I got my steering column and steering wheel and an acceptable position - it would be better if the steering wheel was closer to me, but then it would be difficult to get in and out of the car, but height wise, it's pretty good. The dilemma I have is lack of room to the right of the steering column for the gas pedal and brake pedal. I'd rather not m***age the hole in the firewall, it's a nice ellipse - but if moving it up or to the left gives me more room for the pedal, so be it. There's not a whole lot of room to the left of the steering column from my left foot though - so about a half inch is all I can move it. Right now, I followed another guy on the HAMB's lead and located the centerline of the steering column 10 and 1/4 in from the center of the firewall. I stuck the gas pedal to the firewall with a magnet for reference - I'm just not sure it's okay for it to be over on top of the transmission tunnel like that - might not have any other choice. Having not much experience with 1932 Fords, I'm not sure how it's supposed to feel sitting in one and driving it - I think the steering wheel and steering column are in a decent position, but there may be a better option - I'm looking to guys who have experience with this to help me out if you can offer any suggestions. Pictures of other HAMBers foot box/pedals would be well appreciated reference!
Looks like comparatively, your column is biased further to the left than mine. Can you rest your left foot to the left of the column?
Go look at & measure a stock '32 . Make yours as much like that as you can . Works every time . Also , I like to raise the toe board somewhere in the 2 inch range , ( using a spacer on the stock ramp on the firewall ) . That helps with the brake / throttle pedal layout & the trans hump .
Sorry, please explain "raise the toe board 2 in". Do you mean the angled part that goes between the horizontal floor and the vertical firewall? Do you mean raise that up parallel to itself by 2 in or bend more where it meets the flat floor? I'm 6'6" and I'm already a little cramped in there - I'm thinking that moving that angled portion by 2 inboard is a bad idea for me - do you mean move that angled portion towards the engine? Thanks
6'6" in a '32 is gonna be a challenge, no matter what you do! People were just smaller back in the day, hence narrow cars. I'm only 5'8" and the roadster is a whopping 42" wide at it's widest point. As far as the gas pedal over the trans tunnel....not an issue. I just made a flat spot on the tunnel to rest my heel. It's actually fairly comfortable. The main thing is, however you set it up.....you want to be comfortable! No fun driving your car if you're torqued into painful positions! As far as steering columns, what worked for me was U-joints. I was able to raise the column so it exited through the firewall much higher which laid the steering wheel down more towards my lap. I used a box, column and a couple of intermediate shafts, cut and modified along with the U-joints from an '86 Suzuki Samurai. Steers easily, even with the tiny steering wheel and it's very comfortable.
You don't have a clutch pedal to worry about, why are you complaining? You can sneak your column to the left at the bottom at least a half inch and nobody in the world will ever notice. If you need to re-cut the hole in the firewall, it's only metal. Then you can have that room to move the gas pedal down the slope. But not too much. I have a stock pedaled 32, and could drive it all day except for the s**** pedal. Not having a trans hump to rest the side of my foot on makes the s**** pedal hard for me to take for more than an hour. I have a stock 32 foot rest pad, but even with that it only goes so far. You, with the side of the big hump over that auto, will have a perfect place to rest the side of your right foot.
The " Toe board " is the angled part of the floor that goes from the flat part of the floor, angling up to the firewall . Never change that angle, that is the natural angle that gives the most comfort for your feet & ankles . Picture a parallel spacer on top of the " ramp " on the stock firewall. That will space the toe board away from the trans somewhat . Going from side to side that will give a flatter toe board . This creates a much better area to get the pedal ergonomics more comfortable . You will probably never notice the " loss " of foot room , with the pedals being more comfortable . I've been doing then this wat for over 40 years .
I think I see - because the transmission is tapered smaller towards the rear and the whole car is tapered larger towards the rear, by pulling the toe board toward you by about 2 in, the width measurement in the attached photo will increase? Do I add another layer of sheet metal (like a false floor), or do I cut the firewall & floorboard to remove the existing toe board, replacing it with the new 2" spaced one?
When I look at the photos of your foot position, and the mocked up pedal, I think this looks fine with the benefit of being able to rest against the tunnel, (as mentioned by alchemy). My bigger worry would be positioning the brake pedal and being able to move from the gas to brake naturally, and without kicking the column.
Remember, you need pedals in place to mock this, your feet will not be resting on the toe board because the pedals stand out from it.
The brake pedal will come through the floor - the master cylinder is underneath the floor. I think there is pictures of the pedal ***embly without the toe board in on my build thread. I have one of those late 30s brake pedal pads with the concentric rubber circles
Good point, the brake pedal is arm somewhat pliable - I offset it to the right quite far when I had this chance he built into a coupe 20 years ago. I think it's too far to the right right now - was kind of waiting for the final resting place of the steering column before I fixed that incorrect offset. The point though about the brake pedal being proud of the floor is quite pertinent. Now I realize why I had a three-quarter inch spacer between the gas pedal pivot bracket & the firewall - to bring the gas pedal out so that it wasn't such a big step in height over to the brake pedal. I'm going to pull the floorboard and toe board out today and try to figure out the brake pedal situation based on where the steering column is right now - knowing I have some leeway to take a few of the other guys suggestions and move the steering column up a half inch and over to the left a half inch Thanks
Very nice work . Im concerned about the size of your steering wheel, i use to run 14-15” wheels , now at 65 years old Im changing to 17” wheels to help making the steering a little easier. I have no Idea as to your age or strength, but it is something to consider. You dont want your knuckles hitting while turning !
This is one of the column I made for a 32, With stock 32 drop & I made a .500 spacer between dash & drop . Tube Od 1.500 chromoly With a reducer From 2.500 od @ steering wheel with a 1.500 ID to steering tube with a Strange Quick release witch is little over 1/8 bigger then the 2.500 . There is a Sealed roller bearings pressed in each end with 3/4 threw hole & outside C clip on steering box side. I used a 70ish Corvette steering wheel , with thought any steering wheel could be adopted.
50 and thank God, still going strong. I get where you're coming from regarding the steering wheel diameter, but at 6'6", anything larger diameter than 15 in causes major issues with my knees and ingress/egress.
Here is a photo of the pedals in my 32 coupe, the brake pivot arm is 9 1/4" from car centerline. I offset the arm to the left 1/2" to clear the bellhousing, this puts the brake pedal pad at 9" from center. I have the throttle pedal temporarily mounted close to where it will be. The next photos show how I will be operating the pedals. You can see that I rest my heels on the flat part of the floor for the brake and throttle.
Man, your tunnel is pretty... Excellent info, much appreciated...I think mine will end-up very similar. I think it's time to make the trans tunnel before doing anything further with the pedals/column - lock that down first. I foresee moving the steering column hole in the firewall 1/2" up and 1/2" to the left. I agree with a previous post on here that an offset of 1/2"from dash to firewall will not be noticeable as "column not being square to car"
First I would make a temporary seat. Then I would sit in it and see where your feet naturally want to be and make some metal patterns of where that is. The patterns don't have to be fancy, just a flat piece to sit on the floorboard and an angled piece to represent the pedal. Use a piece of thin metal so you can bend them if needed. Now you can tell if raising/lowering/tilting your seat will help any. Also consider where your steering wheel is and how it feels to you. Get the seat and steering to best condition for you, then adjust where the pedal patterns feel comfortable to your feet. Now you know where you would like for everything to be. Then see if thats possible or how close you can get. Don't adjust yourself to everything, try to adjust everything else to you. Two other comments. Some people put quick attach steering wheels in their cars when they need more room to get in/out. The second suggestion I will send to you directly sine it isn't Hamb friendly.
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