Today I completed construction of the dashboard blank. I made it from one of the bonnet side panels which I am replacing as they are full of holes in the wrong places. And I thought it would be cool to incorporate at least some of the old panelwork! As it is over 40 years old it comes with a pre-patinated finish which I think I might leave.
Difficult to see from the picture but I formed a radius on the lower edge using a mould and a small rubber hammer. And there is a 20x20mm re-inforcing angle running the entire width at the top.
The plan was to use some s/h Smiths gauges but as they are almost as expensive s/h as new nowadays so I think I will buy some new ones. Just water temp and fuel level are all I intend to use.
Now comes a question for anyone who still looks at this forum. I have several toggle switches to mount on the left in the blank area, and several indicator lights to mount on the right in front of the steering wheel. Should they be in a horizontal line, or should they follow the line of the scuttle top and slope upwards? Hmmm...
dashboard2 by
Robin Martin, on Flickr