Why do T-buckets get no respect?

It belongs to dodgerodder's dad. Here's a link to the build thread on it from start to finish from another board. Pack a lunch. It's a long detailed thread and should answer anything you want to know about the car.

http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23618

 

Cause Nerds own them and park them in the Snow bank!! Yep, it's mine.

 

All awesome examples of T buckets in my opinion...
However, One of the most respectable T builds in my opinion. This thing just kicks ass...

 

??? There have been THOUSANDS of Ts done. I see great ones all the time, in the mags and on the street. Just because Ivo and Norm get all the ink... doesn't mean they built the only good looking ones, eh? Hell, I think Starbird's "Monogram" Big T looks way better than Norm's anyway. Gary

 

I was scrolling down hoping someone would show a picture of Sunkist. A classic. Thanks RB Jr.

 

T buckets are kinda like deuce high boys, there are a lot of them and if you try to do something that hasn't been done, you find out why it hasn't

 

I don't give them respect because I can't have one as a daily driver. I build cars to drive and anything else is a waste of money to me. There are probably 6 days a year that the weather is nice enough for me to drive a T in this crappy valley.

 

I think of it like a motorcycle and I would run one all year haha

 

Since this thread has re-emerged... I asked this question a few pages ago and didn't get any opinions on it.

So... what is a T-bucket? Gotta have a deck or trunk to qualify? A bed or some sort? If so, then what is it if the tail is bobbed. Is it more properly a "modified" instead? Regular T? Fad T? Track T? Drag T? Duffy's road racing T? Is a T with a bed also an RPU? Does it have to be a hi-boy? If it is a lo-boy, does it magically turn into a track T or lakester? Just when does a bucket with just a gas tank on the rear turn into a Zipper-ish modified? Just wondering. Regardless, I like how the old bucket can be morphed around from one purpose or style to another. Gary

 

im 5.6 would hate yo know i had to drive one 4 or 5 hundred miles with my knees up around my chin they are to small and very uncomforable

 

Check out u.s.speedsport.com they have been around in fiberglass kits alot longer than most people think. My good friends grandfather made the first kit in the early 60's. I like em as long as there not sporting lanterns and sweet meats.

 

gnichols. To some everything you listed is a T Bucket. Are they? Yes and no. Track t's, Modified's and T Buckets are all based on the Model T so they all come from the same linage. But thats where I believe they begin to differ. A Track t generally has a turtle deck and a rounded nose covering the radiator like the roadster track cars of the late 40's and early 50's. Duffy's roadracer was a track car so it is a Track t. Modified's generally have no turtle decks or pick up beds. The back will be exposed with a cylinder type gas tank above the rearend. They sometimes sit lower to the ground. The T Bucket generally has an open radiator up front, a V8 (mostly Chevy but not always), a tall windshield and a short pick up bed in back. The driver will sit up in the car. There are exceptions but... Buckets can be easily changed to suit the owners wants. They can be built any way imaginable. I am slowly building a Track t with a BBB (big block buick). I like the looks of the track cars and there are not many with BBB's T's. If you go to NTBA and check out their pictures page, you'll see all tpyes of buckets. One last thing, the peolpe who drive the little Model T based hot rods love them and don't care what others think. Remember opinions and what they're like...

 

and damn small block chevys

 

the only people who dont like t buckets are hotrodders cause we all far to opionated. lol, have you ever seen one driving through town? jo public all turn and look with respect and awe! therye to small, no storage space, windy and wet but ive loved em since i was ten. got one project and one parts car, both glass. i prefer the roadster or "turtle deck look. but thats only my opinion. good we got freedom of choice and lotsa options.

 

The ones I've seen on this thread lately are great...but generally they 're just ugly and made out of fiberglass and tastelessly done, and the driving position/steeringwheel/pedal placement are godawful, and people seem to look fairly ridiculous driving them.

On the positive side, they're blazingly fast , I just wouldn't want to ride in one of those death traps for more than a block or two.

They're also fairly synonymous with being cheap and shoddy workmanship. And did I mention the 70s with the fenders and the brass and the stripes?!? Hard to shake that too.

 

im a pretty heavy bucket head myself and honestly i couldnt give a rats ass who doesnt like it i got no roof or hood and i still drive it very often if it rains put on some goggles if its cold put on a friggen coat if you cant out run it dont run against it
its a hot rod just like every vehical on this forum ya mine has a mid 70s big block dodge in it but if people had that monster power back in the 30s 40s 50s and 60s woldnt you run it to?
my point here is T's are hot rods to, the same blood sweat and tears whent into building it and they should be respected the same as any other hot rod no matter wat the dollar value
if you cant out run a T bucket you shouldnt have raced it in the first fuckin place

my T
1927 original steel body
1975 mopar bb 512 (440-400) hybrid 783 hp
2125 pounds
9 inch rear end
727 3speed auto with over drive and gear vender
0-60 2.6 seconds
1/4 6.78
top speed?
i have absolutly no clue but i do know it gets real fucking squirrly at 180 mph
street driven? ABSOLUTLY (god i love alberta)

sorry guys this thread kinda struck a nerve i had to vent a bit
on some of the ignorance
2 cents
p.s. pics soon

 

Because some people are disrespectful.

...and they happen to like someting else.

Had they liked T-buckets and you owned anything else, you'd be equally dissed.

Thier comments reveal more about them than it does about T-buckets.

 

I don't consider the '26-'27 Ts "buckets"(I prefer those years and have one), they are longer, most notably in the cowl, and the steering column doesn't come up from the floor. I have a buddy (TFeverFred here on the H.A.M.B.) who survived an accident in a 'glass T Bucket when a Houston cop ran a light; luckily he's over 6', was jammed in there, and didn't get thrown out!

 

Is this a mis print, SIX seconds in the QUARTER, or EIGHTH? You must have a set of stones!

 

BB Mopar Bucket - we need pics of that, and I want a ride in it!!

 

Here's mine, it's glass. Hate glass cars. Really needs to be blown apart and painted, but it's more fun just to drive it. Gonna relocate the front brake lines, and that's it. Really don't care what the traditional police have to say...am building a steel one, so I can police myself.

 

How do you get it to hook like that?

Gotta be a full jungle gym race car to be going that fast, and you drive it on the street you say?

Do you take the chute off?

This is a huge brag, you gotta show us pics/timeslips on this one! I believe you , actually, but 6.78? That's fast!

 

I used to have a "non HAMB friendly" T-bucket powered by a 396 bbc. I'm 5'9 with long legs, but my bucket was not cramped at all. It used a standard size glass body, not a stretched one. The seat back padding was thin so you could scoot back a bit more. I could stretch my legs straight forward and barely touch the firewall. My wife and I regularly did 500 mile one-way trips in it in one shot.

 

the poor man's hot rod thats what it is.

 

T's were not my thing up until I started reading more and more about the heritage of them. The I looked at them in a different light. They were the smallest and lightest models available so that makes them an obvious choice for racing. That all played into why I eventually bought my own. Cars that are running today inspire me as well as those of past years. Now I think they are so rad and always stop to take a look at one if it's around.

Respect? Shit they get all my respect and those that drive them. They are not always comfortable and not always practical but they are fun and fast that that's why I love them. If done well they can easily shine amongst any type of car.

 

I hear a lot of people griping because the T was the first car to be massed produced for the non-traditional crowd.

Well, guess what cars are being massed produced for the non-traditional crowd today? Looks like there's going to be a lot of cranky '32 owners in about 20 years or so...

Fad T's---T roadsters
Octomom---regular parents
Cadillac---Kia

...and so on and so forth. Relax, who cares what other people think? Just get out and drive.

(pictures found here and there)

 

This thread has more lives than a Ray-O-Vac.

 

I am going to have to say this was a typo. That horsepower to weight ratio would put you in the mid to high 8's and that's assuming you can hook up.

If he meant 1/8 mile in 6.78 that would make more sense, especially assuming some serious wheelspin. That would plant the car mid 10's in the 1/4 mile.

To put in persepective... Pro Stock runs about 1200-1300hp and weighs a minimum of 2800lbs and runs in the mid to high 6's. That is 2.33lbs/hp in a purpose built race car.

This T weighs 2125lbs and has 783hp that's 2.71lbs/hp in a car that typically doesn't have near the launch capability of a pro stocker.

0.38lbs/hp is a HUGE difference in performance.

Oh, and you would be trapping over 200mph.

 

I have to step into this fight!
I don't understand why one particular body style will be the butt of so much ridicule. It's a frikkin' hot rod!! Sure,there are some really ugly buckets out there. Have you seen some the rediculis '32's with hot wheels bling wheels, and mirrors that look like they came from a Lexus!?!
Look at my avitar. Ohh, '29 A roadster, ohh, kinda' traditional, in a '60's vibe, ohh ohhh. 2x3 square tube frame, buggy front suspension, coil over rear, Corvair steering, bigs and littles, 'glass body. Just like a T. What's the difference? It's still a hot rod!
I think a lot of you guys are so insecure about whatever you own, or can't own, because you have an Accord in your garage, you can't respect anything else.
Screw a lot of traditional, screw a lot of "if it ain't steel it ain't real"!
If the guys that started this ball rolling right after the war were here to comment on this debate they would be eating our asses out like step children because we can't find value in each other's cars. JEEEEEZZZEEE!!!! OK, NOW I feel better....Thanks, Mike