Opinions on custom dash arrangement...
Sorry to hijack, but here's what mine ended up looking like:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...83#post6903483
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...83#post6903483
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2006
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From: West Chester, PA
No hijack at all man...I was waiting to see some pics of yours. First thing I caught this morning while surfing the new threads. Looks good!
I took my dash panel out to the car last night, figured I should test fit it. I have to do a tiny bit of trimming to my dash housing due to the extra gauge and new lights on the sides. I put it behind the bezel and all I can say is it looks awesome! Much better than the old shiny design. And the hidden SES and BRAKE lights are spaced well.
I glued the little see through cards for those two lights down last night. I also use alittle RTV around the edge to keep light seepage away. Today I have to spray paint the remaining area around those little cards, let that dry which shouldnt take long, then RTV the reflectors in place.
All thats left at that point is to wire everything back up, and the only thing thats not plug and play about that is the warning lights. Have to do some wiring for that...
Justin
I took my dash panel out to the car last night, figured I should test fit it. I have to do a tiny bit of trimming to my dash housing due to the extra gauge and new lights on the sides. I put it behind the bezel and all I can say is it looks awesome! Much better than the old shiny design. And the hidden SES and BRAKE lights are spaced well.
I glued the little see through cards for those two lights down last night. I also use alittle RTV around the edge to keep light seepage away. Today I have to spray paint the remaining area around those little cards, let that dry which shouldnt take long, then RTV the reflectors in place.
All thats left at that point is to wire everything back up, and the only thing thats not plug and play about that is the warning lights. Have to do some wiring for that...
Justin
Black Textured Laminate was mentioned, so I will throw in some info.
Rowmark makes 1/16" and 1/8" Thick Laserable laminate that is textured.
Here is a panel I did for my Vette using it. The text (or Logos) are laser engraved into the laminate as well as any holes needed (pretty much any shape).
Rowmark makes 1/16" and 1/8" Thick Laserable laminate that is textured.
Here is a panel I did for my Vette using it. The text (or Logos) are laser engraved into the laminate as well as any holes needed (pretty much any shape).
Thread Starter
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (17)
Joined: Mar 2006
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From: West Chester, PA
Nice... those panels look nice with the labels lasered into them.
The stuff I got was super thin. 10mil... which is 10 thousandths of an inch I think... It was alittle thinner than I was hoping, but still worked great. 1/16" may have been alittle TOO thick though...
Thanks for posting that tho because I can think of some other things that I need that textured stuff for. When I first converted to a 4th gen center console, I made a panel for the ashtray for my thirdgen window switches. I made it from smooth cheap grey plastic. Also, my fab skills have improved since I did that 4 years ago, so I want to make it from that black textured stuff.
Is that stuff sticky on the back? Or is it just panel material that you need to secure with screws or glue?
Justin
The stuff I got was super thin. 10mil... which is 10 thousandths of an inch I think... It was alittle thinner than I was hoping, but still worked great. 1/16" may have been alittle TOO thick though...
Thanks for posting that tho because I can think of some other things that I need that textured stuff for. When I first converted to a 4th gen center console, I made a panel for the ashtray for my thirdgen window switches. I made it from smooth cheap grey plastic. Also, my fab skills have improved since I did that 4 years ago, so I want to make it from that black textured stuff.
Is that stuff sticky on the back? Or is it just panel material that you need to secure with screws or glue?
Justin
Its just plain plastic laminate...there are some interesting items with adhesives like this (but they are not textured)...
The flexible, self-adhesive laser engraving breakthrough. Only 4 mil (.004") thick, LaserUltraThins adhere securely to a wide range of materials, easily accomdating curving surfaces and extending laser engraving into realms never before possible. Exremely durable, as well as heat, solvent and abrasion resistant, LaserUltraThins are ideal for everything from industrial nameplates to awards and ad specialties. Also rotary engravable
This stuff is thicker but does not have any adhesive built in to it...
Exceptionally thin laser engraving material only .030" thick with a .001" top color surface, that still offers all of IPI's laser engraving qualities. Matte or Metallic finish
The flexible, self-adhesive laser engraving breakthrough. Only 4 mil (.004") thick, LaserUltraThins adhere securely to a wide range of materials, easily accomdating curving surfaces and extending laser engraving into realms never before possible. Exremely durable, as well as heat, solvent and abrasion resistant, LaserUltraThins are ideal for everything from industrial nameplates to awards and ad specialties. Also rotary engravable
This stuff is thicker but does not have any adhesive built in to it...
Exceptionally thin laser engraving material only .030" thick with a .001" top color surface, that still offers all of IPI's laser engraving qualities. Matte or Metallic finish
In my research of screen printing I found another technique called Pad Printing. I don't know if it's more/less expensive than screen printing, but it may be another alternative.
Thread Starter
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (17)
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From: West Chester, PA
Ok folks... More pics. Its done, installed, and working great!
The little cards glued and sealed into place...
My housing for the dash....old stock 3rd gen dash..
Reflectors (light boxs) glued into place and sealed...
Back of the panel ready to install...
Panel in place...
All back together...
SES light..
Brake Light...
AND finally an overall shot.
It could have been better...but looks good in person. And it functions great. So Im happy for now. I still have some finish work to do on that bezel that goes around the panel and houses the speedo and tach. But thats for another day. The lights are bright and visible when on, and are blacked out when off.
Justin
The little cards glued and sealed into place...
My housing for the dash....old stock 3rd gen dash..
Reflectors (light boxs) glued into place and sealed...
Back of the panel ready to install...
Panel in place...
All back together...
SES light..
Brake Light...
AND finally an overall shot.
It could have been better...but looks good in person. And it functions great. So Im happy for now. I still have some finish work to do on that bezel that goes around the panel and houses the speedo and tach. But thats for another day. The lights are bright and visible when on, and are blacked out when off.
Justin
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