Bowtie T's build

[butch27]

Looks great and well thought out.

 

[Bowtie T]

Used floral foam to fill the sides. Liquid nail in place, let sit over night.
Very easy to shape with one of those spongy sanding blocks. also went ahead and ran some flexible conduit thru the wall to under the dash for wiring.

 

[Bowtie T]

after foam was shaped, fill gaps with bondo, then fiberglassed over

 

[cooter]

Woohoo!!! Keep ghem pics comeing

 

[choppinczech]

Where'd you find that much floral foam at once? I'd love to get some in big sheets.

I recently used some 1" polyester building insulation for a mold. It worked pretty well after the foil was peeled off.

 

[butch27]

Will floral foam melt when glassing over it? I don't want use a lot of wood in my new ron Pope body.

 

[choppinczech]

Will floral foam melt when glassing over it? I don't want use a lot of wood in my new ron Pope body.

No, it's the same as expansion foam but in an already solid form.

It's polystyrene that'll melt. The white packing type stuff. Or the pink Dow Corning wall insulation sheets.

 

[cooter]

What are pros/cons of floral foam in t bucket construction

 

[Bowtie T]

What are pros/cons of floral foam in t bucket construction

The pros are that fiberglass will not melt it. I read that somewhere on this forum. Also it is easy to shape to the compound curves of the body. Don't know of any
cons except it being dusty when you sand it.
Choppinczech, I don't remember where I got it, I searched florist supplys and ordered a case. not very expensive maybe $30. The case was just enough to do my side walls.
The blocks were like 6"x 8"x 4" thick? I split the block down to 2" thick.

 

[cooter]

What are your interior plans? You gonna paint it smooth inside?

 

[swatman260]

I did something relatively similar with mine. I used a sheet of the Dupont insulation from Home Depot, instead of wooding the body. After peeling the foil off, I lined the whole interior and then sanded everything smooth. I then laid a few layers of glass over top of it, and ultimately painted it to match the exterior. With the foam filled fiberglass "sandwich", the sides seem very stiff and sturdy. I'm very pleased with how it came out.

 

[Bowtie T]

What are your interior plans? You gonna paint it smooth inside?

Not sure yet Cooter. Was thinking of spraying the inside and floors with something like truck bed liner. Not sure how this wood look, has anyone done this? pictures? The
only upholstery would be the seat and of course carpet.

 

[swatman260]

I used bed liner on the interior floor of mine and am not using carpet. My only upholstery is my seats. I will try to get a photo or two and put them up here

 

[Bowtie T]

I did something relatively similar with mine. I used a sheet of the Dupont insulation from Home Depot, instead of wooding the body. After peeling the foil off, I lined the whole interior and then sanded everything smooth. I then laid a few layers of glass over top of it, and ultimately painted it to match the exterior. With the foam filled fiberglass "sandwich", the sides seem very stiff and sturdy. I'm very pleased with how it came out.

Yes Swatman i'm sure it is plenty sturdy, I only wooded mine because I have a tendency to overkill everything. But,as long as you fill it with something, I've seen a few that
didn't do anything and it makes them look cheap. JMO.

 

[Bowtie T]

Amazing how well the middle row seat of
a dodge caravan fits in these T bodies. Make sure you get the middle row seat it is narrower than the rear seat. Got at the u pullit for $40.

 

[cooter]

Amazing how well the middle row seat of
a dodge caravan fits in these T bodies. Make sure you get the middle row seat it is narrower than the rear seat. Got at the u pullit for $40.

You got my seat!! Lol

 

[Bowtie T]

I did some mods to the seat frame by removing the bracket that held the back and
bottom together so i could remove the two separately. I also curved the back frame so it would fit the body better by relief cutting and welding back in places

 

[benT]

looks good - just make sure that when you sit down, your not hitting the battery terminals. That would be an uncomfortable "situation"!

 

[2old2fast]

Yea ,that could be a new way to have a heated seat !!
dave

 

[butch27]

I have a nice gray leather middle seat out of a NEW1999 Astro van that i didn't use in mine because I went all red and it didn't match