Footbox Expansion?

[Xusia]

I haven't seen anyone talk about moving the footbox to get more legroom. Any reason?

[michael everson]

I think there is plenty of leg room. Besides there really isnt a footbox like in the Roadsters.
Mike

[wallace18]

With the big guy tank legroom is very good IMO. Really no easy way too enlarge footbox IMO.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

I am very seriously considering moving the foot box forward.

I am using a Kirkie seat that I modified to move it back further. There is no room for the Boyd tank. Seat is bolted right to the floor to keep my head low enough.

I am 6Ft 280# and this seat position is perfect for me.
My son Michael is 6'3" with longer legs than me. His knees are still bent up in the steering wheel.

If I do it, I will move the frame vertical bar and both master cylinder and all three pedals about 3" forward.
I am also looking a moving the steering wheel forward.
Bob

[C.Plavan]

I thought the LCA's will get in the way. Not much room there.

[Xusia]

My thought was to go over the top of them and basically push the pedal box mount out 3"-4" - I don't think it would interfere with the feet because of the angle they are at when using the pedals. I already plan on shortening the steering column. While I'm apparently an odd duck and prefer a larger gap between the steering wheel and pedals, the steering wheel just sticks out so far that to me it's visually awkward.

I can go custom gas tank route, but moving the pedal box is something I think my Father-in-law and I could do for little more than some time.

[AZPete]

I'm also thinking about moving the steering wheel forward. Either I shorten the U-joint and/or cut the bottom of the steering column. Has anyone tried one of these fixes?

[Xusia]

Check the build threads. I can't recall off hand who shortened the column, but it has been done.

[DruOdil]

Aloha 818 just did it

[Xusia]

So this weekend I, and some experts, took a good look at the pedal box and what it would take to push it out toward the front to get more leg room. Our conclusion is that it's possible, but harder and more complicated than other solutions.

I really want to use the stock seats (they are free & in good shape, they slide to accommodate different height drivers, and they tilt for access behind them - more on that in a bit), so the plan now is to relocate the gas tank completely (which means custom gas tank, of course). This isn't written in stone (I have to get further along in the build to see if this will work), but my plan is to put the gas tank up front, basically where the battery tray is. Capacity should be somewhere between 8 & 9 gallons, which should yield ~250 mile range - good enough for me. This approach has a number of benefits that I see, and I'd love to hear some feedback from all of you smart people:

Should make the weight distribution closer to 50-50 (I'd be putting the battery in the back somewhere, so the actual difference in weight front &. back should be less than 50 pounds vs. "stock").
I had planned to see if I could make the battery space available as front storage, but there were some challenges with that. Putting the gas tank up front leaves a ton of space available behind the seats for both leg room and storage. And having the storage inside the cabin is actually more useful.
This approach simplifies the rear firewall. Rather than the aluminum firewall/gas tank/added-firewall-to-protect-the-gas-tank arrangement (and having to make that one removable), I can just put a permanent one inside on the cockpit side of the frame - one big sheet that I can weld in place. Simple & easy.


Obviously, there are some things that need ironing out (wiring pass through to engine bay, gas cap, etc.), but all the ones I can identify seem very minor by comparison.

Thoughts??

[AZPete]

Go for it. My only suggestion is to mount your rear firewall with rivnuts, rather than welded in, so you can access the front of the engine for belt adjustment and other work. Oh, and search for a beer cooler to fit the new space behind the seats.

[Xusia]

LOL - love the suggestion Pete. I was thinking more along the lines of a proper sub-woofer though! :D

[wleehendrick]

Thoughts??

Great idea, but one thing to consider is that your weight distribution will change more depending on fuel load... losing 60lbs off the front of the already light front end on an empty tank may upset chassis balance. Probably only a real issue for road/endurance racing, though.

[Xusia]

Thanks Lee. I thought about that too, and came to the conclusion that for me I think it's a small issue. It's also another reason I'm fine with a smaller tank. Less volume, means less potential weight variance. And it'll likely never get to less than a few gallons left, so the weight variability of the fuel will be even less.