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Ok after some good advice here I have decided to keep working on my car project. How do I go about mounting the steering column? I have a Bebop body and it didn't come with any bars across the front area where the column would mount to. Any ideas and pictures of how others may have mounted the steering column would be greatly appreciated.
Since your past the mock up stage where you would normally plan for this (you know this now) and you have a 5 window you should be able to fabricate a bar that the hinge bolts go through and add a cross bar which can be welded to them, that way the cross bar which was a piece of angle that I used is removable and is held from both sides, I did that on a 32 roadster and it worked well
I did the same as Matt above. I used small square tube with pieces of angle on the ends to bolt to door frame.
You could glass a piece of flat stock in that area, and do the same. Here is a link to my build log:
http://www.clubhotrod.com/hot-rod-bu...del-coupe.html
Look at posts 115, 122, 123, 215, and 221 for some pics of mine.
Good luck, Rich
I'd offer one comment to what Matt & Rich advised. Temporarily install your dash panel as you pick the spot to bolt in that tube, just to be sure that it's not exposed once you've got the column where it fits your needs. Once you have the mounting spots marked, you can set the dash panel aside and fix the tube in place.
the 3 posts above this say it plain. And look at those posts (links above) they'll help a bunch.
Lets see if this works. Under my dash is 1" square tube that is bolted to the frame at the bottom and to the 2" steel angles that support the door latch pins. The lower cross tube bolts to the vertical 2" angles with a single bolt at each end that allows the tube to rotate to match the lower edge of the dash. A support for the steering column drop mount is also welded to this cross tube.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/155311...57694691139654
I did do as Roger advised, I did also add a piece of flat to the horizontal tube so all my switches are pointing down, including my key switch that way my dash panel looked clean which I really like, however if you do that I would advise getting a Ron Francis key switch where the keys are cut on both sides of the blank, like more modern cars. The switch I used on the roadster is like most aftermarket key switches (tractor generally) that only have one side of the key cut. With the switch pointing down you never can see which way that dang key has to go in and have to turn it around a bunch and the double sided key cures that, other than that the rest of the switches (wiper & headlight) pointing down are no big deal.
Once you begin mocking up the angles of the steering column, you will find that if the column centerline points to your chin with you in driving position, you will have the most comforting driving angle to the steering wheel.
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Thanks for all the advice and ideas, I think I have a pretty good idea how to move forward now.
Donnie-
I just stumbled across this thread; sorry I'm late to the game. If you're still hosting this thread then we have something in common - a Bebops body. Did you get your steering column mounted? I just did mine a short time ago. You can look at it on my thread here on Club Hotrod: Another Build Thread - My '32
There is steel square tubing structure up under your dash panel. Take the two bottom screws out of the dash and remove it. On mine I bought a Borgeson 7 inch column drop. I made a plate from some 1/8 inch steel, drilled it, and welded it to the square tubing. Check it out on my build thread.