Not Strictly Necessary (nor strictly wiring)

NOTE: I thought I had published this a while ago, but it was sitting around as a draft for a geologic age. I have almost enough new stuff for another post so I'll go ahead and publish this. Another update coming soon, Lord willin' and the crick don't rise.

When last we spoke, I was working on the vehicle wiring, albeit tangentially, by extending the passenger side of the dash. Yeah, I know, not strictly wiring. But I did need to have all the gauges and switches in their proper places in order to wire them up.

Even more tangential to actual wiring, the ends of the dash weren't finished off. So I simply had to fix that before installing the dash. Obligatory, right?

I started with the idea of picking up the profile of the dashboard's rounded upper lip and wrapping it around 90 degrees. I traced the profile of the dash on paper, scanned the paper, imported the scan into Solidworks, and then started playing around.

Here is a test 3d print. This only required a few adjustments to fit the profile pretty closely. 

For the final 3d print, I used ABS filament. It makes a more raggedy print, but it's much more heat resistant. PLA filament is a lot easier to work with, but it will soften if left in the sunlight on a hot day. Above, I have printed the final cap for the driver's side and glassed it on to the original dash piece. On the passenger side, where I extended the dash, this was an opportunity to reinforce the joint with another couple more layers of fiberglass.

Outside view with the driver's side end cap in place. The roughness of ABS 3d prints can be smoothed out nicely with couple rounds of primer and sanding, but in this case it doesn't matter much because the top will be covered with faux leather and the front will be covered with cherry wood veneer.

There is a question whether or to what extent these end caps will be visible when seated in the car. Definitely not visible standing outside the car. So this may not have been strictly necessary.

Welding the Frame is Wiring, Right?

The stainless steel instrument panels I'm putting on this dash are pretty heavy, and I felt like it might be too much weight for a 5 foot fiberglass dashboard only supported on the extreme ends (especially since one of the ends is a graft I added to extend the dash). Also, I was having a hard time finding optimal locations for the relay box, fuse box, and ECU. So, obviously, the solution to both these problems is add new structural elements to the frame. Obviously.

Mid-process fabricating the new crossmember and the extension for dash support. TIG welding is a lot easier but oxy-fuel is in my garage (as opposed to in Pops Racer's shop). Also, oxy-fuel is more satisfying somehow. I welded my new parts, but brazed them on to the chassis so they will be easily removable if this winds up being a bad idea.

Look at all that unused wiring, sitting untouched in the seats.

So here is the new crossmember in place, with the L-shaped extension for dash support in the middle. 

Summer Break

Every Summer my family has a get-together in Leland, Michigan. It's a nice time off and great to have some unpressured time with my siblings and their spouses and kids. Of course I don't get much done on my car project when I'm in Leland, but there is always plenty of inspiration because Leland is a bit of a Mecca for interesting cars.

A local restaurant owner has an Amphicar, which was a German-made early 1960s vehicle best described as not a very good car and not a very good boat. 

The Amphicar doing its thing. Leland was historically a fishing village. There is still fishery there (cooking and eating fresh fish is one of the best things about visiting Leland). The main industry now is tourism, fed by an endless supply of weapons-grade quaintness.

Most of the vintage cars I see around Leland look like they're used on a regular basis - very few museum/show queens here. 

Van's is well known as a guru mechanic service for older cars, and people bring them in from all over. 

A Ferrari in its natural habitat.

There are a lot of vintage BMW's in the neighborhood.

A tasteful Rolls-Royce.

I am no expert on vintage MGs, but I think this is an MG-T. 

My first sighting of a Hupmobile in the wild.

The Hupmobile coolant temp gauge is a very direct concept, integrated into the radiator cap, and serves dual purpose as a hood ornament. The backseat occupant doesn't look too good.

Studebaker pickup truck still doing daily duty.

More DeRusting

My donor car was super rusty so removing rust, treating, priming, and painting has been a regular theme.

The product above does a great job of removing rust. Also can etch new metal so the primer will stick. You do have to treat the parts right away after using this stuff, because with all the oils etc stripped off and now etched, the metal will start rusting very quickly after drying.

DeRusting, priming, and painting is great for most parts, but not so great for fasteners. For nuts and bolts I tried a new (to me) technique of heating and oil quenching.

The two darker-looking nuts were heated with a propane torch and immersed in motor oil. It leaves a dark black-blue satin finish that is said to be rust resistant (not totally rust proof). Untreated rusty nut in the foreground. The flat plate was hard to heat evenly, so I got an irregular finish. 

I promise, this is actually part of wiring. The nuts and the plate are the mounting for the igniter, which does need to be wired.

Back to the Dash

Here is the revised dash, after smoothing out some of the joins with epoxy filler. Also visible are the counter-sunk holes where stainless flat head bolts secure the dash in place.