Hot Rods The Belly Button Bucket Build Thread

good stuff as usual! I somehow have missed your updates for this year (sub'd now, won't happen again) and I love the stuff you've gotten done.

I think the lower console will be handy, but I don't love the idea of having to move your foot around the upright piece. do you have a photo with you sitting in it with the console?

I had to forgo any console cause my motor is much higher in-car than yours, but If you can fit it, and be comfy, I don't see a problem. just make sure you leave room to make quick transitions from gas to brake, and to two-pedal it if necessary.

also, how the hell do you have 14 switches?!?!
I have 6, if you count the horn button and the key, so I'm just curious.

before you solidify any switch placement, think of when you will use it, and plan its placement accordingly,

I can't reach my dash easily while driving, so all my important switches (the ones needed while driving) went under my seat in the riser. it works pretty handy.

 

I put the cupholders below the seats so I can use that area between the seats as a console and armrest, but you may be right on carrying the center console up through the seat back. I need to make a better mock up of that, that doesn't bend out of the way when I get in the car to test it out lol.

You are correct! I'll hopefully be working in the throttle pedal area soon, once more of the space has been defined. BTW, I loved your build thread on that car. I followed it from day one. Awesome proportions. I have a pair of 32 rails laying around with no purpose, and I keep thinking... hmmm T roadster body, turtle deck, track nose... But I have wayyyyyyy too many projects (house stuff) before that can be a reality. I do love that car you built though. That reminds me I need to revisit what you did to get a full hood!

I'll definitely need to tweak the bend in the brake pedal. Beyond that is unknown for now, but I'll post when I get there.

 

I will say i'm glad I didn't fill the spot between my seat backs, as my elbow goes back there quite naturally.

 

Thank you. I'll get some pictures of my feet snuggled in there next time I have the forethought to do so lol. I should have taken a picture last night while I was posting the update sitting in the car. You're dead on the money as far as switch placement and planned frequency of use goes. I've spent a lot of time agonizing over all that lol. I'm making mental progress, but a lot of physical work is in my future to pull it off. A large part of the battle was finding switches compatible with the knobs/bezels I want to use. To further expose a glimpse into my madness, the 14 switches/controls are as follows, but not set in stone:
1. Main Power (On/Off)
2. Ignition (Pull On for Ignition, Pull and hold for start)
3. Park/Low/High Beams (Off/Park/Low/High)
4. Turn Signals, which I need to find where I found this switch, but it is a turn (twist the knob) left or right selector switch, with middle position being off.
5. Hazards (Push/Pull On/Off)
6. Horn (Momentary Switch)
7. Driver Heated Seat (Off/Low/High)
8. Passenger Heated Seat (Off/Low/High)
9. 12V Accessory (cigarette lighter - will be used as a phone charger but could also be used to plug in a 12v air compressor or something like that)
10. Climate Control Fan (Off/Low/High)
11. Heater Control Valve (Optimistically gonna try to control this with a knob in the dash...)
12. Cooler Control Valve (Optimistically gonna try to control this with a knob in the dash...)
13. Cooler Pump (On/Off)
14. Carburetor Choke (Push/Pull knob)

 

Hey, Timm;
Something else to consider, is start-sw/key placement. Assuming you're not going w/a magnetic/electronic hidden-button or somesuch(like could've been imagineered on the late 50's->early 60's show cars/rods to wow the public), I would put it 'twixt the seats & in front of the cupholders, in that little open triangluar area. It's out of the way & unobtrusive. After owning SAABs for 20 yrs as DDs, I've found a console-mounted start-sw to be very friendly. It started out as a safety-location for crash-damage-minimization(well, lessening anyways) to knees & hands areas. Became so popular that when gm bought SAAB, they had to incorporate the s-sw location in each new gm-designed-SAAB - at the cost of ~$40.00USD per car. .
Also don't know how far back towards the firewall the Moon-pads go when pushed near the stops, but maybe if you need a bit of foot maneuvering room, the pedal stalks could be curves, sorta like a " ) ". It might give you a little more room for the ball of the foot to operate for heel-toe'ing. . & the curved clutch pedal stalk could give a couple inches of room for the left foot to rest. As usual, placement is everything, & it's different for literally every body. Chip covered a lot of this in his Ugly Buckets thread. Your build is very nice & detailed.
Marcus...

Guess you can ignore most of this, as I didn't see what you were typing while I was typing.

 

Wow Tim, that's a lot of "creature comforts", did you take a left turn at KISS.
You may have to get creative on switch locations.
This is my main switch box.


I told my wife, no heat, no a/c, no whining, but I did need to include one luxury though, seat heaters, switches are on the seat mounts.

 

AWESOME job on that!!!

 

Tonight I re-bent a fresh 3/8” aluminum rod for the waterfall. I found that making a template of dash width, floor shifter console width, and centerline distance really helped get it closer to being right. If I cheat the dash CL about 1/8” towards the passenger side, everything lines up. I think it’s close enough to proceed forward with building toe boards and the panels from waterfall to firewall, with a reverse speed blister for my foot on the driver side.

 

Hey, Timm;
Foot position looks very comfortable, but also appears to be an issue for quick-reaction from Excillerator pedal to brake pedal. Unless there's more room to the rhs of your rt foot, that I'm not seeing. Nothing like proving physics wrong... . This is interesting...
Marcus...

 

nrg, per the Saab switch, I always thought that it was a gimmick and the big thing for them and especially in a t roadster is that having a mechanical and electrical switch facing vertically with a flat area or even worse dished around it meant that any debris and water will end up funneled into it.
Also, as we age, we often get more 'set' in our ways, so while that may work for you with your DD being in the same location, it might be weird and different for Tim and others who never reach down in the middle to shut things off.

Tim, the left side of that waterfall looks kind of close to right leg movement.

Also, would a drink mount between the legs in the floor work? Is this area used to step in and out?

Sitting here, any wheel position much past the knees seems to be a bit of a reach. You say it's good, so I'm sure it is all worked out for you.
EDIT: Hmmm.


But the switches falling close to the ankle!?! Had a rental car once that required a lean forward to operate any and all dash controls. It ended up being very uncomfortable. Hard to have light, airy look and stuff still within reach in a T...
Thoughts...
Turn signal on left inside of body, inline with wheel? I'd look at the motorcycle style where it is slide direction, push off.
Main power cut outside the bucket? Back under like NHRA?
Choke being a lever tucked between shifter and brake handle?
4 HVAC switches grouped (top or bottom of waterfall?)
Seat heaters in seat base
lighter tucked up under the corner of the dash, with a phone pocket in the kick panel? How often are you planning on using phone to navigate? EDIT: Mount at center bottom of windshield?
Ignition and lights level with top of shifter in center of waterfall. Common use, has feel indicating location.

EDIT, I like being able to operate both choke and ignition at the same time (2 hands), so maybe start on left side...

 

1: what is the cooler your controlling?

2: @BigJoeArt elbow does go between the seats, that’s one of the reasons I put my arm around his back like I was being sly at the movies when we went for a ride lol. Run out of room fast in a car that size! Still wish I had a photo of us. Pulling in the parts store parking lot seeing us reflected in the windows beards in the breeze was hilarious

 

It still needs some fine tuning, but it is workable now. I will wait until toe boards and waterfall exist in space before I sort out pedals. There’s a lot of room to cheat the pedals around when you start thinking about it, but to me it’s pointless to do it until I know how much space I have to work with. I’m not done yet! Lots of work left to do!

 

The seat heater controls, 12v accessory, and cup holders have a home - as for the remaining switches, I have a better understanding of what to do with them after sitting in the car last night. It’s just gonna take time to get them all in there. As a personal preference, I like having my arm stretched out when I drive, and when the car is topless, using the body lip as an armrest is really comfortable. Lots to sort out still, but I feel comfortable moving on from what already exists in the car to building the things that do not exist yet.

 

I hesitated to post that, but for now let’s leave this a mystery as it is deeper into my madness than I care to display on a public forum at this time lol. I want to build a mock up and prove functionality before I post anything on that.

 

Tim, just take everything I mention with a grain of salt. I still don't know how the heck you fit in there with all that room. As you can see, I'm built different!

Dang, you said earlier you are 6'2". Guess packaging is what you do well, along with everything else!

 

Love the selfie!

 

After I thought I had it all figured out, I went back and beat a flat spot into the trans hump for my heel to rest on, otherwise it would have been miserable to drive very far. My longest single session road trip in it was Austin TX to Des Moines IA, 950 miles give or take, only stopping for fill ups and drainage.

 

Hey, RSR n Timm;
SAAB-sw location was just a comment to think about. Mine is a ragtop, but it wouldn't get soaked like a T can. SAAB did a number of things, that seemed rather->quite odd, until you found out the reason for the engineering applications/implementation. Then it made sense, & although it felt different/odd at 1st, became 2nd nature *very* quickly. They were very safety & ergonomic orientated. Of course, not *everything* they did was/is golden... .
RSR, maybe Tim's gonna have cooled seats + drink-coolers. .
Marcus...

 

Here's my solution to the switch issue. What you see is the steering column out of an Austin Mini. Why? You ask...

1, I had a spare one. Hey it's always a good idea with British cars to have spares.
2, it has the dimmer switch, the horn button (of sorts), self cancelling directionals, and the ignition switch all in that black lump under the steering wheel. So the only switches I'll need will be wipers, lights (on-off), and a master power kill.

And I have 4 or 5 spare guts. Lucas electricals, don't you know...

 

It will be a bit before I’m sorting out remaining switches and controls locations, but today I wanted to start on toe boards. It’s a tit bit nipply out in the garage, so I came in for a break, but here’s what I managed so far:

Trans tunnel mounted to firewall brace- this way I can work outside of the car and not be bent over all day. I do that enough during the week at my job in exchange for money, so you know, gotta save the goods so the money keeps comin’.





Once that was handled, I used a couple speed squares to make patterns for the toe boards, which turned out well. I’ve previously spent several evenings with the speed square under my feet sitting in the car- that’s the angle and size needed to get the party started.







I then transferred everything into the car- the fit is about 95% good, but I need to thaw out before I do the final trimming. Will probably post the second part late tonight.

 

Got them fitting pretty good. I think the next task will be the waterfall panels.

 

Extra points for three pedals..........eventually!

 

And hide almost all of the hard work on the tunnel?

 

The toe boards will be some more hard work, if that helps lol, and they will hide more than the tunnel if I play my cards right.

 

Where are you going to find a HVAC in a triangle shape?
Sure hope you aren't going to pull a modern touch and put a bunch of electrical components and connectors in the bottom of a bucket!

 

Those toeboards look large enough to work as a small storage area, at least on the pass side. Better than wasting space.
On the mystery-cooling, yrs ago there were small refrigs/freezers for mini-rv use, that used chips that froze when 12v(5v?) was applied. Haven't heard of them lately. This is getting good.
Marcus...

 

he's not going to hint anything again if we keep guessing right

https://www.amazon.com/TEC1-12706-H...f5-8383-41583eba6d1f&pd_rd_i=B01IUVSSHW&psc=1

 

HA! That's half the fun, keep the troops guessing...
Nice find. Thanks.
Marcus...

 

Hey, that’s some prime real estate under there!

 

Spent the day making patterns for the dash waterfall. Hard to get I picture with my feet in there cause I was holding them a couple inches off the floor so I wouldn’t wreck the toe board patterns. I feel comfortable in saying this will work, so I’m gonna move onto the next thing. Lots to do still, but starting to look like what I have in my head.