Thread: Low-budget/T-Bucket Pickup

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Glad to see someone else benefitting from my postings. They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, so thank you.

No, I don't have a patent on anything. LOL You can make those headlight stanchions any height you need for your application. Also, you can tilt them in or out as you need. I suggest making a cardboard mockup of one and have someone hold it in place with a headlight so you can stand back and determine if you need more/less height and more/less outward tilt. Just be sure you have enough space to get the headlight stud and the shock stud both in without hitting each other.


I only have a couple of pics of the shifter I made for my '31 Coupe (attached below). This is the second one I made (made one very for my C-Cab delivery years ago) and it works nicely. I discovered when I made the first one that the Turbo 350 trans has a little round recess on either side. A 3/8-16 or 3/8-24 nut can be tapped in there with a hammer with just a little interference and it stays! I bent a piece of 1/8" x 1 1/4" flat stock to fit closely to the trans case and drilled the ends to bolt to the aforementioned nuts. Another piece of 1/8" flat stock is welded to the cross piece so it bolts to the hole in the tab near the tailshaft. This is the bracket/support for the shifter.

Using a couple of 1/2" diameter shoulder bolts and some nuts with the threads drilled out, I made a little piece that pivots forward and back and also side to side. To this I welded the arm that moves the linkage back and forth and I welded the shifter lever to the piece that allows it to move sideways. On the side of the lever I welded a tab made from 3/16" flat stock and I also bent a piece of 3/16" flat stock to form the "gate". I tacked the gate piece to the support temporarily, hooked up the linkage, and then moved the shifter through its pattern so I could mark where the gears were. I cut the tack welds and took the gate off so I could grind the notches for the tab to fall into. Park and Drive are the deepest notches. When I was done grinding and filing I tacked the gate back in place, checked to make sure it was correct, and then welded it solidly to the bracket/support. The last thing was to drill a small hole in the tab on the lever and another small hole in the retainer washer and I used a stiff spring from an old headlight bucket to put spring tension on the lever. To select a gear, pull the lever to the left and move it back or forward as necessary. I think I spent about $12 for shoulder bolts and a couple of 3/8" Heim joints. Everything else was stuff I had lying around.