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

Lots going on in the bucket of ugliness world today! Took me about 20 mins to catch up! Well, my progress for today was drilling the body for body mounts, drilling the frame for threaded inserts, and welding said threaded inserts into frame for completion of body mounts. I also sanded and prepped the steel bracing for welding, but I will save that for another day.



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Actually, now that I think about it. The car I'm thinking of might not have been in an ad after all, I think it might have been in or on the cover of their catalog.

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Looking good Tim, I also did a little today in the garage.

 

I just saw your update, Larry. Nice work today! I'm really envious of your rear end haha. Next car will have one, mark my words!

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This might take the price for stupidities of the day (all HAMB included), but has anybody build, or know of a, speedway nostalgia/tribute T-bucket project that turn out era perfect?
I theory it should be possible and since T-bucket kits has been around since early sixties(ish), if they did it then we could do it now, right? Fad T/brass/trinkets/kings size radials, deleted option.

Not that I plan on doing one, I plan on doing a Lake style era build, but I like to let my brain wanderer in other directions too.
And this is the best place to do it.


Rasmus Brynk Andersen, from Denmark.

 

I've just found this picture, its from the hot rod Magazine build af a tribute bucket.


It ain't that bad looking. But needs some things, but got a lot going for it too!
Disc Brakes and the rear set up ain't my thing, and the adapter on that High manifold make it look goofy, along with the smog-generation look distributor. The grill shell would need a logo (blue oval or the Von Dutch flying eyeball or similar).
And the polished bombers looks to shiny with the painted grill shell. Paint them or scotch brite. Or paint them olive green and dull them up wit scotch brite.
And if one ran lake style hedders, on street, run them with exhaust tubes and block plate?
Smaller headlights, like the arrow 901 (I think) looks more periode, instead of the modern traditional hot rodding look.

But I like the windshield and the lack of rake on the whole car, the wheels and tires and the non-deuce grill.
Steering collum placement is good


And a tube axle on hairpins or split bones.
Despite some peoples rant over tube and pins, if they where good enough from the day the first ones hit the junkyards till the da P&J started out, they most be good enough for me.


Rasmus Brynk Andersen, from Denmark.

 

Clicked on the T Bucket ad Jalopy45 posted and this followed it! Who is the lucky caretaker? Bob

 

Bob,that don't even look close to good to me at lest,an don't look old ether,looks faked old like some rat brained guy built it. Did I say a no for me,but then I don't like much of anything about Turibute T in Volvo's photo as well,again screams fake trendy in every way to me,but the gal is nice. I must be tooo fussy.

 

Is my signature line coming up? it put it up so people would stop calling me Volvo. But no stress.

That last car is okay, but there is something that makes it not look old, just fake.
What is that mill from? Looks great, hedder and exhaust looks lame and wrong. The grill looks like a tractor shell.
And the frame looks raised, like a truck or tractor. The wheels looks like they came of a of a kid Britt sportscar. And who runs belly pan and no hood, that seems to clash.
But I like the body and mill.

About the HRM and speedway tribute T.
I like the overall look, it's the details that barther me. But tell me what you don't like about it.
For the purpose of my hot rod education

 

Wow Dana I thought I was crusty. You don't like anything.

I do like a lot about the red T Rasmus posted and like him i would change some things but I too think a kool bucket can be built from a lot of Speedway parts as long as you are willing to use a lot of jenny parts. I think the key as Rasmus pointed out is old suspension and drum brakes.

As for the T that the Kid posted I pretty much love it even if it is fake patina.

Gary

 

Nah, I'm not very fond of the Speedway Tribute either, especially this iteration of it. As you say, Dana, too intentionally trendy. It's got just about every cliche in the book and still looks awkward and gangly.

I do, however, believe that a talented visionary could use the bones of a Speedway Tribute to build a very nice car. It's not the parts that are used in this case, but how the builder chooses to use them.

PS to Volvo: Okay, but keep in mind that it's an American thing to be called by a nickname NOT of your choosing. It's a fighter pilot tradition...and the less you like it the more likely it is to stick!

 

Hey Dad maybe we should call our Danish friend rASS. Yeah I like that.

The thing you have to remember about magazine builds is the magazine is beholden to their sponsors. They have to use as many parts from their advertisers that they can and besides they get them for nothing and don't have to spend time going out looking for parts. It is all just another advertisement.

Gary

 

The general Ideer behind the whole HAMB, is mixing and matching of old parts, your own stocks and pic'n'pull parts.
But Buckets came as a kit, back in the day, and still do. And the basic Ideer is the same, customize stuff to your own liking. And I see none of the parts separately as wrong. But I would like to learn the key/golden rule to matching a bucket. Because a body looks like that whoever made it. And to the frame, most frame look a lot a like, it's the rear frame and suspension that sets them apart. So I try to figure out what is "left" and what goes to the "all right" list.

I stand corrected, will not bring it up again.
Where I come from, a small Island with 12000 souls, if you are called by a nickname people like, by last name the respect you and of the go by first name you are a stranger.

 

Nah! I like "Volvo" just fine. Besides I've had a number of 122S's in my lifetime and they are excellent cars - quick, nimble and bulletproof!

My family and I survived a head-on collision with a '59 Chevy at about 40 mph in a '65 122S. Thanks to the sturdy 3-point restraint system which was 'way ahead of its time, the strong "passenger capsule" construction concept and a design that angled the motor down as it was pushed back we came out without a scratch! I have great respect for these fine automobiles.

Your comment is valid, SR, but that's all the more reason for the magazine people to use the parts to build a project car that turns readers on, not off. Don't know the story of this one, but it wouldn't have taken much to make it a real head-turner...not a stomach turner. Maybe I'm a little too crusty and opinionated as well, but in my mind the chick is the only thing that saves it, know what I mean...?

 

Okay Volvo it it will still be. Besides he doesn't seem to like it.

Dad I think you'd be surprise how many unschooled readers would like something like that. Speedway seems to be selling a ton of them.

And Volvo I think if you look at a lot of old magazines from the timeframe your going for and spend some time looking for, buying and using the old running gear and suspension parts from that time and read all the goods tips Chip is trying it instill in you/us on this thread you will come out with something pretty good.

 

If it ain't the body, it ain't the wheels and it ain't the grill. They look like most others
Rake and tires is always up for discussion.
The windshield is only nice if you can sit behind it. Good.
But I see transverse spring in front with dropped axel, good.
Big headlight, modern gimmick.
To me the steering wheel position looks good.
The seats look good, but not for a bucket, so bad.
No interior, era of no interior clash with old wheels, so bad.
Tires look good.
Tank, to modern for me, but it works, so even.
No bet, so not a bucket, so bad.
Headers are wrong for the build, but if it had a pipe that went under the car, and ran block off plates on the streets, it would look more authentic, so bad.





Em I on to something or em I complexly off?

 

Steel rebel, I got a a lot of old car mags, but non US mags.
And if I got any mags that holds pictures of Us cars, is totally stock or totally 70look, A total wet blanked.

I only have the HAMB and the www.
And the problem with www is; "you can't trust a quote you find on the web" Abe Lincoln.
And the same with pictures.

On another matter, I love the Spurgin/giovianno 25 Chevy. But most new pictures reveals a car of a un-normal high finish, that has none of the things that make it look like a true survivor, with a racing pedigree.
And if you look at old survivors and compare to most HAMB, the finish sets them miles apart.
So I wish to know, how you set the bar.

 

It`s not that hard to `Set the Bar`...but it takes time and study. You can look at the cars on here and choose which era and style appeals to you the most, then discard things that don`t fit, or look wrong. Sounds like you are doing that already. I have a pretty good old magazine collection, so I can do lots of research. That is how I found my `Guide` for the car I want to build. It will be similar, but not quite the same, but still close to what I see..... ( Bud Shannon`s T, Dec `64 Hot Rod)....

 

I cant get past the young lady standing next to it
I see it as a blank canvas or a neutral starting point to ad your own touches, I see a lot of potential. JW
Ps; Paul, I saw Mike Tripae on Saterday and he said hi and he remembers my Willys.

 

Being my rod building started in the 50s and just keeps going,but I'm am kind of stuck on ideas I picked up in those first years a bit,like shiny was really good and primer was only for getting to shiny . For me there was city street driven hotrods and customs that were well done to look up to and try and be like ,but with my own little style Qs.
I looked at racecar as track driven and if used on the street too, were not used with dirtracing tires ,so that still looks wrong to me,along with things like the Moon Tanks we now see so much of ,an not even hooked up for race fuel=If I make the misstake of asking a guy why he has a moontank in front of his rad shell,most of the time he has no idea what it was for anyway,just old time style he says. Patina=a French word for,its gone bad and looks bad.fix it.

 

I set the Tanks universal tank into the front of my little pickup bed and there are a few things I'm not sure of.
They included a rather big ugly aluminum vent -rollover vent that is supposed to be mounted higher than the filler neck, which is just not going to happen on my T.
So, I am left wondering what I might do for a tank vent or rollover valve.
A vented gas cap ?
The gas cap that they supply is a threaded aluminum cap with a big o ring in it.
Rather than use that 3" tall filler neck and the supplied cap I'd like to possibly mount a flip up style cap right on the tank.
Any ideas guys ?
Larry

 

Hey guys, I've been following along with your posts and I must admit I've fallen into the temptations of today's modern interpretation of "how it was". For example, I'm running wire wheels. I have big headlights. I have not just one Moon tank, but two. I know my car isn't period correct, but I suppose it fits into the "traditionally inspired" category just fine. What modern parts I have used I have attempted to conceal. And I can honestly say at this point that I've wrestled with changing A LOT on my car, but that's why it's necessary for me to build a SECOND, possibly THIRD car .

For what it's worth, I tried a Model T tank (didn't fit), an aircraft oil tank (didn't fit), a 10 gal Moon tank (fit but didn't look good), a 7.5 gal Moon tank (also fit but also didn't look good), and finally landed on a 5 gal Moon tank for the rear. I didn't want to be constrained to a 5 gal capacity, so I tried a 2 gal Eelco tank up front, but my OCD couldn't handle having one Eelco and one Moon, so I wound up with a 3.5 gal Moon on the front. It will most definitely be functional, and I have a selector valve near the fuel pump that I can control via cable inside the car (I used a choke cable).

As part of a school project, I designed the fuel system to be easily converted to alcohol, with the idea that for short distances, I could run around on alcohol fuel and convert back in about 20 mins. This should also help me to really finely tune the Rochester carburetors as I converted the main jets to Holley threads and drilled/tapped the air bleeds and squirters to accept Holley style screw in air bleeds. After drilling various incremental diameters in spare idle tubes and power valves, I can lock in the tune throughout the carburetor circuits.

For ignition, I have an MSD box which will be concealed under the seat and a GM points distributor converted to electronic via Pertronix. I used an adjustable vacuum advance can and have several springs and weights to play with for the advance curve. I'm hoping this will all eventually prove to be a pretty potent setup!

 

Larry, I can't help on your tank, but I have a similar issue on my rear tank. It is non-vented, and I'd like for it to be. I haven't seen anything yet that doesn't physically and aesthetically stick out like a sore thumb. I'd be interested to see what you find.

 

here you go
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/halibrand-style-gas-caps.956067/#post-10794760

 

Not sure but I was looking at this new build from Australia using and OHC conversion on a T-Motor just made to look old.

 

I like the input you guys bring, and love the exchange of Ideer, vision and advice.
And feel a little foolish when I ask, but it's the best way to learn! And every time I learn something new, it more then compensate for how foolish I felt a moment ago.

I most confess it's the same things I like, on the HRM bucket as I like on chips. The rake, the seating position and the lack of do-da.

Same reason I like modified and track T.
But there is something awkward about some of the rear frame ending so abrupt.

What wheels is that HRM running? 49-50 Merc or Ford's with hub cap and snob ring/trim ring.
Or is it a special speedway smoothie like retro wheel? 15 or 16 inch?

 

I found my way there, nice caps, still wondering on tank or cap venting and possible rollover valve.

 

Rasmus, I dont have a big collection of old US magasines but i buy
a couple a year at swapmeets or ebay.
And the reason is that i like to see the cars as they really was at the time.
I can really rekomend to buy some magasines from that era if you are interessed.
Its well worth the money.
Larry, I would use the cap included and mount it direct on the tank
and drill a tiny hole for the air.
Chip mounted a airvalve on hes gascap 50 sides or so back in this thread
that look great.

 

Larry I put in pretty much the same tank in my roadster a while back. I upholster over 3/4" plywood for my bed cover. I thought I would have to cut through my upholstery for the gas cap. For once I did something right. I just drilled through the plywood and tried to fit it. That is all it took the cap fits just under the upholstery. Luckily I had enough room for everything under the cover. I have just enough room for a Honda (bad word) battery on the right of the tank.

 

Thanks Gary it looks a wee bit different in the gas take off flange , where is your vent and are you using a rollover valve ?
Is the hose that appears to be running down behind your tank the vent, if so where does it end ?