African Muscle Cars - Forum

Did anybody ever attempted to make a custom designed dashboard or tried to fit a dashboard from a different car?Thing is dashboard for Sapphire is looking rather dull (all dashboards after 1980 are looking dull to me).Are there any companies in KZN that might be into this kind of thing?

This is my attempt at fitting a Mk1 Golf dash into a Beetle.

Granted it was many years ago when mountains were still small and rocks soft...

please excuse the quality of the picture.

Here is my current attempt on the Opel Rekord!
Opel kadett "B" onto Opel Rekord "B"

jmvv wrote:This is my attempt at fitting a Mk1 Golf dash into a Beetle.
Granted it was many years ago when mountains were still small and rocks soft...
please excuse the quality of the picture.

Very Nice!

Creative.Was it a natural fit or did you have to cut here and there?I like the use of wood.

I got hold of a 25mm thick piece of Imboya. (apologies for the spelling)

I marked out the required opening and whittled it with a router.
I made some spacers to get the correct mounting angle for the cluster.
I then cut out the required metal on the dash and used clips, screwed in from the back to clamp the new insert to the dash.

I cut some of the wood down to 6mm and made a cover for the glove box lid.

The air vents came from a Erika series Ford Escort complete with blower mounted where the standard Beetle ventilation air box used to live. The ventilation switch was also donated by the Escort.

Control Instruments supplied a reduction gearbox unit to get the speedo calibration spot on.
The rev counter got the necessary pulse from the coil.

I followed a similar procedure! Only difference is that I used Opel to Opel instruments! Advantage is that the speedo calibration required no adjustment! No metal cutting or drilling was required! I used the existing four holes to fit two wooden bars that holds the new face! I used marine plywood to shape the face. As JMVV states, you get a good finish! Important point is to make sure you correctly match up the wiring and fit a matching speedo cable. I had to change the instrument side!! Good Luck and be patient!!

Thanks for the input.To be honest,I didn't even thought about the speedo cable and rev counter.I am thinking about the late 60's Ranchero/Fairmont style.I am a Valiant fan but that is a nice looking dash.

As I suggested! Take your time! I have decided to place the Toggle switches and Starter button not on the panel but separately! Makes the access behind the panel easy! Here is my latest attempt! Wife says its ok!

If your car is a 1960 Valiant as in your profile I wouldn't touch the dash at all... It's too cool ..,