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Kit Car

14K views 34 replies 22 participants last post by  JamieK 
#1 ·
Alright, after talking to my uncle he told me I was better off by saving my money and buying a kit-car that I can build in one summer and enjoy, rather than buyin a rust-bucket and just shoving my money into it for 5 years only to give up because it's too hard. I've never built a rod before or rebuilt an engine but I really wanna get into it, and now that I have a job and incomes I got my hopes up again of buying a project car or a kit.

Now, here's my plan, I wanna buy an engine at the end of this summer, rebuild it over the winter, and next summer drop it in a project car. Like I said above this would be my first engine buildup and since I'm on a budget I would just clean the whole engine, hot tank it, maybe add headers and better intake manifold/carb and dress it up a bit. No real big performance mods. If I keep my job and work through winter I hope to be able to buy a kit or project car next summer. I do have a welder, grinder and most of the tools needed except specialty tools.

Here's the kit I'm taking a look at

http://www.tperformance.com/street_rod_store/kits/super_saver_t_bucket_kit/

Has anyone used this kit before? How hard do you think would it be to complete it? Maybe I'm way over my head here but I can only spend little$$$ and this kit is the cheapest I found so far.

I plan on getting all the parts (rear-end, tranny, front axels, etc) from local junkyards. In total I only wanna spend 2.5k so it's gonna be a rat rod, as long as it drives.

Let me know what you guys think and what other alternatives I have. I'm hoping to find an old unfinished bucket somewhere and not having to use the kit, but this kit sounds like a good bang for the buck.

Thanks for all the input,

Mike
 
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#2 ·
I looked into this myself years ago and if you bought everything you need from the company it cost nearly $30,000 to build the car, which is a lot of money. Thats counting all the parts, the shipping everything. I would make sure you can get the other parts you need and determine the cost BEFORE you order the kit. In many instances you can buy a car already built for a lot less money than buying the kit and rounding up all the parts. I know a lot of people want to say I built it myself but sometimes it is just not economically feasible. I have seen beautiful T buckets for sale at NSRA (National Street rod Association) meets for 10 and 12 thousand dollars that the owner admitted having $25,000 invested. If you have never been to a NSRA meet, join the organization, get the magazine, and go to some of the meets. You will learn more about building a car, the costs, parts everything, than any other way I can think of.
 
#3 ·
If you do go with a kit car you need to visit the manufacture and have them show you a finished kit. A friend of my once bought a kit willys. When He could not figure out how mount the door windows as the gap for the 1/8 thick window was about 5/8 of an inch. The company's reply was we don't know. Turns out that the company had never completely finished one of their own cars. As quoted by them, "We don't build them, we just sell the kits." I wish I could remember the name of the company.
 
#4 ·
Amen to what HotRodMan says about being able to buy a finished rod, or nearly finished project car, for a lot less than you'll pay for everything you need in a kit. You may not get exactly what you want or exactly when you want it, but if you have the dough in your pocket, a fair amount of self control, and a little patience, you will be able to find some awfully fine rides for well under the price tag on a kit. Don't get me wrong, kits are fine. They just don't usually turn out to be the lease expensive avenue.
 
#5 ·
Look, the kit I'm taking a look at is 1k. That includes body and frame. The engine I'm taking a look at is $300. I can get tranny and rear-end at my junkyard for farily cheap. I'd just primer it and drive it with any tires and wheels I find. No fancy rod, no real sunday cruise night car, just a little cheap RATTY rod. I'm not planning on using any of the other components TPerformance offers. If I buy a project car, sure I might get it for cheap, but in the long run I'll just shove sooooooo much money into it.
I looked at this guy's page
http://members.tripod.com/~Jackak10/tbucket.html and I'm sure he didnt invest too much money in it.
I'm planning to get rack and pinion steering out of a hyudai (I heard they 'em and they're very easy to install).


Mike
 
#6 ·
Mike,

Hope we didn't sound like we were raining on your parade. My hat is off to anyone who can succeed at building a rod with a minimum of money and a maximum of ingenuity. Clearly it CAN be done.

But a lot of us on this forum must sadly admit that at one time or another we started a new project only to realize half way into it that we had drastically underestimated the total cost of all the parts and pieces we would need. Our notes of caution are not intended to diminish your enthusiasm or to try to tell you how you ought to build your project. We're just trying to pass along bits and pieces of what we have learned from our own mistakes.

Keep us posted on your progress...or better yet, start a project journal right from the git-go with lots of pics.

Dewey
 
#7 ·
the parts that guy used in that link you posted are fairly expensive. u wont find a straight axle and spindles like that in a wrecking yard, nor the coil overs in the rear, u will need a t-bucket style radiator to be the correct shape for the look u are going for, and an after market one would be the only answer to be able to keep a v8 cool, a vega style steering box would be needed, underfloor master cylinder and power booster... and the list goes on. i think you can do it for well under $30,000 but you are definately gonna exceed your $2500 mark.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for all of you, your help and ideas are greatly appreciated. I don't know if I will get the kit, if I will it'll probably over winter anyways. So I still got 6 months to decide. I know I won't get the look of a t-bucket without the fancy radiator but I figured that can come later. A big square one should do for the beginning. With the coil-overs in the back, couldn't I just use the whole rear-end/suspension system of another car at the junkyard. Leaf springs, so be it:drunk:
Maybe I'm just better of gettin a beater muscle car and slowly fixing it up. Truth is I don't know yet. I'm still hoping to find a t-bucket project someone started and has neglected for a couple of years and is now selling it.
We'll see,
Thanks for all the input:D

Mike
 
#11 ·
Any Thing You Build Yourself Is a Hot Rod

This is a real exercise in scrounging to build an inexpensive car..I recently saw a T-kit with the drive train from a Toyota pickup based On a Speedway frame and body kit..Looked nice and the guy did it all himself..

Finding a good donor car is the first step...saves a lot of money to have all your cores and a stock engine will still go like stink in a T-Bucket..

Just my thought on this..

Just be determined and persistent..:)
 
#13 ·
I seen a t-bucket that had been put on a chevy luv frame...looked good...all he did was mount the bucket straigh on the frame. You might think about something like that...LUV's around here are nearly given away...I guess any small truck like that would work. Just use your imagination. If it were me though, on my first project I'd pick something cheap and easy...5.0 thunderbird or cougar....any 70's model chevy... the list can go on forever.
 
#14 ·
Mike,
I admire your ambition. Can I make a recommendation? Save your cash first, all while you watch the papers, etc. You will find a car that someone "ran out of steam" on. You'll be able to steal it. You'll get a whole bunch of new parts for 1/3 price. Someones wife or mom will want "the wreck" out of the yard. Thats your chance! I know what your thinking..... I want to do something NOW !! Well, how's this? Try hanging around a racecar shop, tranny shop, mechanic, body shop. Ask them if they mind if you watch and learn. Don't be a pain in the butt, pay attention, be helpful without interfering. It may turn into a job ! Ask if you can play with the throw aways. Straighten a twisted fender. Take an old tranny apart and put it back together, take a blown motor apart and put it back together. ALL, WHILE NOT SPENDING A DIME ! The shop owner will see the initiative, and guide you on the right way. Us old farts remember being a kid.
When the "One" comes along, you have the expertise or experience without crushing your wallet.

Jeff
 
#15 ·
Yeah, you noticed on that T-bucket which was built for under $1k... it took him 6 years and he's not finished right?

I know exactly how you feel, man. Five years ago when I was shopping for a car I bought the very first car I looked at, the '69 vette in my avatar. I spent wayyyyy too much for it and got much less than I expected.

If I could do it again, I probably wouldn't change a thing, but in retrospect I should have talked the guy down... A LOT.

My best advice is never buy a car with some sort of deadline or expectation about when it will be ready to drive. Unless you know the car really really well, it's impossible to know what little thing is going to keep you grounded until it gets fixed.

It really pays to have knowledge more than anything else in the automotive world. The more you know, the better off you are.

I like that idea of "interning" at a speed shop somewhere. If only I were younger... DO IT WHILE YOU ARE YOUNG AND HAVE THE TIME.

Good luck and may the hotrodder spirit grow stronger within you!

tbw
 
#16 ·
Yeah it'd be cool to find a chevy luv that already has a 350 in it and then just buy the fiberglass body and bolt it onto the frame.
Then just primer it flat black with rattle can and ride it!!!!!!

About the hangin 'round the shop thing, I tried doing that last summer and wasn't succesfull. I got a job now so I don't have time to hang around a shop but I do hang around my uncle a lot. He has 20 freshly rebuilt V8's ready to go in any of his projects. He has one 1949 Chevy truck with a Pontiac V8 in it, a 1930 1 ton truck that he made into a 1/2 ton and a 1939 Ford truck. He's also got a t-bucket (original stee body) and frame sitting in the back covered under a blanket. I hang around his place and ask lotta questions that he's happy to answer....

I'll go to my local salvage yard this week to see if they got some chevy frames.

Thanks for all the input so far

Mike
 
#17 ·
Bring back a whole truck

There is going to be a need for all those little parts such as alternators..steering column..as well as a lot of bits and pieces one does not think of..

All of that stuff is spendy when bought seperately..and even if it does not work one can use the parts for cores at the parts store..If the engine and tranny works even more better..one does not quite realize just how fast one of these t-bucket's is until one actually drives one..See little engines make light cars go very well..

You can always dress it up and put in another motor and tranny at a later date..

Or learn from this project and the next time it will be better..

just my thoughts..:)
 
#19 ·
If you build a T-bucket, you WILL love it! I have a 22 that you can see in my gallery, and I have maybe 5000 into it over the past 8 years, but it was drivable for less that 1500.. If you need any advice on buckets, try this link, these guys know everything there is to know about buckets and are always happy to see a new bucket-head. http://www.nationaltbucketalliance.com/ntbabbs

If you have any questions about buckets, feel free to ask and I can probaly help you!

Good Luck
 
#20 ·
Alright, thanks for all the input so far.....Sin Alley if it's not too much trouble it'd be cool if you could send them pics to me. I'll write you an e-mail later.

So here's my plan so far....If I don't find a good project car this summer I might go with a t-bucket.
I'll try to find a Chevy LUV for as cheap as possible. BTW, I have absolutely NO idea what engines these came with and if they were rear wheel drive? Any chance the they might've come with a V8 in certain years? So I'll try to find one of those or an S10 (dirt cheap 'round here) or even a late 70's early 80's chevy car (caprice?) that came with a 350. Once I got the donor car I'll strip the body down and get it off the frame. I'll keep the radiator, lights, steering column and box, alternator, starters basically everything, electricals and ditch the rest.
Then I'll get the frame rust-free and put some ashpalt rubberized undercoating on it or POR15 and paint the frame and the diff, driveshaft and engine.
Next I'll get this t-bucket body for $496.
I'll find a way to attach it to the donor car frame. I'll do the interior myself the ghetto way. Take plywood and cut it the shape of the interior or panels. Then upholster it. Put some junkyard seats in it and maybe re-upholster them as well.
Get all the donor car gauges back on the t-body, same with steering column and all the rest of the interior.
Primer the body and make a custom bed for it in the back out of sheet metal.
And then fun in the sun right?
Do you guys think this is doable? Again, it's nothing real yet, I'm just browsing through all my options.

Mike
 
#22 ·
Looks like a fun project OneMoreTime.

I found a 1955 Nash Metropolitan today for $400 dollars. They're very short and small cars, perfect for a t-bucket frame.
Question is if I wanna spend that much for a frame and if I do get it if I woulnd't want to keep it as a Nash.

Mike
 
#23 ·
Nash Metro

I remember one from the late 60's that ran as an altered..Darn if I can remember just who the guys were..

Anyway Mike says here you are 16..soooo work on accumulating tools and skills..learning to weld and fabricate for example..Get a good wrench set..If you are the guy that knows how and does a good job people will come around and ask you to do it..

That Nash metro could be a good first project to just restore and get running..

See to build a car on a budget requires sweat..either yours..or pay some guy for his..It is the way of the world..

Being able to do some shopping around..My chassis cost the price of a title transfer as the car had an under-hood fire and was totaled..I get around to swap meets and such with my shopping list..Never know..Might find just the thing I need..And it takes some time to build a car..


Just do a good job of it...GRINNN. And stay in school..!!
 
#24 ·
UNLESS that nash is totally shot, it's probably worth two t- buckets right now to a nash person....

the chevy luvs had fourbangers, and rwd.
an s10 would be a good donor.

Beenaway has a great point. CASH TALKS. you walk up to mr. brokeandwantstosellhisproject with a chunk of chingle, you'll be surprised how quick a tune will change at the site of a little cashola.:thumbup:

do you read rod and custom?
 
#25 ·
Hi, I too am looking at building a bucket car in the ssame manner as you. No show car just a beater to have fun with. In my opinion this is the first thing you need to consider, if I understand what you are trying to do. If you are thinking of using alot of salvage parts and enginering (rigging) everything yourself, you can sure do that. However, you really need to think about what you are doing, and have a strong understanding of the geometry and design of what you are building. Its worth doing it the right way, without rushing, or your first ride could be your last. There is a reason why cars are crash tested and then inspected. If you go hacking into just anything without understanding what the proper function of this piece or that brace does your going to flex and flop all over the road. Anytihng is possible with determination, common sense, and the willingness to finnish the job, but like I said its worth doing right (SAFE) if its to be at all.

"Jesus is the way"
Have fun
 
#26 ·
Hey <>< <>< <>< (like your username....3 fish right?) thanks for the advice.
I'm not too sure how to go about building it safe and if I'm gonna build it at all cause I'm also looking at buyin a '51 chevy. I guess if I get a donor chasis and keep the stock steering setup and axles the whole geometry is goin to be right, right?

BTW, "Jesus is the way" reminds me of a Stryper song

Mike
 
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