Like the upper dash panel, my lower dash panel was not in good condition. The 40+ year old piece was warped and the vinyl in average condition, and like the upper dash panel (https://mearcat.blogspot.com/2019/07/custom-dashboard-upper-panel.html), I chose to make a custom piece.
The first step was to make a frame of the dash piece - this started with building up a basic frame from MDF panels in a similar shape to the factory dash panel. To hold the MDF in place, the centre piece was screwed to some factory brackets and small end pieces against were temporarily superglued to the body near the door jams. To stop the frame from twisting or moving once I removed it from the car, I also added some MDF ribs as braces along the back of the frame pieces.
A few pieces of fleece were stretched and stapled to the MDF frame
then resin applied onto the fleece
This made the whole piece rigid enough to where I could remove it from the car without bending or twisting. The remaining MDF parts of the frame were covered in fleece and resin, then after a few applications of resin/microballons to fill any minor holes it was sanded back with 180grit sandpaper.
To mount the piece, I screwed in 4 threaded rods into the MDF and drilled matching holes in the dash steel reinforcement bar that sits behind the dash.
I made some plastic spacers that press against the back of the curved steel Mini dash so that the nuts can tighten properly. You can see this steel dash piece in the later photos in this post.
The right hand side of dash piece then had to be modified to clear the steering column bracket. A section was cut away, leaving a ~5mm gap around the bracket to allow for fitting/removal of the column bracket, and then reinforced from behind.
When I previously made the steering column mounts (https://mearcat.blogspot.com/2019/05/fitting-collapsible-steering-column.html), I found that the ignition barrel and associated wiring would be very exposed with the new steering column position and I had chosen to relocate the ignition barrel in the dash. The first step was to make this complex mount so the ignition barrel could be bolted behind the dash.
The ignition barrel is bolted to the underside of the bracket. The barrel can be removed independent of the bracket and it's tucked up behind the dash with only the key barrel exposed.
The dash piece was then modified slightly to fit over the ignition barrel.
The last task was to mount the Toyota Starlet instrument cluster. The expected position of the cluster would be directly in front of the driver, however the mechanical speedometer cable that goes through the firewall has the brake master cylinder in the way so I chose to mount the cluster in the centre of dash (like the early model Minis). I didn't have enough space to angle it towards the driver so I made a few slots in the lower dash panel and welded a small bracket for mounting the top part of the cluster.
The first step was to make a frame of the dash piece - this started with building up a basic frame from MDF panels in a similar shape to the factory dash panel. To hold the MDF in place, the centre piece was screwed to some factory brackets and small end pieces against were temporarily superglued to the body near the door jams. To stop the frame from twisting or moving once I removed it from the car, I also added some MDF ribs as braces along the back of the frame pieces.
A few pieces of fleece were stretched and stapled to the MDF frame
then resin applied onto the fleece
This made the whole piece rigid enough to where I could remove it from the car without bending or twisting. The remaining MDF parts of the frame were covered in fleece and resin, then after a few applications of resin/microballons to fill any minor holes it was sanded back with 180grit sandpaper.
To mount the piece, I screwed in 4 threaded rods into the MDF and drilled matching holes in the dash steel reinforcement bar that sits behind the dash.
I made some plastic spacers that press against the back of the curved steel Mini dash so that the nuts can tighten properly. You can see this steel dash piece in the later photos in this post.
The right hand side of dash piece then had to be modified to clear the steering column bracket. A section was cut away, leaving a ~5mm gap around the bracket to allow for fitting/removal of the column bracket, and then reinforced from behind.
When I previously made the steering column mounts (https://mearcat.blogspot.com/2019/05/fitting-collapsible-steering-column.html), I found that the ignition barrel and associated wiring would be very exposed with the new steering column position and I had chosen to relocate the ignition barrel in the dash. The first step was to make this complex mount so the ignition barrel could be bolted behind the dash.
The ignition barrel is bolted to the underside of the bracket. The barrel can be removed independent of the bracket and it's tucked up behind the dash with only the key barrel exposed.
The dash piece was then modified slightly to fit over the ignition barrel.
The last task was to mount the Toyota Starlet instrument cluster. The expected position of the cluster would be directly in front of the driver, however the mechanical speedometer cable that goes through the firewall has the brake master cylinder in the way so I chose to mount the cluster in the centre of dash (like the early model Minis). I didn't have enough space to angle it towards the driver so I made a few slots in the lower dash panel and welded a small bracket for mounting the top part of the cluster.
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