reasons for buying a complete chassis kit...

[Ted Brown]

This is to let you know that I am now in the very same boat as most of you... The only difference is the fact that I built and drove T Buckets for a living, for many, many years.
I am now a CUSTOMER same as you. I always thought of myself like a customer all these years anyway.

I look at everything about a T Bucket with LOVE for what it does for your soul while driving one...

That said... There is nothing I would love more than for every person that has ever wanted a T Bucket to have and drive one for themselves, without spending a ton of money.. Now granted, I look at these cars totally different than most of you all, why? because I can make most everything needed to make a good riding and handling car... BUT!!! I hate to buy parts as much as you do.. SO; Let's look at just what it really takes "money wise" to put one totally together and drive it...
What all do you have to BUY??? and what can you either make or get off an older, or late model car to use on your Bucket??
The main thing is a complete FRAME, that has NO MORE WELDING to be done on it...
BUT!! here is the BIG rub!!! it seems like no one wants a frame JUST like anyone/everyone else!!!????
Now that is the big problem right there..... BUT GUYS!!!!! Think about this, just how many T Buckets are there out there??? and the ones that are are all different colors and have many different types of wheels and tires, uph, tops or no tops, accessories= BLING!! radiators, engines, exhaust systems... just so many things that make each one different form the next cookie cutter/box/kit car, just like a 32 Ford Roadster, they are all the same but each person makes/changes them to make them different... Why would you not want to have a great/cheap, complete chassis (the hardest part of a T Bucket, for the average fellow or Lady to get together) and then do the rest to your own liking??? That way, it turns sharp, stops great and rides super... all the rest is BLING... The more money you have the more BLING you can afford..
I have very LITTLE BLING on my personal ride, NO CHROME at all, except a few dome nuts and few small trinkets... nothing big chromed at all, a very big money saver right there.... It is not hard to spend $20 large on a big built engine these days... CRAZINESS for a T Bucket, as they can not stick it to the pavement anyway. and, if they do, they do not know what direction it is going to take, just like a kid with a gun...

I see this ALL the time... A person has a big fancy/built engine ($10 to 20 grand) and trans sitting there and no cart to speak of... I personally know four or five guys that have MORE MONEY in their engines, than their chassis.. WHY??? when all you need is a good running stocker, of any size and make... a little BLING and you have a RACE CAR LOOKING engine, to the average person on the street... just is the COVER, just like a BOOK and most people judge a book by it's cover, same with cars, as they know nothing about what they are looking at anyway, same for most Hot Rodders, even car builders... most are in there dark... Sorry to say... But! That makes it GREAT for you... as you only want a GREAT looking and riding T Bucket, RIGHT???? That is all I want and need, they will tear the pants off any stocker type car on the road, BUT!! Please do not want to try and prove this out, as it will only get you heart ache and pain. not to mention the loss of lots of MONEY and maybe even your driving ticket to ride... Just knowing this fact, is all I need anymore, so no sense in drag racing or making a ton of nasty noise, that only draws the WRONG type of attention to yourself and your car, you look like a jerk, and act like a jerk as well, making strangers listen to all that NOISE to their ears, that is what it is to them NOISE, unwanted NOISE.... SO, keep it quiet and GREAT looking, and they all will want one, but MOST will never go to the trouble of putting one together...

SO; Let me know just how much it really costs to build a great chassis with complete body and cooling system these days, as all the rest can be easy to do or get... I would think... and if you need help with getting the rest, just hollar and I will tell you what or how I did it on the cheap...
If we all get our heads together, we should be able to come up with a STANDARD which will make most everybody happy for a chassis, one a straight axle rear and one with a JAG rear... Engine mounts can be pretty much a universal mount to the frame, then bolt on any mounts from there...
NO MORE WELDING at all... YES??
Just old Ted here

 

[Hot Rod Todd]

sounds promising to me Ted.

All I want in a CCR chassis, with chrome Jag bum & chrome front end, plus room for a blown 500 cube Caddy engine (cool old engines those), chromies and whitewalls and all done on a shoestring budget

Actually, I think the CCR kits and the Spirit kits would probably meet most of your aspirations.

 

[Fawkes]

This should be stickied and made mandatory reading. I am learning a ton. Ted, thanks for posting this.

 

[Ted Brown]

This should be stickied and made mandatory reading. I am learning a ton. Ted, thanks for posting this.

Todd, Thank You my friend, I just hope i can save a lot of people a lot of time and money. As these cars can be built for many different costs, depending on your skill level in many directions also... Some can do a lot and others can't, but they try, sometimes comes out good and other times, a waste of both... Can't beat a good riding/working T Bucket for sheer pleasure... as far as I am concerned...

 

[Youngster]

Ted, can you tell me what the spring rate is on a jag coil??

Ron

 

[Ted Brown]

Ron, I am into testing more-so than buying new parts, never bought a new coilover MYSELF, for me, as I don't use them on much, I have used a lot of jag coilovers, as to just what the rated rate is ?? I am kind of like a chef, go by taste and feel.. hehe

 

[GAB]

Ron, Here is a post from the NTBA tech page about measuring spring rate for an unknown spring:

Here is a method of checking spring rates yourself. You just need a bathroom scale, a scale (ruler), a couple of pieces of bar stock, and the biggie, an H-Frame press. If you have the rest of it, it probably wouldn't be too hard to find someone to let you use their press for a few minutes. I don't know that the bottom plate is entirely necessary. On these old scales, it seemed that the platen wanted to deflect in the center more than I liked so I put the piece on there. The bar on the top serves as a place to apply pressure and also as a pointer for reading the scale. Assemble the items as shown and use the adjuster to zero the scale. Bring the ram down until it just touches the bar on the top and the scale has not began to register. Read the scale for a dimension and then apply force to the spring with the ram. If the spring is light enough, you can travel it a full inch and get a direct reading. In other words, when you stop the ram at an even one inch of travel, the scale will read directly what the spring rate is. If it says 187, then you have a 187 lbs. per inch spring rate. What you have to watch out for is when the spring rate exceeds the scales capacity. That is what is shown in the photo. That is a spring off of a Harley and in the photo the reading is just about 147 lbs. What I had to do here is just travel the ram 1/2" since the scale is only a 250 lb. capacity. If I had of gone the full inch, I would have broke the scale. Since spring rates are lineal, it follows that the spring rate for this spring is 294 lbs. per inch. (2 x 147)

 

[Ted Brown]

George is really great with the pics and explaining things the right way, I am pretty good at doing, just not the best at explaining things to someone that is not into this type of work..

 

[Youngster]

thanks george....

Ron