Hot Rods The Belly Button Bucket Build Thread

Tim, what are you planning for under dash heater outlets?
These are 54(ish) Chevy truck defroster ducts/manifolds, pretty compact.

 

I’ll be using whatever fits the space available lol. I did just order a couple of vents similar to that from Old Air Products - they are plastic so it will be easier to work with/blend into fiberglass that way.

 

VW air cooled heater tubes come in black. might be an option for your tubing instead of the all aluminum stuff...

 

Some years back an acquaintance spent some big money for heated seats , said it was ok around town but out on the highway , not so much. Fella in Green Bay Wi installed a heater ( hot water) & side curtains that opened with his door , had to run defroster ducts but he drove it year round .

 

Thanks for the info. I believe I will scuff and shoot the tubing black once all the bending and flaring is complete.

Also, good info on the heater, heated seats, defrost, and side curtains, as all of that is in my foreseeable future.

After staring at the heater box last night and after running hot water through the heater core, I believe a revision is in order to reduce its size, as well as redirect the ductwork. Fairly foggy view of what is needed, but hopefully once I get going it will become a clearer picture.

Basically, the heat transfer from the heater core on its sides is not significant, so I can shrink the box size. Also, after sticking the unit under the dash, I could see better routing options of the ductwork. I'd like to be able to control airflow routing to defrost, dash, and floor vents independently, which will be a challenge for me, but worth the effort. It looks as though if I can squeeze this into a central dash location (behind waterfall), I could control the ducting from the waterfall via cables to individual duct ports right out of the box (initially I was thinking it would be easier to route to driver/passenger, then have the controls on each end, but I don't like that idea now that I've considered solo trips). Again, extremely foggy view at this point, but that's the general idea.

 

Hey, Tim;
On the htr fan vs the core vs the box, the only thing really necessary is the sealing of the area under the core "frame" & the htr outlet. & then any openings in htr box itself. Other sealing & for air directional control is just nice for efficiency.
W/o going thru this whole thread again, would the htr fit in the pass toeboard area? Air inlet might require some thought, could be inside or outside. The 2"(or continue using the 1 3/4") pvc tubing could be run up alongside the firewall & body corner, if the wiper motor assmbly hasn't hogged all the real-estate. Connection(s) could be real close to the htr-box outlets, sealed w/a 2-layer wrap of alum hvac tape. Tubing could be glassed to the body & a small metal covering could be used to also hide wiring that could travel along the tubing. The tube could go to a distribution box & split from there, or could use Ys(probably homemade, instead of Ts) & flaps(or a round a/c-dash-vent ball in the tube w/ 90* rotation) for the path you want to seal off, or open. Toe board would have to be removable.
After all this, the dash underside & firewall inside is going to be near solid w/stuff. . Pack n stack, = 4-dimensional Tetris. .
As far as corrugated tubing goes, as someone mentioned, the acvw paper/foil flex shroud htr tubes have pretty small inside ridges. & probably spould have a coating of glass over them after you get them in proper place, since they do dent easily. But good idea.
Marcus...

 

There are numerous electric heaters as well .

 

Tim, saw that you made it to the show. Still thinking it is a possibility?

 

I think so. The show has everything from kinda rough drivers to extremely nice show cars, so I’ll fit in there in the middle somewhere.

 

Ok time for an update. I decided to completely re-make the heater box. Smaller size and controls at the box were the main goals. Fast forward several million hours and this is where I’m at.

I made 3 ports - two single outlets and one dual outlet (the dual outlet will supply air to the floor vents), and the other two single outlets will split downstream for the dash vents and defrost vents. None of that is figured out yet.

The fan I was using was whisper quiet but could have used some more oomph so I bought the 3,000rpm version in the same size (old one was 2,000rpm). This is much better and relatively quiet.

I basically used the same construction methods as previous but made it smaller, then rattle canned it black, then carefully fit the throttle shafts/butterflies and spot welded them in. Overall I’m extremely happy with how it turned out. I imagine there will be some tweaking here and there but this should give me something to work with.

The downstream vents will be fed via accordion piping that zip ties to these outlet ports around these little clips that I don’t have installed in the photos. Speaking of photos, here they are, with a bonus video (video makes the fan sound like a tornado but keep in mind this is a server fan for a computer, so it’s pretty quiet):

 

Fancy! With the car running you’ll never hear that fan. Good work man

 

Cripes Tim, I thought the first iteration was neat but that's over-the-top cool!
I'm thinking that would sell though it is obviously labor intensive.
You might have a future yet!

 

Awesome!

 

@Tim_with_a_T , it's been almost a month. Either you've had life happen, done 3 more iterations and are still not ready to share, some of us annoyed you and now you won't share any more, or you have put in your application to the 2025 Portland show and must remain mum.

 

More life happening than progress right now. On a work trip currently, when I get home I gotta finish putting up a fence, then I should be back on the T. I’ve had a few iterations going on in the background, unsuccessful and not worthy of a post. Fingers crossed the fence goes up quick!

 

I've lost the steam it takes for projects like building a fence myself but I need a new one. I've been on the lookout for different styles when I'm out and about, you can learn a lot. Specifically what not to do.
I thought I had gotten rid of a nosy neighbor (renters), I should say his visitors, got a new one again and I'm thinking a taller fence might be in order.

 

A good fence is worth its weight in gold.

 

Good fences make good neighbors! Say it with a down east twang... from Maine

 

That is a cool looking fence. HAHA

 

Glad to see you kept the fence as simple as everything else you get into lol

 

Guess you have been pricing materials!

 

I wasn't able to do what I wanted in the front yard due to cost of materials, so I had to improvise. Same sorta concept but I just tweaked the idea to fit what was pre-cut/readily available at HD (much cheaper than any other way I penciled it out). But for the back yard, I'd like some more privacy so I guess I'm just dumping out the wallet and hoping there's enough.

 

Fence is done. I probably need a full week of mess cleaning before I’m back on the T, but I should be back soon. I’ve had quite awhile to think up what to tackle next.

 

I have an unsightly coach size RV next door I'd like to block out too.
Nice fence, looking forward to seeing more progress on the T roadster.

 

Or you could just move ....out in the country........with no neighbors to complain about ....... blocking your view ....

 

Yeah, not complaining, mostly acknowledging Tims' neighbors mossy RV and that I can relate.
As far as the country goes, around here, everything within twenty miles of me that was "country" is now no longer that.
For the most part I've lived in this house for near 70 years, most all of my high school pals that moved out in the country now are surrounded by developments.
Sorry for the segue Tim.

 

Time for an update, although it’s a small one. Behind the scenes I’ve been scheming/buying/mocking up various things, but nothing picture worthy yet.

When I left off on the dash last, I had hit several roadblocks I didn’t know how to solve without cutting the existing dash out of the car. After thinking about it for a couple months now, I still think that needs to happen. I’m not brave enough to take that on yet, so I took inventory of how many fiberglass remnants I have laid up, and decided I have enough straight length sections to tackle the next job. I just needed to make a couple curved sections.

Off camera last winter, I had mocked up an extremely rough sub-dash out of cardboard and wire form- this next bit will be exploring that idea. More or less, the process will be - fabricate sub-dash in two sections (left and right), roughly test fit in car, become brave, cut out existing dash, correct the 1/2” off center issue, add defrost vents, glass existing dash back in, final fit sub-dash, re-work the switch pods and dash waterfall… oh hurray I cannot wait…

Picture of curved panel layup:

 

Curious how much strength is lost having the dash separate. Wondering if a flange could be fabricated to allow removal as needed and firm the area some. An eighth inch board creating a lip and holding inserts? Just spitballing.
post 677 has you 'glassing in the dash,

679 has the steering column mount attached to the base of the dash.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...et-build-thread.1000590/page-23#post-14410836
I'd guess the windshield posts and base of the frame hold the top of the dash and cowl fairly well. That flange on each end could also hide dash fasteners, if desired. Another support at the base of the dash side to side would strengthen the column mount and allow attaching bottom of dash. You also mentioned extremely tight fit for the wipers. If the dash moved back another eighth or quarter inch, would that help? Better to do that before the center part that meets up is finalized.
Yes, another 2 pounds in an already full bag.

 

^MAYBE a possibility, but a lot of moving parts there

 

The curved pieces I laid up last night were still a little gummy, so I decided to work on making the windshield posts fit better. I saw in an old article to basically squish fiberglass filler between the post and body to get a nice form fit, so that’s what I did. It came out pretty decent: