Projects The bucket of ugly! A de-uglifying thread...

Fred, that really sets it off!

 

Honestly, they actually surprised me. I'm glad I saved up for the stainless ones.

 

Me too!

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Great choice they look great

 

While looking around last night, I found that Spirit Cars has been doing live online stuff and adding these to You tube. Some good info in them.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyGMuuvDqnbd1-2KsbVz98w

I also found this one. This is what I DON'T want to look like driving a T! Seems the rear seat padding is too thick, seat is too high and he still has knees to the middle of the windshield. It's tough being tall!
BTW, non-HAMB powerplant

 

Probably the MOST important part of building these cars is seating. Now, what I'm going to post next were MY findings, when I did my first T Bucket and was dealing with seating. As well as plans for the car I'm building now.

I'm 6'3" and knew I wanted to sit as low as possible, so I made a wooden box at a height I figured would work. I ended up with 3, before I found one that was as low as I could go and still be comfortable. It ended up being 4" tall. While I'm tall, I'm also thin and flexible, so having to pull my knees up slightly, wasn't a problem. I made a seat bottom that had webbing on the bottom and padding. It was 6" tall, but when I sat on it, I sank about 2" ending up at my target 4". The padding was 2 pillows I found at a fabric store.

Knowing that free space was VERY limited, I chose not to use a lot of padding on the back and sides. My solution was 3" of padding on a back that was hinged, so it would flip forward. I didn't use any padding on the sides. The rest of my interior was covered in brushed on truck bed liner. I liked the thought of easily cleaning and the "spartan" look. Here's a pic.


In the above pic, you can barely see the white shift knob on the floor. That was Total Performance's shifter set up. It moved the lever to the right side of the transmission and was short, so it was out of the way. It's no longer available, but sometimes they show up on Ebay. I was lucky and someone on another site found one for me, for my present build.

This is how I looked driving my last T Bucket.


As you can see, my knees were about 5" above the top of the body, but again, it was comfortable to ME. This time around, I'm going with a 8" stretched body, so I'll have a lot more room. I'm also planning to have the seat or seats (thinking about bomber seats) almost directly on the floor.

Here are pics of me sitting in a stretched CCR body, like the one I'll be using. If things go as planned, I'll be low in the car and if I want to, I'll be able to stretch out my left leg. The steering column goes through the fire wall, instead of the floor, which also frees up a little more room.




In closing, if you plan out your interior in these cars, they can be comfortable. But unless you're 5'9" or less, you'll never achieve the seating of a "normal" sized car. The choice then becomes comfort over looks or vice versa, with a very fine line covering both. I was at a local car show and someone commented about the look and lack of seating in my car, which was funny to me, because an hour earlier, I'd watched him crawl out of his 6" chopped and 3" channeled Model A Coupe! He swore he was comfortable with that.

Bottom line, when it comes to the interior of these cars, you have to plan them out with the same amount of thought you'd put into the drive train.

 

Yep, it's been talked about here before, but saw the video and thought it really drove the point home.

Thanks for posting your pics again.
Again, when I get serious, I'll have to connect up with Chip and hopefully test sit in his T.
6'4" here at ~210#. Less limber than 20 years ago, but that applies to almost everyone!
I got a 97 Dakota standard cab a year back and it's just too tight. I constantly want another 2 inches more seat back.
I sure don't want to build something that is that tight or tighter! I should probably plan on a stretch like you are.
I posted a std one from RPM in the body thread, maybe I'll add a stretch one over there, even though some here hate them...

 

They don't have to drive it, but YOU do.

 

Thanks Fred for your photo's of you sitting in your old T plus what you want with the new body. I would never be able to sit my arse in the turbine powered thing due to having had both knees replaced with plastic and metal ones. There is no way in hell I can bend my knees like that still shot taken from the video so thanks for that RodsTRace. I'm thinking along your lines of only having a maximum 2" of foam on the back and doing something like you had for the cushion. I hop to have it old style tuck and roll but with some leg support to aid comfort on long drives.

 

Tim with a T in my roadster not me. I think he said he is about 6' tall. I would love to get Too Tall Ghanol in it.

That body is probably the shortest body Ford ever built. Front of a pre '22 T Touring. Chip and I exchanged #s and it is about 3" shorter than his fiberglass roadster. And he swears his is a perfect copy of a '25 T roadster body.

While ordering my scull shift knob I told Grabowski my roadster was built from the same body as his. He said "HOW TALL ARE YOU"? I told him 5' 9". He said "I KNEW IT" you couldn't get in it if you were any taller.

I would say if you aren't a midget like me okay "Little Person" and want to be somewhat comfortable and are not like me "Have to have Henry steel" and are going to buy fiberglass anyway you might as well buy a stretched one. If mounted in the right place on the frame with just the right rake (Read and re read the first dozen or so pages of Chip's thread here) pay attention and follow his lead. You can come up with a nice looking and fairly comfortable Bucket. Study the profile of his car.

By the way even I am not comfortable in my car. The older I get 73 now the less comfortable it becomes.

 

Brake pedal arrived today.

 

Aren't ya going to drill some holes in it?
Make sure to check for a gap at full retract and that the rod back to the MC can't drop out there too, of course as mentioned before.
Is there going to be a boot around the pedal, or just an open slot?
My van just has a rubber part with a slot in the center to rub against the pedal. It's held down with a thin metal surround. Pretty low-fi for sealing! Example



Earlier cars had a bellows type boot. More weatherproof, although with a roadster, weatherproof isn't needed! Similar to this.
https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detail/11846/Chevrolet_Starter_Bellows.html
or this
https://www.frsport.com/Nissan-30542-01S00-Genuine-OEM-240SX-KA24E-DE-Clutch-Fork-Boot_p_32127.html
Since your pedal pivots and moves along a slot, this type probably won't work. You could do something like what is used on factory auto shifters, where a thin, flat sheet rides with the shifter handle sticking thru.



If either is in the plans, make sure they don't cause drag or hanging issues.
I don't see you running White shag carpet in your rod, so a bit of dust and wetness probably isn't high on the "must avoid" list!
I would try to incorporate a boot around the pushrod to keep junk out of the end of the M/C, especially since it faces forward and collects dirt. A GOOD parts store should be able to find a boot that fits, even without YMM application.
Darn all of us armchair q'backs!
Just realize we are living vicariously through your build!

 

Well, the M/C bracket has a built it stop. The M/C also has a boot for the push rod. I'm going to use a rubber piece with a slot for the arm. White shag carpeting? Umm....... no.

 

Transmission drop out showed up a couple days early! So, I'll do a quick prep and get some color on it tonight.

 

And done. I like CCR's quality and thinking. The bracket is designed to mount several different transmissions. The hole in the side piece gives access to the speedometer gear. The holes are on both sides for an even look. I had concerns that my brake lines would be in the way of the Total Performance shifter, but looking at the relative location of this bracket, I should be okay.

 

All you need is a milk crate and a steering wheel, and you're all set to make RmmmRmmm noises! Looking good!

 

Been there, done that! I had to take some measurements and decided to snap a pic. Then, I figured, why not?

 

I remember that day Fred

 

You're remembering my first build. I didn't take pics this time. I'm saving that for when I get the body! Stay tuned.

 

Fred, those brake lines and residuals need to be supported not just hanging in the breeze. They WILL fail. Plus the thread tape will more than likely cause issues. Plumbers shit belongs nowhere near a car!

 

Got it.

 

That's looking real good Fred. One piece at a time. Hey Fred. What ever happened to Chip (need louvers ) guy ? Did he ever paint his T orange? Just wondering. Bob...............

 

Thanks. Yup.... one thing at a time. As far as Chip, I don't know. But I wish he'd start posting again. I really don't like using his thread for my stuff. I should have started a build thread of my own, but it just feels comfortable posting here.

 

Looks like a pic of me on my rider mower. I'm about the same size as you, we went car shopping for the wife and one of the criteria was that I had to be able to fit in it.

 

I've seen Chip posting on a Falcon group on Facebook quite a bit lately.

That's a good looking roller you have going there Fred. Look forward to when you get the body!

 

I'm working on it.

 

Well, looks like Harvey is just going to get us really wet. Rain for the next 5 days. No updates, but I've been doing some research and planning. I started a thread on T Bucket interiors, in order to get an idea of what I want for seats. A bench seat is the norm, but I'm considering buckets and bomber seats, as well. So far, I'm liking these for buckets:
http://corbeau.com/fixed-back-seats/baja-low-back.html

And this for a bench:
http://corbeau.com/bench-seats/42-baja-bench.html

They're both from Corbeau and have a "suspension" set up. I'm understanding that to mean that the seat section is somehow suspended in the steel frame. I figure if they're good enough for a "sand buggy", they should do well in a street driven car. The bench is available in black and black with a red insert, but the insert is cloth and not a good idea for a roadster. Still an option.

I found these bomber seats from Rotten Leonard's.
http://www.rottenleonard.com/Products.html

I like the look, but I'm curious about the comfort. He's a HAMBer, so maybe some members can chime in on the comfort. I drove my last T Bucket a LOT. Some days I'd drive for hours without stopping, so I'm looking for comfort as a priority. The last choice is to build my own bench like I did before. The thing with that is, it came out okay and I'm looking for something more refined, than my home made seat.

Other than that, I've got about half the cost of my body saved up and looking to have it by years end. In the mean time, I recheck my progress, plan out future progress and check out her profile.... from time to time. Wishful thinking and motivation.

 

Fred -- While you're cogitating on this, keep in mind that you normally enter a T from the passenger's side and slide across to the driving position. A bench seat (or wraparound seat, as original) makes this easy. Buckets? Probably not so much.

 

I'm not going to have a door, so there will be no sliding in or out. IMO, roadsters don't have doors.