I know there are a lot of opinions about tops on T Buckets. You either love em or hate em! I'm considering building my own frame from 3/4 inch conduit. Cheap enough to do so I can absorb all the mistakes I'm sure I will make. I found a site called Makers Pipe. They make clamps that will allow for angles and use of 3/4 inch conduit. Has anyone out there tried their product? If all works as claimed it will make building a custom frame pretty easy. On their web page they have many projects that can be built with just conduit and their clamps. Opinions?
You can make a pretty tight radius with just a hand operated conduit bender. I'm lookin at a 90 * bend in my shop now, looks about the same as a model T top radius
Rusty, It has been a while since I have used a conduit bender. Guess I'll have to give it a try. Conduit is not that expensive so I can afford a few mistakes. LOL!
IMO ,EMT conduit is too soft , bends too easily , no spring back ,there is steel tubing available that's more appropriate . maybe talk to a steel Fabricator . ?
Well, I have made some progress on the 27 T Bucket top. I am using 3/4 inch conduit and using pre-made 90* angles. Seems to be going together OK. Now I have to figure out how to n\make the piece that connects the top to the windshield. I had to add some height to the windshield because the top would have blocked too much of my forward vision.
I dont think you’ll need it that high over the windshield. Your head will be near the back , yes it’ll be hard to see traffic lights but thats what prism are for . I made a few and used a piece of 1” x2” oak laid horizontal and used that as a tack strip , had Twp bows in the back , made from conduit .
Actually I may raise the seat some. The padding in the original seat is pretty flat. I got some 5 inch heavy foam from an old couch that will fit well into a new seat. The position of the seat as it stands now is fairly low. One thing I need to do is to extend the brake pedal over to the left. Right now it hides behind the steering column.
You made me smile. EMT ells. When we were feeling arrogant (most of the time) we said those were for guys that didn’t serve an apprenticeship. When it’s finished buy some compression couplings, the knurled ones, they’re smoother and will look a little better. I second the prism, I need one in my stock body ‘bird with the top on, and I’m down to 5’9” now. Magnetic or Velcro. Simple solution. Nice job.
Gary, how did you attach the top to the windshield? I may lower the windshield some. I want to attach some flat cardboard to the frame to check out the angles and fit. I should be able to fabricate a topp out of cardboard just to see how it comes together when i have an actual top made. Anyone with suggestions on material for the top? I would be interested in your thoughts
Get a cheap blue tarp & some tarp tape to make your pattern the headboard normally attaches to the top of the windshield posts with a set screw built in to the top irons .
The boat waterproof canvas was folded and stapled to the hardwood , the hardwood was routed with a half round where the upper windshield would ride . It was only about 1/4 in deep . The whole upper was attached with latch that is similar to the kind used on small tool boxes , the kind you carry . I cant think of the name .
The NTBA had a few good tech articles on building tops, I remember one guy stretched a bed sheet over his homemade framework then soaked it with resin to make a removable hard top per say. Maybe check out those posts for ideas on the latches https://www.nationaltbucketalliance.com/bb/
it's not hard to make a top out of conduit. but what is hard is making a top out of conduit that doesn't look like a bimi top that belongs on a pontoon boat
The pattern is coming along pretty well. Hopefully will have the top on by tomorrow afternoon. I had a hard time finding someone who could do it for me. Luckily, a friend remembered he knew someone who does boat interiors. I took it out to her. She has never done a top for a T bucket. I found a bunch of pictures of tops and she agreed to give it a try. The finished top will be black
I don't think you want to sit too high. On my bows , the header and the rear bow are the same height, with the center bow a bit higher. As you can see in the last photo we have plenty of head room and I can see out the windshield easily. The final shape is subjective, but I'm happy with mine.
I took 2 inches out of the bow above the drivers head to flatten out the top some ,still lots of room , original model T top bows
electrician had a tighter radiused bender than mine... boat supply store had all the pivots and anchors, plastic and stainless... plastic was cheaper when not sure, when sure buy stainless... strap style model A door check retainers screwed to the under side the rear bow... run ratchet straps from them to pull the rear bow back/down to tighten the top material... the unions will show though the top if not padded or something else...
For mine I bent up some conduit and used boat top fittings. My dad made the header out of 1x4 ash, with a radiused channel routed in the bottom to sit over the windshield frame. I drilled/tapped the windshield frame to accept little door strikers then routed pockets in the header for the latches. A steel bracket on each side holds that together, as well as ties the top framework to the header. You can’t see in the first photo, but I welded a tab to that metal plate, and the top framework bolts to that using a boat fitting that slides into the tubing.
Tim, I have done something similar. I fabricated a wood piece with a radius channel to fit over the wind shield frame. I sealed it well with water seal to protect it from the weather. Now just waiting for the top to be finished.
Very nice. Thanks for the pictures. What kind of hardware did you use to attach the rear bow to the body?
The body is an original 27 Ford. It had mounting bolts on the side where the frame originally mounted to.
Thanks. It’s not as tall as the last pic would have implied. It is tall though. Matches the styling of T buckets too. My ‘27 also has the full height windshield so wondering how to get a bit lower look. Nice job!
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