explain my thinking...

[Ted Brown]

My thinking while I was building T Buckets, how can I make an impractical car practical??? Plus, I had to use parts that were available all over the country, or at least to me, over the long haul...
This way of thinking was very hard on me, and the build... Now, that I am retired and not wanting to build the same car over and over, like CCR has to do, I can rethink the whole process, and I love it... This way if I find, or think of, something totally different, I can use it, now I know why Dan Woods had such a great time building one off cars. Just to know I would never have to do it again, makes it all a ton of FUN, not work, even though I loved what I did, I will LOVE this much more...
I may have not mentioned just why I did do some thing different than I did at the start, to try and make these T Buckets much safer and easier to drive, comfort in seating, steering ease, braking ease, ease in just getting in and out of a real hotrod, as real hot rods have no doors, at least these type of Roadster Rods...
Why these type of front ends are called suicide front ends?? Because if a spring (main leaf or mount) broke, the whole chassis will hit the ground, this can be a fatal happening while driving in traffic... SO: I make my front springs 48 inches long now, so that they pass through/in between, my radius rods, this way if something breaks (a spring or mount) the chassis only falls maybe an inch, at most... Before I used to make my top spring mounting plate with a long finger extending way out over the axle and bent downward at the end, to hold the chassis up in case of a failure, well it also works to mount my ft. plate as well.
Now I do not need that safety bracket, but I do need a place to mount my ft. plate, so I continue to use that same top mounting spring plate to MT. my front plate.
I always tried to kill as many Birds with one stone as I could... like my Front shock/headlight bracket/mount, two in one, and a person can either mount the headlights wide, directly on that mount, or with another bolt on bracket/crossbar, I like the headlights mounted narrower, as I think it gives an older look, and that crossbar also makes the shock/headlight brackets stronger by tieing them together, takes out any vibration, if any were to happen. Plus I guess I just like all the cross bars on the older cars, as it just says OLD... like Me!Some people say if you want an easy steering car, buy a new Honda or Leixas, (?? spelling? hehe) well that kind of thinking sucks! as far as I think anyway... Why not make it steer (and stop) as easy as possible??
Just what does this? LEVERAGE!!! Plus the fact that you are working with a very light weight car, with narrow ft. wheels, this is a snap when you think about it... I can palm steer my T Bucket from lock to lock as long as I am moving at all... This makes it soooo GREAT/EASY to park or just driving any time. One finger will work down the freeway... (best to be ready for any sudden changes in road conditions, like traffic, or a pot hole) I have run into soo many different situations over the years and miles, that would scare you to Death. And I do have an Angel riding on my shoulder, and She can fly as fast as I drive, most of the time, anymore Between Her and my faithful T Roadster, (She is also a Lady) they have saved my life more than once. Great steering and stopping are a MUST!!!! Looks and ride are pretty much comfort creatures... now days I am giving a Rat Rod type of look more thought, as it will be the same car, only with all the fancy BLING, with is not needed to have a ball, or to be safe... or even comfortable... which I like more and more as the years go by... Gettin old has some good stuff as well as Senior discounts.. hehe

 

[Rick]

My thinking while I was building T Buckets, how can I make an impractical car practical??? Plus, I had to use parts that were available all over the country, or at least to me, over the long haul...
This way of thinking was very hard on me, and the build... Now, that I am retired and not wanting to build the same car over and over, like CCR has to do, I can rethink the whole process, and I love it... This way if I find, or think of, something totally different, I can use it, now I know why Dan Woods had such a great time building one off cars. Just to know I would never have to do it again, makes it all a ton of FUN, not work, even though I loved what I did, I will LOVE this much more...
I may have not mentioned just why I did do some thing different than I did at the start, to try and make these T Buckets much safer and easier to drive, comfort in seating, steering ease, braking ease, ease in just getting in and out of a real hotrod, as real hot rods have no doors, at least these type of Roadster Rods...
Why these type of front ends are called suicide front ends?? Because if a spring (main leaf or mount) broke, the whole chassis will hit the ground, this can be a fatal happening while driving in traffic... SO: I make my front springs 48 inches long now, so that they pass through/in between, my radius rods, this way if something breaks (a spring or mount) the chassis only falls maybe an inch, at most... Before I used to make my top spring mounting plate with a long finger extending way out over the axle and bent downward at the end, to hold the chassis up in case of a failure, well it also works to mount my ft. plate as well.
Now I do not need that safety bracket, but I do need a place to mount my ft. plate, so I continue to use that same top mounting spring plate to MT. my front plate.
I always tried to kill as many Birds with one stone as I could... like my Front shock/headlight bracket/mount, two in one, and a person can either mount the headlights wide, directly on that mount, or with another bolt on bracket/crossbar, I like the headlights mounted narrower, as I think it gives an older look, and that crossbar also makes the shock/headlight brackets stronger by tieing them together, takes out any vibration, if any were to happen. Plus I guess I just like all the cross bars on the older cars, as it just says OLD... like Me!Some people say if you want an easy steering car, buy a new Honda or Leixas, (?? spelling? hehe) well that kind of thinking sucks! as far as I think anyway... Why not make it steer (and stop) as easy as possible??
Just what does this? LEVERAGE!!! Plus the fact that you are working with a very light weight car, with narrow ft. wheels, this is a snap when you think about it... I can palm steer my T Bucket from lock to lock as long as I am moving at all... This makes it soooo GREAT/EASY to park or just driving any time. One finger will work down the freeway... (best to be ready for any sudden changes in road conditions, like traffic, or a pot hole) I have run into soo many different situations over the years and miles, that would scare you to Death. And I do have an Angel riding on my shoulder, and She can fly as fast as I drive, most of the time, anymore Between Her and my faithful T Roadster, (She is also a Lady) they have saved my life more than once. Great steering and stopping are a MUST!!!! Looks and ride are pretty much comfort creatures... now days I am giving a Rat Rod type of look more thought, as it will be the same car, only with all the fancy BLING, with is not needed to have a ball, or to be safe... or even comfortable... which I like more and more as the years go by... Gettin old has some good stuff as well as Senior discounts.. hehe

Well put you old fart as we all are there or will be soon.Trial and error comes at a price but you learn and go onto the next challenge.The KIDS of today have a multitude of book parts to choose from now but we as old farts had to fab what what we wanted.In 1968 my 36 two door had a flaty with a blower but no shifter for the 54 ford trany so i used a hammer handle was it the right way?Nope was it fun?Hell ya it was.

 

[rcruse]

What a treasure! If I am able to order a kit or buy a project or buy a completed car I have your e-mail and phone number. Plus you live about 40 miles away. You will be sick of hearing from me. Great post Ted!:lol:

 

[engine24355]

Thanks for the information Ted. I need all the information I can get as I want to make sure my own T is safe (or as safe as a bucket can be) first, then cool. One area of concern on mine is the front end. I have a coil over setup (see link below) and all the weight is supported by the shock mounts etc. Been trying to figure out a good way to reinforce or reconfigure, but not sure just yet. I like the coil over set up, but as you have mentioned, I would like to have some kind of safety feature to keep the front end from going all the way down in case of a failure.


http://www.tbucketeers.com/forum/f28/pics-my-bucket-finally-2621/

 

[Youngster]

i had to laugh when i read your post ted. i have tried to build two identical cars...i can't do it. a little improvement here and there and ...well there goes the identical car thing. it's like going to the local rod trot...each car should be looked at as an individual, not as a comparison. if we wanted them all to look alike, we would be buying that new mustang.

i applaud your eye toward the safety aspect, as far as the suicide front suspension is concerned, i have yet to see one that has failed. your idea of the long spring is an interesting one and very viable. i would like to see some sketches of the setup you have in mind.

i guess i tend to lean toward a more traditional bucket and the cross bar for the headlights fills the bill there. i see lots for time and money spent trying to mount the night eyes. i prefer to buy a $10 or $15 '28-9 headlight bar and re-position the ends on the the tube. clean, simple and a two hour job.

there are lots of different steering setups out there. as you say ease of steering all comes down to leverage. i have never been a fan of totals setup. personally i hate to see the pot steering and the nasty angle you end up with on the drag link. in my eyes, the 'vair box mounted on top of the rail above the front hair pin frame mount is the only way to go. the stock length pitman arm is just fine with any of the after market spindle arms. no need to re-invent the wheel here. going down the hiway at speed, your steeing had better be effortless. the real test of your steering is how it behaves under 30 mph.

as long as i'm talking about pet pevs, let's look at front wheels, tires and brakes. i know the bike type wire wheels give the lookwe all want, but when it comes to braking, i want more rubber on the road. i won't approve of a tire any smaller than a 135 x 15. those of you that are running motor cycle tires on the front are inviting problems. they aren't designed for that kind of use. that's just my personal opinion.

these are solely my opinions and i will welcome any and all comments on them.

Ron

 

[Rick]

i had to laugh when i read your post ted. i have tried to build two identical cars...i can't do it. a little improvement here and there and ...well there goes the identical car thing. it's like going to the local rod trot...each car should be looked at as an individual, not as a comparison. if we wanted them all to look alike, we would be buying that new mustang.

i applaud your eye toward the safety aspect, as far as the suicide front suspension is concerned, i have yet to see one that has failed. your idea of the long spring is an interesting one and very viable. i would like to see some sketches of the setup you have in mind.

i guess i tend to lean toward a more traditional bucket and the cross bar for the headlights fills the bill there. i see lots for time and money spent trying to mount the night eyes. i prefer to buy a $10 or $15 '28-9 headlight bar and re-position the ends on the the tube. clean, simple and a two hour job.

there are lots of different steering setups out there. as you say ease of steering all comes down to leverage. i have never been a fan of totals setup. personally i hate to see the pot steering and the nasty angle you end up with on the drag link. in my eyes, the 'vair box mounted on top of the rail above the front hair pin frame mount is the only way to go. the stock length pitman arm is just fine with any of the after market spindle arms. no need to re-invent the wheel here. going down the hiway at speed, your steeing had better be effortless. the real test of your steering is how it behaves under 30 mph.

as long as i'm talking about pet pevs, let's look at front wheels, tires and brakes. i know the bike type wire wheels give the lookwe all want, but when it comes to braking, i want more rubber on the road. i won't approve of a tire any smaller than a 135 x 15. those of you that are running motor cycle tires on the front are inviting problems. they aren't designed for that kind of use. that's just my personal opinion.

these are solely my opinions and i will welcome any and all comments on them.

Ron

I agree with you on the motorcycle wheels but i have Daytons on mine with the 3/16 stainless spokes and are tube-less and are designed for the t-bucket Built for Total by Dayton.

 

[Ted Brown]

Say 10 different people buy cars/kits from CCR, they are all the same, but people make all the difference in the way they put things together, so even though all the parts are the same, the cars will not be the same, like I always say, You can't make Chicken Salad out of Chicken $h!t, BUT,,, One can make Chicken $h!t out of Chicken Salad... Just feed it to a Chicken. :biggrin:

 

[Ted Brown]

What a treasure! If I am able to order a kit or buy a project or buy a completed car I have your e-mail and phone number. Plus you live about 40 miles away. You will be sick of hearing from me. Great post Ted!:biggrin:

No problem, I hope I can ease your pain in building your own T Bucket, I am here to help... If you ever need any parts, just ask, I may be able to help there also...

 

[Hot Rod Todd]

So Ted, after 200,000 miles in your bucket, what would you change if you were to build another bucket for yourself?

Black paint - no
White roof - no
Big & littles - no
Overall stance - no
engine?
jag Bum?

So what could you improve?

I first saw your bucket in R&C many moons ago & it inspired me thru the seven I have owned. I never achieved one that looked as good as yours, but Im still working on it.

Once Ive run a 9, Im going for a tall screen with support stays and a white roof....

 

[Ted Brown]

So Ted, after 200,000 miles in your bucket, what would you change if you were to build another bucket for yourself?

Black paint - no
White roof - no
Big & littles - no
Overall stance - no
engine?
jag Bum?

So what could you improve?

I first saw your bucket in R&C many moons ago & it inspired me thru the seven I have owned. I never achieved one that looked as good as yours, but Im still working on it.

Once Ive run a 9, Im going for a tall screen with support stays and a white roof....

Engine, well I was thinking of a 4 banger, maybe run half of a chevy V-8 if possable.. ?? and under my trick engine cover... and yes a Jag sedan rear end, just painted, will work great, mounted correctly that is... Color, now there is a hard one, but I would like the bottom section, and the inside of my frame to be Satin Black, and the main Body either the right shade of Red or maybe Rolls Royce Burgundy, with Silver striping, that would be on a new T Bucket, now if it is a coupe or sedan, red primer may be the order of the day, over a crap paint job, to just to seal it up first...