My T Bucket

[Mr T Bucket]

Figured it might be time for a Mr. T Bucket's T bucket thread.

I had always wanted a T bucket, for as long as I could remember. Had always thought I'd go the easy and less expensive way of a SBC drivetrain, if I were to build one from scratch. Having paid my dues in the Mopar world, I figured I'd deserve the ease of going Chevy if I built a rod.

I'd started working in the parts department at a Ford dealer in November of '98. I was 27. The guy that I sort of replaced, had a bad habit of buying stuff and turning around and selling it for half price some time later. Had a Chevy truck and a couple other cars, that he'd bought, fixed up, then dumped before I started working there. He too, wanted a T bucket.

One day, about 9 months after he left, he stopped by with something to show me. In the back of his truck was a T bucket frame, built by a local bodyshop guy from CCR's plans. He told me of a deal on some old Mustang parts he got while doing an insurance adjustment for a guy. Couple of 302s, c4, 8 inch. I stood there in the parking lot looking at the primered frame in the back of his Dakota and I knew I was looking at the frame that would be my T bucket frame.

3 months later, he called me. And yes, it was half price. Came with all the Ford stuff too.

March of 2001

Yes, if you do the math, it has been 11 years since I started my project. I am only a couple months away from firing up the engine, but being able to drive it may be later this summer or fall. I've not had a schedule, mainly buying stuff only when I need it and can afford it. But that has allowed me to think things through and make sure I can do it the way I want it.

Donut spare tires for kicks and a cardboard body with coathanger windshield frame.

Push broom for steering column (look at previous picture) and cardboard steering wheel.

Even had a working door. Spent several nights in the garage sitting inside the cardboard body, wishing it was fiberglass, wishing the front wheels turned when I moved the cardboard steering wheel, thinking of running down the road with my elbows only inches away from big steam roller tires.....the stuff dreams are made of.

I got to thinking that the crusty Ford stuff was actually pointing me in a direction that many avoided. A Ford in a Ford. Since I was working at a Ford dealer, it seemed only fitting. I started to get a picture in my head of what I wanted. Late 60's, early 70's fab style. Munster's coach style if you will. Frankenstein's ride if you were to name it, LOL. Got the idea?

 

[Mr T Bucket]

November of 2001

I build model cars when I was younger. One of my favorites, had a Cobra motor in a Model A delivery. The Cobra T oil pan was always really bitchin' to me. Started looking around and wouldn't you know it, they were reproducing that pan. Having experience dealing with Mopar muscle cars and scarce parts, you buy them when you can get them. This was the first part I bought after getting the frame and crusty bits.

Kinda wakes you up when you realize it's been 10 years since I bought that oil pan. Looks good though! My plans are for a black wrinkle finish with the fins and Cobra sanded/machined so that the bare aluminum shows through, much like the Motorsport valve covers and oval air cleaners.

 

[butch27]

Hey: Get humping in that . You're missing a lot of fun .

 

[Youngster]

I like your body. Cardboard is a dreamers friend.

Ron

 

[jimbo01]

Figured it might be time for a Mr. T Bucket's T bucket thread.

I had always wanted a T bucket, for as long as I could remember. Had always thought I'd go the easy and less expensive way of a SBC drivetrain, if I were to build one from scratch. Having paid my dues in the Mopar world, I figured I'd deserve the ease of going Chevy if I built a rod.

I'd started working in the parts department at a Ford dealer in November of '98. I was 27. The guy that I sort of replaced, had a bad habit of buying stuff and turning around and selling it for half price some time later. Had a Chevy truck and a couple other cars, that he'd bought, fixed up, then dumped before I started working there. He too, wanted a T bucket.

One day, about 9 months after he left, he stopped by with something to show me. In the back of his truck was a T bucket frame, built by a local bodyshop guy from CCR's plans. He told me of a deal on some old Mustang parts he got while doing an insurance adjustment for a guy. Couple of 302s, c4, 8 inch. I stood there in the parking lot looking at the primered frame in the back of his Dakota and I knew I was looking at the frame that would be my T bucket frame.

3 months later, he called me. And yes, it was half price. Came with all the Ford stuff too.

March of 2001

Yes, if you do the math, it has been 11 years since I started my project. I am only a couple months away from firing up the engine, but being able to drive it may be later this summer or fall. I've not had a schedule, mainly buying stuff only when I need it and can afford it. But that has allowed me to think things through and make sure I can do it the way I want it.

Donut spare tires for kicks and a cardboard body with coathanger windshield frame.

Push broom for steering column (look at previous picture) and cardboard steering wheel.

Even had a working door. Spent several nights in the garage sitting inside the cardboard body, wishing it was fiberglass, wishing the front wheels turned when I moved the cardboard steering wheel, thinking of running down the road with my elbows only inches away from big steam roller tires.....the stuff dreams are made of.

I got to thinking that the crusty Ford stuff was actually pointing me in a direction that many avoided. A Ford in a Ford. Since I was working at a Ford dealer, it seemed only fitting. I started to get a picture in my head of what I wanted. Late 60's, early 70's fab style. Munster's coach style if you will. Frankenstein's ride if you were to name it, LOL. Got the idea?

I too have wanted a bucket for many years. My story is similar to yours with a couple of twists and turns. I was laid off from my job a little over a year ago. I seen the writing on the wall a few years earlier when I was a manager for this company and had time to get my finances in order before the axe dropped and we all hit the street.
After I was laid off a whole new world opened up for me. I was able to do things that I didn't have time to do before as I worked every weekend, multiple shifts and holidays. This last year I went to several car shows which is something I hadn't done in a number of years. The first car show I went to there was a T Bucket there and my wheels got to spinning. I jumped on the internet and looked up bucket page after bucket page to see what it would cost to build one. That's when I ran across Youngster's plans and found this site a short time later. The next thing I needed to do was come up with a way to raise funds for this project. It all started when someone came to my house looking for an oil pan for an old Cub Cadet lawn tractor that I had for sale. The guy ended up buying my pride and joy tractor and the oil pan. I then sold off all the extra parts I had. Then I bought a couple more Cubs that I found for sale on Craigslist and parted them out and sold those parts on ebay as well. I then pulled a few odd jobs to make even more money. Everything just started to fall into place for this project. With the money I earned I built my frame, bought my body, suspension parts, rear end, spindles, motor mounts and tranny mount and all the odd and ends needed to complete these jobs.
I had every intention of putting a small block Chevy in this Ford bucket myself. One day the Father in law decided he wanted to unload an old truck he had and wanted to know if I was interested in it. I went and looked the truck over and went back to see him a couple of weeks later to seal the deal. I wanted to make sure he understood that I wasn't buying his truck to restore it. I wanted to gut it and take engine and tranny and then find a new home for the left over carcass. He agreed to it and I went back out to look the truck over one more time to make sure this is what I wanted and to also figure out how I was going to get the thing removed from its place of storage and then get it to my house.
I went back to look at the truck later that day and to my surprise, someone stole the truck since the last time I had been there. Got the Father in Law on the phone and filed a police report. The truck had been sitting there for 14 years with no problems. Well as it turns out, the owner of the property (father in laws friend) sold it or gave it to someone. The whole truth hasn't been revealed nor do I think that it ever will be. Needless to say once the thief found out that he had a warrant out for his arrest for grand theft auto he had the truck in an enclosed trailer and personally delivered it to my driveway. Later that day I put a battery in it, hooked up a temp gas tank and had that 302 running with a couple of cranks. That engine sounded awesome with no knocks, ticks or smoke and I was in heaven. Called the father in law and told him the news. He then proceeded to tell me that the engine had just been rebuilt prior to being put away. The engine, heads and intake were all originally built in Dec. of 1967 and the tranny is a 1966 C-4 according to all the numbers and several more hours of internet research.
I then pulled the engine and tranny the next day and had the truck sold a few days later. The guy that bought the truck gave me more money then the father in law thought that he could get for it with the engine and tranny in it. Needless to say, it was a win win situation for everyone involved except for maybe the guy that had to return the truck and face me and my father in law. I got a free drive train and my father in law had a nice fat wallet. Sometimes things just work out that way like things worked out for you and your half price friend. I also just started a new job this week and to my surprise, I'll be making more money then I did at the job I used to have. I'm even jumping fields and putting my CDL back to work for me. Soon I'll be back to buying parts and making more progress on the Bucket. I'm thinking that I should have it up and running by the end of the summer or early fall. Then it can get painted over the winter and get the thing registered and then live my dream. This is a picture of the 1950 ford that was used as a donor as it had sat next to the barn for those 14 years.

 

[Mr T Bucket]

Cool story on the truck! So did you guys just call the cops up and say, "Someone, we don't know who, left it in our driveway overnight." LOL.

January of 2002, I bought a Corvair box off ebay for $75 and that included the long arm. Took it apart at work and reversed it mere hours after the UPS guy dropped it off. My first modified part! Yay!

I had a pretty specific list in my head of what I needed, in order for my T to look how I wanted it to. Of prime importance, were the front wheels. Anything other than 18" Hallcraft wires just wouldn't do. Unfortunately, they had quit making them just the previous year or so. They had started to make 16" wires with the beefier hubs and a rumor of 18" coming down the pike had me waiting with fingers crossed. Even though I didn't dig the look of the bigger hubs, having new wheels vs trying to scavenge a decent used set appealed to me. Then word came that there would be no 18" version. Dang! Just get started on my project and roadblock number 1. Without those wires on the front, I'd have to rethink the direction of my T. For me, the coolest T's are the dropped tube axle so far in the weeds, it digs worms out of the ground, LOL, with spindly dragster wheels and huge back tires, top raked to the moon, tall motor with freaky chrome pipes. Without the wires, I'd have to go 50's style with cheater slicks, whitewalls and steelies. And that didn't excite me much.

I was surfing the web in March of 2002, and came across an ad. Actually, came across it on two different boards. 18" Hallcrafts, with tires, tubes, calipers, rotors and caliper mounting brackets. No spindles. 3,000 miles since new. Won't tell you what the price was, but it was a lot. Had to borrow the money from my parents. Didn't know when I'd see another set like this.

Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed in them. In June I got the 6" (or was it 5"..hmmmm) dropped tube from MAS Racing. In July I got the chrome spindles from Total Performance and the rest of the hardware came in October of 2002. The sum of the pieces netted me this:

 

[Youngster]

Ya just gotta dig that double bend front axle. Too bad they went out of business.

Ron

 

[jimbo01]

That front end is going to look slick. I'd love to have spokes like too.

 

[jimbo01]

This is where the story gets screwy. We call the father in law when we found that the truck gone. He lives a couple of hours away and doesn't drive after dark or at least an hour before dusk LOL. We met out there the next morning and he brought the title and then we called the police. They showed up maybe 30 minutes later and asked who owned the house bla bla bla. The owner of the house, pole barn, property and the 5 tractors plus the other truck sitting in the driveway belongs to a old friend of the father in law. He doesn't even live there and nobody uses any of the equipment, house or pole barn. Nothing else was touched or broken into.
The father in law calls his old friend (owner of the property) and explains to him what had happened and that the police had been there. The old friend wanted to know if any of his stuff was missing or broken into and the answer was no, not that we could see. We thought it would be in his best interest to come take a look for himself and make that call. Well needless to say he never came out to take a look.
We went to a couple of neighbors houses and asked if they had seen anything being hauled out of there. One farmer told us that the last time he went to cut hay and gave us the date, he said it was still there. That would have only been a couple of days since we had been there to look at it the first time. The police had called the owner of the property and went through the story that we told them and they asked him the same questions and also told him that he may want to come and take a look for things of his that may be missing and report it as well. Once again he never showed any interest.
The police called us a week or so later and said that the owner of the property had called and left her a voice mail stating that he knew where the truck was which was a couple of hours away. He told the police so many stories ranging from father in law sold it to him and I think the last one was he was doing the father in law a favor and was going to get it running and deliver it to his house. The officer had been in touch with the prosecuting attorney and the prosecuting attorney gave the guy one week to get it back to us no questions asked. It was then that I wanted it delivered to my place which was only a few miles from were it had been stored. He told the police that he feared retaliation from me in the forum of bodily harm. I've never even met the man and the officer offered her assistance if he felt that statement to be true. He then declined her protection. So a date was set up and he wanted the father in law and myself to be there so he could get things smoothed over between him and the father in law and me to be there so he knew where to park the and thing.
I think the reason he brought it in the enclosed trailer was he feared being taken to the gray bar motel. He came and the bull$h!t stories flowed. When the thief left my father in law had had enough of the truck and the crap that went with it and signed over the title and gave me the truck. The like the other part of my story goes got it started and then pulled the engine. Few days later I had a couple of people that were interested in it. The first person thought it was a chevy and seen the amount of work the thing was going to take and decided they didn't want it. The second person took one look and dropped $1000.00 in my hand and hauled it off a couple of days later. My father in law was pretty surprised and happy to see that money since he offered to sell me the truck for $500.00. I took what I wanted and it didn't cost me a thing. The father in law took the cash and made more then he would have if I had bought it. Like I said before, it's funny how things work out.
The reason we knew the owner of the property was involved was simple. The pole barn and house was locked. I would think that MAYBE the reason the barn was locked was because of the valuables inside. No windows or doors broke on the house either. Nothing else was stolen like the tractors that would have been a scrappers dream. The one John Deere that sat in front of the pole barn would have been much easier to take and I'll bet could sell for 8-10 grand. The 8N that sat off to the side of the truck would have been an easy steal and would have brought in $1500 or better.
I just wonder what kind of stories were told on the other end. Like the person that bought it from the property owner. Guess it doesn't matter now but make me say Hummmmmm.

 

[Mr T Bucket]

October 2005

I had always liked the CCR bodies, and since my frame had been setup according to their plans, it was like fate or something. My only reservation with CCR, is/was, the 14" bed length looked too short to me, and the 20" looked too long. It was weird, cause a 14" bed looks ok with most of the other manufacturer's bodies, but I guess because the CCR body looks to be a bit bigger, the 14" bed just didn't do it for me. I figured I'd just by the 20" version and cut it down or go with another company's bed. Got to check out a couple of the CCR bodies in person when the T Bucket Nationals were held in Overland Park, Kansas in 2003. Since I'm like 10 minutes from there, it worked in my favor. Lucky or unlucky for me, Frank Hogan from Hot Rod Alley in Texas, didn't have one of the bodies I was wanting with him at the Nationals, but I held onto his business card. Couple years later I called him up. He had a standard length w/door and a 20" bed for sale. Was a demo body and it even had an aluminum firewall already installed. Couldn't pass up on the price, and in October of '05, this arrived:

I had also sprung for my back tires (29 x 18.5) and the cheapest wheels I could find. Couldn't afford what I really wanted, which at the time, were the ET Classic 5. Similar to a standard Cragar, but about $600 a piece for full polish. Yikes. For something that may not be on the road anytime soon, I just couldn't justify it. But I knew I would need something for mockup. Black Nascar style steel wheels were $90 each and will do (and have done) what I've needed them to do. That is, hold air. LOL.

 

[Zack]

That is looking great Chris. It is coming along nicely. I always loved getting to this point in mock up to see somewhat how it is going to look. Keep the pics coming.

 

[Mr T Bucket]

January 2007

I spent the next summer getting a game plan for the front suspension. I had received some rough cut CCR front axle wing brackets in my T deal and decided early on that I didn't want the axle sitting as far out as the CCR brackets would put it. I had always like the shape of the Total brackets and played around with extending them some, but finally chose to stick with their production pieces. This would put the axle the same distance from the spring as the spring from the frame's front tube. Symmetrical. Nice.

The radius rods were giving me somewhat of a problem. I couldn't find the material I needed according to CCR's specs, and although there were a couple of guys on the forums building rods for folks, I kinda wanted to do them myself. I wanted the bends done just so, and plus, trying to figure out the correct length without having everything together or mocked up on a table, seemed next to impossible. I finally settled on some 4130 chromolly from the local aircraft supplier. A buddy's dad had a brand new Lincoln Square Wave TIG that had been sitting in the box for 3 years, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I may end up doing them over, or having someone else build them, but I think they'll be fine for now.

I liked the setup of CCR's steering arms and since they didn't have any that would fit the Total Performance spindles at the time, I bought whatever they had....

...cut the mounting legs off....

....and made new ones.

I really liked playing around with that TIG. While I had it, the fuel rail on the 3.3 in my Fifth Avenue started leaking at the crimp joints. A new one was ridiculously priced and a used one was taking a chance. Soooo, with nothing to lose, I fixed it. Amazing being able to weld paper thin stuff and then 3/8" stuff, all without warping or burn-through. Sigh, only money, right? Somewhere I have a pic of the fuel rail, but can't find it right now. I'll post it if I find it.

 

[Mr T Bucket]

I know what you're thinking and yes, that is my family room.

I need my garage for complete vehicles, LOL. I would move the T project into the garage for parts of the winter to do fab work where I needed the whole thing set up, and hopefully the car that usually resided in that spot in the garage would only have to sit out for a couple weeks. Then, I'd break it all down and move it back into the family room, one piece at a time, just like a ship in a bottle.

As far as a current update goes, I moved the pile of pieces to the garage a year ago for the last time.

 

[BodyCount]

OH!! Thats amazing!!! Build a car inside the house!! I wish i have space for this...

 

[Mr T Bucket]

September 2007

Now that the front suspension was done enough to locate the front end where I wanted it, it was time to turn my attention to the back end. I couldn't do the rear suspension until the body and bed were where I wanted them. The body was easy. Put it on the frame and done. The bed, well it was too long. You'll remember in my previous post about the different length beds. Even in different manufacturers, the same "12 inch" or "14 inch" advertised length, was different. Some measured the length of the top side rail of the bed, while others measured in the middle to the back of the body. The only way to get it right, was to do it myself

The 20" bed that came with my body, meant I had a blank canvas to do what I want. While it is easier to shorten a long bed, than lengthen a short one, it still takes work. I marked out a Z cut to remove 4 inches.

The pieces fit together really well.

But, not without some problems. The alignment was off somewhat on both sides.

What I did, was sand the middle corners down thin, and then glass both sides nice and thick. Whenever I get around to finishing the bodywork, there will be plenty of material to take down to a nice level surface.

This is the 20" bed....

And this is the new, 16" bed, plus with the back end kicked up a bit more for that attitude. Mmmmmm. Delicious!

Signature pic I used for a while on the NTBA site.

One of my favorite pics. Clean, bare bones, but showing just enough "skin" to get you excited!!

 

[Mr T Bucket]

Zack, it was always funny to see the look on people's faces when they'd walk in downstairs and see it sitting there. We've all heard about the stories (ok, ooold stories) of guys on a college campus taking a car apart and putting it together in someone's dorm or the commons area. Matter of fact, I seem to remember an episode of Mork & Mindy where Mork took Mindy's Jeep and put it together in their/her living area. It ended up crashing through the floor to the downstairs apartment, LOL. Edit: Ha ha, that episode is on youtube. Search for Mork and Mindy Mork the prankster.

 

[Zack]

LOL, i hear ya. that is cool though. I would love to have brought mine inside to work on it.

 

[Mr T Bucket]

By this time, actually, not long after getting all the initial frame, engine, trans and rear end deal, I tore down both 302s. One was a '77 block out of I think an LTD II, which is where the trans was from. That block was already 30 over and had a chip out of the rear main seal area and now junk. I cleaned it up and mounted it to the engine stand for mockup. The other block was a '68 302 out of an Econoline. Standard bore. Yay! But it had an issue with the timing cover area. Somewhere along the way, one of those thin little bolts broke. Someone tried to drill it out and drilled it too big. They then tried to tap it out to the next size bigger, but wen they did, they cracked the block webbing from the timing are. Dang. Really hated that cause I wanted to use that motor. Over the years, I've thought about maybe looking into having it fixed but the cost isn't cheap. Generally, a 302 is not that hard to find a standard bore non-roller. Or so I thought.

 

[Mr T Bucket]

October 2007

I'm not sure why getting the engine and transmission crossmembers were next on the to-do list, but they were. Maybe it was because they were something I hadn't quite figured out in my head at that point, and I think it was Donsrods that posted some pics of one of his sons Ts that was running a SBF driveline that showed a possible fix. I couldn't quite figure out exactly what the mounts really looked like that Speedway and others had listed. Almost like they were drawings of parts, instead of actual pictures. Plus not having dimensions listed didn't help. I drew up a picture of what I was looking for, and asked Don for info. And it was good.

I wanted a full crossmember for the engine, instead of just a mount on each frame rail. But getting a tube around that funky Cobra pan didn't seem easy. But it was! Like it was made exactly for it.

I mounted it to junk block #1 that was on the engine stand and it cleared everywhere I needed it to.

Next up was the transmission. I ordered a 4 inch drop but found out almost right away it wasn't going to be enough. The 6 inch drop showed up a couple days later. Time for mockup!

I sat the engine and transmission on some blocks and set the frame down around it. Then put the crossmembers on and lifted the frame up under them to see if the angle I wanted for the frame matched the drops of both mounts.

Everything looked good, so it was time to close my eyes and drill some big ol' holes. Well, I looked while I drilled, but it was still a big step. The nice thing about steel, is you can weld it up and grind it down and fix just about anything that needs done. I just don't like redoing things, so punching 2 inch holes in the frame, well, I was nervous, LOL.

Instead of using the supplied plates for the mounts so that you could bolt in the crossmembers, I wanted them solid, so I welded them in. I made it so that you could slip the tube in one side, and then pull the other end up and in the hole.

That way, you could mount the engine and transmission in the frame, the weight of the driveline was supported by the hole in the frame rail, the distances between the mounts were correct, and that everything would be set by eye-balling (and actual measurements) of the actual engine or heads, or manifold end rails....basically just like putting an engine in a model car. Tack the mounts into the frame, remove the engine and transmission, and then finish weld everything. I was pleased with the outcome.

Like I said, I did actually measure to make sure everything was right, as is evidenced by my home made plumb bob (washer on a string) hanging from the water pump.

The Cobra on the side of the oil pan was visible from the side through the radius rods, just like I planned. Remember, black wrinkle finish with the machined/sanded aluminum Cobra looking out at you. Cool.

Finish welding with a quick Krylon primer coat.

Better shot of the crossmember clearance around the pan. Some trimming of the mount that is welded to the tube will be in order, but just some minor cleaning/grinding to blend it to the tube.

Another sig pic for a while.....

Being able to bounce the front spring and frame up and down with the weight of the engine and transmission in the frame was almost like kissing a girl for the first time. Sweet! (and I wanted to keep doing it, LOL)

Next up, rear suspension!!!

 

[Mr T Bucket]

After mounting the engine and transmission, I got nervous about the header clearance around the steering box. I went through all my picture files, looking at CCR style setups, and decided that I wouldn't know for sure, unless I had my headers. Didn't want to spend that kind of dough just yet, but knew I'd better get them and check everything before going any further.

Luckily, they cleared.

I'd prefer a little more room, but a lot of the ones I had pics of, were setup the same.

My favorite style, with the 90 degree bends. Sanderson brand.