Dash fitment

Simon · 08-16-08, 03:11 PM

Hi Guys,
can anyone who's completed the dash fitment (RH drive preferably) on thier 40 kindly post a few detail pictures. Specifically the distance from the front of the dash to the spider.
The LH side of the dash is higher than the RH ?
Also, what size & type of bulb weather seal did you use.

Cheers,
Simon.

Fran Hall RCR · 08-16-08, 03:15 PM

Simon,
check out the online manual....the RHD one is shown in there.

Simon · 08-16-08, 03:50 PM

Fran, i do rtfm as it happens

I was curious anout the distance to the spider...it seems quite big.

Rob · 08-16-08, 03:54 PM

Simon,
I used something like this for the bulb seal at the front of the dash. I had it in stock, so don't know what the number was for sure, but looks the same from the image/dims.

ZX132565N

You won't be able to accurately asses the gap until you finish fitting the dash to the spider. (i.e. notching the sides in)

Simon · 08-16-08, 04:15 PM

Thanks Rob, where the dash covers the door posts, what distance do you have from sill to the bottom of the dash ?

Jason Ferraro · 08-19-08, 08:09 AM

Hi Simon.

I also started the fitment of my RHD RCR dash in Australia. I also found the gap to the front window to be quite a lot. I ended up doing a bit of a dash comparison and the RCR RHD and LHD ones are very different (see http://claw.com.au/gt40_interior.html ). I swapped mine out for a different one but you should be able to add some material to it to get it closer to the base of the windscreen. I will post some images of my RHD dash possibly this weekend. I have had to correct its finish near the base of the windscreen/spider as well.

Simon · 08-19-08, 08:37 AM

Thanks Jason. I dig out this old thread that uses halogen lamps to work out the warp..
How can I get dash to fit

I tried this but distance is still too big even with weather stripping added. May extend the a lip or look into an alternative.

Simon

Chuck · 08-19-08, 09:11 AM

Simon:

Can't tell from the pics, but the side 'wings' should be flush against the chassis. I had to do some trimming of the lip on the edge of the fiberglass to make it fit flush. The leading edge of the dash then fits snugly under the spider. They go together like a hand in a glove, so something is amiss. Mine is left hand drive, but the general fit should be the same. There are detailed pics on my build blog.

If you would like some more pics let me know. I don't have the body on the chassis at the moment and could get some pics from different angles if that would help

Chuck

Rob · 08-19-08, 09:12 AM

Hi Simon,
Ahhhh...... you found it. I spent 30 minutes looking for that post Sat night. Still don't know how to search for stuff ....

I have 4.0" from the bottom of my vertical legs to the tanks.

I had originally trimming the lip flush at the bottoms, so the vertical legs were mated tight to the dash pillars. With this, I almost didn't need the bulb seal in front of the dash (almost). But then I installed the full roll cage with dash bars. Due to this I had to pull the dash aft a little bit. Even with doing this, The bulb still fills the gap. It looks perfect (IMHO :-). I like the look with the weatherstrip, as it dresses the seam between the two pieces.

Simon · 08-19-08, 10:00 AM

Thanks lads,

Chuck - believe the LH dash was moulded to the FRP spider. The RHD was taken from and original mated against with the steel roofed spider so hence the gap. Jasons' pics show the diffences quite well.

Rob - i've got 4.5" from legs to tanks. Have to agree that your fit does look very good. The front of my dash may have been trimmed a bit short from the mould. I'll push and pull it around a bit more tonight, but i also have the rollbar so will be limited by this.

Simon

andy loveday · 08-19-08, 01:22 PM

hope this works simon pic of dash. Andy

Simon · 08-19-08, 01:26 PM

Thanks Andy, i can see what you've done there.
I'm going to try and find the biggest weather seal i can to fill the gap, else i'll have to go with your solution.

Simon.

Ian Anderson · 08-19-08, 05:32 PM

For weather seals try COH Baines

Loads of different sizes that they make and will normally cut to length required

Ian

Dean Lampe · 08-20-08, 12:53 AM

As I understand it, the LH drive dash legs go all the way down to the tanks but the RH drive dash legs are shorter. I think that is how the original cars where, but I can't say for sure.

Craig7L · 08-20-08, 06:02 AM

Hi dean,
are you taking the GT40 out at the run and gun this year?

be great to see a Superlite Coupe also out

Rob · 08-20-08, 07:41 AM

Yes,
It is how the originals were....

Dean Lampe · 08-20-08, 08:29 AM

Yep, I will be there. It's only about 6 weeks away!

Dutton · 08-20-08, 10:55 AM

Simon,

I have a RHD model as well, and there is a significant gap. While I don't remember the exact measurement between the tank and bottom of the dash leg, what we did was bend up and powdercoat some aluminum to fill that gap and cover the tank filler necks at both sides of the dash. It worked like a charm.

As a plus, we installed some of the heater/air conditioning controls in the filler panel on the drivers side. Close to the hands yet nearly invisible to the eye.

Hope this helps,

T.

Simon · 08-20-08, 11:29 AM

Thanks T, the gap i was concerned about was between the front of the dash and the spider. I wanted to know the leg/tank distance top make sure i was mounting the dash high enough.
Nice work there - looks similar to Bills set up..or did you come up with it 1st ?