Street Legal hot rod TBucket custom built race car
Description
In addition to reading the information found here, please watch the video!https://youtu.be/aX7dMBn01GY
This is my crazy hot rod, race car tbucket. I've had it for four years. The thing draws a lot of attention any where it goes. Lots of thumbs ups and picture taking at car shows and gas station pit stops. The chassis and suspension is custom built, largely sourced from a modified oval pavement race car that ran down in San Diego. The body is a fiberglass tbucket body, widened 12 inches and stretched 8 to wrap around the roll cage. The hood blends Speedway motor's track T nose to the tbucket body and utilizes the race car's original hood bulge. Poking out of the hood is a 383 chevy motor, solid lifter stroker with MSD's Atomic EFI. The trans is a turbo 350 automatic. Brakes are Wilwood. Hubs and wheels are wide 5 style. The rear axle is a Ford 9", three link setup with panhard bar. The wiring is Painless. Gauges are Autometer. There is a complete fire suppression system in the car with nozzles throughout.
Despite its race car roots, the car is very streetable. The ride is comfortable despite having zero body roll. Motor temps stay cool and the alternator keeps everything charged. It even has power steering! The Wilwood brakes are using a street compound pad that doesn't squeal and produces very little brake dust. The Atomic EFI controls the radiator's electric fan while an ATI Harmonic balancer and Jones Racing Products accessories and pulleys have been set up for effective results at lower, street driving RPM's. In the transmission, a lower rpm stall torque converter replaces the original race car's high stall converter.
The ride is surprisingly comfortable, carves corners like nobody's business and the ride height easily clears speed bumps and lets you park at curbs without scraping the nose. The front and rear ride height is fully adjustable and the springs can easily be swapped out if desired. The EFI does a lot of work to tame the race motor. It starts easily, even after sitting for weeks at a time and the target idle speed is always well maintained. The car is very easy to work on. All the parts are easily accessible. There are quick access panels galore. The whole body can be removed in minutes. The bottom of the chassis is primarily smooth with exception of the large center channel where the driveshaft sits.
That said, there are a few drawbacks on the street. There are no side windows and no rear window, no doors and the seat belts are five point harnesses so getting in and out of the car requires you to crawl through the window. The car is really wide so you gotta be aware of where the rear tires are rolling. The suspension utilizes a lot of heim joints so it's very precise but also a bit noisy over bumpy roads.The seats are small and there isn't a lot of room for bolting in larger ones, though hardcore Kirkey seats would offer more room (with less padding.)The exhaust is loud. Sounds awesome, but combined with no windows it makes conversations at speed a bit of challenge. :) Still, it's a crazy cool car, fun to drive, fun to show.
There are no leaks of any kind. No oil or coolant leaks. The only known issue is that the fuel gauge doesn't work. There is a gauge and a sender in the fuel cell and wires connecting the two, but it always reads full and I'm not sure why. Never got in there to sort it out. Filling the fuel cell can also be tricky as there is a rubber flap inside the fuel cell that tries to close while filling. The paint looks good from a few feet away but there are some flaws - a little bit of overspray on the nose, some poorly filled and painted holes near the windshield and a rock chip here or there.
If you're like me, you can look at this car for hours. There are tons of cool race car bits to look at, lots of cool engineering details. Everything about the car is custom. There's so much interesting stuff that it's impossible to cover it all here. While the car isnot perfect, it's definitely the coolest car I've ever owned! I'd really like to keep it but I am building another car and don't have enough space to keep them both.
Motor build partial details (can message me for full list): GM 4 bolt block Melling HV oil pump ARP main studs RPM 4340 forged crankshaft Probe 6" ultra-light 556 gram connecting rods Mahle ultra-light 412 gram pistons Bullet custom ground flat tappet cam Howard direct lube solid lifters ATI superdamper Racing Head Service steel 200cc runner heads Crower stainless 1.6 roller rocker arms Jones Racing water pump, power steering pump, alternator and pulleys
The car is titled and registered in California. The title is clear and in my hands. The plates are current and the stickers are good until December 2018. I have a pile of receipts from myself and the previous owner along with a tub of extra parts. If you have any questions, please ask! I'm a car guy and can talk about this stuff all day. I can also send additional photos of any accessible part of the car that you'd like to see. The car is for also sale locally.
More Ford classic cars for sale