Dashboard ideas

[JoshC]

I am planning my build and I am looking for ideas for dashboard layouts. I am also considering to continue the dash down to the top of the trans tunnel. I plan to use the leather/pleather along with wood or metal inlay. I am not looking for originality(No offense to those that do), I am looking for what ever makes me happy. Any pics would be appreciated.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Hi,
Do a search on dashboards, many different ones out there.
Check my gallery for a wood sah and console.
Perry.

[BMK]

Joshc

I did go for originality.





However, firstly I feel that you need to sit in your car and design your dash based on what is easily visible to you as the driver.

If you are on the track consider a shift light - stops you getting carried away. Mine is next to the steering column and hits my eye easily once I hit the rev zone.

I personally do not like gauges sitting up on dash tops, or worse still outside on hood/bonnet tops - this is a street machine thing or high performance racing. Just my opinion.

...just keep browsing the galleries, you will see some different layouts. I have seen different wood, vinyl, late model car dashes on the galleries here..... Just as HighPlains Drifter has suggested.

Just my $0.02 worths

[JoshC]

Bernie,
I like your setup, except I would prefer the steering wheel on the other side. LOL. I would like to put most of the guages in the area just above the trans tunnel and maybe mount them at an angle towards the driver but leave the tach and speedo up high. I am also planning a push start button. Thanks for the replies.

[ByronRACE]

Originality isn't for everyone. It's not a real cobra and never will be...so I'm doing it my way.

My dash consists of a "Rock Me" button from a Fred Flintstone Pinball Machine, a hat switch for "on", and a 12.1" military touch-screen display/control system I home brewed based on my SnEEC datalogger product.

Yeah, it's busy, I like it. If you want it less busy, touch the drag race mode button and all you have is a giant tach and warning lights. The software, gauges, controls, all that are just software; I can change it at will. Everything is controlled by a custom power control board and a little on-board nano PC.

Here's a picture of the dash:

http://www.racesystems.com/cobra/images/dashscreen.jpg

If you want to see what the rest of the bits look like, there's pictures on my site here:

http://www.racesystems.com/cobra/

The best part is, you drive down the road with all that stuff displayed...it logs every second that the engine is running to a file with the day, date, and time on it, and if you're in a public wifi area, it uploads the logs home. And, of course, if you want to check your email, watch a movie, do GPS navigation, play your mp3 files, or whatever...that's just a few taps of the screen away...it's a full PC.

Byron

[JoshC]

I like gadgets SWEEEEEEEEEET

[ByronRACE]

If the PC goes haywire, no big deal. You just unplug the cable that goes to the PC, plug it into a manual override box, and you have discrete control of all the circuits. It takes a little more to hotwire the car than the override box (intentionally), the EFI won't work unless you know how to enable it.

I don't let the PC control critical functions that could stall the car while in operation or create a hazard condition like no headlights for example. Things like fuel pump power, EFI power, headlights etc are either powered by the manual power switch or under hardware control (they latch on until main power has been removed). The PC can go completely haywire and the worst thing that happens is you lose the dash display and the ability to restart the car (once you manually power it off). To limp home, you need to perform a manual override, and essentially hotwire the EFI. I'm the only one that drives the car and I could get it into limp home mode within a minute or two...no big deal.

It's as safe as a cobra gets.

[Dangerous Doug]

I went with the orginal look like Bernie's, but with leather. I also constructed a drop down section for the center of the dash (fabricated out of aluminum angle bracket, covered in leather). This sits under the dash, offset into the dash so that the "kill" switch face is (big red switch) in line with the surface of the dash. Power indicator light on the right of the kill switch, and T-pull handle for the Halon fire suppression system on the left. I have room for a couple of other switches, which will probably be the aircraft/toggle type.

I thought I was unique with this, then spotted something very similar on a real 289FIA in one of my Cobra books. I'll try to take a picture.

I like the drop down from the dash only coming down a couple of inches AND inset from the rest of the dash---as opposed to taking it all the way down to the transmission tunnel.

DD

[1985 CCX]

How about AKL style?

[Mike DeGuire]

[macloft]

Actually I went into Dangerous Dougs site and the drop down (butt)dash he had posted there looked pretty good not sure about the placement of the guages though.

[Brian F.]

[CHANMADD]

Here's mine ,a little different but it works for me.Heated seats too!

[richsd]

I have an idea. Why don't we take one of the most beautiful and significant cars in automobile history and just redesign all aspects of it in ways that never had anything to do with the car. I am sure that we can come up with a bunch of great ideas to improve on the car.

[ByronRACE]

Perhaps because we like the looks of the car, but aren't anal retentive about trying to make it look exactly like something it's not while tailoring and customizing it to something that makes the owner happy?

That's my answer. My hope is that it will be extremely obvious at first glance that the car is not an original...that way I don't have to answer that question repeatedly. "Is That Real?" No, it's make believe. "Is that an ORIGINAL?" Yes, it's one of a kind. "Is that a REAL SHELBY COBRA?" No, it's faster. *sigh*.

[CHANMADD]

As unoriginal as my car is ,I have to convince people that is not an original but a Replica. Overheard yesterday at the Vista Rod Run(more than once) "Now that's an original" I swear!!!

[richsd]

Originally Posted by CHANMADD

As unoriginal as my car is ,I have to convince people that is not an original but a Replica. Overheard yesterday at the Vista Rod Run(more than once) "Now that's an original" I swear!!!

Yes this is the shame of it all. The public has been so mistakenly exposed to inaccurate replicas nobody has a clue what an original looks like anymore.

[ByronRACE]

Sorry, but that look is not my favorite.

The 427 cars looked a little better...

The stylized replicas of today look (and are engineered) even better...

If I was given an original, I'd sell it and and build a modernized replica hot rod version much like mine, only better because I'd have more project budget. I'm not into the vintage thing at all.

[richsd]

Originally Posted by ByronRACE

If I was given an original, I'd sell it and and build a modernized replica hot rod version much like mine, only better because I'd have more project budget. I'm not into the vintage thing at all.

Wow, this is amazing. I guess I just wonder why people with this preference have any interest in having a Cobra replica at all. Why not just get a more modern car that would be better in all the modern ways and also better performance if that is of interest.

[Rick Parker]

Thank you richsd.