Low Slung T

[dwsatt21]

T-Test - that’s a neat piece. I have an electronic speedo though.
Gerry - your dash is amazing. I’m certain I don’t have the skills, or tools, to do that with metal. I could do it with fiberglass and bondo probably.
Spanky- the rings would need to be on the front of what I have now. Kind of like what Henry-T suggested. I do like the idea of trim rings. They would give the dash a bit more of a 3 dimensional look. I’m going to look into them but will probably have to bring the main panel out a bit. Currently I’m thinking about curving the face and giving the dash a bit of an upper panel. I don’t imagine I can curve it too much though without running into the fishies not sitting “flat” in there holes. Might leave the center of it flat and curve the just the ends. Hmm.

 

[dwsatt21]

Henry-T something like this will help. Not sure I’ll get the full inch I need but some phone calls should clear that up.

 

[Gerry]

I’m certain I don’t have the skills, or tools, to do that with metal. I could do it with fiberglass and bondo probably.

Yeh you do. Just bend the sheet over your knee so it sits proud of the body by 1 1/4" in the middle. If push comes to shove you could JB weld to glue a filler part on the top of it to close it off.

If you want to get real 'jiggy' you could glass up a mold from that and make your dash from there. This would also give you the opportunity to produce a couple or three and play with them for different combinations of instruments and switches.

Its not that difficult to do, after all most guys on here are happy to glass up stuff, but not a pattern, that can be used a few time to try stuff out.

You have a lot of conceivable skills, dont sell yourself short for a few days extra effort.

Pic of the buck I made for the mold. Its really not that hard and my 'workshop/garage is around 10' x 30' and it has the T in it as well.

 

[old round fart]

Can you drop the speedo down to get clearance

 

[dwsatt21]

ORF - not far enough far it to still be on the panel.

 

[dwsatt21]

Broke out the old template and started some reworking. I spaced out the dash 1/2” by the windshield posts and 1 1/2” at the center. Then curved the face panel around it. Beings that I’m concerned about mounting my gauges on a curved surface adjust the radius of the curve a bit. From the center(1 1/2”) I curved it 1/4” for the first 10”. Then the rest of the the curve, 3/4” from that point to windshield post. This should keep the gauges on an almost flat surface. I’d imagine that won’t even be noticeable.
I think it looks good but I’m definitely going to sit on it a bit before I start making any cuts. No problems getting that speedo in there like this and I like the curved look WAY better than the flat dash.

 

[Gerry]

I did a bit of playing at each end to make a feature of the 'joint' between the dash and the screen brackets. Any little detail will help the transition.

 

[dwsatt21]

Working on that right now Gerry.

 

[HenrysT]

You can keep your curved dash and add rings like what Gerry has to give yourself a flat spot for the gauges. You can even angle the rings a little bit to face the driver. you can curve it more and french the gauges in to get the gauges to sit flat.

I'm planning on grafting a 60' chevy instrument panel onto my dash.

 

[dwsatt21]

Henry T - I think it should be "flat" enough to not noticeable effect the guages. It should on be about 0.1" of change over the width of the gauge. If it doesn't I found some rings and panels to choose from that will solve it.
Thanks everyone for you input. I'll have some pictures after this weekend hopefully.

 

[dwsatt21]

New dash is fabbed you. Just needs the layout finalized and some holes. There is definitely plenty of room for the speedo now. I had to rework the column support a bit but I think it turned out nicely.

 

[Gerry]

.
A little bit of curve adds a lot to the look, I think.

 

[DonnyRay]

Is the instrument cluster from a 1960 chevy impala ?

 

[Spanky]

I think it turned out nicely.

So do I! Nice problem-solving solution. That's hotrodding at its best!

 

[dwsatt21]

Donny Ray - I made it from sheet metal.

 

[choppinczech]

Nice work.

 

[HenrysT]

Is the instrument cluster from a 1960 chevy impala ?

59'-60' Impala, Bel Air. Gone to make a mold of it and cut it in to the dash. I'm extending the body 6" so adding this instrument cluster will move the drivers side dash back about 6" too.

 

[dwsatt21]

Current status. Gauges, pencils, graph paper, calipers and a compass. Getting this placed as perfect as I can so they don’t look all weird. Oh yeah, also waiting for my wife to find out what I’m up too and run me out of the dining room.

 

[AusBucket]

Don't forget the parts in the dish washer!

 

[dwsatt21]

A little bit of wiring today.