Hot Rods The Belly Button Bucket Build Thread

All of that sounds pretty darn good to me!

Tonight I reworked the wire form - the main focus of the rework was to soften the radius to gain both floor space and aesthetics, but maintaining a flat top to make it easier to build a console at a later step.

I have been working off centerlines, trying to mirror left and right from center. Yesterday, I used my tubing bender for brake lines to make the bends, but today I devised a make-shift 3 1/4” radius using a hole saw clamped in my vise.

I marked the hole saw with a reference mark, then lined up my mark on the wire to start the bend, 3” from each end. My vise has a notch, which happened to work out great to hold the wire. After that, it was a matter of cut out previous wire, tack in new wire, and repeat. Once I had them all replaced and verified fit, i tied them all together, roughly 3” apart. Special thanks goes to my girlfriend who got a crash course in welding to help me weld a couple of the ones that required 3 hands.

I could definitely squish this form a little tighter to the trans in some areas, but not without compromising a uniform flat surface on top or symmetry left and right. I think this will work out rather well.

I think my next step will be to create a flange out of 1/8” MDF like I did on the rear crossmember cover, to give the fibergl*** something to stick to. After that, make a pattern, wrap it in tape, then lay up some fibergl***! I think that’s my plan anyway- we’ll see how it goes!

Pictures:

 

Not a ton of progress tonight but I did a lot of staring at the upcoming steps. I did manage to cut out the flange for the transmission tunnel.

 

Nice work, shame to cover that up!

 

I guess you could gl*** the underneath side & leave the frame on??

 

My dad had a similar idea when I sent a picture to him - I think if I'm careful, I can re-use the wire form on the 32 roadster project, because that has the same transmission and similar floor layout - seems like I could just change the height to get what I need for that application.

 

Tim, you have been going the extra mile on each part of the build, so please don't take this wrong.
Would a fine wire mesh cut and fit be more solid than tape to get the form? It could be covered in plastic sheet to keep from embedding it when the 'gl*** is laid up.

 

I was going to wrap the wire form in construction paper followed by packaging tape, or something similar, prior to laying up the fibergl***. I believe wire mesh could work as well. I'm not certain what method will be best, but I'll know more than I know right now this evening after some attempts are made! I watched a couple subwoofer enclosure videos where they wrap the box in felt, then gl*** over that. I don't think that would be easy for me to do due to the wire form, but it might help for a later project or two. This is all brand new to me, so I'm just winging it.

 

I spent the lunch break today wrapping the wire form in plastic - I first tried cardboard but that wasn’t gonna happen… I did my best but still had quite a few wrinkles using the plastic. Eventually, I s****ped that idea and wrapped the whole thing in packaging tape. It is reasonably smooth and rigid now, so I’m gonna stare at the wall for a few then go be brave and attempt a lay-up.

 

That's the ticket!
Are you cramped for footspace Tim?
You might consider sinking a heel pocket in there somewhere before you lay it up.

 

That looks interesting. I just hope that ratrodder and I can pull something off like that.

 

Well, I got it done. I *think* I can get by without a heel notch- we’ll see soon enough.

For the flange, I hot glued it to the wire form from the backside in a few places- my thinking there is it will be easy to remove the wire form once the fibergl*** is set up, but the hot glue will hold the flange during layup.



I then took some rough measurements of what seemed like the best way to section the lay-up- you can kinda see the pre-cut pieces staged here:



I did 2 layers matte, 1 cloth, 2 more layers matte, 1 more cloth, then 2 additional cloth layers in the bellhousing area to protect against a clutch explosion. Overall I’m pretty happy with the results.

1st layer:



3rd layer (first cloth):



and completed:



Once it’s set up I’ll fill/sand/repeat.

 

Wow, nothing like diving right into it Tim.
Again, nice work.

 

Nice! Guess I gotta git me some 1/4 inch rod...

 

Wow that looks really nice!

 

I used 1/8” and it seemed to work pretty good. I’ve seen others use TIG welding wire, too.

 

Looking good

 

Tim, could you add a bit of a curved flange to mirror the dash panel around the flat top?
I drew the loop, then decided the driver's side should be shorter to allow foot room, but this is the idea. I figure using a flexible foam tubing and more 'gl*** would be fairly easy.

 

I was up pretty late last night keeping the heater going in the garage to allow the resin to cure- brought it in this morning and popped it out of the wire form. Seems to have worked pretty good! Now for the fun part of sand/fill/repeat.

 

You're thinking a similar thought of what I am - I think toe boards are next in my future, then I'll move onto console/dash waterfall. I'm still in a fog on how it will look, but there will be a round, pronounced edge similar to my sub-dash, that flows down from dash and back to seat. I'm pulling inspiration from the late-30s Lincoln Zephyr dash, C2 Corvette and 60s era Mustang interiors.

Standby for some pictures.

 

Ok, cross your eyes, stare into the sun, and visualize a blend of the following images, and that's where my mind is at.

 

Good plan. I have a plan of something along this to.
But problaby i cant attach the dash to the console becouse of the shifter.

 

Nice work on the ****** hump! Made that look easy.

 

Got it trimmed out on lunch today- seems pretty good as-is. Might do a scuff and fill after I stare at it some more, but more or less gonna move onto toe boards now.

 

Wow!
You could sell them Tim.

 

Very impressive work Tim!

 

Thanks, but I don't think I can compete - Speedway sells theirs for like $75 - I bet I have at least half that in resin and matte/cloth. I do know how I could improve upon it when it comes time to make the one for the '32, though, so there's at least value in going through the motions.

 

I love my Wescott 32 roadster body but I can't say I love the transmission hump.

 

I’ve seen your work in some of the pictures you’ve posted- I know you could make a fantastic transmission cover.

 

Tonight I did some staring and scheming next steps, but I also fit the cover over the shifter and emergency brake.

 

Maybe I missed it but which pedals are you going with, the round ones in the last photo or the moons up a few posts?