Cap-it Ford T-Bucket Hot Rod

Downtown Abbotsford Car Show

2011-09-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Downtown Abbotsford Car Show took place on Saturday, September 17th. There was a bit of rain early in the morning, then the sky's cleared and the crowd arrived.

Cap-it Hot Rod and Hank received First Choice Award

Hank want to thank the Abbotsford Car show sponsors and especially Unitex Sales Ltd for Picking the Cap-it Hot Rod from all the other cars for their first choice award.

The Blues Brothers arrived in the "Blues Mobile" and performed on the live stage.

It was a fun show, with great cars and good food and entertainment, right in the heart of the old downtown Abbotsford.

Langley Good Times Cruise-In

2011-09-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday September 10th Cap-it took part in the re-organized Langley Good Times Cruise-In car show.
Tom , Chris and Darren from Cap-it International were on-hand to greet the public, and hand out a few catalogs.
A Great Time was had by all, and the event was awesome.

Detailed and ready for the show.

Cars streaming in to get a place in the show.

Crowds are starting to grow.

A great summers day, with lots of cool vehicles to view.

The end of a Great Day, cars & girls . . . what more can we ask for, see you next year.

PoCo Car Show, August 21st, 2011

2011-08-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

PoCo Car Show 2011

360 Fabrication invited Hank to display the Cap-it Ford T Bucket at their booth during the PoCo Car Show this weekend, Sunday 21.

It was a great and exciting show with approx 400 cars in attendance. Having the car show in the old part of town was awesome. The streets were filled with people as early as 9:30 in the morning till 5 in the evening.

Elaine enjoying the show.

JP Deschenes of 360 sends his appreciation via email, “I wanted to thank you and your wife again for taking time out of your busy schedule and coming out to join us at the car show yesterday. I think it is safe to say without your car we wouldn't have generated as much attention, and in all honesty after walking around it was easily the nicest car there”. Thanks JP

Kelowna Custom Car Show

2011-06-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

June 12, 2011

We loaded up the Rod in our custom built trailer and headed to Kelowna for Boyd’s Father’s Day Charity Car Show.
As you can see it was a tight fit – we had Greg Cummings Trailer install some extra floor tie down mounts.

Cap-it’s booth at the annual Boyd Show and Shine located on Abbott St. in Central Park Kelowna BC

Approx 20,000 people attended the show.

ARB Roof Tent in background on Cap-it Jeep

The ARB roof top tent was a real hit, many people liked the fact that it’s located on top of your vehicles roof.

Hank couldn’t resist – he had Kelly from Kelly’s Kustom Pinstriping do some pinstripping on the cowl of the Hot Rod

Cap-it Hot Rod May Day Parade

2011-05-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Hank won 1st place in the Bradner May Day Parade on Victoria day, this was the first time out and it’s obviously a winner.
Hank & Mason spent the day marketing Cap-it at the event with the Rod and the Jeep. It looks like the Abbotsford store got the credit because they came in contact with many of their customers.

Bradner May Day Parade 2011

The T Bucket ran and started beautifully the only problem has been that the steering wheel is to large, the left knee got in the way when applying the brake so the only thing to do is, get a smaller diameter steering wheel with a 2” dished out center. Another issue that came up was the C4 automatic Tranny shifting down relatively hard in 2nd gear - we think it may have to be adjusted. Didn’t sound good

Cap-it T-Bucket Update

2011-05-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

We hope to have the Rod up and running in the next two weeks, just in time for the Bradner May-day Parade.

What’s on our still to do list?

Finish the last of the wiring items such as master cylinder brake switch, coil wiring, battery terminal and turn signal switch
Install main carb linkage and Kick-down transmission linkage to carburetor
Speedo cable
Rear Fenders
Rear view mirror
Install new chrome oil pan
All fluids such as Antifreeze, Rear-end oil, Transmission fluid

We are all looking forward to the first time we start the engine, it will be quite the celebration especially if we don’t see any circuits shorting out. Although I personally enjoy 12 volt wiring, this has been quite the task. Despite the fact that this is a simple Rod I found out the there are many different ways in which to wire a vehicle. The, “It’s a Snap” wiring kit should be called’ “It’s a Pain”. They should have at least given better wiring diagrams; many diagrams sections were missing such as the brake switch and turn signals. Because it’s a fiberglass body ground wires had to be routed and so we took special care in grounding the Rod. We took some good advice and ran a heavy ground wire from the battery which is located at the rear and ran it under the frame directly to the front of the Rod, then we ran a ground wire to the engine. Then we connected all lights, gauges and switches to that wire.

If you ever have a problem with 12 volt it will be because of the ground not being adequate or weak. In other words you can’t count on the frame to make a good connection as a ground. Some parts just need a good solid ground to work efficiently.

1923 T Bucket Update - The Body is On

2011-03-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

The body is on

Installing the windshield - We ordered tinted safety glass for the windshield and side wind deflectors.

Pre fitting the fuel tank and battery case in the rear of the truck box

Installing the Windshield Support Rods - Because of the vertical windshield the wind resistance it will cause the 23 T Bucket calls for chrome support rods mounted to the frame. They must be the exact length before they will fit.

Installing the chrome radiator hose - this installation posed most difficult because the chrome copper Rad hose was just too short for us to place the chrome end caps on and fit it to the engine. But with 3-4 hours of study we managed to get it fitted. It doesn’t help when the Rad hose kit is missing critical parts.

Laying out the wiring harness - I’m using a wiring harness called, “It’s a Snap”

In my opinion the name, “It’s a Snap” wiring harness is misleading, it leads you to believe that it’s a snap to install when in fact it’s a pain in the back side. The company should have spent a little more time creating better instructions.

The instructions began by saying that there are 3 bundles of wires, one bundle goes to the front of the vehicle, the second bundle goes to the rear of the vehicle and the third is for the interior. You’d think they could count; I looked at the harness and saw 4 bundles. It took me one hour to figure out what the forth bundle was for, and this was just the beginning. The wiring diagram was just as confusing, they did not show where the signal switch was, and they did not show how to wire up the brake switch and so on. By the way they have no internet site where you can go for help so I had to go to other sites to get the information.

We did manage to get the rod wired.

Wiring the 6 gauges, light switch and ignition switch.

Yes it looks a mess but it’s a well organized mess. 12V wiring has always been a pleasure for us and relatively easy to do. The wires are coded so its easy to follow from one end to the other.

Fuel tank & Battery installed

We had to make up a special bracket to install the Solenoid

Installing the firewall and floor carpet

The carpet must be in before we can install the wiring harness.

Placing the entire wiring harness

Let me tell you working under the dash of a 23 T Bucket is just about impossible. We did as much of the pre wiring as possible on the bench because we knew what we were in for. The T Bucket is just to small to crawl on ones back and let- alone having to soldering wires under those conditions.

A Rolling Chassis

2011-03-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

WOW, its coming together just fine! We’re on the home stretch.

Months of hard work appear to be paying off and we’re seeing the benefits. I guess it reminds me of being a kid, assembling a glue together toy model. Its much the same feeling because you find it hard to lay down your tools and go home at the end of the day, you want to keep on going but you know you can’t, you’re delayed until other parts are installed first. As a kid the glue never dried fast enough for us.
I guess in the long run we all have the kid in us and I think it’s a good idea to keep it in as long as we can.

At this time we are going through the entire front-end, tightening all the bolts, setting the King Pins, shimming the King Pin bearings in preparation for the fender installation. Many special stainless bolts had to be ordered, sanded and then polished to a chrome finish. Our Fenders have to go on before the Rotors are installed.

Extra care is taken to install the freshly painted fenders. We are hoping that they will fit and align up as they did before taking them to paint.

Both fenders are now installed and it looks like we got the final fit and alignment right.

The Headlight has been waiting a long time to be installed and now it’s resting on its chrome perch. It looks absolutely awesome.

We ran into a problem installing the wiring to the headlights. We couldn’t find a professional casing long enough to house the 5 wires going to the frame. After studying the issue we went out and purchased a stainless cable kit made for similar headlights. This new system caused us to drill a ½” hole in the backside of the light casing. The lights we have were designed for the wiring to exit through the bottom bolt that attaches everything to the headlight mount but the long mounting bolt caused problems as well. This new system actually looks great. I know we did the right thing.

Its time to install those big boots, 15” X 31” – 18” wide Mickey Thompson tires. We’ve had them on and off so many times its nice to finally put them on permanently.

Installing the front tires

It’s a 20” Drive Shaft, custom made to order with a little silver paint just so it fits in with all the other running gear fittings.

Installing the self-adhesive fabric webbing to the frame. This webbing lies between the body and the frame and sort of acts as a cushion. Rather than mounting the body directly to the chassis and possibly creating friction we now have a squeak free mount. It must be the way they did it in 1923

We’ve got ourselves a rolling chassis and it’s beginning to look like we’re on the home stretch. We’re not fooling ourselves; we know there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us but its sure feels good to get things to this stage.

Before we can install the body we need to attend to a few things that are still incomplete located on the frame - next on our to do list is:

Finish the Brake lines and bleed the brakes
Install the Emergency brake cables and cut them to length
Install the Speedo to Transmission gear attachment
Install the Fuel line and Electric fuel pump that will be mounted at the rear
Route the heavy 8 gauge Battery cable that goes directly to the starter from the rear of the Rod – the battery will be located inside the truck bed

The bodies has been placed on the frame temporarily, we’ll be removing it for final frame wiring and finishing etc. Just wanted to show everyone how it looks.

Hot Rod Update March 2nd, 2011

2011-03-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

Chrome front suspension waiting to be installed – supported by wood blocks so we could mimic a loaded springl

Front end finally installed

We finally solved our front shock dilemma. Because of the front leaf spring installed with no load we couldn’t predict where the final position of the shock would end up so we had to use wood blocks to mimic the weight of the rod. And finally on our fourth try we hit it right. For those of you building a similar rod, take a look where the lower shock is mounted to the shackle. Again we did not get instructions; it was truly trial and error. The internet search showed every picture imaginable but nothing that we were looking for. The lower shock mount must be bolted to the shackle on the lower inside.

Installing the radiator cowl

The Third Member is now in place. We chose a 9” Currie Ford Rear end with 4:11 gears and painted it silver/ aluminum just to accent the red

The final touches to the axels – by adding black rear sock springs and black brake housing we are getting the look we wanted. When it’s all finished you’ll see what a little change that that can do to enhance the red Rod.

It won’t be long now and we’ll have all the major parts installed. It will look complete on a photo but the hard work is yet to come, like, wiring, brake lines, e-brake kit, gas pedal and linkage, gauges, oil and fuel setups, radios, gas tank, tonneau cover remote lock, etc etc.

I must add, Dianne Kiefer owner of California Custom Roadster in California put out a great product. I highly recommend the company for its workmanship. It’s everything she said it would be, in fact she noted that their product and frame design have won many awards over the years, I can see why.

If you have any questions give us your comments, we’d love to hear from you especially if you have some helpful tips for us.

Hot Rod Update February 23, 2011

2011-02-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

We spent this afternoon picking up the body and various parts from the paint shop. It’s been cold and windy this week so we decided to take the cargo trailer to pick up the painted parts.

360 Fabrication has done a wonderful job on the paint. Rick Francoeur, the owner called me at the final stage and suggested I get them to do an additional Wet-sanding and Clear coat; it helps take away any appearance that there’s fiberglass under the paint. I personally can’t believe the workmanship, no wonder these guys get the highest ratings from BASF and Chip Foose. Now that I see the end result I’m happy that I paid the extra. It took Rick’s men an additional day to do the work plus buffing and polishing - I believe its show quality!

Rick & Daryl Francoeur, Owners of 360 Fabrications, Abbotsford BC

The other element that really excites us is our company logo. We had it air- brushed so it’s under the clear-coat making it easy to wax and polish; not like a decal that interferes with polishing.

We spend considerable time designing a retro logo that incorporated our Copyrighted name Cap-it®. Our current red square logo just wouldn’t do the Bucket justice. So we used our current style Cap-it font but incorporated it in a 1920’s style look; typical of one used in those days.

The criteria was:

It had to look old, retro 1920’s & faded
It had to show our current logo font so our customers would recognize that its Cap-it®
It had to suit the T-Bucket without looking out of place

Back to the final assembly on the frame - We have just installed the rear axle, shocks and radius rods. Were getting it ready for tomorrow, we plan on installing the 4:11 Third member, axles, brakes and mounting the tires. We want to have a rolling chassis as soon as possible.

Take a look at the Firewall, it’s painted – we made plans from the beginning - we wanted a polished aluminum firewall. The one thing we have to watch for now is that we don’t scratch the paint while installing it.

The shiny Firewall might not look good on its own but wait till you see it the when it’s behind the engine. We’ll get that clean bright look; again separating our selves from other T-Buckets.

The engine is being put in place with minor adjustments

Installing the final Lokar shifting linkage to the C4 automatic transmission - The directions in the Lokar kit were just awful – we couldn’t believe the poor job a they did, and that’s why it took us hours to figure it out.

Final Assembly of the T-Bucket begins

2011-02-21T09:47:00.000-08:00

The pre fitting is all done and we’re ready to take it apart once again

The pre fitting is all done now, the engine is in its final resting place, fenders are on and sitting as we had designed, everything has past our inspection before we take it to paint.

It took three months for the frame and body to be built
It took us one and a half months of pre fitting and assembly of the Rod
And now it’s only taken us four hours to unassembled it.

almost assembled

The frame is back from the paint shop and our 1966 Ford Mustang Rangoon Red is exactly what we wanted. We chose the unit to be clear coated as well. There’s just enough orange in the red to give it that fun car appearance. In my mind T- Buckets get all the looks at any car show - just watch the crowds and you‘ll see for yourself. I prefer bright colours to get the attention.

The Final assembly now begins - WOW what great fun, we’ve been waiting for this day for some time now. We were careful to wrap the jack stands with felt and foam sheets as to avoid damage to the fresh paint.

Notice we decided to paint the frame instead of Powder Coating. Even though Powder Coating cost less it doesn’t take care of the welds like paint does. There is a lot of work filling the welds and corners to get that plastic-like look we wanted – you could say its show quality.

The T-Bucket has an exposed frame so if you want it to look great I think paint is the way to go – especially if you want to have the paint colour match perfectly with the body. The Powder Coating people would not guarantee the colour match.

Up until now it’s been installing, take off, refit, install again and so on. It’s exciting to finally begin bolting parts to the frame permanently, and of coarse every nut has to have Loctite, after all we are building a reliable vehicle and don’t want things to fall off or get loose. I did however find out that red Loctite is for engine parts (heat sensitive) and the blue is most everything else so off we go again to the parts store to get it. Remember if you’re using red Loctite you’re going to have to use a heat gun to remove the bolt unlike the blue.

Installing the Master Cylinder

Installing the brake lines and attaching it to the frame – holes are already pre-drilled and fitted

Next we install the chrome front end – we still have a problem to overcome and here and that is establishing where the shock is to be mounted on the shackle – will keep you posted.

Installing the chrome transmission mount

Transmission mount is in place and to the right you’ll see the chrome brake pedal mounted next to the master cylinder.

Here we are installing the Transmission cooling unit and positioning it beside the transmission well hidden from view. There’s no room on the radiator of a T-Bucket – it’s got to be hidden some place so might as well be here tucked under the frame.

We’ve got the shop rigged with production lighting so we can film the entire build.

The body arrives in a few days so hopefully we’ll have all the necessary parts installed on the frame by then.

Hot Rod Update Feb 10 2011

2011-02-11T11:35:00.000-08:00

Designing brackets that actually look professional, brackets that are pleasant to look at, strong enough to work well and not vibrate when driving down the road.

We didn’t want that strap iron look that so many have used for fender supports so we used round stock to get that retro look.

We chose 5/8” cold rolled steel for the rear support arms and ½” for the front fenders – both fenders are totally removable. Fenders are the Law in BC

First we had to buy a Mig Welder, model 211 Miller to handle the light weight 16 gauge fenders. The welder was awesome.

Welding two fenders together to accommodate for the 18” wide rear tires

Front fender supports – making sure that they are level

Welding the bracket mounts to the rear axle

We’re now ready to disassemble the Rod, catalog all the parts and get it ready for paint – Rick at 360 Fabrication in Abbotsford will be doing the Paint work and air brushing. 360 Fabrication have won many awards for their professional workmanship. We’re happy they are involved with the finishing touches.

Next on our up date you will see the beginning of the total Rod assembly. We’ve been looking forward to this for some time now.

Hot Rod Assembly Update

2011-01-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

Now that I've laid out the instrumentation and the dash board it's time to buy the correct hole saw and cut the holes. Only problem is the hole saws never come in sizes of a 1/16" so I purchased a sanding wheels to enlarge the holes to the exact amount and wow does it ever work well on fiberglass.

Hole Saw

Sanding wheel did the trick

The Dash Instrument Array

I was lucky... I found trailer fenders that have the same radius as my tires... Just a little cutting, welding and trimming on I'm off. We'll be coming back to this next time.

Installing the tonneau cover

Cover Installed

The Sanderson headers arrived. I ordered them ceramic coated and do the ever look good. It's better than chrome and this way they won't blue.

Finally mounted the Weld wheels after waiting three weeks for the order to come in. Now I can determine what size fenders to put on. We need fenders in BC to pass inspection.

Front discs and rotors have arrived

Front Brake Assembly

I designed a special mount to hold the rear fender brackets out of paper core board so I can do a dry fit before I get them cut out of 1/2" metal stock. I had a local Plasma CNC cutting machine shop do the job. My desire is to have the brackets look professional and slick. Hot rod builders are always looking at the details Hopeful it will do the job

Custom designed template

Final machined part

Perfect fit

Check back to see our next update, coming soon.

Cap-it Hot Rod Initial Assembly Stages

2011-01-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

We’re still in the initial assembly stages and we need to address some key elements that may affect the look of the entire Rod before we can go any further.

Some Hot Rods just end up looking better than others and you don’t know why – well we believe it’s in the details.

The engine needs to sit as level as possible with a 3 degree slope to the rear
We don’t want the engine to close to the firewall
And we don’t want the engine to sit to low either

The steering box may be in the road of the exhaust pipes – time will tell – we’ll know as soon as we get the pipes

click for large image

So far it appears that we need to insert a ¾” rubber spacer on the motor mounts and a 1” spacer on the Tranny mount.

The King Pins slid into the Spindles beautifully but would not slide into the axel. Purchasing a reaming tool will cost us $185.00 – for a one time use I think it’s out of the question unless it’s absolutely necessary. We found a small drum sanding tool, wet it down, put it in a drill and we made a few in and out pulls and presto – it did the job!

We need to cut a whole in the floor and position the gear shifter

Installing the Transmission cooling unit to the side frame

Final fitting of the radiator

The fitting of the side wind deflectors - we used paper cut-outs to give the glass shop the exact size and shape. Both the windshield and the side deflectors have to be custom cut – were also getting them tinted so we don’t get any glare.

We special ordered a – Retro 1965 Mustang Ford Radio – we think it will fit well alongside the retro gauges

We laid out the instrumentation panel with paper cut-outs before any holes can be drilled.

We’re lucky! – We found 16 gauge trailer fenders that fit our wheels perfectly. All we have to do now is cut them down to length, weld two rear fenders together to accommodate the 18” wide tires, build some heavy brackets and were off. What a relief – we thought we might have to make the fenders from scratch. Mounting them will present another hurdle – but we’ll see how they look when we get the wheels on the chassis.

Hopefully the wheels arrive next week.

The Hot Rod Frame and Body arrived

2010-12-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

The long wait is over – and believe it or not the three months have gone by relatively quickly – the frame and body for the T Bucket arrived today.

First the inspection and then checking off all the various custom parts and fittings that were ordered

Now for the fun part – I have to open up every box - and it looks like every part I ordered is there – no damages and it appears everything is in better condition than expected

There were only several back-orders that did not make the shipment

Sanderson Headers
Wilwood front disc brakes
Windshield wipers etc

I’ll still have to order the instrument gauges, wiring kit, 4 way flashes, ignition, battery and so on.

The first thing I do is place the frame on axle stands

Then I begin the job of attaching as many parts to the frame as possible knowing full well I’ll be taking everything back off again – it’s a constant on and off process – until I’ve got it right. Once every part is fitted and every bracket welded – I disassemble it all again and then take it to paint

Assembly:

I’m curious to see how the special order chrome front end looks
Master cylinder nicely tucked inside the frame
Installing the rear Currie 9 “ Ford axle
Steering box
Front shocks
Radius rods
Actual working 1923 radiator thermostat
The radiator
Headlight and chrome brackets

chrome front end

master cylinder

Currie 9" Ford axle

steering box

front shocks

radius rods

working 1923 radiator thermostat

the radiator

headlight and chrome brackets

engine ready to go

half-way in

engine mounted to frame

I place the Mickey Thompson tires next to the Bucket just to see how it will look

We place the body back on and vice grip the radiator to the frame – now comes the detail work.

Stay tuned for Episode #4

We run into some problems!

We find out that the engine is sitting to low and hitting the steering box – Oil pan will hit speed bumps unless we do something
Were not getting the look we want
We find out that the front king pins won’t fit the spindles

Ford T-Bucket Engine Dyno Testing

2010-12-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

Dyno Test

Well we did it – the engine was dynoed Thursday evening in Langley and we’re happy with the results. Just like we planned - it looks like we’ll get the 400 horse power after all. Remember we only put in a 280 cam because we didn’t want to have an unmanageable ride. It idled beautifully at 850 – 950 rpm’s - we got the low rumbled we wanted.

As we did each run we saw that the new engine was breaking in – each pass gave us 7-9 additional horse power.

Torque remained constant to our surprise – the technician said that the high rise manifold played a huge role in this.

3,330 rpm = 355 Clb-ft torque

4,900 rpm = 382

We knew going into the test that without our new custom made headers from Sandersons, test results wouldn’t be the best – Headers won’t be arriving for another two weeks. Considering that the exhaust manifold we used was stock and unsuitable for the test our horse power still reached a respectable 376 hp
5,600 rpm = 376 hp
Again the technician felt that we lost at least 20 hp because of this - so if you add it all up we got our 400 hp (396)

I just wanted to say how pleased we are with the engine build, thanks to Canada Engines. Steve was most helpful in the details, not only choosing the right performance parts but recommending aluminum paint on bare parts such as the high-rise Manifold, Water pump, Tranny and other items that complemented the red engine. It’s easier to keep clean and always looks fresh. Braided hose and fittings, topped with a stainless nut and bolt package; red plug wiring meticulously woven to the plugs
We got the hot rod look we wanted.

About the Cap-it Hot Rod Power Train

2010-12-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

Power train Specs:
1969 - 351 Cleveland Ford
10:7:1 Compression ratio
Race Cam
2 – 4 barrel Edelbrock 500 CFM carbs
Weiand Dragster Tunnel Ram
Edelbrock – water pump
Polished valve covers
MSD Distributor
MSD Blaster Coil
MSD Plug wires
Mastertorque starter
Chrome alternator
March Billet brackets & pulleys
Hopefully a comfortable 400 horsepower engine
Ford C4 automatic transmission with a (2500 – 2800) torque converter
4:56 gears

The goal here is three fold.

We want to be able to have enough horse power to spin those 18” soft wide tires without too much effort. After all an engine looking as powerful as this one has got to do something other than to look good.
The Weiand dragster tunnel ram is there for looks only – This style manifold only works well between 3 – 6,000 RPM’s. Bucket’s are not normally designed to be a dragsters – as an artist I remember when I was young, we always drew cartoon T Buckets with over-sized full blown engines with five foot stick shifts – I wanted this one to be similar.
The Bucket has to operate relatively easily on road trips and especially at low RPM’s so we don’t want that much horse power. The vehicle’s total weight should come in at around 2,500 lbs; the C4 Tranny combined with the 4:56 gears and 31” Mickey Thompson’s should allow us to achieve 2975 RPM’s at 60MPH (100km) and in addition prevent lurching forward while driving slowly. We’ll want to drive this one in parades etc.

It’s been a lot of fun establishing optimum goals for the build but only possible after reading stacks of Hot Rod magazine and searching every internet site available in an effort to learn from the other guys.

Our over all Vision:

It appeared to me that every T Bucket out there had a small block Chevy in it - not that I care but in my mind a 1923 Ford T- Bucket is a Ford. What’s a Chevy engine doing in a Ford anyway? Why go to all the work and not do it right.

Seeing that T buckets became so popular in the late 60’s I decided to put in a late 60’s Ford engine – a mustang 351 Cleveland – very rare indeed - parts like pistons have to be machined – you don’t buy them off the shelf, most Cleveland parts cost many more times than other engines but it’s reminiscent to those hot muscle cars of late 60’s. It was introduced in 1969 as Ford’s new performance engine and was built through the end of 1974 model year. It incorporated elements learned on the 385 big-block series and the Boss 302, particularly the poly-angle combustion chambers with canted valves and thin-wall casting technology. Inside the block are large main bearings for durability with 4 bolt mains. Reduced demand for large engines due to fuel economy regulations led to the abandonment of the Cleveland production line.
We’re building a true Ford - Ford everything. Ford 9” rear end, Ford axles, spindles and brakes, Ford body and pick-up box, Ford gauges and Ford engine.

Stay Tuned:

On Dec 10, 2010 we’ll see what this engine build actually produces power wise, we plan to Dyno test it so stay tuned for the results. Steve at Canada Engines in Surrey is doing the build and Dyno test.

Next:

The chassis and body arrive at the Cap-it Shop just before Christmas.

Follow Hank as he builds a 1923 Ford T Bucket – Pick-up truck

2010-11-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hank Funk CEO of Cap-it International is planning to build a 1923 Ford T Bucket this winter. You will be able to follow him step by step, as he attempts to build this awesome Hot Rod.

As a result of the economic slow down in America, most hot rod kit manufactures for this style of vehicle have either discontinued to offer kits, or gone out of business. As a result Hank has hired a firm in California to custom build the chassis and body for him.

The whole idea behind the project is to build the ‘23 T bucket as a pick-up truck promoting Cap-it, and its “Genuine Truckware” accessories. It will be available to franchisees show & shine events, parades and car shows.

Hence the – “Cap-it T-Bucket”

The truck should look much like the attached image, but with a few alterations such as larger rear tires and a larger engine.

Hank selected a custom engine built by Steve at Canada Engines in Surrey BC

Specs:

1969 - 351 Cleveland – very rare engine – originally from a 1969 Mustang

2 – 4 barrel Edelbrock 500 CFM carbs

Dragster Tunnel Ram

Mild Cam

Hopefully a comfortable 400 horsepower engine

C4 Transmission with 2700 torque converter

31 X 18 rear Mickey Thomson Tires

26 X 8 front Mickey Thomson Tires