Custom fiberglass dash build...

[kittay]

Looks really sweet! Can't wait to see it back in the car

 

[IceMan526]

I do quite a bit of fiberglassing myself so I know all the time and work you have put into this project. Ive never done anything that big but I know it is very time consuming and takes a lot of patience and a WHOLE LOT OF HARD WORK! Good work man cant wait to see it with a guide coat.

 

[Semprini]

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used to have the same bike




until some piece of shit stole it

 

[Noogabox]

nice work bro, cant wait ti see it when its done. good skills bro, acually inspires me, because im taking a old AMD 2.2 gig dell i have and installing into my car with a 8 inch touch panel display but dont know were to mount the screen, so hmmmmm, give me an idea myself.

Well actually I already did the whole in dash install of a computer and its alot more difficult than you think. Prepare to liquid cool it and pu the radiator and liquid pump in your trunk or else the computer wont last 5 minutes during the summer. Microsoft Talon: Original Setup Carputer

I since fried my ATI card and descided to replace the board with somthing different, Hence the Xbox

Microsoft Talon: 8 inch lcd frame fiberglassed
8 inch frame fiberglassed to replace old 7 in smaller screen

Now the car has been turbocharged and I am using xbox 360 Elite that will be installed in the car either in the dash or I will use the void space for a fold out controller rack and keyboard. This project is at upgradecar.blogspot.com Right now and installation will begin soon.
I have a thermaltake Liquid cooling system. The Xbox 360 was just painted w26 frost white the new eclipse color. Here is the paint section w26paint.blogspot.com

 

[assault187]

Lookin good so far, Cant wait to see this thing completed. The center section kinda reminds me of the 3000gt or the 350z setup.

I think I may have to whip up some resin and whoop out my skillzzz on somthing in my car, gonna wait untill the new top goes on, new carpet goes in and the Pioneer avic d-3 finds its home in my dash 1st. Should be in about a month or 2 at most.

 

[Noogabox]

OK guys for the record yes it does weight the dash down BUT it will compensate for it in sound reduction within the cabin. I am pulling all the HVAC vents off the underside of the dash and coating it with a noise dampener so when I install the dash, any creaks or noises at all should be greatly reduced. If you are concerned with weight, taking out the rear and door panels will be most effective and convenient.


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MORE UPDATES: Finsihed up most of the gauge pods. Also worked on the center console some more... Sorry most the pics were done at the evening..

Here is a pic of the cover I made for my monitor. This was made using sheet metal that mimicked the shape of the center console so the monitor screen will sit flush with everything. It's already very smooth and no sanding was needed. I just glassed the backside of the sheet metal, let is cure, then pried it off and viola perfect shape and smooth as can be.

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Here is the peice reference up there and the gauge pod I started. I need to sand it and some other stuff but you get the general idea.

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On the console..

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On the console on the dash..

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I also made the template for the lower passenger and river side area of the dash. This will cover the lower portion of the dash you see unfinished or for lack of a btter word 'missing'...

I know you are working on this pretty hard but how does it look in the car, And I noticed you have put suveral additions into th e dash since it was removed. Have you tried putting it back in yet for a test fit. Fiberglass resin rarely stays the same shape after a second coat of fiberglass ad can warp from heat and humidity. I am just checking. I once fiberglassed an entire back seat and it was such a pain in the ass because it was soo big. Did you have a design at all before starting or just bondo as you go?

 

[Blitzeclips]

Lookin good so far, Cant wait to see this thing completed. The center section kinda reminds me of the 3000gt or the 350z setup.

I think I may have to whip up some resin and whoop out my skillzzz on somthing in my car, gonna wait untill the new top goes on, new carpet goes in and the Pioneer avic d-3 finds its home in my dash 1st. Should be in about a month or 2 at most.

Awesome. It'd be cool if we could have members add onto this thread with all their finsihed projects too..

 

[Blitzeclips]

I know you are working on this pretty hard but how does it look in the car, And I noticed you have put suveral additions into th e dash since it was removed. Have you tried putting it back in yet for a test fit. Fiberglass resin rarely stays the same shape after a second coat of fiberglass ad can warp from heat and humidity. I am just checking. I once fiberglassed an entire back seat and it was such a pain in the ass because it was soo big. Did you have a design at all before starting or just bondo as you go?

Yeah I designed it ahead of time. Took me longer to decide what to go with then it has building the thing. It should fit just fine. I haven't test fitted it but I made all the edges of it much thinner then most of the other fiberglass layers. Plus if you take the A-pillar off either passenger or dirver side of the car, there's a nice gap for dash fitment right there. The edges should be find seeing as how I've narrowed them down too..

I just got done ripping all the ventilation tubing (from under the dash) out so i can clean and spray everything with a power washer. Some of the sanded dust and resin has gotten behind the dash and in the vents. So to prevent having my car smell like resin, I'm just cleaning everything that goes underneathe the dash. The I'm sanding the bottom side of the dash so the Sound Deadening/Flame Proof Spray I just bought will adhere to the dash's underside. Should keep the car a little more quiet..

Thanks for all the comments guys it really makes me want to go work on it now..

 

[burbage2001]

This has been an awesome article with great pictures. Keep up the good work and I look forward to your article on how to do it.

 

[Blitzeclips]

First let me say thanks again to all I am more then happy to post this stuff up if you appreciate or get something out of it. I would always look for things like this on the forums an dnever found anything so that's why I made this thread. Hopefully someone down the road can put it to use.

Alright so here are pics of the underside of the dash. I don't think many of you hardcore DSMers have seen this part of the car! Anyways, the ventilation tubing has more wieght then I actually thought. FOr any of you hardcore drag racers or autocrossers you may want to remove the HVAC stuff from under the dash at some point. Is a good 5-10 pounds or so.

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I only did one half in thsi pic so that you all could get an idea of why I am doing this to the bottomside of the dash. It has/had all types of dust and fiberglass, resin everywhere. Some of the resin wasn't even cured, so it would stink if I left it there when install time came.

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So, I cleaned it all off. I used a razor to scrape off all the cured or uncured resin. I'm going to clean it much better before I apply the sound deadener. I've got to scuff the surface of it before I spray it. So, I'll have a couple coats of flameproof sound deadener on the immediate underside of the dash. Then I'll re-assemble the vents and what not. Should be like new if not better when all done..

Next thing I'm going to do is clean up the edges around the dash mounts, sand down every little thing that pokes out or looks sloppy, etc.. So stay tuned.

 

[blkwidow]

I'm dying to see this finished. It's looking real sweet man.

 

[95boosted]

dash is lookin realy good! It looks like its going to weigh alot

is it starting to get pretty heavy?

 

[Blitzeclips]

dash is lookin realy good! It looks like its going to weigh alot

is it starting to get pretty heavy?

Yeah, it's picking up some weight. Not alot, but probably around the same as a OEm dash fiberglassed would weigh. That's OK though. The only time I worry about weight is at the track and even then I pull out all my interior panels...

I am making a gauge pod today that everyone should be able to make if they need an extra location for a pod. Will take pics along the way for you all..

 

[freshlane]

SWEET! Love the progression.

 

[stock1g4g63]

You planning on selling it? (making molds/more), I'm sure you'd get a lot of customers.

 

[dsmzoom]

any teaser/ update pictures blitz?

 

[Blitzeclips]

any teaser/ update pictures blitz?

Yessir! I got you..

OK guys well I kind of strayed off from the whole dash thing and did some minor little accessory work for the dash. I made 2 gauge pods. Neither of them are finished, but you can get an idea of what they look like. I will be finishing them up sometime this week. Then I'll add them to the 'Show me our gauge pods' thread..

I might get some heat from this. But here's what this looked like BEFORE I made it for a gauge.. AND if you guys would like something like this to be made for your turbo timer, gauge, or even boost controller--- I CAN DO IT. Money has been tight right now because uncle sam screwed me again so if any of you are interested let me know and shoot me a PM I make them specific to application. I will take the dimensions of whatever you are using and go from there so it will be a nice, snug, and perfect fit.

This *WAS* for a HKS FATT..

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Now it has been transformed to hold a gauge pod. Like I said if you are interested in something like the above just shoot me a PM..

Now yes, yes, I know. It looks like shit. BUT, this is a really small and simple piece so I could have it done very soon and looking good. If you'll notice the wooden triangle I covered with tape, you can actually remove that. Once I remove it I'm going to port out the hole for my gauge. Then I'm going to wrap the wooden piece in carbon fiber and mount the gauge flush with the flat piece. Then I'm going to paint the surrounding area of it, so it should look pretty clean and unique. Can't say I've ever seen a gauge pod like this before.. So I'll keep you all updated on this one it should be done soon.

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I'm actually upset about this one, it's finished! and I forgot to take pictures of it finsihed. It's a switch panel. It will go directly below the steering wheel, around the driver's side knee area. Looks very very cool. Will bring pics on the next update.. It's been sanded down more and looks more symmetrical.

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This is the other piece that will go around the pasenger side glove compartment area.. I wanted something simple and sleek. I also didn't want a huge light show at night time. I never drive in the day it's usually nighttime so I don't want unwanted attention with 6 gauges glowing through the window. This also is not finshed. Will have pics of it done on the next update!

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I used PVC pipe and carvedd it to the proper shape and size I wanted. Then I hot glued it to the middle of this panel.. After that I used a thin fabric and strecth it over the pod...

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I covered the ends of this so that no resin or bondo could adhere to the area I just sanded down. It took a while to make it real smooth and strectched looking so I didn't want to ruin it or re-sand it if a drop of resin got on an area it wasn't suppose to..

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Be sure to leave some of the panel exposed so the resin can actually adhere the pod to the wood. otherwide, if you hit it with you knee or something when it's in the car it may break off. So yeah, definately remember to mate the the two...

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Apply resin... No fiberglass is needed for something this small. I will probably put one more coat of resin on the backside of the pod so it will reinforce the current strength of it a little bit..

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After it dried, I bondoed. Next step is sanding then cutting out the center and checking for gauge fitment..

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Oh and guess what? I made a housing for my head unit. Should save time when install day comes so I don't need to relocate the stock DIN location. Now I can just pull out the stock DIN and make some mounts for this one... You probably won't notice this but it's where the DIN will mount when the dash is upside down. Fits absolutely PERFECTLY right there..

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Now that I think about it I have way more pics of the housing I will take some and post them up for you guys in the next few days I think my camera is erasing some or I'm losing the photos somewhere so just stay tuned..
So not too many fun updates. Alot of just work in progress pics. The next update should be much much more interesting. I should have all the above done and ready for install. So you guys will be able to see those pieces finally done and looking, well, better then they do now..

 

[Blitzeclips]

Here's the head unit I'm using. I like the aux input for my iPod. Should be pretty convenient. Looks kinda cheap, I know JVC isn't elite in the audio head unit field but hey, it was free! I'll take it..

Pieced together some wood after measurements and cutting and drilling, etc... I'm not doing a write- up on this because if you can't build a box of wood to house something you probably shouldn't be working on your car..

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None of the actual box will be visible. The only thing that will be visible when this is installed is the silver lip on the head unit. Then of course the faceplate. Head unit pwnage..

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Pics of the gauge mounts. Hope you guys can see what I was talking about earlier. Both of these need another layer of filler, then sanding, then guide coat and primer..

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I'm flipping the dash back over then I'm molding the center console to the dash. It's going to be one piece. I was hesitant about having exact measurements and lining up the head unit when I install the dash but I can't bank on that. So I decided to make it one piece, the speedo and lower panels will still be removable.

 

[eclipsh]

You might want to drill some holes in the box you built for your stereo to allow heat out. You wouldn't want to cook it.

 

[noonan98turbo]

i cant wait to c the finished product. you have really good fiberglass skills.

 

[Steelnation36]

i had a question... im not good or have no experience with making dashes like this and also i dont have the time i work and am in college and playing with everything else on the car takes up the rest of my time. I was wondering how much it would cost on average to get a custom one made????

I dont mean to go off topic but didnt wanna create a whole new thread for that question. Thanks to anyone that can help. I also live in Maryland so any places that can do it would be great.

Also it looks like your doing a great job on that dash im with everyone else cant wait to see the final product!

 

[Bud92gsx]

so ya im thinkin sweet when its all finished.!! good work. slow process.

 

[Blitzeclips]

OK time for updates.


Got the head unit mounted and finally fit. It is going to be a direct fit so I won't have to make or fab up any mounts when I install the dash. But, I did need to make some mounts for the head unit so heres how..

I used some t bolt brackets to make this. Lined up the mounts and drilled holes so I could actually keep the housin secure.. I did all this while the dash was upside down so that I had a better angle on it..

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Now I also needed to make some panels to upholster and then place on the actual dash. So I used a one layer sheet of glass cloth and then applied resin. This will make the panel sit flush on the dash so there are no overlaps or gaps. Notice the bule tape to prevent any resin or glass from sticking to the dash. I can pry it off once it's all dry, then trace and cut around the edges.. I'll then put a small thin layer of foam and cover it with the fabric I'm using for upholstery..

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Aw damnnit sorry guys I forgot to take pics of the thin layer of fiberglass overtop the tape I'll take some shots tonight when I finish some more up. I'm picking up some nice momentum so stay tuned once these last few steps are over I'm pretty much in the clear.

 

[talonalex92]

Your cars going to look like a rocket ship with all them gauges

 

[Blitzeclips]

Your cars going to look like a rocket ship with all them gauges

. Funny you mention that my buddies have been calling my car "the spaceship" for some time now because I already have 3 gauges center mounted in my DD's dash...