Page 2 The project begins Page 3 Front end and doors Page 4 Body framing Page 5 Wheel tubs and more framing Page 6 Door openings and more on the body Page 7 The frame Page 8 Steering, shocks and engine mounts Page 9 CAD, lasercut parts and intake. Page 10 Transmission and engine mounts. Page 11 Roof and floor. Page 12 Body and engine details. Page 13 Fuel tank. Page 14 Pedals and steering. Page 15 Odds and ends, the frame. Page 16 The body and more details. Page 17 Dash, exhaust and engine. Page 18 Bodywork and to do list stuff. Karkmotuning

Time for the steering shaft. A hole was cut in the firewall to get the steering shaft through and into the cabin.

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There isn't much room for the brake and throttle pedals, so the steering shaft was moves as far left as possible. Now we have a huge hole in the firewall. A make shift steering shaft is held in position here, it's made from water tubing. The u-joint will be at about where the tube ends. The real shaft will be machined soon.

The brake pedal is a modified one from a 1987 Trans Am that was parted out over a dacade ago. The assembly was modified to sit on the firewall, and the pedal was cut down and straightened to avoid it hitting the steering column.

Bolt in/weld on brackets were made, so the whole assembly can be removed with four bolts. There will aslo be a bracket where it bolts to the dash. The brake booster and master will also get a mount, so they'll hang off the center of the dash. (October 2023)

Here a hanger has been made at the master to booster bolts as per original TransAm, it's just anchored to the dash with vice grips for now.

A tilt column was cut down, and a '56 Chevy steering wheel was hung from the roof in approxemately the right position. All the ergonomic measurements off my '84 Caprice, since it's pretty comfortable.

The brake pedal is from a car with an automatic transmission, so it was cut it down a bit earlier. New pedals were cut out of a junked Saab 9000 and just the brake pedal "blade", the part that the pedal rubber pad attaches to was welded to the TransAm pedal. Then, a brake pedal from a seventies Dodge was cut so that the clutch pedal from the Saab fit, the parts welded toghether, and the overall length of the pedal is now the same as the GM brake pedal. The throw of the clutch pedal will be about 5-1/2" with the 35mm total movement of the bmw clutch master.

A flange for mounting the clutch master to the Dodge brake mount was made .

A tube was welded in between the A-pillars. Then a column drop mock up was made from 1/8" plate. The column drop turned out to be about right, so it might be used for the r eal thing. The tubing and the other unsightly stuff will be hidden by a later era style dash some time in the future.

The column was cut loose off of its drop mount, the position of the steering shaft was moved to the left by about 3/4" and the culumn turned 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 the column was welded to the drop mount in its new position. A column extention which bolts to the firewall was made, and the column drop was finished by welding sides to it.

This sketch shows how the tilt function was "misused" by rotating it.

The clutch pedal mount trial fit into its position. The Dodge brake pedal mount is now hung off two mounts, one still to make and weld to the firewall. The brake pedal assembly has gotten a rear mount aswell.

Some of the old mounting points were cut away and holes were drilled for the last mount, then the clutch master flange that was made earlier was welded to the top of the pedal mount. The eyelet from the Dodge brake push rod (Arrow) was used, and welded to an M8 bolt with its head off . Then the original Dodge eyelet bolt for the pushrod was used for a slop free installation.

The clutch pedal assembly sand blasted and painted. The master cylinder is snugged with nyloc nuts, actually the first nuts on this build that probably won't need to be removed anymore.

The final part of the steering is the lower steering axle bearing. First a flange was made, then a housing from 1mm thick sheet metal.

The steering axle housing was then mated to the firewall, making a somewhat suitable cut out for it, then painted with rattle can primer. (November 2023)

Pedals and steering axle finally in place.

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 that's going to work. The cluch master has a remote container, it's going to protrude through the top of the dash for easy access.

It was deciced to mount the battery under the dash. To make the battery somewhat easy to get in and out, it needed some kind of "elevator" thing. A mechanism was made, and now the battery can be lowered about eight or nine inches, for easy installation.

The pieces for a gas pedal was cut from a side of a big piece of tubing with 3/16" walls. The oval part or the pedal was hammered to a curved shape, Some welding and filing was also involved.

A piece of 3/8" diameter axle stock, bearings to go with it, a bracket and then the gas pedal was tacked ot the firewall. An arm goes up to the throttle linkage.

This is what the pedals look like now. Sitting there pushing the pedals, it all seems pretty good, so the gas pedal bearing bracket was finish welded to the firewall.

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

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