It seems everyone likes my dash. Thanks.

If you have ever tried to build a dash you know how difficult it can be. In case you are ready to build your own here is a little background information on the construction.

There is always a trick or two to keeping things simple. The first involves getting the new dash to mount in the car. Look close and you can see the familiar look of an aging ’46 Ford metal dash back here. That’s the key to getting a new dash to fit. I used the old dash as a template-slash-base so that every modification I made to the dash could be done so that once the new dash was completed it would bolt right up to the original dash mounting points. I didn’t have to figure out how to mount the dash or fabricate brackets or pull my hair out. It fit, just like it woul d h ave had I left the old dash alone. I guess you could call what I did a face lift.

That face lift was accomplished with fiberglass. I st art ed with four fiberglass kits # 50765. I needed lots of resin and mat. I didn’t use fiberglass cloth. Mat is a little thicker and I needed the thickness. Next I turned a work bench into a mold by covering it with wax paper then layering up a 60 x 24 sheet of fiberglass. I gave me fiberglass sheet three layer of mat and resin and let it cure.

Pardon the pics but I never intended to divulge this method of construction. Here is p art of the fiberglass sheet made from my mold. What was the point of making this sheet of fiberglass? It allowed me to cut out a new face for the dash, the p art where the gauges are mounted, and a new top. You’ll notice the top is flat, it just slopes downward, and the face is flat. Both of these pieces were easily cut from the fiberglass sheet molded on the work bench. 

But what about the rounded edges? Here’s that second trick. Again, pardon the blur, but what you are seeing is a length of ½-inch electrical conduit split lengthwise and slipped over the edge of the fiberglass panel. I used this rounding effect where the top of the dash meets the face and as a means of softly finishing the bottom edge of the dash face. 

How did I bond the fiberglass face to the metal dash? I used Norton Speedgrip epoxy # 11991. This stuff will bond anything and with a 90 minute working time I don’t have to worry about the epoxy setting up before I’m ready.

Project provided by:

Larry Lyles, owner

LPL Body Works

Amarillo , TX 79109