young new guy here

[turbo minivan]

hi, im new here.
im 23 and i have many pieces to my bucket that i bought when i was 16-18 (body, bed, grill shell, rad, frame, dash, seats, front end, rear spring, 9" center section (3.75), rebuilt & pollished 6-71 blower, corvair steering box (reversed), rear 28 banjo spring and a few other small parts) anyway, im not in a possition to start putting things together any time soon but i was wondering what kinds of info or input some of you might have for me. any tips that will save me trouble in the future. for an engine im planning on a BBC to stick my blower on with about 8-10 psi, turbo 400 trany, and obvialsy a 9" ford rear. as far as welding and fabricating parts, its no problem. running a blower wont be a new concept to me either (yes, "turbo minivan" does drive a VERY FAST turbo minivan). im just wondering about the general stuff i should be aware of, like, should i get it all together with the body and THEN figure out where to mount the engine, ot the other way around?... things like that.
any input would be great. ive loved T-buckets since i can remember and have lots of engine, turbo, welding, and fabricating experiance stashed away so dont be scared to talk shop with a "young" guy.
thanks in advance.

Brandon.

 

[turbo minivan]

oh, my body parts and front end all came from MAS roadsters. if that makes a difforence. i also have a seat insert but dont think ill be using it.

 

[Mike]

Hi Brandon.

:rock:

We're now offering our members the opportunity to open up their own picture galleries (see vBPicGallery link above) and also to have their own blog, here on the site (see Blogging link above), so be sure to take advantage of all the member benefits.

I imagine with a collection of parts from here and there, you will end up drawing on your fabrication skills. But that is what will end up making your car unique.

A turbo minivan, eh? I somehow suspect you have a bit of a sleeper there, don't you?

 

[tfeverfred]

Hello, Brandon. It sounds like you're ready to go! Good luck and please post pics.

I was tossing in my head whether to get my body or engine & tranny mounted first. In my case I'm going to mount the power plant first, get her running, then go for the body. My setup is from Total and all the guess work is done for me, but my heart really wants to see a body on my chassis!:rock:

If your body doesn't have the frame mount holes, channel cut outs and trans tunnel cut out, you may want to get the power plant in first in order to get an idea of where the body should go. While fiberglass is repairable, you don't want to go cutting without knowing how it will fit. Mount the engine & tranny, take measurements etc. then cut.

Even if the body has the cutouts, you still want to be sure it will clear the tranny and engine.Keep in mind, where your engine goes will dictate where the body will go. I'm by no means an expert, but it just seems to make sence to me to do it that way. I'm sure someone else will chime in with some good advice also.

I just had a funny thought. Remember when you were a kid and put together models? The engine & tranny always gets glued onto the chassis before the body goes on! These T buckets are just really big models.

 

[thomas]

Fred, when you purchased your frame from TP are not the motor mounts already welded in place? So a body from them should clear the engine right? I'm not sure how things work yet. Hope it's soon though.

thomas

 

[tfeverfred]

Fred, when you purchased your frame from TP are not the motor mounts already welded in place? So a body from them should clear the engine right? I'm not sure how things work yet. Hope it's soon though.

thomas

Yes, they are welded to a crossmember that bolts to the inside of the frame with self threading bolts. The crossmember serves as a structural piece as well, from the looks of it. The same goes for the tranny mount. However, you don't have to use that setup. You can weld in your own mounts to the chassis depending on your drive train.

 

[turbo minivan]

thanks for the welcome and info guys. yes, desided to piece mine together rather than buy the kit cause im just not realy a fan of the TP or spirit "style". i can always tell where sombody got there frame from just by looking at it and the style of there rod. call me picky but i have this EXACT way i want my bucket to look in my head, and doing it piece by piece is probly the only way to go for me. im sure it will cost a bit more, but thats why we dont build them all at once right?:lol: im kinda going for a 60s-70s t-bucket look i guess.