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Since we have a fancy programmable digital dashboard, the next stop in the fabrication journey is securing it to the steering column behind the steering wheel.The factory steering column already had some mounting hole locations for the factory headlight/blinker stalk assembly and other equipment, so we opted to re-use them. Tom is taking some initial measurements of the mounting holes in order to plan the mounting panel for the AiM Strada.
CAD (cardboard aided design) is used extensively during the fabrication of the panels on our Project SC300 race car. The dashboard mounting panel is beginning to take shape. Or, at least, the design is.
The nice thing about using sturdy cardboard is that you can install it in many cases just like the final product.This also has the added benefit of helping to determine where to put holes for the fasteners. AiM is kind enough to provide PDF templates of the backs of their dashboards which makes it easy to locate fasteners and size panels. Here we are test fitting before making the actual panel out of aluminum.
The dashboard template is traced onto sheet aluminum and then marked for holes.
Here’s the final iteration of the template, ready for further trimming and fabrication.
Before drilling holes it is always a good idea to use a center punch (in this case, a spring-loaded one) to make a small indent in the material to be drilled. Then, incrementally step up your drill bit sizes. This helps to ensure that the hole is clean and exactly where you want it placed. Quality bits with good points don’t hurt, either.
