Technical What did I get myself into... 23 Bucket

All,
I recently had a T-bucket kit fall to me at an extremely favorable price, basically the cost to rent a trailer and bring it home. I know literally, nothing, about kit cars or T-buckets, and the various methods gearheads use to put them together.

The engine runs well after a little affection, so now I'm onto the brake system. I remove the rear tires and found exactly what I expected, drum brakes. I removed the front tires and immediately turned to Google and YouTube. I'm not sure what these are from, but I haven't been able to identify the hubs, the drums or suspension....nothing. Does any of this look familiar to you guys?

Thanks for looking,
Mike

 

Another photo with the finned plate attached to the rotor.

 

VW bug, 65 or older.

 

volkswagen

 

VW front stub,not hot rod,but Dune Buggy type stuff.

 

Post a photo of the whole car...

 

The VW front was used on early dragsters also, so it's more period correct than one might think. That doesn't mean that it is cool though.

 

What!!! No pictures of the whole enchilada?! We need pictures man!

 

"Finned plate" on the drum is a wheel adapter.

 

Buggy/VW for sure. Actually a quite compact and well engineered design. Hotrod material, not so much...

 

Guys,
Thanks for the quick responses. So if I were ordering replacement parts for the front, I should base it off of a VW? I went to the good book (Google) and yup, that is it. Say's from a 50-65 Karmann Gia. That was not what I was expecting, but, I'll make it work. Maybe there will be a "what should I put under the front" thread in the near future. Please excuse the messy garage....

 

You should head over to the 'Bucket of Ugly' thread....

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-bucket-of-ugly-a-de-uglifying-thread.824491/

 

Do I see a double tube rail frame sitting behind those headers?

 

If you could make the top of the pu box parallel with the top of the body sides, it would have a decent side profile. Redoing the dash/center console/and shifter would be a giant improvement too.

 

Here's another good post to just see several T's
T BUCKETS WITH WHITE WALLS...

 

Quite a creative assembly.

 

"If you could make the top of the pu box parallel with the top of the body sides..."
And if you left the box there an tilted up the body to meet it, you would be evolving toward the Grabowski-kookie T bucket!

 

If it came with a title ya did ok.There are lots of usable parts there if you want to make a more modern looking bucket. A title without a car is a minor problem.....a car with out a title can be a nightmare.....depending on state.

 

Definitely has potential! Get rid of that front suspension though... Just my opinion. You can probably find a nice used t bucket front setup cheap. Even new stuff isn't expensive for those cars. I had a chrome axle, spring and wishbones for a T bucket, and a frame but I sold it. Almost had to give it all away.

 

Mike, you'll have best lines, if standing back in side view, picture the header pipe set, in a more swept-back style. Plenty of pic's out there. It may help to ensure on full turn the front tires clear. You can modify by cutting wedge sections, gas weld w/torch is easy, once you try it. Simple pipe surgery can make it look fast, sitting still.

 

For the cost of gas I would have loaded it up!

 

Here is the first rendition of the Grabowski-kookie T that Bruce posted up. This is a true Icon in the Fad T class.

 

Nothing wrong with VW front suspension..........as long as it’s hidden cause it’s kinda fugly. Easy to raise or lower just by re- clocking the torsion bars. Just not really hot rod material though, even though they are tough enough to run Baja.

 

To my eyes, the front axle should be moved forward a bit anyway. More reason to change to a T Bucket axle. Not as quick and easy as you were hoping maybe, but worth the effort. Congratulations on the score.

Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

We all have our ideas of what you should do. My advice is don't do anything to it till you can drive it and decide if you are in fact a T Bucket kind of guy. You got a heck of a deal, that don't mean it's a good place to spend $$$ or time unless you actually enjoy driving something like it. Drive it and let it talk to ya. Then decide if you want to make changes, heck maybe it looks just fine to you and that would be just fine to me. Fun comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

 

I agree with this advice. At the end of the day if the car makes you happy just as it is that is all that matters.

 

IF it were mine, I'd be pricing the various front ends from Speedway, Spirit, California Custom Roadsters, etc.
I'd also research what a KG restorer would pay for what you have. Early bug stuff is getting good money. Bus stuff is crazy.
However as said, your best course of action is to invest in elbow grease and get it as far along as possible before laying out money. Check every nut and bolt, check all the wires, lube stuff, get it so it won't fall apart or burn up, and go from there.
The bucket of ugly thread, Tim with a T's build thread and T picture threads will help get the ideas flowing.

 

Welcome to the show..... You'll catch a lot bs for the vw front end... But there were a a lot of historical cars run'n them in the day, The frame looks interesting for sure.. rework the dash area a bit, finish it interior wise an enjoy... Ya a straight axle would definitely make it "fit" in here an be pleasing to the masses... But I bet it rides nice now.... The price was right for a Whole Lotta fun!

 

Maybe this guy would like to trade?

 

Nope, they want the "traditional" style dropped axle for that particular look.
Hollywood-east is correct, in the 60's there was a trend to different parts n style for the suicide-style front end, not just on T's. The reason the VeeWee front suspension didn't work all that well for hot rods, was because of its' design weight. What, maybe 500-600 lbs on the front wheels for an early bug? I doubt anything more than an 60's aluminum buick/old/pontiac would work in a VW trailing-arm suspended T, for very long w/o issue(s), maybe not even those. The torsion bars just aren't strong enough to work *well* and last. Which is why there are coil-over helper springs on the "overload" shocks, & they're still not enough. Yes you can make it work, some have. Be careful w/the trailing-arm suspension, bump steer can get really wicked. As far as the dragsters using that front end, well, only 1 set of torsion bars & pieces to work w/it. See: Kent Fuller s' stuff. & the dragsters had what, maybe 150 lbs on the front wheels? The suggestion for the Bucket of Ugly thread is one you should take seriously. You've got a good start. Marcus...