Yep, thinking again, take cover. Basically still planning the Sprint-T even though without winning the lottery or something miraculous happening to the trust fund I will never have the budget to complete it, not that I have really gotten started with it. But since I can’t shut my brain off (well I can, but the drugs I need cost a fortune and require a team of doctors approval for the prescriptions) I have to think about something and as I posted earlier, I’m not a genetically engineered mouse bent on taking over the world. So, I have a choice of various versions of the T-bucket, airplanes, hovercraft, sailboats, suitcase nukes, or sub-orbital spacecraft. I have the most parts for the T-bucket, and the parts on hand for the projects are basically as they are listed in order from airplanes to sub-orbital spacecraft and suitcase nukes. I have one part for the nuke, a bit of plumbing that was used in a completely different project and just happens to be suited for building a suitcase nuke, and pretty much nothing for the sub-orbital spacecraft. The project I have the most parts for is the Sprint-T.
Something I have been thinking hard about is the footbox area at the front of the body, and how there basically isn’t any area to speak of. The firewall is 27″ wide outside to outside right behind the little step in the cowl where the hood met the body on the original Model T, but 26″ on the inside because of how much material there is in that corner. Seriously, there is way over ¼” of fiberglass and resin partially because of the shape of the mold there and partially because it is a high stress area of the body that in the kit located a bunch of different things that really needed to not move at any time in relation to other bits of the car. So tight space up front with several assemblies fighting for a place to live, like the brakes, the clutch pedal and master cylinder if I use a manual transmission, steering column, gas pedal, and the real real-estate hog the bellhousing. Now if I went with the smooth cowl I mentioned a long time ago when I discussed stick-aided-design I would free up a few more inches in width, basically about 7″ at the widest spot in the new firewall. The inexpensive but quality brake and clutch pedal assembly is 8.5″ wide at the mounting points and only about 5.5″ wide down at the pedals but the clutch pedal is only about ¼” to ½” in from the outside edge of the mount. So again there is not much room to work with between the inside of the cowl and the edge of the clutch pedal even with the cowl pushed out for a smooth curve and no cowl pinch.
Now with the original cowl design the steering column would have to go under the right brake master cylinder and as close to the brake pedal as possible to leave room between the steering column and the bellhousing for a gas pedal. That’s because there is just not that much room for things on the firewall, the bellhousing taking up so much space inside the car and the 26″ inside width. The SBC and LS bellhousings are about 19″ wide leaving only 5″ total for feet and controls, and since the triple pedal assembly is 8.5″ wide at the mounts, there is just no space to put three pedals and have the bolts for the bracket not hang off in empty space. There is barely room for the bracket with the widened “smooth” cowl, and moving the engine to the right for balance.
Witch on a Bicycle 