Building a T from junk

[ScrapT]

Hey y'all, I am new here from East Texas. I'm not new to building cars however this is my first venture into something like this.

How it began- I bought a pickup truck that was seconds away from being crushed, after a few hours work I had it running and driving, then saw an abandoned unfinished T bucket project on Facebook and was able to trade said truck for the T.

Upon delivery, the T was ROUGH. But it had plenty of good parts, well worth the price I paid for it. I decided I wanted a more "traditional" style T and thought I would attempt to build one using what I had.


The first step was to take the frame and throw it in the scrap pile. It was so bad. I bought some 2x3 box and built my perimeter frame loosely based off the "youngster" plans. Next step was to mock everything up on the new frame to get my wheelbase correct.

Now I am currently trying to save the poor excuse of a fiberglass body that I have. This thing is warped and tweaked every direction except straight!

That being said, if anyone has a useable body in the Texas/Oklahoma/Louisiana/Arkansas area, I am interested! I am still fiddling with this one but I feel it is too far gone.

Thanks for reading and hopefully I can get some progress pics uploaded.

 

[ScrapT]

This is what I started with, someone had dumped a ton of money on parts into a terrible frame and body



And this is what I came up with for a mockup.

 

[Spanky]

Welcome to the family! Looks like you've got the makings of a good little hot rod there. Body-wise, you can probably salvage that one, but it kinda depends on what your plans are for the finished product. Driver? Show car? Rat rod? Also, what are your plans for a power train?

 

[Rich B]

Looks like that body is many steps ahead of the old drag car body I started with. You might be surprised what a plywood floor and body wood will do to improve your body. 'Glass body is easy work and correct in sags and warpage to the body sides and cowl.

 

[ScrapT]

I guess I should post the other side of the body, someone cut out the entire passenger side door with what appears to be a can opener or an axe, and then threw the piece away. I've made a copy of the driver side door using a couple layers of 1.5 oz mat but the door opening is not going to match. My best thought at salvaging it will be to have a smooth side with no door molding.

As for drivetrain I am a hoarder of small block Chevy's, it will receive whatever good running SBC and th350 trans I have laying around.

My initial build will be just make it run. Then go from there.

 

[RodStRace]

Welcome!
That body has a couple features that point to it being not the typical copy. It's got a cowl lip, and the rear section that fits under the stock turtle deck.
If you like those, they go a long way to looking old school. That would lean toward repairing it over replacing.
As for using one side to model for the other, they are mirror images of each other at best, not the same. There are suppliers of door kits which include the door and a part of the body.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-1923-25-Model-T-Roadster-T-Bucket-Fiberglass-Door-Kits,1422.html

The thing is, by the time you get that, install and finish it, you are over half way to a body. I'll link to this one, which is cheap but probably lots of work.

https://hotrodfiberglass.com/product/t-bucket-opening-door-1923-ford-fiberglass-body/

I'd look at the site sponsors who have really nice stuff.

The front is pretty low in the mockup. You have the axle center at almost the same height as the front crossmember. Most end up with the crossmember being the same height as the spindles (center of the kingpins) or higher. That front spring will end up being flat, especially using a spring over setup. It can be done, but thought I'd mention it. Setup your drivetrain and accessories and make sure things fit how you want.

 

[ScrapT]

Welcome!
That body has a couple features that point to it being not the typical copy. It's got a cowl lip, and the rear section that fits under the stock turtle deck.
If you like those, they go a long way to looking old school. That would lean toward repairing it over replacing.
As for using one side to model for the other, they are mirror images of each other at best, not the same. There are suppliers of door kits which include the door and a part of the body.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-1923-25-Model-T-Roadster-T-Bucket-Fiberglass-Door-Kits,1422.html

The thing is, by the time you get that, install and finish it, you are over half way to a body. I'll link to this one, which is cheap but probably lots of work.

https://hotrodfiberglass.com/product/t-bucket-opening-door-1923-ford-fiberglass-body/

I'd look at the site sponsors who have really nice stuff.

The front is pretty low in the mockup. You have the axle center at almost the same height as the front crossmember. Most end up with the crossmember being the same height as the spindles (center of the kingpins) or higher. That front spring will end up being flat, especially using a spring over setup. It can be done, but thought I'd mention it. Setup your drivetrain and accessories and make sure things fit how you want.

Thanks, I believe this is a "bird" body, I will be running a 20" truck bed so I had planned to trim those wings off anyway.

I plan to make it solid sided with no doors, and would love to just buy a new body but the shipping to TX absolutely kills it. Hard to pay the same amount for freight as what a body costs.

Spirit in Arkansas would be my best bet, they are within a days driving distance but I have not been able to reach them by phone.

As for the front axle I plan to buy a dropped I beam axle and run a reverse eye drop spring

 

[Spanky]

Spirit in Arkansas would be my best bet, they are within a days driving distance but I have not been able to reach them by phone.

Spirit does not have a large staff and usually one of the workers has to answer the phone. Keep trying, or email them. I have a Spirit body on my T.

 

[ScrapT]

Spirit does not have a large staff and usually one of the workers has to answer the phone. Keep trying, or email them. I have a Spirit body on my T.

Thanks, I just sent them an email. I'm still on the fence about the 32 style dash they use. I can't decide if I like it or not, however the quality of their body looks great. Did you buy one with floor installed or build it yourself?