New to everything

[Mtk]

Hey everyone,

My name is Richie. I live in Montauk long island NY. I don't have much experience when it comes to building cars/truck's other then doing a lift on my truck and basic vehicle maintenance and so on. With the thought of starting this project in the near future it has given me a reason to also learn how to weld (something I have always wanted to learn). I will be picking up a lincoln 180 mig welder this weekend.
I have always been drawn to rat rods and started to look into what it would take to get myself into something. I have decided that I will attempt to build a 23 t-buckt. I am not sure if I will do a full kit or start with a frame and piece mail as much as I can from junk yards and other avenues. The only thing that I am sure with the build is it will NOT have IFS as I hate that look. Well thats me in a nut shell. Thanks for taking time to look at this.

 

[cptn60]

Welcome Ritchie. That Lincoln 180 is a nice rig, think you will enjoy it. When you get good at welding; you may be able to trade labor with other buddies that are better at things you ain't. Helps to build friendships too. I would also recommend doing as much reading research and studying exactly what you want and be patient. It's very easy to get in over your head and since this is your first total build, make sure your car is safe! These cars are very light and you don't need a lot of power to have a blast. And you MUST post pics of your progress, lest they beat you with sticks....

 

[Screaming Metal]

Welcome Aboard! cptn60 is right! They are a blast!
I love my 180's....made a custom cart for them, mounted 10" pneum. tires on the rear and 8" swivels up front so to easily roll over the hoses and extension cords, rods, tools, etc.
Its a wheels and AngleIron base thing, then the regular angled up MIG Cart sits into it....

 

[RPM]

Welcome to the site. The 180 is a great machine, and will do what you need for frame work. I would suggest a Miller with autoset. The autoset will help learn to make better welds faster.
You will find the best money saving deals on Ebay.
www.ebay.com/itm/Miller-Millermatic-180-Auto-Set-907312-/141008281996?pt=BI_Welders&hash=item20d4bfa18c

 

[Bennett]

Welcome to the forum. Those little Lincolns or Millers are great for most welded projects.

 

[benT]

Welcome!

 

[Hotrod46]

Welcome to the forum.

Your taking the right track by learning to weld first. You might want to think about any community college or trade school programs you have in your area. You don't need to be a certified welder, but a few night courses would be a big help. Either that or find a good welder that's willing to show you a few things. While MIG is a good process, it's very easy to get a weld that looks OK, but doesn't have good penetration. You need to at least know what a good weld looks like while it's going down. Hard to get that from a video or book.

Here's a link to a huge photo gallery of pretty much nothing but T Buckets. A lot of good, bad and ugly there! It will help you get an idea of what you might want or just as important what you don't want.

http://www.tbucket.com/

Also, go to as many shows as you can and study the T's that are there. Talk to the owners to see if there are any driving issues with their cars. T's are simple cars, but there are places like steering and suspension layout that can cause serious driving issues. Don't think I'm trying to discourage you, I just want you to have a safe and fun car to enjoy.

Good luck!

Mike

 

[Mtk]

Thank's everyone for the warm welcome and advice. As for learning to weld I am lucky enough to have a few friends that can help me through the learning curve. Once I have the equipment they have no problem teaching me. We are going to try and hit as many shows as we can but most shows are at least 5 hours away and are hard for us to get to this time of year. We just got back from the show in york pa. That was a great show. Thanks again for taking time to read this and give me a warm welcome

 

[Telman2]

Welcome to the forum from northern Illinois.

 

[Keeper]

Welcome! I was in your boat when I first joined this site. There is a HUGE amount of info on this site and any questions you may have, just ask.

You will like the 180 it will do anything you will need it to do on your bucket.

 

[Carolina Man]

Welcome this is the best T Bucket site out in the interwebs.

 

[bobs66440]

Hello from Orange County NY! A lot of folks from L.I. go to the Chatterbox Drive-In in Augusta NJ on Saturday nights (as do we). You are about as far out on the island as you can get, lol but that may be an option. On a nice night they will get 300-400 cars.