T-bucket steering

I am working on building a fibergl*** t-bucket... and not sure how to mount my steering column. How do i mount the column drop to the fibergl*** body? With a steel body i could just weld a bracket under the dash.... I'm lost on what to do with the gl***. Do I bolt a bracket to the firewall or dash?

Thanks

 

What about building a cage that ties into the frame that loops around the cowl. That way you would add some more rigidity and be able to mount the steering column.

 

I thought about that. But then it would be difficult to remove the body in the future... I plan to just primer it for now,but in the future paint it...

 

i did one with a corvair box and made a frame under the cowl that bolted to the windshield mounts and another brackets that went down and bolted to the frame. made the body really stiff and took any flex out of the windshield.

 

***uming this a typical 23-25 style bucket, we always add a reinforcement bar under the cowl tucked up in the flat part of the cowl behind the and above the dash.
Either formed and sanded to fit oak/ash, or even just a piece of heavy wall conduit.
Bed it in either filler or gl*** it in AFTER making sure the cowl is straight and flat across the top.
Fit the windshield posts to the body, and add a plate inside the cowl where they bolt through. More on windshield mounting at "nationaltbucket***ociation.com" under Technical section.

For your steering support brace, run a simple thick plate or tube, flanged at the bottom and bolted to the floor up to the bottom of the dash, then a crossbar of tubing across at the bottom and behind the dash. Add a gusset at the joint between the uprights and the crosstube.
Fab and make up your drop and you're good to go.

 

mine goes thru the firewall. A flange welded to the bottom of the column and backed up by a plate on the engine side. There is no upper support.
Firewall is 3/4 plywood covered in fibergl***. very sturdy.

 

What is the cage was Bolted to the top of the frame and the floor was notched to fit around it. That way the body could come right off after the "hoop" was unbolted.

 

I am going to do mine similiar to what gas pumper did. I will also be gl***ing in a piece of ply behind the instrument panel. A few years ago i photo copied a article from one of the magazines on a T bucket build and that is what they did. Then they made a plate that attached the the firewall and instrument panel plywood then hung a steering wheel bracket of that... if I am remembering correctly, I don't have the article here at work. I could scan it to PDF and email it to you if you wanted. Wouldn't be tell monday now though.

 

I put a piece of 1x2 to the side of the body with duraglas and then put 3 layers of gl***/resin over it. Before I put the 1x2 on the body I put some T-nuts on the inside of the 1x2 so that the bolts for the cross piece had some metal to grip. Used 1" square tubing to make the cross piece. I used the cheap universal floor mount where the column goes through the body



The cross piece is behind and at the bottom of the dashboard.

I used the cheap universal floor mount where the column goes through the body. Reversed Corvair box mounted above the frame


Bill