My First T-Bucket Build

[cmcdanl]

Those headers were a "u-weld it kit" from Hells Gates Hotrods. The flanges were pretty thick. The pipes were pre bent I think at around 45 degrees. Nice kit but needed a lot of work still. The ends of the pipes were not square like the flange so I had to shape those and did a lot of cutting. I'm happy with the way they turned out.

 

[cmcdanl]

I fiberglassed in a transmission tunnel and driveshaft tunnel. I used some wire mesh to create the shape. Stapled some old t shirts over it, then laid the glass down. I still need to fiberglass the bottom side for more strength.

 

[cmcdanl]

Rolled the car outside for some pictures in the sun. What do you think so far? Also, that's my other project in the background. 1970 C10.

 

[cmcdanl]

Tore the car down for body work/paint/powder coat.

 

[cmcdanl]

Got the frame back from powdercoat. I bought a powder coat gun and conventional oven to do some of the smaller parts with.

 

[choppedtop]

Good to have ya back! Been a while, but it looks like your moving right along. Gotta ask. What are the whiskers sticking out in the frame pic, before it was power coated?

 

[tfeverfred]

WOW! I just got done reading the whole thread so far. VERY impressive work, but the two things that REALLY stuck out were your front and rear shock mounts. Nice. The front mounts are genius!

 

[cmcdanl]

Good to have ya back! Been a while, but it looks like your moving right along. Gotta ask. What are the whiskers sticking out in the frame pic, before it was power coated?

Thanks man! Has the site been down for a while or was it just me? I kept trying to come here and kept getting errors. Anyways... the "whiskers" are actually nails. I used them to fill holes up on the frame that I didn't need anymore. They were drilled for the crossmember that I scrapped. I just tacked them in there and cut the rest of the nail off.

 

[cmcdanl]

WOW! I just got done reading the whole thread so far. VERY impressive work, but the two things that REALLY stuck out were your front and rear shock mounts. Nice. The front mounts are genius!

Thanks Fred! I am actually reading through your entire thread at the moment as well haha. Haven't made it all the way through yet though. I noticed in there that you live in Houston. I'm also in the Houston area. Actually La Porte to be specific. Hope you stayed dry during all of the flooding. If you ever need help with your build let me know! Would be cool to meet someone from the forum.

 

[choppinczech]

What do you think so far?QUOTE]

Looks good. Has a nice stance.

 

[tfeverfred]

Thanks Fred! I am actually reading through your entire thread at the moment as well haha. Haven't made it all the way through yet though. I noticed in there that you live in Houston. I'm also in the Houston area. Actually La Porte to be specific. Hope you stayed dry during all of the flooding. If you ever need help with your build let me know! Would be cool to meet someone from the forum.

I was high and dry. I'm not far from 288 & 610. We get some 4" puddles, but that's it. I'll keep in touch. When I get her done, I like to go on long cruises. There's another member here, PaulR. He's in Sugarland. I'm sure we'll figure out a way to hook up.

Keep up the great work.

 

[Larry]

WOW! I just got done reading the whole thread so far. VERY impressive work, but the two things that REALLY stuck out were your front and rear shock mounts. Nice. The front mounts are genius!

I was thinking the same thing. Why didnt I think of that when I was doing my front shock mounts.

 

[cmcdanl]

Thanks for the compliments! The front shock mounts happen to be my favorite part of the frame also. I kind of wish I would have rolled with that theme and put holes in the frame and weld some pipe in there. Maybe on my next one.

 

[cmcdanl]

Finishing up the rear axle and getting it ready for paint. Also need to replace the pinion seal while I'm at it.

 

[Tjbucket]

Here are a few more pictures. And just for the hell of it, I threw in a picture of my garage before the build started.

I wish I had those poor working conditions (haha)!! You don't even want to see mine.....

 

[cmcdanl]

I wish I had those poor working conditions (haha)!! You don't even want to see mine.....

Haha! That was right after I moved into this house. Trust me it doesn't look like that anymore. I keep accumulating stuff and I ran out of room a long time ago! Some time in the next few years we plan to build a new house and a decent size shop next to it though. I can't wait for that. Working in a cramped undersized garage in the Houston summer heat is really starting to take a toll on me.

 

[fletcherson]

Don't get me thinking about shop size... For over twenty years, I had a 2000 sq ft shop with anchors in the floor, I beams and trolleys, heat, water, high ceilings. Now I am very cramped in a pole barn about half that size. I had to put my lift in the barn, but I don't use it because all of my tools are in the shop. Growing pains. I do have the material to build an addition on to the shop with provisions for the lift and rotisserie, but that's a different project. I need clones!

 

[cmcdanl]

I got the axles painted over the weekend. This was my first time painting anything besides rattle can paint jobs. I used Summit Racing single stage urethane and the $10 purple harbor freight paint gun. I have to say it worked extremely well. I watched a few videos online and read some articles about painting using those two products together and it turned out awesome I think. I got a couple of runs when I sprayed the primer but I just sanded them down and tried to not get any runs with the top coat. I did better with the top coat and actually got ZERO orange peel. I bought clear in case I didn't think the SS paint was shiny enough but I'm actually very impressed. Think I'm just going to save the clear for the body. I should get the rest of the suspension parts painted this coming weekend. Here are some pictures.

 

[choppedtop]

Looks fine from here. Good job.

 

[rubicon]

Looks good to me. I'd be happy with that.