Let the welding begin

[Temporary Insani-T]

Greetings all. I am a newbie to the forum and am finally ready to dive in and get started on my bucket. It has been a long time coming but I think I have finally finsihed repairing all of the kids junk and have the wifes "To Do" list to a point where I can spend some time on somehting I want to do. Though many years ago I used to work for a company building Aurburns and Cobra's, the bucket has always been a dream of mine. I would welcome any and all advice, hints and guidence from your experiances. I will be following prints from TP, so if there is any advanced advice it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Temporary Insani-T

[tfeverfred]

There's no substitute for having the time, confidence, building experience and drive. It sounds like you'll do fine. Keep us updated or I'll have LumenAl call you out for pics.

[donsrods]

I didn't see your original intro post, so a belated "Welcome to the forum" is due.

We followed TP plans for the T my two Son's and I built for my one Son Don. But we deviated from it slightly in several respects. TP uses 1.5 x 3 x 1/8 tubing for their frame, and we went to heavier 2 x 3 x 3/16 for added strength a IMO a better looking profile. We also were building it around a small block Ford and C4 tranny, so we used Speedway crossmembers for engine and tranny, and consequently had to modify the steering/brake mounts too. The engine was originally built for my Son's drag car, so we wanted a frame capable of handling the higher HP.

We also tossed the self-threading bolts TP provides into the garbage can and welded everything instead. They use these to mount some very critical suspension and steering components, and we refuse to take a chance on them. Aside from that, we pretty much followed their plans.

If we had it to do over we would not use their "drop in" upholstery kit. It took 3 of us 4 days to install and required MUCH modifying. We even scrapped parts of it and bought matching upholstery to get it usable. Now that it is done it is starting to tear in some places because of the quality of the vinyl. I had the interior for my own T done at an upholstery shop and the price was competitive and the vinyl is twice as thick and of better quality.

That is just our experience, so others may offer different advice to you. I can only tell you what we encountered. Good luck with your build.

Don

[Zombo27]

Total Performance stuff is what it is, Cheap.

[donsrods]

Well, as I've mentioned before, I am not nuts about the way they do some of their stuff, but they have filled a very big niche' in the marketplace for a lot of years. Is there higher quality stuff out there? I think so, but for the most part their prices are competitive and the majority of the products are not too bad.

It must be tough to run a successful business in the hot rod market because most of us are looking for low prices.........not all the time, but lots of the time. We look at something TP or anyone else sells and we say "I can build it for less than that."........be honest, we ALL do it.

Mickey and his crew have kept their heads above water for more years than most businesses, both in and out of the rod industry, so I respect them for that. More companies than TP have been forced to buy Chinese products to stay competitive, including Speedway and many others.

But yes, I do have to agree that some stuff could be of better quality.....like the upholstery kit we bought that is coming apart at the seams already and it was just installed last November.

Don

[Mikey]

Like Don and Fred said in so many words, TP has been in business quite a while, but I found their plans to be a little less than desired. An easier set to follow would be a set from CCR. California Custom Roadsters in Chino,Ca. Talk to Diane or Jerry. Hope this helps you out.Mikey