I`m in the same boat. After pricing dash kits with the cost plus getting it upholstered I just couldn`t spend that kind of money. With what I`m doing I should be able to do all of the vinyl with only glue and staples without having to sew anything. The pillar trim wasn`t bad covering with vinyl but I think the rear trim will be a little more difficult. I`m going to go with Mr Mikes for the seat covers. My car is going to eventually be red so for the instrument plate and console plate I`m going with red carbon fiber, although it is starting to get difficult to find. Mike
It looks like you are going to be able to use the factory gauge cluster, is that right? Did you cut the "center" out of an original dash to cover for your size, or in the car..etc. I build my own surfboards, so Ive got a lot of experience wiht glass, just not sure how to start something like this. When you get a few please detail what you have done so far.
Thanks for the compliments. I`m used to working with wood so I use that as somewhat of a basis if I have the room. The stock instrument cluster will fit back into the housing. I just cut the housing for the inst cluster to fit and then made it about 3/4 of an inch bigger all of the way around. I like working with cardboard because you can pretty much cut and bend it anyway you want and when you fiberglass both sides it is fairly strong. Something I want to try working with next is chip board because it bends easily but it retains a constant curve unlike cardboard which tends to bend where the corrugations run.
So, rather than using the wood and cardboard to make a fiberglass mold, you are actually using it to hold the structure, then incase it in the glass? If I understand ya right, that sounds MUCH smarter, and a bit less complicated, than how I was going to approach it. Thank you very much for taking the time to share with us. When you cover it in vinal, what are you going to do about the edges on teh sides? Will you have it stiched there? Thanks!
I know that for production work a mould is the way to go but with a single project i think it`s much easier to just make a shape and then fiberglass it over. I still have some filling and sanding to do because even though I will pad the dash a little I want to get it as straight as possible before the vinyl. The side I`m not quite sure of yet. I will probably pull the vinyl just over the edge and then make some very thin covers wrapped in vinyl that just have finishing screws holding them. For the console I am going to make it almost entirely of plywood covered in vinyl. I have bought the vents for the ac from Vintage Air and all they need is tubing run.
I trail fitted the dash today. I still have a bit more filling and sanding. I`m just about ready to start on the console which will be similar to the Lambo console in that it will start up on the dash and then run down and curve out where the shifter is. I`ve yet to decide where to install my headlight switch and interior dimmer because when I install the air vent on the drivers side there isn`t a lot of room. I may put it just where the dash curves under.
how much for you to build me just the dash? like whats in the picture? unfinished and all... I was thinking of a 92-93 geo prism dash and it measured out close enough to try but this looks good
I`m not sure. Let me finish mine because I still have to work out a couple of kinks in it. If I built another it would be a blank slate, so to speak, as the one pictured. It would be fiberglassed but you would have to finish it and come up with the mounting points, etc. Thanks, Mike
From the last picture I posted you can see there is not a lot of room for a speaker on the left of the dash. I think I`m going to use round ones. I also have to figure how to secure the grille over the defroster because right now I have the two screws that hold the defroster housing with some L brackets holding it up. I may try to go through the speaker holes like the original dash. MIke
This is a great start. I'm sure it's going to turn out nice. Are you planning a glove compartment? You have plenty of room for one, and it would break up that large area you have on that side.
Thanks Jonathon I was thinking about a glove box because I noticed on the Lambo dash that there is an outlined area that`s probably an air bag that breaks up the dash. The main thing is I wanted a pretty basic shape so I could upholster it myself without having to sew anything. I`m going to wait until I get the console in and then see how it looks. I`ve also got a FieroGT sort of a nameplate ordered that`s going to go on the right side. This dash project is sort of slowed because I`m in the middle of my fastback conversion and since I`ve found access to a paint booth I`m anxious to get the car painted. Mike
I've tried to do the pillar trim with vinyl and the one thing that I can say about it is that using a nice thin version is a big help. It makes getting the trim to adhere to the curves much easier. Yes, the rear trim is going to be a PITA! Lots more curves to deal with. Almost seems like the best way to do it is to vacuum form it on- now to figure out how to build one... This is definitely one project that I will be trying again.
I am also thinking of covering my trim in vinal. Do you think that it would be unwise to do the trim behind the seats and on the floor? For one, when you close the door it kind of comes into the trim. Also the ones on the floor could be scuffed by feet. Or maybe I'm just paranoid?
I think Im going to do my headliner in sued (sp?) and the a pilar trim in vinyl and leave the rest plastic, just seems like a less than perfect job would look worse than the plastic, plus once youy are sitting in the car all ya see is whats in front of you! LOL
I`m going to paint the lower carpet trim with vinyl paint. I covered my headliner yesterday and today I fiberglassed the instrument console. I also got a nameplate that I`m going to attach directly on the dash and then run the foam up to it because the foam is 1/4" same as the plate. I`m also going to cut the vinyl out to lay where the letters will stick up through it. I decided to go with round speakers because of the room issue on the instrument side. Mike
Good work. I cannot wait to see the finished dash. I wish I could work with fiberglass. Are you going to cover your back trim in vinal also? And what did you cover your headliner in? Vinal also?
I have a fiberglass headliner panel and I covered it in vinyl. I don`t know if I will cover the rear board in vinyl or not. On Mr Mikes website he has instructions for covering the rear board in vinyl which he sells. I tried tonite to cover the rear side panel in vinyl and I had a problem where the insert for the door panel goes. I may take that off and just paint it. Too many compound curves.
Thanks, BobadooFunk Well I have found one difference in the 1985 vs 1986 chassis which until now I haven`t noticed. My 85 has no cutout for the rear speaker where my 86 does and I`m going to use my 86 rear trim piece so I will have to figure out a way to mount the rear speakers because with the proximity of the rear glass as to where the speaker holes go I don`t think I could get anything in there to cut out a hole. I may try to figure a way to mount them in the rear panel pointing straight up because they wouldn`t be noticable sticking up because of the seat headrest. Mike
also a bit of choice is the Tungsten Carbide cutter bit looks like a nice flat topped drill and cuts steel like butter also use the wheel cutters to start off with if youre more comforterable with them....
I swapped into an 87 from an 85GT and luckily I pulled all the speaker setup wiring out of the dash of the 85 and have ran a nice speaker setup thats louder than my car I have the 2 120W 4Ohm 4X10's in the dash as well as 2 hidden 300W ?Ohm MTX in the front as well as 2 250W ?Ohm MTX in the headrest and the pillar speakers are on thier way up as well as my factory sub is in and I am looking at putting in either 2 8s in the door panels or 2 10's behind a seat or something bigger somewhere and porting it in.... yeah I have to be loud in all aspects my engine is loud as hell
but more speakers the merrier
make me a dash like the one you trial fitted please... I'll cut my own speaker holes and make my own brackets for it and ductwork too.. :grin:
I got my console built and covered today. I still have to mount the supports for the radio and temperature control and also make the cover for the window and mirror switches.
[This message has been edited by TXGOOD (edited 03-10-2007).]
Thanks, guys I tried to cover the rear pillar trim but there were just too many compound curves and I couldn`t get the vinyl to lay right around that indention where the door closes against it so I`m just going to paint them. I have discovered that it`s not too easy, at least with my experience, to cover some shapes without having sewing capabilities available.
I liked you windshield pillers, and the console part is fantastic. You have read my mind, I am waiting on my 1/4" foam to do the same thing to mine. I put the resin on the headliner board the other day. It looks good. I have a sunroof, and have never had a real headliner in the car. I do have a sewing machine and plan to add vinyl to the spots where it won;t lay correctly for the two rear long ones. I have plans to cover the shift surround, and the Radio / AC piece also with 1/4" foam and then the charcoal Vinyl. Are you using the 3M spray adhesive or the stuff in the can with a paintbrush to coat it? I was wondering what worked out best for you. I bought the vinyl on E-Bay for $12.00 72"X 54" I am going to use the Charcoal color on the interior of mine. Joe
[This message has been edited by josef644 (edited 03-11-2007).]
I`m using the 3M trim adhesive. It works pretty good because you can lay it down and pull it up to reposition it before you press it for the final time. I got a book a while back about upholstery and I found one of the most useful tips in it was to glue the flat surfaces first and then to glue the curves and stretch the heck out of the vinyl because if you try to pull it all the way around to the backside to staple it in one shot it is hard to get it to conform. I got my vinyl from Mr Mikes and it stretches pretty much both ways. I`m hoping to cover my dash this week but I`m not looking forward to doing the instrument hump because I think it may give me a fit.
Looks awesome. And you're using the same dash for inspiration that I'm fascinated with.
I'm looking forward to the finished product. Keep us updated with lots of pics. We like pics..
quote
Originally posted by psychosurfer: sued (sp?)
Np Suede
I love that material. Love the feel of it. I got a chance to hold an Audi RS 6 steering wheel at Laguna seca (it was the pace car, car sounds awesome, but that's a different story) I think it would be awesome to have a whole interior (dash, steering wheel, upper door trim, middle part of seats) in suede. (Or fake suede <-- I found it the other day at Beverly's fabrics)
nice I have started my dash project based off of the factory dash to save hassle in mounting(the only problem will be in the hood release latch pull handle) I am going for a "no knee killing corners" vent setup
didnt think to start a build thread on it, DAMN but I am glassing it after I move into the new shop
I haven`t covered the dash yet. Only foam, but I will take some pictures tonight and post them. I still haven`t decided if I should put a glove box in or not. Mike
Thats so freaking awesome.. I might do something like this when i get some experience with fiberglassing. It looks great man. Keep it up. I really like the console
I know a few of you guys have mentioned Fiberglass work and experience but I am an amateur at fiberglassing. I just saw an article on the web about a guy who made something out of cardboard and then just `glassed it. That`s what I did. Just get a cheap hot glue gun, cut some cardboard into whatever shape you want and just brush on your resin, lay down the cloth and brush over that to make sure it`s saturated. Cured fiberglass sands pretty easy, just be sure not to sand into the cloth. I then covered the fiberglass with fiberglass body filler and finished it with glazing putty. If you use 1/4" vinyl top padding for the dash you don`t really have to get all of the surface perfect because that foam is pretty dense. The only thing I did with wood on the dash was cut the ends to the shape I wanted. I also backed all of the openings with bendable lauan plywood. I made the console entirely from 1/2" baltic birch plywood. The only advantage I have with working with wood is that I have a friend with a fully stocked shop with any tool I might need like the top part of the console I cut from a chunk of 6" x 8" cedar to get the curve so I wouldn`t have to use cardboard on it.
