saturday afternoon started on my dash extension, had it all mocked up with cardboard and just had to build it, had to make a round edge around the bottom and sides of the center part, parts were all cut in a slight angle so i made myself a duplicate form out of 1/2 mfd 2 pieces, i rounded off one edge of the mfd, then i sandwidged the material between both pieces, the top mfd i raised it 1 inch from the ohter piece, clamped it all together and started to hammer away on the bottom of the sheet, not where it radiusses, did this to all three pieces, not quite finished welding the passenger corner, ran out of welding gas!, piece is bolted to the dash not welded

 

...Man...that is some killer metal-workin'...I gotta get a look at your
metal studio......

Great job...this is the stuff that inspires everyone....now I gotta go

start cleanin' up the garage & gettin' ready...thanks...no seriously...

thanks.......

....I seem to be saying that alot lately......

 

Man that looks sweet what are your plans for covering it wood veneer, real wood, carbon fiber...I see you are busy with the sheet metal nice work all around I like the sheet metal bender also I may have to try that.

 

Nice! A stretcher/shrinker would have allowed you to make the compound curves to save a lot of notches that need welding and almost always give the bends a "faceted look". It also means you have to make the notched portion of the flange narrower than the rest if you want the edge to have a continuous curve. The other option you might consider lacking a stretcher/shrinker is to cut away all the notched portion of the flanges and cut new flange patches "on the curve" and weld in. It is a lot less weld to clean up and get flat and straight, and allows you to cut two identical curves of the same width as the straight portions of your flange.

 

Interesting! Nicely done.

I've been toying with a similar idea on my 49, thanks for sharing

Bobby

 

Very creative. I like it!

 

All good and true, but I suspect it's all going to be covered with padding and upholstery?

 

i am doing a similiar thing to my 52 except it out of cocobolo exotic hardwood with an upholstered edge nice job

 

Impressive work; looking forward to seeing the final interior features; keep up the good work.

Mitch

 

Nice work, What are you planning on covering it with?

 

looks awesome !!! i want to do somthing similar in my 49...but im aways from that ...keep the pics posted id like to see how it comes out!

 

When I read "dash extension" I expected to see a 3-4 inch panel across the bottom of the original dash panel...this is MUCH more than an extension. The only question I have is how much leg room will the passenger have?

 

thanks guys, haven`t figure out yet if i`ll cover it up or not, yes a stretcher schrinker would of helped a lot but dont have the $$$$ for that right now, still have the top of the dash to deal with,either remove the ash tray and glove box or install slides on the glove box door, as for the rest of the dash still haven`t figured what to do with the speedo, might change that too!! there is still enough leg room for the driver and passenger the only reason i went that low with it is because of the steering column covers, the original plan was to have it 2 inches higher.

 

You could cut out about 1" an weld in an indent to make the glove box & ash tray work, that's how my dash extension is and the one I made previously was the same to allow the use of the ash tray & glove box.

 

thanks jaye! thats a great idea! i`m just not 100% sure i want to leave the glove box and ash tray in the dash, might just fill it in??