I've been asking a bunch of questions, here's the project...

I started collecting parts to build a t-bucket when I was in high school (late 80's), even made a little book back then with sketches of all the details I wanted to incorporate. Over the course of several years, my plans for the bucket changed several times while my taste in cars developed. It got to the point where I had a mess on my hands. A lot of the problem was the learning curve my poor bucket endured. I've decided to tear the thing back down to bare frame & start over to fit where my tastes & style have settled.

Here's a before pic:


After stripping the suspension down & removing the pickup bed, one of my buds gave me the leftovers of a '37 Ford project he recently sold. I slipped the '37 front & rear suspension under the frame to check things out.

Plans for the front are to scrap the stock spring, split the wishbone with Ford tie rod ends, convert to a spring over the axle setup, suicide perch under the spring, & juice brakes.


Plans for the rear are to swap the axle tubes side for side so the spring is ahead of the housing, convert to an open drive, juice brakes, & I'm still unsure about the radius rods.



Steering will be drag link starting with a '54 F100 box & stock ball-type pitman arm (thanks Trailer-Ed), tied to a hoop style steering arm. The F100 drag link will be hacked off & mated to longer tubing & a ford tie rod end.


The body is from Speedway, I've glassed in a 3/4" plywood floor & a total performance trans tunnel. Grille shell is an original steel piece, the first part I bought back in 1989.



Wheels are stock '37 wide-5, haven't decided on rubber yet. No caps for sure.


Also started on the open drive conversion, $300 is too rich for me, I'm gonna figure this out myself. Took measurements, drew up the profile in Autocad, & cut out the plot for a test fit. If someone can take a measurement of the id of a torque tube, I'd appreciate it. Since I've broke the 200 post mark & everyone's so dern helpful here, I'll make an extra conversion kit for a HAMB auction.


That's enough for now, I'll post more pics as I progress, time to get back out to the garage & get those dang rear drums off .... WWS

 

HAMBer Smokey made his own open conversion.
If it's not in the TechOmatic,someone else might have saved the info.

 

whitewall,

you might want to read this: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=78277&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=14&vc=1

unfortunately, the pix are long gone on posts that old.

fortunately, i've got the thread saved as a file on my hard drive, so here's the pic that goes with smokey's explanation:

oops, i can't separate the picture in the file from the rest of the file.

i e-mailed the file with smokey's post to you using the addy in your profile.

 

looks like unkl and i were typing at the same time...

 

I'm not going to mess with any torque tube pieces. I called my local spicer dealer & he's going to work with me to find a yoke & seal. The seal support shouldn't be too bad to fabricate. This is Speedway's kit, looks like a simple sleeve presses into the machined plate. Tig the backside so no welds show. Anybody have the part number off the seal in Speedway's kit? WWS