Hey gang, I made a mistake last night! I pulled the 46" figure out of my mind, and it was wrong. I measured my car, my Almquist body, and my steel '25 body, an all were at 43 1/2" from the windshield to the top of the body back.
I'm going to mirror what Rebel said. On a '26-'27 body with a pickup bed, I see nothing wrong with a stretch behind the doors, done correctly. Yours HAS been done correctly. The '26-'27 is a of a much more modern look than the early cars, and quite a bit "simpler". But take that same body, and stretch it with a turtle deck? Mayhem, visually. Stretch a T-Bucket body, and the engine starts to look too small, the wheels and tires look too small, the axles and suspension look too small, etc. There is a psychological phenomenon, the name of which I can't remember, that mind sees things as it is used to seeing things. Change 1 part of that thing, and it's the first thing the mind picks out as "wrong". A 'Bucket is a body, surrounded by the stuff that makes it all work. That body is such a small part of the overall, that it becomes a very predominate part in the whole of the design. Change it, and nothing quite fits anymore as it should....
I just measured mine, I get a hair under 43", I would say that for all practical purposes, thats the same as Chips, variation is probably due to the way we are measuring. I would say the front of a touring body is shorter, but its more like 3-4" than 6". That's still actually a big difference when you are talking about something that's really tight in the first place.
Well Chip that answers a lot of questions. Give or take 3" and that is a lot in more cases than not. That is what makes the front of a touring T Bucket look different than a true roadster bucket. I've wondered that for a long time. Then any more body stretch looks even more different. I love these T bucket threads they take so many twists and turns. Hope you don't mind Koz. Gary
Kinda wish more people had picked up on that concept before they decided to chop the top on (certain) cars.
Don't mind at all Steel Rebel! I'm learning something from everybody here. I made my body from the rear chunk of a touring and the front of a couple of other cars and the cowl panels from Howells. It looks of typical proportion and is not that far from a 'glass body I had in the shop for a while, about 1/2" longer. I'll post pics as soon as I get it set up together on the table. The shop is packed at the moment so my car is split up and stacked everywhere. My biggest concern is getting the seat position low enough and the pedals to actually work with my big feet along with getting the steering to have the right "look" in addition to being comfy to drive, (now that's something in a T"). The dash in this one is sooooo cool! I agree, the "Force" is strong among the T contingent here.
When you guys are talking about body length I'm measuring from the firewall to the back of the seat. Mines way longer than the 43" which I think is from the dash back? Hope I don't have this damn thing too long.......
The 43" is from the dash to the back of the bucket. Ha! Don't feel bad, my body is broken down and stacked in the kitchen of my basement right now, theres a box with 8 short bar lancers on the table... And if you go around the corner into my laundry room, theres the headers for my falcon, and the grill shell and crank for my '26 Tudor! Hell, if you can get it all in the shop your way more organized than I am! I don't know how the hell my wife puts up with me!
I completely "get" having a car disassembled and stacked due to a full shop! I had to do a quickie assembly of my '25 body to get the measurement this morning,then break it back down. i can't wait to see what you are building, I remember the one you started a couple years ago and ended up selling, and it was awesome! Again, I know the feeling well.
I screwed mine together in the wifes garage, measured it and had to knock it back down and stash it back in the kitchen before she got home. I have a three car garage at our other place, but its full
Super nice idea with the rack. I'm not a rack kind of guy. I like a small roadster to feel like an overgrown go kart. I think the Gemmer is going to work just fine and according to some of the posts on here, has a good bit of historical precedence. The real prize in this thread is I sorted out how the pedals will go. This is big for me as I wasn't really sure how that would work out. I haven't put any build threads up here lately but as soon as I get this back on the table I want to post away.
Wow, that woke me up! Right up front I reeely hate the term "think outside the box" but that is pretty cool and I like it, though it does stray from the list of typical HAMB accepted components. I'd sure like to see more detail about this car. Edit I will say this though: It seems like such a waste of energy and rack movement, you might consider hooking up that unused end of the rack to something useful like a Margaritta mixer.
Ewings Texas T with the not often seen red paintjob. I think most people don't even know it was red for a while.
Hello, Here is a very nicely done T Bucket with vertical steering from San Diego. It had an unusual tilt away steering for fast exits. The gauges were on the passenger side for clear viewing and to make room for the flip steering wheel. It was a show quality T-Bucket that saw a ton of miles going to and from all of the roadster events and picnics. I am 6 feet and it was a tight fit in the seat. Jnaki
No matter what the subject, there will be some grumpy old men complaining and many others that will join the discussion in a helpful manner.
Hello, Here is the latest from San Diego: Fred’s steering wheel was referred to as a “fat man’s” wheel. It folded up toward the windshield. Dan Biggs now owns Fred’s roadster and he told me 6 months ago that the old wheel wasn’t safe anymore and he has had to replace it. From Jim Reid, San Diego Prowlers Thanks Jim... Jnaki
I knew it had been red, but I don't recall having seen a pic of it, so thanks for that George. This has come to be a pretty good thread, kinda like the bucket of ugly thread before it went off the rails
Some take this shit too personal. This T Bucket stuff isn't life and death. Oh maybe that's me. Sorry if I hurt your feelings Engine man. Keep reading It will probably get worse. Ask Chip, George and Fred oh yeah and Tim. Gary
Speaking of life and death, mine was originally slated to get a 289 Ford with an XF-8 ram log. Then recently, a guy expressed an interest in my chevy II wagon, part of the deal we were discussing was a set of Hilborns for a sbc, so I was thinking about putting a Hilborn injected 327 in it. I talked to him today, he has changed his mind, bought a '47 IH PU. Still hoping to maybe work a cash deal for the Hilborns, but its up in the air. We will see. 289 with a ram log is still pretty cool, but I was pretty excited about the possibility of a Hilborn injected 327. We will see.
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