anyone made a custom aluminum dash? i'm thinking about capping my stock one in my 85 GMC truck. i was going to use 1/8" aluminum. any ideas? or pictures? or where i could get one made?

Originally posted by bignissan
or where i could get one made?

how about your garage ?

yeah, i am thinking about trying it....i've never done any aluminum work before though. a sheet of aluminum is $160....not bad if i can actually make it look good. just wondering if there are any pictures of full aluminum dashes. i've searched and didn't come up with much.

Originally posted by bignissan
yeah, i am thinking about trying it....i've never done any aluminum work before though. a sheet of aluminum is $160....not bad if i can actually make it look good. just wondering if there are any pictures of full aluminum dashes. i've searched and didn't come up with much.

Serch the toy forum.................

http://www.m4x4a.org/ImageGallery/album37/MVC_044F.sized.jpg

Here you can see some of mine (sorry, not a good picture of the dash). You realy don't need to make it out of that thick a material as long as you put a couple of bends in it, it only has to hold guages and switches. Mine is made out of 24 or 26ga with a 45 degree bend at the top and along the edges (the guage face area is at 45degrees to the floor). I built a frame along the edge out of 1/8 x 1 flat bar with nuts tacked to the back to screw it down. The top edge neer the windshield fits in the stock dash clips. I lost about 35 lbs by switching dashes. The worst problem I had was geting the defrosters to line up properly.

ok...i am new to this realm of offroading...but i am getting there...reading and searching as much as i can and learning too much...

my question on this is...is 35lb loss really matter? just curious...i mean...i used to carry two tool boxes and tons of spare parts...im sure that was closer to 135...???

jeep but u get the idea

another

lighter=more traction....but still every little bit helps. the reason for my dash is not weight loss. this is in my 2wd dd chevy pick up. i am restoring the interior and my dash is all cracked, so i thought an aluminum one would look trick. i just don't want it to look like hammered dog stuff...

i like those pics! i am just going to be replacing or "capping" my stock dash pad...haven't decided if i am going to all together replace it yet. thanks
greg

Here is what my brother made for his bronco project. Still has to cut holes for the tach, radio, and CB and then paint it. I like it. He used some really thin aluminum. You don't need anything to thick.


http://pics.montypics.com/Mudyota/2002-12-06/mvc_001s.jpg

http://pics.montypics.com/Mudyota/2002-12-06/mvc_002s.jpg

Originally posted by PurdueYJ
ok...i am new to this realm of offroading...but i am getting there...reading and searching as much as i can and learning too much...

my question on this is...is 35lb loss really matter? just curious...i mean...i used to carry two tool boxes and tons of spare parts...im sure that was closer to 135...???



Your tool box probubly was even heavier than that, I know mine is:D

35lbs here 45 there and it really adds up. Back when it was a blazer it weighed 7850lbs, now that it is a Toylet it weighs 4200lbs. Less weight = more stable, less broken parts, not realy more traction because traction is directly proportional to your force on the ground - but it takes far less traction to get my fat butt up a hill, and the flotation is unreal - I stay on top of the sand, snow, and even mud.

here's the one in my bronco, still had to install a couple of the stock controls in the instrument cluster, and install the speakers and steering column shrouds in this pic...
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=832705

here's mine. :D

Not completely custom but it was easy. Thanks to my bro's at Overland Dynamics and their plasma cutter. :D

This is a dash I did for a friend's Bronco. Don't have any pics of mine. It's easy on a flat dash but if you're gonna cover the dash pad thats gonna be a little more involved.

nice dashes.
I made one, it's in the jeep section I think.

Here's mine....the camera flash really played hell with those swirlls, it's not nearly as ghetto looking in person. And this thing was easy to do without fancy shop tools. We had a sheet metal brake that wouldn't do the .120 alum so we clamped it in anyway and hand bent it up to give the curved look on top. The bottom was done on a press brake, but that's the only part. It was cut and shaped with a jig saw and file, and holes cut with a hole saw and jig saw. Now i wish i had the cash for gauges!

DASH PICS LINK (http://coloradok5.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=garage&Number=543580&page=&view=&sb=&o=&fpart=1&vc=1)

Mine:

2: