After Gordon Tronson’s awesome “Double Trouble” T appeared on the popular History Channel TV series “Counting Cars” last night (in the episode entitled “Dream On”), we wanted to repost our earlier story (December 16, 2010) on Gordon’s skillful home build for those fans who would like to know more about this truly one-of-a-kind 1927 T roadster.
You may have noticed that Double Trouble was on an earlier episode of Counting Cars (2012) when it featured two engines and two blowers. This was on season 1 of Counting Cars in episode 2, which was titled “Buggin’ Out” in case you’re checking your channel guide.
So, what drives a transplanted New Zealand hot rodder to take on scratch building a 1927 T roadster with not one, but two, all aluminum Ford 4.6L DOHC modular V8’s? Must be the Henderson, Nevada heat that overcame Gordon Tronson when, without the aid of any drawing, let alone blueprint, he started laying out the components on his garage floor.
Gordon’s next step was manually bending many yards of 1.5 inch tubing and welding up the frame for his creation.
Next, he shoved a Jaguar independent rear suspension with inboard disc brakes into place. In case you’re wondering the two mills are mated together with an innovative high-tech Gates Poly Chain Carbon belt and sprocket drive into a beefed Ford C5 transmission.
Up front, Gordon built his own independent front suspension employing 90s Corvette spindles and disc brakes and for good measure chose to steer it with a rack and pinion unit from a sand dragster.
With a few years of high end hot rod fabrication under his belt, Gordon’s eye for and execution of detail are everywhere in Double Trouble’s construction.
Of course, Gordon wasn’t going to settle for just the power of two engines, so he decided on custom made blower manifolds for a pair of B&M superchargers.
And the end result is awesome! I’ve yet to see a twin-engine, side-by-side hot rod where everything goes together so beautifully.
Of course, it’s not just all engineering either, with a deep Candy Apple Blue paint job and liberal chrome accents setting off the beautiful powder-coated frame.
From the rear, the super wide Billet Specialties wheels wrapped with Mickey Thompson tires are a sight to behold that perfectly complement the proportions of the 1927 T body.
I’m a bit of a radiator and grille shell snob, but when it comes to cooling two engines in the Nevada desert this custom made Griffin unit does the job with style. And for those who might think those are dummy engines and this is something that’s pushed into and out of a trailer, take a look at the video.
You can check out more Double Trouble photos and info here>
Counting Cars Update:
Being a strong believer in more is better, Gordon has taken Double Trouble to the next level. It now sports 4 superchargers! Be sure to catch the “Dream On” episode of popular TV series Counting Cars to see more.
Most recently, Gordon appeared on the TV series “Counting Cars” to show the new quad-blown Double Trouble. If you missed it, here are some upcoming air dates:
April 24, 2013 – 01:01-01:31AM ET
April 25, 2013 – 11:32-12:01AM ET
April 26, 2013 – 03:33-04:02AM ET
May 07, 2013 – 08:30-09:00PM ET
TBucketPlans.com originated in 2005 as a personal blog extolling the virtues of T-Buckets. In 2009 I blogged about Chester Greenhalgh, the "how to" genius who wrote the legendary, out-of-print “How to Build a T-Bucket Roadster for Under $3000”. That led to a friendship with Chester and our partnership in marketing the updated eBook version of his T-Bucket building bible. The T-Bucket fire burns stronger and stronger.
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Hey, when they aired it, what was the original gold gauges? I like that style and would like to locate them. Thanks and sweet ride!
Hi Jeremy, I don’t recall ever seeing gold colored gauges on Gordon’s Double Trouble. I had the opportunity to visit him in 2014 after he had gone from two to four superchargers and the gauge panel then was the same as that originally on the car. They’re Dolphin Gauges by the way.
Gordon don’t know if u will remember me I meet u in Lake Havasu in February of 2016 at car show at that time u were looking for a old ford Econline for a project u mighy be doing. I told u the guy next door to me had a couple of them if u r still interested give me a call u put me in your phone under Roger? I had your number but lost it
Thanks Roger, but I believe Gordon found the Econoline he was looking for. We’ll include a bit more about that when we get around to doing a Double Trouble update.
PHENOMENAL!!! Just one question….HOW THE HELL DO YOU SEE TO DRIVE??? And it must be IMPOSSIBLE with the new 4 blower version!!! AWESOME!!! Sonny.
Good question, Sonny. In my photo below, you’ll see a nice space between the two blowers on the driver’s side.
Maybe not the widest field of view — but it works.
Dang Gordon, you are an engineering marvel… What a ride. If ever in your area would it be possible to visit your garage? Skip
hi Gordon just seen the show he in England (june 2013) well what can I say man
what a awesome awesome piece of kit keep up the good work ..