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 !

Brake Light Switch

I took a look at the pedal box today with a view to fitting the brake light switch. While I was at it I also took the opportunity to "persuade" the pedals in a vice to give me a bit more clearance for my size 9's. The brake light switch mounts on a bracket supplied by GD which bolts onto the face of the pedal box and holds it in position against the brake pedal itself. This gave me an idea for the circuit I'm putting together to control the reverse lockout solenoid. I've posted about it here "click". I'm planning to use a second brake light switch mounted against the clutch pedal to make the reverse lockout circuit "live" when both the brake pedal and clutch pedal are depressed. The theory being you'll only want to put the gearbox into reverse whilst you've got your foot on the brake and the clutch depressed. This also gives me a circuit to control the neutral safety switch which I'm going to wire so the clutch has to be depressed before the engine will start. Hopefully this will help avoid any mishaps which might occur trying to start the engine in gear ! Anyway, I made bracket, the same as the GD one, to hold a second brake light switch for the clutch pedal. Just got to get a second switch now and we should be away!



One area that give's me a little concern is that when placing the brackets on the front face of the pedal box I didn't look to see what clearance I had behind. Where the holes come through doesn't really leave enough room to fit the nut and washer on behind. I had a feeling this might be the case after drilling the pilot holes so I made the final hole a little smaller than needed for the bolts to pass straight through and cut a thread into the pedal box instead. It all bolted up nicely and seems OK I'm just not 100% sure on the strength of cutting a thread into cast aluminium. I guess time will tell!

Access Panels to Footwell Compartments

With hindsight, I'm probably better using standard M5 bolts than button heads to secure the access panels. With all the rubbish thrown up under the wheel arches once on the road, bolts with a standard hex head will be a lot easier to remove using a socket/spanner than button heads with an Allen key. I'll add some bolts to my shopping list and change them over at a later date.
I've also chosen to secure the panels at the corners, it's crossed my mind whether these would have been better secured half way along the edges to pull the panel tighter against the bulkhead, I guess time will tell...

Fitting the Heater - 20:20 hindsight

With a bit of hindsight (there might be a few of these) a better way of fitting the heater would be to make a template of the heater face before drilling any holes and perhaps include an outline of the outside edge, place the template into position on the footwell side and then decide where you'd like the holes to be. Mark these on the template and then transfer these onto the heater face as marks where to drill the holes. Within reason and obviously taking care to avoid the heater matrix, the bolts should then be in a perfect position to enable easy fitment.