This 1923 Ford T-Bucket Roadster was rebuilt by a lifelong street rodder with a penchant for over engineering and building rods for dependability and performance. Here is a quick run down of the build.
The roadster is a Speedway 23T body painted Chive Red with a 1 1/2” x 3” custom frame with a 110” Wheelbase, including a 1/4 elliptic rear springs with a narrowed 8 3/4” Mopar rear axle with “Green” axle bearings and a 3.31 axle ratio with a rear anti-sway bar for excellent handling. The rear brakes are 11” x 2 1/2” finned rear drums. It has a complete Speedway front suspension with a 4” drop tube axle, 4 leaf springs with Heim end (spherical) tie rod /drag links. Up front are Speedway / Willwood disc brakes, chrome front shocks, panard bar, Speedway steering damper and a proportioning valve for the rear brakes. There is a functioning parking brake.
The interior is Keith Nybo Grey Naugahyde with charcoal grey carpet and a Total Performance vinyl top and a Total Performance windshield with Speedway wind wings. Inside is a custom console with a cool two stage ignition, ignition button, light switch, Hurst V-Matic ratchet shifter with custom shift lever.
There is a custom oak dashboard with 7 VDO gauges including tachometer, speedometer, oil, water temp, volts, gas and clock. Attached to the fan shroud is a custom mini message center consisting of 7 lights - L/R turn signals, brake, high beams, electric fan, and converter lock up.
The steering the roadster is a Ford F-100 steering box & column with custom turn signals lever and custom steering wheel.
Out back is a 24” wood stake box with lockable, weatherproof trunk and room for folding chairs. Underneath the stake box is a 11 gallon gas tank with and easy fill and fuel sender.
Lighting is handled up front by Speedway chrome headlights and turn lights. Chevy Vega blue dot taillights with recessed license plate with light take care of the back.
Battery and wiring all under the seat, bulkhead connections for wiring to body access.
The go power is provided by a fresh 1970 Chevy 350 V8 with flattop pistons, 4 bolt main bearings, Edlebrock intake and 650 CFM 4 barrel carburetor, 2 wire distributor, 1 wire chrome alternator and water pump, Summit pulley and bracket kit. New Chevy starter with electric fuel pump. Cooling is handled by an automatic electric fan.
The exhaust is handled by a stainless steel lakes style pipes with built on step plates. The lakes pipes are easy to uncap the exhaust for even more great sound!
Shifting is done by a 1986 Chevy 700 R4 transmission with a fresh kit installed with late model upgrades for dependability. Lockup is controlled by engine vacuum. Custom driveshaft by Clutch and U-Joint. Keeping the roadster on the ground is BF Goodrich tires all around with aluminum slat wheels.
I put an easy 100 miles in this last weekend driving through towns, highways and back roads and it started, stopped and drove like a modern car - never over heating or complaining as we went. This bright red beauty gets smiles and appreciation where ever it goes. If you are looking for a fun, solid, dependable ride this summer, this red Bucket does it to a ‘T’.
