Project Part 3

Wow. It looks like quite a maze of bars!

This is the driver’s cockpit seen from the passenger (stock cars don’t carry passengers!) side of the car. Hayden asked that the new interior sheet metal be installed at an angle, so that the outer edge sits on the new bar (the bare metal one) and slopes down to the tunnel which is already in place. The tunnel and firewalls are made from steel to protect the driver from flying parts and other bad stuff.

Installing the new sheet metal at an angle added some complexity to the project, but I like puzzles… to get an idea of where I want to put edges and bends I will use string to lay things outs. A tight stretched string is always in a straight line and gives me an idea what obstacles I might run into.

After deciding how I wanted the center panels to fit I started working on the front and rear sections that will hold the center panels in place. In the rear section I also had to build around the bracket for the top link of the rear end.

I built the center panel in three pieces to make it easier to handle and install after it’s painted.

As viewed from the front of the car.

As viewed from the driver side. A few minor details to sort out but pretty much done. The next step is to build the dash, which is pretty straight forward. The old dash was made in one big piece. I prefer to work with peices that are a size a bit more manageable, so I built this one in four small sections. This will also allow the crew to remove small sections if they need to get inside instead of loosening one end and peeling it back to get so some wiring or a fire bottle mount.

All the edges are smoothed and rolled over to fit snug on the bars. This last shot shows the box that the gauge panel will mount to. It will fit under the hood scoop.