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

"T-buckets didnt REALLY start to take off in popularity until around '62/'63." kind of not ture in Fla., there were a number of rods built bucket style in the late 1950's,,but your right that they didn't start showing up a lot in the magazins tell then.
Ok,I'm first hand info cuz 50's n 60's is were I started building rods n customs,,just so ya know about hubcaps an rods,at lest in Florida. in the late 50's and early 60's,hubcaps were consitored A.O.K. to run on a rod=but needed to be racey looking,like 1953 Studebaker cones or any other smooth airflow looking cap for hotrods ,but for customs= caps with some type of big flipper was the thing.
Few of us had the $ for chrome rims and just paint didn't get it,so we had to find what we could thats looked right,chrome dome center cap and a outer chrome ring was great too,but harder to fine a fit set [ key word is find,not buy]
The fancy alum or mag rims were very few and far between tell mid 60's but for a show car at times.

 

The car that started this wire wheel comback was Joe Barnett's '27 T Touring that he built in 1957, although it took several years for this to happen. Joe's car was full fendered, fenders black, body a different color, sat on a killer rake with Buick Skylark wire wheels. When Joe (membership # 0) and some freinds formed the Early Times club in 1964, Joe's T was one of the first (maybe even thee first) car(s) in the club, and that car's style set the tone for many of the Early Time cars that followed. Full fendered '20s and '30s cars, black fenders, different body color, killer rake and chrome wire wheels (usually skylarks).

 

I'm glad you do take it as a serious responsibility. In the mean time, I'm going to continue to do all this traditional schitt MY way!

Chip, make this one shiny! It's getting there!!!

 

Yup! And I know that you just happen to know where Joe Barnett's touring is...

 

Not too worry Jeem, it'll be shiny soon! Bright, happy, crazy Hugger Orange shiny! I'll call it competition orange though....

 

And I'm looking forward to see the " Bucket of Ugly " fully dressed in its shiny paint as the colour choice is close to mine thinking. I suppose you have to wait for the rain and snow to stop falling before you can even think about painting as you won't want humidity blisters in the finish aye ? Now who is give us Kiwi's a hard time ???

 

I think we/I may have some crossed wires hereD). When k1w1rodder mentioned wires, I assumed he was talking about 16" ford wires. Skylarks are a COMPLETELY different deal, and yes, started to appear in the late fifties, although they didnt REALLY take off for another 5-6 years.
Early Ford 16" wires were what I was thinking he was talking about when I said they were dead and gone by the end of the forties.
Maybe we should talk a bit about headlights while we are here, as the modern HAMB trends REALLY muddy the waters in this area. I have only seen 1 or 2 cars with the guide accessory headlights with integral turn signals on ANY hot rod prior to around the end of the nineties. Back in the day, these were something you were more likely to see on your high school counsellers car than on any self-respecting hot rod. And '34 commercial lights were only used on '34 commercial vehicles. Hot rods ran 7" King Bees, Dietz, or Arrows. 6 1/2" '36-'54 Harley Davidson headlights were also popular, especially on fenderless or cycle fendered cars.
Brand new 7" Arrows are still available from the original manufacter, so not even re-pop, original 1950's hot rod parts that are still in production 60 years later. How about that? They are listed as auxiliary safety lights for tow trucks. I dont understand why Arrows arent more popular now, they were on a shitload of high profile, famous hot rods in the fifties, and you can still buy the same headlight, brand new, from the original manufacturer today, cheap too. maybe they'd be a hotter commodity if So-Cal bought a bunch, re-packaged them as "Bakan signature edition" traditional Hot Rod lights, and doubled the price on them.
The '36-'54 HD headlights are available as re-pops from motorccyle restoration places. The modern "traditional" thing of mounting big-ass headlights on the ends of the frame horns was totally 100% non-existant
in the fifties.
Ok, the "Jeem" disclaimer. No-one is saying this is how you must build your car, christ, for all I care, you can put Gen II small-block with center bolt valve covers and 3 97's in it(cant guarantee I wont laugh at you if you do, but I sure as hell wont tell you you cant do it). You can built your car however the hell you want, as long as you dont sling together some hunk of happy horseshit, and THEN INSIST THAT ITS TRADITIONAL OR A PERIOD CORRECT FIFTIES HOT ROD. I'm just telling you what cars looked like back then, what you choose to do with the info is entirely up to you.

 

And again I have a reason for posting a photo of my late friend Dennis Debenidectus's roadster. Competition Orange.

 

Now here is my take on wheels and tires.
I am from the Pacific Northwest so things are a bit slanted toward closed cars. I was born in 48 so the late 50s is when I could name every car by the tail lights.
If you had a closed Hot Rod it had steelies with rings and caps.
If you had a 50s car and no money you ran painted wheels and black walls
If you had a few more bucks you ran spiders or baby moons
If you had a few more bucks you ran narrow white walls
Now if you were really bucks up you ran "Chromies"
Hub caps were for Old people on their Desotos!!!!!
Enter in to the mid 60s.
Chromies were popular for crusiers. Muscle cars ran mags, Keystones, Americans but if you were really bucks up you ran Cragars!!!!!!!!!! All used black walls.
You never saw a Hot Rod on the street just at car shows.
Just my .03

 

Should I hijack Chips thread with a whole SHITLOAD of fifties Pete Sukulac photos of hot rods from the NW with full wheelcovers? Yes, I think I will, in the interest of historical accuracy. Watch this space...

 

Not a T-bucket? An open roadster with a full-height windshield, earlier low turtle deck, open engine... oh-h-h-h-h, it must be the 26-27 bucket. Early hotrod roadster clubs often had 26-36 as the range of acceptable "roadsters" for their racers. Bucket is a bucket.

 

I think these tail lights are easy to see and placed just right.,

 

This begs a question: is it a T bucket ONLY when its pre-26 AND has a shortened bed?

I always referred to them that way, but there's quite a bit of opinion opposite of that. To me, a 26-27 with any length bed is a T roadster pickup, and a pre-26 with a stock bed is the same (T roadster pickup). If the car has no rear sheet metal it's a modified (not a T bucket) and if it has a turtle deck it's a roadster (not a T bucket).

Thoughts? Opinions? Cast your stones now!

My '27 T Roadster build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t= 734383

 

Sorry, I have had my pissing match for the day(check a certain early hemi thread), gonna let the t-bucket one lie...Call it what you want, and I'll call it what I want.

Oh, and my camera battery is charging, fifties photos of NW rods with full wheelcovers tomorrow...

 

They're called "buckets" because of the size. When you're riding in one, with your knees pulled up, it looks like your sitting in a bucket.

This woman is in a tub. More room and not the same. Just a reason to post a picture of a woman sitting in a tub.



26's and 27's are called 26's and 27's by year because they have a little more room. Just a little.

 

Too big. So are the lights.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words...

 

I don't know about AZ, but Texas got nailed yesterday. Sleet, snow, ice.....the works! Worse in northern Texas but have heard it got as far south as Houston. Didn't get as far as New Braunfels though, just cold there.

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

 

None in Houston. About 30 miles north of us. But that's the norm this time of year. Still, being from Upstate NY, I don't say "snow" too much. It scares the locals.

 

On MY T-bucket definition. I had to go way back to find this. Please note that the word "MY" is bolded. Man, I never realized it till now, I have EIGHT PAGES of posts on this thread. No wonder my wife says I never shut up! And no, this doesn't mean that I consider the Colorado car a "modified" either.
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</TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid" id=td_post_9298693 class=alt1><!-- icon and title --> Re: The bucket of ugly! A de-uglifying thread...
<HR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5; COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Quote:
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset" class=alt2>Originally Posted by a boner
So what are you saying.....all the stock width bodies in that "modifieds" thread should not be in that thread, because they are not modifieds?

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As Larry says, we ARE splitting hairs here, and getting down to brass tacks, but essentially, yes. My definition of a "modified" is a forties or earlier T based race car with a narrowed body. I'm not saying everyone has to agree with that, and if someone wants to call thier "bob-tailed T" a "modified", I'm not gonna tell them they are wrong, any more than I am gonna say someone calling a T with a heavily chopped, steeply raked windshield a "T-bucket" is wrong, but when I look at it, I think to myself "thats not a modified".
To me, these definitions have nothing to do with giving a car "period cred" or any other such ego driven bullshit. A car doesn't need a convenient handle IMO, but I came to this deal "pre Barrett-Jackson", so I dont always fit in.
When I use a one word phrase like "T-Bucket" or "gasser" or "modified" to describe a car, thats because the car fits the template closely enough for a one word description to explain what it is. I dont even really give a shit who does or doesn't accept my definitions.
My current "Hamb friendly" car is a channeled, cycle fendered, Desoto powered T, I dont have a handy catch-phrase that describes it. I guess a lot of guys would call it an "east-coast" style rod, but thats bullshit, the build style was popular all over the country in the fifties, and its a phrase that has been "invented" in the last 15 years or so, so I dont use that phrase. I don't feel the NEED to attach some cheesy buzz-phrase to what I'm building, its a hot rod. If a guy is interested enough, I'll sit down and describe it in detail, if he's not, que sara sara.
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Bright sunshine and about 3-4 degrees above freezing here in the "great white north" today. My daughter told me she wanted snow for Christmas today, I think shes gonna be disappointed.

 

Thank You Sir!!!

 

cold enough to start complaining about it here haha.

from what I gather for the most part the "t-bucket" has less to do with what body parts are there and more of what build style it is.

what most of us think when you say t-bucket is steam rollers in the back, pizza cutters in front, monster motor and lots of brass do dads.

doesn't really matter if its early or late T or if its got a bed or deck

 

Can't we all just get along?!

Nah, I gotta disagree a bit on some points. Yes, '26-'27 can be a T-Bucket, and my buddy Dave Hill's car is the perfect example.
A turtle deck car CAN be a T-Bucket, but if it's detailed differently, it's be bordering Track Roadster territory. I think we are never really going to be able to "define" what this stuff is, but as George has said elsewhere on this page, it's always gonna be "guidelines".

 

Yes!!! No!!! Well kinda...

And yes, it is cold enough to be complaining! 'Course, that might be relative for us... I wear my leather jacket when it plunges below 70. Today, when I jumped in the bucket this morning it was 36 degrees. So cold I had socks on! If I have socks on, it's one of the local leading indicators that it's cold out.

 

Well, ok for what its worth, to my eye, the car in question just doesnt have "t-bucket proportions. I'm probably gonna regret elaborating on this, because some moron is gonna interpret what I say here as some sort of value judgement, then I'm gonna lose patience, get all cranky, and verbally slap him around, and hes gonna cry like a little schoolgirl, and all the usual HAMB drama... Its mostly the rear axle is too far back, also not enough rake, and the tire sizes are too equal, and the front axle isn't kicked out in front of the crossmember. For me to call it a T-bucket, the body should be sitting farther back on the chassis, and and it needs way more rubber rake to be what I call a "t-bucket". Its like porn, I know it when I see it, and I dont see what I would call a t-bucket. I LOVE this car(if you've been around, you'll know that, because its about the 8th time I've posted it...) think its a knockout, but its not what I would call a "T-Bucket". You (the collective "you") on the other hand, can call it whatever you damn well please, I dont care, and as far as I'm concerned, its none of my business. SO THERE!

 

Which car you talking about George? I just have a little black "X"...

 

Yep. Black drama X.

 

Okay here is a riddle for you and it is from the horse's mouth. Gray Baskerville.

Caption below the picture.

"Clear Lake, California's Gary Defer and his '15 T-bucket brings back memories of Grabowski, or Ivo's like-bodied lakes modifieds.

What makes mine a T-bucket and theirs lakes modifieds. You tell me!

 

two weeks ago... 70's sound like the tropics right about now.








...I'm glad my confusion on the definition of t bucket isn't just me not "getting it"