Yet another custom dash
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 274
Likes: 0
From: Fairview TX
Yet another custom dash
My vett is taking a back seat to kids/wife/way too much work... but have made some progress on my dash the last couple of months. Still need to put in the kick panels (which I'm debating on making body color OR brushed aluminum).
Anyway, the dash is fiberglass of course and houses a MyChron display (no recording on this unit so it's not a "Data Aquisition" unit). We run the smaller version of these with D/A on our karts so this was a natural choice for me.
The dash is painted with base/clear which turned out very nice. I didn't clean up most of the dust, but when clean the dash and console (vinyl covered) look better together than they do in the pics. In the pics the dust makes the console look almost grey.
I will probably also powder coat the cup holders black as, at least at this piont, they stick out like a sore thumb.
The car has keyless ignition so at some point I am going to rework the column w/o the key and replace the cruise stalk with a plain one.
Took it for a spin tonight and no squeaks or rattles.
Anyway, the dash is fiberglass of course and houses a MyChron display (no recording on this unit so it's not a "Data Aquisition" unit). We run the smaller version of these with D/A on our karts so this was a natural choice for me.
The dash is painted with base/clear which turned out very nice. I didn't clean up most of the dust, but when clean the dash and console (vinyl covered) look better together than they do in the pics. In the pics the dust makes the console look almost grey.
I will probably also powder coat the cup holders black as, at least at this piont, they stick out like a sore thumb.
The car has keyless ignition so at some point I am going to rework the column w/o the key and replace the cruise stalk with a plain one.
Took it for a spin tonight and no squeaks or rattles.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
Wow the craftsmanship is amazing and I can see the dash is very well thought out and everything came together very nice. Great work.
I do have a concern though, with the glossy finish of the dash. I wrapped my dash in a leather, which doesn't have very much of a sheen to it...yet in the sun when driving the glare off of the dash into the windshield is horrible. From all directions, it creates a huge reflection of my dash right in my line of site. It's bad with leather...so I suspect you'll get the same effect with a glossy dash pad.
Not harping on you...just be careful because bad glare can be a safety hazard.
I do have a concern though, with the glossy finish of the dash. I wrapped my dash in a leather, which doesn't have very much of a sheen to it...yet in the sun when driving the glare off of the dash into the windshield is horrible. From all directions, it creates a huge reflection of my dash right in my line of site. It's bad with leather...so I suspect you'll get the same effect with a glossy dash pad.
Not harping on you...just be careful because bad glare can be a safety hazard.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 274
Likes: 0
From: Fairview TX
Appologies for the not great pics. Wife and one daughter are in Paris with the real camera.
On the glossy finish... The dash is quite high on the driver's side and angled where, for me at least, the top of it is eyesight level. OK, not a good explanation, but I can't really see the top of the dash when sitting in the car so I figured reflections should be a non-issue. Of course if I'm wrong, it won't be the first time.
On the glossy finish... The dash is quite high on the driver's side and angled where, for me at least, the top of it is eyesight level. OK, not a good explanation, but I can't really see the top of the dash when sitting in the car so I figured reflections should be a non-issue. Of course if I'm wrong, it won't be the first time.
Racer
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 289
Likes: 0
From: Spokane WA
This looks really nice. The digital display fits the design very nicely. I would like to see some clear photos as well. I suspect that these really don't show off the quality of your work. I want to second DB's words of caution. Its not necessarily a direct glare off of your dash that you have to worry about but a relection off of the dash and then the windsheild back at you. Post some more pics when you get a chance.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 5,485
Likes: 7
From: Peekskill NY
Appologies for the not great pics. Wife and one daughter are in Paris with the real camera.
On the glossy finish... The dash is quite high on the driver's side and angled where, for me at least, the top of it is eyesight level. OK, not a good explanation, but I can't really see the top of the dash when sitting in the car so I figured reflections should be a non-issue. Of course if I'm wrong, it won't be the first time.
On the glossy finish... The dash is quite high on the driver's side and angled where, for me at least, the top of it is eyesight level. OK, not a good explanation, but I can't really see the top of the dash when sitting in the car so I figured reflections should be a non-issue. Of course if I'm wrong, it won't be the first time.
Glenn
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