New Dashboard

[almyland]

On my Fuel niggle tread Donnie asked if I would up-load an image of my new dashboad and here it is along with the before, oh my god what have I done! and the after. There remains the issue of the best way to fill in the blank at the left hand end of the panel; a problem that impacts most Ital based cars, probably some of the Marinas too. The dash is made from a formica like faced MDF board sold in my case by Europa Spares; not cheap but quite robust and easily worked with standard hand tools. The circles wre cut by the only special tool I bought which was a cool bit of kit from Screwfix and cost around £30 but does save a vast amount of filing and cuts seriously prcise holes. The board also responds very well to jigsaw attack when fitted with a fine blade - special downward cutting blades are not necessary. The job is one for the stout hearted 'cause in my case the old dash and the replacement new one were absolute buggers to remove and re-fit. Still it's done now and I'me very happy with the end result - a much cleaner looking dash. On a design note, I took a digital photo of the old dash imported it into Photoshop. Then I cut out each of the gauges, switches and lights and assigned each one to an individual layer. I also assigned a photo of the new dash panel material to a layer. I then erased part of this photo so that it covered superimposed)only the area of the old dash. This meant that I could move each gauge around until I found a layout that I was happy with and would prove ergonomically satisfactry. I could then look at an image that was exactly like how the dash would look when installed - no nasty suprises! It also gave me a good idea of how the various connections on the wiring loom were going or not going to reach the gauges, switches or lights in their new locations. Well worth the effort if you have access to suitable software and expertise, well not much expertise required 'cause I can do it!!!

Hope this rant will prove helpful to some of you Marlineers and if you'd like any more info I'd be delighted to help.

Cheers Alan

[macdonald.dm]

Re: New Dashboard

Thanks, Alan.

No wonder you're chuffed! Very clean, unfussy layout, on a very attractive panel.

So, quite a few wires to sort out then...

[b_caswell]

Re: New Dashboard

Dont forget to put the steering wheel back!

[donsayers]

Re: New Dashboard

I made an entire dash out of gash plywood as a trial fit, managed to iron out a lot of potential problems and mistakes before I put saw to expensive wood.
I was lucky in that I could veneer my own ply and thus make a huge saving. For the finish I used 12 coats of marine varnish rubbed back right at the end with wet and dry. If I were doing it again I would do that part before I cut out all the holes and cut it to shape. I had a band saw to go at, but a downward cutting jigsaw is a must otherwise you will lift the verneer and tear it.
I don't have a gap at the ends of my dash and mine is a Marina based car, why does yours have?

Don

[almyland]

Re: New Dashboard

Hi Don

Sounds like you did it the traditional way; it took me long enough using a modern material. As to why there is a gap at the end of the panel - good question; it was there when I bought the car and the mounting approach used by whoever built her looked sound so I reused it. I do know of others that have a sloping panel that seems to overcome the gap issue. However, I'm now having heaps of fun trying to mold a fibregalss insert to plug the gap. I'll probably just paint it red to match the car. I did try an insert made from the same material as the dash but it just didn't look right.

Any chance of a photo of your dash?

Happy days.

Cheers Alan

[donsayers]

Re: New Dashboard

Oh it took me long enough: Two years and a Divorce i seem to remember...

Photos to follow

[donsayers]

Re: New Dashboard

Right I hope the pictures attach ok. The glovebox is constructed of the thinnest ply I could find, glued at the corners with epoxy and covered in a single layer of glass fibre tissue. The inside is lined with self adhesive black plastic foam. The glovebox was modelled in card first as it has few right angles in it. The back of the glovebox bolts to the angle iron at the back of the scuttle serving to brace the dash.
Red button centre; starts engine, red button far left; air horns. There is a normal, polite horn on the Marina sourced wand.
The binnacle was moulded in fibreglass on a male mould and the visible face verneered to match the dash. The binnacle screws to the marina wand switch gear and does not actually touch the dash.
The dash board is mounted on 30mm aluminium spacers, bolted to the lip of the scuttle with stainless dome head allen screws. The dash fits around the steering column with a slot extending upwards to the top of the dash, this is almost totally obscured by the binnacle.

Don

[amalgamated users from prior forum]

Re: New Dashboard

Message originally posted by: Don Sayers (&Wee Beastie)
Cont: It is possible to remove the dash quite easily, (this was one of the areas sorted out with the gash plywood mock up.) First the glove box is removed, three plugs uncouple all the electrics and with the screws removed there is enough clearance to push the passenger side forwards towards the front of the car and from that point the dash drops out, The steering column remains in place.

The three other toggle switches are set back into the dash in turned aluminium cups for neatness.

The only niggle I have is that I couldnt find chromed hinges for the glovebox door. Don

[almyland]

Re: New Dashboard

Looks very good Don and thanks for adding all the design points and ideas. I think I might have taken a slightly different approach with my dash had I seen how your made yours before I set out. However, I hope the two approaches may help others tackle the task of refreshing the cockpit of their Marlins with a nice new dash. Thanks also for the photos.

Cheers Alan

[keith_h]

Re: New Dashboard

Mine is Sierra based. I don't know if this is standard practice but I fitted all the instruments and wired them up so that the whole dash looks like a Sierra instrument panel, terminating in a Sierra instrument panel socket. I just plugged the loom into it and all was well.