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T bucket weight with a small block

Mine came in at 1908 lbs. ... 8 gallons of gas ... 8 lbs per gallon ... small block Ford 302, C4 trans, Currie 9" rear end ... no carpet or paint yet.
 
Mine weighs 1750#.
Hi AZCOWBO,
What tricks did you use to keep the weight so low??? I thought my Track-T was light with alumium heads, drive shaft, body panals, flywheel, overflow tank, fuel tank, steering wheel, well just a whole lot of alumium. Also my battery is a 15 lb. AGM type, not to mention a 4 speed. How did you do it?
 
Mine weighs 1350 lbs with 5 gallons of fuel. 4.3L Chevy V6 with T5 and 94 inch wheelbase is the trick I used.

Bob
That has to be one wild ride. At our power to weight ratios, I notice a differance just taking a passenger, you are 440 lbs. lighter than me....WOW ! Tell me what it is like to drive in curves and straight line hauling ass.
 
Any of you guys have an idea what a ballpark weight is fo your T buckets using a small block. I'm doing some numbers on my inline engine and need something close. Thanks everyone.

Mike
Mine weighs 200lbs. What difference does it make. 200 to 1000 HP will make these things scoot!!
 
Mine weighs 200lbs. What difference does it make. 200 to 1000 HP will make these things scoot!!
Makes a huge differance at our power to weight ratios. Just plug the numbers into a 1/4 mile calculator. Example my car weighs 1790 and I weigh 250 for a total of 2040 lbs. At 311 hp to the ground works out to a 10.9 et. The guy that has a car 440 lbs lighter than mine would do a 10.0 et. 9/10's of a second in the 1/4 is a big deal. Should he weigh 100 lbs less than me he would turn a 9.8.
 
That has to be one wild ride. At our power to weight ratios, I notice a differance just taking a passenger, you are 440 lbs. lighter than me....WOW ! Tell me what it is like to drive in curves and straight line hauling ass.

It's a blast, like all t Buckets! The best way to describe it is that it's like driving a large Go-Kart! See attached photo.

Bob
 

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It's a blast, like all t Buckets! The best way to describe it is that it's like driving a large Go-Kart! See attached photo.

Bob

With your power to weight ratio with those narrow rear tires you must have to feather the throttle to keep from spinning.Nice looking ride.
 
With your power to weight ratio with those narrow rear tires you must have to feather the throttle to keep from spinning.Nice looking ride.

Thanks. The engine is stock except for a non-computerized HEI distributor and a 350 CFM Holley 2 barrel adapted to the TBI intake manifold. It's out of an '88 AstroVan with about 85,000 miles on it. Still runs strong, and you're right about having to feather the throttle to avoid wheel spin. I can't imagine what it would be like with a V8.

Bob
 
You know HP to vehicle weight ratio is what really makes T-buckets fun. A mildly souped-up V-8 engine in a car that weighs less than a ton will really make it scoot. I hope it's not sacrilege to think that Colin Chapman (Lotus cars) would approve. He always championed the idea of light weight cars with peppy engines. Here's to you, Mr. Chapman: long live T-buckets!

Mr Lotus.jpg Lotus 7.jpg
 
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Colin was an influential English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars! Very cool guy! I was a huge Jim Clark (Formula One) fan and I remember seeing Colin in many interviews back in the '60's!
 

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