Decided to start another project, picked up the 2x4 steel for the frame yesterday. We will replace the frame rails and see what we can salvage from the existing frame
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Decided to start another project, picked up the 2x4 steel for the frame yesterday. We will replace the frame rails and see what we can salvage from the existing frame
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Laid the frame mockup today and picked up the Jaguire IRS. Have to put together some initial wheels for the chassis.
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Jaguar IRS has 3.73 Gears in it already.
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Finally we got to set the body on the frame, some channelling to do yet.
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Couple of hits on the mock up frame today
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Kory made a lot of progress on the T-Bucket today.
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Kory made a lot of progress on the T-Bucket today.
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One of my best days was a few years ago when Preston Davis invited me and my father to Bowling Green for the NHRR. Steve Gibbs met us at the front gate and escorted us to Ray’s pit area where all of the Bo-Weevil cars were on display, sans the Mustang that burned. I have always been taken by the astounding attention to detail and work done on these cars, especially the A-Models. Building a 1950 to early 60s era slingshot wasn’t practical but those cars gave me a look I am trying for.
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For you younger folks, the man in the wheel chair is Ray Godman. Ray is also an NHRA Hall of Fame Member. Ray was one of the early Memphis Rodders. He was drafted into the service in the Korean conflict and was wounded by a sniper, hence the wheelchair. Ray owned the Lakeland Drag Strip near Memphis, famous for the movie “Two Lane Blacktop.” Ray was instrumental in the NHRA coming East of the Mississippi River. Ray also owned Godman’s Speed Shop in Memphis and campaigned a series of Dragsters titled Bo-Weevil. Ray was and is clearly one of Drag Racing’s legends. Ray initially had Red Dyer driving for him but brought Preston Davis aboard in 1964 when they campaigned the Top Fuel Bo-weevil. Ray and Preston remained close friends for life, teaming up on may projects to include restoring the 4 main cars they campaigned together. There is another shot in the stack of Ray talking to Bennie Osborne. I had others of Garlits, Jim Walthers, and others coming by to say hello to Ray. My Dad and I were guests of Preston and Ray that weekend.
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I’ve made a half hearted effort to find out how to buy a Ford EV Crate Engine. Decided to go with a 265 Chevand an old pwerglide. Also got the replacement for the broken front leaf springs in
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IIRC, the Bo-Weevil was runner up to "Sneaky" Pete Robinson for Top Eliminator at the 61 nationals in Indy.
Correct, The Championship eluded Preston and Ray. Preston did not come aboard until 63/64. They won a lot of races though. Red Dyer was driving I believe in 1961 when the 59/60 Car had been chosen by Wally Parks to make the opening pass at Indy. Preston owned that car for a while and actually held a couple of class records with a SBC in it. The 59/60 car was the last that Preston restored. Ray’s 56 Car ran at the Tulsa meet in 56 and eventually was a record holder. I wasn’t there so I cannot be sure. The Top Fuel Car came to be in 64 I believe. I first met Preston and Ray at Nicholasville Kentucky in 68. Did not meet Preston again until the mid 80s or early 90s fishing on Pickwick Lake. He had become close friends with my Dad. I am not really up on the details of the mid 50s-early 60s events. Have sat around and listened to Ray and Preston tell many stories about match racing in the mid 60’s. Perhaps I had misunderstood the exact date of the eventQuote:
Originally Posted by NTFDAY
Replaced the front leaf spring today. Next moves include stubbing the engine and determining which steering box to go with. Also to get the motor and trans to a machine shop for some basic prep work.
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those last photos remind me why they call it a suicide front end. I know..it's in mock up.
Nothing is tied down, lots of welding still needed.
So we got the engine stubbed in today. Now we can set the steering box and brake master
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In that bottom picture it looks like the front of the motor is to low.
We do not have the wheels I want on it yet and therefore have not set the ride height. The purpose of this was to make a decision between a Corvair steering box or a Vega box and the linkage required. The engine was stubbed as aligned to the frame for that purpose. We have a lot more to do to the front end before we get that settled down. Of course I may be wrong, this is my first one and my friends are trying to work around my decision making. My next task is to purchase the end result wheels, or at least decide on their dimensions so the guys can make those final adjustments.
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I put my engine slightly high on the front just to gain a little foot space. It is all a juggling act on these little cars.
You might notice that the transmission is simply resting on a steel strap. We we’re really trying to see if we could run the steering shaft from a reverse corvair or vega steering box. Also to figure out where to mount the box to the frame and where to mount the brake mechanism to the frame. We also discovered that the power glide had no transmission mounts in 1955, it used the bell housing. Going to shift to a TH350. Now we have what we need we are just waiting for me to t=get wheels close enough to what I will ultimately put on the car so we can finalize the ride height and start planning the floor board. Currently the body sits a little back from normal, about 3 inches.Quote:
Originally Posted by Driver50x
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So the progress on this project and others has been very slow. In early 2021 my dad suffered a fall and was hospitalized for three weeks. When he was released we had to put him in a 24 x 7 skilled nursing care facility. He lived nearly 700 miles from me and really wanted to stay near his home. Rather than move him to our area I kept him where he wanted to be. 200,000 miles and two years later I lost him on December 31 2022. He is certainly in a better place, one he would rather be in. I spent two weeks every month in his home near the nursing facility. Over the time I spent many hours talking to him and revealing in the wonderful stories he had to share in life. I really missed my hot rods but not enough to even consider devoting time to them instead of him. Best investment I ever made. My friends in the DFW area who helped me have been the best suppoters one could ask for. They've done their best to support me and keep me cheered up through the tough times. I look forward to getting back to work. I may in fact finish the T-Bucket here in Tennessee by the lake dad and I enjoyed so much. For those of you here who have truly made me feel welcome, thanks. Watching your builds and sharing thoughts has kept me going through many long nights. Hopefully things will brighten up now and progress will pick up.
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Sorry to hear about your Dad, lost mine many years ago. The pain of loss goes away after awhile, but the memories last forever.
Sorry to hear this news. My own dad is in a nursing home now.. He's "forgotten" words so he hasn't spoke in a few years.. can see it in his eyes, he knows what he wants to say.. just doesn't remember the words. Sounds like your dads final year(s) were good ones with your help.
I'm sorry for your loss, but glad that you were able and willing to spend so much time with him over the nearly two years. My daughter gave me a little framed box with a month of daily healing thoughts when I lost my wife almost 6 years ago, and I still have it beside my computer. One card, "Like a friend, memories walk by our side and comfort us." You gathered a ton of sweet memories that will help you deal with him being gone from day to day visits. They will be treasures for you.
Sorry to hear of the loss of your Dad. You for sure made the right decision to spend that time with him. You can't get that back and now have more memories to last a life time.
Working on the ride height for the T-Bucket now. Build has been on hold through both my Dad’s cancer and mine. Idea is to get the wheels I am going with and then set the ride height
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Took my Grandson out to the shop the other day to show him the T. Lots of cool projects going on out there
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Sorry to hear about your cancer WRP, it definitely sucks. Your grandson will look great in the bucket T!
So kind of getting over the surgery and starting to pick up pieces. Got in the disc brake kits and spindles for the Bucket today. Looking forward to cooler weather in Texas and being able to hit a few licks at the car.
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It's always nice to have new parts coming in. I almost sold something to buy an original steel body 27 T roadster last week. Luckily it sold before any of my stuff sold. :LOL:
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Getting caught up on this thread. Sorry to hear of your's and your Dad's health issues.
Your T is coming along nicely. One potential issue I see is your use of power brakes. Everyone told me not to use them on mine, but I did anyway. I had trouble with the front brakes locking up with just a touch of the pedal. To get the brakes to work, I had to very gently press with just my toe. The main issue was that you never knew which front tire would lock up. It was almost never both and it was almost never the same side. This led to the car pulling hard and I always had to be ready to correct. Panic stops were an adventure to say the least.
T buckets are strange animals. Looking at them you would guess that they are front heavy. Mine was not. It carried 59% of it's weight on the rear. So it was more like a mid engine car. The old rule of thumb that says 75% of your braking is on the front does not seem to apply to T buckets. I finally ditched the power brake booster and replaced it with dual master cylinders operated by a race car type balance bar. This allowed me to run different size MC's and fine tune the braking for each end. It was amazing now much shorter the car stopped after getting the everything working together. A large part of the stopping power on a T is on the rear and is why they were able to operate years ago with just rear brakes. I never missed the power brakes.
If you do have trouble with front locking and don't want to change the MC setup, you could try what Spirit Motors used to do on their factory built T's. They plumbed an adjustable proportioning valve into the front brake circuit so they could adjust the initial pressure. It worked, but that seems strange to me to put the most powerful brakes on the front and then disable them by lowering the pressure with a regulator.
Just passing this along and it is my 2 cents. Something to keep in mind if you have issues.
Thanks for this
