I won my radiator!

[tfeverfred]

Well, actually, I won the auction on Ebay. I was planning to get the standard T Bucket style, but the power of "Lightnin' Bug" was too strong. Plus, I was able to get it with a winning bid of $306.

It's rated for 900HP and does not have a trans cooler, but I have one already setup, so it wasn't an issue. It should arrive next friday.

I was going for the one that looks more like a T shape, but I had always had my eye on this one too. I noticed that the bid for it ended in 3 hours and waited for the bidding to settle. It did at $301. At the VERY last minute, I dropped my high bid and ........WHAM! Got it for $306! Whoever was bidding with me must have blinked!:rofl:

The radiator is made to work as a chopped '32 Ford, so I'll get the shell and grille from Spirit. It should fit with little or no effort or I may run it as is like Ricks. I kinda like the little "industrial" look that it has. Oh well, we'll see.

So it seems fate/luck has got my T Bucket turning into a slightly morphed "Lightnin' Bug". I guess I shouldn't have the magazine open when I start shopping for parts!

Here's a link to the guys store on Ebay. He sells them with a buy it now price, but I think it was close to $400. Not bad, but it's always good to try and save some green.

http://stores.ebay.com/dissrad

 

[Mike]

Remember guys, if you click through our eBay Auction Ads to get to eBay, we'll make a small cut when you purchase items there. It costs you nothing, the percentage we make comes out of eBay's slice of the pie.

 

[Rick]

No Fred you have it wrong ALWAYS have a reference point to go buy when your in the buying mood.Trust me when i say that or you'll have alot of surplus items to unload.

 

[tfeverfred]

No Fred you have it wrong ALWAYS have a reference point to go buy when your in the buying mood.Trust me when i say that or you'll have alot of surplus items to unload.

Yea, I think I know what you mean. I did that with some lanterns I saw at a swap meet last year. I knew I wanted either of the two designs and I knew they both would work. My original idea was not to run a shell or grill and I still may do that. I still have a certain look I'm after and other than this deviation, I'm still on track. I know I could never duplicate the "Lightnin Bug", but I couldn't help but notice the coincedence.

 

[Rick]

I have a steering box to buy but after that is the grill shell and i'm going for the model A as you are i think it sends the car to another plane.

 

[tfeverfred]

A model A grille would look sweet too. A non T shell kinda lends a more "home built" look to a T. Plus, an actual grille will give a little more protection against stuff hitting and bending the cooling fins. Are you thinking chrome or painted?

 

[Rick]

Absolutly painted.I like chrome but not to much.The reason i have what i have is cause i got it done for free.My ex boss's friend has a chrome shop.He's Italian and there in the same family if you get my drift.i think the 32 chopped is the look i want and 6 inches seams about right ask Brian at Total to send some pics of his ride to you and thats the look i want in the radiator department.Side note here.I have planned all along to put a fold down arm rest in my car and now i have the raw material to do so.I work in the prototype shop at work (which gives me time to do hot rod stuff) and we are doing a prototype of the seat adjuster system(buy the way we make every seat adjuster unit out there.Anyway were doing a ford and we bought the whole interior but just using the front seats.I got the rest of it it has a really cool arm rest and the seats i'm going to cut down to fit my car some work?Yes but it will be MY design and i have the proto shop to work with and all the machines to help me.And i will post pics to follow the progress even if it don't work it will be informative as i'm sure i'll get feed back and ideas from yall.

 

[tfeverfred]

That sounds cool. I can't remember seeing an armrest in a bucket, so I'm going to be checking it out real close. I can relate wanting to make and use your own designs. That's the great part of building your own car. you get to test yourself.

As for the chrome, that's one of the things that kept me from trying to build a hot rod for so long. I grew up looking at magazines and going to shows and had gotten to where a hot rod didn't look cool if it didn't have $10,000 worth of chrome on it. I knew from the get go that valve covers, exhaust and an air cleaner would probably be the most chrome I could use. A lot can be accomplised from color choices and detail. that seat you're thinking about is going to look great.

 

[tfeverfred]

Don't know why I was using PMs, but Rick, did you have to modify your radiator to fit the frame or was it a drop in?

 

[Rick]

Its got me geeked and i have the full shop to do some things for me.Call me tomorrow ok?I also have my shock brackets finished and am doing the supports now i'll post pics and prints for those who are interestd.I do all my designing on Auto Cad and i can even run tests to determin if my design will support a crash and what parts will fail.Ya gotta love these 'puters for design work.

 

[Rick]

I trimed about a 1/4 in off both sides of the tabs and like i said i welded the brackets to the frame about a 1/4 inch below the frame rails and what ever the manual says for the angle i just C clamped the brackets to the frame and kept adjusting the angle till i liked the look.

 

[tfeverfred]

Okay, I'll give ya a call tommorrow when I get in. Man, you've got it made having all that tech at your disposal. I'm looking forward to seeing your shock setup. I've trolled the NTBA and it seems no one has gotten a sure cure for the front shock problems these cars seem to have.

 

[Rick]

I also used two 1/4 20 bolts threaded into the brackets if you want i'll post some pics(if can ever figure out how you put them in to the body of my posts.Tomorrow you can tell me Ok?

 

[tfeverfred]

I also used two 1/4 20 bolts threaded into the brackets if you want i'll post some pics(if can ever figure out how you put them in to the body of my posts.Tomorrow you can tell me Ok?

No problem. I use photobucket to save my pics and it makes it easy to copy and drop them here. The key seems to use the preview option on your post while you go to Photobucket to copy the pic. I'll explain it better tomorrow and we can walk through a couple. It's so easy even I figured it out!:rofl:

 

[Rick]

Cool i'm going nighty,night now

 

[tfeverfred]

Well, I got an email telling me that my radiator will be here Monday. I hope it gets here in one piece. Today we got a shipment from UPS that looked like a gorilla had handled it!

It's going to be a loooooooong weekend.

 

[lanceks1]

Just changed my shell to a 28-29 Model A chromed unit from Speedway. Like the way the shape goes with the upper cowl curve. Gotta git that shell loooooooow as possible.. I thought the yellow shell was too much yellow, and always did like the Model A shell looks, the best.

 

[Mike]

Hi Lance!

:welcome:

Looks like a nice ride you've got there. Remember, as a forum member, you have the ability to post pictures in the vBPicGallery, as well.

 

[tfeverfred]

Radiator arrived!

Yup, UPS dropped it off this morning and I had to wait until after work to put it on. Man, this thing is light as a feather! When I sat it on the tabs that Total has for the radiator, it was about 1/2" short on both sides. No problem, I cut some 1/8" aluminum stock and made a support that spans the width of the chassis. I then mounted the radiator to the support. It looks really good and I can't wait to get the chopped '32 shell and stainless grille. The top curve is very smoothe and looks like it would match the cowl/firewall. I can almost see getting a pair of radiator supports just for the look. Heck, a hood would also be easy to do, if a person was inclined. I can also understand why Rick isn't sweating getting his shell. The radiator actually looks good without the shell. If I wanted to, I could cut the tabs for the grille shell off and go with it, but I have a vision (slightly modified) and want to stick to it.

Unfortunately, there won't be any pics until this weekend:sad:, but it will be of the finished install and maybe a video of the engine running!:welcome: