Thread: Step 1, then 2, then 3---hotrod progression

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I have decided that there is a great deal of logic in the advise I am being given about my steering column choice---start with the seat---Say what????? Yep, mock up the seat and know where you are going to plant your keester first. Then grab a steering wheel, hold it where I am comfortable, then yell for good wife to come on out here and help me with the tape measure. Of course, its obvious, isn't it. But first, I have to mock up a seat. In order to do that, I am going to have to get in and out of the roadster pickup 200 times with tape measure and plywood. That means I am going to have to take the car down off the 10" cement blocks which are under each wheel/tire to put it at a comfortable height while working on the hood/grillshell/radiator/electric fan. Now when I do that, it means I will probably be standing on the running boards a lot. The running boards are fiberglass, part of the fender package I bought, and I bought a set of those pressed steel running board supports to hold the running boards in place. Problem is, I weigh 1/8 of a ton, and I don't think the damn things will support me!!! This means that before I take the roadster pickup down off the cement blocks, I had better go down to the steelyard and buy some 2" x 1" x 1/8 wall rectangular tubing and build some serious running board supports and weld them to the frame. But---its Sunday, and everything is closed. Well, I think my real job in my design office is just about whipped for this year, untill next years budgets break lose after the new year starts, so now I can play Mister Hotrod Builder for the next few days.----Nobody ever said that building hotrods was simple. Merry Christmas

That's the fun part....

Yeap, its a regular daisy chain of events to get it done. One thing always seems to require three others to lead up to it.

Man ! it's fun tho!

Had to laugh because I had to do the same with the steering wheel bit but here I am holding the wheel by myself and trying to measure with the other hand when two old ladies look in that were trying to sell me some books. The look on there face when I had a steering wheel in one hand and a tap measure in the other was to good not to say something so I calmly said" it doesn't seem to steer right" as I passed the wheel to them. I had to go inside I was laughing so hard. Never did see them again. Wonder why?

Hehe After spending several hours taking apart an engine, I had a couple of people trying to get me to convert to their religion. Hmmm Greasy hands and people wearing white I was real friendly and shook their hands firmly.

Kinda stuck right now, I need to cut the old frame off my Nash, but the Nash needs extra support, but the block needs to be positioned before I can build a frame, but I need to see where I have to route my exhaust(already bought the headers, knew I shoulda waited), but I'm out of cash.

Originally posted by Tommycat
I need to see where I have to route my exhaust(already bought the headers, knew I shoulda waited), but I'm out of cash.

I ordered headers for the "Z" yesterday so I can build around 'em. All I need now is time to work on it.

I think the biggest thing that would help me would be a garage. I'm not talking one with a lift, and tremendous cost either(though that would be nice), I'm working in my front and back yards on typical Tucson, AZ landscape(aka pointy rocks). I would settle for solid floor. Hell even a concrete slab. Flat surface. ANYTHING but a friggin rock poking me in the middle of my spine.

And now my truck's AC compressor pulley siezed(serpentine belt). DAMMIT!

Yep I know what ya mean when your out of cash, but thats what nice about christmas. I always seem to get money from someone.

I can feel for you on not having a concrete slab to work on.

Say, Old Guy Hotrodder Brianrupnow, why not jus' get yerse'f a couple more 10" blocks and a plank o' wood to set by the car for the gettin' in an' out???? Sounds easier than takin' it down and then maybe settin' the thing back up on the blocks. And the steppin' up and down might be good exercise, too; I know it would be for me. I'm duckin', now.

Rrumbler---I could use the exercise too----Thing is, eventually I want to drive this sucker, and its a real pain loadin and unloadin those 10" blocks and planks to carry around with me for getting in and out. Seriously, I have known for some time that I was going to have to address the problem of these less than robust running board supports. I bought them new from a reputable "restoration" dealer, and l knew as soon as I opened the box they came in that they would bend under my weight. However, I was still in the early stages of my build, and wanted to get everything "fitted", so I used them anyway. It's not really a big deal---I will weld new stronger supports directly to the frame. This would probably not be approved of at the Oakland roadster show, but I drive the cars I build, and it would be damned embarassing to mount up in front of a bunch of admiring civilians, only to have the whole running board collapse underneath me.

I will eventually have the same problem Brian describes, but looking ahead I planned to weld some round bar stock into the undergroove of the pressed metal board brackets to stiffen them and make them more "solid". I was hoping to use just the stock holes in the frame (Brookville) without adding any further holes or welds on the frame. Here's another idea I would like some comment on, what if steel or aluminum diamond plate is used on the top of the board to spread out the load? It need not be rectangular in shape as for the stock running board but could have any of several shapes (larger than the usual aftermarket step plate) such as a teardrop, an elongated oval or even a cutout of flames. If such a plate spanned both brackets it should strengthen the running board but then the brackets need strength too so maybe the reinforcement with round rod might be sufficient??? What is the general experience with fiberglass running boards? Are they squirrely or strong enough for say 220 pounds?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Wescott carries a sheet metal 32 Ford seat riser.
I used one of these to build the seat on my 32 roadster and it looks like a good way to go for the seat in my 31 on 32 rails roadster.

Basics are, get the riser bolted in place, cut some 3/4" veneer plywood for a base and back. (Veneer for it's lack of voids, not to mention it's nice stuff to work with and not much more expensive than regular plywood.)

Find an old upholstered foam pad like you'd find in a chaise lounge and use those for temporary ergonomic setup.

Once you get to the upholstery stage, the upholstery guy will set the seat cushions and back up with foam of differing firmness'.
Be sure to make a rise at the front of the bottom cushion for proper leg support and set up the foam for lumbar support.

When you get this far along, you'll probably want to get the foam cut and cover it with beach towel or Mexican blanket and drive the car to see if the foam is set up the way you want.
I did this and we made some minor changes in the foam padding.

There are additional things you can do to make the seats more comfortable.
Some guys like to cut out the area under your buttski and staple webbing so an additional piece of firm foam can be inserted there for a little more cushioning and a little more seat drop.
I like to glue and through bolt with 10-24's two additional pieces of plywood under the buttski cutout.
The first piece is cut to match the hole in the main seat bottom plywood, the second piece is not cut out.
This allows an extra 1 1/2" of foam in the cutout well.

Here's a pic that doesn't show the riser real well, but you may be able to scale a piece under the plywood seat bottom that matches height-wise.
The riser tapers to about 1" high at the extreme rear.

As you can see, there's other uses for the riser than just holding up the seat.

Yep, mock up the seat and know where you are going to plant your keester first. Then grab a steering wheel, hold it where I am comfortable, then yell for good wife to come on out here and help me with the tape measure. Of course, its obvious, isn't it. But first, I have to mock up a seat.

Gotta start at the bottom I guess....

Hey Don---unless you plan on using plate 1/4" thick, or thicker, forget about it spreading the load. Plate has very little or no resistance to bending in the "flat". When I went down to the steel yard today, they had no rectangular tubing, but did have a whole bunch of 2" x 1" x 3/16" channel. I am using the channel to beef up the pressed steel runningboard supports, and I am going to weld one peice of channel between the front and rear supports with the toes pointed upward to straddle each side of the ridge that runs up the underside of my glass runningboards. This will definately have superb resistance to bending and will spread that load carrying capacity over the full length of the runningboard and tie it into the beefed up supports which carry back to the frame.-----as the old farmer said "Hell son, you'd be able to bull a cow up there ifn you could get the cow to stand".