In the old dry lakes roadster pictures, they sat real low…on a thin pad on the floor. With this setup, you can sit “ dry lakes low”, but be sitting on a nicely padded seat! Just have to plan the seating setup…at the very beginning of the build.
I've always liked this idea to reduce cramping, but it's not without some drawbacks. Without an x-member torsional rigidity is harder to achieve. How do you route the exhaust?
I would use 1x3 rect. tubing generously under the new floor pan, not only to support the floor and connect to hoops for the xmsn mount, tunnel, driveshaft protection, but to prevent your buns from being ripped off by big stuff you might not see lurking in the road - especially at the front where the floor and toe boards meet IOT protect your feet. Nice idea, though.
Here you go. Gives you an idea Hot Rods - The Unibody Roadster Dissected | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)
Heavier gauge mild steel sheet for the floor-seat pan/transmission mount-unibody crossmember/transmission-driveshaft tunnel. The exhaust could either run down inside the driveshaft tunnel or be side exhaust… or with a turbo, exit in front of the cockpit!
I was going to build the frame/floor of my T that way. Would love to get that RPU project back. Yes, I would use a thicker steel or two layers under the driver. It could look perfectly smooth , like a belly pan. The exhaust could run with the driveshaft. I think it’s the best thing for a low, open roadster. 100%
I like it. Never understood building flat floors on top of the frame rails then scrunching down to see out the chopped top. There's so many repop floor pans available, one if them has to be close enough to work - if a guy didn't want to fab a recessed floor.
Sitting low,can be good ,or bad if view is poor of road. Seating done with many test trys it, too see the fit in every way,. Is never a wasted time thing. So many rods get put together with poor fit=not going to be driven much,just not comfortable{ you can BS your self in to thinking "But it looks cool">,yet that goes away fast,if you can't see well,can't feel good. A Club I was in FBCG ,back in the 1950s,about car designing,had some great things to learn; This was for building models,but needed in real cars.
An opinion is that the driver should sit low enough that his/her shoulder is just below the door top. Of course, this is for a street driven car. In a Bonneville car, eyes on stalks are good so you can get your helmet below the cowl level.
You just have to make sure the front axle/ oil pan/ bell housing are low enough to catapult the floorboard and your buns over the obstacle in the road. Also the front of most seat pans are elevated enough to be able to run thick wall tube crossmember there.
Yes,that's the club,there were a lot tips in the booklets that helped with good design. Things that many, even now could benefit from.
A few minutes ago I backed my wife's roadster out of the garage to get another car out and her roadster's seat is out getting reupholstered. I just sat on the floor and I could see out ok but I was about chin high to the door, I think I would want at least 3 inches of seat beneath me. Her roadster is a 31 so it may be a little different but not much.
So many builders seem to give this issue zero thought until the car is pretty much finished. Shorter drivers like me at 5' 5" don't have much of a problem, but anybody that is much taller than me should do some serious pre-planning. Too many times I see cars that look great...until the driver gets in and totally spoils the lines of the car by sticking up too far. They look like they are sitting "on" the car instead of sitting "in" it. My personal "point of reference" is my collar bones, because the distance from there to the top of the driver's head is pretty much the same regardless of how tall he might be. My own preference is for the driver's shoulder blades to be the same height as the tops of the door sills. This is what looks best to me - and is achievable in most if not all cases. This position also provides plenty good vision out the front of the car which in my opinion is a very important aspect of seating. Recessing the floor will be necessary for really tall drivers, but many average size guys can solve the problem by cutting down the seat mounts or mounting the seats directly to the floor. High-density foam over a plywood frame may not be the most cushy but it will get you down low enough to be cool while still being tolerably comfortable. But...for taller guys who demand a really comfortabe seat this post is a great way to have both, but you'll have to plan ahead to make it happen. .
I remember the first time I seen a customer show up for a “fitting” we positioned pedals, seat and steering wheel for the car owner. He sat in different density foams for the seat. I guess we basically carved a seat to fit his butt. I’ve kinda always there was some wasted space under the floors of some builds.
^^^^^^^ Sometimes the planning is (far more) than the seat(s) and floorpan. The line of sight (or lack of) of the steering gear/shaft, rod end mounts/joints, headers, type of column/mount, not to mention motor mount location/design play the larger role. I too wanted to have a lower seated position in my roadster, making tapered mounts for these suspension style buckets that had minimal construction and padding allowed the seats to sort of "tuck" under the tulip panel l built the steering column and used multiple joints, this enabled the first joint to be inside the cabin area with only the 3/4" shaft passing through the firewall, much more flexibility this way when dealing with engine header tube clearance, also used a quick release steering wheel hub. No tilt columns in this car!
He is one of the Moderators and a hell of a nice guy. Top notch fabricator as well. Follow this link I had posted above. Hot Rods - The Unibody Roadster Dissected | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)
Yeah sit low so when you hang your arm out to look cool your elbow is pointing up and you look like a dork. IMO.
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