"Black Dahlia"

[tfeverfred]

I scored my supplies to do the seat base and will be doing a "mid-night ramble". That's me, my car and classic rock & roll. I'll try to take pics as I go.

 

[tfeverfred]

Finished the seat base and checked for fit.

 

[tfeverfred]

So far, I'm very pleased with how things are looking. The seat, when I sit on it, is very comfortable. The webbing is still a bit tight, but it'll get better and lower with use. The rear of my seat isn't as low as I wanted, but it's in a very comfortable spot. I think my original desire for it to be a few inches off the floor wouldn't be as good. The base is 4.5" high in front and 4" in back giving the seat a slight angle. Then, 3/4" plywood and 3" of foam on top of the webbing. As of now, when I sit on the seat, I lower about 2". So, all that has me sitting about 6" off the floor and it feels good. I have a little support under my thigh and I can extend my legs with a minimal bend. I built the bottom seat with 3" of space in front, so when my butt sinks into the foam and webbing, I get a little thigh support. The top of the back support barely touches the body edge. But that won't be the case, when the back is upholstered. My seat back angle is roughly 18-20 degrees, which feels good.

The bucket seats I had planned would have been a VERY tight fit. I may have been able to get them to work, but not as I originally planned. At 37" wide, my seat has good seating for two people. I didn't take the seat bottom all the way to the body sides because in my first T Bucket, that ended up being dead space. So, in this interior, the spaces on the side are little cavities for storage, if need be. I also have space behind the seat for storage, if I need it.

Under the seat, the 2 compartments have enough room for the fuse box and what ever else will fit. I'll probably have the fuse box under the drivers side. Since I'm going to use a drop down battery box, I won't have that hole under the passenger side. So, that space will be all for stuff like a small tool kit or whatever.

 

[JeffK]

"let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" good bucket working weather

 

[tfeverfred]

And... enter bad luck. See, I'm one of those people who gets on alert when things are going good. And my build has been going kinda good. When I'm on a good run, that means "bad" is right around the corner. But sometimes, bad is good. Thursday morning, I hop in my daily to go to work and.... the transmission is dead. No gears at all. No signs of trouble prior. Just.... dead. Bad. I'd been waiting for... bad.

So, I'll be taking a 10 minute bus ride to work, while I get it fixed. I'm glad I didn't fill it with gas the nigh before. My land lord is kind enough to let me use his shop truck to run errands. But what that means is, I'll be putting money away to get my daily fixed, instead of buying car stuff. But, there is a silver lining. Everything I need to do my interior panels is on the way. The vinyl showed up yesterday. The 1/4" foam is on the way and the stainless steel cup washers and screws will ship Monday. All I'll need after that is the luan and I'm not sweating that either. Little set backs, just firm my resolve. Good.

Oh..... it freaking snowed in Houston, this morning. Being from upstate New York, I called it a dusting. The locals, however, were catatonic.

How's your luck been holding out?

 

[JeffK]

I'm real close to upstate NY and we had 50's last week, send it this way! When I was stationed in SC we got an inch and they shut the base down!, I cruised by many cars in the ditch in my eclipse. I think to this day though the slickest sh** Ive driven in was rain on the hot roads in Gulfport Miss............Sucks about the DD, sounds like my luck lol.

 

[tfeverfred]

Just finished painting the seat base. All is good, in a weird way. I've learned to calm down, think things through and figure out a way to move beyond the bad crap. Most of the time, I come out great, on the other side.

 

[tfeverfred]

Set the seat base in the body early this morning.

 

[tfeverfred]

Well, using cardboard I made templates for the interior panels and the door. The first thing I noticed, was that I ordered a LOT more material than I'll need. So, I've got enough to screw this up a few times. I'll still need 3M Adhesive for attaching the wood pieces to the body, but I'll get that, when I get the Luan or ABS sheet. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about the corners, but I'll make up my mind soon.

 

[tfeverfred]

Finished interior.

 

[butch27]

Good for you Fred--Don't fart around-- just get it done.

 

[tfeverfred]

And.... the back panel.

 

[tfeverfred]

Seat installed.

 

[tfeverfred]

Today, I was bored and decided to see if I could swing my leg over the edge of the body and get in like, "the good old days". Let's just say.... there's no turning back. Oh, I can do it. It just takes a little more thought.

 

[old round fart]

Old age creepin’ in! Welcome to the club Fred! Lol

 

[BrianD]

I bought my body with a r/s door for the "wife"...I think I'll be using it more than her. These joints don't flex like they use to.

 

[EX JUNK]

I built mine low enough that I can still easily step in. Even my wife, who is only 5'-4" tall has no problem and we're are both in our mid seventies.

Jim

 

[Gerry]

Me too. Stepping over the 4 side by side pipes can be a bit of a stretch. Height from floor to side of the body is 24". Mind you I do have short legs....

Be interesting to know how high other Bucket are at the side of the body. Just a thought

 

[Spanky]

Mine is 30" from floor to top edge of body.

 

[EX JUNK]

mine is 29" floor to top edge of the body side with 31" tall rear tires.

Jim