I grew up loving T Buckets. Expectually "60"s Style, And i dig the photos of the old car shows. Back when Buckets Ruled! Also things like these
Swapped in the sector shaft in the steering box. It could still use a rebuild ($350 in parts plus reaming bushings), but it's good for now. Also swapped out the diff for one that didn't have the spiders welded. Replaced one axle bearing and both seals. Still couldn't find any chevy wheels, so took off the unilug Cragars from my van in the backyard and bolted them up. They are not right with the wide fronts and the white letters, but an improvement. The rad shell is off since it only had one bolt and a piece of hose holding it on. Also sanded down the mess on most of the bed. Took the spacers out from between the floor and the ledge in the body. It isn't much different visually, lots still to do but it doesn't try to go into both ditches at the same time. The header shown was also sanded down, primed and painted. The other side is just sanded.
It steers well, but has a small death wobble at ~35 MPH. Just drove it up and back on the street in the background. As you can see, it's thunderstorm season. Just wanted to make sure the fixes actually fixed things. Lots still to do. It drives now, so I'll bolt back up the plates and lights in the back and go a bit further now. Just had a beer in celebration, so no more driving today.
the very wide front wheel/tire setup might be part of the death wobble problem...also, if the tires are as old as they look, that can contribute great to see it sort of where you wanted it to be! ie. back together quickly
Glad you've got it driveable. Ran into Tom, a friend whose Tbucket uses a '50 Olds rear assembly. I asked him about his Ts' '50 Olds rearend assembly & the front bushings. He said the oem was crap anyways, & ~ 10yrs ago, he R&R'd them w/rubber bushings from a F350 Twin-I-Beam setup. Said they fit like they were made for it. He's going see if he can find the part# for you. When I get the #'s. I'll post them. Marcus... Edit: Tom found the #'s. Ford insulators E7TZ*3B203*A . He said you need 8 of them, he paid $6.58 ea in 2005. Didn't check to see how much now, or availability now. Pass this on to any '49/'50(+/-) Olds guys that are using the oem 2-links suspension arms. Marcus...
Yay! What an improvement. You need to be applauded for doing what you can to keep it together. So many of us get into the trap of "while I'm here, I might as well..." which leads to tearing the whole damned thing apart perfecting it all forever. Keep on keepin' on!
Drove it carefully around the block a few times, then a couple miles to the local nursery to weigh it (they sell gravel, rock and dirt). 1000 front, 1120 rear, 2120 total with my 200 included right over the rear. Pretty heavy for a bare body and lexan windshield! Hey, all the race cars want 50/50 and all the weight between the axles, this fits! Didn't overheat, but did vary so the t'stat is going to get checked/replaced. 180-215. Still want to put on a mechanical fan and remove the ugly. Death wobble still there, suspect the wheels and tires aren't helping, but will go over the other bits too. Also going to take out a leaf in front, it doesn't move with me bouncing on the perch. When it was behaving, it was fairly pleasant, sitting on a bedspread. Will work on seating also.
Trailer tires on the front helped move the wobble to higher speed. Verdict: still have worn parts, but those Cragar fronts are not good. Also had the lug nuts back off on the left rear. Not fun. EDIT, the burnt fuse for the fan was replaced, but loose. Pretty sure that's the cause for the temp fluctuation. Jammed it in better and no change, 180 for the whole drive. Otherwise, a bit better, so progress. Will buy tie rod ends and drag link ends. I'll have to take the drag link ends off to see which to buy, there are no threads showing. Would make sense to have a L and R, but will check. Drag link has a bend to clear stuff, so you can't adjust length in place anyway. Seems to be a single application for all early ford stuff. MOOG ES416L Fits Drag Link End; 3.22" Length or Front Left Outer; 3.22 (in) MOOG ES416R Front Right Outer; 3.22 (in) Length Can someone ID the shackles? They are not the Speedway style with bushings, I got a pair with the car. Seems like they could be Model A since these have the zerks https://www.macsautoparts.com/1928-...shackles-top-quality-imported-28-23712-1.html or https://www.earlyfordstore.com/products/1932-34-front-spring-shackles?variant=33095736492165 or https://www.earlyfordstore.com/prod...-front-spring-shackles?variant=33095723155589 None of the listings have dimensions, so can't measure and compare. Picture of the ones on mine. Yes, I know they should have cotter pins and castle nuts. Another reason to buy new.
Those look like Model A to me (mostly, the rear shackle link should resemble the front). I bet if you measure the spring length and width, then compare to the early Ford spring lengths and widths, that will narrow it down - Model A, 32-34, 35-36, 37-41. I'd guess the spring, shackles, and perches came from the same car. Edit: Pic of front of car leads me to believe the spring itself is likely not Model A width. I still think the shackles look Model A, and the perches look like modified Model A.
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