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MG MGB Technical - fiberglass dash face

Has anyone here had experience with a fiberglass dash?
My 79 has a corner of the dash that was cut with snips at one time. I was thinking about a fiberglass dash face to bond to the original. Anyone heard of one that either looks original or custom? If not, I may try my hand at making one. Since this B is a donor with no chance of restoration due to damage, "original" is not a consideration.
kids1

kids1,
Yes and no.
I have had experience with a fibreglass dash but not in a 'B.

Not difficult to do and any fibreglass place like a boat repair place will be able to sell you all you need and most likely will be able to give advice for free as well concerning earthing the instruments etc.

The way I did it was to use the original dash as a template.
Coat with wax at least four times otherwise you will glass the two together and build in as many strengthening ribs as possible if it is structural.
I was doing a Mini dash for a rally Mini and used the original "centre dash" instrument panel and then widened the glass one to fit the extra instruments.
The original was untouched and returned to the owner of the car.

HTH, Cheers, Pete.
Peter Thomas

Why not just weld a repair to your existing dash? Even if you don't have a welder, you could make the piece and have someone weld it in for you. A little grinding to clean it up and you're back in business.

However, if you're going for a custom dash and maybe a custom radio console and center console, fiberglass is definately the way to go. Its light, easily shaped, and fairly durable. You may want to consider molding in some steel reinforcement across the bottom of the dash. Road vibration may cause it to chatter and bounce if its not tied into the dash support as the original. And a fiberglass skin over the original will probably interfere with the mounting of your guages.
Jeff.


Jeff Schlemmer

I've done EXTENSIVE building of dashboards in mgb's out of fiberglass. The dash in my car took 7 weeks to build -- working on it at least 3-5 hours a day, 7 days a week. Was it a miserably long job? yes. Was it worth it? TOTALLY.

Take a look

http://photos.yahoo.com/bmanetd and the folder "mgb v8-dashboard

It's not *completely* done in those pics, but you can get a good idea of what it's going to be when it's done.

Justin
justin

This is something that I've also had swimming in
my brain for a long while.

I'm not "up" on my fiberglassing skills, and I've
already got enough projects to last me well into
my social security years - but I've congealed
just a few of my own dash ideas in order to
share with much braver folks out there.

I'm 5'8", and when I'm seated comfortably in my
'71 B/GT, the steering wheel interferes with my
view of: the Temp and Fuel guages, the Alt and Ign
lights, and turn signal indicators. Brake warning
light? Air & Heater controls? Forget them, too.

I'm convinced that whoever designed the OEM
dash must've had X-ray vision because the only
things I can see on the dash without having to
crane my neck are the Tach, Oil, Speedo, and
the Choke Pull. That's it.

I've not sketched anything down on paper - but my
design would be similar to many dashes that are
found on many contemporary car of today.

The use of the original steel dash (or the steel
backing used on the Abington Pillow) would be
eliminated altogether.

My new dash would be built as 3 separate
modules. A guage pod. A tall center pillar, where
all switches, heater, radio, and (maybe) a vent are
housed. A glove box pod (or open shelf).

I also think that making 3 smaller molds - each
roughly equal in size to a large magazine - would
be less daunting than having to build a single
large mold. Also, uprating any section of the dash
can be done without affecting the entire dash.

Besides being able to view all guages, lights and
switches - one of my other priorities is to be able to
conveniently remove each module from the car for
servicing using a Phillips screwdriver or Allen
wrench. Frankly, I loathe having to lay on my back
and stuff myself deep inside a leg well, in order to
change a guage bulb, or access a speedo cable,
or fiddle with the wiper mechanism.

My 2¢.
Daniel Wong

Daniel, brilliant ideas. I'm sure a few of us will incorporate them in our cars when the laundry list of "to-do's" is getting low.

Justin, what is the chance that you created a negative mold of your dash to reproduce it? There may very well be a market for such an item. And those of us who are contemplating the task may rather part with our hard earned dough to purchase something that cool rather than create our own.
Jeff.

Jeff Schlemmer

Thanks everyone. I think I may cut a template from cardboard or posterboard and draw the guages to test fit things. I want to give it an old and simple look. Maybe something like the older Minis with the speedo in the middle. The right side would probably be just a tray like the older VWs had under their dash.
I cannot use the original and just weld it since it has the foam face which has been cut apart, probably with tin snips, to get a switch out.

Justin, great dash build job!!
Daniel, those are some great ideas!
kids1

Daniel, some great ideas there.
Has anyone had a look at David Vizard's book "How to modify your Mini" (ISBN: 0912656476) on the Mini upgrades and tuning?

There is an excellent section there on reinforcing the Mini dash holding panel and boxing it into three (I think) sections which sounds similar to Daniel Wong's ideas.
Well worth a look.
Cheers, Pete.
Peter Thomas

Hi Kids1,

FWIW I had a conversation recently with an "Old-Timer type Hot Rodder".... He showed me an instrument panel he was starting to build for one of his cars. He was using plexiglass and intended to paint the back of it the color he wanted...in this case black. Holes were cut in the glass to fit the guages into. It may be something you would want to consider. Depending on the thickness used, I would assume that plexiglass could be bent slightly to fit a slight bend in the car body if required for attachment. It could also be built in sections if required.

I may try this tactic myself on my 67B ... just another option for you to consider !!!

Cheers
Moe

Justin,
Very nice idea and execution. Did you make a mold off of the this one? I ask because it might be a design several others would like a copy of.

Danny's suggestions, especially about breaking the dash up into modules, seems like a very good idea as well.

The easiest dash I ever had to work on was in a 71 Nissan (Datsun) 510. It broke out into about 3-4 modules and made access behind the dash pretty easy and simple. As I recall, you could just about pull the whole dash simply by removing a few screws accessible from the front side. FWIW
Bob Muenchausen

I didn't make a mold, but I could take it to a mold making place, and have one made pretty easily. I'd have to make a few revisions to the drivers side area where the big gauges are, but it wouldn't take too much work. The center gauges are all in one removeable panel, and come out rather easily. A couple molex plugs attach everything, and can be easily unplugged when the panel is loosened up, and everything comes out nice and neat. The glove box is hinged on the far outside edge, and actually swings towards the far right side of the car, as opposed to opening from top to bottom. This allowed me to get the curvature I wanted without huge gaping holes around the glove box. On the far left side of the dash will be a "start" button recessed into the fiberglass (from a honda s2000), and in the center console above the radio will be modernized heater controls which WILL attach to the existing heater matrix. (Just haven't gotten that far yet.) The whole dash will be covered in a very cream colored vinyl, and anything that you see as "wood" right now, will be covered in a florentine burlwood. (Like you see in lots of nice upscale cars) I've also built completely new door panels that match the lines of the dash, I just haven't done all the finish sanding, and fitting of them. When it's all done, it will be hard to distinguish the design qualities of my cockpit with those of many modern day sports cars.

I've already stuck a fuel injected v8 in the car, an aggressive stereo, and have IRS that will be going in the car this winter, so why not update the cockpit too? If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right!

Justin

e-mail: Justin(at)jjgraphics.com
Justin

NOT to carry the arguement of safety any farther but.. you guys that think of this as a great idea may want to think about the problems with insurance in the event of an accident. If there are injuries or (heaven forbid) death, safety components (or the lack of) such as padded dash may be questioned. Just a thought.
kids1

Kids,
I doubt it is any more of a problem insurance wise than any hot rod or customs. To pad the dash would not be a huge problem, particularly if it were moulded to a skin of vinyl or ABS or a skin pulled and fastened over some urethane foam. You do raise a valid point about safety vs. style.
Bob Muenchausen

This thread was discussed between 15/10/2003 and 20/10/2003

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