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

Wow, Rebel. I didn't know you were recovering from surgery. Get well greatly! My Buckets getting an engine swap and normally, I'm depressed when I can't drive my ride. But it's rained almost every day, since it went into my friends shop. The weatherman doesn't know WHAT the hell is going on. I should be back on the streets in a week.

So, reading about Louvers car and keeping up with the comments has kept me sane as well. Well, closer to normal at least.

 

It looks like I'll be heading for DMV on Monday, and I'll be driving it for a bit after that as my daily, so stuff will still happen in small doses. Tomorrow I should be blasting the new headers and painting them on Sunday, so that will be the big doins' this weekend.

 

Damn guys! I didn't know that you were all taking this so seriously! Sorry I have been a bit of a gloomy Gus for the last few weeks, but this crap with the wagon is just about killin' me. It'll all work out okay, but it's taking longer and lots more yelling than I thought it should.

On to better things, and maybe a request. As I said in my last post, I'm hoping to have some paper on this thing on Monday, and being that I'm driving shoe leather at the moment, it's gonna daily for a bit now that nice weather is here.

Here is the request... Do any of you guys out there have a ladies sized leather flying cap, or know where I could find one? Judy wants one in the worst way for riding in the T-Bucket this winter and has been driving me nuts looking for it. Turns out they are a bit rarer than I thought they would be. Give me nudge if you have a lead, please.

 

"Gibson Barns" for flying helmets.

I'm a pilot and biplane owner, that is what many of us use.

Nice project by the way!

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I know I'm in the minority but I think the cowl lights - small like yours - when turned into turn signals don't bother me at all on a 'Bucket. They are visible from front and rear and can hold quite bright bulbs. Unless it's a show-only car, turn signals are quite useful these days as drivers are not getting any more attentive.

If they are just hunks of metal I'm with the crowd that says they should go.

 

Thanks Fred, All my cars are running great so it is hard not driving. Have to wait for the wife to drive me around. At least now I can sit in the front seat. For the first few weeks after open heart surgery you have to sit in the back seat because the Doctors don't want an airbag to go off on you before your chest has healed.

This thread is not only getting the ugly out of Chip's T but many more. It's even making me rethink some of the things on my roadster.

Gary

 

Thanks for your comments. I have Model A tail lights on the rear that I altered internally so that I use the top half as indicators and the bottom as stop/ tail light using quartz bulbs which at night are heaps bright enough. On the front I have small discreet lights down on the frame front rails, again, our regulations demand that we have indicators. Oh too, there was a mention about where to place vehicle traffic horns as on an open car they can absolutely look God darn awful. I have mine hidden up under the dash panel completely out of sight but it is still loud enough to pass our strict regulations. I have a genuine chromed Claxton from a Model A too but it will remain hanging in the garage as I totally agree with both Gary and Fred when they say it is difficult to stop adding pretty things to your car which ruins the whole look, less is best.

 

Chip, I know that all the guys here have past their condolences on about the Falcon but as a ex bodyman/ panelbeater, I sure if that car went onto a chassis pulling machine you would be surprised just how well that damage could be pulled out of the car. I realize that you have decided on going another route with it but if you do know somebody with a chassis machine, it just may be an idea to give it a tug and then have a look at it before totally wreaking it.

 

Louvers, I've actually seen the hats from this place and they looked cool. Here's a place to start.

http://www.uswings.com/avcap.asp

 

SoCal Speed shops has leather bomber style hats, that's where I got mine.

 

I got a leather cap at my local Harley shop. Way cheaper than So Cal or the link provided. I think it was $18.

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

 

Well Chip if you didn't live in a place where the average temp. was 110 in the shade in January you might be able to find one at the local hardware store.

Seriously "The Hat Guys" in Oakland Ca. They have everything from those to Pinp hats. Lots of Pimp hats. My electrician friend buys his Stroker hats there. Also I just got my "Genuine HOTROD Hardware, Inc. catalog and they have them in there.

Gary

 

Chip
I'm thinking if you go with the "pimp" hat, color choice would be hard to make.....Although the option to change feathers could come in handy.
I'll be in your neck of the woods, between the 8th and 12th, I would like to offer some free labor, in the evenings, to help you where I can.....if you need it.

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Cool, let me know when you get here!

The feather option is intriguing! I'm thinking the standard 8' long pheasant feather might be the way to fly on that one...

 

I'm sorry I didn't take time yesterday to acknowledge you, we got off on some tangents and I forgot. While not a T-Bucket, I really dig your C cab a bunch! That's another "gotta have one someday" deal for me. I had a C cab body about three or four years ago, but unfortunately someone else needed it far worse than I did and was willing to pay for it. I do know where there was a super nice original cab in a very out of the way tiny "townlet" in southwestern AZ, and I have tempted to go back and see if it is still there.

 

One in my neck of the woods. I'm sure it could be bought.

 

Thats pretty neet Gary

 

Louvers, I'm curious. What was the trend or situation on painting the motors different colors then factory back then? Did the majority of those T-bucket engines get painted factory colors or did most choose a different color.....which gave it style?

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i believe the c cab has touring car doors .bottom rear of the doors are supposed to be crurved not straight. truck still looks good.

 

me thinks truck doors are NOT curved at back.....

 

liking this thread...

 

Butch

I'll take a crack at that. I don't think most hot rod guys were worried about factory colors. A lot of rebuilt engines were painted gold in the '50s. Their were some guys that restored cars to original and they were worried about getting everything right but most of us just wanted something to stand out. I painted my flathead engine and engine compartment RED and left the hood off my 47 Ford two door to show it off.

Gary

 

I started out red and switched to black. Black doesn't show oil and grease that much.

 

Interesting. So in the 60's T-buckets it was a mixed bag, not really a trend either way except maybe the gold? I like black and gold in a T, not a big fan of orange....... in a T bucket anyhow. Almost seems out of place.

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That's right, C -cab truck doors are unique, and are square on the bottom corners.

 

That would be a big nope! The tourings used the same passenger side door as the roadster did, and the same cowl. The easy way to tell a Ccab cowl is the door front jambs continue all the way down to the bottom of the body, where the roadster and touring, the jamb curves and runs back at about five inches from the bottom of the body. The other obvious difference is the left and right doors on the C cab.

 

So much of the magazine coverage was in black and white in the early sixties that you can never really get a feeling for what colors engines were. I see lots that are a light color, possibly white, and some that seem to match body color. Then there was always black. I guess I really don't have an answer for you, 'cause I have never really noticed a "trend" of any sorts.

I did have a friend/mentor that told me years ago that his friends would "code" an engine by the color they picked. Red was fairly stock, black was expected leaky, white was to never be run for show cars only, gold was for semi hotted up stuff, and yellow was for all out crazy stuff!

 

White became very popular in the '60s. I don't know why but show cars started having a lot of white on them.

I remembering visiting a friend who had just bought back a '50s T show roadster he had built and sold. He was so pissed that the guy he sold it to had painted his black lacquer frame white and he was going to have to paint it black again.

 

It seems to me looking at all the stuff I do, that white undercarriage and engine paint started pretty heavy in the '59-'60 era and continued on through to about '65 or so. It seems that chrome became a lot more common about that time. Now once again, I add that this statement is a generalization, and I am referring to T-Buckets in particular, here. I think the rise of more chrome stuff on our cars also has a bit to do with the rise of the "kit car" concept of T-buckets as well. If you really look at the magazines of '64 and '65 it seems that every drag chassis manufacturer in southern California was now selling a "roadster" chassis, i.e. T-Bucket chassis. I could almost go a bit farther and tie this thought with the key stuff that was happening in drag racing at the time, especially '64 after the fuel ban was lifted. At that point, if your pocket book was doin' okay, it was just as easy to order that front axle and radius rods chromed. That is sort of where I split eras in my little "manifesto" from a bunch of pages back.


I do remember though as a kid in the late sixties, cars at the cruising spots I went to with my dad having the full white spray can underbody detail. Heck, there were even some of those in high school in the late seventies and early eighties.

 

Don't know if this issue is out yet over there (mine just arrived in mail yesterday) but this car is featured. I like it, what are your thoughts?. ( yea I know its the wrong sort o magazine)

Couldn't scan whole page. Looks just about right. Funny you were just talking about white undercarriage