Thread: Floor in Don Shillady roadster

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THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXERPT FROM A THREAD BY DON SHILLADY:I have been working on this firewall problem for a long time and I think it is finally finished enough to move on to installing the steering column. The problem was that the Bebops trans tunnel was so large and the brake pedal so far to the right that I could not get my foot anywhere convenient for an accelerator pedal so at the risk of ruining the whole 'glass body I cut out the tunnel flush with the upper firewall. That left a gaping inverted U-shaped hole at the bottom of the firewall and I messed around with that many different ways; you don't want to know how many different things I tried to patch that hole! Now I have a 16 gauge stainless steel sheet painted body color on the front of the indented 'glass firewall with a (1/4") aluminum plate in the inside to hang things on. The sandwich firewall is now about (1/2") thick and has a number of stainless bolts holding it together. There is about (1/2") or more between the bottom of the firewall and the R700 transmission housing, but of course if I ever need to remove the transmission I will have to unbolt the lower part of the firewall. There is also a sheet of Aluminum house-gutter flashing painted black bent at an angle around the seam of the firewall and the floor to keep out most of any splashes. Of course that also meant that I had to make a plywood floor but I put inner-tube rubber under the plywood and around the shifter opening. The shiny aluminum plate on the left of the brake pedal is where I will mount a foot-pedal dimmer switch, I really dislike the modern column dimmers and need something for my left foot to do. The conclusion is that with a SBC/R700 driveline there is little need for a transmission hump and I was able to salvage some of the 'glass hump for my new floor which is a lot more like the original Model-A floor. There must be an easier way, but I still don't know where my right foot was supposed to go with the original huge trans hump.