I bought my car 24th Dec, 2009. It wasn't finished by the original owner/builder, but I'm gonna finish it now. I'm going to make a dash, and a friend is making the inside door panels. My NM friends helped me put my front brakes, master cylinder and plumbing on. I'm going to rewire it with some things located in the dash. It'll get new brake and clutch hydraulic lines, a new shifter, and a new console to finish it up. Give me pointers along the way, I'm listening!!!!!!!!
I have to pull the transmission to get it fixed, so I'm almost down to a bare frame, by that time, and it needs to be powder coated again anyway. Here's the start, since yesterday.....

oh boy i fell into that one twice ! keep us posted . i was just gonna do a few upgrades , then the next thing i know everything but the chassis is new . tim

I say toss the diamond plate..... just my .02 cents.

And replace it with...........?

I don't care for the Fred Flintstone style !!!!

personally i like the solid floors... im sure i wont when it comes time to clean it.... only other option i guess is expanded steel.

Expanded metal floors are not going in my buggy. I don't like them. I have a built in air compressor, if I need to blow the floors out while I'm out in the dunes. I'm not super attatched (no pun intended) to the diamond plate. My buddy has solid floors, with non-skid on them, and it's ok too.
I'm making a new bar between the shock mounts, and my small lights will be moved to that bar, instead of right under the windshield area, like thay are now.

Thanks, keep'em coming.
BBTank

I've seen some dash threads in here, but if you've never showed off your's, please post it up. I need some more ideas. I'm starting mine tonight (fri or tommorrow(sat morning).

Thanks in advance, this is gonna be a cool project.

BBTank

When you bolt it in from the bottom, use a 3/16" thick washer, between the tab and the skid plate (I'm assuming you have tabs to bolt to) that way you'll have a small gap between the bottom frame and the top of the plate , to let the sand fly out !!

I would try to find things to remove or leave off the car, not add onto. Keep it simple. Don't get caught up in the cosmetic contest. Think duning.

Very good idea, i agree. If I leave it the way it was, I can't reach the switches on the console, in front of the shifter. I'm removing the aluminum console that holds the switches, starter button, etc., and replacing it with a fiberglass dash that I can mount all the gauges and switches so I can reach them. I'm also putting a cutting brake in it. That will be mounted behind the dash, and the levers will stick thru some slots in the dash. I know it's kinda hard to visualize what I'm saying, but it's the only way I can find to put a cutting brake in the car, unless I change a whole group of stuff, I don't want to do.

I'm not thinking cosmetic, I'm thinking form follows function. I want everything for a purpose, not to impress.


Thanks again for the suggestions,
BBTank

ahipara 55, thanks for the post. I like that dash pic, but my steering wheel is kinda close to the windshield area, not that I have a winshield right now. My dash from side to side will be fairly minimal, It will curve down in the middle, to the console. That's where the brakes will come thru the slots in the dash. It's gonna be close to the shifter, just forward of it. Those shifter boxes that are welded to the floor, are out. If I was to use the rear box for the cutting brake, it's too close to the seat backs. I'm 6'1 and the car gets kinda small for me.
I'm moving the new Jamar shifter a bit to the rear, but only a bit. If it comes out the way I've got it drawn, it should be very user friendly. But we all know, that remains to be seen.
I'm only confined by my imagination, and that's running 800MPH right now!!

Thanks again, keep'em coming, I'm not against changing what I think I'm gonna do. I want this to be the best set up for me, and you guys have the experience I'm looking for.

BBTank

for the floors you can notch it in the rear so that there will be an 1/8th in gap not enough to be seen right away and enough to let sand out.

Only thing i have done to my car this summer is add a light bar and combo spindles.Next summer it gets a bigger makeover.

I just got this car and I'm kinda anxious to get it to be "me". The floors already have a gap for the sand to get out. I'm gonna make sure that is done again.

I ordered the plate to mount the new Jamar shifter, and the shift rod too. I'm on my way now to go to get a small grinder to remove the old tabs and shift boxes. The brake lines are out of the way now. If I can find the steel I need to make the mount for the cutting brakes, that'll get started today too. The dash has to get put in place at the same time too. It's gonna take some time to get everything in place, and work well. I'll get it, this is my first sand car, far from my first car.

Thanks for the help guys, I'm still listening, I'm appreciative of your experience!!!


BBTank

Thanks for the comments guys.

I'm past the point of no return, I"ve cut out the seatbelt tabs that were located at the seat base to move them behind the seats (proper location), headlight brackets are gonna be relocated to a new bar between the front shocks, pulled out all the wiring from the front of the car, I've cut some other unused tabs out. I don't see any choice now, but to repowder coat the frame now, I've got too much cut off, and too many bare spots for me to live with. The shifter plate and rod will be here on my birthday, tommorrow!!!!!!

I'll still be wanting to hear y'alls opinions too. This is gonna be a long hard task to get done by Sept., but I'm doing my best to git'er done!!!


BBTank

I used .080 thick 2024-T3 alum for mine and I spaced the tabs about 8-12" apart and used 3/16 screws. There is also 1/8-3/16 gap around the edges. Then I had them powder coated so i didn't have to polish them ( Did that on my last buggy too much work to keep clean). I used a 'silver vein ' which has a light texture on it. Here is another idea for switches.

mntbuggy,
You have made me think about the cutting brake. I like the shifter console, but..........
My floorboards are really just fine the way they are, I'm looking for direction in other areas.

Tha nks,
BBTank

I mounted my cutting brakes right behind the shifter. I had to cut down the handles to make them shorter. My stick straight up. So I reach over the top of them to get to the shifter.

I'm still thinking of sticking them thru slots in the dash. The dash would not be real big/long, except in the middle where it would come down to meet the console. That's the thought for right now.

Pics anyone?

My dash is real basic. It's hard to see from these pics but I might have closer ones on my home PC. I welded 1/2" X 1/2" angle between the A pillars. I cut and bent ( about 45 degrees) 1/2" X 1/2" angle (3 pieces) and welded them to the tube running between the A pillars and the angle I welded in just above that. I drilled/tapped the angle for 5/16" bolts (used button heads). That made a basic frame for the dash. Then I bent a piece of aluminum and layed out the gauges. I put the gauges right behind the steering wheel since you can see through the holes. The switches are centered in the dash and I made sure I could reach them all while belted in. I have plenty of room on the passenger side for a race radio and intercom to be added later.

L.R.S., that's nice and nice work, thanks for posting that. Right now, even though I do aircraft sheetmetal, I'm leaning towards making my dash with fiberglass. The mounts would have some aluminum sandwiched for all the Dzus fasteners to go thru. Your dash layout is nice too.
I know somebody will say no fiberglass, it'll crack. But I've done composites on aircraft that fly faster than my buggy by a few MPH!!! All I can do is hope and go for what I know. If it don't work, I'll keep doing it until I get it right.

Thanks guys, keep'em coming, please.

Well, I got a bit of time do work in the garage today, but..........
I had to clean up some first

Then test the suspended ceiling tile for fiberglass resin, and it's ok to use. That's what the 2nd pic is,

Then I put the front seats in to check clearances for my feets, and legs. That shifter is right on the money, for not measuring. (I'd rather be lucky than good, anyday)

Hey Tank, cool project. One question though... if you mean you are going to mount the cutting brakes on the steering wheel cross-bar, isn't that going to make routing the brake lines a lot more difficult?

Our turning brake is on KG's left, a single handle, up or down controls it. Always seems to work good whenever we are powersliding across a bowl, whipping straight up and flipping a 180 back down a dune or playing rally car thru the flats around the bushes....ok I have to stop now I am getting all excited. Damn I love the way my hubby drives our buggy

I also want to let y'all know that BBT is a Glamis Virgin and we plan on teaching him how to drive the hell out of his buggy this coming season.

Oh and we have perforated stainless floors with hand rolled flames in them (KG did the bead rolling but I did get to help! ) and as a PASSENGER that seems to ALWAYS catch the faceful of sand from the front tires, I like how I don't have a mini-dune under my feet and legs. It was a long time ago we did the floors and I think that perforated stainless is spendy, but it is nearly indestructible, looks awesome, and you can add your own flare to it.

Also BBT, since you are in Tucson, I would highly recommend sending a message over to donparscale here on the board. He is around you as well, has a machine shop to die for, and is always up for helping out on fab projects!!! He and his Mrs, Diane, are up high on the Queen's list of favorites for sure! His buggy is amazing too!

Thank you my lil sister, I'll look into it. O Soto Gari stopped by to have a beer or 3 with me and Lil Debbie.

BTW, Lil Debbie has howdy to you and the KG too!!!!!!!!

Thank you my lil sister, I'll look into it. O Soto Gari stopped by to have a beer or 3 with me and Lil Debbie.

BTW, Lil Debbie has howdy to you and the KG too!!!!!!!!

For what it's worth...........

Not much, but I finally got a bit done today. Man, it's hot in the garaage, here in TOO-sun

Ahh the joys of fiberglass. Havent messed with the stuff since I did pods/kick panels in the Mustang (I used fleece; pain to sand).

is this your first attempt at fiberglass or have you done it before? why did you decide to do it instead of aluminum?

I've done glass for almost 30 years. I deal with aluminum every day. I work on AF aircraft, and I don't have the machines at home to do the metal work, and it's illegal to use the ones at work. So, I'm doing fiberglass because I have the tools to do it with.

If nobody can tell, the form I'm using is a suspended ceiling tile, cut and shaped. I put mold release on it, and it's already shown that the f/g will come off the mold. I'm hoping it comes out good. Time will tell!!!

cool, i was thinking about making a hood. so you build a form (from about anything that ya want) then you fiberglass that and pull it off. that is your mold. then you lay the gel coat and glass inside the mold and voila you have your part. is that it in a nut shell? or am i way off?

I used a ceiling tile this time. You have to be careful with what you use as a "mold". Some foam will get eaten up by the resin, you need to check it before taking all the time to shape it and have the resin eat it up.

I try to make a mold and lay up the fiberglass right over that. That would then become my piece to use. If you think there could be a call for more than just the 1 you make for yourself, then do like you said, and make a mold to reproduce more for others. I'm just making a 1 off dash for mine, if somebody wants one, after I"m done, I would just make another, instead of making a mold. Did that make sense? Stay tuned for more, it take sme awhile to get stuff done, I work a good bit of overtime and when I get home, I fall asleep sometimes.


3:30 comes early in the morning!!!
BBTank

Well.....I had some time to work on the car today and my back was OK with it. Got the fuel tank out, got the radiator out, and got the rest of the ECU out. I didn't get the ECU disconnected form the engine yet, but I might not have to. I have all the wiring out of the car itself. It's the pic of the wiring on top of the car. Man, what a G-damn rats nest, I'm gonna find out who did that crap job. It was a shop in the Phoenix area. Wires were taken to whatever termination point with a crimped connector on it already, and it was too long. What do they do? Well first of all they were using crimped connectors, but if it was too long, they just folded the wire up and taped the crap out of it. What a turd polisher. I got the new Baja Claws mounted on the new rims too!!!

Oh well, so much for the whinning, here's the pics from today.

Here's a few from Sat. Aug. 21. Welded the front "X" and shock brace in the car. I gotta lot to learn about fitting pipes together, that's fo sho. I'm getting excited now.......Thanksgiving is coming soon. I'm working on it.

Looking good BBT. Hell if I didn't live down in the valley I would come lend a hand. Keep plugin away and before you know it you'll be done and in the dunes.

AJ, my wife and I just talked a few mins. ago, and decided we're gonna wait to send it off to the powdercoaters until we get back from the SSSS. The best part, she asked me how much money to take!!!! I need some things that will need to be welded, lights, brackets, etc. And going to the show I'll have a chance to touchy feely new stuff. To me, it makes a difference to see what you're buying, instead of over the 'puter. I sure hope they have some good stuff at "show" prices!!
Thanks for the compliment,
Tank

Looking Good I like the dash.

Thanks, but that dash has alot of work to go yet. That's just a blank canvas to start, at least in my head it is. we'll see, thanks again

Your car looks good and looks like your almost ready to dune...Keep up the good work

Don't I wish, I still have to finish the tear down. I've gotta get the trans work done, finish grinding old welds down, make and install the dash supports, maybe move the seats over to the outside for more console room. And alot of this can't happen until I get back from SSSS to see what I buy there. I know I'm looking for an in-dash GPS, so I have to buy it before I can do the dash. I sit beside, or in the car, beer in hand, and think about what I need to do, and what order. I'm only gonna do this damn thing once. My semi, sorta, sideways kinda adopted son in NM would like to come take the car and "git'er done". But I ain't out to pasture, yet, so that biotch is mine to finish. It'll be out by Christmas, I hope.

Well, I've gotten some work done on the car, and was asked about pics. I'll take some today and post up the few I have.

Still looking for comments from all you folks.

BBTank

Here are a few pics of a dash mounted cutting brake... it worked well and was easy to use, the guy that built and designed this particular car was an engineer and yes that dash is all one piece of aluminum...
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Nice, thanks for posting those. I've got a 2 handle cutting brake and would have to mount it differently than that.

My idea, at first, was to mount the cutting brake body vertical, behind the dash, with the handles thru slots in the dash. I bought an in-dash GPS now, so I might not have enough room to do that now. I"m still wanting to do it, I haven't seen too many CB's thru the dash like that.

I'm going to post some pics when I get the center console finished and temp installed in the car.

Damn looking good BBT! Dash looks great

getting closer

Turkey day is right around the corner, you gonna be ready??

Thanks for the compliment, but ain't no way I'll be ready for T-day. Everything that you see in the pics is all in preperation for the final disassymbly before powdercoat!!! Everything has to be done, welded, fitted, etc., before it leaves for PC.

I'm working on the center console now, then the dash will get fitted, suppported, cut, trimmed, gauges, switches, molded, etc. then...........................I only have a few things left to do before gettin her completly nekkid!!

It's hard to work all the hours at my day job and go home and work for 3-4 hours a day, but all you guys making posts of encouragement keeps me thinking it gonna be worth it. Even if it is a "budget build"

Thanks guys

Well keep up the good work and it will all come together!

Budget build or not, if your out in the sand having fun- it dont matter what your drivin/ridin

Keep us posted on the progress pics

Well, I came home from work today and found 2 packages on the front entry way. It was my wiring harness from Painless. It is a great looking kit. It's the extreme off road 10 circuit kit and it has 4 realys already wired in. I found it at Jeg's, and boy howdy was it pricey. I got a "free" fan realy harness from Jeg's, and I don't think I'm gonna need it, I'll find out in a few weeks, when I mock it up in the car. If somebody needs it PM me if I don't use it, it's yours.

Back hurt so bad today it made me sick to my stomach, so no work today.

BBTank

Got a pics of the stuff I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. It's kinda slow going, I have to wait on others to weld some aluminum for me. It's free, so I'm not bitching, at all.

I got the firewall first cut, and trimmed most of the way, got the bottom Dzus fasteners in, gotta make the side pieces and dzus fasteners for them. The front piece of the console has to be welded again, I overworked it and crack 2 small spots, that's tomorrow. I'm off to the garage for a few more hours.

BBTank