Well, after some long, drawn-out, super deep thoughts on how to go upon the creation of how to build my fabbed up dash for my 69, I have the somewhat completed peice. I originally wanted a 3-3/8" guages, but I came accross a set of 5" guages for a good price.

Belive it or not, I built this entirely out of some 22 (I think) guage flat steel, small crappy little gas MIG welder, a Stanley 25' Fat Max tape measure, a Big Cheif tablet for making templates, a No. 2 pencil, and a jigsaw......yes, I said a jigsaw.....thats it.

As stated before on my long thoughts.....they were still blank when I started, but I figured I would just build as I went. After about 8 or so hours, the following pictures are of what I came up with.

The hardest part was to bend the compound curve on the right side. It took a vise, some rags and a rubber mallet. With a little persuasion, I got it to match up with the flow of the dash.

It's not finished just yet. I still have to put the little dumawhopper thing in the middle to mate up with the dashpad and I need to finish up the left side to match up to the dash pad.

Right around the middle of the build, I realized why DSE wants so much for their metal dash insert.......man what a bunch of work.

To be honest, I don't think I did a bad job being my first time to fab up any kind of sheet metal project. What do you guys think? The welds look like absolute crap compared to what I can normally do, but I had a crappy little welder. I think I was using too small of a wire with a tip ment for bigger wire.

Here are some pics..........I'll post more of the in car and finished product when I have them.

Thanks ,

Joe

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Kokamo44/HPIM0414.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Kokamo44/HPIM0417.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Kokamo44/HPIM0415.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Kokamo44/HPIM0416.jpg

honestly it looks wavy and out of square :( i love to do my own stuff but i think that may be better left to the ones with the proper equipment.

I think it looks usable. I would like to see it painted. Keep us posted.

I think it looks usable. I would like to see it painted. Keep us posted.
I agree.

honestly it looks wavy and out of square :( i love to do my own stuff but i think that may be better left to the ones with the proper equipment.

It's not out of square by far.....it's just looks that way out of the car. It follows the curve of the dash properly. Everything is perfectly square as far as measuements.

It may not be to everyones taste, but I like it. As soon as I get it in the car, I'll post some pics.......it has a home and the car is where it needs to be.

I also think it would look better painted up. I'll get that stuff done and post up.

Joe

Joe -

Honestly, it looks fine. I just had three small constructive comments.

Did you decide not to use the air vent on the left side? You should probably silicone the vent flap shut, or pull the duct and silcone a block off plate over the hole. Maybe cool air blowing in behind the dash isn't an issue in TX. :)

You'll probably want to fab a side on the driver side. The dash structure is pretty unfinished looking over there, so you'll probably want to cover it up.

The column opening may need to be raised, and I'd consider fabbing a little doghouse type deal in the center to meet where the dash pad sticks out.

Overall though, I like it.

Joe, I've been building patterns for 30 yrs. I looked at your work and its hard to believe this is your first attempt. I like it now .I think if you had waited to post until after it was finished ,most of the comments would be a big :thumbsup: Everything looks better with a fresh coat of paint :yes: As for being out of square---- the angle of the pic makes it appear that way ;)

Nice job, I like it! And I'd be thrilled if I could get my welds to look that nice. What kind of finish are you going to put on it? I think it might look good with a carbon fiber type finish. Keep posting pics of the progress.

Eric, thanks for the comments, I appreciate it. Yeah, it won't have a/c or a heater, so I did away with the vent and the control. It's funny you say somthing about the flap thing, cause I had some ideas on how to make the air flow controllable. I'd love to use the plastic vent doo-dad, but I can't because a few hungry mice chewed up BOTH sides and totally ruined the little housings. So now I need to figure a way to make it switchable open/closed. Hopefully I can do it with the control switches in my kick panel.

Yeah, the driver (left) side isin't finished yet. I ran out of patience (sp?) and wanted to get the guages in and see what it looked like. I still have a few more things to fix up.

THe colum opening.....when it's installed in the car, you might think differently. It looks really good. I never stated that I have a tilt steering colum out of a 94 Camaro. It really looks good, but I still think your right, I might need to do somthing there.......more pix to come later on.

Mike B., I totally agree with you. I should have waited to post the finished product, but I thought it might be kinda cool to let you guys see the "in progress" pictures. I will for sure get some pix up later on this evening of it in the car. Hey, can I ask what kind of patterns you speak of? Yes, this is my very first peice. The next peice will be the firewall smoothie shuffle. That should be fun. The engine is coming out either tonight or tomorrow and I should be getting started on that by the weekend.

Kevin, I had plans on finishing it off by either welding the corners up to fill them in or simply use some sort of fiberglass putty. I kinda wanted it to have some detail rather than look so squared out. As for the finish, my first thought was to powder coat it black, but I think I'm gonna go with a flat black paint instead. The carbon fiber you speak of sounds killer......can I ask where and how I do this? It might be a possibility if it's simple/cheap enough.

Thanks for the comments guys!!!! Good or bad....keep em coming, I need all the advice I can get before I finish it off.

Joe

sorry i did not mean to discourage you and it looks like i did not. :)

on a different note i bet you could take that by any sheet metal shop and get the complete back bent out on a brake in just a few minutes. weld the sides on and cut the holes. hell have 10 made and you may be able to sell some!!!

Hey, can I ask what kind of patterns you speak of?

Joe[/quote]

Joe, my family has owned a pattern shop since the year I was born (1962). I started working there when I was 11 yrs old. Most of our
work is wood ,with some cast iron and aluminum. We supply patterns to foundries that make sand molds in their casting process. As to what kind
of patterns we make. We take a blue print of almost anything ---- impellers,pump cases, intake manifolds,Flag pole parts, Racks and gears for the panama canal------ and make the part out of wood or metal ,with shrinkage added so the foundry can make the mold.
Sorry for the long explianation :o

sorry i did not mean to discourage you and it looks like i did not. :)

on a different note i bet you could take that by any sheet metal shop and get the complete back bent out on a brake in just a few minutes. weld the sides on and cut the holes. hell have 10 made and you may be able to sell some!!!

Satis....no discouragement here at all.....I need all the feedback I can get! If there's somthing I need to change or maybe look at a little closer, I'll take anyone's tips and hints.

I have one question....I just didn't follow the part about taking it to the sheet metal shop and putting it on a brake? I think you are talking about taking the patterns to a shop and having them cut them for me? Not real sure but that would be a damn good idea.


Joe, my family has owned a pattern shop since the year I was born (1962). I started working there when I was 11 yrs old. Most of our
work is wood ,with some cast iron and aluminum. We supply patterns to foundries that make sand molds in their casting process. As to what kind
of patterns we make. We take a blue print of almost anything ---- impellers,pump cases, intake manifolds,Flag pole parts, Racks and gears for the panama canal------ and make the part out of wood or metal ,with shrinkage added so the foundry can make the mold.
Sorry for the long explianation :o

Sweeeet! Thats some really cool stuff. I'd love to do that sort of thing. I bet the drawback of that is making the incorrect mold. Thats cool man.

Ok, here are some pictures after I put it in the car. It's simply bolted in for now. I didn't do anything to it, so nothing has changed other than a car added to it. Sorry I don't have a dash pad.....I'm working on it.......see my classifieds ad.

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Joe

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Kokamo44/HPIM0435.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Kokamo44/HPIM0436.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Kokamo44/HPIM0437.jpg

looking good! You're right about the column cut out; it looks like the 4th gen column sits at less of an angle than the 1st gen. It also explains why you mounted the fuel gauge low ;)

If your interested in the Carbon fiber look or for that matter just aboat any kind of wood grain look go to e-bay and look up metro seller vinyl express, I purchased some vinal wood grain vinyl for my ash tray on my 68 Camaro and it matched up great.

Looks even better installed!! Should look killer once it is painted!! Keep the pics coming!

Looks even better installed!! Should look killer once it is painted!! Keep the pics coming!

Rocket, thanks for the comments man.......do you have any pics of your DSE dash? Can you post them if you do.

Thanks,

Joe

Wow. Looks good!

Jim

Rocket, thanks for the comments man.......do you have any pics of your DSE dash? Can you post them if you do.

Thanks,
Joe
Here are a few shots. If you need more pm me your email address as the dash is currently out of the car.

UPDATE!!!!

Hey guys, I finally got around to painting the dash all up. I first painted it flat black, but I ended up painting it gloss black in the end. I kinda wish I went with the flat black tho.....oh well, it' painted and thats what matters.

Here are some pictures. Sorry for the darkness. I'll try and get better pics soon. You can still see how it looks tho.

Anyway, here they are........
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Kokamo44/100_2794.jpg?t=1200979340

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Kokamo44/100_2797.jpg?t=1200979361

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Kokamo44/100_2800.jpg?t=1200979362

Thanks,

Joe

Looks great! Nice work!

I'm anxious to see some brighter pictures. Good work Joe.

Very Nice!

Congrats on the new dash, looks nice and its something you can be proud of.
Hell most people dont have the nerve to tackle something like that, considering its your first try at fabrication Id say you deserve a big:thumbsup:.


Joe

Nice job !

I can't figure why you were getting your aggots busted for making the cluster. " Crooked, bent, twisted....whatever :) None of this deserved a negative comment IMHO. Again, I think its super:thumbsup:


Kev

Its like people aren't used to seeing bare welded metal or something, not like the finished product won't look awesome painted and whatnot.

Hey thanks guys, I appreciate it. I really havent had a chance to take some better pictures since it so cold outside and I don't have a real good heater out there. No fun working in the cold.

Anyway, yeah, I figured I would get some bad opinions, but hey, everyone is intitled to thier own. I never took it as anything bad, I just took it as jealousy because they dont have the nerve to do it themselves.;):yes:

I think it looks waaaay better in paint than bare metal. To be honest, I was kinda sceptical myself, but now...even with gloss paint, I think it looks killer, and a loooong way different from the factory dash.....which by the way makes me want to throw up each time I see it under my workbench, under a bunch of parts, which are greasy and heavy and smashing it......:D

Whoever left a negative comment (which is ok and thank you for your opinion), please chime in and tell me your honest opinon of the finished product.

Thanks again guys, I'll try and get those brighter pix coming soon.

Joe

Can you see the speedometer and tach around or through the steering wheel? Do you have a clear view?
It looks really good.

He's got a 4th gen tilt column, so vision shouldn't be a prob.

Joe, it looks great! Very clean.

Thanks Eric. Yes, vision isin't an issue. I can lower/raise (tilt) if needed. I recently put a set of 4th gen seats in it as well. I think the altitude of the seat is slightly higher than the stock seats. Gonna take a little getting used to tho.

Joe

I recently put a set of 4th gen seats in it as well. I think the altitude of the seat is slightly higher than the stock seats. Gonna take a little getting used to tho.

Joe

That's why I bailed on 4th gen seats after test fitting them...just a little bit higher and it felt weird. But then I have a non-tilt 69 column and an original cushion rim wheel, so there was also less thigh room; I passed.

Nice work!:thumbsup: