Rogue Trooper

[Rogue Trooper]

Where will your hand brake be mounted rogue ? Do you have any better pics of the dash ?

As I mentioned above I'll look into mounting the handbrake in more detail when I get the shifter in place. It'll either be on the engine cover which is looking increasingly unlikely or as Busy suggested mounted from the firewall. I couldn't put mine on the floor if I wanted to. There are more dash pics during the build throughout this thread but page 8 has a good one and there is more detail on page 6.

[Bedfordcrazy]

ok rogue saw the pics in 8, looks good. I am assuming you are running air-con looking at the dash, if you are, what vehicle is the air-con  system out of. I'm still working out what to use in my van. In my case i will be building my dash around my air and other accessaries.
George.

[Rogue Trooper]

Nope, that was discussed earlier too. I'm just going with the standard blower and heater unit. Decided that the cost and amount of effort to install aircon wasn't worth it when I considered how often I'd actually need or use it. We've got a cooler climate over here so generally opening a few windows will do the trick.

I did investigate it however and it appeared to me it would be a lot easier using aftermarket/universal components as opposed to trying to adapt something built specifically for another vehicle. There is another thread on the forum where it is discussed at reasonable length.

[BusyKiwi]

Rogue, another idea I just had, remember the old Valiants, the ones with the push button auto, there is also the late model escargo - shifter on dash.
There is a guy my engineer mentioned when i was working on mine, his hot rod doesn't have a shifter, just has a alarm type remote he uses with a solenoid to go through the gears, down side was he he to cycle from Park to first to find the gear wanted, am sure it could be refined so was up and down with gear selector on dash

[Bedfordcrazy]

hey busy, i have seen that kit on tv, it has whatever number of buttons you want, you can mount it anywhere you want, and it is run off a computer mounted in the car, you programme it with a laptop. The down side is that if your battery drops below a certain voltage then it will shut the computer down, battery always has to be a certain level or you cant start the car.
George.

[Rogue Trooper]

Thanks Busy, the shifter I think is sorted, I just have to mount it. I got a B&M bracket kit that actually uses off the shelf GM parts to convert the linkage connector on the trans end to a cable connection. Saved the effort of making one like last time. The cable sweeps from the driver's side, around the back of the trans and connects up from the rear. Had a chat with the guy from Melbar Cables who makes up custom automotive cables locally and he said the distance shouldn't be a problem.

I then had a browse through Pick-A-Part for a shifter. I couldn't use the one I had previously because it was only designed for a 3-speed auto and mine is now 4. The other requirement was one that could be converted to use a cable that drops vertically through the floor of the van as opposed to forward (because trans cables don't like bending) or back (because some fool put an engine in the way) as most of them do. Settled on one from a Honda Ascot. It also has a flat selector display panel too so should be nice and easy to build a console unit around it.

[Rogue Trooper]

Time for an update on the dash. I am now totally over it but it is progressing rather well. Have skinned most of it now. Making the doors for the glovebox and the fuse box was interesting as was mounting the handbrake and the shifter. Overhead console is complete. Discovered the steering column isn't quite as solid as it should be so I'll revisit that when I take the dash apart again.

I'm leaving the dash now as I have now reached my savings target and am starting to prep the rear for the mounting of the diff as well as installing the power steering rack. All going well it'll be off to my engineer buddy Phil's place within the next 4 or so weeks. After that I want to concentrate on getting the bloody thing going. That invloves buying headers and sorting out the driveshaft, mounting the fuel tank, sorting out the cooling system, hooking up the power steering, blah, blah, blah.

Anyway here are some pictures of the dash to date. Sorry some of them are a bit out of focus but I have a newish camera and I'll be buggered if I can get it to focus properly.

[rubman]

Excellent job rogue,a hell of a lot of metal work.

[BusyKiwi]

looking good, you can come do mine when your done

[ben]

wow takin shape:) do you have a steel bender rouge?

cheers
ben