I have a neighbor that wants to build a t roadster i hate the term t bucket. Hes not on the hamb yet.......lives like 6 houses down, and he comes over all the time. He wants to build a roadster but dosent know where to start, neither do i have never built a glass car. I tried to show him the total performance speedway kit he didnt like the long wheelbase. Anyone wanna help him find a good starting point. He has no welder or anything like that........most likely he gonna try to use mine. So anyone know where he can get a shorter wheelbase "kit" thanks
T roadster forums could help. Ask on these forums: http://www.nationaltbucketalliance.com/bb2005/index.asp http://www.tbucketeers.com/ Spirit Industries for kits: http://shop.spiritcars.com/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=22 At least a start. Bill
Speedway Motors bought out Total Performance last year. The frames that SM sells now are TP's frames. I built a TP '23 T several years ago. It was a really nice kit. I understand about the shorter wheelbase preference, but that long one sure handled nice at 75mph on the highway!
I showed him a few online he really digs the proportions of royalshifters car ill check some out online, my buddy joe has no pc(really in this day and age) so im gonna help him as much as i can
Total Rods in Rhode Island-they built TP's bodies. They also build frames and complete rods. All USA stuff. Speedway has a lot of foreign junk as well as Made in the USA stuff. It's up to you to do your home work before you buy! Don't be in a hurry! Good luck!
If f had it to do over again I think I would try to buy someones unfinished project or an old T rod and rebuild it. Change it enough to make it your own. Especially if I didn't have a lot of fabrication tools. Lots of stuff around at a good price.
I agree 100%. Save him and apparently you too, a lot of time by finding him something already built or mostly built. Search craigslist and print out a few for him. It will save wear and tear and mig wire on your welder.
How about a Model A frame? The 103.5" wheelbase looks right under a T to me and you can find them everywhere with all the brackets for the suspension already welded on.
First off he needs to do a little research and see if he fits a T-Bucket. They can be pretty cramped and if the suspension's not set up right, not so comfortable for anything over an hours drive. That being said, i love mine and i'm making plans for my next one. Most likely a '26 or '27. Before i bought my T-Bucket i did a lot of research on buying someone's abandoned project vs building one from a kit or buying an older finished running car. I decided i could buy one ready to go cheaper than i could build one or finish someone's non-running project. I would look for an older running street legal car. Or one that only needs paint and interior to finish it off. Lots of good info and a bunch of very knowledgeable builders here: http://www.tbucketeers.com/
Your right You can get a driver T hot rod sometimes for around 10K with some chrome. Take that and rebuild, paint and make it your own. You not only have a kool car but a piece of history. There is a real history of this. Bill Rolland bought Ivo's T and changed a few things to make it his own. Jim Street bought Gragowski's T and made a lot of changes. Like them or not he made it his own. Your also right about the size of original bodies. When I called Grabowski about carving me a shift knob and told him my T was steel he asked how tall I was. When I told him I was 5'9 on a good day he said "I knew it nobody much taller can fit in one". Lucky for you giants they made the fiberglass bodies longer.
I picked this one up for 7K. It was non-oped but ran. I know it's not what you would call traditional, it was built in '71 and changed around a bit through the years. But it's a good example of what's out there if you take your time and shop around.
Depends what you call traditional. I would say that is late '60s early '70 traditional. And that is 40 + years. You couldn't build that car today for twice that. Not counting labor. Kool Kar Kool Find.
have him buy my t / modified wheel base is 96" it has all the fab work and welding done (and it was done right, no bird shit welds), you only need to do interior, wiering, brake lines and a few other small things and it will be at your local cruise night!
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