I'm finally getting rid of my wood dash in favor of metal that will be covered in padded black vinyl. My hang up is what thickness should I use? It is a very simple flat panel that will hold 2 gauges, radio, light switch, and glove box. I'm thinking 11 or 12ga. Is that ok? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Great! I guess my first idea was serious overkill. I won't need a break because it it is completely flat. Thanks! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
It wouldn't hurt to form a lip on the bottom if it's flat to keep it rigid,,also if you need to bolt anything to the bottom. HRP
I have some 11ga bar stock about 1" wide I was thinking about tack welding a perimeter frame with. Sent from my ADR6425LVW using H.A.M.B. mobile app
A return on the bottom lip will keep the dash from become a knife edge in case of a inadvertent leg or knee contact.
I made a flat dash for a couple of my model A's with 18 ga. sheetmetal, 1 foot wide X48 inces long with a 1 inch 90 degree bend at the bottom. Cut to fit between cowel sides, and let it rest on the cowel side brackets, scribe an arc where it hits the top of the main cowel cross-rail and cut off leaving about one inch EXTRA in height. Then make a series of cuts along the top( every inch or so) and peen over. Take it back out ,tack and grind.Lay out your guage cluster or individual gauges, break out the hole saw, and you got a dash.Attach however makes sense to you. Then I built a frame of 1.5 X1.5 angle iron BEHIND it attached to the sides and firewall, and you've got a place for your column drop and switch panels,fuse panel, etc. Hope this makes sense, it's pretty simple. Good luck. Mike
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