Under dash trays

I did a bit more work on the under dash trays and the multitude of wiring in this area. The ECU is mounted and I've cut the holes for and fitted the heater vents which direct hot air to the footwell. This all took a lot longer than I'd planned as I had to try several different positions in order to gain enough clearance behind the dash for the back of the instruments. I think I've got it sorted now and can begin to permanently fix the Mast wiring loom and the additional wiring I've put in for heated seats, 12v power outlet, neutral safety switch etc.



Another trial fit of the dash and somewhere to put it out of harms way. I couldn't finish the wiring for the dash loom and the modifications I'd made as I'd run out of a few bits and pieces and being bank holiday, it will be a few days before I can get them. Fingers crossed, the big switch on will be next weekend.

More carpet

Stuck a bit more carpet in today, I still need to finish along the bottom edge so have only stuck the top half at the moment. I've got cables running along the bottom and the carpet needs trimming around the area where the harness eye bolts go through the floor. I'll sort these areas out first and then stick the rest of the carpet down. There's only the floor mats to do now. The rear one is held in by the seat and the front one ia held in with carpet fasteners.

Dash Finished

Well, the plan was to do a Dash Leather part 2, part 3 etc. but I just got carried away so we'll jump straight to Dash finished. After I'd temporarily fitted the gauges, I stuck the leather tabs down on the rear of the dash and cut out the holes for the warning lights and switches using a punch. I didn't have a punch of exactly the right size but I found that because the leather had some give in it and to a point was stretchy, I could use a punch a little smaller and gently ease the warning lights and switches through the slightly smaller hole.



It all went together relatively easy so it was onto the piping around the aperture for the steering column and then along the top edge. The piping looks a little odd in the pictures but I left it a little high along the top edge so that when the dash is in position it folds down nicely.



One area which gave me a little to think about was the lucas switches which came with either a round fixing ring or a hexagonal nut like fixing ring. I've seen other builds which had the rings all matching so I set off on a mission to find either more hexagonal nuts or round rings so they all looked the same. The solution was relatively straightforward in the end and I bought a couple of spare round fixing rings from SVC but at £5.50 each I was a little taken aback ! Anyway, it's done now and I'm glad I bit my lip and pressed ahead as it looks much better with them all being the same.



So onto my chosen layout, I've basically put all the gauges which I consider to be the most important along the right hand edge of the triangle so they're easier for the driver to see, oil pressure, water temperature and fuel.



I hadn't stopped to think whether there was a standard layout for the gauges and found that when I fitted the dash loom on the rear some of the wires needed a little help to reach their intended position. With the integration of the standalone Mast wiring loom I'm using for the engine management, I had to make some slight alterations and put some extra wires in for ignition, rev counter, malfunction indicator light (MIL) and water temperature which I'm driving from the Mast ECU rather than a straightforward sender.
I also had to put an extra earth wire in for some modifications I've made to the windscreen wiper circuit which now has an intermittent wipe feature. It looks like a dogs dinner at the moment and I may try and tidy it up but I need to test it first so I'll wait to find out if it all works before I mess with it anymore. It is all very secure though and I've lost count of the number of zip ties I've used to hold it all in place.



In addition to the wiring, the loom also needs a voltage stabiliser fitted which regualtes the voltage down to 10v for some of the instruments which takes out inaccuracies caused by the fluctuating voltage of the main loom caused by the alternator cutting in and out as required to charge the battery. I bolted the regulator across the fixing brackets used to secure two of the small gauges.



Got a bit of work to do to the wiring in the car which connects into the dash loom and steering column switches, ignition, indicator stalks etc. then I should be in a position to connect it all together, connect the battery and give it a test.

More carpets

Finished sticking the carpet down on the transmission tunnel, this is now stuck all the way along the top and down both sides. The only tricky bit I had was cutting out for the gearstick. First I marked the edges of the hole with chalk and then by pressing the carpet down, it transferred the chalk line and left a mark where to cut.



Cut out and stuck down



Followed a similar method for marking out around the extended footwell.



And then just because I'm starting to trip over things and needed to get them out of the way I loosely placed the seats in and mounted the dash and the moment I did, I instantly had two little helpers ! Still it's gives a great idea of how it's going to look and I must admit, after they'd gone I did have a little sit in it myself :-)

Carpets

I've finished extending the wiring for the heated seats, which will run under the carpet so it was time to glue the first piece in. This lies along the transmission tunnel from the rear right up to the front bulkhead and under where the dash will mount. The support bar which runs across the car between the windscreen legs bolts down onto the transmission tunnel so I needed to make some holes for the bolts to pass through. In order to mark them accurately I cut down a couple of bolts and cut a slot in the end so I could fix them with a screwdriver into some jacknuts I'd previously fitted as securing points.



Leaving them a little proud and placing the carpet over the top allowed me to make an indentation in the underside of the carpet by tapping the area lightly with a wooden mallet.



A hole was then made using a punch and after a little double/triple checking, the carpet was glued down.



I used a plastic spreader (hotel room key card) to spread the glue over the two surfaces which gave a good even coverage and worked really well. Once the carpet was stuck in, I could put the support bars back and bolt it down using some washers as spacers between it and the carpet.

Dash Leather pt 1.

After I'd let the glue set I turned my attention to the ends which needed to have small V section cut into the edge to allow it to curve around the corner. It was a bit fiddly especially the the very last end piece which needs to tuck back and overlap itself but it worked out OK. There was also a little trimming required where the leather overlapped some of the holes for the gauges.



Next step was to cut some holes and fit the gauges. I must admit this was one of those jobs where I was just going to do one and see what it looked like. From the rear, I divided the holes into 16th's and using a Stanley knife carefully cut through the leather stopping about 5mm from the edge of the hole. I should've known better especially after reading other accounts of this part of the build, once you start, you just can't stop yourself



For the time being I haven't glued the tabs down on the rear yet, I wanted to see how the leather sat before I decided how much tension to put into it. In the pictures, I've just pushed the gauges through the holes, I haven't pulled on the tabs at all and it looks about right so I'll try and stick them down as they are. I'm using Evostick time bond which gives you a few chances to get it right before committing yourself, that's perfect for me !

Bit more dash

I'm waiting on some wiring to extend the heated seat loom before I start on the carpets. Meanwhile I've pressed ahead with the dash. I started off by placing the dash blank on the foam, drawing round it allowing for a little extra to wrap around the edges and then cutting it out. With hindsight, I feel than sticking the foam to the dash first and cutting it out after would have been easier. The reason being that the foam stretches and after I'd cut it out I realised that it wasn't exactly straight when I drew round the blank so after I'd cut it out it was slightly banana shaped and royal pain in the proverbial to line up with the dash afterwards, especially once I'd covered both pieces in evostick and the magnetic like attraction this stuff seems to have towards anything within reach. Got myself in a right old state !





Anyway, once the foam was stuck on I cut out the holes for the various gauges and switches. I found it left a neater hole by cutting the holes out from the back rather than the front. I think the main reason for this is that the foam has a net like covering on the side which is stuck to the dash and cutting through this first, from the back, seemed to give a firmer surface to cut against so providing a cleaner cut. After that, I pressed on and stuck the leather on as well. The leather is only glued around the edge on the reverse side so it can stretch across the face. You can see a vertical line left in the middle of the dash which is ironically, where I hung the leather over a coat hanger to get rid of any creases ! Two hours later as I type this, the line has all but disappeared and is coincidently right through the middle of the area I need to cut out for the gauges so there's plenty of opportunity to pull this area tight if need be. Not the most enjoyable part of the build for me but quite pleased how it's turning out so far. Next step will be to finish the ends which I've chosen to leave until the rest of the glue has dried, then I have to cut out the holes in the leather for the switches and gauges etc.

With the sun setting and a picture taken at an angle, it's never going to look worse than this. All in all I'm quite pleased... and relieved !