Thread: t bucket's

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I am thinking of building a t-Bucket and was wondering what kind of quality "Total Performance Inc "body and chassis are .If anyone can offer there two cents on this company it would help me alot.Thank you

Total Performance puts out good stuff. They're probably the largest T-bucket company around. My son-in-law built one, and it came out great. If you have a jones for fabrication, you can buy plans from them and make a lot of the parts yourself.

Strange you should ask. I just gave my Son one that I had bought a couple of years ago, and never got around to building. Right now we are knee deep in doing it, so I can give you my opinions.

First of all, I like Mickey the owner a lot. He has successfully done this for 30 years, so is doing something very right. His products have very good name recognition, and reputation, it seems. That being said, I think there are some shortcomings to some of the products. However, I think this is because he has figured out his market over those 30 years, and realizes he can only sell them for so much, and therefore has to do it the way he does.

First, the body. I also own a Speedway T bucket body, and in some ways think it is better built.........not a lot, just a little. After all, these are not high dollar bodies, selling for about $ 500.00, so you can't expect Mercedes quality. I don't like the way TP does the rear portion of the bucket (not the bed, the bucket itself.) They leave it loose, and claim it will crack if fastened tight, but Speedway and others make it solid, and I am going to glass in the TP body too. I also don't like the bed the way they mold it in. It makes the body look too "one piece" in my opinion. Otherwise, the '32 style dash is nice, better than Speedways.

The chassis and suspension stuff is fine, IMO. The only area I really disagree with Mickey is in the "thread cutting bolts" he gives to fasten things like motor mounts, trans mount, and rear coilover brackets. I can't see how 1/8 inch or even 3/16 wall frame tubing can hold these threads successfully. But, he is trying to market a car that a guy with limited welding equipment or skills can build.

Interior. I am very disappointed with some of the interior, mainly the bed cover. My Son paid almost $ 900 for the interior (which in the interior world isn't a whole lot) but when we put the bed cover on, it is 2 inches too long. We thought they had shipped one for a 20 inch bed, and we have a 14 incher, but when I called Mickey he said you are supposed to unstaple the front edge and cut the wood to fit your contour. Ok, but the directions didn't say that.

Help on the phone. I always call Mickey directly, because IMO some of his people are not as sharp as he is, and give you inaccurate answers sometimes. They are also not as fast at shipping as I would like. We bought and paid for a 32 grille, radiator and shell ($ 1400) a month ago, and are still waiting.

Now, after all of that, do I consider the product a good value? Yes. His products are in line with his competition, and he does have every part you need to build the car. Every piece. Would I buy from him again. Absolutely. He has always treated me very well, and has done what he promised.

Hope I haven't confused you with the ledger being skewed on both sides, but I wanted to give an honest, fair appraisal IMO. I think you would do well with one of his kits, and they make a great first time project, and will save you having to build many parts from scratch.

Don

Don is right they have good service, and have about anything you might need in their catalog, BUT alway's ask if it is in stock when you order. I waited 3 weeks for a steering u-joint only to find out that they were backordered till..........they didn't know.

I have had better luck with Speedway, but I can go to Goodguy's show and talk face to face with Mickey. I guess I'm like Don, just ridin' the fence.

If you are serious about getting one you might want to find someone else's
abandoned project. I bought mine driveable for serious $$$$ less than buying a kit.

I have to second Don's statement. I built a TP bucket, started it in 1986, and it took a couple of years to finish for may reasons.

I thru bolted my motor mounts instead of using Mickey's thread cutter bolts

The engine (and radiator) was moved forward 4 " for better reasonable driveshaft length. If you use a Chebbie, still a good idea for distributor clearance to firewall. I used a Ford 351W.

I installed an aluminum Corvair steering box with a splined input shaft and u-joint after the TP sleeve and pin arrangement failed. This has happened on at least 3 others that I am aware of - this was the subject of a heated discussion that Mickey and I had: http://www.gasalleystreetrods.com/Steering.html
Here's where you can find the Corvair box

My upholstery fit fine and didn't have the rear cover fit problem.

For safety sake I bolted my body through the rubber biscuit inserts provided after drilling out the threads.

Their hydraulic pinion mounted e-brake is illegal in all 50 states. Mickey and I had this conversation several times - he now offers a mechanical brake as well.

I used a Speedway drag link and tie rod (chrome) with conventional Ford tie rod ends - the joints in the TP's tend to wear out fairly quickly. You need to ream the steering arms for the taper fit - the reamer is also a Speedway tool. Also, the Speedway links are larger in diameter and much more rigid - TPs kinda flex and it is disconcerting while driving to see them flex !!

The Airheart brakes are insufficiant (read JUNK). Get the Wilwood option instead. Speedway also sold them & I believe cheaper. (TP owns Airheart).

It is generally a very nice "kit". Very easy to assemble. There are some upgrades that you can make, but are not necessary at first. I chose minimal chrome to save some money which was very scarce at the time. Many people said that they actually liked it better including the lady that ended up buying it a couple of years ago.

This was mine just before it was sold:

Don
Does Total performance have a web site I know there name with .com will not get it.
Thanks

No experience with that company, though I know they have been in business forever, and that says a lot about how they do business, and their quality.

I do have a couple customers who built their cars from a California Custom Roadster kit, and spoke highly of them. They offer many variations on the Model T body pieces. They both bought the stretched body, and were very happy about the extra leg room.

http://californiacustomroadsters.com/tbod.html

Dave: Thanks for reminding me.............those rubber expansion plugs they use to hold the body to the frame (called well nuts) are another thing we are not going to use. We are going to weld some 3/8 thick stock to the top of the frame and drill and tap them.


Don

Originally Posted by cffisher

Don
Does Total performance have a web site I know there name with .com will not get it.
Thanks

Yep,


www.tperformance.com/

Don

Originally Posted by cffisher

Don
Does Total performance have a web site I know there name with .com will not get it.
Thanks

www.tbuckets.com

Although I've never used their products, this Poli-Form '27 Lakes Modified really rings my bell. The body is stretched 3" and believe me, you're gonna need all the stretch you can get in a T......
http://www.poli-form.com/Gallery/gallery.html

Here's another Lakes Modified from Zipper.....
http://www.zippermotors.com/page2.html

Where do you think we got the frame for our 1935 Ford at? Was originally a T performance frame, we cut the rear off of it and weld a prostreet subframe to it. The frame is good quality, our only problem with TP is there service. They told us the frame would be here 3 weeks after we ordered it. 4 weeks after ordering it we called and they still hadn't begun constructing it. We ordered it in September 2005 and Finally recieved it in October 2005. They're also overpriced, if you look around, you can find most of the stuff they sell at other places for up to 50% off.

I built one of there T buckets, although the car turned out really nice I'd never buy another one. When I got the car I ordered a Carson hard top for it but the top would not fit, I then figured out that the body was made crooked it was almost two inches out of square. I called up to TP and talked to Mickey and he said that all there cars were made like that and that I should cut the top apart to make it fit and that was all they could do about it.
I also ordered chrome radius rods, front axle, etc and within a few months the rods pitted and the chrome peeled off the axle. Again I called and they said there was nothing they could do about the problem and that it was cheap chrome. As far as I'm concerned the cars are not worth the money they charge for them and the parts are over priced. But thats my .02 cents.

That response is pretty much what I got this week when I called about the rear cover not fitting right. If TP expects you to trim it to fit, then why is it all stapled and bound? And the directions should mention that little fact.

When we put the rear cover on, it sticks 3 inches out further than the bed, and looks like a shelf on there. We don't finish our cars that way, and will cut and fit it to make it right. I think it is done with the belief that the average novice will simply plop the part on there and never notice, and that the more experienced builders will do what we are doing, making it fit.

Like I said, I think they are turning out T buckets for the masses, and realize these are not the highest quality products made, but for the price are a reasonably good value.


Don

I've built a number of T buckets for customers, I usually just buy the pieces I like and build my own.... Speedway has some fairly decent stuff in their "Mr. Roadster" line, but I just build my own frame and get the components I want. Probably costs a bit more, but this way I have a lot more say in the design and the quality of the products used....

Jim, I'm trying to remember the name of the shop up there on the North side of town on 610... They used to build one heck of a nice frame and sell a lot of good accesories and parts for T Buckets..... It might come to me later, right now I'm blank. If there still in business, call Texas Speed, big speed parts wholesaler in Houston and see if they can recomend someone local there to build you a frame. If not them, then Ben's Race Car Parts in Bellaire should be able to set you up with someone to help you out.