They do. I'm off the brakes for a bit, though. My latest progress necessitated removing the gas tank temporarily, so the car isn't driveable right now, anyway. I tend to jump around a bit on projects. The old Jeep seat had some issues. I felt like it sat too tall and, since it was just a flat bench, it didn't inspire a feeling of security, so I decided to make some seats. I copied the staggered arrangement a lot of European pre-war racers used, and I think Paco made a Model T speedster body with them, as well. Not much explaining to do. Same strip/epoxy method I've been using all along. Again, the epoxy is a modern convenience, but there is nothing here you couldn't do with one of the old hide glues they had back then. It would just take longer. You can see my mocking-up/eyeballing methodology pretty well here. Made them way oversize and just kept cutting the ugly away until I got it where it looks right to me. Probably some more adjustments to come. I just measured my ass and went from there. They fit pretty snug, but I think they will be comfortable enough.
Just regular cotton twine from Lowes, and some Linseed Oil, which may have been a mistake. It's taking days to dry. Keeps my hands from turning black from the ancient rubber, though.
I wrapped my '38 Chevy truck wheel with twine also. I coated it with polyurethane. It turned out great.
Passenger gets to stretch the legs out...cool. Your build never gets dull... @rwrj when I saw this it made me think about your vintage project. This is actually an Argentinian Speedster/Hotrod/Jalopy...Just for some inspiration...thought you'd enjoy it. A little twist on the grill shell...looks to be a 30 (custom or just a difference in production as per region). Perhaps these fellows are renowned as it seems the car has been museumed. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...genized-hotrods.1002926/page-47#post-12400833
I like it. Wonder why the right side tires seem so low on air? Maybe just a trick of the light. As far as foot room, I think the main reason for the staggered seating is to keep the passenger from getting constantly jabbed by the driver's elbow. Also, it gives a little more shoulder room. I think in the old days it was more common than it is now for people's shoulders to be wider than their hips.
Nibbled away at the seats some more this morning. Finishing out the front edges. I'm going to add some more bracing underneath. Sorry about the overexposed pictures. It's a real pretty day here. Obviously, the vertical parts will get trimmed. I'm going to leave 1/2" or so proud to keep whatever cushion I end up using from slipping forward. The ends are so raggedy because they are what I trimmed from the excessive height when I made the seat backs.
Do you buy these strips like this or do you run them through a router or something? I may be able to use this to some extent on my 27 Sent from my LG-K373 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
These pictures are a little dark. Had to wait for some epoxy to dry, but I couldn't resist dashing out just before dark and roughly trimming the new fronts, just so I could get an impression. I'm pretty pleased. I am planning to add one last bit of bodywork over the tank, shamelessly copied from the car in the "totally insane race car..." thread. Pretty obvious where I got the inspiration for the seats, too. My tank will be covered by that projection, though.
Oh, yeah. We made the strips, but you can buy them from outfits that sell supplies and plans for strip planked canoes.
I think you have just mentioned some future projection......awesome The vulnerability of the vintage design is blatantly obvious here from a safety standpoint but it is something we assume with the territory. You are not alone thats for sure. One thing in your favor is that tank is no doubt near crush-proof.
They are just under 1/4", 3/16", I think. Just under 1" wide. We ran them on a table shaper, like a big, permanently mounted router. You can buy the cove and bead bits for routers, though, and lots of people run them that way.
Stogy, No doubt about the safety concerns on that tank. It does end short of the back edge of the rear wheels, which might help a bit. Like you said, kind of part of the deal. Not much worse than a stock 32 tank, I guess?
I pulled it around to the regular old picture spot. I'm going to need to re-bend the gearshift, but I'm pretty happy with the seating. I have some work left to do in the middle where the two seat backs meet. The angle is awkward, and they aren't really fastened together at all, and that bothers me. It needs to match the angles of the outside edge of each seat. The tank looks awkward mounted like that, but I think my last bit of body will fix that. As always, thank you all for looking and for your input.
The seats look great! I was hoping you would add some sort of tail section. It is really coming together man! I need to get back on mine. Do you have a link to the "totally insane racecar thread?" I can't seem to find it in a search?
Here you go. One of my all time favorite cars. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-would-have-to-be-mad-to-drive-it-too.201625/
Got a bit more done. I added this piece to the junction between the two seats. Then started working on the little rear projection. This will eventually have the filler cap coming up through the top. No plans, again, just winging it. The big side pieces (and the piece in the seats) are Tulip Poplar, leftover from boat planking projects. The two little planes in the last picture my father made. One convex, one concave. They let me make bead or cove faces on the big pieces and the beveled ends.
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