stretch or not to stretch?

[Screaming Metal]

Simple. If you wanna look at it, get no stretch. If you wanna drive it, go stretched. Theres been enough of these cars sitting in the garages because they were too uncomfortable for the owners to drive.
I travel all over the country, and I'm at alot of conferences and autoshows, and siminars. I use that time to go to the car shows, usually downstairs there in Vegas, and some of these things, ain't no way in hell I'd get my big fat crippled old ass into some of those....just not enough room.
Let me repeat what the guys said....'its best to have too much room', now lets hear no bitchin' if you go without....
What if you wear boots and drive your car to work. Will you have enough? Get 2 people there elbow to elbow, and I'm not talking skinny folks either. Room?
I've seen alot of guys have to litterly be picked up and slide into a altered at the track. You want to be able to get into you car without getting slathered up with vasoline....and thats for the street, remember.

 

[old round fart]

I had a dragster that was 18" wide between the shoulder rails. At the time I was 300 lbs. and I used to tell folks I was proof you could get a tennis ball in a thimble. I got one 24" wide and did much better! LOL

 

[TriodeLuvr]

I've only ever sat in two of these cars, both standard bodies, but there was a huge difference in the comfort. The first had the column through the floor, located toward the dash but so far to the left that I couldn't get my left foot past the column. It also had mats instead of seats, and sitting low like that pushed both my knees up into the steering wheel. In that car, even a five minute drive was miserable. The second car (the one I bought), has the column through the firewall and a bench seat about 8" tall. I can drive it about an hour before I start feeling cramped. If it had lower back support instead of the concave bucket shape, I could probably double that. Lower back support plus two more inches to the firewall would make it an all-day driver. I'm 6' with long legs, about 220 lbs.

Jack

 

[bamabucket]

I have a stock proportioned body on my bucket and it is very tight. At 6'2", 260 pounds, and 70 years old with two hip replacements I can still get in and drive comfortably, but not for long distances. I drive the car regularly but use my Avalanche for road trips - I'm spoiled with the A/C, cruise control, heated seats, great sound system, etc. I'm not going to modify my car for more room, but agree with everyone that more space would be good to have. If I was building a car, I would get a stretched body from Ron Pope or a Wintec Roadster. The Wintec body looks like a touring body without the separation between the front and rear seating areas. From the pictures, it looks like it has enough room to put the driver and front passenger seats as far back as you need and still have some space for a small amount of cargo in the back.
Lou

 

[butch27]

I really haven't seen many of the Wintec cars finished yet.

 

[bobs66440]

How much was that body with no floor Bob? I looked on Spirits site and could only find a price complete with door and insert which I do not want.

Mine came with the floor molded in but no insert. I'm not sure what they are with no floor...

 

[smokeyco75]

Since I plan on using a turtledeck on my build I dont think Ron's stretched body would look bad at all. Most people aren't going to notice the difference anyway except those that have or have had a T. Stretched cowl means legroom is a non-issue. I want to be able to jump in this thing on a Saturday morning and be able to cruise all day. It seems my decision has been made. There has been a lot of good insight for both sides of the debate. I want to thank everyone for your input. I will definitely be throwing more threads like this up here throughout my build! Ron, I will be in touch after Christmas for the body, frame, and anything else that ships freight.

 

[fordsbyjay]

Mine came with the floor molded in but no insert. I'm not sure what they are with no floor...

Oh, the picture looked like it had no floor but I guess it is just close to the same color as the garage floor.

 

[bobs66440]

Oh, the picture looked like it had no floor but I guess it is just close to the same color as the garage floor.

Yes, it's similar.

 

[old round fart]

My Spirit stretched body came with no floor. Call Josh or B.C. and they will do whatever you need. Mine came extra thick so I can sand the door reveal smooth if I decide to. I decided not to however. John

 

[Johnny]

Since I plan on using a turtledeck on my build I dont think Ron's stretched body would look bad at all. Most people aren't going to notice the difference anyway except those that have or have had a T. Stretched cowl means legroom is a non-issue. I want to be able to jump in this thing on a Saturday morning and be able to cruise all day. It seems my decision has been made. There has been a lot of good insight for both sides of the debate. I want to thank everyone for your input. I will definitely be throwing more threads like this up here throughout my build! Ron, I will be in touch after Christmas for the body, frame, and anything else that ships freight.

You will love the extra room. No knees above the door!

 

[smokeyco75]

Johnny that picture right there sold me on the stretched body. Thanks a bunch for posting it! Is that a Ron pope frame as well?

 

[Johnny]

Your welcome and yes, it is a frame from Ron.

 

[baddawgcustoms]

I really like the look of the 27 lakester body, but I also like the high back of the 23. That's the reason I decided to go with RPM's stretch body, because to me it looks like a hybrid of the two. That and I decided to put 3 pedals in the car, so I really wanted to have some floorboard room. Like the man said earlier, if you put your work boots on and head to work I don't want to mash all 3 pedals at one time. LOL I've ridden all the bikes I have had in the past all year round, and no matter how nice they were, I ride em, not just look at em, and I plan on this T being the same way. I'm planning on finishing the interior off in fiberglass, and running aluminum seats and if it rains it rains. Our cars and toys are a reflection of who we are, and if you just want a cool car to drive to a show every once in a while, that's totally cool by me. I'm finally building the car I've dreamed about for a very long time, and it will probably take a bomb to get me out of it.

 

[B.C.]

My 2 cents worth. As we thought out the idea of our XLT I first wanted it to be in proportion. It did take a little more work adding some to the cowl some to the door and some to the back but if you look at our body from the side you can not tell if it is a reg or an XLT by the look. Now as for fit there are three main issues. (1) A persons height, (2) The length of there legs as compared to there overall height, and (3) girth does become an issue. Between to reg body and the XLT body if your between 4'6" and 6'6" you should be able to get a comfortable fit. For the steering side of things the column can either be longer or shorter. The good news in all this is that there are now a lot of options that let you have a cool looking bucket that is FUN and Comfortable to drive.

 

[bobs66440]

My 2 cents worth. As we thought out the idea of our XLT I first wanted it to be in proportion. It did take a little more work adding some to the cowl some to the door and some to the back but if you look at our body from the side you can not tell if it is a reg or an XLT by the look. Now as for fit there are three main issues. (1) A persons height, (2) The length of there legs as compared to there overall height, and (3) girth does become an issue. Between to reg body and the XLT body if your between 4'6" and 6'6" you should be able to get a comfortable fit. For the steering side of things the column can either be longer or shorter. The good news in all this is that there are now a lot of options that let you have a cool looking bucket that is FUN and Comfortable to drive.

What length steering column is most commonly used in the extended body?

 

[smokeyco75]

So I just got back from the Datona Turkey run and saw a few buckets. Saw two stretched bobies that looked like what Ron offers and my son and I both agree that is the one for me. The wife is on board now too so now after Christmas I can get started! Gonna be kind of old school with a bed and old school flames. Even some fuzzy dice in the mirror I imagine. Gonna fab a few things for the personal touch but a lot of parts will be coming from Ron and some other site supporters.

 

[rbsWELDER]

So I just got back from the Datona Turkey run and saw a few buckets. Saw two stretched bobies that looked like what Ron offers and my son and I both agree that is the one for me. The wife is on board now too so now after Christmas I can get started! Gonna be kind of old school with a bed and old school flames. Even some fuzzy dice in the mirror I imagine. Gonna fab a few things for the personal touch but a lot of parts will be coming from Ron and some other site supporters.

Did you take any pictures that you could post?

 

[smokeyco75]

Didn't get any pics of the stretched T's but did take pics of a really cool horzontal hydraulic shock setup. Ill try and load them into photobucket and post them. Haven't had any luck with that so far.

 

[smokeyco75]

Pain in the behind. Forget it.