As classic drag racing fans, we couldn’t resist taking a close look at Zachary Blausey’s 1923 T-Bucket, which captures the essence of those wild Fuel Altereds from an era gone by. Lightweight and powerful, the former nitro burners thrilled crowds with their short wheelbases and insane power-to-weight ratio.
Wanting to do something fun for LS Fest, Zachery spent just 33 days building this beast. He’s been a regular at Holley LS Fest East for three years running, and fans love his LS-powered Ford.
“LS Fest is awesome, the diversity and friendliness of everyone is fantastic,” said Zachary. “It currently has a $100 engine with a Roots 14-71 blower, a Powerglide transmission, and a Dana 44 rear with 3.55 gears. I’m on my third or fourth engine and it’s been through a few transmissions. In fact, we broke a driveshaft yesterday, and Precision Driveline built us a new one to get us back on track,” he said.
No track queen, Zachary has driven his “Twisted T” hot rod through the Tail of the Dragon, on his 60-mile trip to work, and he has covered over 35,000 miles in one year. But it does run hard on the 1/8-mile, producing cool burnouts and 6.17 elapsed time at 107 mph.
Oh, and it can throw flames 15 feet in the air!
Making it more impressive, Zachary built the entire car himself, and it weighs just 2,000 pounds. He started with boxed frame rails and added a four-link rear and street-rod-type front end. The engine is a 6.0-Liter LS with a huge 14-71 blower that’s topped with an Enderle injector hat. Fuel is fed by a mechanical, belt-driven Aeromotive pump, and he tunes the engine with a Holley Terminator X EFI. The blower makes 13 psi of boost with the current drive pulleys and it breathes through a set of homebuilt Zoomie headers. Adding to the coolness, Zachery drove the T-Bucket here from his home in Toledo, Ohio.
“It’s been a fun project, and I probably have about $9,000 in the car, not counting my labor. Although I do get amazing support from my girlfriend Colby Buzzell and my friend Doug Whited. Both of them are here with me in Bowling Green.”
