Installing a fiberglass dash

[Shaun @ Tru6]

A few weeks ago I took a drive up to NH to visit Damon (Series900) at his shop after he posted available fiberglass race dashes that he makes himself.

WANTED!!!! Carbon Fiber Dash Cap

Great guy, nice shop, and he makes a LOT of other parts. Hopefully a set of doors are on the way. Damon? Anyway, we all know how fun plastic parts can be and how well they fit out of the box, as in they don't. I can say that this dash is a really nice piece and required only 3-4 hours from start to finish to install.

Here's the story:

Dash comes gel coated with no cut-outs for defrost vents. I was originally going to cut down the vents and lay the dash over, but decided to leave them in. First pic is with rough cuts for the dash openings; I used a Dremel here.



Next I cut out and shaped the sides. Dremel again, but also used a grinder with worn flap disk. This worked great but you need a gentle touch and a lot of control.



Next I installed the dash to see how it fit. Having the cage in place really made the job A LOT harder. I learned a valuable lesson and that is when laying plastic parts over metal, look to see where the rubs are and then grind the underside of the part appropriately. I had to trim the binnacle openings a little too, but it otherwise "snapped" into place. Being very careful not to take too much material off, I probably installed-ground-installed 20 times before I was happy with the fit, taking off only thousanths each time. Along the way I used a mouse sander to clean up the vent openings and any wavy lines I created with the grinder/flap disk.

With the dash in place, I spray painted the undersided where the studs would go. Then I drilled out the center of the painted area a little, then ground the area clean to receive the stud. I then JB Welded the studs in place.





Once the weld was cured, I checked alignment. Even though the JB Weld was mighty thick, the studs still crept slightly. I did test them and these things are ON THERE. Given that, I enlarged each stud hole to 3/8 but should ahve gone to 1/2. With 1 inch fender washers underneath, this wasn't going to be a problem. the thing is that the dash sits one way on top of the metal, but maybe 1/8th off once studs are in place. I just Dremeled 2 holes underneath to get the studs to seat properly. I also painted the front most metal dash satin black to match the dash.



After this was done, I wet sanded with 320 to scuff up the gel coat, and then washed with water, then prep sol, then painted with an outdoor satin black. Dash is wet here so very shiny.



Time for install I wrapped plastic bags around known rub points and used duct tape too.



The near final dash once installed. I say near final because once it was all in and snugged down, I noticed the right top binnacle area was a little high. I got a new stud in that location which will pull it down, should be dry today and fit very well.

Anyone looking for a race dash, I highly recommend this one.

[MichiganMat]

nice install, thanks for the pics.

[RickM]

Very nice install and write-up. Thanks.

[v9ff]

That looks awesome!! Are you worried about a glare off the satin black at all?

[Dude76]

Are fiberglass dashes a good option for street cars?

[Chuck Moreland]

Looks good. What does it weigh?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Glare: no not really. The satin "in-person" is not very shiny, less so than the dash in the 84 I use for DE

Fiberglass for street? Maybe. If you could vacuum mold vinyl over it, maybe, but probably not. I think there are better options out there.

I am guessing it weighs 2 lbs or less with the hardware.

[Porschekid962]

Didn't the factory put black felt or some other dull material over their dashes in the race cars??? I have always wondered what they used.

That dash looks great, your friend knows fiberglass, he did a good job, i love the look of the car so far, any full shots of it?? Are we pictures sluts or what

[ScottKelly911]

Great write up, thank you for posting your experience. I'm thinking a Carbon Fiber Dash would be similar to install, however without the painting. Great job!!!

[Randy Webb]

Street cars have padded dashes for safety - so this is not a good option. I've been intrigued by it, but it is unwise to make the car less safe. Also, the wt. savings is not a lot. Stay stock for the street.

[PRE-H20]

if anyone need carbon fiber stuff call

L&S Custom Products
714-847-1268
Huntington Beach CA

He does all carbon fiber stuff and it is awesome work, he has done several shows cars and has the molds in his shop,... VERY cool guy. He works on Porsches guys, has some pretty cool stuff.

Lucio Serrano is the owners name.