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Hello all, new T bucket owner

ECMFab

ECMFab

Member
Hello all. I finally broke into the hot rod world after wanting to get something old and cool for a long time.

I ended up trading my tow truck for this guys T bucket. I liked his bucket even though it wasn't road worthy because it had a bunch of cool parts.

I got:
"22" T bucket. Its the fiberglass kit from California Custom Roadsters.
Powdercoated frame.
Edelbrock carb.
Nice intake manifold.
Long headers.
Lots of chrome and powder coated parts on car.
New tires and wheels. Spokes on motorcycle tires in front, Mickey Thompson 31x16x15 on black wheels in back.
Jag rearend.
Wilwood front discs.
Actual Ford motor (302 and new) in a Ford car, imagine that!
C4 trans.
All new auto meter gauges.

I damn near rebuilt the car in the last week and have found a few issues with it. It hasn't been on the road in quite some time and needs interior, needed brakes fixed, and trans pan gasket is leaking. Car had a leaking rear caliper (between the halves), front caliper bleeder screw issue, unnecessary wires, shock bolt issue, really scary body mounts (only 2), gas tank wasn't bolted down, and lots of loose bolts all over.
I guess the story with it was the original owner loved his t bucket and driving it then hated the painted frame so tore it apart, sent the frame to be powder coated, then lost interest when rebuilding it. Ive probably put close to 60 hours into the car now and its way closer to being road worthy than it was.IMG_9134.JPGIMG_9134.JPGIMG_9134.JPG
 
Build it safe first. worry about looks later. Nice looking Bucket .
 
Looks great. Enjoy the re-do. Make it what YOU want but like T-Test said, make it safe first.
 
Thanks for the comments guys! I fixed both caliper issues, and am going over this thing top to bottom. It doesn't need too much now, but definitely not rushing it. I'm a very thorough person and pretty anal when it comes to my stuff and doing things right. I worked in shops from 17 up until about 30 years old and just do auto work as a hobby now. It helped that I had a 3 day weekend to work in the garage and weld, cut, solder, tighten, etc. I welded in some 3/8" stainless nuts into the frame and corrected the hole placement on the tub, and then placed strips of rubber down under the fiberglass body. Thing is solid now. I also did the same bungs for the tank and its no longer flopping around.

Sorry about the multiple pics, I posted from my mac last night half asleep and don't know what happened. I tried to find the edit button and delete 2 of them but couldn't.
 
Very cool! I don't know if I'd like the exhaust blowing up like that - I'd probably adjust the collectors to turn out not up.
 
benT said:
Very cool! I don't know if I'd like the exhaust blowing up like that - I'd probably adjust the collectors to turn out not up.
Click to expand...
Yea, I agree. That was the first thing I changed. I thought that was really dumb, as I did exhaust systems for a long time. I tried them down at a 45, but I think I may just run them straight down. This pic was actually the photo he took after he loaded it up and delivered it to me. :)
 
Heres a few more pics. So Ive been calling around to see how much interior would be on this TINY car. So far its been 1200-1400 locally or 1000 for the mail order kitIMG_9010.JPG IMG_9012.JPG IMG_9011.JPG IMG_9151.JPG IMG_9216.JPG . Ouch. I may have my parachute rigger buddy run one of his 5 sewing machines and Ill buy all the material and foam. Im going to do the interior last, but was thinking now that the body is off it, maybe I can put in the back of a pickup and take it to Mexico. That will give me a good excuse to go have lobster in Puerto Nuevo.
 
ECMFab said:
Yea, I agree. That was the first thing I changed. I thought that was really dumb, as I did exhaust systems for a long time. I tried them down at a 45, but I think I may just run them straight down. This pic was actually the photo he took after he loaded it up and delivered it to me. :)
Click to expand...

You may want to reconsider turning the exhaust to point down. I say this because there are times where you may have to drive it on some very dusty areas and they will stir up a lot of dirt onto your car and anyone in the area. I've seen it happen too many times, especially if a show is on a grassy area. Pointing it out to the side is the best. IMHO

Jim
 
That crossed my mind as well Jim, as I was thinking about rolling it out of garage and into the driveway before firing it up! I didn't think of the dusty problems while in the car though! Thanks for the insight. Out to the side is where the final resting place may end up being.
 
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