Hey Guys-

I have been searching high and low for a RHD center speedo with air vent dash. I don't want vinyl or wood so I guess that leaves me with Carbon Fiber or Metal . I prefer the carbon fiber only due to the fact that it is darker and the interior on our car will be black and grey.
I have been in touch with Minimania and also David at GBCarParts but neither of them has been able to get in touch with the company in the UK that supplies the carbon fiber dashes (I guess they moved factories recently or something and aren't answering email or phone calls :( )

If any of you have suggestions or links to places that sell dashes it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Cory

 

Have you considered making the dash out of MDF or even lightweight plywood and then using a CF-like applique on top of that? I've never seen the CF stick-on stuff up close and personal, so I don't know how long it lasts or how good/bad it ends up looking, but I know that lots of people add it to accent peices on show cars for a carbon fiber look without the price. Could be a way for you to get the look without the cost of a custom fabrication. You could do the same thing with metal - start with a MDF shape then cut a thin layer of tin, steel, brass, copper or whatever metal you like and then sandwitch them together with contact cement, rivits or what have you. it would look like solid metal but would be far lighter and easier to fabricate... best of all the metal can wrap around the MDF, making it look VERY seamless and slick...

Hmmmmmm.... now that has me thinking...

Obviously, a TRUE CF dash would be made first out of foam and then wrapped in CF material - there's a link in the "MiniMeet West" thread in this forum for a guy that did some carbon fiber work - maybe he can help you:

If not, a dash is really not that different than a front splitter (spoiler) - it's just a flat shape covered with CF so you might ask one of the vendors that supply splitters if they know of a fabricator that can assist you. the build skills required would basically be the same. I know there are SEVERAL templates for the dash shape out there on UK sites like www.minifinity.co.uk and http://www.theminiforum.co.uk - just look forthe Technical Library or Downloads section. Plans are all in millimeter measurements, so they're very accurate, and they generally leave lots of blank, uncut space for you to customize as needed with doors, stereo slots, etc.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

 

PS - check these guys out too - they're spoken of very highly by the UK forum members:

http://www.retrodash.co.uk/index.asp

These look FANTASTIC!!

 

ANother addition: GreatBritishCars.com has aluminum dash boards - I reqally like that vendor so far:

http://www.gbcarparts.com/proddetail...hAL2lhd&cat=13



They also do CF on a wood backing:

http://www.gbcarparts.com/proddetail...hCF3LHD&cat=13



They have stainless ones on sale now, as well!

Unfortunately (perhaps), all of theirs seem to be for LHD Minis - if your car is a RHD, maybe you can mail them and see if they can custom order one for you.

 

keep in mind that those dashes only have a thin layer of the material mentioned. they are made of wood.

 

Yep... This is true. I wouldn't want a solid metal dash - imagine it tearing free in a crash and travelling inside the cabin... Ick.

 

i think they are currently looking for the center binacle for the carbon fiber or metal.......