[Essex_29]

That's right, sammmons, I've sat in quite a few rods that have the steering whe way too
 far forward. It really looks quite odd when you're building a rod, and put the steeringwheel where
 it's decently comfortable. When I built the Essex, I measured off my '90 Mercedes coupe, where
the sitting position was about as low as I planned to have it. It worked nicely, and the steering wheel
and pedals were really comfortable. This time I don't have the body channelled at all, and the
 roof isn't chopped, so the only reason the seat is lower than original is because of the 3+ degree
forward rake, which in effect makes the windshield lower.
Regarding the column, I'm not sure what to do with it, but I've been thinking of wrapping it with a
piece of thin shetmetal, with a join on the left side, where I'm planning on mounting some kind of
turn signal stalk. It's an ugly monster of a steering column, but I needed the tilt function to
make everything fit.

A couple days ago I worked some more on the column drop and could bolt the column to the new
tube between the A-pillars. It sits right now, the steeringwheel is nicely aligned about where it
needs to. I also had the brake pedal in the right position, and tacked it in good, with nice beefy
tack welds.



Right when I felt content with the result and was done, I came to think that I can alter the angle
of the steeringcolumnl to get some more room for the gas pedal. Oh well, I'll do that tomorrow...

Because reasons, it took me a couple days to get back to it, and today I cut the column loose off
of its drop mount, moved the nails in the two by eight on the floor ¹³/₁₆" to
the left, and turned the column a bit so the steering shaft points a bit to the left, and the wheel
is again straight. Using the tilt column really is a saver. Then I welded the column to its drop mount
again in its new position.



I made a colum extension from thin (⁵/_64"") wall one by two tubing all the way to the firewall, so now it's sturdy.
Then I ground away the big tacks on the brake pedal mount, and moved the whole thing to the left as
much as the U-joint was moved. Tacked in again, now In the right position. The result is a little bit more
room, which is sorely needed.



This is in principle how I "misused" the tilt function by rotating it.

[Essex_29]

A good day in the shop today. I made the final mount for the brake pedal assembly.



Then started working on the clutch pedal. The Dodge brake pedal mount is now hung
 in two mounts, one still to make and weld to the firewall



I cut away some of the old mounting points and drilled holes for the last mount, then
welded the clutch master mount I made earlier to the top of the pedal mount.
I was able to use the eyelet from the Dodge push rod (Arrow),and welded it to an M8 bolt
that I cut the head off of. Then the bolt for the pushrod that goes with the eyelet, for
a slop free installation.



Some cutting and grinding still  to do to make it all look a bit prettier, then into the blasting
 cabinet and then paint.
It finally feels like the project is moving, making of the brake assembly and the positioning
of the steering wheel and pedals has taken forever.

[TFoch]

I like it!  Thanks for posting how you're making all these parts work.  Valuable information!

[Essex_29]

Thank you TFoch I'm happy if someone takes their time to read my ramblings, and
even more so if someone can be inspired from what I do.

Next up was to get the steering shaft done. I got a bearing that fits the shaft, and cut and
drilled a flange from ¹/₈" plate, then cut a piece of 19 gauge
sheetmetal, wrapped it around the flange and welded the two together Some grinding
later I was done for that day.
 


The next day I cut a piece of sheet metal, and cut a hole that the part above fit through.
The day after that I cut that piece of sheetmetal until it fit in the exact right position in
the huge hole I had cut in the firewall.



The steering bearing mount is now tacked to the new sheetmetal piece.
Lots of fun per square foot at this time...

[sixball]

The deep thought going into this build along with the repurposing of pieces already out there are only part of what makes this stand out. There are masterful skills involved too. Thanks for sharing this.

[Essex_29]

Thank you very much sixball for the nice words.

I got the steering shaft bearing mount welded in and the hole I had cut in the firewall
repaired. It took some planning to get this done in the right order so that I had room
to grind and such before it got too crowded.



It's fun to spray on some primer, things start looking done.
I put my leafblower fan to work and sandblasted the clutch pedal mount. Then painted it
all satin black.



First bolts to get torqued with nyloc nuts on this build!
I then mounted the pedal in its place just for fun, it's coming out along with everyting else
when the body is coming off the frame in a few weeks.



The brake master still hadn't been test mounted, and of course there was some cutting to
be done. The cut was made as high as possible, and the result is a 3" space above the
master brake fluid container for filling fluid, so no issue with that.



The cluch master has a remote container, I guess that one's just going to protrude through
the top of the dash for easy access

[Rattiac]

Watching intently.  Going to be ordering a column for mine soon.
Not sure I want a ididit column,  I've seen some failures out there.

[Essex_29]

Rattiac, I'd go with some oem column if there's something that would fit your need.
Aftermarket stuff seems never to be as good quality as oem, though it migt be hard to find
something that is easy to adapt...

I stood on my knees drawing a hatch on the floor of the Buick. Just as I was reaching for the
grinder to cut the hole, it hit me that if I make a battery compartment there, the  exhaust will
have to hang low under the frame, and with my forward rake it would look real silly seen from behind.
 So I looked aound and figured I can put the battery under the dash instead. To make the
battery somewhat easy to get in and out, it needed some kind of "elevator" thing. So I made
one. Now the battery can be lowered about eight or nine inches, so that it will be possible to
get at it when the dash is done.

[sammons]

Cool as hell idea there Essex, i really like that.

[sixball]

Good Idea. What is involved in raising it? What keeps it in place?

[Essex_29]

Thank you sammons and sixball.
There are four links, bottom ones are attached to the firewall, top ones to the dash tube...
It's impossible to explain, I should make a sketch...

Today I found a spoon gas pedal in a bit of square tubing.



I cut out the pieces from a side of a big tube with ³/₁₆" walls, hammered the oval part
to a curved shape, and cut out the other part. Some filing was also involved.
I'm not really a fan of this style pedal, but there's no room for a fifties standing style pedal.

[Essex_29]

I got a piece of axle stock ³/₈" diameter and bearings to go
with it, made a bracket and tacked it to the firewall.
To the axle I tacked the pedal and the arm that goes up to the throttle linkage.



This is what the pedals look like now. Sitting there pushing the pedals it all seems
 pretty good, s? the bearing bracket was finish welded.



The final bracket that helps keep the brake booster and brake master from shaking
 too much is done, and just needs to be welded. That should make the pedals done,
just the throttle linkage through the firewall and on to the carbs to do.

[sammons]

Nice, clean fab and install work there Essex👍

[TFoch]

Nice work!

[sixball]

I agree! When can I send you my roadster?