Sadly the dream has ended

[Mick Scarborough]

I finally got to sit in a 33 Hotrod. Admittedly its not complete but the seat are in and the pedals are in. The leg room and the foot box is insufficient for my size. Even with the minor adjustments you can make to improve leg room and widen the foot box, there's no way I could comfortably or safely drive this car. In a panic stop situation the chance of not getting my foot on the brake pedal firmly and quickly is too great to risk my or others safety. The 33 if for smaller people for sure. I will be popping in from time to time to see peoples builds since is such a great looking car but for me, the dream must come to an end.

[RoadRacer]

I'm curious Mick, how tall are you and what's your inside leg?

[GoDadGo]

I'm curious too; what seats does the car have?

A set of Kirkeys can give you a couple of inches of leg room and a little "Gangsta Lean" can help too.

http://www.jegs.com/p/Kirkey/Kirkey-...32804/10002/-1

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performan...70227/10002/-1

Don't Give Up On The Dream Just Yet!

[Mick Scarborough]

I am 6-02 with a 36" inseam. Size 13 shoes. The seats are what came from FFR according to the owner. I wasnt even close to what I would consider safe foot room.

[NAZ]

I moved my pedals 4" forward. Yes, lots of fabricating but it can be done. Don't give up on the dream. When faced with a challenge try to visualize a way to overcome it. Everyday of my build is a series of challenges and opportunities to design my way around problems. If you don't have the tools, experience, or skill there are people out there that specialize in solving problems.

I fabricated a new lower firewall section for the driver's side so I could move my pedals forward. This may be what you tall guys need to fit those long legs in that small cockpit of a 33 Hot Rod.

[edwardb]

People your size fit. As others said, don't give up yet. Additional suggestions from my side: Don't overlook the shoes you're wearing. It's surprising how much they can vary and be your size. Certain running shoes or even actual racing shoes might really help. There are options for pedal sizes and pedal positions. You looked at one build. There are lots more, and likely none are quite the same. When all else fails, maybe consider automatic and lose one of the pedals? That's another option some have chosen.

[GoDadGo]

I am 6-02 with a 36" inseam. Size 13 shoes. The seats are what came from FFR according to the owner. I wasnt even close to what I would consider safe foot room.

Mick,

The last two years we went to "Cruising The Emerald Coast" to see if my brother would fit in anything that Factory Five offered.
He is 6'4" with a 36" inseam and size 15 shoe and my MK-4 won't work with the Big &Tall Seats nor did he fit well in the 33; however, he did fit in the new Type-65 (Daytona) pretty well.
Have you thought about possibly flying to Warhem to see if you would be comfortable in that car?
It is truly the best of what Factory Five Racing has to offer.

Steve

PS: You can see the land strider stepping in and out of my MK-4's engine bay, with the back of the car jacked up pretty high, when we installed the driveline last fall.

https://youtu.be/3f1Q4aS5SG4

[myjones]

I finally got to sit in a 33 Hotrod. Admittedly its not complete but the seat are in and the pedals are in. The leg room and the foot box is insufficient for my size. Even with the minor adjustments you can make to improve leg room and widen the foot box, there's no way I could comfortably or safely drive this car. In a panic stop situation the chance of not getting my foot on the brake pedal firmly and quickly is too great to risk my or others safety. The 33 if for smaller people for sure. I will be popping in from time to time to see peoples builds since is such a great looking car but for me, the dream must come to an end.

Mick
All the tips above are about legroom but as you said, foot room is a real concern as well. I'm not in the Wookie category so no big feet
here but even with my small feet the 33 is really tight on pedal space. I'm also running an Auto tranny so I don't even have a clutch
pedal in the mix. FF has just come up with a 33 pickup that will be shown at SEMA this year and it is a taller cab from what I see so far.
It is on the same 33 chassis as far as I know right now so 2 things come to mind.

The F_B placement of the engine<> the bellhousing is the primary cause of the foot space constraint. Stick or auto doesn't matter at
this point because it's the diameter of the flywheel or flexplate that takes the room that close to the engine. You could look at different
engine families to find the smallest dia flywheel/narrowest block to help this a bit. One other approach would be to use an LS corvette
driveline like Glenn did. That pushes the TC to the back and has a much smaller TQ tube at the engine.
The tradeoff for foot room here is using the vette transaxle so lots of fabrication, and the TC is right at your elbow so lots of heat
and cramped space at the back of the seat.
The other option is that Jim Schenck suggested a minor change to the chassis to make slightly more foot room on the clutch pedal
side. I'll ask him about that and the truck foot well space when I'm there next month. If you like the HR truck look it may be your
answer.
Dale
7 litre Hemi 33

[wareaglescott]

Im 6'3 with a 36" inseam and size 13 also. Shoe selection makes a huge difference. I have a pair of puma driving shoes that are comfortable but very contoured around my feet. I can actuate all the pedals just fine wearing them. Sometimes when I am working on the car in my running shoes I will climb in to move it and can barely drive the thing. Cant keep my big feet off the brake/gas at the same time with the bigger shoes. A couple times I have wanted to just drive up and down the street to check something and forgot I had the wrong shoes on. After pulling out of the driveway I have immediately stopped, turned off the car, got out and went inside to get the proper shoes. It makes that much of a difference.
Also as others have said seat selection and how you mount them makes a big difference as well. I sat in numerous roadsters I felt there was no way I could drive before I started building mine. The difference in one purpose built for a tall guy is night and day. Getting in and out can be a little tight but I have plenty of room once I am in and have the proper shoes on. Dont give up based on sitting in one car that wasn't made for someone your size.

[wallace18]

A automatic in the 33 make for more foot room.

[DaveS53]

A real '33 would have more leg room. Moving the engine back reduces the cabin room. All cars from the thirties are very narrow on the inside and have limited foot room. They usually have a 2" diameter steering shaft housing that also creates problems. I used an automatic in my '37, and the braking is done with the left foot, with a brake pedal that's on the left side of the steering column.

A steer-clear device can be helpful when trying to get more foot room.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Steer-...nish,6254.html

I've never liked the Wilwood pedal setup, with the master cylinders under the dash. IMO, brake lines and brake fluid should not be in the cabin area.

I have seen an FFR '33 built with the typical under floor master cylinder, vacuum booster and pedal setup, but I would think that ground clearance might be an issue. Placing the booster and MC in the engine compartment is also possible.

[erlihemi]

The foot room can be engineered and corrected with some effort. I'm still trying to get my little size 10, 3 pedal arrangement the way I want it. Running an older 3 speed automatic with small bell should be acceptable with taking some inches off the tunnel. I have not heard anyone mention moving the engine over an inch? or forward? When I started out I mocked up 3 trannys and 3 engines ( but not 9 times..)to get what I thought I wanted for a manual trans with room for the clutch pedal. This weekend I wore the wrong shoes on a test run and promptly stalled the car on a fast maneuver. Failed safe, but still frustrating. I think with a combination of tweaks to the front aluminum, and tranny tunnel, an automatic would work fine. You may end up with a C4/TH350 to do it, but with the correct gear ratios it will be fine. If you can get over having overdrive and shrink the tranny the foot box aluminum going forward is easy. Headers may cost you power steering if not thought out well. The whole tunnel needs to go to the right all the way back past the seat to the waterfall. Try to get 2" at the front and 1" beside the seat at the top of the drive shaft hoop. The point is it can happen. Mostly time fabbing pieces up.
How about just moving the masters over and running them on the clutch pedal side? If you buy the Wilwood for a manual set up and run the automatic you have foot room. to extend leg room run bigger masters to shorten the stroke and move the box forward, cut the roof like I did and get a telescoping column. Put E brake on tunnel and move switches closer onto the tunnel Yep there is some work, but its achievable.

[erlihemi]

btw... one of the first issues with the tunnel is the mustang cable style clutch fork. An internal slave gains a lot of room on the tko. I had to run an external slave, but I moved it in tight and shortened the clutch fork a little. I have to drop the back of the tranny to adjust it, but its set now. The cable clutch is also an issue with moving the foot box. Tillotson makes a nice clutch pedal assembly for the "NAZ" approach. moving the engine a little forward will not hurt balance significantly as long as mounts stay behind the upper control arm. one inch forward with a small bell makes a lot of difference. The Quick time bells are tight. I have my tunnel so tight that one bolt rubs the insulation on throttle. I originally was going with a foot brace next to the clutch to slide off, but, that was too tight. (4th pedal) so I moved it forward for cruising. I cut the corners off the bottom of the pedals. My larger brother ran the car Sunday with his ballet shoes on and no complaints. Keep in mind that 75% of the drivers weight goes on the rear axle so a large driver can compensate for a forward engine position. If you have a small passenger maybe the engine can offset to the right a little. Again, My biggest problem is with the Simpson Harness on I cannot reach the E brake and head light switch as originally positioned. I auto cross with the Kirkey a little forward and tilted down in front. Roll control on the shifter is nice, but not the same as that E-brake back up. No one over six foot can drive it like that so I relieved the roof and moved the roll bar up. That gained huge leg room. I am only a 33 inseam so I don't need all the adjustment for normal driving, but long trips I will lay the kirkey back to avoid blood clots...

[myjones]

btw. so I relieved the roof and moved the roll bar up. ..

Notice how casually he said that. Keep in mind this guy still plays with the dinosaur Hemi's so he does like a challenge.

With a little fabrication you can make the car what YOU want it to be.
DB