The FREE T Bucket plans

This wiki page was created as a home for the plans that are a result of this thread: [http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/creating-new-t-bucket-frame-plans-need-tons-info-plans-77092.html Creating New T Bucket Plans]

*"Classic" 23-25 or 26-27 roadster pickup.

*23-25 or 26-27 track car with hood, nose and turtle deck.

*23-25 or 26-27 "lakester" bucket with exposed fuel tank on naked frame rails in the back, and there are others.

REMEMBER: MOCK IT UP! Build your first frame effort from 2X4 lumber and nuts & bolts. Set it up on jack stands with your body on board and your front end assembly, engine/trans and rear end underneath. Take your time. Don't start cutting that steel until you've got a real feel for what you're trying to accomplish. Be honest with yourself and build your T Bucket to perform to your satisfaction.

For mounting stuff to the frame I use 3/8 nuts welded for a flat surface, the tubing wall is too thin for mounting anything substantial. I try to find unplated nuts, to remove the cad or zinc plate I buff them, Muratic acid is supposed to remove it after soaking for a few hours. I use My Unibit to make a tapered hole just smaller than the nut hex size . I use a long bolt and screw the nut on the end. I tap the nut into the hole and square it up, carefully weld the nut to the tubing, let it cool, remove the bolt, clean out the thread with a tap, grind smooth if required.

Don't do it on the front of your car!! DON'T DO IT!! No matter that Car Craft did this on their project car. Ugly is ugly and almost nothing is uglier that those nasty towers on the front of the frame and coil springs and cups on the axle and shocks running up the middle. No chrome, no paint, nothing can hide this mistake --don't do it! There are too many other options that at least look good.

If done right, this is a clean attractive good riding suspension for the front of any roadster. If done wrong, it can be ugly, it can be nasty looking, and it can be rough riding. Only drawback is expense. Most manufacturers will allow you to return springs if they are too stiff for a softer set...one time.

Again, an attractive and simple setup to install. Experimentation with spring rates may be required. Cost is most prohibitive feature of this choice.

This IS the most popular modern T suspension setup for the rear suspension.

I just put 1/4 elliptical springs (kind of ) on My 1922 T speedster I needed to lower the rear and didn't want to Z the frame since this car was an authentic old Racer. The springs were free from a swap meet at the end of the day and the guy didn't . know what they came off. I think they were probably overloads for a pickup. they are S shape, and look like half of a stock T or A rear spring. I used some 4 X 4 angle iron for an L shaped bracket and added gussets for strength. I drilled holes in the frame to mount them to the outside of the frame rails, I have a Moore rear mounted drive line aux trans that uses the modified torque tube and modified rear stock radius rods. With this set up I used the shackels that came with the springs and made new brackets that I welded to hang under the rear axle housing. The first time out was last year's local 4th of July parade and there was a lot of rear side sway motion on rough spots in the road or the railroad tracks so I have since added a panhard bar. I have seen a few 1/4 elepticals on the front of T buckets that looked good. There is limited space at the rear of a t body, some of the T lakesters rear 1/4 eleptical springs look good and fit well in the chassis.

I build my own hairpins from 7/8 DOM steel tubing. If you have a blower or lots of horsepower you will want to use 1 inch dom tubing. My local supplier has to order it at 100 ft per order. I use my harbor Freight pipe bender to bend the tubing. You have to cut the pieces longer than finished length to work in that style bender. My lathe is too small to drill and tap the ends. I cut the end that has to be tapped 1 inch longer than the finished dimension, weld a small piece of scrap in that 1 inch area to grip in the vise so I won't get teeth marks on the finished piece. I use a large right angle drill and start with the bit that will just remove a little bit of material then keep changing bits until I get to the size required for the tap. I then drill out that extra one inch with the bit size to match the OD of your tap. ONLY GO ONE INCH DEEP. This will allow you to start the tap in straight and get good threads. Then you can cut off that extra inch re drill with the correct size for the tap, finish tapping to the new length and have good straight threads. Any time drilling or tapping use plenty of tapping fluid or thread cutting oil, I use a tubing notcher that I bolt to my steel table top and tack a piece of scrap angle iron so I can clamp the tubing at the right angle to cut the ends.

You'll want a nice 5/8-3/4" piece of plywood cut to fit the firewall of your roadster on the inside. This gives you a nice solid mounting surface for your electrics (fuse box, relays, etc.) and accelerator pedal.