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| The center gauge console perfectly houses a slew of aircraft style breakers and Innovate Motorsport's fully programmable, digital MTX-D gauges |
A center gauge console was then constructed by creating a paper template which left an additional two inches around the perimeter for mating flanges. To preserve a flush look, John used a bead roller to recess the flanges of the center gauge console behind the main dash panel. Two Dzus fasteners were then used to mate the top of the center console to the main dash panel.
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At times, John’s attention to detail is border line obsessive compulsive. Need evidence? After the center gauge console was complete, I made the assumption that the dash was also complete. I was wrong. John proceeded to construct close outs for the sides of the center console, small gaps between the A-Pillar bar as well as the sides and bottoms of the main dash panel. For the close outs, both a bead roller and an English wheel were used.
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Not only do the closeouts create a finished look, but many of them provide a functional purpose. The closeouts for the sides and bottoms of the main dash panel stiffen the dash providing so that the fire system and power switches can be easily activated. Doing such would be somewhat cumbersome if mounted on a floppy, unsupported piece of sheet metal.
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In addition, the side close out for the center console was fabricated to help contain and limit the movement of the driver’s legs in the event of a crash. This is obviously a feature I’m not too keen on ever having to test out.
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After John completed the fabrication of the dash, an act of sacrilege was performed. As beautiful as the aluminum dash was in its finished form, driving with it in its raw state was comparable to that of staring directly into the sun. Traditionally, an aluminum dash is “flocked” to decrease its reflectivity and eliminate glare on the windshield. In the flocking process, the dash is sprayed with an adhesive and then electrically grounded. The fiberous flocking material is electro-statically charged and then shot at the dash. In a way, flocking is very similar to that of how powder is applied during the process of powder coating… but who flocking cares? We wanted to try something different.
