i am building one and almost done u can buy a frame done on ebay or speedway for $300. i have hit the swap meet for everything nothing new but wirering and i have right at 3500 in it and about 400 more to go for paint and interrior. mine using cheep enamel paint $35 dollars a quart. if u do everything your self and hunt for buyes on parts it can be done cheap.i also bout a van for $250 and got the motor and trans., tilt steering colum and many other parts
I'll have one for sale at Jalopy Showdown in the 5K range. I've been un-doing lots of the hokey stuff that was done along the way, and chassis is too long, but runs drives, and has lots of potential. Iron duke powered, 350 trans, 9" rear. Wouldn't take much work or $$$ to make it a much cooler ride.
Disagree good sir, you can buy almost everything you need for a T-Bucket (frame, brakes, full suspension, full steering system, and rear end along with wiring) for about $400 if you search junk yards, The trick is not to look for Mustang II's, Model A's, or anything of the lot. What you're looking for is a Mini-pickup frame. I did some basic pricing around my area, and you can buy a rusty body for 500-1000 right? The mini pickup chassis costs roughly 500, and includes a ton of extra wires, so your wiring is done already. As for engine/trans, find someone with a running, but rusty and beatup 67-72 pickup with an FE for sale, steal the motor/trans/wiring, and part the rest out, this basically gives you a free motor/trans, and all the wiring needed to put it into the ranger frame, now with some basic cutting/welding you can probably just drop whatever body you picked onto the Pickup Frame. In mine/my fathers case, we picked up a 1919 Velie cowl for $100, and our plan for building this one is to build the body out of wood, the ranger should have had lights on it already, so just rewire them, and you can build a model A/T grille for pretty cheap, if not, just build something similar. There's no reason that a T-bucket cant be built for $1500. You just need to think outside the box, and best of all, you get disc brakes to start with! Good luck to anyone reading this!
I am a craigslist junkie and I find deals ALL the time on t-buckets. ex. There was one earlier in the summer... glass body, model a frame, 350 combo, ford 8 inch, the ugliest wheels known to man, 2 bucket seats, wooden dash, needed wiring and brake work. Asking $3200 I believe. If you are looking for something to just get behind the wheel of I could guarantee you could of had this on the road and it of been cool for well under 5 grand (especially if you sell one of the engine/tranny combos to recoup some of your costs. My advice... find a cheap project that is 75% complete and go from there. They are out there.
Don't seem to get on here much anymore, but thought I'd update this thread with a story we did about a fellow in Michigan who, although he already had an engine, trans and some miscellaneous parts (like most people already do), built this T-Bucket for under $1500. The details are in the story I did, "Today, You Can Build a T-Bucket for WAY UNDER $3000"
I have about 9000.00 in my T Bucket build. I built frame, bent and weld my 6" drop front axle 350/350 engine trans did the upholstery an paint did a lot of parts shopping on garage sale speedway motors for headers windshield radiator ect. An now it be a trash truck lol
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