When things start to come together!
Discussion
Well! ...Stealing that old saying from the 'A' Team - "I like it when a plan comes together!" (oops! shows my age!)
...Must admit I felt chuffed last night after seeing how my dash is shaping up! Especially as I had gone through one of those "MAD" moments and taken a jig-saw to the dash last year...and promptly had a FIT of horror and regret
at what I had done!
Still a way to go, but below shows the top of my dash now - all done by me apart from the cnc cut vent slots...
Pleased? OH Yes! As my wife says..."...Little things!" Do I care? Nope!
Looks off-set but that is an illusion. The Instrument binnical and dash-top wings are contoured 'A-La-Porsche' (which took a long time making and re-making) to be fitted once I have it back from the leather guys doing the stitching!
Can't wait!
Feel free to criticise!
...Must admit I felt chuffed last night after seeing how my dash is shaping up! Especially as I had gone through one of those "MAD" moments and taken a jig-saw to the dash last year...and promptly had a FIT of horror and regret
at what I had done!Still a way to go, but below shows the top of my dash now - all done by me apart from the cnc cut vent slots...
Pleased? OH Yes! As my wife says..."...Little things!" Do I care? Nope!
Looks off-set but that is an illusion. The Instrument binnical and dash-top wings are contoured 'A-La-Porsche' (which took a long time making and re-making) to be fitted once I have it back from the leather guys doing the stitching!
Can't wait!
Feel free to criticise!
Will post some more as aoon as I get my dash binnicle back which should balance everything.
The actual ducting for the vents were hand-made/ moulded and came out better than I had hoped. I have a butterfly arrangement for shutting off the demisters. I employed a Y butterfly form CBS and linked a cable to it. The cable is pushed/pulled and all the heater stuff is controlled by my new panel in the centre console..see below...
..and here is the dash top and binnicle before it was covered....(ignore the dark stains on the MDF cos this was when I had a slight accident - I left the breather disconnected when I stated the engine a few months ago!...still finding oil in places I did not know it could get to - even now!) Stupid me!
The binnicle has been through many iterations, refining, refining, refining... these shots were taken about 6 months ago, and it has changed a bit since then with a shallower depth down the front and filled -sanded-filled-sanded a million times to get it the way I want ready for covering! The whole top is unscrewable to allow access to the instruments from behind if needed.
I will post the finished dash front, (which also has been totally remodelled) in a few weeks time, the final article is anodised black with carbon inserts like the centre-console and supports the indicator cluster.
The actual ducting for the vents were hand-made/ moulded and came out better than I had hoped. I have a butterfly arrangement for shutting off the demisters. I employed a Y butterfly form CBS and linked a cable to it. The cable is pushed/pulled and all the heater stuff is controlled by my new panel in the centre console..see below...
..and here is the dash top and binnicle before it was covered....(ignore the dark stains on the MDF cos this was when I had a slight accident - I left the breather disconnected when I stated the engine a few months ago!...still finding oil in places I did not know it could get to - even now!) Stupid me!
The binnicle has been through many iterations, refining, refining, refining... these shots were taken about 6 months ago, and it has changed a bit since then with a shallower depth down the front and filled -sanded-filled-sanded a million times to get it the way I want ready for covering! The whole top is unscrewable to allow access to the instruments from behind if needed.
I will post the finished dash front, (which also has been totally remodelled) in a few weeks time, the final article is anodised black with carbon inserts like the centre-console and supports the indicator cluster.
Edited by V8 Vum on Tuesday 1st November 11:54
For those of us, including me, who do not have the talent that Keith has displayed here, Vintage Air makes some nice defrost vents. They are straight and about 7 or 8 inchs long out of aluminium. Not as nice as his curved ones, but considerably better looking then useing the round vents supplied by the factory. Lee
What I am doing is a humble attemt to turn my personal vision into something tenable and the joy is managing to try to overcome many of the challenges that my often 'unrealistic' plan threw at me, not, I might add, always successfully - so try something else!
Anyone can do this given some time, a lot of sleep-dreaming, reasonably practical hands and a tenacity to find solutions, so I positively encourage you guys to try, as others have on this forum, and made a better job of it than I!
I am certainly not in the league of the professional who humbly I bow down to everytime I see things like Jon Olsons craftwork!
OK - so to the curved vents - well I tried all sorts that did not bear fruit, so ended up making two aluminium templates in a curved 'U' shape, (using 'Techno-weld' - my secret weapon to solder the two ends together - dead easy if you can't weld) that were close to the ideal - this made the moulds. Then using glass-reinforced filler I spread the moulds with a good layer on the outside. When gone off I prized out the ally to reveal a nice smooth inner - then sanded the outside to an even wall thickness - ham-fisted I know, but it worked nicely! These two vents were slotted and glassed in place through cut holes in the front of the dash tilting them back slightly, then trimmed up.
The ducting is various and suitable diameters of 'weldable' waste-pipe suitably cut, then glassed-in and sprayed black! - absolutely 'made' for the job!!!
The top-side vents are actually porsche 911 side vents - I had to have them once I clocked them on a car parked up one day!
Go on...you know you want to!
Anyone can do this given some time, a lot of sleep-dreaming, reasonably practical hands and a tenacity to find solutions, so I positively encourage you guys to try, as others have on this forum, and made a better job of it than I!
I am certainly not in the league of the professional who humbly I bow down to everytime I see things like Jon Olsons craftwork!
OK - so to the curved vents - well I tried all sorts that did not bear fruit, so ended up making two aluminium templates in a curved 'U' shape, (using 'Techno-weld' - my secret weapon to solder the two ends together - dead easy if you can't weld) that were close to the ideal - this made the moulds. Then using glass-reinforced filler I spread the moulds with a good layer on the outside. When gone off I prized out the ally to reveal a nice smooth inner - then sanded the outside to an even wall thickness - ham-fisted I know, but it worked nicely! These two vents were slotted and glassed in place through cut holes in the front of the dash tilting them back slightly, then trimmed up.
The ducting is various and suitable diameters of 'weldable' waste-pipe suitably cut, then glassed-in and sprayed black! - absolutely 'made' for the job!!!
The top-side vents are actually porsche 911 side vents - I had to have them once I clocked them on a car parked up one day!
Go on...you know you want to!
Edited by V8 Vum on Wednesday 2nd November 08:43
It's really coming together Keith - great job. It's hugely satisfying when you try something new and after a fair amount of head scratching, you start to see the fruits of your labour!
Oh and don't beat yourself up re. Jon, bear in mind that he has a workshop that does the work for him IIRC!
Not long 'til it's on the road now....
Oh and don't beat yourself up re. Jon, bear in mind that he has a workshop that does the work for him IIRC!
Not long 'til it's on the road now....
Mate! I learned a lot, and got my inspiration from all you Guys who had done this sort of thing way before me! - I would have never tacked the build, let alone anything else if I had not spent many nights reading yours and others build diaries! - so in my book, the GONG goes to you and Pete for inspiration and building quality cars!
Cheers
Cheers
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