My First T-Bucket Build

[cmcdanl]

Brand new they were about $50 each on amazon. Not too bad. I really liked the idea of having seats that folded down so you can create some kind of storage behind them.

 

[cmcdanl]

Over the weekend I got the radiator mounts finished up and mounted the radiator. Welded together the steering box bracket, welded it to the frame and mounted the steering box. And welded a frame for the gas tank to sit on and mounted the gas tank. The radiator shell isn't mounted so it might look a little crooked in the pictures.

 

[bobs66440]

Excellent progress!

 

[Zandoz]

Started working on the radiator and shell over the holiday. I chopped the shell about 5 inches and positioned them in the frame where I wanted them to sit, and started making some brackets to mount the radiator. It sits about an inch or two higher than I would like, but if I put it any lower then I would be worried about the radiator scraping the floor over speed bumps. I am using a radiator out of an old Dodge Aspen. Fits really good inside the shell after some cutting, and should be plenty big enough. I don't have any pictures of the mounts yet, they aren't done. But you can see about where they will sit. I also got my seats. Girlfriend bought them for me for Christmas! I wanted these boat seats for a few reasons. They are cheap, low, soft, fold down, and will leave room for a driveshaft tunnel. I want to sit as low as possible in the car. I do plan to tilt them back a little bit for comfort. They are just sitting in there now to get a feel for it. Thinking about getting them reupholstered but I don't know yet. I'll have to see what they look like when the car is finished.

The boat seats are a good idea. I was wracking my brain trying to come up with a good (read cheap) alternative to expensive bomber seats, but never thought of that...

I'm going with the boat seats also. I did a bit of research before getting mine, and found out that the hinges are generally their Achilles heel. I got surplus power wheel chair seat hinges off ebay, that are similar in design but MUCH heavier, to correct this.

 

[cmcdanl]

I'm going with the boat seats also. I did a bit of research before getting mine, and found out that the hinges are generally their Achilles heel. I got surplus power wheel chair seat hinges off ebay, that are similar in design but MUCH heavier, to correct this.

That's interesting to know. I'll keep that in mind. I only way 150 lbs so I'm not that worried about breaking them. But if I have trouble with them then I'll look into that. Thanks.

 

[cmcdanl]

Made a battery box this week. I used 1 1/4" angle iron. 4 mounting holes. Two on the side of the frame and two on the bottom to make it really sturdy. I drilled and tapped the with a 5/16 #18 tap. Here are some pictures, also a couple pics of how I mounted the gas tank.

 

[bobs66440]

That looks nice. Just keep an eye on it because even though you have 4 mounting points, there is a lot if weight hanging down and a lot of leverage on those points.

 

[cmcdanl]

Yeah I was a little worried at first so I decided to do the 90 degree angle to create the 4 mounting points. I think the fact that there are two different mounting angles will keep it very sturdy. I stood on it and it held my body weight just fine.

 

[bobs66440]

Excellent! I look forward to more to progress pics!

 

[cmcdanl]

Made some headlight mounts and mounted the headlights yesterday. I wanted them low and out front. I like the way it turned out.

 

[bobs66440]

Cool! I like it!

 

[baddawgcustoms]

Good placement. Very close to the model A position which looks good with that shell.

 

[benT]

Headlights and grill look great!

 

[cmcdanl]

Thanks guys for the nice comments! Since the headlights are mounted right in line with the frame rails, I'm not sure how I'm going to mount some shocks later on. If you guys have any ideas for front shock mounts, feel free to chime in. I was originally planning on making my own frictions shocks, which is why there are bolts welded inside the frame and sticking out the sides of the front crossmember. That could still possibly work with out any clearance issues, but I am really wanting to do some real shocks for a smoother ride.

 

[cmcdanl]

Tail lights mounted...

 

[iajjpop]

I like the head lights mounted that way. I would like to see you incorporate the shock mounts onto the headlight brackets....

 

[guilld]

Will the rear be too stiff with both leaf and coil overs?

 

[cmcdanl]

Will the rear be too stiff with both leaf and coil overs?

I will find out when I drive it. The coil overs came from a Harley, so they aren't quite as stiff. And I can always take leafs out of the leaf spring. In this case, the spring is mostly just working to keep the rear end in place instead of a panhard bar or 4 link. If it's too stiff I will take a couple leafs out, but me and a friend bounced on it and it seems ok for now.

 

[bobs66440]

It doesn't look like there's too much room between the coils either for travel. They may end up bottoming out. Like you said, you'll find out...

Why did you use coil over instead of just shocks?

 

[cmcdanl]

I like the head lights mounted that way. I would like to see you incorporate the shock mounts onto the headlight brackets....

The square tubing I used for the headlight mounts is pretty thin, so that probably wouldn't be a good idea. One thing I'm wondering is if I mount the shock mounts in between the headlights, since they will be closer together than I have normally seen, will that cause a noticeable difference in the ride? If I mount them outside the headlights, there might be clearance issues with the steering arm. And I don't want the mounts to be in front of the headlights for obvious reasons.