I've been registered for a while and today's Thanksgiving message prompted me to to finally post an intro.

Like many guys 60+, I got hooked on hot rods when I first saw Norm Grabowski's flamed T-Bucket. But, I saw it first in Life magazine in 1957 with the famous picture of Norm munching a burger at the drive-in. When it later showed up occassionally on the TV series 77 Sunset Strip, that was a nice bonus to see it in action.

Got into rod building in high school helping friends with projects like a 409 powered 1948 Austin sedan. Over the years, had a '62 Chevy Bel Air bubbletop and '65 Barracuda. More recently, began a T-Bucket building project about ten years ago (yea, I know, but priorities get in the way). In beginning the T-Bucket build, I did a ton of research on all the different elements, with an eye on keeping the total project within a reasonable budget. I started with CCR plans, bought the Total Performance plan book, and picked up a bunch more. All the while, I was trying with no luck to find the book I'd heard so much about, "How to Build a T-Bucket Roadster on a Budget" and finally popped for one on eBay at $150. But, incredibly, it was worth every penny in terms of the money-saving, detailed information it offered.

Long story short: a few months ago, I came into contact with the author, Chester Greenhalgh, who'd all but disappeared for the past decade and a half. We're now working together to reintroduce his original 250 page "How to Build a T-Bucket Roadster for Under $3000" as a low-buck eBook.

This intro isn't meant to be a commercial, though. My own budget T-Bucket build is progressing, and I've taken Chester's scrounging, build-it-yourself approach all along. Using a 292 Y-block for motivation and have a nice half-dozen Holley 94s to rebuild and put on the Offy six deuce manifold. My objective for joining the forum is to be able to contribute helpful information, while picking up more for my own project.