Dashboards

[Donnie]

Still seeking the perfect dashboard. Aluminum that is thin enough to cut is too flimsy. Anybody found an acceptable medium? 

[IamScotticus]

I have been thinking of options for my refresh.  Replacement of the plastic rocker switches with short Lucas type toggles. Doing so will free up room for an AFR meter, or cigarette lighter.  This led me to the conclusion that I will need a panel that will support more weight.  I am exploring the idea of having a flat panel cut from thick aluminum and attaching it to the frame tubes with metal screws or rivnuts.

I suppose a wood panel wood work.  It wood be more english.

Edited September 30 by IamScotticus

[toldfield]

Many years ago I built two panels for my Cessna 140.  It wasn't that difficult with a couple of the correct size chassis punches, a small shear, and files and such.  The most difficult part was rolling the bottom of the panel under 90 degrees for a small lip.  I had the local junior college metal shop do the bend, they did the radius to sharp and I got to make another panel.  I am by no stretch of the imagination a craftsman, but it came out very well.

 

Today there are a number of online resources that will help you design a panel and then they will cut the panel that you design.

 

Tom

[MV8]

Donnie, band saw for the rough cut and belt sander to smooth and radius the outside edge; piloted hole saws, uni-bit and files for openings. If no forming and it will be protected or covered with paint or vinyl, consider .050" 6061T6. If polished and some bending, 3003H14 in .063 or .080. Alclad is another option. Would a 2x4 sheet be long enough? Cost is about $50 from aircraft spruce. They may sell small sample packs to get a better idea of what you want.

Edited September 30 by MV8
grammar

[Donnie]

Thanks for the input. Will consider options and share.

[Marek]

Sheets of carbon-kevlar are widely available as well.  The advantage is the material is prefinished.  So you only need to drill holes for switches, gauges, and mounting.

[BirkinBernie]

I made the dash for my Birkin from .063 aluminum.  I cut the instrument openings using a circle cutter on a drill press.  For a finish, I used black wrinkle paint.  The wrinkle paint wanted to be put on really thick so it was applied with the panel laying flat.  The application of a little heat made it wrinkle nicely.  

 

A trick I used to develop the layout was to scan the faces of the instruments, print them full size, and cut them out.  I could then sit in the driver's seat (accompanied by appropriate vroom-vroom noises - the car hadn't run yet!) and move the dials around the blank dash with tape until I could see them well and liked the layout, along with figuring out switch locations.  That is how I ended up with the smaller temp and oil pressure gauges in front of the steering wheel.  I discovered that I could not see the tach or speedo when placed there, but I could see the smaller gauges.  At the time I had access to a 36 inch wide plotter at work.  So I took measurements from the taped layout, transferred them to a computer drawing program and printed out a template that I used to locate the holes on the aluminum.  This was 24 years ago so there is likely some better whiz-bang way to do it today....

 

I picked up a cheap Harbor Freight pneumatic metal shear to cut the aluminum and it worked just fine.  (Has your significant other figured out yet that Seven ownership is just an excuse to buy tools?)  The .063 aluminum is plenty strong, easy to work with and readily available from onlinemetals.com. 

 

Hope some of this is helpful!  Some things have changed since the pics were taken, but the idea is there.

 

Happy Motoring!

 

[Donnie]

Interesting. Love the wrinkle paint finish. Thanks.

[11Budlite]

I'm presently building a dash for my son's Exocet. I agree with MV8's recommendation as far as Aluminum grades. I'm using 6061 for the relatively flat pieces and 3003 for any pieces that require bending/forming. I've been using .050" sheets and found them to be stiff enough if supported properly. I don't have a sheet metal brake so have had to utilize a vise and some angle iron for bending flanges. A pain in the neck but works okay. I use carbide tip hole saws in a drill press and at the correct RPM with lube they cut really nice leaving no rough edges. Clecos, rivnuts, step drills, also make the job easier. I also bought a shrinker/stretcher to play with and it's pretty handy. I had originally bent a 30" flange in 6061 and had a slight curvature along the length of the flange. A couple minutes with the shrinker and it was perfectly straight. Once it's all done it'll be finished in wrinkle black like BirkinBernie's dash.

[Donnie]

On 9/30/2024 at 7:42 PM, Donnie said:

Interesting. Love the wrinkle paint finish. Thanks.

Used the wrinkle finish over masonite. Worked great. Easy to cut with jig saw.

[IamScotticus]

Why is a dashboard called a dashboard?

On an aircraft its an instrument panel. 

[Dave W]

The dashboard is a carryover from coaches, most of the body builders for early cars evolved from horse drawn wooden wagons and coaches.