Thanks for the compliments – creativity is often undetected plagiarism J
Mike - console is simply a piece of aluminum I had bent into a “U” shape and covered in leather. The dash is the stock piece Fran supplies, I just reworked the “humps” to be a bit taller and extend down to meet the console. Easy to do even though I didn’t have a lot of experience working with fiberglass. Send me a PM if you want more info on how I did it – I don’t want to clutter up Mr. Mcfling’s build thread.
Jim – the display is a Jensen vm9424bt with touch screen, blue tooth, navigation, satellite/am/fm radio, DVD, ipod , rearview camera , USB. I wasn’t planning for all that stuff, but I needed a screen for the backup/rearview camera and well….one thing lead to another and this is where I ended up. I have the fm/sat/nav antennas and the camera mounted on the roof in a “shark wing” I pulled off a 5 series BMW. The amp is mounted under the dash in the passenger foot well and I plan to mount speakers on the bulkhead behind the seats.
Alex – You learn a lot in a year, especially when you follow the advice of fellow builders J The best advice I received was something Allan told me when I first started out – “Don’t be afraid to just try something, if you screw it up, you fix it.”
Michael – switches are as follows:
Center section: wwiper, wwasher, rearview camera, backup lights, interior lights, garage door opener, hazard, ac/heat, fan speed, 4way value open/close. Couple of notes: I didn’t want the coolant circulating into the VA unit when I didn’t need heat and the LS wants to see circulation at the thermostat housing so I install a valve to take care of that. I had to remove the wiper stalk from the steering column in order to extend the center section of the dash and I need a windshield washer to pass MA inspection, so those are dash switches now. I am using the camera for BU as well as rear view so I wanted an additional switch to turn it on besides the reverse switch in the transaxle. I also wanted to be able to turn on the backup lights when people tailgate me just so I could get their attention, so this is controlled either by the dash switch or the transaxle switch.
Other dash components are: the standard KOSO unit with 4 additional indicator LEDs, the start/stop button to the left of the steering wheel, a rocker switch to control a valve to open/close the defrost, and a momentary button for the horn. I also plan to repurpose one of my ISIS key fobs and mount it in the center section of the steering wheel so I have a wireless horn button. And before you think it will be easy to steal my car now that I announced I will have an extra controller hidden there, I am working on integrating a biometric fingerprint reader as an additional security feature. I also have a HUD built into the hump behind the steering wheel that is flush mounted so you can't really see it in the picture.
Still to be installed – rocker switches to control the linear actuators for the doors/front/rear clips, lift kit switch, traction/launch control, and fire suppression. I am trying to keep the dash clean so my idea is to mount these in the space under the driver’s door where they are accessible but not all that visible.
Thanks
