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LOVE IT! Good one, Tom!

Oh, and I wouldn't give Bubba anything with a name like "Plasma Cutter"...
He'd more'n likely think it was some kind of medical equipment and God only knows what he might do with it!

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Well at least it cuts and cauterizes at the same time.

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Well the Jimmy Buffet reference inspired me (that and the incessant rains) and a change of latitude was in order. So off to Margaritaville for a change of attitude. But the sun, sand and spring break bikinis were too much for this old f@rt, so I’m back to the rain and more work on the scuttle tin.

As a catch up, I’m building a fully floored long scuttle that will house all the electrics/electronics as well as the air intake tube and filter. Probably will also fit the master cylinder reservoirs up there, too. Oh, and all the aluminum panels will be removable, the windshield posts supported, instruments housed, etc., etc.

The last couple of scuttle flooring pieces were a bit of a jigsaw puzzle as was the transition between the lower firewall and the inlet to the air box. But here they are:
Still need to add a cover plate over the steering shaft cutout. The dimple in the floor is for the fat end of the air filter which fits something like this:
The vertical cardboard piece is the beginning of the air box’s inner walls. The air box's backside will have just enough sealing to keep large birds from making their way to the ECU’s harness nest and setting up housekeeping.

Note the tabs for mounting the dash panel (watch this space.)

Mocked up with a temporary ram board skin, the finished scuttle should look something like this:

Not planning for a hood (paraphrasing Enzo: Aero is for 4-cyl motors) but given how far the engine is set back I’m thinking of stretching the trailing edge of the nose cone aft about 7”. More thinking on that to follow (aesthetics vs. fiberglass itch, etc.) We’ll see, more ram board is likely to be sacrificed figuring this out.

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Cheers, Tom

My Car9 build: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14613
"It's the construction of the car-the sheer lunacy and joy of making diverse parts come together and work as one-that counts."
Ultima Spyder, Northstar 4.0, Porsche G50/52

Yo Tom-
How about a 3-part hood: Aluminum sides that follow the curve of the nose/scuttle until they cover the footbox/master cylinders/steering shaft and the same area on the passenger side and then a plexiglass section down the middle to show the engine. Paint those intake runners to match the exterior of the car.

I've been driving the Slotus around with no hood and no front fenders. I get an amazing amount of gravel, leaves and general crap in the engine bay. If you have fenders and not running sticky tires, maybe you wouldn't have the same problem or at least not as much. How-some-ever, it would be a shame to get a bunch of junk in there on that lovely engine and frame and such. I mean, have you ever tried to clean bird poop off a distributor cap and plug wires???

"We ARE the people our parents warned us about!"

JDK

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Thanks, JD, appreciate the thoughts. The plan is to run the side panels forward to the front suspension pivots. The frame rails span about 17" verticaly along side the motor, so that and fenders should keep most of the road cr@p out of the engine compartment. It was only the top of the 3-piece hood I'm contemplating leaving off. Hadn't considered the bird-poop problem, though. But no distributor to worry about cleaning. Painting the intake runners would definitely be a nice touch, as is adding some spiffy valve covers. And having some drain holes in the belly pan to let rain run out is probably a requirement.

_________________
Cheers, Tom

My Car9 build: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14613
"It's the construction of the car-the sheer lunacy and joy of making diverse parts come together and work as one-that counts."
Ultima Spyder, Northstar 4.0, Porsche G50/52

Bent up some Ram Board to simulate how the side panel a lengthened nose cone might look:
Kind of like the look.

Then ADD struck and I moved on to work out some dashboard details. The plan is to make the dash panel out of 6mm marine plywood, Bruynzeel mahogany or the like. But for the cardboard aided design phase, Formica was used.

The dash bulkhead is fairly close to the steering wheel and the dash panel itself is relatively narrow (6”.) This plus the bulkhead’s truss–like internal structure and the required dash mounting t@bs limit the space available for instruments and switches. So figuring out the workable locations while retaining descent ergonomics became a bit of a challenge. So ADD struck again and it was off for more research on instrument options and switch gear.

The plan is to keep instruments to the basics (tach, speedo, oil pressure, coolant temp, volts and fuel level) and minimize the number of switches (Engine off/on/start, turn signals, horn, headlight controls (3), wipers, hazard and battery disconnect.) Mounting switches on the removable steering wheel was ruled out to avoid requiring a quick disconnect wiring harness.

Here’s my current thinking on layout:

The pencil lines on the dash panel show the truss tube and t@b locations that need to be avoided. That led to placing a quad gauge in the middle. The tach and speedo will be visible through the steering wheel. All three gauge housings are 3 3/8” units, probably from Speedhut. Left and right turn signal activation is with momentary buttons, the red dots on the dash at 10 and 2. The horn button will be at the purple dot near the quad gauge at 7 o’clock.

The shift lever sits pretty close to the lower dash panel. That means rocker switches rather than toggles for the less frequently used switches. Per the Carling switch catalog, the necessary switches with the proper engraved icons (e.g., “Hazard”) can be configured eliminating the need for additional labels.

A keyless ignition lock is planned, so a single toggle will provide for off/run/start. Here it is under the red cover guard, mounted to the side insert panel of the dash bulkhead.

The toggle’s location is far enough out of the way so accidentally “killing” the ignition shouldn’t happen, but still close enough for emergency shut off if needed. A steel panel with dimpled lightening holes will replace the poster board mockup insert one of these days.

The battery disconnect switch may float to the right or left on the dash a bit based on wire routing and clearance for components mounted under the scuttle. And a 12v accessory plug will find a home somewhere.

After working out the above layout, some of the dash mounting t@bs had to be moved to clear the revised instruments/switch locations. Fortunately they were only tacked in or not yet added. Still to be incorporated in the dash bulkhead is a mounting t@b for the front-end of the removable cockpit diagonal brace. Biggest concern here is assuring clearance for the shift lever in all five gears when the brace is in place. Oh, and any impacts on the instrument/switch layout.

Also starting to look at windshield mounting. Given the one-off aluminum scuttle, I’ll likely need to make up my own supports. Whoops, there goes that ADD again.

_________________
Cheers, Tom

My Car9 build: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14613
"It's the construction of the car-the sheer lunacy and joy of making diverse parts come together and work as one-that counts."
Ultima Spyder, Northstar 4.0, Porsche G50/52

Hi Tom-
You work is exceptional, as always... I do have one nit-picky thing I wanna talk about, though.

I wanted one of those cool "covered" toggle switches for the ignition on the Slotus at first. I was thinking it would prevent me from accidentally turning the car off (or on) in a small cockpit. AND it would look awesome...

After a while, though, I talked myself out of it. Most of the time, it would work just fine. How-some-ever-er, if something really, really bad happens, and I need to turn the damn thing off and bail out, I decided I didn't want a covered switch to fumble with. (Especially if I was wearing those Nomex gloves we all know and loathe, uhhh, I mean "love"...) I know that in the event of an accident I could -and probably should- turn off the main battery disconnect switch but I'd be willing to bet that in the heat of the moment I'd go for the familiar movement and turn off the ignition.

If the car is involved in an accident someone else might need to turn things off. Therefore, I put all the switches on one panel. (Ignition, fuel pump, fan, etc) and they're not very far from the main. If they reach the switch panel and turn everything off, we're good. If they reach the main and cut everything off, we're still good. There's not a switch hidden by the driver's knee or a single switch somewhere not-so-obvious that they might miss.

So, yeah, my .02, YMMV and I'm nit picking... But it's because I love ya!


JDK

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

OK, basics first - the tach needs to be rotated so that the at redline the needle is vertical. That means that tach should be spelled like this:
T
A
C
H

but with the letters on their side.

The covered switches I think work like this - they are covered so they don't go on by mistake. To turn off quickly you slap the cover downward and it turns off the toggle. You could turn off several that way at once. Maybe I'm wrong I never have used them...

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

Awww, Mannnn... I didn't know that... I coulda had a cool covered toggle on the Slotus... Dammit...

Liking the look Tom. Good job!

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Larry in Seattle

Hey JD, and Marcus, I really do appreciate the comments and don't consider them nit-picking. They are the kind of feedback I was hoping for when I made the instrument layout post.

Regarding the T-A-C-H orientation: Was thinking of using this one which would put the 6500 rpm redline close to the top:
Meanwhile I will fix the label on the mock-up

A couple of notes on the ignition switch with the red cover. Ok, I admit the coolness factor got to me and I bought one a while back. They do work like Marcus said. They are a three position toggle with the bottom position "off", the middle position "run" and the top position a momentary for "start." The cover has two positions, up and down, with an over-centering action where it will stay "up" and when bumped downward it does so with a spring-loaded action strong enough to push the toggle to the "off" position. The good news is the snap action of the cover can provide a little assistance shutting things down in an emergency situation. The bad news is when "up", the cover sticks out 1.75" and can be inadvertently bumped closed (shutting the car down) or impale some soft tissue in an accident. So switch location is a factor.

In my case, the "run" position feeds a 12v signal to the Coach Controls Power Center mentioned a couple of posts ago. In the Power Center this signal actuates the ECU, fuel pump, fan, cooling pump and some other stuff. So if the "run" switch is "off," nothing significant will be on. A wireless proximity switch will also be in that "run" circuit, so the fob need to be in my pocket for things to "run."

The battery disconnect switch will kill everything, even power to the starter. It also breaks the "run" circuit so alternator feedback can't keep the motor running. I know, lots of points of potential electrical failure, but done carefully it should work.

But placement of the red switch is in need of more thought. And for that I sincerely thank you.

Thanks, Larry. When are we going to get the Seattle Locosters togher again? Weather could be starting to get nice.

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Cheers, Tom

My Car9 build: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14613
"It's the construction of the car-the sheer lunacy and joy of making diverse parts come together and work as one-that counts."
Ultima Spyder, Northstar 4.0, Porsche G50/52

Ok, Marcus, I fixed that Or did I do it backwards?

Still scratching my head on where the red switch should go. Could move it to the left of the shift lever and move the rockers to the top of the tunnel. That means I need to figure out the tunnel framework which means first figuring out the e-brake lever location. Did some one say "squirrel"?

_________________
Cheers, Tom

My Car9 build: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14613
"It's the construction of the car-the sheer lunacy and joy of making diverse parts come together and work as one-that counts."
Ultima Spyder, Northstar 4.0, Porsche G50/52

A get together with like minded friends is always a treat. But being the wimp that I am I would vote for a little warmer weather. With less chance of rain. But that's just me 8<}

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Larry in Seattle

It is a bit of a connunndr... con nun...dram... Canadien.... It's a puzzle!

Could you relocate one switch out of the row of switches there in front of the shifter? I was thinking the headlight flash could be a momentary push button on the dash where you could reach with one finger off the wheel, or relocate the hazard flasher switch over near the battery cutoff or something. And then put the uber-cool covered ignition switch next to the driver in that row?

I was always a big advocate of the "rotate the tach" thing, especially after the arrival of bifocal lenses. I twisted all the gauges in my MGB's dash so that whatever "normal" was, the needle was straight up. Like Marcus is saying, I put the redline on the tach straight up, 12 o'clock position. Didn't have to focus, just see the needles... then, in the Slotus with its relatively low, narrow cowl, the gauges wound up offset to my right in angled "cups" on the dash so they point at me. With that setup, rotating them wasn't really an option. Guess what? You can get used to that after a while and "know" where the needles should be pointing. So it kinda works either way, really.


Peace, Love and "Where's the @#&^$*! OFF Switch?"
JDK

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Think about this, You find yourself in a difficult situation, You try to maneuver out of harm when all things break loose, You spin off the track, all the time trying to keep control. You are trying to steer and trying to downshift. If you end up sitting with one hand on the wheel and one on the gearshift, which hand is already free to cut off the engine?

Maybe this is quite the stretch and maybe it is a gross misrepresentation of how things will work out. But I would think the switch would be easiest accessed by your right hand. Just one opinion. However, if you have a real cutoff switch, that makes this decision less important.

If you are not thinking 3, 4 or 5 steps ahead on every decision, you will be reworking a lot of metal. it looks like you are doing just fine Tom

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

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