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

Funny thing is, if you think about it, it was sort of the gold standard for T-buckets back then, at least on the high profile cars. Grabowski, Ivo, Brasseau, all used V8-60 axles and 4 bars. I know there were several others in Hot Rod and R&C around that time set up the same.

I would say that if a guy were building a 100% period-correct, circa 1960 T-bucket, he should be using an Almquist glass body, a 283 and a 4 bar. Wonder how the average HAMB-bone would react to a build thread like that? Kind of ironic, isnt it?

 

Hell, Ivo's car and I think Norm's as well used four early Ford ties rods for radius rods. Art the time it was common sprint car and Indy Roadster practice as well.


The second (?) generation of the Brasseau car went a little like this...

 

Chip....didja ever see this one in your "library"? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=830545

VW beam...yeah, been done, but this is the first time I've seen someone incorporate the rear torsion housing too.

 

Don't think I've seen that Mag. although the picture on the cover of him sitting in the roadster looking back is familiar.

Wish I could have hooked up with him but by the time I looked him up he was already pretty sick and had moved to the Ca. gold country. Last I heard (a couple of years ago) the roadster was for sale. 20K I think. Although the second generation was a much better car than the first I just wasn't interested and I need another roadster like I need another hole in the head. I heard at some point the roadster had a Corvair rear suspension. Not sure if that came before this mag. coverage or after.

 

Strange you mentioned that. I've got a 283 being built and it's probably done, if my friend worked on it last week. It's for my next build and won't be traditional with radials, but it's going to be nice. IF my money can match my imagination.

 

I don't check in for a couple days and have 5 pages of reading!

 

I have most of a 283 core & a 2x4 corvette intake for future use. Hope I live long enough for all the "parts piles" I have to actually be turned into cars!

 

Good to hear Gary! Your not HiJacking my thread! We gotta have something to talk about when 'm not getting anything done 'round these parts. When Phillips described this as a freestyle Jazz solo the other day, he absolutely nailed it! If things roll too far away from the appointed era I'd say something.

I kinda feel bad now because a couple of weeks ago Harv 117 asked if he could post a bunch of "seventies T-Buckets" to my thread, and I said no. Turned out that they were almost all sixties cars. Most would have fit beautifully here.

You guys carry on and enjoy yourselves. I'll get back into the tech stuff as soon as possible.

 

Any updates on the de-uglifying?

 

Hey everybody,

Sorry for the long time no hear from. It's been a busy week, but not for the good. with regard to the "T", I have had to go through some stuff with E-bay and get a refund from one company for a radiator, and order through another. This one has been shipped and is on it's way as we speak. The big news though is the absolute heart breaking loss of my little Falcon wagon to a drunk driver again in front of my home on Tuesday. Tomorrow it will be five months that Judy's brand new Honda got whacked at 1:59 in the morning by a drunk who crashed the car into a neighbors front yard and called it in stolen on foot.... Who also was a foreign consulate and possessed full diplomatic immunity... Ya, that's the sort of crap that happens to ME! We got her car fixed, and all is well. I have lived on this street for 25 years and have always parked my cars out front, so color me confused when I came home from lunch on Tuesday and found the Falcon folded in half with note from the Phoenix police that it was a hit and run, have a nice day! I noticed all the debris had Chrysler part numbers and red paint and looked suspiciously like my arch nemesis, a P.T. Cruiser remains. Having seen an always drunk guy in a red P.T. weaving down the road many times I went to the luxury condo complex up the road and asked to see their garage. There it was! Only it wasn't the drunk guy, it was the equally always drunk woman that I thought was his girlfriend in another identical P.T.

Long story short, the next couple of weeks will be dedicated to getting something back on the road to drive. the Wagon was my daily and only transpo at the moment other than Judy's Honda 'till she comes back from Hong Kong. I'm hoping my 'Buckets radiator gets here in the next day or so, 'cause it would be the quick way to transpo again, but I probably will finish up the Plymouth and get it back to daily status again. stay tuned for the next update in the soap opera that is my life...

 

I saw the damage photos on another thread, and my heart goes out to you, Chip.....

That was a cool little car that kept a relatively safe 50 years of existence, only to be ruined by an idiot drunk driver. People in my inner circle know that drinking and driving is one of my most intensely hated subjects ever. Two years ago, I was the victim of a drunk driver who made a u-turn in front of me and I t-boned him at 55mph and totalled my car and jacked my back up. I have ZERO tolerance for people who choose to drink and drive. Excellent detective work on catching the culprit, and I hope that the situation works to your favor. I look at the timeline of your incident, and to think that somebody is already plastered at around Noon on a Tuesday is disturbing. My drunk driver was blowing a .19 at 3:30 pm on a Wednesday. A behemoth, 6ft 7in tall, 345lbs, and he got out of the car and was threatening to kick my ass until people started to stop and offer assistance. I had picked up a softball-sized rock and was ready to use it, but I don't think it would have helped. If I knew then what I know now, I would have aimed for his door instead of his front fender.......

I know you're going through a mountain of paperwork, calls from the insurance company, and everything else related to the accident. My suggestion to you is take it slow, review every document, and don't accept the first offer, no matter how good it sounds. Getting a lawyer is not a bad idea, either. That drunk idiot needs to feel your vengeance, if you know what I mean. They took something precious of yours, and it's going to cost them dearly.

 

Thanks Alex. I too am of the same mind. I have had too many vehicle and my life altered too many times at the hands of the irresponsible. Drunk driving is one, but I have also been hit by illegal aliens twice who were uninsured and escaped back to Mexico to avoid paying. I've been hit by an Alzheimer's patient that had no business behind the wheel. My '48 is in it's third major rebuild due to a "total loss" wreck caused by others. I'm getting tired of this crap. I guess what really makes it worse is the feeling that the street in front of my own house isn't safe anymore. All the non-car people in my life have been saying things like, "well, at least you weren't in it" and chestnuts like "it's only a car". These folks have never WORKED for what they have like I have, and have no idea how depressing it is.

Give me a week or so to get my brain back together and I'll get back to mirth and merriment...

 

Damn, Chip!! You might as well paint bullseyes on 'em!
I had an O/T VW squareback destroyed in my wife's work lot once, and she never drove one of my hot rods again.
After awhile, you get gunshy. Yeah....It's not just a car......

 

Any chance all that could be Porta-powered out?

 

Ugh. The pictures make ME want to cry, I can't even imagine how YOU feel!



'27 T Roadster build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=734383

 

Nice detective work did the cops do anything with your investigation results?

 

Man that looks bad, sorry to see that.
Are the cops of any help once you found the culprit?

 

Damn, Chip, sorry to hear it. Are the popo following up? How bad is the wagon really? Axle and the whole thing? Just the 1/4? Sorry you had to go through this.

 

Naw, it's done. The fork has been stuck. The rear is so bent up it bent the driveshaft and broke the back of the trans. She never even touched her brakes. The cops cited her for the accident and hit and run, leaving the scene of an accident, etc. and asked me if I wanted to press charges. I think I will be lawyering up on this deal. Her insurance company and I are already on the outs, and this is going to get real bad before it gets better. When the cops knocked on her door I guess she refused to answer for the first five minutes or so, and he referred to it as a "mini stand off situation". They were quite interested how I found the car though, and I did this by noticing what goes up and down my street, and where it goes. The Chrysler part numbers on everything helped narrow it down though. As I explained this to the cops who were a bit incredulous, I added "I have a tendency to hunt my own..." He stopped me and said he didn't need to know any more!

 

Press charges.

 

Well, at least the fuzz caught up with her. A real shame to see yet another nice vintage car converted into a 'parts donor'....

Good luck with the insurance company, and hell yes I'd press charges....

 

I don't post much here but, seeing your wagon damaged makes me sick. I love the other chestnut "at least it wasn't a new car" I was. Looking at a falcon the other day enjoying the lines of the car(Chevy guy) never have seen a wagon love it and the wires. Enjoying your t thread



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I have been slow to respond, and still don't have the right words, but I'm very sorry to see what happened to your Falcon. What a shame.
I hope the legal system works in your favor.
I'm sure you will turn this bad into a good somehow. Good luck.

 

Chip..dude! That totally sucks! Man, I'm so sorry about the wagon. She had to clobber it pretty good to buckle it like that. Damn!

 

Good work on your part in finding the drunk. Unless a fatality or injury is involved, this type of hit-and-run case is a very low priority with most police departments. I've had situations like yours and until I made a fuss and kept pressing the matter, the police didn't even want to be bothered with a basic report so that I could pursue a claim with my insurance company. The paperwork I finally received looked as if it had been written by a 3rd grader.

I'm sorry for your loss ... the Falcon looks like it was a fun driver.

 

So sorry to read about your Falcon loss. I thought there might be T update photos, not sad photos like this. Have you given any thoughts to truning it into a Ranchero? Bob

 

My first ride in a Hot Rod was very similar to this bucket. Only difference was my ride had a Hemi in it. Will never forget the smoke bellowing off the rear wheel inches from my elbow. Great find you have there....

 

Funny you should say that '37... When I first started this deal, Judy wanted a Ranchero because that is what a friend and fellow local H.A.M.B.er John Evans had. We found and bought a '62 less engine. She then saw this wagon on craigslist and couldn't live without it. Well, without the wagon now, the Ranchero is already out of it's spot in the back and will soon start to get all the goodies from the wagon...