Slow progress

[boxhead]

Due to a severe bout of laziness lately I havent been to the shed much (it is also so damn cold).
But I finally pulled my finger out this weekend and did some more work.
I have marked and drilled out the holes for my gauges and idiot lights.
Then on Saturday night I made a wiring harness for the gauges and lights (much to my wifes displeasure this was done on the dining table), I have made the harness and used 1 single 22 pin connector so that I can unplug 1 loom and remove or refit entire dash panel.
I am sure I will add some switches to the dash so I will make a second loom with this in mind.
Sunday morning I then disassembled it all and prepped the dash for paint, After filling in imperfections, sanding then spraying filler and more sanding I grabbed my pressure pack of new black wrinkle finish paint, warmed up the panel under heat lamps only to find the new paint wont come out of the can.
So it looks like a trip back to supercheap to swap the can.
Here are some pics for those that are interested.




Wow that is a long winded story for not much work.

There is a large gap between the row of idiot lights above steering wheel and the 2 main (tacho & speedo) gauges as this is where the steering wheel blocks out the view.

[Leeroy]

Boxhead
Love your gauges they look great. What type are they and where did you get them. That wrinkle paint did the same to me with the first can. It really is not to easy to use and doesnt last too long, that will look great with black dash & yellow body etc.
Leeroy

[Aussie Mike]

That looks really good David. I'll be keen to see it in the wrinkle finish black as I was in two minds whether to do mine red or black.

Cheers

[boxhead]

Thanks Leeroy, the gauge brand name is Pricol (except the clock)
Pricol dont make a clock so I bought a Smiths clock.
I lucked out on the gauges as by chance we had them in stock and when we sold out our autopro side of things I bought them at a very good price.
I bought all items excluding clock for approx $350.00
Clock cost an extra $150.00

[Mando]

Hi Boxhead,
Dash looks great. I reckon the amber lights look better than all red.

Regards.

[GAV MILDURA]

Boxhead, $350.00 bucks for your guages !!! You tin ass!!!!
Are you one of those bush mechanics from SBS any chance?
Looks great, I'm also keen on wrinkle black for my dash this week, I look forward to seeing how yours turns out.
Cheers Gav

[Rebel1]

Boxhead, sounds like you better paint your dash with that wrinkle black ASAP.

Looks like everyone is waiting to see if it looks $hithouse.

[boxhead]

You will all most likely have to wait till next weekend to see what it looks like.
I will wait till the sun is out and it is warmer.

[boxhead]

Well after doing some more garden work and a couple of tip runs I got back into the shed.
The first thing I did was push the car out and mount 4 more fluro lights so that it isnt like a dark little world in there now.
I bought some heat lamps from supercheap and got the panel nice and warm then proceded to paint the dash.
It has come out alittle blotchy and the wrinkle finish is not very even so I may sand it all back and do it again yet.
I fitted all the gauges back to the panel.

Then I refitted all the wiring loom I made up.


After this it was a quick trip out to the shed and refit the dash.


Now I have a question for the Classic guys that have there dash in and also have steering colomn in.
When you mounted your dash did you mount it so the rear of the panel sits flush against the mounting points or did you do as I have done and glassed in 3 bolts to mount the dash?
I ask this as now that I have done it I didnt think about the colomn.
It appears that I wont be able to use the original Barina shroud, is this normal that you need to make a shroud? or modify the original one?
Here is a pic of the Barina shroud I got with the colomn.


Also when trying to fit the colomn I found there is a mount that comes of the back of the ignition barrel mount that I will have to cut off, is this the same in other peoples cases?
Here is a pic of the colomn, you can see the mount pokeing out the back (aluminium piece)


Any answers are greatly appreciated.

[Bryan Wilson]

David,
To get a good wrinkle finish the paint has to go on with a thick and even coat.
The paint has to be thick or it won't wrinkle.
I did my air cleaner and rocker covers with it.

Cheers,
Bryan Wilson

[albanycobra]

The dash looks Ok to me Boxhead.
I like the warning lights with the little Batt pics and so on them.
Can i ask where you scored them from? And can you still buy
Pricol gauge sets like the ones you have? I was wondering what to do with my dash ,The crinkle look is great.

[boxhead]

All the idiot lights where organised by a fellow member in here (I cant for the life of me remeber who now, except to say I think it was a Vic member)
Do a search Albany and you will find who.

The dash wrinkle is about 1/4 as wrinkley as your air filter Bryan, and your finish is what I am after.
I was laying it on fairly thick (had a run at 1 point that I had to sand out).

I will try to ask about the Gauges for you Albany, as we arent an agent anymore I have no idea at costing excpt I think the guys in spares can still get them.

Here is a link to a site I found under google, looks like they are based in Western Australia.
http://www.holleycarbs.com.au/pricol.html

[Aussie Mike]

David,

Wrinkle finish needs to be put on thick and consistently to get a good finish. It's hard to do on large flat areas and you can often see the pattern you sprayed it in once it goes off. Mines wrinkled nicely but there are a few lines you can see where I sprayed it. it's only temporary till I can get it covered in leather any way.

You can use the regular Barina column shroud, you just have to trim that back lip off it that back lip off it that stands up at 90 degrees. Spray it with the wringkle finish paint to and it'll come up a treat.

The dash panel itself needs a bit of surgery to clear the column mounts and the key mechanism. you will need to trim a bit of the fiberglass inside that pocket where the column shrouds sits into.

I re did the dash mounts as I wasn't happy with Ians original design (surprise, surprise Mike re-invents the wheel again). I didn't like the fact that you have to reach in the back to undo the bolts (I hate stuff that's hard to work on). Also Ian's mounts were in the way with my guage layout using the big 2 5/8" guages.

I machined up 4 standoffs that bolt to tabs I welded to the dash hoop. I then bolt through the dash with some fancy machined up aluminium washers and stainless cap screws.

I also re did the column mount as it wasn't in the right spot to keep the dash snugged up against the under side of the body. I trimmed the top of the dash to make it a close fit under there. I raised it up about 10mm which gives me a little more leg room under the steering wheel.

Here's a pic that shows the dash with the suzuki shroud on the column.




Cheers

[Mando]

Hi Boxhead,
I did everything Mike did except I used 8mm countersunk bolts that ended up flush with the dash surface. Behind the dash I machined up some 25mm washers about 8mm thick then taped the bolt thread into them. The bolt and washer were then epoxyed into position so it couldnt come loose or spin around once the dash face was covered. Once the dash was pushed into position I just used nuts to the rear to lock it into position. I also had to reposition the bracket the column bolts to. The most frustrating thing doing it this way was that because I had bolts protruding from the back of the dash, the dash had to be in position first to be able to install the rack. I reckon I put the dash and column in at least 30-40 times.

Regards.