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Projects The bucket of ugly! A de-uglifying thread...

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by need louvers ?, Aug 14, 2013.

  1. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    A lot of folks used to, and still do, talk crap about John Buttera and billet. Without having a clue about him or what his medium was. But it makes them feel smart.
     
  2. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    I'll be honest here, when Buttera debuted his trend setting Model A roadster, the car put me off from day 1. I appreciated the fabrication and workmanship, but the car was just TOO slick. I thought it was visually boring, and soul-less. The cars that followed it, along with the parallel trend at the time of taking the hot out of hot rods(tall gears, weak-ass motors, fat-fendered cars with AC and AAAAACK!!! POWER WINDOWS?? WTF?? POWER WINDOWS?? IN A HOT ROD??), put me off the whole scene.

    I STILL just cant wrap my head around building a car that doesnt make my adrenylin pump a little.
    As far as the guys that bitch about hand-made or machined pieces, they really just dont get it, and when they are talking, all I hear is that sound that Charlie Browns school teacher makes.
     
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  3. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    I got in and added the photos of the battery box. Take a minute and blow up the picture of the rear of the car with the license plate in the rectangular tail gate box and tell me what you think of the proposed tail light positions. Another though was to move the taillights inside the rectangle with the plate centered on either side.... Wjat do you guys think?
     
  4. Keep
    Joined: May 10, 2008
    Posts: 662

    Keep
    Member

    Once you move those tail lights, the tailgate will look real close to mine. Your tail lights are not much smaller then mine and the same general shape.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. Yeah move them up and slightly towards the inner body swage will look good. Do you guys have to illuminate the rear plate at night ? I have mine under the pickup bed as I think the bare tailgate looks good. Yes we have to run reflectors to but mine are quickly removed.
     

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  6. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Yes we do. But, I think I have a means of handling that situation pretty cleanly. I don't know yet that I am completely sold on the plate on the body thing quite yet, but for different reasons than I though would be an issue. See, with the plate up there, the damned coil overs become that much more a focal point, and you can really see now that the pumpkin of the rear end hasn't been centered. That to my eye makes the whole car look asymmetrical on lots of different levels, where it din't look it so much before.

    I'm asking lots of styling questions not because I have no idea, but in my mind, all the mechanical and fab stuff is very clear cut, just do it. Styling however, there is soooooo many options and ways to pair components that I just sometimes don't have the capacity to decide what looks best.
     
  7. dana barlow
    Joined: May 30, 2006
    Posts: 5,115

    dana barlow
    Member
    from Miami Fla.
    1. Y-blocks

    If it was me.it's not.but I'd put the plate down kind of covering rear as u said,also the tail lights kind of covering shocks down as well,leving the tailgate for some very cool striping and pos even nice rods name to one side or center,just ideas:cool:
     
  8. A round bar stock nerf bar out of stainless to mount both the lights and the plate. You can stick-weld this then polish for a low-buck solution....
     
  9. If you mount the plate below the gate you can paint the embossed Ford script so people won't mistake it for a dune buggy.:)
     
  10. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    I have never really liked the plate in the middle of the tail-gate. Never liked covering the Ford script, and it makes the plate the focal point when you look at the back of the car.

    I like Steves idea, or just keep it really simple, like on the Penry car, and hang the plate to one side, from a bracket with an integral tail light. I really dig the whole minimalist "bare necessities" ethos of the Penry car.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2013
  11. I was thinking the nerf bar would be the focal point, 'hiding' the axle/coilovers....
     
  12. OK I'll add my .03. Put the plate in the center down low. Use Model A tail lights off nice brackets under the bed and to the out side. Don't worry about the pumpkin being offset because when you do what I suggested it will become a mute point. Also remember Nobody in the 60s had enough money, that drove their car every day, to have rearends shortened to put the pumpkin in the center.
    Remember this!!!
    If it's Bitchin it don't have to be Perfect !!!
     
  13. landseaandair
    Joined: Feb 23, 2009
    Posts: 4,485

    landseaandair
    Member
    from phoenix

    X3, also adds a little dimension vertically.
     
  14. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Really good point, and I didn't think of that. I always liked the way Ivo integrated the tail-lights into the vertical bars on the nerf, thought that was pretty slick.
     
  15. Jeem
    Joined: Sep 12, 2002
    Posts: 5,882

    Jeem
    Alliance Vendor

    Penry's setup is optimal and minimalistic. I dig it.
     
  16. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    Just ask yourself, when's the last time, you saw a pickup with the license plate mounted in the middle of the tail gate? Old or new stock truck? If it's happened, it didn't happen often.

    I put mine in the center of the rear spreader (I don't have a bed) and used simple brackets to mount Model A lights on each side. A simple mid-70's Chevy PU light to illuminate the license plate.

    Just keep it simple and don't hang around people so anal, that they'll ask about the rear end not being centered.

    Who invited those people anyway?:D
     
  17. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Agreed. Chip and I have been talking about that car off-line for (seems like) a couple years now. The whole car is just so right. I almost wanted to include it on my "ten Hot Rods that made a difference" post, as it was the car in the Cal Automotive T bucket ad for years. I think Chip and I agree that it is the quintessential sixties T bucket. What a bitchin car.
     
  18. Phillips
    Joined: Oct 26, 2010
    Posts: 1,496

    Phillips
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I just cannot get tired of looking at that car. One of the best things is the details that keep popping up, even after you've seen it many times. Example, I just realized that's a Lucas MC tail light.
     
  19. billsill45
    Joined: Jul 15, 2009
    Posts: 784

    billsill45
    Member
    from SoCal

    Exactly. Nothing there that shouldn't be.
     
  20. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    And ya know what guys, You are dead right! After I too realized that the tail light on Penry's car was a Lucas lens, I too started thinking. I think I might just do this thing as minimal as I possibly can, single tail light and all.

    I just wish the tailgate and FORD script on mine wasn't soooooo crappy! It's almost like it's "popped out" about a half inch in some areas, and it's not even close to "straight". The Ford script is pitted and very sharp edged in some places and soft in others... Guess I'll just have to suck it up and get it all straight...
     
  21. If you were to get down and look at my not so centered rear end you would notice a small hand painted saying - What the fuck are you looking at?

    [​IMG]
     
  22. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    And that's, that. :D
     
  23. leon renaud
    Joined: Nov 12, 2005
    Posts: 1,937

    leon renaud
    Member
    from N.E. Ct.

    I drove a White 23 T bucket for daily driver for just over 3 months, It had model A tail lights mounted under neath and near the outer edge of the pick up bed, Everything was fine at night but I was constantly being told I had no tail lights during the day 1 They were 12 volt and were working fine but being small and under the bed hard to see in bright sunlight. I'd mount the tail lights either in the tail gate or outside the bed sides as high as you think looks good !
     
  24. Leon brings up a very good point Chip as you have mentioned on many occassion since somebody assassinated your Falcon, the Bucket of Ugly was your daily user and heck, I would be happier knowing the clueless, drunk or high dick or duck could see your light /s . That is the one reason I didn't remove the square reflectors from the back of my T as I want people to see me and I use Halogen light bulbs in those Model A tail lights I have.
     
  25. steel rebel
    Joined: Jun 14, 2006
    Posts: 3,604

    steel rebel
    Member Emeritus

     

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  26. Keep
    Joined: May 10, 2008
    Posts: 662

    Keep
    Member

    HAHAHA That is the reason I put mine in the middle, to cover the Ford script.

    Yes with an off center pumpkin, something to draw the eye away would work. The nerf bar might be a good option.

    As for the license plate lights, the upper bolts on my plates have LED lights in them, picked them up at a motorcycle shop. Though it does make it a huge pita to pull the plate.
     
  27. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    Here's mine and it doesn't get any simpler. I couldn't find a license plate holder that was a simple design, so I didn't use one.:D The license light is from a mid 70's Chevy pickup. Done and done.

    [​IMG]
     
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  28. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Yup, I hear ya. I have had two cars totaled in front of my house in rear end collisions by drunks this year alone. Making this thing visible is a high priority. If I do go to single taillight like Penry's car, it will be a LED type bulb. Right now the taillights that are on it ARE LED, and I'm fine with that. Bright gets you seen when that idiot behind you is texting and fidgeting with the "navi' system at the same time....
     
  29. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member


    I honestly have been thinking about making a single centered nerf in the shape of a giant wind up key for the back of this thing. But, then again, it would be centered and the rear end still wouldn't be....
     
  30. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Took a bit of time today and put a better Corvair steering box on my car. WOOO-HOOOO! What a difference! Damn, so that's what it's like to not have two inches of free play at the center of the wheel! I knew I would have to eventually, but I just finally made the time for it today. Truth be told, I have been suffering a bit of low-speed "death wobble" from the loose sector shaft bushings for the last couple of weeks. With a new, tight, properly adjusted box that's now history.

    Then I took it on a short drive to the sand blaster's to pick up my 1970 Ruttman Spyder mini bike frame... In the rain. And the cold. Drivers rock!
     

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