It’s New Year’s resolution time and one of mine is to pick up the pace on content creation here at TBucketPlans.com. A good way to judge how successful I am in achieving that goal is to take a look one year from today at how our Top 10 T-Bucket Blog Posts of 2012 compare to those of 2011. So let’s take a look at what we believe were Our Top 10 T-Bucket Blog Posts of 2011.
10. The Bumpkin Pumpkin T-Bucket was For Sale — Again: This Mad Hatter-style creation was based on a T-Bucket frame and is guaranteed to lead any Halloween parade. Sure, it might be considered bizarre, or even goofy, looking but there’s something about the suicide front end with its wire wheels, its Jack-O-Lantern headlights and that small block Ford with its headers that draws you in. No matter what your personal opinion of this ride may be, you have to give the builder credit for a pretty unique, one-of-a-kind fiberglass body. It took some commitment to pursue that vision. Last year, it created a huge amount of interest on our Facebook page and will probably continue to do so for many late-Octobers to come. See the full story>
9. The Story of Poncho the 1923 Ford C Cab (in his own words): We have to thank Alan Mitchell of Phoenix, AZ for contributing this entertaining story about how a flatbed C-Cab truck went from many decades of dependable hauling duties to receiving several loving makeovers through the years, getting photographed by a hot rod magazine in the 1970s and finally appearing as a contestant in the famed 62nd Annual Grand National Roadster Show. Of course, C-Cabs are a favorite with T-Bucket fans — which reminds us, you only have until January 7 to download your free Santa’s Express C-Cab paper model. The Poncho story has a nice Hollywood ending. See the full story>
8. The family that plays together with a T-Bucket, stays together: If you have children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews with a budding interest in hot rodding, you won’t want to miss this interesting story about how Scott Zimmerman and friends created a cool motorized mini-T-Bucket for his 6 year old daughter, Ashley, who has enthusiastically become an active member of the car culture world. See the full story>
7. “Turn of the Century” Fiberglass T-Bucket Body Bargains: When we did this story about Cromwell Molding Company in Minnesota (who used to make the MAS T-Bucket bodies) it was to show that a T-Bucket today is still the best bargain hot rod you can build, as Chester Greenhalgh detailed so well 25 years ago in “How to Build a T-Bucket Roadster for Under $3000“. Even though we took pains to include Cromwell’s complete contact information, you would not believe how many inquiries we receive from people asking delivery cost, etc. Hey, we don’t sell parts — just great information to help you build a hot rod! See the full story>
6. NEHR Speedcraft’s T-Bucket “Hot Rod in a Box” Kit, Part 1: After learning about how decades of Detroit automotive engineering expertise went into the design of this unique T-Bucket kit, who wouldn’t want to know more? So, we followed up with a Part 2 story about the Hot Rod in a Box, as well as additional coverage of the Hot Rod in a Box at the Detroit Autorama. Some may have thought that initially they had more of a “rat rod” look, but that was only the beginning. Stay tuned, because we have more cool NEHR Speedcraft stories we’ll be blogging in the coming weeks about unique customer T-Buckets, and some really innovative NEHR customer projects and new products. See the full story>
5. T-Bucket “Shop Stop”: Wintec Fabrication: In late 2010, we did a very popular story about the Wintec Roadster, a T-Bucket for the family man, so it only made sense to stop by the shop, see it for myself and provide an update on what Wintec had been up to after occupying the former Total Performance facility in Wallingford, CT. It was also a nice chance to see all the replacement parts Wintec makes for the thousands of Total Performance T-Buckets out there on the roads. And about a month later we were fortunate to be able to do a follow-up Wintec Roadster story, showing how it had been completed. If that wasn’t enough, by Spring Wintec had moved to a new larger facility. See the full story>
4. The Two “Low Blow” T-Buckets: I have always been fascinated by extremely low-slung T-Buckets going back to when I first saw Chicagoan Don Kendall’s in Rod & Custom magazine in 1968. Later, I was enamored of Pip Biddlecombe’s “Low Blow” blown Pontiac powered T-Bucket from the U.K. Then, by chance, I discovered it was a doppelgänger, quite likely inspired by the Scott Ellis “Low Blow” blown hemi powered T-Bucket that had been built some 5 years earlier and over 5000 miles away in Fresno, CA. So, I took some time to compare and contrast this unique pair of ground-hugging T-Bucket hot rods. See the full story>
3. Storage Wars Meets T-Bucket C-Cab History?: I’m a huge fan of innovative hot rod builder and artist, Dan Woods (not the Canadian “Chop, Cut, Rebuild” guy who wasn’t even in kindergarten when the Dan Woods’ “Milk Truck” was introduced at the 1964 GNRS). So, when what appears to be an original Dan Woods mold for a fiberglass C-Cab body is discovered it really grabs my attention, along with lots of other older hot rodders. But, like all good stories, this one has an interesting hook and has generated quite a bit of controversy. I’ll have to investigate this find further up this year and hope to be able to report back with a follow up story. See the full story>
2. How to Stretch a T-Bucket into a Tub-T, Phaeton or T-Touring the Bob Hamilton – StreetRodPlans.com way: As evidenced by the popularity of our coverage on the Wintec Roadster, many T-Bucket fans are interested in how they can get more room than the typical body allows. Thus, it was no surprise that Bob Hamilton’s excellent “how to” on stretching a T-Bucket body was received very enthusiastically. Of course, Bob is the hot rod-building host of the excellent 4-1/2 hour DVD featured on our sister site, StreetRodPlans.com, as well as the man behind the ongoing 1927 T roadster project we update here almost weekly. See the full story>
1. The Takeout T: America’s Truly Most Beautiful Roadster, Parts 1, 2 and 3: This incredibly detailed, flathead-powered traditional T has turned heads everywhere it’s been thanks to the skills of builder Russ Freund who’s carrying on a family tradition of building super-fine hot rods. We’re incredibly fortunate that Russ was able to share some time and photos with us that culminated in our most popular 3-part blog post this year. This show winner received coverage in everything from Rod & Custom to the Rodders Digest and we’re happy and proud to have been able to communicate some of the details of its build before its big major media debut. See the full story>
This website is a labor of love and we appreciate your support and encouragement. You have our commitment that this year we will be posting even more fun, informative stories and how-to information. We welcome your input on stories and look forward to doing this little recap again next year. In the meantime, please let your friends know about our site and if you see something you like be sure to share it on social media with your friends.
Best wishes for a healthy, happy, prosperous and hot rod filled New Year!
John at TBucketPlans.com
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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I am glad you gave the number one honer to the Takeout T.