Elan dash in Carbon - Colin would?ve used it!!

[el-saturn]

here?s just a couple of pictures of my colin inspired dash: sandy 36 4982

[trw99]

Each to his own!

I am always a little perplexed when folk say 'Chapman would have used this gizmo/part/material if it was around then'. Well, yes, of course he would! He was cutting edge with his race cars and, as we are well aware, he loved pushing the boundaries with whatever he could and however he could.

Tim

[Bud English]

Sandy, thanks for posting those. I'd pretty much decided to do that with my +2 dash. It does looks good, but your photos show that the gauges switches and lights seem to get lost in the clutter of the fabric weave. I think I'm back to burl.

[vernon.taylor]

Too pricey for CC. He probably made his dashes from packing crates; so unless packing crates are now in carbon fibre ...

@+

Vernon

[el-saturn]

i DO agree with you vernon; BUT some of these new 500$ dashes are more expensive and if you diy youll have several layers of paint to sand off/down. this cfrp laminate cost me 100euro and it only needed some epoxy glue and the proper tools/grinders - the motha... is the actual electrics and i guess this was cheaper unless one finds some verneer as they did then OR just oil the wood -------- cheers sandy - my wife doesn?t like the all black interior ------- I DO!!

[stevebroad]

My dash face and top are in carbon, but painted so that the weave doesn't show.

[prezoom]

On my last race car, the interior panels were done in carbon fiber. To give it a slightly different look, I mixed in some blue tint in the epoxy when we laminated up the carbon. When the carbon was hit by the sunlight, it made the carbon have a blue tint like the bluing on a gun barrel. Used the same process with we constructed the front spoiler.

[el-saturn]

that sounds fantastic rob! can u add a picture. mine has a plywood (navy quality) back: i wish i would have had a 1/4 honeycomb panel handy, because colin would've used some instead of what we got! still no dry streets, so my punk stays in the garage! greetings from the alps sandy

[stevebroad]

On the road cars, there is no way Colin would have used carbon fibre unless it had been cheaper than fibreglass or wood as it would have dented profit margins.

[worzel]

Hi

An interesting customisation- must have been difficult folding it around the glove box lid aperture. I used to make facias for elans as a hobby years ago using either birch ply or marine ply as a base.
Unfortunately, despite taking the utmost care the finish never seemed to last very well- either sunlight caused odd fading (despite using clear lacquer designed to filter uv light) or dampness inside the car caused the finish to deteriorate.

In fact I made two facias for my own car but after the second one had been installed around 6 years or so I gave up and decided to try a different approach so I made a custom panel, moved around a few switches etc and trimmed the whole lot in high quality leathercloth. The glove box aperture caused a few problems so in the end I ended up making the lid in two parts with the rear, thinner face used to cover the joins. The rocker switches I fitted with black plastic surrounds from a BL Austin Princess of all cars (they were a perfect fit around the switches. Instead of screwing underdash trims into the edge of the ply (never a good idea as doing so can split the ply eventually) I made two exact fitting copies in grp and trimmed them in the same leathercloth. To fasten them to the facia I moulded in a couple of wider flanges and on the reverse side of the facia fitted 6 small stainless brackets and used spire clips to secure the trims.

This was done in 1990 and today the dash still looks exactly the same- no lifting, fading etc. Admittedly not to every owner's tastes but the fit is millimetre perfect. Passengers riding for the first time (and not a few fellow owners) comment on the factory appearance ie it definitely doesn't look like a home brewed special. You need to like black interiors though! Picture attached.

Regards

John

[john.p.clegg]

Hmmmm....I'm sure they didn't leave the factory like that.....

John

[el-saturn]

nor do I - but it looks nice and tidy. if you would have worked there I guess everyone would have been more than pleased PLUS our lil cars leave quit a bit of creative space/opportunity to interpret how you think HE would have: make things better, lighter, more aerodynamical etc.... luv from above sandy

[prezoom]

Unfortunately, the car was sold and left 3 weeks ago. I may have a cutoff piece laying around. If I can find it, I'll post a picture of it out in the sun.

Have to admit I got the idea from some of those fake carbon clip on thingys they sell for dress up options. Most any color will work, but the blue and the yellow show up best.

[ecamiel]

I have been told some did leave the factory like that. The Jim Clark special had a padded dash if I remember correctly.
Perhaps someone could verify that.

I did mine in padded black vinyl almost identical to yours in 1979. It is still perfect!
Eric
64 S1