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

I'm going to title the final chapter of the ongoing saga of the hunt for a mid sixties "period" distributor for my circa 1967 sbf powered T-bucket, AKA the Cobra T "trying too hard".
So I have been discussing this adventure off-forum with Chip, but the ending is so full of irony, I have to share this here. So I was looking for an "Autolite" 271hp/289 dual point for this deal. These were still sold over the counter at Ford dealers right up into the late seventies, but they were marked Motorcraft after '72, and of course, that would never do
So I watched a Motorcraft one go on ebay for $265, but passed because too new for my deal. Then I had a lead on one that was supposed to have been bought from a dealer in '68, but when I saw pics, it was also marked "Motorcraft", so that was clearly not the case, and again, no good for a circa 1967 T bucket. Then I found a lead on a guy that is re-popping the factory Ford "Muscle Parts" over the counter dual-point conversion for my stock single-point Autolite distributor I already had, so that sounds pretty good. Now this is where the story takes a typical car guy turn.
I responded to an ad on Craigslist for a 9" housing for $100 I needed for a completely unrelated project. In the process of emailing back and forth with this guy, he mentioned that he has "an old Ford dual point for a 289, think its factory, I'll throw it in with the housing" Now this guy lives in the same town as my brother, which is about 20 miles away, so I send my brother over to get the stuff for me, and decide to buy this stuff sight unseen, even if its Motorcraft, because I can always just flip it.
My brother knows what I want the distributor for, and realizes I am really looking for anything mid-sixties aftermarket that will work, and knows a bit about sixties era speed equipment. So about an hour ago, my brother turns up on my doorstep with his hand behind his back, and says "I gave the guy an extra $20, I think you will think its worth it" and hands me this...

 

nice score, you must be livin right

 

And THAT'S how it happens. The Karma bug is strong.

 

I really had to laugh when my brother whipped his hand around! It was like the other distributors hadn't fallen into place for a reason! I am just rockin the Karma lately! The only period mechanical pieces left on the Cobra T want list at this point are a decent 4 speed and a sixties era cast scattershield, everything else is there. Remember a few pages back, I mentioned a lead on a set of Corvette 9 fins? I got an update on that soon too...

 

I bet you started cleaning it ASAP..... didn't you?

 

Oh man! You DO KNOW ME! Yes, I must admit, it is already disassembled, and I am cleaning up the housing as I watch TV! Man, I cant hide NOTHING from you guys!

 

Oh yea, almost forgot. ONE more period piece I need that Chip already knows about. A SW 2 5/8 green stripe fuel level gauge. Already got a green stripe speedo, ammeter, water temp and oil pressure gauge for it, just need to fill out the set.

 

I'll keep an eye out in Texas.

 

2 5/8"?

 

I sold a SBF RotoFaze a couple of years ago for $100. Didn't get it out of the bed of my truck. The guy took it out of my hand and didn't try to get the price down.

 

Addicts! Nuttin' but addicts...and I thought us SBC guys were affected.
Great story George.

 

In the immortal words of John "Hanibal" Smith......"I love it when a plan comes together!"

 

Man, a roto-faze, I guess so! You dont see those every day! I bought an air gap perf. rpm for an O/T project on the weekend, same deal. Asked him how much, he said $80, I just pulled the money out.

 

Well, on the subject of vintage SBC stuff...keep watching, same bat time, same bat channel...

 

Yup, deluxe series not standard. I have a std. series 2" green stripe ammeter that will be for sale shortly as well. Its funny, a pair of deluxe green stripe gauges actually had a lot to do with inspiring the theme for my T. Deluxe green stripes were OEM in '67/'68 Shelbys. I have always had a real thing for mid/late sixties T buckets, I had the leftover 289 from my Falcon, and I had a big box of gauges I bought at a swap meet about 20 yrs ago, there were two mint deluxe green stripes in there. When I pulled out that box out of storage and noticed those gauges, the whole theme jelled.
With the huge performance industry buzz around Cobra stuff in the sixties, and the really high quality re-pop parts available from Tony Branda and other shelby resto companies, A Shelby themed 289 powered T-bucket is a natural.

 

How is the once ugly "T" doing?

 

It got washed (drowned?") last weekend! ;-) Tropical Cyclone Norbert missed us and dumped on them pretty good!

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It's doing okay. It dried out enough that I could get it started yesterday, and as I mentioned I forgot to cover it up the other night when ALL of our year's rain fall hit in one two hour deal! I took my time and popped the plugs out and turned everything by hand a couple of cranks before I hit the button. Glad I did! After that though, a couple of squirts of fuel and it was happy as a lark.

Went out for a short ride last night down Van Buren, which was my town's old Hotel Row in the '30-'70s. It used to be a riot of neon signs and cool little old hotels before prostitution and drugs killed the whole deal. Before I moved downtown in the eighties, it was my main thoroughfare between my apartment in Tempe and Central Ave. in down town Phoenix, and most of the neon signs were up and functional. It looked like a small 'Vegas back then. Now I just every now and then cruise down and remember what sign was where, as they are all gone now. If you have some time, goggle "Van Buren images in Phoenix", You'd be amazed.

 

Dude, ya gotta check into Zodiac Marine Grade Vinyl for your upholstery. I've been through a couple deluges and NO water soaked into or under the cushions. I swear by it.

 

The good old days........

 

have you guys seen this not period but cool as hell

 

That's a pretty cool vid.

 

"The epitome of Hotrodding." Truer words have not been spoken.

 

I liked the video, but is it just me or did the "Red Dragon" seem kinda on the squirrely side? And I ain't talking about horsepower wise either. Seemed like every time he go on or off it, it would date to one side or the other. Now, I realize during the first burn out he was kinda hard on the brakes to keep from running the photographer down, but it never seemed to get any better out on the road. Screwy.....

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The "Red Dragon" reminded me of all the cars that kept me from building a Hotrod. A lot of chrome and fancy paint, that scares budding Hot Rodders into the land of, "I can't afford to have my dream". As "cool" as it is, it's very "busy".

My first love was Fad T's, but 35 years and a dare from my brother, helped me realize that you don't have to break the bank in order to have a cool, street driven T Bucket or any other style of Hot Rod. K.I.S.S. and you'll smile forever.

 

How far is the So Cal shop from Van Buren.....must be sort of close. Close in Phoenix terms anyway!

 

A question for the guru's, what was used to tie plug leads together to keep them neat and tidy across the motor in the 60's. Havn't got a lot of old magazines to check out photos and the ones I've seen don't show a lot. I want to tidy mine up but all I can find is billet ali ones and I don't think they are period.

 

I found one of your old signs, the building Im working on has it in the lobby. well the top half anyway..... and on another note did you know they tore down the old Beeline timing tower Monday

 

The way we did it shiny nice in the late 1950's an on,with little to no $;
Mostly I used the stock plugwire brackets along with color matched plastic spacers,but would buff the bracket it self shiny{they were cad plated an would look like ya chromed them,with gloss clearcoat on them it would hold the chrome look for a fairly long time{did same thing to any parts I could=if it was alum,stainless,brass or copper it got buffed up. Acorn chrome nut covers didn't cost much so were used a lot. Some things were rapped with alum or a shaped alum or stainless steel plate was buff and added,nearly all bolts that could be chanced to buffed up stainless steel were. I still gotlow $.so I still do my rod the same way,there no payed for chrome on it,just buffed an coated. I got a chrome alt n alum airclear for my B-day from my son,so other then those,the motor and rod looks very close to how it looked when I built it to start with in 1959, An yes those are buffed brass headlights made of brass not plated.