Projects Modified Lakester Build (THUNDERCASKET)

I started working on filler pieces for the sides on my little bead roller with a small female profile and a tipping die. With a little bending and planishing to form, these came out great. I may end up cutting this one out and making a bigger piece though. What I ended up with looks like it may be good enough for filler though.

 

I've been focusing on getting the cowl section straight enough for the past couple weeks. I got the firewall good enough, hit it with some Krud Cutter rust converter then a few layers of parts store lacquer primer and white paint. I left most of the new metal with just whatever overspray it got since I'm probably not done working on that part.



Once I finally managed to get it back into the cowl I realized that the body was sitting ever so slightly off which I just could not stand. So the ratchet strap came out and I cut the tack welds on one of the body mount brackets I had made. I had left the front mounts undrilled for this very reason and I am glad I did.




Extended one a bit then drilled them out and locked it in.

 

I've been working on strengthening the cowl posts by supplementing them with some angle iron posts that I haven't taken pictures of but at the same time it occurred to me that I should be putting a little thought into how this is going to work with the F100 dash and gauge pod. I spent a little time at the end of my day yesterday trimming the dash a bit and working out how I want to incorporate it.

I don't think I just want to weld it in because I think I would cuss myself later when I need to get at something AND it's 16ga vs the thinned 19/20ga of the cowl. SO, the plan is to shape the dash to fit either over or up under the cowl and attach it with screws or bolts.

UNDER:



OVER:



I haven't quite decided which way I want to go yet but I think it may be easier to go over than under however fitting the gauge pod may be a trick. I need to make a relief hoop on the angle iron cross piece I have in there before I can tell what will work.

 

I agree that "over" would be easier. I like the looks better although "under" looks good too.. You might be able to hide and dual purpose the attachment screws by incorporating a windshield seal into the plan. Lots of progress!

 

Still picking away at getting the body sitting and aligned to a 'close enough is good enough' state and chasing out as much flop as I can. That doesn't make for interesting pictures but the dash might. I determined that the only way to mount this dash without it being a major production and have it removable is to go under and against the cowl with some tabs attaching to the original holes and a crossbar I made which will tie into the firewall and subframe. The pas. side will be shaved and tapered down to look good and I'll make the driver side to match when I have time to get back to cosmetics. For now I have a structure and know that the instrument panel fits and that the shifter clears it.






Does anybody happen to have an early F100 glovebox?

You'll notice the fuel tank in that first shot there. I've also been tinkering with ideas for mounting that as well as making a rear bumper out of 1" nerf bar tubing when I'm winding down for the day (ignore the plywood, that's just there to help keep the tank on there).



I realized that I wasn't quite sure if I should mount the tank to the body itself or to the frame or if it mattered.

 

I really like the dash and having it removable will be a big plus when wired with a plug so all the wiring can just un-lug for removal. I'm not as sure about the tank but think it should be mounted to the frame. I have a nice old tractor tank with a mechanical gauge that I'd like to use on something, maybe the Essex speedster.

 

Looking good Pat and still one of the best hot rod names I've heard.

 

I don’t know if you are going to like your dash down the road, I fit a 40 dash in my T modified and it really cuts down on steering column angle, foot room and pushes everything out. I would do it again if I built the car today. I’m not criticizing just letting you know.

 

I'm thinking I'm going in the right direction and I am thinking I will put the fuse box behind the gauge pod under the cowl door which I think I may flip and add some kind of locking rig to for easy access.

Thanks, I dig it

Thanks, I'm conscious of that. I'm making the dash fit t omy needs rather than building around the dash. I have my column drop hanging off the support piece and not the dash which would put it too low for what I'm going for. I started putting the steering back together and making the new 1" seat risers today to get the ergonomics dialed back in so I know what else I need to change while I continue stiffening the body up.

 

This is my 40dash my body looks shorter than yours. It does push everything back but it looks so damn kool.

 

The difference is that his instrument cluster is in the center allowing his steering to come through higher.

 

Thanks for showing me these, I have always admired your car! How did you handle your floor and kickboard area? My floor is a mess still and little better than some scraps of hacked up plywood. It's starting to bum me out which is, I guess, part of what comes with a project dragging on so long.

Correct. the F1 column drop I'm currently using (and may replace) is suspended from a piece of 1" angle behind the dash that runs just under the door tops. So my column is sitting 3" or more higher, roughly just under the speedo on that 40 dash. My F100 dash is also set close to flush against the cowl rail. I trimmed a lot of it back to make sure it wasn't in the way and also to remove all of the flame cut edges on the piece.

This earlier picture shows where the steering column is. I haven't drilled the new piece yet; I just got back on steering yesterday.

 

Do you have pics in a build thread I could look at? I'm fighting for room too. I just started on new seat risers to get my butt down an inch more.

Are you using swing pedals?

 

It was predigital era when I built the T. I don’t have pictures of much.
I used a speedway underfloor brake pedal assembly on the build. I had been in an accident right before I started building the car and broke both my ankles. I had to have them fused together so at that point I didn’t know if I could run a clutch so I pussed out and put an automatic in it.
I had the car at a shop getting some sheet metal work done when Tman here on the hamb post quite a few pictures. Maybe you could see if he could rustle some pictures up. It would have been around 2004-06.

 

Try going up on the seat height. I think you'll find it's makes a lot more room and puts you closer to the stock T ergonomics. A lot of guys try to sink their seat way in because they think it looks cooler but that's not how the T was built. You almost sit on top of it.
Look how high the steering wheel is in the stock car, that's where all your legroom comes from.

 

I appreciate what you're saying, but that would be a complete reversal of direction for this car and negate just about every design decision I've made so far. The main reason for the car being more than half a touring body is so I can sit inside, low and back instead of on top like stock. I have legroom enough since I've kept the transmission mostly out of the tub and under the floor, I just always want more! I have discovered that I need to add wedges to the cushions though to keep my legs from getting tired.

 

I know this will be an issue with my roadster. I too want to sit in it and not on it. I want to be behind a chopped windshield and under a chopped top. Im trying to use (adapt) stock pedals, steering column, box, and wheel. I haven't even gotten the body together enough to try to sit in it. Nor have I ever sat in a '25-'26 Chevy roadster.

 

As long as the back of your thighs have some support, you should do OK, as I understand it.

 

I will not channel the body to save inside space. The engine and tranny mounts will keep as much of that outside as I can but it's still small, about the size of a '26-'27 T.

 

Find a seat you think you might like to use and plop it on the floor. Put some padding on it and sit in it for a while until it becomes uncomfortable or you figure out it's not going to work or you can't do everything you need to do OR your butt hurts. Play around with different combinations of blocks under the seat and combinations of pads on the seat until you can sit in your car and reach everything without getting uncomfortable for at least a half hour. If you don't know what you want to run, just make something basic for mockup with some wood, or find an old chair you can cut up (or trash pick one!) and use that. I made my seats back on page 14 but I was looking at some chairs and bar stools at the local HomeGoods pretty hard before that.



I ended up figuring out that my seat cushion needed to be a wedge to support my legs more that way. Instead of making a new seat cushion, I just put blocks under it to get the front up 3" since the bottom of the cushions I made are just plywood (which I won't do again without a gel cushion base layer or a webbed cutout because 4" of foam isn't super comfortable on its own). Doing it like that saves me a lot of revisionary work on the seats, the cushions, and their mounts to the car that would push the yard drive date even further away.

You can kinda make out the gap between the cushion and the seat in this pic here. I've just got a couple scraps of wood under it for now:

 

I have a set of British seats, MG,Morris,TR?, that I'd like to use if I can make them work. There is also a small bench bottom with folding backs and a plan to make a set from a 30 gallon barrel. Lots of options. Need to get the body together.

 

Took some time out of the shop last week but got a day in Sunday. Popped some heavy rivets into the subframe to help stiffen things up. Started puting in the rivnuts for the passenger side seat frame too.

Most of the day though was spent making the new 1" seat risers to replace the 2" risers that I wasn't thrilled with. The inch drop seems like it will make a difference in the right direction. I also took the time to work on a better connector for the slider and start thinking about a more streamlined solution for the whole setup. I think now that this side is done, I'm going to weld some crossmembers to the risers to shore them up into a proper framework and transfer the bolt pattern to the other side.

As far as making the risers, this set went quite smoothly and I only screwed up one hole somehow but it was just an access hole so NBD.

 

Wish I had something to add that would be a help but you seem to have everything well covered. One hell of a job!

 

Past couple shop days dedicated building some extra inner structure for the body. Pleased enough in a 'close enough is good enough' way overall.



When I went to tie the back panel in, I discovered that I didn't have a uniform gap and corrected the old top bar placement. This didn't fix it, so my heart sunk a little because it meant my quarter panels were off somewhere and NOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE GOOD ENOUGH. So, I chased it all around with my tape measure and eventually found a quarter inch difference in the length of the panels the way I had joined them. I've called it an eighth over/under on each side here but it may be less invasive to pull the driver side in a quarter inch than to cut both sides that deep. Gonna have to sleep on that one a few nights.



Once I determined I couldn't do much about that at this point without making a decision and mucking up my loose schedule (I'll fix this when I put the body back down on the frame once I've finished the frame work probably in the next few weeks), I moved on to wrapping up the cowl, dash, and steering support structure. I added a piece from the top of the A pillar to the firewall and tied those supports into the dash rail I made with fasteners so I can still disassemble it if I ever need to.


That steering shaft ended up in an awkward spot too but I'm working to figure out a solution for that as well in another, even messier part of my shop.

Thanks! This makes me feel better because I'm usually telling myself I'm making a mess and doing a hack job out there.

 

...The Body Viagras stiffening things up nicely Pat...love the little gussets...you realize you can't cover them up...

 

LOL, Oh I am totally covering those bulk bag Speedway gussets. There will be plenty more elsewhere anyway!

 

What!! I thought those were from Pat's Metalworking Studio......well I certainly get the inspiration...

Great progress Pat...and just a reminder...



...That nose is hotter than Rudolph's...




...

Merry Ho Ho to you and yours...


​

 

My own 27 and a 29 I built for a friend. Both have 2 X 3 frames.

 

I've always liked that crude, possibly cardboard nose on that lakes car there. It is tempting to mock that up but I purged all my cardboard last week!

I really like the low stance on those and particularly like that high set turtle deck there.

Not much in the way of photo documentation I want to actually share today. Wednesday I was in the shop mostly doing prep work to pull the body and tinkering with the seats a little.

I did a test run hoisting the body off which went poorly because I did not really give enough thought to leveling the load. As soon as I did a test lift I immediately disappointed myself because I did not immediately succeed because I had not thought to use my leveler. Unfortunately my hoist chains are MIA so I am stuck for now until I get some. Good news is that neither I nor the car sustained any damage and I got the body plopped back down on the frame right where it belongs, which was a feat with how wild it went there for a minute. But I wanted to give it a whirl and I did. I know how not to do it for sure now.

Don't do this:


I am enjoying my present to myself so far too. I used some CC points and got that inexpensive fab table that Northern Tool carries. It got me to actually clean up my shop some to make room AND has already come in super handy for squaring and fixturing pieces. It isn't as nice as the more expensive units that have better squaring, leveling and bracing but for under $200 all in I am happy with it AND I can pick it up and move it by myself pretty easy.

I tacked in a piece of half inch angle to keep the seat bottoms from sagging and to give me something on tthe lip to catch the seat cushion base: