|
Start of the new dash, foam of the base dash has been cut away to the shape of the Subaru cluster surround in its approximate new position. Most of the surround will be cut away but I want to keep it complete as it will be weakened and may deform if I cut it down now. Next step is to cut through the metal shell of the dash |
Dash has been cut back so the Subaru instruments will now fit in. |
Here you can see the instruments fix on to the surround from the back. Now I have established the position, I can get on with reprofiling the dash top into the subaru surround. To do that, I will cover the instruments with a few mm of foam and then cover that with fibreglass, that will guarantee a reasonable clearance |
Pair of electric 'sports option' seats in leather from a Porsche 996 turbo |
|
Steering wheel is a bit offset for my liking so I will look at shifting it more inline with the seat centre. |
Both seat mounts positioned, just some filleting to make the mountings stronger to do now. |
I got this dash off a fellow swapper (cheers Kai!), it is from a 1995 WRX. The driver's side end is almost the perfect width, but I will need to take a chunk out of the passenger side which should be fairly easy to blend together, might lose the glovebox. My main issue is that the heater controls are for full climate control so no cables to adapt to a different heater. I might be able to get the controls off a lesser model which uses cables and adapt to another heater box? |
Both ends and the front trimmed down to get the instruments central to the steering column, the left hand side end piece also needs trimming down before blending in to the main section. |
Still undecided if I prefer this or the modified bug dash... |
Trimmed back to fit better around the windscreen and two sections riveted together using strips of ally. |
After all that I have been having second thoughts about how good the subaru cluster will look, long term. So have finally decided to go with Porsche 944 gauges and it will end up very similar to the one above... |
Mission accomplised! |
|
I then had to weld in steel rings on the back of the gauge panel as the 944 gauges push in and are held in using a rubber ring around their circumference for a tight fit |
Panel is then welded in to the steel of the dash structure, just have to make a binnacle now and reshape the foam. |
I will need to pull in the coilover topmount slightly to gain a bit more clearance. |
|
Rear wings will need to be widened by about 45mm.. |
Ground clearance is really good! 8" to sill strengtheners and 6" to engine sump at ride height, I still have 4" ground clearance to the sump when on the bumpstops... |