aluminium dash panel

[evilzee28]

Over the next few weeks I'm gonna start making a new dash for my '69. It'll be an insert cast out of aluminium & will be detailed & polished. I see that a lot of you are using DSE dash panels, the downside of these is that they're very flat & in my opinion pretty featureless (no offence meant). What I intend to do is to make mine with raised reveals where the guages go & maybe add a few raised details & finish it off with a mixture of cast & polished appearance, with maybe a little body colour here & there. I made one for my '28 Model A hot rod a few years ago from MDF & then had it cast in aluminium by a friend that has a foundry. I've attached a coupla pics for you to see how that turned out, the one is the finished MDF "buck" & the other the finished article in polished/cast finishes with orange metalflake accents. I'll post some pics of the finished article of the one I'm gonna do for the '69 once I'm done with it.

[XcYZ]

Originally Posted by evilzee28

I see that a lot of you are using DSE dash panels, the downside of these is that they're very flat & in my opinion pretty featureless (no offence meant).

I know what you mean. I wish I had my camera with me a few months ago when I ran into Moose from Rad Rides and his brother and his 69 Camaro. It had the DSE carrier, but they modified it to recess the gauges into the face of the panel; it looked trick.

I'll be interested to see how yours turns out. New ideas are always good.

[hotwheels]

man, that looks awesome............that really gives that dash panel some life......

[Payton King]

You got my attention!

How many gauges do you plan on running?

Just suppose you decide to make an extra one and I really like it...how much to my door?

Payton

[Mean 69]

Count me in too. Just make it light!! Kidding...

[evilzee28]

Originally Posted by Payton King

You got my attention!

How many gauges do you plan on running?

Just suppose you decide to make an extra one and I really like it...how much to my door?

Payton

Hi Payton & mean '69 how ya doing? Well, I'm gonna be running a speedo, rev counter & four smaller guages for oil, water etc. & possibly an extra one for a clock. They'll probably be Auto Meter guages. I'm also gonna put raised plinths for the switchgear & probably for the radio & idiot lights. Best to see if you like it when it's finished & if you want one then it's no problem to make more, as once the "buck" is made it's like fibre glass moulding, you can make as many as you like. Costs shouldn't be too expensive & would be considerably less than the one from DSE.I think the last one cost me about $300 to have cast & polished, & that was big. It certainly drew alot of attention & everybody loved it. If you look closely you'll see I even had the name of my truck "Freakster" cast into it & polished. I thought I'd cast the name Camaro into the next one.

That's something I don't understand though, why do DSE make them in steel as opposed to fibreglass or even carbon fibre. It would be so much easier & quicker to make & would cost a fraction of the price. I could make those in fibreglass for about $140.00 once a mould was made. Carbon fibre would look well trick !!

[Payton King]

I will hold off on buying the DSE until I see your finished product. I was going to use the same layout as was on Stuart's car. I am running a/c so I will need a place for an air vent on the left side and a place for the controller (vintage air) on the right, place for the radio along with all the other stuff. Look forward to watching you progress....now get to work on that thing!

Payton

[evilzee28]

Originally Posted by Payton King

I will hold off on buying the DSE until I see your finished product. I was going to use the same layout as was on Stuart's car. I am running a/c so I will need a place for an air vent on the left side and a place for the controller (vintage air) on the right, place for the radio along with all the other stuff. Look forward to watching you progress....now get to work on that thing!

Payton

I'm probably gonna start on it in the next 3-4 weeks & it should take a couple to get to the "buck" stage" As soon as I'm at that point I'll attach some pics to the forum & you can let me know what you think. I'll check Stuarts car to see what you're after.

[Rick Dorion]

I too would be very interested. That's a nice looking item. Any timeframes?

[evilzee28]

Originally Posted by Rick Dorion

I too would be very interested. That's a nice loking item. Any timeframes?

Hi Rick ,yeah about 6-8 weeks 'til I'm at the "buck" stage, as posted above.