[Shawn Asseln]

bomo,
That is the correct wat to make a support but do not forget to leave a air space underneith the stringer and to build up your glass a tiny bit at a time. I suggest folding cardboard into teepees and laying your wood on that and then start with one layer of a half ounce matting tabbed onto the wood in about three inch intervals and let that cure for one to two days, then come back and fill in your open areas the same way. Do that twice over and you will have a support that will not fail. The strength is not in the wood but in the glass laminate. One thing I have also done is vasalined up a garden hose and laminated over it then pulled the hose out and keep going like that to make support ribs on panel trucks and such. The host is flexable so it will pull out of slight curves and budy shapes. But even then I do not advise any laminate or such on large flat areas.

[johnny 1986]

Corvette Adhesive is a good choice. There are 2 types, one is for the old fiberglass cars. The other is for the later model "SMC" type glass.

[Madd Syntst]

Hey Johnny, you learn something new every day. I did not know that Corvettes changed the hglass compound. I admit it makes sense, but just didn't know. Thanx for the intell update.

[rpaulsen]

I don't want to mislead you, and I see a lot of people here wouldn't agree with me, but I had to bond a fiberglass skin to a steel frame on a 1972 Javelin AMX cowl induction hood many years ago. I used a product called PL400 from a hardware store. It costs under $2.00 for a standard caulking tube. I had the car for 11 years, and it held fast and never printed through.

[awsum34]

Mar10, Is your car already painted? Reason i ask, some two part bondo's or fiberglassing the wood in. you might get hot spots through the paint. Sometimes when you sit back and look you can see where the heat from the bondo or fiberglass faded the apint alittle.
Just something to think about

[pasadenahotrod]

Not knowing the quality of your bucket-T body makes the answer to your question a little tricky.
My bucket (built in 1969) is an old Cal Auto body with the outrigger stubs at the back. Needless to say it wasn't top of the line but at that time it was the only line!The body was reinforced using strips of marine plywood glassed to the body from the cowl down the side, across the back, and down the other side about every 4 inches. Then 1/4 plywood was cut and screwed to the uprights and cut even with the top ledge. This was done since the interior was stapled and nailed to this plywood. Where the bed bolted on it has reinforcement blocks. You can't see any evidence of the structure from the outside. That's my car.
A friend of mine built many a bucket-T with total wood structure then decided to try something different. Now this will only work if you have a quality thick body with no doors. He used a length of 3/8 rebar, yes rebar, bent to fit from the midway point in height down both sides and around the back. The bar is mounted in a bed of waterproof body filler then totally encapsulated.
It was done over 25 years ago and thousands of miles with no failures or distortions in the body skin. The body has a 3/4 inch marine plywood floor glassed in and....a firewall inside of the same dimensions. A piece of oak was carved to fit up in the cowl behind the dash and under the windshield frame. It is also mounted in a bed of waterproof body filler. This stiffens the cowl and if done properly eliminates the common cowl droop under the windshield area of buckets. I used a piece of 1" conduit massaged to fit with a rather large hammer to correct the problem on my 1969 body. Held it in place with a small jack and 2x4 struts. Worked great!
Also, when using stock type windshield posts which use exposed fasteners, use the stainless jacketed small bumper bolts in the orginal square holes rather than commmon carriage bolts. You'll have to file the holes just a bit bigger but they'll look so much better. Inside where the fasteners pass thru the body install pads of 1/8" aluminum or sheet metal on a bed of filler to spread the tension. No cracks in my body after this was done. Also, after mountingyour posts and windshield for the "final fit", sand down the glass and build up the cowl to post area so it fits the posts nice and tight.
More to come.

[pasadenahotrod]

As far as the interior goes the absolute best thing to do is make an insert which will take care of the side panels and back rest in one piece. This is made from a sheet or two of wood paneling. Make your patterns from posterboard and transfer to the paneling. Won't hurt to cut it just a little oversize in the bottom and top vertical dimensions so you can trim for a perfect fit! You'll have make multiple grooves(saw kerfs) in the paneling to make the corners. Try on some scrapto get the technique. You'll have to make this in at least 2 pieces, maybe three. Then staple and glue them together. Once the insert surround is made and fitted you can make up the ledge and glass to the insert. The ledge can be madeof waterproof cardboard (doorpanel material). It should extend just to the outside edge of the body lip. Your upholstery roll will attach to the ledge and cover the edge of the body. A mounting pin or bolt should be inserted in the ledge about 6 inches back from the dash and a hole drilled in thebody lip for the pin to drop into. Now you need to mount a seat riser so you can determine your seating position and construct your lower cushion. The seat riser is simply a piece of wood mounted across the body at the forward edge of the cushion. It's height is determined by your comfort level for seat bottom angle. You can buy a reproduction seat spring for a T roadster and use it as your seat bottom or build it from layered foam. I like springs, my old car has cut down school bus seat cushion in it. Besure to cut several airholes in the plywood seat bottom so you don't blow the upholstery apart the first time you sit on it! Now it's off to the upholstery shop, all they need is the body and the insert with your cushion unless you've opted for them to build the cushion. A properly constructed insert will drop in the front, seat on the the pin and slide down in back for a snug and absolutely cannot be recognized as insert. The upholstered cushion is then installed and that completes your interior once you have had your carpet cut and bound. Velcro pads are perfect for holding the carpet in place and for eeasy removal. The beauty and convenience of an insert are instantly realized the first time you are caught in foul weather. You can remove the interior to your motel room so it stays dry or if on the road it can be set out in the sun to dry when you get home Plus, if you repaint the car, zap, it's out and no overspray or mess.
I know, I'm a long-winded old soul...I gotta take a nap.

[pasadenahotrod]

Sorry, one more thing just crossed my mind that I might mention before I forget it. Always design and build your bucket so that you sit IN IT rather than ON IT like a roller skate. A correctly built seat and proper steering column angle make the road a very pleasant place to be for lots of miles. Oh, and think about using a toeboard in your interior. What's a toeboard, you ask? It's a board which mounts between the firewall and the floorboard at an angle comfortable for you to put your feet on. The slopey part of the floor where you accelarator pedal is on your modern car or truck.
Of course, all the padding in world can't overcome a poorly designed suspension and chassis so mind your Ps and Qs there, too!
NAPTIME!

[rpaulsen]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Shawn Asseln [B]bomo,
....I suggest folding cardboard into teepees and laying your wood on that and then start with one layer of a half ounce matting tabbed onto the wood in about three inch intervals and let that cure for one to two days, then come back and fill in your open areas the same way.... The strength is not in the wood but in the glass laminate....

Something similar I have read about, but not tried myself, is to make the stringers from 1/2" to 1" urethane foam, that is available in 4x8 sheets from building supply stores. NOTE: It MUST be urethane foam, NOT the crumbly white styrofoam which will melt as soon as the resin touches it! The foam will conform to moderately curved surfaces, and is easy to carve to fit any surface shape. The edges must be tapered so there are no sharp corners where the glass or mat meets the original panel. Strength is not an issue because the strength is in the laminate, not in the wood, similar to adding stiffening beads to sheetmetal.

[roys63]

MAN This is a Year old thread! And Boat-life 5200 sealant- adhesive works real good for this and steel to steel or what ever!

[04cad]

Many moons ago there was a magazine called Rod Action. This mag had a do it yourself article monthly concerning building your own T bucket. In it they described using Bondo to glue the interior wood strips to the fiberglass body. I used that method on my T bucket and it worked perfectly and did not show through to the outside of the body. Also Mike Atchison did my interior and utilized a school bus seat bottom, cut down to the proper size to improve the ride immensely. Once covered in the black hyde, it looked great and rode so much better than the foam covered plywood used by many. Traded my bucket for a 65 Malibu SS 327 convertible (the bucket wouldn't haul me, the missus, and my two girls).