27 T bucket build

[jawman]

I bought this as a 27, but it is the 23-25 body style. for title reasons I am calling it a 27. I bought it as a almost complete rolling chassis. fiberglass body with 20'' pickup bed.
plans: old style carbed 4.3 v6, th350, s10 rearend 3.07ratio open or locked diff. don't know yet. the front is a 4 or 6'' tube drop axle with no breaks at the moment. I want discs. it has rack and pinion setup in it, but everyone says it will have bad bump steer, so I might go with another steering setup. came with brans new weld wheels and tires, but they dont look good for a rat rod. I would like white walls and maybe some spoke wheels. all I have done on the build is set a 4.3 v6 in there to get motor mounts made and cut out the firewall and floor to fit trans. I would like to make this look a little more like a rat rod, but it wasnt designed to be a rat, so I might end up wit a plain hot rod T bucket. here are some pics.
if anyone has any info or ideas for looks and what not yell it out

 

[jawman]

I made the upper motor mounts and started making the lower parts that weld to the frame. I am setting them up for the early style 3'' donut motor pads to be used. the upper mounts are sitting about 3.5'' higher then the frame making the oil pan about 8'' off the ground. the top of the bell housing will sit at the same level as the bottom of the dash. this puts the top of the bell housing about 10'' higher then the floor the tail shaft of the trans should sit just under the floor I think. the rear end is sitting high, so I will need to cut out a tunnel for the dline too. I ordered my motor mounts from speed way and they should be in by Wednesday, then I will finish the mounts and weld everything up. I still need to pick up the 4.3 and th350 I am going to use. Hopefully he doesn't sell it before I pick it up. here is more pics as it sits today.

 

[blacksheep]

Looks like you have a good start on yours. I also bought a T Bucket project form a guy in Atlanta. My plans involve building a unibody type pickup bed to the reaer of my bucket. Should be about 5' long. I offset my frame by 3 " and will also use the taller motor mounts to keep the oil pan off the road surface. Looking good!

 

[jawman]

Looks like you have a good start on yours. I also bought a T Bucket project form a guy in Atlanta. My plans involve building a unibody type pickup bed to the reaer of my bucket. Should be about 5' long. I offset my frame by 3 " and will also use the taller motor mounts to keep the oil pan off the road surface. Looking good!

got any pics. of your ride?

 

[hotwheels]

great job

 

[blacksheep]

got any pics. of your ride?

I just have some of the frame for now. Work has been slow, because it seems I work 7 days a week.

 

[jawman]

have been getting a little done. went to a swap meet last week end and picked up some stock Harley Davidson feet rests and a pan hard bar for some thing. the feet rest should work for a good step to get into the T sense the body is about a 1' off the ground and the pan hard bar will get shortened to fit on the back of the T. I got my old school 3'' donut rubber mounts from speed way the other day, but I can figure out how they mount. I know the top plate that comes from the engine mounts on top of the big donut on the 7/16'' part of the bolt, but cant figure out if the lower plate that comes from the frame mounts on top of the big washer or under it. also dont know what size to drill the hole. if anyone could clear that up and give me some pictures of how they mount that would keep progress going. thanks

 

[jawman]

so here is the rest of the motor mounts coming along. slow progress, but got no money or time to work on it and dont even have my drive train yet. the v6 that I am using to mock everything up with was supposed to be a good runner, but I think it sat out side to long and it got all rusted up in there. I took the heads off last night and there is dirt in one cylinder. I was thinking of getting a gasket kit and just cleaning everything up and putting it back together. if I get a rebuild kit that will cost $400-$600 plus labor and head work and stuff. I just want it to run, so I dont know what to do any advice?

 

[rainman]

I would not get rid of the RnP front set up it looks very clean. If you set it up right, bump steer shouldn't be a big problem. You may have to run heim's at the spindle arms so you can adjust the angle of the rods. The key will be that adjustability!! BTW I think it looks great!!!!

 

[jawman]

I would not get rid of the RnP front set up it looks very clean. If you set it up right, bump steer shouldn't be a big problem. You may have to run heim's at the spindle arms so you can adjust the angle of the rods. The key will be that adjustability!! BTW I think it looks great!!!!

what do you mean by heims to adjust it right? the ends on there now are adjustable for toe in and out.

 

[rainman]

You can get heim joints to replace the tie rod ends and use a bolt to connect to the spindle arm. You will have to drill the spindle arms to accept the bolt used. The benefit of this set up is it will allow you to shim the heim up or down to help control you're bump steer. Hope I explained this properly. It is a very common practice on oval track cars (especially dirt) you can find pics on one of those sites. I am no good at transferring pics and stuff, not very computer savvy!

 

[jawman]

You can get heim joints to replace the tie rod ends and use a bolt to connect to the spindle arm. You will have to drill the spindle arms to accept the bolt used. The benefit of this set up is it will allow you to shim the heim up or down to help control you're bump steer. Hope I explained this properly. It is a very common practice on oval track cars (especially dirt) you can find pics on one of those sites. I am no good at transferring pics and stuff, not very computer savvy!

I think i understand what you mean. the object is to always keep the tie rod inline with the axle, so lowering it will keep everything lined up right? I would need to drill out the tie rod hole so it wasn't beveled for the tie rod, but straight through to accept a bolt for the heim..

 

[jawman]

where did I leave this at??? after messing with some other things it is time to get back on this project and make sure it is running for the summer shows. I have went to a few swap meets and collected some more parts and ideas, so now I just need to keep putting it together. I finaaly got a 4.3l v6 that I have heard run,so I think it is all good and I found out that the trans I had that I thought was a 4l60e is actually a 700r4 and it is supposed to be a good trans. made a transmission cross member. welded the motor mounts and trans. cross member to the frame, so that is done. cut out the fire wall and floor so the body would fit back on. now I am working on the rear end and suspension. took the old rear end out brought in a ford 9'' that i had laying around and started to cut all the old brackets off it. now I just need to figure out what coil springs and shocks I am going to run and find some bat wings or make some and get those welded onto the axle. slow and un steady work, but I think I will see it drive in a few months.

 

[lowroder]

hi im in ohio . im buildin a 27 t sedan rod. i have some parts im not using if you need stuff . any ideas on a rear axle type ? im using a speedway frame most likely

 

[jawman]

what kind of parts do you have? I am going to use a ford 9'' rear end that is supposed to be out of a ford tureno