Let's see, now what?
Oh, everything else!
The fiberglass dash I bought a while ago which was molded off a real 507 dash. Although not the best, it'll work add I'll work with it to make it fit perfect. The idea is to mimic the real thing so with that, out comes the reference photos I took visiting the one in Philly being restored. Plus, the other few hundred I have of one during a restoration. The dash is supported by four brackets and the dash itself is three pieces. Everything is fabricated to be removed just like the real thing. Here's the tricky part I described earlier.
I need to know my heater box dimensions and wiper transmission sizes too. So hours of searching online yielded both that I'll be using and a bonus, the online product PDF gives sizes! Woohoo!
knowing these I can leave space for everything. Once the dash was in place it was time to mount the steering column. But no floor or seat yet, so what's one to do?
Simple! Use the seat from your John Deere Z915 Zero Turn mower which is EERILY similar in size to the seats I'll be using.
Just a note to those that will try this. Don't do it right before your wife decides she needs it to drag the horse poop in the pasture. Yes, that is a public service announcement based on experience
.
So with the seat in place via jack stands, I sat in position based on how I think it should be. There's plenty of room, steering wheel is at the right angle, so I think we're good! The mount will have slotted holes for vertical adjustment but the length seems perfect. A hard floor mount which will be braced with a 3/16" firewall plate will provide the need support. Nobody wants to turn the car and have the column fall out!!
Ok, that's this week's update. Next week I have recurrent and need to hit the books so more updates after that.
Cheers!
Dave
PS; Don’t panic, Luke! I haven’t gotten around to fabricating the gussets and may just run another crossmember across. Still thinking….