Yeah for sure I'll do a paper schematic or rather CAD first. I've already started a spreadsheet of parts and pinouts which is the first step to a netlist. I play an electrical engineer at work and I've designed and led the build of complete electrical systems for several prototype vehicles. So doing it in CAD and then making the harnesses from that is natural for me.
My mechanical engineering skills are good but my mechanical CAD experience is very rusty, so it's easier for me to do that part with cardboard mockups.
Maybe I'm done with the sawzall. I cut away more 'glass to make the footwell larger to the left as well as forward. This car features quite an angle, the drivers feet are closer to the centerline of the car than his torso. In fact the steering column is angled too. I figure whatever I can do to minimize that angle, along with making more room in the footwell, is good.
There's room now, at least if I wear skinny driving shoes. Notice the U-joint for the steering, the steering shaft will pass over my toes. The brake assembly has been welded up and is ready to bolt into the car.
But first I need to rebuild the footbox, and I could use a bit of advice from the collective. My idea is to build it in fairly thin aluminum, and pop rivet it to the fiberglass. Then glass over the whole thing, or at least the seams, to make it waterproof and stiffer. What do you think, what would you do? I was thinking fiberglass mat and polyester resin. What thickness? What materials and suppliers do you recommend?
Here is how much room there can be, it's a substantial improvement. And with practice I am getting better at getting in and out of the car, which again makes me more hopeful about enjoying it when it is done.
An idea that another GRMer explained to me a few years ago. If you get a scrap full glass door or window and use it as a work surface, you can make fiberglass sheets with a single layer of matt that won't stick to the glass. Peel off the cured sheet and then you can cut it to shape with scissors (like doing it in cardboard) and form it to fit the hole. Then glass over it with as many layers as you feel are needed. It's the same thing as your aluminum sheet, but all glass.
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