Custom Dash Build

[ZohanIsBack]

Hey all, gonna need your advice for this next part.

I finished the bondo sanding as much as I could. At this point, I've redone several parts and built up several more. The time it takes to lay the bondo and sand can be pretty long, and the only thing left is little pits. Since I am covering the whole thing in fiberglass resin first (remember, I used urethane foam), I decided to call if good. If nothing else, fiberglass won't lay into pits that are only 1/5 - 1/2 mm deep and a couple square mm, and detailed sanding to perfection has to be saved for the fiberglass anyway, since they'll be a million little pits on the surface.

So what I finished doing is prepping it to put back in the car, threw it back in, and then I started tackling the issue that the dash is ultimately too low to cover the window seal. I took clamps, clipped them onto the cowl panel receivers just below the outside of the window seal. Because they are the squeeze clamps, one handle actually sticks up. I then used laundry pins to clip the fabric onto the clamp handles. It raises the fabric above the window seal line, so when I got the fiberglass dash, you'll have a nice place where the glass drops below the dash -- no window seal shown at all.

Here's what I need your advice on: Does it look OK? I think the angles work nicely together, I just wanted a second opinion before I seal its fate (literally, ha!).

[psdenno]

Nice job! Looks like you achieved matching the look of the Mazda dash as intended. With it in place in the car, how's the view of the instrument pod from the driver's seat?

Dennis

[Captain_Zeros]

Looks pretty good, I can't tell if it's the angle or the lighting, but this area looks noticeably wavy to me and draws my eye

[ZohanIsBack]

Psdenno:

The view is pretty good actually. The dash needs to be shifted down by about 1/4 inch to give the gauge cluster a better view. I also might slightly modify the way the bottom dash rolls into the gauge cluster so that there is a little more vertical room on the cluster. But at the moment, if you were sitting back against the seat you would have a nice view right into the cluster. If you leaned forward the steering wheel would block the top third.

Captain_Zeros:

Good eyes. I was planning on just going ahead and leaving that low spot, then just adding fiberglass to each dash I pull, but the more I thought about your comment, the more I realized a little work now saves a lot of work later. Good perspective, thanks for that!

And NOW, onto the updates. I did three lay-ups with the fiberglass on the fabric to give three layers, then added more here and there to fill in where the fabric sagged from the weight of the resin. After that, I started applying resin over the entire dash in preparation for making a glass smooth surface for pulling the mold. So far so good, and by this weekend I hope to have a mold pulled from the original dash. By next weekend we might have a pulled dash, and hopefully a week later I can start upholstering it as a prototype. Will keep you guys updated!

Fixing a couple spots:

Fabric with resin plus one layer fiberglass.

Two layers fiberglass

Dash removed in prep for final resin coat

[ZohanIsBack]

3 layers of fiberglass plus fill where there were low spots. Dash will be cut back on top about 2 inches. It will provide full concealment of window glass lower seal.

Two thick coats of resin over the entire dash in prep for popping a mold off the plug.

[hr369]

Thanks! Yeah I want people to really see how the dash is coming together and how I did it. These dashes are pretty hard to turn out compared to other car parts. Many intricate corners and curves, but I welcome ideas on how to do it better and design ideas. One guy on HybridZ says I should add a passenger handle like the Lambos. Definitely something I'll consider once I have the mold and can turn out dashes to modify.

On that note, for any fiberglass buffs, I'm making a three gauge pod cluster just like the 370z above the center dash. Should I incorporate it into my plug and mold, or just make it once I pop a dash out of the mold?

Thanks!

You might ask this guy over on ratsun about the 3 gauge pod.

he added one to the top of his fiberglass datsun truck dash.

Custom 720 dash - 720 - Ratsun Forums