Fiberglass Dashboard

Gro Harlem · Post by **Gro Harlem** » July 15th, 2005, 9:30 pm

I'm talkin to my buddy who is into composites if he could make me a fiberglass dashboard. He said "sure it'll take a long time but i could do one".

I'm talking replacement, not overlay. For weight purposes only! Don't even ask "what about a cf one" b/c in the amounts he buys (very small) he couldn't do a cf dash for a reasonable price or profit margin, nor would he have the time or care to make one that looks good.

we are talkin fglass only. Who thinks they would be interested in one? i'm still trying to figure out what kind of weight savings we are talking about, but it could be 15-25 which is a decent amount to remove from the front-half of the car.

mitmaks · Post by **mitmaks** » July 15th, 2005, 9:57 pm

depending on price i might be

Gro Harlem · Post by **Gro Harlem** » July 15th, 2005, 10:39 pm

price of materials along apparently will be 150ish. on top of labor, it'll be considerable in price 500+ probably

mxprecidia · Post by **mxprecidia** » July 16th, 2005, 9:56 am

i will be interested as long as its for the 95 style dash.

mitmaks · Post by **mitmaks** » July 16th, 2005, 2:59 pm

$500+ too expensive, ill just stick with stock one for now

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » July 16th, 2005, 3:47 pm

As much as I would love to fiberglass the dash, I would need to get everything else done to match, lotsa work and lotsa $$$

ooELMOoo · Post by **ooELMOoo** » July 16th, 2005, 6:28 pm

im interested as long as we can pick the colour and its 94+ dash style...or even better a new style not in a mx-3

Vanished · Post by **Vanished** » July 16th, 2005, 8:09 pm

yah if you could make a new style that would fit the two different years of dash...hmm could be cool

V8KOMX3 · Post by **V8KOMX3** » July 17th, 2005, 1:46 am

That would be way cool to have a custom dash with spots for all kinds of gauges and a laptop ans so on and so on, but that is just a dream I don't see it ever happening

mxprecidia · Post by **mxprecidia** » July 17th, 2005, 2:50 pm

V8KOMX3 wrote:That would be way cool to have a custom dash with spots for all kinds of gauges and a laptop ans so on and so on, but that is just a dream I don't see it ever happening

hell yeah. nothing too dramatic but simple things like a few spaces for gauges and whatnot, some nice indentations here and there to jazz it up a little bit, space for a monitor, etc.... u know. awesome.

Gro Harlem · Post by **Gro Harlem** » July 17th, 2005, 7:43 pm

for the record, i hate the new style dash....so sorry it won't be that style.

and making one with customer tv's and gauges would require a framework thingy to be made with wood. Then you could make a mold once that is 100% completed. That'd be way more work & money than you'd ever be willing to spend, probably well over 1000 dollars. Go to a shop and ask for the same thing and they'd tell you 1000 minimum.

my buddy with a show-cavlier spent 2800 on teh dash & door panels completely custom made. They used fiberglass resin on top of a wood framework and just sanded it. They didn't make a mold & then recreate it.

in other words, his dash & door panels probably weigh 3-5 times more than the stockers b/c of that wood underneath.

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » July 18th, 2005, 10:49 am

I wouldn't do a fiberglass dash. The stock dash is meant to be hit by human flesh in an accident. A fiberglass one is going to spinter and cut the hell out of your face, torso or arms. Please don't say no it won't if you've never broken a piece of fiberglass. Think about a crumpled car and how that long piece of fiberglass is going to split from the mounting bolts and send pieces and leave swords of pieces jutting from the dash area.
Not a good idea IMO.
On a second note, I doubt you'll save much weight if any at all. Have you ever felt the weight of the stock dash, it can't weigh more than 10-15 pounds. Fiberglass gets heavy quickly. 3 layers thick and that long and deep. I'd bet that fiberglass one weighs in at 15-25. If for looks only on a show car, good job. A dailey driven one, death trap and heavier...

Gro Harlem · Post by **Gro Harlem** » July 18th, 2005, 3:31 pm

meh.... if i get in a wreck in this car i'll probably die anyways, might as well make my face unreconizable while i'm at it.

+ why would i smash into the dash if i had my seatbelt on? lol

i'm kinda debating transforming my car into a fully prepped racer, but it won't be competitive in any classes unless I remove my KLZE and put a k8 back in there so I dunno what i want to do.