1923 T Bucket Hot Rod

I spent 6 years in my spare time to build this vehicle, and was real sad when I had to sell.

A Tale of Two “T”s

Once upon a time, way back in the 60’s, in a far away place called Ipswich, just west of Brisbane, there were two teenage boys, Craig and Warren, and they were fascinated by American Hot Rods. Now you never ever actually got to see a hot rod in Ipswich in the 60’s, so Craig and Warren only caught an occasional glimpse of one in a movie at the picture theatre, and in the American Hot Rod magazines of the day.

Fascinated they were, and that fascination burned deep into their psyche, but it got buried under the all too familiar pressures of marriage, career, family and mortgages etc. Over the years, their lives followed different paths, with Craig completing a trade as a fitter & turner, moving on to underground coal mining and eventually sand & gravel extraction, and now lives on the Gold Coast. Warren took a softer path, starting work in a bank, later a sales representative, and ended up in Bundaberg as a financial controller for a multi franchise auto dealer.

Through the years the boys from Ipswich kept in touch, and they remained confirmed gear heads, with Craig starting with a number of slick Valiants, and later progressing to a string of Fiats, Benzes, Porches and a total resto of a MG TC roadster which he acquired as a chassis and a few tea chests full of bits. Warren kicked off with an Austin A30, a couple of FJ’s, a “lean mean lime green machine” restored Morris Minor Panel Van with side pipes and a mural of Elvis on the inside roof of the van. Finally moving on to a ’68 MGB Roadster and a 1980 C3 Chevrolet Corvette.

Fast forward to the year 2002 and Craig was wandering around an industrial area on the Gold Coast and spied in a shed, a fellow called Ian Cameron mucking round with T Bucket hot rod bodies and chassis. Not long after that he saw an advert in a local paper, some guy had a mould for a T Bucket body for sale. Craig rang Warren in Bundaberg and said “mate I’m gonna build a T Bucket”. Now Warren knew that when it came to steel fabrication, there was nothing Craig couldn’t do, so he replied “well mate if you’re gonna built one chassis, you might as well build two”. The boys were off and running.

Craig bought an old HQ Holden for $100 and it became his donor, giving up it’s 308 V8 motor and Tri-Matic transmission, and rear differential which Craig cut and narrowed, and re-splined the axles. I told you this guy can do anything with steel. The HQ also donated a few miscellaneous items such as the gear selector and handbrake etc. Down at the front end Craig fabricated his own front axle which was fitted with a transverse leaf spring and a couple of small shockers. Craig again fabricated all the front and rear 4 bar, sway bar, and steering bar hardware. Steering box and steering column came out of a ’68 VW Kombi, brake master cylinder from a XB Falcon, and brake booster from a Gemini. Craig hand made all the stainless brake and fuel lines which run from a marine stainless fuel tank mounted in the pick-up bed. Craig picked up an alloy hi-rise manifold at a swap meet, so it went on top the Holden 308, and a couple 650cfm Holley carbs sit on atop the manifold. This sweet bucket rides on a beautiful set of chromed steel wheels, shod with xxbrand namexx rubber, 165x55 on the front and 255x45 on the rear. The interior is black on black and the Bucket is painted in the Monaro colour Devil Yellow, in keeping with Craig’s naming of the Bucket “Hot Stuff – The Little Devil”, and carries the licence plate DVL23.

Warren always had in his mind the traditional 350/350 package, so he sourced a Chev 350ci V8 motor and a TH350 transmission in Bundy, topped the motor with a 650cfm Holley and a chrome capped dizzy, and dropped them into the chassis fabricated by Craig. Warren then sourced a narrowed Ford 9” rear end from Superformance in Brisbane, and Darren Silich from OZ Rods at Slacks Creek provided a Magnum dropped I beam front axle, a complete stainless 4 bar, sway bar, and steering bar set-up, and chrome front shockies. Darren also provided many of the smaller but necessary items such as flexible braided stainless brake lines, thru chassis brake fittings, Moon Speed Equipment gauges and a Moon Chrome fire extinguisher, a Genie shifter and Lokar accelerator and transmission kickdown, as well as engine and transmission dip sticks. Brakes on the front are DBA cross drilled and slotted rotors with VR-VS Commodore calipers, and drum brakes on the rear. Brake and fuel lines were fabricated by Craig from polished stainless stock, and held to the chassis with stainless clips and button screws. The brake booster is Gemini and a master cylinder from XB Falcon fitted with a DownUnder Innovations Remote Hidden Dual Master Cylinder with the brake fluid reservoir mounted on the “brush swirled” and polished stainless firewall. Steering is via the ’68 VW Kombi steering box and column which Craig had to shorten by 8 inches. Windscreen/wind deflector is custom laminated glass fitted into a pair of repro angled windscreen posts which Warren picked up when he and Craig attended the US NSRA Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky in 2005. A Haywire complete wiring loom and Hilborn style air cleaner traveled home from the US of A also. The bucket runs on a set of American Racing chrome steel rims, 6” on the front and 10” on the rear, shod with 165x55 and 295x45 rubber respectively. Complementing Craig’s choice of the Monaro colour Devil Yellow, Warren chose the other Monaro colour of the day Red Hot, and had the interior trimmed in black with grey accents. Truly this Bucket is “Done to a T”.

The two young boys from Ipswich have now fulfilled a boyhood dream – but why stop there. Craig has now also completed a ’29 A Model Roadster, as well as restoring and converting to right hook, an E Type Jaguar he had imported from the States, and Warren is gathering bits for his next rod, which will have a lid and air cond.

They may now both be in their 60’s, but they’re still boys at heart.

Done to a “T”
’23 T Bucket Pick-up

Body Colour: Monaro ‘Red Hot’ 2 Pack Imron
Engine: 350ci CHEV V8
650cfm Holley Carburetor
Trans: Chev TH350 Auto.
Genie Shifter
Chassis: 3” x 4” x 4mm Custom Made
Gauges: Moon Equipment USA
Fuel: Custom Made Stainless Lines
Electric Fuel Pump - Stainless Fuel Tank
Brake Lines: Custom Made Stainless Lines
Front: Magnum Dropped I Beam Axle
Transverse Leaf Spring
Stainless 4 Bar
VR-VS Commodore Disc Calipers
DBA Cross Drilled & Slotted Rotors
Rear: Jag Coil over Shockers
Stainless 4 Bar
Ford 9” Diff Narrowed to 53”
Ford Drum Brakes
Steering: VW Kombi Steering Box & Column
Wheels: American Racing Steel & Chromed
Tyres: Front 165R 15 on 6” Rims
Rear 295/50R 15 on 10” Rims