Thread: Low-budget/T-Bucket Pickup

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Nice work you're doing. Stevie would have a hard time staying white around here right now.

This post has nothing to do with Hot Rodding, but a couple of days ago I had the honor and the privilege of flying former Senator Bob Dole from Kansas City, Missouri to Washington DC.





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I just got back home tonight. Tomorrow I will get back to work on the T Bucket. At least after I knock a couple of items off the ever growing "honey do" list.

Wow, that's pretty neat. He sure aged a lot from the last time I seen him, but at 94 he looks pretty good and I'm glad to see him getting around. Thanks for sharing. There are other former employee's of the people that I wouldn't bother with taking a picture with, but I'll leave it at that.

Steve - Glad you posted the link over on my '32 build thread. I'll be following along, too. So far, so good! It's a long way from this point to "the light at the end of the tunnel", but well worth it.

And I see he still flies first class!

Cool pic.

After months of searching e bay and Craigslist, I found this front axle from a 1965 Chevy Van for $100. To help make it look better, I cut off the unneeded portion of the leaf spring mounts. I then ground this area smooth. I also ground off the forging/parting line along the top off the axle.





stock axle a.jpgbefore cut axle a.jpgafter cut axle a.jpgfront axle ground (640x480).jpg

Next step - making the front batwings.

First, I cut out a paper template for the bat wings, so they would fit my axle. Then I marked them out on 3/8" thick hot rolled steel, and cut them out. I then ground and sanded them to the right shape. I also drilled holes in them for the radius arm mounts and the transverse leaf spring perches. I then mounted them to my axle using a piece of threaded rod to hold them straight and parallel to each other. I measured them multiple times to make sure they were centered on the axle and at the correct width, before welding them on. (31" inside to inside, for use with my 26" leaf spring.)

On a side note, I cut out the first bat wing using my torches, and the second one using a 4 1/2 inch metal cut off wheel and an electric angle grinder. The second one took much less time. (I forgot to take a picture of it in progress.) The cut off wheel cuts a little slower than the torches, but it leaves a much smother edge, which then requires far less grinding to get it finished.

paper template a.jpgtorch cut a.jpgfinnished bat wing.jpgmounted bat wing.jpg

I next mocked up the front end assembly. This thing is finally starting to look a little bit like a Hot Rod!

Hopefully tomorrow I should have some time to build and install the front radius rods.



front end assembly.jpg

Nice work, it's amazing how much time a guy puts into looking, research and then making it work.

Times 2, looks like you're on your way now.. congrats.

This is the stage I enjoy most, the thinking and the fabricating.

Enjoy the ride! LOL.

My favorite part, too. I enjoy chassis and suspension fabrication.

I used 3/4" schedule 40 black iron pipe to make the front radius rods. I made mine about three feet long, although the exact length does not matter at this point, as the mounting brackets are not welded to the frame yet.

I started by cutting four lengths of the pipe. The upped pieces will be straight. I cut the lower pieces a few inches longer than needed. They will be trimmed to length later. I then put a bend in each of the upper pieces (Roughly 45 degrees.) using my Harbor Freight pipe bender. I used a tape measure to check the amount of each bend, to make it more consistent from one piece to the next. I then cut the lower pieces to the correct length, and notched them using a saw and a grinder.





bender (640x480).jpgbender with tape (640x480).jpgbent pipes (640x480).jpg

For the threaded portion, I am using 1/2 inch fine thread "rod coupling nuts". These are available at mcmaster.com, among other places. I ground the nuts down enough so they could slide inside the black iron pipe. I drilled 4 holes in the side of the pipe, I welded through the holes, as well as all the way around the nut, to make the joint even stronger. After I was finished welding the nuts, I ran a tap through each of them in order to fix any distortion caused by the welding.

I then made up a jig, using a piece of plywood and three bolts, to assemble, and weld the radius rods together.




nut with bag (640x480).jpgnut ground (640x480).jpgnut in pipe(640x480).jpgrod on board (640x480).jpg

I then made a pair of radius rod mounting brackets for the frame. I cut out a couple of 2 1/2 inch long pieces of 1 1/4 inch angle iron. I rounded off the corners to make them look nice, and drilled a half inch hole in them. I then mounted them to the frame, using c-clamps to hold them in place, and I installed the radius rods. I measured everything carefully, making sure that the front axle was square to the front frame cross member, and the the mounting brackets were an equal distance back from the front of the frame. I tack welded them in place. I will finish welding them the next time I have the frame upside down.




angle iron (640x480).jpgfinnised bracket (640x480).jpgrad. mock up one (640x480).jpgrad. mockup two (640x480).jpgrad rod mount (640x480).jpg

Just a point to bring up for clarification.
1/2" - 13 thread is coarse, 1/2" - 20 thread would be fine.

for someone reading this and not familiar.