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Why do T-buckets get no respect?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by xlr8, Jan 29, 2007.

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  1. lostforawhile
    Joined: Mar 23, 2008
    Posts: 4,160

    lostforawhile
    Member

    the insane claims in the one post are a riot, :D If I could even afford to own a T bucket right now, I realy could care less what other people think about it,I would be out enjoying myself and driving the wheels off of it. no matter what you are driving isn't the pointto drive it and not worry about what other people think?
     
  2. ironhunter
    Joined: Jul 20, 2002
    Posts: 406

    ironhunter
    Member


    Nice car, and the T runabout body looks great on it. That's not what comes to mind when most hear "T-bucket" though. :)
     
  3. ironhunter
    Joined: Jul 20, 2002
    Posts: 406

    ironhunter
    Member

    I thought it was anyway...if a fella worries about what everyone else thinks, he'll never finish a car.
     
  4. Ozzie
    Joined: Sep 1, 2006
    Posts: 458

    Ozzie
    Member

    Owned this one for a few months short of 16 years, Was apart in pieces in different family back yards, and a mechanic's shop for nearly 11 years!!! Has been built!, shown, then taken apart and now being built the way I designed it to be completed in the first place. Patience!!!!!!!

    Body is glass but that's only skin deep, inside is a full square tube steel cage, wrapped by more fiberglass. Body alone empty no gauges, no tank, batt, nothing weighs just under 180 pounds.

    Trunk lid is steel
    Doors are steel
    Hood, sides and front fenders are steel.
    Not too long left.....Hopefully!!! will Debut in June at some Car show somewhere.
     

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  5. andy fadster
    Joined: Mar 24, 2006
    Posts: 18

    andy fadster
    Member
    from uk

    It really doesn't bother me a damn whether folks like my T bucket or not;). Sure, I want people to like it but hey, its horses for courses and diff'rent strokes, or so the guy said.

    My T runs very low nines at the drags and gets used on the street too. 4000 miles last year in something that will blow the doors off most.

    I'm not looking for respect........I just enjoy it for what it is and its how I want it to be.

    I know it ain't real traditional but, well, it works for me.:)

    I use it in all weathers and all year round....here it is leaving our local cruise last friday, a round trip of some 115 miles in March, not a nice warm evening in So-Cal !!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMptpfp4ZSI

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Hope you like it but if you don't, I won't be losing too much sleep.
     
  6. GizmoJoe
    Joined: Jul 18, 2007
    Posts: 1,299

    GizmoJoe
    Member

    oooooooooo that looks like wild, scary FUN!
     
  7. lakeroadster
    Joined: Nov 6, 2008
    Posts: 604

    lakeroadster
    Member
    from *

    IMHO if you buy a Brookville body you have built a clone or a tribute car, not a traditional car. If you want a traditional car it has to be made from traditional parts, the old school stuff.

    Come on now anybody who has built a car knows that it is much easier to buy new parts and bolt them on than it is to modify old "traditional" parts. You gain some "respect" by working throught the technical difficulties of making the pieces you have work.

    Resurrecting an original steel car body, especially from 1920's or 1930's, takes a lot of effort and from a respect factor isn't in the same league as throwing down dollars for a new steel body or a new fiberglass body.

    Hey, no big shake to me I like it all. But I do have more "respect" for the builder that builds the car using a majority of period correct pieces. And I think I am not alone in saying that.

    The author of this thread asked the question: "Why do T-buckets get no respect?" I think it is because a lot of T buckets, not all, are built from mostly new parts.
     
  8. old bone
    Joined: Mar 5, 2008
    Posts: 312

    old bone
    Member
    from maine

    well i just read this whole thread and have to say they can be done with taste..wire wheels..hoods..etc..to be made look classy...but i have to say I do respect those guys running outlandish metal flake..lanterns...huge Hoosiers..it is just awesome to see coming down the road..and holy crap the numbers these things run are just nuts...i should never build one i would defently die a fiery painfull death...maybe my ex wife will send me a speedway kit!!!...I met a t bucked builder last summer on an oil rig..this guys was out there..what a mad man..in a good way..he had me laughing my ass off as he described what it was like to drive it..he was spitting and flailing his arms around..his face got beat red...this guy was a true charcter....and his T was perfect for him...oh and the dude who claims 50 lbs of boost on his 2.2....i dunno maybe he can proove it.....he might not be too far off....i put a mitsibushi turo on a 16v saab ..easly got 30lbs of boost....wicked pre-ignition..knocking..i advanced the timing as much as i could to keep her alive at idle...but it would still knock at 30 lbs of boost...
     
  9. old bone
    Joined: Mar 5, 2008
    Posts: 312

    old bone
    Member
    from maine

    [​IMG] LIKE I SAID ABOVE A LOT OF THESE T GUYS ARE CHARACTERS ...HERE IS A PIC ..GOT IT OFF THIS SITE I BELIEVE..NOT TO STEP ON ANY TOES....THIS IS A VERY NICELY PORTIONED T i WOULD LOVE TO OWN THIS CAR!!!....LOOKS LIKE THESE GUYS ARE HAVING A TON OF FUN IN THIS T
     
  10. Dooley
    Joined: May 29, 2002
    Posts: 2,956

    Dooley
    Member
    from Buffalo NY

    You mean yours is not a kit car?
     
  11. T BUCKET TERROR
    Joined: Dec 16, 2008
    Posts: 68

    T BUCKET TERROR
    Member

    mine's based on a total performance chassis. with a 'glass fibermotive body. i drive it year 'round, rain or shine. it gets lots of looks, it's crazy fast, and never fails to put a smile on my face. the ride can be a bit studdering, but hey, if you were thinking about comfort, you shouldn't even consider a bucket.
     
  12. If you like T Buckets build one. I'm building a 29 roadster and its glass. I scored the body, fenders, grill shell, bare frame, dash, doors etc. for $2500.00. It was hard to walk away from that deal. Lot's of guys here will say it aint real but I don't care. It's mine and it's real to me. check out my photo album, & you'll see you can build a nice looking rod for not alot of money. Good luck and stay on the board it's a great site.
     
  13. I don't really consider mine a "kit car" either, Yeah it has a glass body but I am building my own frame and TRYING to build my own turtle deck. Right now it has parts from 5 different Model T Ford's on it and one Model A part as well as assorted Mustang components so to me.....YEAH it has "history" and parts of it rolled out from Highland Park and River Rouge back in the day. Anyhoo that is good enough for me and I reckon I am the one who counts in my build......well and my neighbors since they will have to look at it.
    Cheers!
    Wp
     
  14. lakeroadster
    Joined: Nov 6, 2008
    Posts: 604

    lakeroadster
    Member
    from *

     
  15. lostforawhile
    Joined: Mar 23, 2008
    Posts: 4,160

    lostforawhile
    Member

    to everyone who bitches that glass is not traditional, they have made corvettes out of glass from day one, why? to make them lighter, and this makes them have a higher power to weight ratio. isn't that what hot rodding is about? to put in the biggest engine and get as much horsepower out of it as possible? why? to go faster!! so whats the problem with a glass t? I'm sure back in the day if glass was as available as it is now, a lot more people who have had glass t's. it's all about being lighter and faster.
     
  16. old bone
    Joined: Mar 5, 2008
    Posts: 312

    old bone
    Member
    from maine

    woops...not a t-bucket huhh?...i thought it was a t-bucket...with a truck bed...isn't the body the same as a t-bucket?...what is the diff?..i surely did not call it a rat!!!
     
  17. gassman57
    Joined: Dec 6, 2007
    Posts: 194

    gassman57
    Member

    OK; so if the 'T-bucket' doesn't get any respect, what about the 'Track-T'? Personally I like the 'bucket'; always have, and the Track-T, be it a 'King-T', 'Speedway' or even an old 'Gratiot'....well; that just adds to the pleasure! Seems to me, if anyone speaks of a 'glass 'Track-T'; it's the proverbial..'bottom of the barrell' !! What's up with that?
     
  18. Kilroy
    Joined: Aug 2, 2001
    Posts: 3,227

    Kilroy
    Member
    from Orange, Ca

    Because 'T's' are the Clown-Car of the Hot Rodding world...

    Sure there have been a lot of cool ones, especially 26-27 T's...

    But the Fab T thing just got over-the-top goofy for so long, it's going to take a bunch more bitchin' Ts to make up for it...

    That and anybody over 5' 6" is assed-out in a T...

    When I see the straight-down steering, it always reminds me of the Tea-Cups at Disneyland...
     
  19. eisenhower34
    Joined: Aug 30, 2006
    Posts: 82

    eisenhower34
    Member

    I get so pissed when people ask me if my '27 roadster is a kit car. Yes it is fiberglass but the hood and side panels are custom aluminum pieces. The nose is a custom one-off as the custom grill that i built for it. I have over 100 hours alone in the nose just to get the right look. Then have some jerk say to me that it is a kit car.....I have sunk over 4 years in building this Track T with close to 25K wrapped up in it. I have engineered the frame, added the steel structure to the body, painted it. The only two things I will farm out is the interior which is getting done in the next month and the glass. I have massaged and crafted every part put in this car. Even down the the SBC with a rebuilt 4-speed. It was what I could afford since I have two small kids and wife that likes to shop.

    Just pisses me off when people assume since it is fiber-glass it is automatically a kit car.
     

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  20. Dreddybear
    Joined: Mar 31, 2007
    Posts: 6,084

    Dreddybear
    Member


    Ugh.....just you mentioning that makes me sick to my stomach.:(
     
  21. mow too much
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 906

    mow too much
    Member

    Lakeroadster, Is that guy using that as a surfboard while its going down the street?????? :eek:
     
  22. lostforawhile
    Joined: Mar 23, 2008
    Posts: 4,160

    lostforawhile
    Member

    very good point, i could understand a t that was bought from a catalog and just put together,not getting respect,but a lot of the cars i've seen were built by hand just like yours. when i was a kid, i remember my uncle collecting all the parts and building one in his basement, sure it was a glass body,but him and my cousins built it together, that was the point of doing it,to spend time with his kids. they had a ball with that car, after it was built,they disassembled it, carried all the pieces up the stairs and put it back together. hard to build one in an unheated garage in a northern ohio winter. anyway isn't the point of hot rodding to build the car to enjoy it?
     
  23. JeffreyJames
    Joined: Jun 13, 2007
    Posts: 16,628

    JeffreyJames
    Member
    from SUGAR CITY

    I have an actual '26 Ford and I get asked if it's a Kit car too!
     
  24. gassman57
    Joined: Dec 6, 2007
    Posts: 194

    gassman57
    Member

    IKE:
    What you have is a piece of art !!! Perfect example of fiberglass being used to its fullest potential. Around here; if you find a very rusted cowl your lucky; sure there are some exceptions to the rule, but not many. I say..'Here!!...Here!!' to using 'glass for a starting point. I'll bet a blown 'offy' under the hood yould change some opinions!!
     
  25. My $.02, I like the looks of the track T always have always will, be it in steel or glass, I just think they are plainass cool....not a fan of the brass rad/light and fad t designs that were popular when I first started leafing thru the pages of HR PHR CC etc.....I feel the T bucket is a glass repro of the gennie ford T, some I like some I dont, would I own one, SURE! I think its an entry level into hot rodding...you know kinda like the Sportster is to the Harley crowd, not that there is anything wrong with a Tbucket or a sporty, just thought of differently by different people....I look at like this, build what you want, build it your way, and enjoy the hell out of it, who cares what anyone else thinks, hell if we all built the cars I liked we would all be driving chopped 32 5 window with no fenders and an early tripower poncho power.....now how boring would that be, LOL......the flip side is a guy living in the middle of metropolis might not have access to vintage tin, so he builds what he has acces too, anyone anywhere can find a glass body to work with..... steel is real, but glass is EASY to work with, and it doesnt rot.......to each his own, and I have had both!
     
  26. lostforawhile
    Joined: Mar 23, 2008
    Posts: 4,160

    lostforawhile
    Member

    the fact that glass doesn't rot is another really good point for those in the salt belt. you can get frame and suspension parts powdercoated to protect them, but it's hard to protect the body itself.
     
  27. 1950ChevySuburban
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 6,187

    1950ChevySuburban
    Member Emeritus
    from Tucson AZ

    At 6'2" and size 14 shoes, I have to respect them as an observer. Like any other type of ride, there's some out there that really get my attention/respect.
     
  28. full house Mouse
    Joined: Jun 3, 2008
    Posts: 228

    full house Mouse
    Member


    Hi guy I am from PLAP ( Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada) originally but I have been hanging out in Phuket Thailand for a long long time about 30 years before we really had a lot of tourists here.

    I own a T-Bucket which I have driven almost all over Asia and man its a real fun car.

    I used to regularly drive to Malaysia for visa's for my car (the Full House Mouse) and myself as the Thai's would only let my car and me stay in the country for 90 days and then I would have to go out.

    I would drive in some pretty wild conditions with the monsoon rains coming down like you wouldn't believe. I did this back and forth run for about 15 years and only once in 15 years did it not rain on me some where on the ride.

    Heh man the people back home sure have got snooty if they think T-Buckets arn't too cool.

    I have been just about all over the world and you know and in every country I have seen some kid who had a T- bucket plastic toy car.

    So when I arrived with the real thing kids all over Asia went nuts! Some of these kids were grown up and old but they even had the model when they were kids and when they saw my car they fell in love.

    [​IMG]
     
  29. heres my .2 cents
    Im not one for track t's but some poeple own them and drive them. I like real steel and when somebody mistakes my steel t for glass it does make me crazy.
    I actually had a friend ask me how I cut the doors into that glass body
    and they look so good .And he is a well respected hot rodder.
    thats just like me saying thats a nice nomad and it really is a wagon
    nobodys perfect.
    when I built my T I made the bed big enough for 2 bags, a tool bag, and a cooler what else do you need .
    thats just my 2 cents
    [​IMG]
     
  30. Skyskier
    Joined: Mar 10, 2009
    Posts: 40

    Skyskier
    Member

    sold my '23 to buy my 34:( Wish I'da kept the T
     

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