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

Chip gave 'em a good review quality-wise too. I have a car I'm picking up in NY state this spring, I am going to have a pair of 16" cheaters and a set of tires for the other car shipped to the NY address and haul them back with the car.

 

Ya, and to add to the slicks deal, they are 8"X28.5" on 81/2" Americans. Herb at Towel City is the man!

 

The three carbs are going to be a functional deal pretty soon! I just broke the last stuck throttle shaft loose a little bit ago. All seem pretty tight too so I think can proceed. In that low angle shot, one of the things that has driven me NUTS about this car sticks out like a VERY sore thumb.... The rear radius rods! I have a stick of 7/8" .156 wall tubing purchased to make my new, more triangular rear traction bars as suggested by cool buddy Jeem. They'll follow a more linear path straight back to the rear end and get rid of that awkward bend hanging down.

The interior is going to be a bit simpler that the picture. I'm not planning any rolls or pleats in this deal at all. The reality of the situation is that this car sits outside, and will continue to do so even after it's "finished". With all the air born dust and dirt that the desert brings, rolls and pleats make a perfect, almost impossible to clean place for those elements to settle, making white look dirty just days after it's done. Simple flat panels will make stuff easier to keep clean for a long time to come. A simple orange stripe about 10" wide down the center will keep it from looking "too modern" and austere. Just waiting for summer to end to do it, 'cause I know most of you guys can't relate, but vinyl in the desert summer makes a car almost un drivable. I've literally had nearly second degree burns on my legs and unmentionables from sitting on black vinyl roadster seats on a 120 degree day.

 

Its actually threatening to rain here right now. Guess summer is over. Dammit, when the hell is that "global warming" gonna kick in???

 

110 here yesterday (Alpine, not San Diego), so I think that "Global Warming" is just a little south of you, George!

 

Ya, no kidding! We have about another month of 105+ to deal with, which makes me a bit crazy when suddenly all the ads on TV are talking about cooler night and sittin' by fires and crap... Where?

 

Remember a while back, I was saying how I had to drive in a down pour? I think I mentioned it. Well, anyway, I used Zodiac marine grade metal flake vinyl for my seat. When I got home, all I had to do was wipe my seat dry. No water soaked in at all. My wiring under the seat and all my other junk was dry as a bone. I don't have pleats for maintenance reasons, as well. Simple and purpose built.

I got it from these folks: http://www.diyupholsterysupply.com/

Great folks to deal with.

 

Here's a rear end question.... posi or limited slip? When I first built my Bucket, I was advised to go limited slip for safety reasons. Something about a T Bucket being too light and making the ride scary at best. Like it's not scary already.

So, what are the thoughts and experiences of the peanut gallery?

 

Hey Fred, I would be keen to see some more full photo's of your interior please, especially how high is your base off the floor and how have you attached the frame to the body ? That is the area I'm working on now and the little voices in my head say for me to look for small bucket seats out of a tiny jappa to fit in instead of a one piece seat. The main issue I have is trying to fit the hand brake in a position where I can reach it without having to remove my seatbelt. It is now in it's third position but if I built a one piece seat base, it will have to have a cut out for the hand brake which isn't really nice hence the little voices. Where is your hand brake Chip and how easy is it to reach ?

 

Well, mine's neither. It's an open carrier. Even with (or maybe because of) the blown hemi, It's always spun both wheels equally (course I've never tried doing donuts in it.....don't really plan too, either!) A lot of front engine top fuel cars ran open carriers back in the day as well.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

George
See you in 2 weeks EH??

 

Slightly embarrassed to admit that I don't have an e-brake set up yet on this car. I do have the stuff to set one up though and soon I will. Again, our rules here are many times more lax than yours. The "stuff" I mentioned are a stock "A" handle and ratchet, and a pair of short bed S-10 cables that are nice sealed stuff that look like new. The plan is to build a bracket to attach the handle onto the frame for the Lokar shifter, then a yoke to the cables.

 

Okay, here we go. The front riser is about 6". That will seem high, but bear with me. The rear is 4". The reason for the heights is because I used webbing on the seat bottom. I took a piece of cardboard and made a pattern for the seat bottom. I then transferred that to 3/4" marine grade plywood. I cut holes for the driver and passenger side. Then, I did a weave with the webbing that is used for lawn furniture.

Next, I went to an upholstery store. Not the auto type, but the upholstery store that women go to. I purchased 2 medium sized, fluffy pillows. The plain white ones. That's the inside stuffing. After MANY trials and errors, I found the Zodiac Marine Vinyl and covered the seat bottom. The back section is 3/4" plywood and a 3" foam backing. I wasn't worried about my back, it's my ass that bounces. Underneath that bottom, the base is divided into 4 sections by varnished and fiber glassed pine. The area where the body tapers wide on each side, are separate sections for storage. There's room for a whole list of stuff, I have stored underneath that seat. Tools, my fuse box, access to the battery, a big tarp, car care products, flash light's, zip ties, pocket knife, battery operated tire pump, tire plugs, gloves and a hat for cold weather, electricians tape and a 12" pipe wrench. whew! Here's a better pic of the interior. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see a pic of the underneath section.



Back to the height. I knew I wanted the final seat height (with me in the car) to be about 4". The webbing allows my weight to settle in the seat at 4". Which seems perfect to me. The top of my shoulder blades are even with the back of the body. I sit "in", not on my car.

I used the hinges from a boat seat, to allow the back to flip forward. That way, on hot sunny days, I can flip the back down and keep the seat cool. Again, thinking about my ass.

If I answer the parking brake question, this thread will REALLY get off track. In a nut shell, in 38 years of driving, I've never had to use a parking brake, so......

 

Open carrier? Great, something ELSE for me to research.

 

Are you coming up for Ocean Park again??

 

I was gonna put a detroit locker in mine!! The original plan was to use my 4.89s, but that was with 30" hursts in the plan, and I was on the fence about 4.56's. With the towel city tires being 29.5, I think I'll use the 4.56's from the falcon, and put the 4.89s in the falcon with some taller tires.

 

VW e-brake setups are nice and easy to use, small, cheap and available.

If you want another interior look. I have a build thread in the upholstery group on how I did my seats, start to finish. (Hell it might be in this thread already...lol)

 

Detroit Locker!? Damn. When I go "hunting", I'm looking for new Challengers and Vettes, not John Force.

 

Well, you guys have me second guessing myself. I hadn't really given it much thought, I just have always run lockers in 9"'s without really thinking about it, They are almost bulletproof, and you hit the throttle, they lock, period. It MIGHT be a bit of a handful in a 96" wb t-bucket with slicks, 400hp and a mid-4 series gear. Maybe I need to start hunting for a trac-lock...

 

A bit.

 

Oh, and the weather? Yup, its started raining... Man, its not even September yet!!!

 

I think where you are a bit off the rails Fred is that Posi and Limited slip are different trade names (along with Sure Grip, Detroit Locker, and Trac-Loc) for the same thing, a locking or semi locking differential. An open drive is a simple rear differential with spider gears and no locking device. Personally, in my opinion 'Buckets are light enough that I think a locker might be a hindrance in one of these cars, I'll stick with an open.

 

Thanks for the clarification and reason.

 

Well, close. Posi, sure-grip and trac-loc use clutch discs , and aren't fully "locked" under load, they can still "differentiate" under load, a detroit locker is mechanically "locked" under load, in other words, when you stand on it, it behaves like a spool. I hadn't really given it thought till now, the detroit locker is probably inappropriate for a t-bucket.

I remember many years ago installing a 4.10 and locker in a Mustang that a friend of mine owned. I'd earlier built a cleveland for it, and it was fairly strong. The car owner had a rep as a "balloon foot" and we had always kind of poked fun at him. We were following him and he stopped at a stop sign, goosed it, and spun the car around about 270 degrees in the middle of the intersection, and then casually drove away heading to the right. After we parked, we got out and started ribbing him about "becoming one of the boys, you f%&*ing maniac," ect ect. He was grinning, but I noticed he looked a little pale, and his hands were shaking. Later on, he told me me he had no intention of doing that, had been planning to go left, and had goosed it with the front wheels turned, the locker locked, the ass-end snapped around on him, he countersteered and by the time he stepped off, the car had come almost all the way around on him. I laughed my ass off, slapped him on the back and said "baptism by fire".

 

Hey, Chip;

Cooler nights, etc. Where is this happening? - right in your old neighborhood.
I'd sure like some of your weather about now. Clouds, rain, t-storms for a few days now, & through next weekend, at least. Oh, & the temps are dropping, too. I hate this weather almost as much as that F'n s..., sn.. sno., snow. There, got it out. Lousy four-letter word... .

True-Trac is about as good as it gets for a light short wb toy. Friend has one in his T, that he got from me, best street manners around, & works well. There are others, but kind of (well,-really-) expensive.

The Quinn-T(sential) is looking good. Gotta admit, the copper & white is really nice.

Marcus...

 

Ya, been getting a blow by blow accounting of the weather up there for the last few days since my mom made her annual pilgrimage north to hang out on Summit with my Aunt and Uncle. I got the "Minnesota State Fair" in about 20 pictures on the cell phone yesterday too... Anything you can dream of to eat on a stick, and Tom Thumb Donuts too. Sounds like heaven.

 

I have mounted the parking brake handle 90 degrees from normal, parallel to the seat front in a couple of roadsters and it worked great, as long as your running Locar type cables.

 

Whiplash, here are the pics of my seat and storage areas. First pic, is underneath. The green thing on the passenger side is a 20'X30' plastic tarp. Folded tightly and pushed down into place. Underneath it is access to the battery. On top of that are a pipe wrench, Amour All, a mini LED flashlight, a Gerber, a couple towels, an issue of Rod& Custom (in case I need something to read on the side of the road) and the passenger seat belt that's just flopped over.

On the drivers side are the fuse box (I have a piece of rubber mat that normally covers it. It's tossed on the drivers side floor mat in the pic), a couple knit hats, gloves, another Gerber, various lengths of fuel hose, vacuum hose and electrical wire, tire plug kit, tail light bulbs, fuses, a battery operated tire inflator (underneath the hat and gloves), another mini LED flashlight, a spare fan belt and an assortment of other things, in case of emergency. The drivers side seat belt is flopped over here as well.



Notice the 3 partitions that separate the storage areas. On either side of each seat, are a storage area. On the passenger side is a knit pouch that contains tools, a couple shop rags, a small funnel and a nice assortment of various sixe nuts, bolts and washers. On the drivers side are windshield cleaner, zip ties, screw drivers and the varnished stick for checking fuel levels.

Here's the under side of the seat. Here, you can see the weaved straps I used. The white is the pillows I described earlier. The gray material is a thick felt material that covers the pillows. You can also see I didn't skimp on the staples, used to keep everything in place. The two small blocks of wood, towards the front edge, keep the seat from sliding forward and hold it in place. The folded over material is thick. So thick, that when weight is applied from seating, it creates a water repellant seal to the underneath compartments. On either edge of the seat are the hinges that I used from a failed boat seat experiment. The boat seats were hard as a rock and too small. Plus, they raised me to a stupid riding height.




Finally, here's the seat with the back folded down. Again, when I'm at an event and the sun is beating down, I flip the back down and it keeps the seat cool. Trust me, nothing stings, like sitting on a vinyl seat that's been sitting in the sun for a few hours. Also, I can flip the seat forward and store a light jacket (that's folded) or the Sunday newspaper.



That's it. The seat weighs about 25-30 lbs. Zodiac upholstery is water PROOF and VERY durable. That seat will out last the car. My theory on T Bucket interiors is, sparse and functional. It's a HOTOD. No cup holders, no radio, no fancy Nancy materials. The interior sides are painted with truck bed liner. It's durable and water proof.

 

"I have mounted the parking brake handle 90 degrees from normal, parallel to the seat front in a couple of roadsters and it worked great, as long as your running Locar type cables."
Yep, and once I saw one located on left side, close to 'door' panel.
Like the early 'A's. Or was that 'T's? Where's Lancaster when you need him?

 

Both "T"s and early '28 "AR" type cars ran the parking brake up front by the driver's left foot. It made ingress and egress kind of a pisser, and that's why earlier "T"s didn't have a functional left door.

What jmikee is talking about though works pretty well. That is taking a later model type lever, and instead of installing it front to back down the centerline of the car as we normally would, turning it 90 degrees so it is parallel to the seat riser. In a small car like a 'Bucket that does work out pretty well and does save a bunch of space. A flexible cable is then used to attach it to the rear brake cables.