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I was just wondering what is a common scuttle height for a 442E. I am making my own and do not have my nose cone yet(I am getting one from kinetic)? I have been looking on the forums and from what I can gather 10" is about normal. I plan to make mine from steel and aluminum. Any info would be appreciated.

I made mine 11" at the front and 11.5" at the dash FWIW as I also don't have my nose yet.

10-1/2" at the leading edge with a bit of rise toward the cockpit. I have a book chassis and Kinetic nose.

Consider your intended instruments and required knee space when determining the height of the scuttle. Especially if you are using the donor cluster. If you have to hang anything from the inside of the scuttle, such as a wiper motor, Consider the strength of your building materials.

I would advise not making the scuttle until you have the nose, otherwise you might not have a good continuous line from the dash side through the hood on to the nose. This line, while not perfectly smooth, should be as smooth as possible when viewed from the side. Also, your hood height might be dictated by the engine.

As I recall, the book scuttle is flat in the middle. I made mine with a bit of a curve which helps with strength and helps keep the hood from flexing. But I also made my own hood/nose, so I could do it any way I wanted. My frame is 4" wider down the middle and might be a couple inches longer than book (I should know that.) The frame is +1" in the cockpit and the scuttle is another +1" so the top of my scuttle is about 2 inches higher than the book design.

John

I don't agree with the Idea that only a straight line from the nose to the dash looks good. The others can look good IMHO.

I'm with photoman on this one and, as Locost_Johnh pointed out, although the "book" scuttle is flat across the top, the Lotus and Caterham cars were curved...as are most of the noses out there. I, too, would suggest obtaining the nose first. That way, you can also use the string-line method of ensuring the scuttle is high enough to be sure your hood will fit over the engine...

Actually, I agree with you. A straight line is not the only line that can look good, but having all three components, hood, scuttle and nose will make it much more likely to have a finished result which looks good. I don't think you can do this by the numbers very well. I think you need to do it by eye, looking at it from various angles, tilting the nose slightly and adjusting the transitions to your liking. Of course, what looks good to one person might not look so good to someone else.

Now that’s a statement I definitely can agree with and I was, and am concerned with the look of my shuttle as I made mine without the nose and just going from dimensions.