custom dash project

[ianmayco68]

Well went for it anyway , problem I had was fixing it at the top and the vents but as said above I can make some of those myself that fit the space , was thinking along these lines ,

so first up decided in the end to just cut a piece out ,

next cut the motor mounting plate down and drill a couple of holes ,

then tacked the frame together and that will fit in like this ,

drilled the mounting holes out and fitted some rivnuts ,

so I then had to come up with some way to keep the top fixed , so onto bracket time ,with a few marking out tools ,

a hammer , a vice , a grinder and that small drawing with a few measurements on it we started , first was to mark it out with chalk ,

then we attack it with the grinder ,

and you end up with this ,

then the fun bit , into the vice and bash it with the hammer , stress relief till you end up with this ,

the corners will be welded up and the sides trimmed down , and fitted you end up with this ,

then with it drilled and bolts in ,

it might need trimming at the right side when the vent is made but otherwise I can't see any problems , the legs on top of the bracket will have foam on there to stop vibrations and I'll cut this up ,

and fit the rubbers into the holes to dampen the vibrations , next job is to fit it together and see it run will take a video but not sure how to upload them .

[daveturnbull]

Looking forward to seeing how this all comes together. 

[ianmayco68]

Thank you , it's been a lot of head scratching and brain meltdown try to work out how to do it so you can change the motor if need be without stripping the whole lot down , and I still need to work out how to up load a video for when it goes tis up .

[sgo70]

I've been watching this so I could try to copy your wiper system but I bought the wrong set up (dummy), newer disco linkage so I gave up for now. Ended up just buying a switch with intermittent settings. Looks like a head scratcher but coming along great. I did a full custom dash and it was probably the hardest project I've done on my 110. Probably had it in and out and changing stuff about a hundred times, built it around a Restomod A/C unit, never want to do that again.

All the pictures are great, might have to re-visit this on mine one day.

 

Sean

[ianmayco68]

Thank you sgo70 , no it certainly taxes the grey matter , once I get it all working I’ll measure everything and do some drawings and post them up for everyone else even if they want to do it differently it will give them a start .

[ianmayco68]

Well had a bit of a bad day yesterday , forgot to take some photos , banged my head on the dash more times than I can remember and it was always on a pointy bit cut my finger a couple of times and had a small electrical fire as I wired the motor up wrong , which I have had it running with my test rig loads of times but yesterday it wanted to burn . Still nothing ruined and the motor was fine after made a new test wiring up and had it running , but that didn't go to plan the arm on the motor was catching on the frame and the bulkhead when it was all bolted up just here ,

so after much swearing and foul obscenities I said to the damn motor and called it a day , so tomorrow or Monday depending on my mood as I finished the head lining off today and the carpet came so might fit that tomorrow I shall alter the frame so the motor sits about 10-20mm lower or I could grind the bit of the bulkhead off , It didn't catch the frame before but I didn't have that rubber in between the plate and frame but when the frame was pulled back slightly it ran okay so there is a bright side after all .

[landy_andy]

On 4/16/2020 at 9:35 PM, sgo70 said:

I've been watching this so I could try to copy your wiper system but I bought the wrong set up (dummy), newer disco linkage so I gave up for now. Ended up just buying a switch with intermittent settings. Looks like a head scratcher but coming along great. I did a full custom dash and it was probably the hardest project I've done on my 110. Probably had it in and out and changing stuff about a hundred times, built it around a Restomod A/C unit, never want to do that again.

All the pictures are great, might have to re-visit this on mine one day.

 

Sean

They can get quite involved.... my RHD to LHD conversation using just RHD dash parts... 😉

 

[ianmayco68]

It works yippee, got videos but how do I upload them ? Tried with phone but file to big , could I do it through windows cloud ?

[FridgeFreezer]

5 hours ago, ianmayco68 said:

It works yippee, got videos but how do I upload them ? Tried with phone but file to big , could I do it through windows cloud ?

Create a YouTube account and embed them (literally copy & paste the YT link into a post)

[ianmayco68]

https://youtu.be/Zkcz0MGj5ZY try that .

FINGERS CROSSED .

Edited April 19, 2020 by ianmayco68

[ianmayco68]

Did a few other bits , welded the wiper motor frame back up ,

dressed that off and as the video above got that to work , then tacked the end panel of the dash on to the main bit checked it fit the welded it with a few runs along the edge ,

it got welded together because I need to remove that corner as it fowls the motor and there's really no need to have it removable separate anymore , and finally welded the bottom fixing bolts in the channel , and a cleaned up bracket ,

next step a spot of paint and I'll measure everything up do some drawings and post them up if any bodies interested .

[Badger110]

Jobs a good ‘un 

 

[western]

looks good, runs well, spray some water on the screen then operate the wipers they should get to full wipe travel then without to much strain on the dry blades/screen.

[ianmayco68]

Cheers all so relieved it turned out okay with all the time spent on it , can't make my mind up whether to weld a washer on the linkages between the wiper arms so they're permanent can't see any reason why not but sure a grown up will come along and tell me why I shouldn't  . So more progress , strengthened the dash panel where I'd cut the piece away ,

then after welding the end part of the dash on I cut the bit out where it fouled the motor and had a final fitment check ,

then painted everything .

Next onto the center console , tacked the tabs on that the panels will fix to when finished ,

re-made the hand brake mount and tacked that in position , also fitted some rivnuts to hold the cover plate in position ,

and it looks like this ,

I've been thinking long and hard how to do the bottom of the dash , linking the console to the dash . I've done loads of drawings and today I just went for it and followed where it took me as it evolved , so firstly I made a frame out of 25mm box  , sorry didn't take a pics of that . Next made the driver's side panel , a paper template and various angle finders and rulers where used to get to this stage ,

and that fitted rather nicely ,

at this stage I decided that I needed to tack the frame to the console so I could get final fitment , and after a bit of fettling it came out like this ,

 

next on to the passenger side panel which was a different shape and longer ,

the panels where square and a lot of the final shape was worked out when it was test fitted , and we ended up here ,

I need to make the piece for across the top and tack it all together , sort fitment to the console out and sort the bottom out , the idea is this bit will bolt to the dash and the console so it will be able to be removed in smaller pieces . I can't make up my mind whether to spray it or have it covered in vinyl ? I'm leaning more to the vinyl .

 

[Retroanaconda]

Smart work Ian. I’d cover it all with vinyl, with carpet or rubber inserts in the cubby holes.

[ianmayco68]

Cheers James , that's what I was thinking hadn't thought about rubber on the insert's , still need to put the measurements up for the wiper brackets and such .

[landroversforever]

I think it could look smart done with a combination. Maybe vinyl where you’re more likely to touch it like the tunnel/arm rest so it’s not too cold to the touch. 

[ianmayco68]

Today consisted of just welding it all together and drilling all the holes for the self tappers to hold it , I haven't got a picture but I riveted a piece of angle down the sides of the footwell and used self tappers to screw it to that also made the internal plate ,

have decided to have it covered with vinyl , dark grey and black for the internal plates . The next question do I go with TD5 clocks or fit Puma tdci gauges ,

I've got both but would need to buy a raptor binnacle and surround for the TD5 gauges but would need to buy the box of tricks to get the puma gauges to work so expense wise either is not a problem . But part of me is leaning towards the TD5 ones .

[landroversforever]

Personally the late Td5 is my favourite so I’d vote td5 clocks. But if you need the box of tricks, Pace Automotive is a good chap. 

[daveturnbull]

TD5, for sure. 

I'm sure there is a good reason, but why is the passenger side sticking out more? Looks a bit odd not being symmetrical. 

[ianmayco68]

It’s how the gearbox tunnel is shaped and where the console sits down the ridge of the tunnel , there’s more of the bulkhead to the passengers side than the drivers and if you make it to wide you can’t get the seats in .

[sgo70]

I wrapped part of mine in leather and part will be painted to match the body. Just a heads up, make sure to go over it with body filler or something to make it really smooth as everything will show through. If you can design it keeping in mind how you will wrap it it isn't all that hard. My main speedo panel was a tough one. Still got to do the tops and a few other pieces but needed a break from that for a while. Also use high temp contact cement so you don't have to do it again, I use Helmiprene 4510 neoprene cement but I don't know what is available there.

 

Sean

[ianmayco68]

Looks very nice Sean , I did trim the dash on the 110 , I put 2mm closed cell foam under the vinyl , it covers minor marks and makes it softer to touch but you can't use it every where .

[ianmayco68]

To kill two birds with one stone , first two pics show the fixings for the lower dash sides and just to clear up Dave's point  about it not being symmetrical , driver's side ,

passenger side ,

passenger side is about 20/30mm wider so if I'd made it symmetrical the over hang on the console would have been big and would have probably caused problems fitting the seat so thought the easiest option was to build it as is , also decided to fit TD5 clocks which is what I really wanted to as they're more flexible , so have some puma gauges up for sale if anyone's interested  . So progress first made the center panel fit ,

then bent the top over and made some temp brackets to hold it square on the bulkhead ,

next the dash top bit I showed earlier got cut and dropped on top just to see how it looked ,

I think I'll end up sitting it back further and angling it out to meet the center bit but mat yet use the original dash top , the thinking process ground to a halt there with no clear idea on which way to go so decided to make the vents as the standard one's won't fit and I also want one central pipe from the heater to the center of the dash then y it off too the dash vents and the two demister ones for the side windows . This took much faffing and tried and none working ideas until I found some 50mm tube I'd got for another job then things became a little clearer , firstly I flattened the tube then cut it at an angle ,

then welded a 50mm bit onto the back and viola ,

you can see the test top part on the table in the back ground , this piece had the front cut off at the required length and welded onto the front , and I bent a couple of 20mm strips round and tacked two bits in the middle ,

they ended up looking like this , I only tacked them on as I need to assemble the dash and test fit them ,

I need to weld a bit of flat onto the front when I've test fitted them to close them up  and to secure them to the bulkhead as the won't fit as the originals I thought two u shaped bits welded on the ends with a captive nut or 2 of the ones used on the floors or the wings , out of curiosity has anyone changed the screws that hold the dash top on for something that's easier to fit and remove ? Because they're the biggest PIA to fit and remove because the windscreen stops you getting any purchase on the screws resulting in rounding the screws out , any thought's gents ? 

[landroversforever]

57 minutes ago, ianmayco68 said:

I need to weld a bit of flat onto the front when I've test fitted them to close them up  and to secure them to the bulkhead as the won't fit as the originals I thought two u shaped bits welded on the ends with a captive nut or 2 of the ones used on the floors or the wings , out of curiosity has anyone changed the screws that hold the dash top on for something that's easier to fit and remove ? Because they're the biggest PIA to fit and remove because the windscreen stops you getting any purchase on the screws resulting in rounding the screws out , any thought's gents ? 

I found the best thing on them if they were too tight was a little ratchet with the screw driver bit in it.