A Few Modifications To My Dash Underside Cover Plate

 I added a bit more of a "Tab" in the area of my cover plate close to where the monitors are located on the dash, reason being that I needed a bit more in that area in order to be able to place a mounting screw into one of the "L" brackets I have installed that the electronics are attached too. For me this is a great place to help secure the dash under side cover plate.

Next step was to cut out an additional aluminum "L" bracket the the tapered end of my underside cover plate to be also secured to the dash with a screw. After cutting the aluminum I drilled in some holes to allow more of the fibreglass and resin to seep in and grip more to the dash. Here on the left image you can see the aluminum "L" bracket glued into place with some Contact Cement.


 On the right you can see the "L" bracket finally glassed into place with fibreglass resin and matting. Once fully set I'll place my cover plate into position and tape it down with some masking tape just to hold it in place while I drill the holes for the mounting screws. Once the holes are drilled I can smooth out the cover plate a little more and then it's basically done. I'll hold off on the priming and additional sanding before painting as I may very well want to add more to the cover plate that fits close to the stock OEM dash. I'll know a lot more about how much and what needs to be done in that area after I get around to doing another test fitting of the dash in the car. It's no doubt going to be a little tricky and finicky work but no much so that making this cover plate to begin with. Just takes a little patience and perseverance. ;)

More Shaping Of The Dash Underside Cover Plate

After much sanding and even some more glass work the cover plate is getting to fit the form of the dash much better. I "Bull-nosed" or "Beveled" the outer edges close to the front of the dash. I still need to add a little more glass in one area where it looks like the only place I will be able to put a screw in is one of the Aluminum brackets holding in the electronics because it is in an ideal position for a mounting screw. 

You can see that from the front view the underside cover plate should be pretty hard to see once it is finished, primed and painted. But I am a ways away yet. I still need to do a test fit of the dash again and see how far back towards the stock OEM dash that I may need to extend the cover plate. I also need to glass in an Aluminum "L" bracket to the dash on the far right of the dash to be able to screw in that end of the cover plate too.

Dash Underside Cover Plate

In trying to come up with an idea for making some sort of dash underside cover plate to protect and hide any visible wires I figured I would give this idea a shot.

Basically  so far I have taken a piece of thin Styrofoam 1/4" thickness and taped it into position on the underside of the passenger side of the dash. I then so far have coated it with a generous amount of white glue, once that completely dries I'll mask off any exposed areas of the dash and begin laying on some fibreglass resin and matting. My plan is to see if I can make some sort of under plate that I can screw onto the dash once it is installed into the car. In my head right now it seems like a pretty viable idea, I'll keep you all updated on how the progress of this is going and see if it's a winner or a big fat failure of an idea, but so far it's looking like it should work. ;)