Crazy Question

[Bill Holley]

when building my last 2 buckets, i ALWAYS keep in mind U WILL GET RAINED ON.. so u build like it's a boat.. i have no wiring under the seat, all was under the dash and far enough up so u can still get to it.. yes i have had my turn in major down poors and took a wk to dry out.. even hit a puddle and spun the car 360 ending up pointing at the cars in my lane. that was not fun.. it's all in the planning.. it's not an exact science but planning sure helps.

[Pappy]

All in All....Looks and sounds like a Blast.....

[Mike Garretson]

I have had my T on the road for 6 years. It has made 3 trips to Mountain Home, AR (about 400 miles one way for us) and many trips of over 200 one way miles. We have put over 16,000 miles on it. We would have had more, but I have a motorcycle and another hot rod, so our drive time gets split between them.

As has been said, being a biker prepared us for the bad weather we have encountered over the years. We got caught in a hail storm in Arkansas and drove for 5 hours in a hard rain last year in Mississippi. My wife and I also drove it 5 hours to Tupelo, MS a few years ago. The temp was 38, but we "cheated" and wore heated motorcycle vests. It's just part of the experience and while at times not a particularly enjoyable one, it's still just part of the game. If you drive it, you're going to have deal with some bad weather.

I have a 12 gallon tank and get around 18 - 21 MPG. I have gone as far as 170 miles without a break, but generally stop every couple of hours no matter what the distance covered. You want to make sure you have a good seating position and good suspension. Stretched bodies, overdrive transmissions and air springs work wonders for comfort. My car also has a Rostra cruise control. It sure helps the right leg on long trips.

By the way, we won the Long Distance award in Tupelo and they made up a "special" award for us called the "Jim Cantore Fearless Award" for braving the cold. My other car is a 46 Ford coupe with AC and heat. None of my street rod buddies can figure out why I choose to drive an open top T. They have no idea.

Mike

PS - We loved the Nats and hope to attend more. The people are great and cruising is so much more fun than static car shows.

[Pappy]

What area you in Mike....your all in my back yard it seems.......

[rbsWELDER]

Hey Mike,

Why did you choose the Rostra cruise control?

Mark

[Mike Garretson]

Pappy, we're in east central Louisiana, near Natchez, MS.

Mark, I used the Rostra on my 46 coupe and liked it. It's electric driven and doesn't need any vacuum. I use a VDO electric speedo and the sending unit signal will drive both the cruise and speedo. It will also adapt over to a variety of input controls. The last Dakota Digital unit I looked at appeared to be a Rostra, although it's been a few years since I checked out the Dakota unit.

Mike

[Lugnut]

Pappy,

In the beginning I DID trailer mine, but changed my tune after 2005. Although there are a few more fol who have more miles on their bucket odometer than I, I still did two "complete" round trip Hot Rod Power Tours and both times were with out a top...and yes it did rain and yes I dd get wet, but I wore a rain suit or I timed it where I could get out of the rain.

My interior is marine grande vinyl, where the sun does not cause it to fade and the rain is kind to it. There are built in drain holes in the floor. If you've ever ridden a motorcycle...it's no different.

The greatest trip of all is on the ground in the bucket.......sure I got strange stares from folks driving past me when it was raining and I had no top, but hey...it was an adventure and gave them something to talk about on their "probably" boring road trip.

Suck it up and join the rain-bucket club.

Lugnut

[Pappy]

Well being on a Harley most every weekend....I am pretty use to the Rain...Not a fan...but Life is too short to dodge rain drops and miss out on fun....I really am at the point to get a T...Wife is still into biking at the moment...But would be a matter of time...if I would sell the bike out right...then just buy one....or I would be open to a trade if someone was into Bikes....we will just see......

[Pappy]

Hey Mike....West Tennessee Here.....Memphis Area,.....

[Mike Garretson]

Hey Mike....West Tennessee Here.....Memphis Area,.....

That's about 5 hours away for me (seems I'm 5 hours from everything ). I plan on being at the Tunica, MS casino (Sam's Town) show in September (26-28). There are usually a few buckets there from north MS. Drop by if you have time.

Mike