DaleMX Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 The dashboard weighed in at 28 lbs. That is with the aftermarket speedo and tach, and minus the glovebox interior. The car is a 78 280Z. I checked it several times by weighing myself (with clothes and shoes) at 172.5. Then holding the dash I came in at 200.5. The scale is always within a pound of the doc's so it's accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Yeh, heavy eh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 For my track car I'm actually considering taking a Dash cover (I've got three or four laying around!) and glassing in some aluminum bracing to stiffen it, resin and matting, and the required tabs so it will bolt into factory locations. I'll also glass in the brackets for the autometer gages. Might actually start on that this weekend. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 ^^ Post pics when done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corzette Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 Mikelly, I had thought about doing that in the past! Good idea! Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleMX Posted November 2, 2005 Author Share Posted November 2, 2005 That's a great idea! Keep us informed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudypoochris Posted November 3, 2005 Share Posted November 3, 2005 How are you going to get the cap to adhere to the aluminum? Bolts? Adhesive (i think this would fail unless you know of an adhesive i don't). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted November 3, 2005 Share Posted November 3, 2005 I was in the shop yesterday for a little bit and this is pretty much gonna work... What I plan to do is use matting and resin to strengthen the underside of the dash, and then I'll epoxy the tabs for the mounts in place. I'm also going to use the black metal panel that bolts in between the firewall and the factory dash as my stiffener. I'm going to rivet it to the dash cap and weld tabs to the cross bar on my roll cage so everything will bolt in. I'll take pics as I go. Might start on this the coming weekend. I think this will be an easy mod... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buZy Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 What about the PDK fiberglass dash? http://www.pdkfabrication.bravepages.com/Dash.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 Absolutely nothing wrong with it. I've got a couple dash caps sitting around, low on cash right now, and have some free time... That is the only reason I'm thinking about doing this... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 I say go for it. I also have a dash cap lying around and I have to remove the dash anyway this week to put my new gauges in. Maybe i will just remove the dash like I did in the ghetto beast... NAH Keep us update thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj paul Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 yes i have my dash out right now and would definately like to see how yours turns out. i have a cap on the original that i could use. i was also suprised by how heavy it was and was thinking about going with the pdk one but would really not like to spend the money. im going with after market gauges. autometer autolite. good luck with the project, we are eager to see how it turns out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 I just mixed up some resin and layed some matting on the underside of the cap. I'll see how it stiffens it up with that first, and go from there. Since I have nothing under the dash except for a cross brace on the cage, I have no worries for intereferance... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 Great idea. For those without any cage bars in the dash area, I'd look at putting a horizontal brace bar in to help stiffen the body and then attaching the dash to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 I'll take some pics later and post them for my application. However, I only used two layers of chopped matt (About 3mm each) with some resin and I placed it over 3/4 of the horizontal surface of the dash and it stiffened it right up. I'm going to lay out my gages and then bend some brackets that will need to be glassed into place and then of course the tabs need to be glassed in and tabs welded to the cage for bottom mounting. I'm also going to make a glass closeout panel where the heater and radio woud be. I don't plan to use a stadard console for the car, So I'll moch something upt here as well... What was really amazing was how stuff the cover became. I couldn't hold the dash cover from one end without it twisting and falling over due to the lack of support. By just adding those couple layers of matting to 2/3rds-3/4 of the top surface, the cover is now very rigid and only the areas without matting are flexible. This is gonna work. The only challenge now will be laying in the bracketry and placing the tabs on the cage. I'll post pics later today or tomorrow maybe. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatMan Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 What was really amazing was how stuff the cover became. I couldn't hold the dash cover from one end without it twisting and falling over due to the lack of support. By just adding those couple layers of matting to 2/3rds-3/4 of the top surface' date=' the cover is now very rigid and only the areas without matting are flexible. This is gonna work. The only challenge now will be laying in the bracketry and placing the tabs on the cage.Mike[/quote'] Yes, it's crazy how much a little fiberglass will stiffen a flopping part. I think I can say that we are all hoping your experiment will work out well. Then we all have something serious to ponder with looking for weight to take out! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 It's setting up right now... Mixed a bunch of resin this morning and finished stiffening the other "floppy areas, and added some matting around the heater/ stereo opening. I also made a flat panel I'm going to trim and hopefully place in that opening... We'll see. My only concern is that the inside of the dash cap was smooth and doesn't give much to grip from the matting/ resin. This might not be sufficient for day in, day out street car duty. Another alternative would be spray foam inside the areas around the underside fo the dash. We'll see... Just waiting for it to kick... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 73TPIZ Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 For my track car I'm actually considering taking a Dash cover (I've got three or four laying around!) and glassing in some aluminum bracing to stiffen it' date=' resin and matting, and the required tabs so it will bolt into factory locations. I'll also glass in the brackets for the autometer gages. Might actually start on that this weekend. Mike[/quote'] Hey Mike, i'd thought of doing something similar but i'd thought of doing a lightweight wire/bracket type subframe that bolts to the bulkhead and houses all of my gauges and holds the AC/radio plate (streetcar version for me) and then use the full size cover that would just lay over it and be held with quick release fasteners (dzus or similar) so it can be removed to gain access to wiring and gauges in a matter of seconds. I'd love to see pics of your setup when you're done. Take Care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Pix of the glassing (Rough for now... some of the resin is still tacky...) of the dash can be seen in my weblink. Go to the New Zcar Project folder. I went ahead and placed it in the car to see how it would look now with some stiffness to it, and it looks good. I'm gonna make a Lowes run for some paint for the house, and I'll check on bracketry material while I'm there, and get some more resin and matting from the autoparts store, as I think the resin I used is bad... Stuff is taking an awefull long time to kick... been almost 18 hours... It was a pretty hot batch too... Oh, in one pic you can see me holding up the dash cap with ONE finger... It is still VERY light, yet very stiff... You'll notice the cutouts on the ends to clear my cage and gussets. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peej410 Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 wow 28lbs!!! for a few months people have been telling me my dash design was too heavy. but the whole thing weighs in at about 15 lbs i love the idea of using the stock dash, i like your cage too with one exception, i think it may be pertinent to add a bar that goes from the main hoop to the shock tower straight back. in a heavy forward colission the rear X brace would see loads that i would stress the tubes in a way that could cause the main hoop to actually move back. just a thought, keep up the good work though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.