2000FRCZ19

seats are done. i will be refitting them in the car tonight. the foam was shaved down and the top frame was cut down about 4 inches and rewelded.

john roth

I thoroughly enjoy seeing a guy thoroughly enjoying his car......right on

929nitro

I have to admit when I first saw this post I said what is he doing. Now that it has progressed I was wrong this is a fantastic job and I look forward to seeing the completed project. Keep up the great work.

2000FRCZ19

thanks for all the kind words. got the seats back in the car. everything seems to be comming along nicely. next will be mounting them and fine tuning. the door pannels will be next. here are a few pics of the seats in the car. it is very hard to photo the interior of this car to get a real perspective on it all.

400hp427vette

Wow, you are doing great work, i can't wait to see the finished product

BenUK

That is an amazing custom job. Very impressive

starbai

i bought the eckler's dash to replace the one in my 81 vette. I can't stand how it fits. it looks so crappy.

I wish I had the knowledge and expertise to build what you did for that dash. it looks amazing. how far is winter haven from fort lauderdale? maybe I can pay you to make one for me??? lol

SuprJames

Man, I was thinking thiose seats looked horrible, but then I saw the pics of them in the car. PERFECT!!

2000FRCZ19

the craziest part of a build is how off and out of place everything looks when it is out of the car. we had about 4 cardboard templates that were tested for the seats and this one just seemed to work once it was set in place. once it all gets put in and gets fit into place it all seems to come together. its funny how perspective changes from inside a car to the outside of a car. almost nothing in the car is straight or the same from one side to the other. it was that way from the factory. the trans tunnel is offset in the car. the original door pannels were not exactly the same. the kick pannels were not the same from the factory as well and even now. the steering column is way off from the factory. it has an odd angle and the mounts are not level, but once it is all in the car it looks straight and you never notice it. the challenge is to adapt a custom built project around all of these quirks to make them look straight and flow with the entire car. there has been a lot of stuff that when it is out of the car, i scratch my head and think " that just cant be right " but when it goes in it fits perfectly. the seats look much better in person also. for some reason i have yet to be able to photo the texture of the silver and get it to look true to life. i have tried all kinds of lighting conditions and settings. once the paint and the rest of the trim goes in the car it will really start to come together and the impact of the seats will really come out. i am in the wiring phase right now. the guages have all been wired and set up with two sets of quick connects. one for each guage so they can be removed for paint or be replaced should one fail in the future and the other is tied into the harness so i can unplug it and remove the dash from the car without having to disconnect each guage from the dash its self. i will try to get some pics up in the next week or so. i have also mounted all the speakers in the car.

2000FRCZ19

if you decide to jump off into a custom dash i would be more than happy to give you pointers and answer any questions you might have. start off basic and go from there.

kayosnes

bhays

you too? hehe

LIQUIDDRAGON

I got a set from Eckler's a few years ago and they dont fit my car either. after seeing this thread i am also thinking of doing a custom dash BUT like you i wouldnt know where or how to begin i dont want to do the whole dash and i just want to make a custom panel to replace the driver and passanger panels that fit better than the cheap plastic and pleather (plastic leather).

2000FRCZ19

you can do this very easily. take your stock pannels or better yet a well used set from a swap meet. make a mold of them. then lay glass in the mold. then cut the center out of the the new glass pannel, keep the outer section so they will bolt up to the stock center section and top section. make the center any way you want to and lay glass over it all. use filler to get it all smooth. you can paint it or have it covered with leather or pleather of your choice. the up side is a set of well used pannels will be very cheap and if you mess up you can always go back to your stock set.

rebbie23

I've been watching this thread since the beginning,

coming along so nicely!

2000FRCZ19

it has been a little while since i posted pics. i have been working in the engine bay as can be seen in the other thread. the speakers are mounted. i still have to do a little fabricating, a lot of sanding, and some final filler but it is close. i am waiting to do all that when i do the body so it can be done all at once. i also have to build the speaker grills for the woofers and the inlays for the door pannels. once the engine compartment is done all that will be left is the brake lines and finishing the wiring. the dash is wired already and looks very good when all lit up. the new suspension is in the car now also. i had the dash, the new column, steering wheel, seats and kick pannels in the car but my camera was dead so i didnt get pics of it all together but as soon as i get to the wiring i will have it all back in and will post pics. here are some mounted speaker pics. the gaps between the door pannel and the kick pannel will be gone when the inlay is added to the door pannel.

davidm_comp

Looking really good....where did you mount your new fuse panel?

2000FRCZ19

it will be tucked up under the dash on the drivers side. very close to the stock location. i have a relay bar that will be up on the firewall under the dash on the pass side also. i am considering hiding the headlight switches and wiper switches either under the dash or right under the drivers seat where they will be easy to get to but out of sight.

davidm_comp

I was wondering if you were going to mount it in the same place as the stock fuse panel, I am thinking I will mount mine atleast a few inches off the firewall for easy fuse replacement/viewing in future, be sure to take some pics.....pics of the relay bar too...

2000FRCZ19

yes easy access is very important. i want it out of sight but easy to get to and see when i want to. i am thinking close to the stock spot but build an angled mount making it easy to get to and see when looking up under the dash. i will get pics of the relay bar and the wiring set up as it gets closer to the finish.