Making room

[Mark Bagnall]

My enthusiasm seems to return with the, slightly, warmer weather so I'm clearing up the garage and planning the revised cockpit. Hopefully I can attach a photo with this to show the large hole in the fibreglass to be filled.
A little background might be useful, it was a salutary lesson for me, and should at least give you a laugh. I decided to buy a 2 seat Dutton last year with my eBay earnings from clearing out the garage. I investigated several cars trying to find one that didn't need too much work and was still in my budget.
Now comes a simple lesson which I knew but ignored, always take someone with you when looking at a car so they can make sure you check the obvious! I was so engrossed with checking all the information I'd found out about Duttons (not a lot really) I forgot to sit in it!!
Once trailered back to the new space in my garage I soon realised that even taking the seats out my legs were wedged against the wheel and tube under the dash, impossible to drive.
Any guesses what it is? I thought I'd bought a Phaeton, but right now it could be a "B-" with the amount of fibreglass cut out of the cockpit. The idea is to panel in steel between the crossmember at the rear of the gearbox and the cross piece below the roll bar taking this as close to the axle as possible and as low as possible (level with the cross member). I'll then use high density foam to make a seat directly on the floor - there isn't enough room for a separate seat. I'm hoping I will then fit without having to move the pedals as well.
The other main job I have at the moment is a full re-wire (I'll use Dave Adams approach) as it is a complete mess at the moment.
I'm hoping writing this will encourage me to speed up the work as I really want to drive it.

[Paul Sheridan]

That looks to be an interesting task Mark!  A floor mounted pedal box will be an advantage as it will, allow your legs to extend along the floor of the car, instead of having to be bent to push the pedals down.

[Mark Bagnall]

Good point, I'm hoping the existing pedals will be ok but if it is still tight floor mounted pedals could be the easiest way to add a few inches

[James Doulton]

I only discovered that I didn't fit my Legerra when I drove it away and could hardly lift my foot off the clutch because my legs was jammed between the centre console and the steering wheel. It was also a scary moment when I tried to get my size 11's on the brake without operating the accelerator too. I am 'only' 5'10" but the seat would not go back far enough for me. I too had forgotten the basics in my excitement!

You might prefer to follow the Dave Adams scheme for building the body by using plywood sheets that are joined by using fibreglass. That seems to me to be a little easier than using metal, but that might just be that I have the necessary wood working tools and experience.

[Mark Bagnall]

I'm hoping to just re-do the rear part of the cockpit as a relatively strong structure then use fibreglass to join to the existing front. I'm trying to do the minimum to get back on the road as I know from experience how easy it is to get carried away and take forever.

[Mark Bagnall]

I spent most of the weekend tidying the garage (again) so I can actually walk round the Dutton, and see it, so some progress. I'm now practicing with my Mig welder having replaced the rusted wire (it's been sitting for a few years) so hopefully I can avoid blowing too many holes in the chassis.
I found a helpful local stockholder (great name "Christmas stockholders") that are happy to deal with small quantities - so I now have one length - 7.5 metres of 25x25x2 box. This gives plenty to practice with and some left over to actually weld into the Dutton.
The latest plan is to weld 4 lengths of the tube between the lower crossmember and the crossmember between the roll bar the panel that with sheet steel - be interesting to see how much this changes as I work on it.

[James Doulton]

Mark, I've seen a picture of your garage (with the painted floor) but I've not seen one of your car. Do you have one, maybe one from the ebay listing perhaps if you have not been able to take it out yet?

[Mark Bagnall]

Hi James, I've added a couple more pictures to "my photos", I'm trying to work out the best way to use this site.
I'm not doing very well as they haven't uploaded, I'll keep trying.
I loaded a view of the hole where my seat should be at the start of this diary but "load file" is not very accessible for the user as you have to click it - I don't know whether I can add a photo so it can be seen as the diary is read.

[Mark Bagnall]

Hopefully an image will be below this showing a view straight through the seating area where I'm planning the steel paneling.

[James Doulton]

When you add a comment, you can use the second button, next to the LINK button (it says "Image" when you hover over it) then you should be able to include a photo in your reply, you will get a dialogue box and you can just add a picture from your computer. It will add it at the cursor, so make sure that it isn't somewhere random before you insert your picture.

[39wffahpkuy0j]

From the picture it looks like your going to be sitting on the back axle :)
It could make for a bumpy ride.

[Mark Bagnall]

Yeah, but at least I can fit ;)
I'm currently debating how to panel the area as close to the axle and links as possible to maximise cockpit space. I'm hoping to accomplish this without stripping back to the chassis but I'm concerned the standard will not match up to what most people are doing on this site, there are some really tidy cars here!
My intention is to get back on the road avoiding a complete re-build as the running gear seems to be in pretty good condition.

[Paul Sheridan]

This may be stating the obvious, but before you start panelling, remove the shock springs and jack the axle up as far as it will go to give you a datum point to work from.