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I planned where I wanted the cigarette lighter (could have been a dummy ignition switch or a choke cable, etc but I use the sat nav a lot so this was the first choice) and the eight dummy switches. You could make use of them but I prefer the Z3 ones hidden from view.
After making sure the panel fitted properly I covered it in 6mm foam. You may be wondering why I cut a strip out of it. This was to make the switches fit properly. If they were mounted through the leatherette and the foam they would either flop about if you did not tighten them or pull the leatherette in too much and crimp as you do the nut up.
Here's a top tip, If you are not removing your polished wood steering wheel and do not want it getting damaged, just slip on a steering wheel cover to protect it till you are finished.
As you can see here I bolted the gauges pod I had (from a ford I think, came from a car boot £8 with gauges as the seller said a couple did not work) to the plate. It’s starting to take shape.
This is with the plate bolted to the dashboard. I will post a photo of them in the day light, they look much better than in the flash light. I have to tidy the edges and clean but you get the idea.
I have tons of ideas to share with you all yet but be patient as I have to work around customers builds and there's only so many days in a week and no cloning machines on ebay!
I keep getting asked to do customers interiors but really do not have the time thats why I'm showing you what I'm doing to my Kalifornia so you can have a go.
More soon
Perhaps its time to team up with a trim shop who could offer a "standard" trim option for the SWB. That would allow you do what you are best at , body fitting, paint prep, paint and final finish.
Just a thought, as you seem to be very busy!
The guys who did my interior but the frame and centre console, secret flap etc. They mainly seem to do luxury coaches, camper vans etc. Seem happy to be creative and their trimming and leather work is good. Based near Andover.
Ken Fernando [email]klfautomotive@btconnect.com[/email]
Looks good.
I'm fiddling about with dashboard changes on mine. Not as much change as yours but hopefully enough to make a difference.
I've only done the passengers side air vent so far, but an MX5 eyeball can be persuaded to fit in the original Z3 frame, keeping the flap closing slide. I'll put some pictures on my thread tomorrow when the mastic hardens.
The inertia reel seat belts are the next part to replace otherwise you get a lump in the carpet or material behind the seats. I have replaced these with a set of fixed MG midget ones for £24 but I can sell the Z3 one on ebay for more. As I'm the only one going to drive the car, once they are adjusted they are good to use.
Going further you could incorporate an Android tablet into the dash running OBD2 data interogation app and displaying analogue style gauges - I can see there are OBD2 apps on the Android store. You could then design any number of custom gauge styles/layouts you wanted and could change them on a whim....
The Torque OBD2 dashboard for Android does allow you to create custom dashboards - could be fun!
Seller in Derby (or is that China, looking at the location on the feedback??). I wish this could be clarified by Ebay. I bought something a while ago advertised in a similar manner and it was indeed in UK (couldn't have even flown here from China in the time it arrived!). It puts a question mark on a lot of goods though.
Some good advice for any driver with nine or more points in the ad too, if you can read Chinenglish:
...it helps new driver of less experience to control the speed to avoid overspeed in some speed limit road section, but also it makes the driver read the data rapidly without transforming vision and keep the best watch state soberly...
Maybe, but the stock could be with his friend in uk? as I found when I bought an item........ I had been informed by a previous buyer that this appeared to be the case, otherwise I wouldn't have ordered. It does make purchasing a bit murky at times. I always check (as much as I can) because the overseas sellers often put their location as London or Birmingham, but when you look further.....
