Bucket T with a weird engine

[zbuckster]

Well I got a start. I opened the Ross Gibson Engine and did some test fitting. This thing will not even go between the frame rails. Another 1/25 Th scale engine that is huge. So back in the bag it went and plan B came into effect barely 20 minutes into the build. Here is what the engine looks like just in case you are interested.



Don't get me wrong, this is a great looking engine just to big for this project. I will use it later on for sure.

So plan B is the Small Block Chevy that is in the Tweedy Pie 2 kit. I got the basic block MEK'ed together and started looking for headers.



The T Bucket body in the kit was warped and broken. Instead of trying to fix it I am going to use one of the bodies that Bob Paeth gave me. Theses are "Test Shots" from the Tweedy Pie 2 kit. He was involved with this kit when working for Revell and gave me 3 of them. This one has no door lines.

Broken and warped.



Test Shot.



After getting the engine block together I went in search of a set of headers. I was hoping to find a set that would look cool and fit the build. So far I got nothing. Look like I might have to make some from solder.



That chopped coupe body in the background could still come into play. Haven't made up my mind 100% yet. So that's where I am at on it. Gonna look for more headers today and hope for the best.

[zbuckster]

OK everyone this is where I am at. I looked for quite awhile trying to find some glue on parts that would look right. I finally just started sticking stuff together.

The runners on the intake are a set of exhaust manifolds I found while looking for headers that would work on top. The plenums are pieces of .125 x .250 Evergreen Styrene.





The above photo is just a mock up to see if it would all work. I am going to run a pre- wired distributor with yellow plug wires. I want to have room to run the wires between the valve covers and the intake plenum. The Valley cover is a piece of business card I cut up.

When I made the intake plenum I used two sided tape to mock up the Carburetors. Wanted to make sure they weren't to short.



After the MEK sets a little longer I will mock up the carbs on the engine and then when I see what that looks like I will work on the exhaust.

[zbuckster]

OK I finally found what I think are a working set of headers. I have no idea what they are off of. I found them in a box of stuff I bought from High Velocity57 when he quit modeling.

What I am thinking is to cut the tubes on a angle. with the rear tube being shorter than the front. That should fan the headers out away from the body.



You are right about it being fun Clay. At first I was a little scared being out of the box, but I have Geezerman, bad440 and dogfish7 with me so I feel safe and secure. ;D

[zbuckster]

Well everyone here is where I am at on this one. I have the engine all worked out. Here is a picture of the first mock up.





Some time ago on the build I raised to floor of the interior tub .125" 1/8Th inch. That's 3 scale inches.I did this to get the body lower on the chassis. So then with the engine this far along I could see there was no room for a distributor at the back of the engine. So I notched the firewall .125" (again 1/8Th inch or 3 scale inches.





So that problem solved I put the rear end together. Gonna work on the ride height. Well with the body channeled 3 inches. It hit the differential. That meant reworking the back of the bucket so everything would clear.





Then I made some header flanges out of .035" flat styrene. I did this to raise the headers up so they don't rest on the body.



They still need to be heated and tweaked just a little bit. I am going to hold off on that until I get the front suspension in it and some type of ride height established. Then I can start to fine tune things.

That's it for me for a couple days. I need to finish the "Give Away Truck" and the clear has been sitting for almost a week now. So I am going to finish it and then back to this one quick as a bunny.

Thanks for looking in all comments and question are welcome

[zbuckster]

I know this is a lot at once but I am a little slow on getting this posted. I will keep the updates current now.

[geezerman]

Hi, Buck.
I appreciate the company.
Hell. even the site owner hasn't shown up here in a while.
This is really a fun community build project that we have going over at Bucksters. I'm enjoying the hell out of it !!

[bob29579]

It's coming along real good buck. Just be sure you don't hit the brakes too hard or you'll have no skin left on your forehead from those pipes... ha. Greg.

[zbuckster]

I will tweak the pipe somemore when it gets that far. I don't know that they will be bent out more but the will be bent upward more. I need room for a steering wheel. Thanks for looking in.

[geezerman]

Yeh, yer wife probably won't buy the story of "muffler burn" marks on yer neck !!

[harron68]

Lookin' at the pipes comin' up, that would have been great with dual turbos. Saw about a hundred Mustangs at a car show recently and was surprised how many used either turbos or the "McCullough" old style belt driven superchargers. This project is truly inspirational. Good luck and it's good nobody has to run these engines for real! Nice closeup pix too, thanks!

[tomcd62]

looking good "Z"

[zbuckster]

Thanks for the comments guys. This is turning into a fun build.


It been raining here for a couple days so I have a bit more done.
I made a wheel and tire choice. The Fat rears and wires from the Tweedy Pie 2 kit. Rear brakes only, the front ones just add weigh and slow you down.



Got the body work done and the body in primer.



here is the engine and body mock up.

images51.fotki.com/v102/photos/5/280185/10628209/101_888801-vi.jpg

I wanted to be able to locate the intake manifolds better and keep them more secure to the block (didn't want them breaking off while being transported to a show) so I drilled and pinned them with pieces of straight pin.



I have also decided to use the tube axle from the Tweedy Pie 2 kit. It has 2 front axles in it a straight bar and a tube axle. I decided to go light weight. It was all chrome so I put it in Bleach for a couple hours and it's ready to be put together now.



doing i n this way I have everything I need for the front suspension. So that's what's going on here. I am going to put the front axle together so I can find the final ride height. The body will be kept in primer I just haven't decided what color primer. See ya in a couple days. All comments and questions are welcome.

[bob29579]

Great tires, great mockups. I think you're going to be real happy with the way this one turns out.

[geezerman]

HUF n PUF is ready to line up with this baby !!!!!

[zbuckster]

Thanks for the comments guys.

OK I have a little bit of an update. I went backward on the body. I painted it and then dropped it and cracked the body around the door filler piece I made for it. So I had to strip and repair the body and get it back in color. The color is Rustolem Sunburst Yellow.



I have started the assembly on the engine. I painted it Chevy Orange because that was such a popular color in the day.



I painted the headers in Testor's Meatlizer "Burnt Iron" I think they will look pretty good against the Yellow body.



Not much I know but I am working on it. Next time we should have the engine all done and the rest of the colors picked out for the chassis parts. I am thinking flat or semi gloss Black for the front axle and rear end. We will see.

Thanks for looking in.All comments and questions are welcome.