This is where my planning began. I decided that I didn't really want the traditional stance of a T-bucket. I wanted it to sit as low as possible without being unsafe or having the need to buy a new oil pan every time I went over a speed bump. I later decided that I would just avoid speed bumps. lol so passing PA safety inspection is my limiting factor on lowness. I also later realized that this decision is going to seriously hinder my leg room.
One of the most important lessons that I have learned so far is that I wasted a ton of money upfront by buying someone else project. However, I do not regret it for one second. The reason for "no regrats" is that if I had not bought the mess of a project that was no where near what I would really want, I would have never started building one of these until much later in life. I have loved Ts for some time now and always wanted one of my own, but realistically, this project fell in my lap and I wouldn't have started one if it hadn't.
As far as how the project was a waste of money, here is why:
The frame - would not work for a very low T with taller rear tires. The kickup was not high enough to clear a rear axle without major modification. It also did not appear to be long enough to fit a sbc. I decided to have a new frame was in order. Did a lot of research here and other places on frames. Decided to lengthen the frame, raise the kickup and began designing one. In all actuality, I sold the old frame to someone for more than I spent in material to build a new one. For the record, I wasn't trying to sell it, he just saw it in my garage and offered me like $30 more than what I had spent to buy new tubing. That's kind of a win.
The engine - The project came with a 350 sbc that was supposed to be a 4 bolt main. I didn't really care that it was not a 4 bolt because it was unnecessary for the power I was going to build it to. I did care that it had more rust inside of it than anything I'd ever seen. Good thing I had something kind of special but not really that special sitting in the corner of my garage just waiting for a project to come by.
The rear end - The rear that came with it was really cool. I'd never seen one before and actually didn't even know they existed until this one ended up in my garage and I started researching it. At a quick glance, I thought it was a 9". I was wrong. It is a GM 12 bolt front load rear. If I remember correctly they came in some of the late 60s larger cars. I was pretty excited about it. That is until I opened it up for inspection. The pinion had walked into the carrier. Huge gouges in the carrier, missing teeth on both the ring and pinion and the cost to rebuild the thing made me decide to keep my eyes open for something different. I couldn't even believe the thing still spun. As luck would have it, my buddy asked me about doing an engine swap for one of his friends. It was a 89 S10 blazer. The task seemed simple, pull the engine and trans out of one and put it into the other. Although it turned out to be a nightmare, the offer was that we get some cash and we keep the old blazer. Now I have a blazer rear.
The transmission - Beings that the engine was near junk and the rear was near junk I was not to hopeful for the transmission(TH350). It did have a case that looked good and it spun nicely I figured I could at least use it for mock up and have it rebuilt if needed when the time comes. Well, the threads for the mount bolts....stripped. So I went junk yard hoping and picked up a nice case TH350 with a short tail this time. We will see when the time comes if its good. If not, I will just rebuild it, but the case is great and it was only $50. So I call that a win. I post some pics later.
The suspension - Rear suspension was just radius rods and spring and a pan hard. I decided on a 4 link and coil overs...all that is sitting in my pile of spare parts. The front had an axle with two different types of spindles. Ford one side, Chevy on the other. King pins boss was reamed. spindle angles wrong. Very very stiff spring. For ease of finding parts in the future and on Ron from RPMs recommendation, all that is sitting in the spare parts pile with the exception of the radius rods. I am using them.
That's about how it all started. Like I said I'm at a roller now and moving the engine a bit. I start posting some pics of how it came along.