Thread: Low-budget/T-Bucket Pickup

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In my T-Bucket I really couldn’t find the space to mount a neutral safety switch near the transmission. So I mounted it behind the seat instead, and ran a cable to it. I used a 1960’s Chevy pickup switch, $16 from Amazon. I also used a Schwinn bicycle brake cable from Walmart. The beauty of using an OEM style switch is that the car will start in both park and neutral, when you wire it through the two terminals I am pointing to. You could also use the other two terminals, and wire in backup lights if so desired. I drilled multiple holes in the switch “lever” to adjust the amount of travel. After about 10 minutes of cable adjustments and trying different holes, I got it to work perfectly.


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That thinking outside the box!

It’s starting to look like a Hot Rod!


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Great work and craftiness! It is looking real nice. Are you still under your target goal on the budget? (I can never accomplish that)

Thanks Ryan!

Nah, I’m a little over budget, but not too bad. I’ve splurged a little here and there. I’ll do a budget update soon.

It’s taking a little longer than I’d planned. I’m 2 1/2 years into it now. But I’m happy with how it’s coming out so far, and I’m having fun along the way.

Today I was working on building the pick up box. Maybe I’ll get some pictures of that up tomorrow.

That's what really matters! You'll get to cruise it soon enough down there.

I got the brake lines all installed and bled out. To me the Speedway Motors T-Bucket brake pedal looks and feels too tall. I’m thinking about cutting it down shorter, but I’ll wait until after I test drive this thing to make that decision.

Today I’m working on installing the Speedway wiring harness. It seems pretty darn good for the price, $150. I’m mounting the fuse block under the dash. I’m thinking that should keep it pretty safe from water. A lot of guys put them under the seat, but I’m trying to keep a little free space there for carrying stuff.


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Ohhhhh the wiring. That will be a nice Saturday job that will turn into a week on your back

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

Ohhhhh the wiring. That will be a nice Saturday job that will turn into a week on your back

HAHAHAHAHA... so true!

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

Ohhhhh the wiring. That will be a nice Saturday job that will turn into a week on your back

LOL. How come every job I think will be easy never is?!

Your T is looking good, should be a fun driver. I'm using the speedway wiring too, it is nice quality and a lot cheaper than most.

I've always kind of enjoyed the wiring part of building a car (I guess I must be a bit masochistic..?). That is, until I built my Track-T...

Working under the dash in such a tight space is pure torture! I had to remove one of the seats and lay down with my head under the dash and my legs over the back of the body. That was tolerable until about the third time I needed a tool or piece I had forgotten to bring under there with me. Then I had to climb out, get whatever, and climb back in again... and my fuse box was under the seat!!! On top of that, I pre-wired the back side of the dash (gauges) so all I had to do was a couple of connections and wire the brake light switch. I can't imagine the Hell I would have gone through if I'd had to do all that wiring under the dash. If you haven't already mounted the fuse panel and started running wires, you might want to think about it a bit more. Even with the fuse panel under the passenger seat, I still had room for a pouch to hold a sweater, rain gear, some shop rags, a zip-lock bag with registration and insurance card, and some spare fuses and ignition module. I got rained on a lot, but none of that stuff ever got wet.

I mounted all my electrics under the cowl, but my dash was removable with 5 10-24 screws. The only thing in the dash were the gauges and they were on a separate wiring harness with a Molex plug. All the switches were on a panel that connected to the steering column mount and were hidden just under the edge of the dash. I could pull the dash in less than 5 minutes with my pocket knife (Leatherman) to access the wiring and relay panel. You could start and drive the car without the dash, if needed. It was a little more work to do it this way, but made access much easier when something went wrong.

Like J.Robinson, wiring is something I enjoy and I have a tendency to go a little overboard. I'm a fan of relays for most circuits since they take the load off the switch and give you a good place to access the circuit for troubleshooting. I think my T had 11 or 12 relays, but then again, it had auto-leveling air suspension on the rear and that took several to pull off, plus a couple of diodes. A little complicated, but man did that air ride good!

That Speedway harness looks a lot like the EasyWire harness I used on my T.

Your T is looking good. Good call on the brake pedal. An overly hard pedal is annoying and dangerous.

FWIW - After all that work on mine to make things easy to service, I don't think I had any electrical trouble in the 10 years that I drove it, and I put a bunch of miles on it. Mostly long trips.

Thanks guys.
Yep, I bought a nice looking piece of walnut board, I’m planning on making a removable dash board, and pre-wiring most of it. My T also has a functional passenger side door. Laying in there and working behind the dash is not bad at all, it’s easier than on a normal car.

I got a good amount of the wiring done in the past couple days. I’m “hoping” that one more good day in the garage might wrap it up. Unfortunately tomorrow is looking more like a “honey do” type of day than a “quality hot rod” kind of day.

I’m using a relay for my headlight/taillight circuit and for my horn. I’m not sure if I’ll need any more. This car has a bare minimum of wiring in it.

Jim,
I’m pretty committed to having the fuse box under the cowl at this point. I recall that you mounted your battery under there. I’m using a full size car battery. It is mounted under the passenger seat, although it’s almost completely below the floor.

Looking really good; nice piece of engineering.