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T-buckets.... HAMB friendly, or not??

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by gsport, May 15, 2012.

  1. I have a soft spot for buckets, I kinda lean toward the track roadster style(personal preference) but am not opposed to a traditional bucket/roadster p/u....I however cant do the 70s bucket with the tall top and large windshield, big n little wires and jag/vette irs....sorry it just doesnt appeal to me......however I can appreciate the work/craftsmanship going in to one...in the end its yours, your the one who has to look at it everyday(and hopefully drive it just as much) it wouldnt be much fun if you built it the way someone else felt it should look, and it wasnt your taste, just saying....
     
  2. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

    I've posted these pictures before, this T bucket belongs to a friend who built it in 1969 and who still owns it. When I moved to this area in 1985 he was my hero because I would see him driving his T to work in the morning with his necktie flying in the breeze. :D This one has a steel 26 body, 283 sbc, powerglide, and banjo rear. It hasn't been changed or repainted in all that time.

    Don

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    Last edited: May 17, 2012
  3. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    That color is awsome! I haven't been able to find flake that color... And I have been lookin'!
     
  4. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

    I called Phil for you and asked him whose paint he used but since it was 40 years ago he didn't remember. He did say it was a mild flake that he could shoot through a DeVilbiss gun and that the company he got it from had a bunch of cool colors. Sorry, wish I could have gotten you more specific info.

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

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Thanks Don! I apreciate the attempt a bunch!
     
  6. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

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

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Ya. they just don't have quite what I'm looking for colorwise. Oh well, if I have to I can candy over silver flake anyway.
     
  8. photofink
    Joined: Apr 14, 2007
    Posts: 651

    photofink
    Member

    Ive always had the opinion that glass buckets built in the late 60s and 70s have a lot more "traditional" potential than a new "traditional" bucket built nowdays from new glass OR old steel. On this forum it all boils down to HAMB style "Traditional" vs period correct.

    There is good potential in that bucket. If I were you I would have fun and drive that thing everywhere for the regular folks and kids to point and stare at, then slowly transform it as you get the parts, if you want to transform it...its your ride and nobody elses.
     
  9. farmergal
    Joined: Nov 28, 2010
    Posts: 2,074

    farmergal
    Member
    from somewhere

    here's some oldie photos


    click to enlarge

    A0088-feature.jpg

    A0088-ken's%20t.jpg
     
  10. Shitboxdodge
    Joined: Sep 29, 2008
    Posts: 68

    Shitboxdodge
    Member

    Ok...ingnorant question time...sorry.

    What makes the car a "T-bucket" as in the OP's subject line?

    Is it a specific model of the model T? Is it the syle of the model T? Is a T-bucket always glass? Does that definition include the roadster or pickup models?

    Just curious, a lot of different cars being posted here (all of which are nice) and I have always had a picture in my head of what I thought a "T-bucket" was and was looking for a more definitive answer than the most likely incorrect picture in my head...
     
  11. photofink
    Joined: Apr 14, 2007
    Posts: 651

    photofink
    Member

    Generally means a pre '26 fenderless roadster , mainly '23 ...although I dont know when the phrase was coined.
     
  12. That is beautiful!
     
  13. John 79
    Joined: Aug 13, 2006
    Posts: 984

    John 79
    Member
    from Sweden

  14. Loved this car since I saw it in SRM many moons ago!

     
  15. Somewhere I have some original Metalflake Company chips from about that time frame. I think it was one of their colors?
     
  16. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    GENERALLY, a T-bucket is based on a pre '25 "bucket" type (roadster) body, It usually has things like a "suicide" fron suspension that places it out in front of the frame, usually it's channeled the depth of the frame, usually it has a short pickup box or a turtle deck, but sometime no tail at all. 99% feature no engine cover of any sort, most are without fenders. They all kinda harken back in origins to Norm Grabowski's "bug" or Tommy Ivo's loose (and in my opinion much improved) copy of the same. It is a car reduced to it's basic components as much as possible.

    Now, as I wrote that i thought of many exceptions to those rules. There have been many '27 bodied cars built as "T" buckets sucessfully over the years, and fenders on "T" buckets were a fad in the seventies. But I still stand by my above discription for the most part.

    What a "T" bucket is not, is a Track roadster (hood and nose), a Stock bodied full fendered "T", or a Modified with a narrow body and full hood. These are different ways to use the same components, but come up with an entirely different spirit. This seems to be somewhat of a confusion these days, so I'm kinda glad you asked.
     
  17. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Kinda what I was thinking too. I think they are still around. I'll have to poke a bit more.
     
  18. A favorite 'T' of mine. Can't remember where I stole the pic from

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  19. Shitboxdodge
    Joined: Sep 29, 2008
    Posts: 68

    Shitboxdodge
    Member

    Thanks for the great explanation! Seems it is a more broad category than that picture I had in my mind which was always one of a typically styled 70's glass t-bucket...probably because the time in which I grew up. When this thread popped up with a lot of the nice cars under the "T-bucket" banner I was surprised so I figured I would ask...
     
  20. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Bitchin' late sixties car!!! Just before the "leg show" car and Dan Woods moved them on to the next generation...
     
  21. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    "need louvers?" definition is spot on. That's it in a nut shell. I also tell people my cars called a T Bucket, because when you're sitting in it, it looks like your sitting in a wash bucket, due to the small body size. Folks seem to get a kick out of hearing that and in most cases, it's true.

    Where I live in Houston, it seems mine is the only one. I drive it almost everyday. There's a few tucked away, but they don't get driven. The older car guys get it. The tuners "kinda" get it. The bikers love it. Some don't have an idea, but still like it. Some don't have a clue and laugh, but they're usually driving an imported compact and thier opinion means nothing to me.

    Like any old car, it gets attention and is not for someone trying to keep a low profile. Last week, I had a guy get out of his car (we were at a stop light) and run up behind me yelling, "WHAT IS THAT? WHERE DO YOU BUY THEM!?" Guy scared the shit out of me.

    Regardless of how you build it or what style you choose, the fun per pound ratio is only surpassed by the power to weight ratio! They're a simple car, but a blast to drive. So, build what you like and just have fun.
     
    billybones likes this.
  22. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    I have always Characterized "T" Buckets and Modifieds as motorcycles that won't fall off their kickstand. It's so cool to see someone driving theirs all the time, Fred! And for the record, even though I can tell that the picture of yours wasn't shot in '64, it flat doesn't matter 'cause your car is bitchin'!!!
     
  23. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

    There is a fine line between what we would call a car a T bucket and a modified. I have always considered a T with a short bed a T bucket and if it just had a gas tank back there (and sat low all around) a modified. Sometimes people would refer to my old 23 as a T bucket but I thought of it more as a modified.

    BTW, this is the car that inspired me to build my 23. I fell in love with this car...........or maybe it was just the chick sitting in it. :eek:

    [​IMG]

    I swore when I got mine done I would recreate the picture so I found a good looking bikini clad girl at the beach and borrowed her for a few minutes. (But I had to give her back :()

    [​IMG]




    Don
     
  24. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    Thou art tha man.
     
  25. BLUDICE
    Joined: Jun 23, 2006
    Posts: 1,511

    BLUDICE
    Member

    Guys, it's missing a very important part of any car on here ----- I don't see any dead bugs on the wind shield - go drive the wheels of that thing - very cool car!! This one used to be mine - boy I miss that car!!
     

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

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Is that kinda like "catch and release" Don? I might ask if ya tagged her, but that would be a bit personal!

    I do agree with you on the fine line between Modified and "T" Bucket. There so many cars I can think of that have no tail and just a tank on the back, but their detailing is definitely more 'Bucket that forties Modified.

    Blackwalls, 16" early Ford wheels, hood, steel tank on the back, steel body, flathead, Modified.

    Whites or mag or aluminum wheels, pie crust slicks ,aluminum tank on the back, glass body, chrome or polish... "T" Bucket.

    Kinda like two generations of the same car.
     
  27. TR Waters
    Joined: Nov 18, 2006
    Posts: 1,439

    TR Waters
    Member
    from Vermont
    1. Early Hemi Tech

    IMO, a T-Bucket turns into a "non traditional" hotrod when anything over a 16 inch diameter rim is used on the rear. A T-Bucket with a truck rear axle and 7.50-20's is one of those "other" rods.
     
  28. i like it looks good. there is a few trad looking buckets here in NZ but there is also some terrible looking ones at the same time

     
  29. Kramer
    Joined: Mar 19, 2007
    Posts: 911

    Kramer
    Member

    With all the discussion about Modified or Bucket, I will now have to decide which one this is going to be.:D Actually I will have a short bed in the back, so I guess it will be a bucket. And yes, I consider it HAMB friendly.

    [​IMG]
     
  30. Royalshifter
    Joined: May 29, 2005
    Posts: 15,579

    Royalshifter
    Moderator
    from California

    That is cool keep the stance you have.
     

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