Fiberglass Dash Project
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 357
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From: Midwest Illinios
WOW frederic,
you work is amazing. Im motivated to try some sort of project like this, but not to this magnitude. In the future i see maybe a digicluster and buckets and custom center console for my 95 f150 I hope someday im motovated enough to complete a project like this. For right now my truck is my daily driver and i cant really tear into it much at a time. Keep up the awesome work.
Jordan
you work is amazing. Im motivated to try some sort of project like this, but not to this magnitude. In the future i see maybe a digicluster and buckets and custom center console for my 95 f150 I hope someday im motovated enough to complete a project like this. For right now my truck is my daily driver and i cant really tear into it much at a time. Keep up the awesome work.
Jordan
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Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,214
Likes: 13
From: New Jersey
my crewcab is my daily driver, actually. When I head out in the morning, I put the positive battery wire back on, reconnect the cluster, and drive off. When I get back home, I disconnect the cluster and put it in the bedbox, and disconnect the positive battery wire again. It goes quickly when you do it every day. I pretty much can do it in my sleep now.
And my thoughts on the complexity of this project. Like you, I was worried about the outcome (and still am to some degree). What I've done is *not* hack up the original dash, and dash support, or any of the mounting points in the cab. This way, should this fiberglass mess turn out to be a disgusting, embarrasing waste of time and money, I can simply put the factory dash back in and out of embarrassment, never sign onto this forum again.
That's my worse-case scenario exit strategy
And my thoughts on the complexity of this project. Like you, I was worried about the outcome (and still am to some degree). What I've done is *not* hack up the original dash, and dash support, or any of the mounting points in the cab. This way, should this fiberglass mess turn out to be a disgusting, embarrasing waste of time and money, I can simply put the factory dash back in and out of embarrassment, never sign onto this forum again.
That's my worse-case scenario exit strategy
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Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,214
Likes: 13
From: New Jersey
Today was grueling. I tried to sneak outside with the baby monitor, however my son decided to be incredibly fussy, so I'd glue one piece, have to run inside. Glue another piece, have to run inside.
Anyway:
You can see I got the width, shape, and contour reasonably correct.
While it doesn't look like it in this picture (or any of the others actually), there are 68 distinct pieces glued together in this structure. TONs of carefuly cut pieces of wood and handyboard. Like I said earlier, tedious!
The edges near the door panels don't match, but I did that on purpose, as next spring I'm going to make new door panels anyway. With the new bucket seats being slightly higher, the armrests have to move up, and the door mechanism will interfere with the stock factory armrests if I move them. So, I'm just going to make new door panels and not think about this irritating minor detail any longer.
By making the cluster area and the touchscreen area one piece, the touchscreen moved closer to the driver. Since my truck is a manual (dispite having an automatic shifter tagging along for the ride), this makes it easier for the driver to reach the touch display's far right corners. Why lean too far if you don't have to. But the automatic shifter is in the way, and gives me a good excuse to back out all the torx screws holding it on. I've been ignoring that shifter for about a year, but now it is time.
If you look carefully at the part of the center console, you'll see the black top of my coffee cup. Testing your projects as you go along is very important.
And this town car column is getting beaten on pretty hard too. Sad considering how good condition it was initially. I couldn't get the u-joint seperated so I decided "to hell with it" and just let it flop onto the floor and continue mounting the dash buck.
After lunch, I'll get to take all this stuff out, cover the lower half of the windshield, the entire firewall, all the wiring, trim panels and floor vinyl with a clear plastic tarp, so I don't get resin on everything.
Measuring this a few times in and out of the cab, I've discovered dispite my best effort to brace things, the dash top sags "just a hair" when it's sitting on the workbench. Then I put a level on my workbench and discovered tht top is warped quite significantly. This particular workbench is a 40 y/o slab of hardwood plywood draped over two plastic sawhorses, so warpage is expected. I just forgot to take that into consideration, so I'm glad I test fitted things and made minor adjustments. And, I will 'glass this buck in the truck, so the fiberglass dries in the position it will be mounted it. This avoids stress fractures later.
You can't really see it in the picture, but on the passenger side I've already taken into consideration the mounting ear at the bottom right that breaks on the 92-96 bodystyle... I solved this by using a piece of hickory instead of handyboard, and glued it with structural adhesive rather than wood glue. There is a brace right behind it too. Once I fiberglass over that it will be tough as nails, and not break for years to home. I will not tolerate dash squeeks!
Anyway:
You can see I got the width, shape, and contour reasonably correct.
While it doesn't look like it in this picture (or any of the others actually), there are 68 distinct pieces glued together in this structure. TONs of carefuly cut pieces of wood and handyboard. Like I said earlier, tedious!
The edges near the door panels don't match, but I did that on purpose, as next spring I'm going to make new door panels anyway. With the new bucket seats being slightly higher, the armrests have to move up, and the door mechanism will interfere with the stock factory armrests if I move them. So, I'm just going to make new door panels and not think about this irritating minor detail any longer.
By making the cluster area and the touchscreen area one piece, the touchscreen moved closer to the driver. Since my truck is a manual (dispite having an automatic shifter tagging along for the ride), this makes it easier for the driver to reach the touch display's far right corners. Why lean too far if you don't have to. But the automatic shifter is in the way, and gives me a good excuse to back out all the torx screws holding it on. I've been ignoring that shifter for about a year, but now it is time.
If you look carefully at the part of the center console, you'll see the black top of my coffee cup. Testing your projects as you go along is very important
.And this town car column is getting beaten on pretty hard too. Sad considering how good condition it was initially. I couldn't get the u-joint seperated so I decided "to hell with it" and just let it flop onto the floor and continue mounting the dash buck.
After lunch, I'll get to take all this stuff out, cover the lower half of the windshield, the entire firewall, all the wiring, trim panels and floor vinyl with a clear plastic tarp, so I don't get resin on everything.
Measuring this a few times in and out of the cab, I've discovered dispite my best effort to brace things, the dash top sags "just a hair" when it's sitting on the workbench. Then I put a level on my workbench and discovered tht top is warped quite significantly. This particular workbench is a 40 y/o slab of hardwood plywood draped over two plastic sawhorses, so warpage is expected. I just forgot to take that into consideration, so I'm glad I test fitted things and made minor adjustments. And, I will 'glass this buck in the truck, so the fiberglass dries in the position it will be mounted it. This avoids stress fractures later.
You can't really see it in the picture, but on the passenger side I've already taken into consideration the mounting ear at the bottom right that breaks on the 92-96 bodystyle... I solved this by using a piece of hickory instead of handyboard, and glued it with structural adhesive rather than wood glue. There is a brace right behind it too. Once I fiberglass over that it will be tough as nails, and not break for years to home. I will not tolerate dash squeeks!
Last edited by frederic; Aug 26, 2005 at 12:48 PM.
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 11,289
Likes: 6
From: Lakewood, Ohio
boy frederic, i fix a rusted brake line and i feel great, than i look at what you are doing and it looks like i slept all day.
does look good, and you are, as always, the master fabricator!
does look good, and you are, as always, the master fabricator!
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Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,214
Likes: 13
From: New Jersey
Originally Posted by MemOrex
All I can I say is that it takes guts and brains to take EVERYTHING out of the inside and then remembering where everything went..lol 
.
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Originally Posted by MemOrex
Its starting look real nice... I can picture it now 
And Quicklook, thanks for the compliment. But please refrain until this actually looks like a dashboard
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,781
Likes: 1
From: Central NY
Wow Frederic!
I ALWAYS look forward to reading your threads! Thanks for taking the extra time to post the pics and documenting all the work you share with us! I for one, really appreciate it and its primarily why I am going to keep my '94 around for quite a few more years!
Popa Tim
I ALWAYS look forward to reading your threads! Thanks for taking the extra time to post the pics and documenting all the work you share with us! I for one, really appreciate it and its primarily why I am going to keep my '94 around for quite a few more years!
Popa Tim
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 161
Likes: 0
From: Wherever there's danger..
Awesome progress on the dash! Thanks for your help with mine, too. I start dismantling my stuff tomorrow and (hopefully) I can get to a few other projects on the truck as well. I'm buying a ton (not quite literally) of diamond plate aluminum sheeting for some "brighting" work.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,214
Likes: 13
From: New Jersey
8/27
As all the import guys who do this... well... do... they drape fabric over the wood ribs, and get the contour that way. Sounds easy, right?
WRONG!
If the span is too wide, the fabric droops under the weight of the resin. So, you make it tigher, while it's wet, and then it pulls so tight on the ribs, they poke through messing up the contour. The above picture was from late last night. I should stop doing projects in the dark. Anyway, sag sag sag.
As you can see, some if it came out okay, some not. The smaller spans and minor curves came out nice actually. So, how do we span widely spaced ribs, without fabric sagging or pulling funny?
Yes, yellow poster board, i.e. thin cardboard. It's important to use yellow, because it's three times more expensive than white
And look how pretty the passenger side is now (below), as compared to the first picture. Now I'm pleased. Just wish I thought of this *before* wasting a half can of resin, and having to pry the first attempt off the buck using a screwdriver!
Ignore the little fabric "pull" on the left side of the passenger curved area, I've already glued that down. Sometimes it takes two tries to get the fabric to stick, because the glue takes too long to be tacky, and often times I just squish it down quickly and move on. Then, I have to revisit all of the edges again.
WRONG!
If the span is too wide, the fabric droops under the weight of the resin. So, you make it tigher, while it's wet, and then it pulls so tight on the ribs, they poke through messing up the contour. The above picture was from late last night. I should stop doing projects in the dark. Anyway, sag sag sag.
As you can see, some if it came out okay, some not. The smaller spans and minor curves came out nice actually. So, how do we span widely spaced ribs, without fabric sagging or pulling funny?
Yes, yellow poster board, i.e. thin cardboard. It's important to use yellow, because it's three times more expensive than white
And look how pretty the passenger side is now (below), as compared to the first picture. Now I'm pleased. Just wish I thought of this *before* wasting a half can of resin, and having to pry the first attempt off the buck using a screwdriver!
Ignore the little fabric "pull" on the left side of the passenger curved area, I've already glued that down. Sometimes it takes two tries to get the fabric to stick, because the glue takes too long to be tacky, and often times I just squish it down quickly and move on. Then, I have to revisit all of the edges again.
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 2,420
Likes: 3
From: Langhorne, PA
Have you ever used a hot glue gun? They are great for tacking things, the glue dries quickly!
I am not sure what you are doing, does the Fiberglass and buck get installed in the truck or is the buck merely a temporary jig for molding the glass?
I am not sure what you are doing, does the Fiberglass and buck get installed in the truck or is the buck merely a temporary jig for molding the glass?
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Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,214
Likes: 13
From: New Jersey
For this kind of work, hot glue gun is my weapon of choice. However, it didn't stick very well to the smooth side of the handyboard, only the edges, and the rough side. So after some pieces falling off, I tired other glues, and found that cheap elmers wood glue works really really well, and has a reasonable set time, so things can be adjusted if they have to.
The fabric is glued on using a 3M spray adhesive. I prefer this type of glue because it remains tacky for a long time, and you can pull the fabric taught and the other end won't pull away from the glue, generally. And if you want to pull it up, and adjust position, you can do so for about 10-15 minutes before the fabric will rip instead of pull off.
What you see in the pictures will mostly be in the final dashboard installed in the truck, but you won't see it unless you look underneath.
I will be cutting out a few of the support pieces, and two ribs, because they interfere with the steering wheel support and the heater core box... but they had to be there so I could move the buck around without it wobbling and flexing in those two areas. Once I have a few layers of fiberglass on the front, say, four or five, I'll be introducing Mr. Air Saw to the pieces that are leaving.
The buck is very light actually... probably less than 10 lbs. That's one of the advantages of handyboard. It's also easy to glue with wood glue as I mentioned. It's also slightly flexible in the 1/8" thickness side, so slightly contoured things like the dash top don't have to be built up with bondo, I can slope and curve the handyboard. Drawbacks is the amount of dust you get when you cut it, no matter what you cut it with and how new the blade is. Tremendous dust, and it sticks to everything. Another drawback, is if you misglue, and try to pull it apart, the handyboard is really made of layers, so you lose a few layers then have to make whatever goes there, slightly longer. Wood puddy does not stick to it, and a few layers missing really weakens it tremendously.
oh, and it's dirt cheap. ARound here, a 4'x8' 1/4" board is $6.75. 1/8" is $5.25.
A friend of mine gave me a large piece of carbon fiber that was left over from one of his projects, so I'm considering if the fiberglassing part goes well, I may wrap it in carbon fiber as the outer layer, instead of painting it red. We'll have to see how the fiberglass comes out. if I have to bondo the hell out of it, I'll skip the carbon fiber and use it for something else.
The fabric is glued on using a 3M spray adhesive. I prefer this type of glue because it remains tacky for a long time, and you can pull the fabric taught and the other end won't pull away from the glue, generally. And if you want to pull it up, and adjust position, you can do so for about 10-15 minutes before the fabric will rip instead of pull off.
What you see in the pictures will mostly be in the final dashboard installed in the truck, but you won't see it unless you look underneath.
I will be cutting out a few of the support pieces, and two ribs, because they interfere with the steering wheel support and the heater core box... but they had to be there so I could move the buck around without it wobbling and flexing in those two areas. Once I have a few layers of fiberglass on the front, say, four or five, I'll be introducing Mr. Air Saw to the pieces that are leaving.
The buck is very light actually... probably less than 10 lbs. That's one of the advantages of handyboard. It's also easy to glue with wood glue as I mentioned. It's also slightly flexible in the 1/8" thickness side, so slightly contoured things like the dash top don't have to be built up with bondo, I can slope and curve the handyboard. Drawbacks is the amount of dust you get when you cut it, no matter what you cut it with and how new the blade is. Tremendous dust, and it sticks to everything. Another drawback, is if you misglue, and try to pull it apart, the handyboard is really made of layers, so you lose a few layers then have to make whatever goes there, slightly longer. Wood puddy does not stick to it, and a few layers missing really weakens it tremendously.
oh, and it's dirt cheap. ARound here, a 4'x8' 1/4" board is $6.75. 1/8" is $5.25.
A friend of mine gave me a large piece of carbon fiber that was left over from one of his projects, so I'm considering if the fiberglassing part goes well, I may wrap it in carbon fiber as the outer layer, instead of painting it red. We'll have to see how the fiberglass comes out. if I have to bondo the hell out of it, I'll skip the carbon fiber and use it for something else.
Last edited by frederic; Aug 27, 2005 at 10:05 PM.
