Covid Project - 80's Project T-Rod

Here is a pic of my T-bucket I bought in Aug 2020...was sitting for 3 yrs. Needs a full tear down and restoration. This is going to take a couple of years and a lot of patience....wish me luck. I'll post pics as I continue to progress.

 

Tear down beginnings

 

Eliminated the Ford 9 inch towing package....lol

 

Alternator was rigged with some crazy type of idler pulley contraption. I removed the alternator and performed a drivers side re-mount. The frame was in the way on the passenger side to allow movement, so I had to revert to an elevated mounting on the drivers side.

 

Great project, Randy. It is a little rough, but the bones are there, so with a little work and a lot of TLC it should make a nice bucket. What will you use to replace the wooden bed box?

 

Good looking project to start with. Lots of good stuff there to work with.

 

Nice pics.
Mine came with the exact same body you have... the "ridge" along the back is identical.
Not sure if it is an old Total Performance one or not... the glass they used to fabricate the body is that old thick orange-y stuff.
It's still strong, but if you plan on cutting a door, be sure to add some more wood for reinforcement.
I hated those "sleigh horns" sticking out at the bottom tail, so I cut 'em off and glassed over the holes.
Let the fun begin!

 

Thanks for the input...I may slash the "sleigh horns" as well. I noticed there's a tiny crack on the edge of them and they don't really add any appeasement to the body. Last night, I cleared the firewall and removed the body. I built my own inexpensive hanging system to elevate the body (until I get around to bodywork and paint). I simply used (4) small plant hooks, (4) straps of equal length, and two 2x2x6's.

 

To replace the rear wood box...I'm considering my options about what I should do. My first thoughts were a standard fiberglass bed and lid for the fuel cell and battery. Any thoughts?

 

That's my preference, obviously. My head is still in the 60's for hot rods, and both Grabowski and Ivo chose that look. Works for me . . .

 

What Spanky said. And put a bulkhead between tank and battery.

 

In addition to having the traditional look, a bed gives you lots of ways to hide things, plus a wee bit of storage if you plan it right.
Like choppedtop said, be sure to physically separate your battery from your tank... thus keeping explosions to a minimum.
I also highly recommend an Odyssey Extreme battery if you can afford one.
They are small, sealed and take up so little room I was able to mount mine under the dash.

 

Thanks. I’ll definitely separate the battery and tank if I mount the battery in the rear. I’ll also check out the extreme battery. It may be a good option for mounting in the bucket floor under the seat? I’m considering all my options.

 

I have my Odyssey 925 Under/behind the dash. Helps with keeping the cables short to the starter and ground.

 

The battery behind the dash sounds interesting. Any chance of sharing a pic or two on your mounting and installation?

 

I separated my battery & gas tank :

 

Small block chevy lower aldernator bracket ( on ebay or speedway motors or ron pope motorsports ) : It mounts the alternator on the driver's side by the frame. It costs about $20.00.

 

It's been a while, but I'm making some progress on my project. Here's some pictures of adding the rear shocks and pan-hard bar. Took off the rear drums and did a cleaning and evaluation. Everything is clean and the shoes and wheel cylinders look good.

 

Some updates on the new front axle and spindles.

 

I had to figure out how to fabricate my own "vega" steering mount for cross-steering mounting. There wasn't any room to mount it inside the frame, so I had to create an external mount that would allow the steering box to maintain clearance with the radiator dipping down.