Bondo. The primordial stuff of the gods....
AmericanGraffiti's Project Diary
- Thread starter AmericanGraffiti
- Start date
It has been a while since I've updated, but I have completed many tasks on this build. I am hoping to have this car running for this summer, even though it will be in an "unfinished" state. But that is OK, you know? It seems to me that getting the car on the road will give me a chance to work out many bugs and develop a plan for next winter on fixes that make incremental improvements along the way.
So here a few updates on things I have accomplished. First, the frame is completely welded and I have cleaned off a lot of the unsightly tabs and such that were on the car from previous users but no longer needed. I also added a driveshaft loop.
As noted in my post above, I started doing some body filler work on the old Farmall tractor nose and now it appears homogenous, like one piece. It still needs some final touches, but here is a pic thus far:
You'll note I also purchased a set of Patriot T Bucket headers and have them mounted for mock-up. These are a sweet pair of sprint type headers and were very affordable. I sprayed a little Hunter Green Primer on the body to help envision the color I have in mind for this phase of the build as an "unfinished" car. Future paint schemes are still in the works, but this is a neat and different color for an "almost rat" car. I like black primer too, but it is a little overdone.
Finally, I bought a 1999 Dodge Caravan seat off Ebay from a local seller, went and picked it up, and found it to be a great fit in my body with much modification. My initial plan for this summer is to wrap the seat in an old Mexican blanket (a common rat rod concept) which I think will do nicely until the day when I can afford to re-wrap the seat in a more era correct fashion. I did learn that I need to make an adjustment to my steering column now, but that is part of the fun of a build like this: you do it, then learn that you need to redo it again...fun stuff! Anyway, I hope you are enjoying this low budget build! Looking forward to making lots of new friends at the Indianapolis NTBA regional in September with this rough little T Bucket!
So here a few updates on things I have accomplished. First, the frame is completely welded and I have cleaned off a lot of the unsightly tabs and such that were on the car from previous users but no longer needed. I also added a driveshaft loop.
As noted in my post above, I started doing some body filler work on the old Farmall tractor nose and now it appears homogenous, like one piece. It still needs some final touches, but here is a pic thus far:
You'll note I also purchased a set of Patriot T Bucket headers and have them mounted for mock-up. These are a sweet pair of sprint type headers and were very affordable. I sprayed a little Hunter Green Primer on the body to help envision the color I have in mind for this phase of the build as an "unfinished" car. Future paint schemes are still in the works, but this is a neat and different color for an "almost rat" car. I like black primer too, but it is a little overdone.
Finally, I bought a 1999 Dodge Caravan seat off Ebay from a local seller, went and picked it up, and found it to be a great fit in my body with much modification. My initial plan for this summer is to wrap the seat in an old Mexican blanket (a common rat rod concept) which I think will do nicely until the day when I can afford to re-wrap the seat in a more era correct fashion. I did learn that I need to make an adjustment to my steering column now, but that is part of the fun of a build like this: you do it, then learn that you need to redo it again...fun stuff! Anyway, I hope you are enjoying this low budget build! Looking forward to making lots of new friends at the Indianapolis NTBA regional in September with this rough little T Bucket!
Wyo George
Member
Looking good, I like what you have going so far!
fletcherson
Well-Known Member
That seat fits in there nicely. I am at an impass with my steering column due to seat selection. I had sort of decided to go with a pair of aluminum bomber seats, but I may have to go to the junk yard and see what they have. Looks good!
Thanks all...I just notice a typo in my post, it should have read that the seat with WITHOUT much modification....
Zandoz, the seat measured about 44" wide, but when I removed the bracket that connected the back to the base it fit right down in there. This is a middle row seat, and very inexpensive. Also very comfortable.
Fletcherson, I have seen some nice bomber seats on Ebay. I had thought about buying a couple of the seats that Stitchbtch sells for $180 a pair. This is what Bobs66440 has in his sweet ride and you can get them in many different colors.
Johnny (who has a really cool avatar in this forum) also had to cut the middle of his caravan seat to get it to fit and I was prepared to do that. I admit I was surprised I could get the seat in that low, but I may still have to make some modifications to it after I add bracing to the body. I'll keep everyone posted on how that goes
Is your body stock width? Mine is around 3" wider than an original T. Do you have a width figure for the front of the lower cushion?
Hello Bill, I measured the width of the seat cushion toward the front end at the widest point before it enters a radius into the narrower front edge. The widest I measured was 39.5". The body, at this same point measured 41." The seat is sitting about 6" from the floor to the bottom edge. I hope this helps. If I get a chance I'll take some more photos as there seems to be interest in this type of seat for these cars. My body, by the way, is an old Spirit body by my best guess.
Thank you. Is your body channeled? If it is, it sounds like it will work for me. At least width wise or bodies are close to the same size. At about 8" up from the bottom of the unchanneled body, mine is about 42" minus the lip around the passenger side door. The front bottom of the seat will be about 6" above the floor, with the body channeled. Now I need to start looking for a local one in grey, preferably in leather. I'm guessing that the same vintage Town & Countries would be the most likely candidates.
I did not know the NTBA regional is going to be in Indy. Have the dates been set? Maybe this year I'll have a real shot at getting there. We've planned on going the last 3 years, and every year wife or I have been ill or just recovering.
I am curious about why this seat fits without requiring narrowing (at least for now...but we'll see after I add body bracing). Here are some pics of my measurements...hard to hold a tape measure, a beer, and a camera all at once, and I'm not going to set my beer down
The bottom of the seat at its widest point near the front (39.25"):
The top of the seat at its widest point near the front (39.5"):
Then I took some measurements of the top lip of the t bucket body for total width, the first about where the front edge of the seat is (44.5"):
And then at the rear of the body at the widest point, near wear the seat back rest is (47"):
Finally, after all that hard work, I did a little drinking and driving
The bottom of the seat at its widest point near the front (39.25"):
The top of the seat at its widest point near the front (39.5"):
Then I took some measurements of the top lip of the t bucket body for total width, the first about where the front edge of the seat is (44.5"):
And then at the rear of the body at the widest point, near wear the seat back rest is (47"):
Finally, after all that hard work, I did a little drinking and driving
I also can't wait! It gives me a target date to shoot for on my build. I look forward to hearing about any details and truly mean it if you need any help in preparation, I'd be glad to contribute!
Hi Bill. My body is channeled over the frame about 3 to 4 inches. Hopefully the pics I just posted will help you. Once I bought the seat, I removed the lower mounts and the bracket that connects the seat base to the seat back and was able to set it nicely in the car. We must have wider than typical bodies because many guys who use these seats have to narrow them to get them to fit. What kind of body do you have on your car?
I hope you can make the regionals in Indy. I think the dates are September 24-26 at the Clarion Waterfront hotel in Speedway. It should be a great time and Ben has already guaranteed it
Hi Bill. My body is channeled over the frame about 3 to 4 inches. Hopefully the pics I just posted will help you. Once I bought the seat, I removed the lower mounts and the bracket that connects the seat base to the seat back and was able to set it nicely in the car. We must have wider than typical bodies because many guys who use these seats have to narrow them to get them to fit. What kind of body do you have on your car?
I hope you can make the regionals in Indy. I think the dates are September 24-26 at the Clarion Waterfront hotel in Speedway. It should be a great time and Ben has already guaranteed it
The pics are definitely a help....thanks. It's looking like mine will end up channeled 2-3/4" to 3". How are you planning on supporting the back cushion? Yes, ours are both wider than typical. According to a reference diagram I have, the roadster bodies were supposed to be 44-3/16"...but they did vary. Mine is also 47" at the widest point. I do not know who made mine...I bought it from a another member here. He said in his classified ad that it was made by someone in Mendingham Ms..
I'm not real sure yet on my plan for the back cushion. One idea I had was to build a hinge and attach it to the seat cushion so that I'd have a little storage space for coats etc. Another option is to simply Velcro it to the back of the body. Certainly open to suggestions...surely someone on here has done this before.
My original plan was something similar to what Fordnut has. I have a very heavy set of lever locking hinges from a power wheelchair similar to these...
The original wheelchair seat was simply plywood covered with fancy upholstery and padding. I was going to replace the plywood with bench seat width pieces, and paint the plywood with the same tinted roll on bed liner paint that I'm going to use on the rest of the interior. Initially I planned on fastening a 2 sets of boat seat cushions to the plywood...
But the more I thought about it, those boat seats are too small for this big ole butt, but I'd not figured out what to use instead.
I don't know what I'll do if I find a set of those seats, I just know I don't want to rely on the body for support. The back of the body will be channeled over the kick-up, so I'll probably try to fasten it to the kickup
Last edited:
No, in my case the lower half of the back of the body has been cut out, and frame kick-up will be inside the body. Here is a pic of my body on the previous owners' frame...
I'm taking it even farther back, so that the rear edge of the body will be directly over the axle...
Similar threads
