rectangular tube frames, still have to weld them in; but quicker than making the bosses yourself.

 

That's a very good idea Rich B! I have used those on other projects, but completely forgot about them for this deal. Check out McMaster - Carr or McFadden - Dale for these.

 

Still waiting for
Mike to push it outside and send me some decent ones, I'll post some here.

 

Yea, yea, yea...I know all the drawbacks to widely split 'bones front and rear, but my sense of traditional esthetics is still warmed when I see them used on a highboy such as this. There's something just "right" about the symmetry...