The angle of the dash

[alaric]

Hi chaps and chapesses,

Time for another one of my 'I have no idea how this car goes together' questions.

I've managed to get a lower dashboard bracket, and put the old dash in place for the first time in 10 years.

Trouble is, the gear lever hits the dash.

There are two possible reasons for this. Firstly I've put in a T9 gearbox. I compared the position of the gearlever between the two boxes and they were pretty much in the same place. But, the lever is welded onto the back of a stub that comes out of the top of the box, and this is about a cm across. It's this that fouls the dash - only just, but enough. I have a bit of adjustment on the plate that secures the gearlever, so I may find if I release the screws holding it in place that sliding the lever back slightly does the job.

Secondly, as I don't have the original bottom bracket it's possible that the one I have is not giving the correct spacing from the gearbox. The dash appears to be sloping towards the front of the car from the bottom, suggesting the bottom needs to be pushed towards the front of the car a bit. I'm fitting the heater box in before proceding any further, but wondered how other +2 dashboards sit - is the face of the dash roughly vertical - which is what I think it should be - or is it sloping slightly?

I'll be limited by the space available behind the dash, but if I move the bottom of the dash back by a cm it's absolutely fine - lots of clearance - and the angle on it looks better in my view.

Thanks in advance for the help. I'm hoping I don't need to get the gearbox out again, but can't see how that can be as the end of the input spline is pushed into the end of the cranlshaft; there's no more adjustment.

All the best.

Sean.

[rong]

sean,
I think you'll find that the dash sits vertically. clearances between the dash and heater is pretty minimal but it all fits (just).

Ron
50/0775

[gerrym]

Sean, there's a very slight angle to the dash, sloping outwards at the base. If you want, I can measure the dimensions of the bracket and the thickness of my dash. That should position the base of the dash. Beyond those two components, the only other variable is the position of the two bobbins (through fastened to tapped holes in the chassis).

Regards

Gerry

[alaric]

Hi. Thanks for the replies. I think I'm left with a very slight angle if I push the bottom of the dash toward the front of the car enough to clear the gear lever enough, but have a large angle if I put it in as is. The easiest is to mod the bracket by elongating the cutouts that fit under the chassis bolt heads. I'm going to loosen the gear lever mount plate and see whether there's any chance of setting it further back - a small adjustment at the plate should give me a large movement of the gear lever position.

Any measurements that aren't too much of a pain / inconvenience would be appreciated.

All the best.

Sean.

[rong]

Sean,
Gerry is correct, the dash does lean back at a slight angle, I'll ty to measure tomorrow but it sounds as if you fit the dash with sufficient clearance for the gearlever it sounds about right.
have you tried to place the dash with the centre consol in place as this may also give you an idea of fit?

Ron
50/0775

[alaric]

Hi chaps. Thanks for the responses. I've adjusted the top plate on the gearbox and now the lever only just buts up to the dash as I put it into gear. So it's very near to clearing. I think the long term solution will be to modify the gear lever, but for now I'm going for clearance only as I'm sure that there will be other issues. I am filing out the cut outs in the dash bracket to allow myself some adjustment. I'm also considering filing back the forward edge of the lever - I need to attach a photo to explain but it's basically the bit that fouls can be filed right back. As you rightly point out the requirement is for it all to go together, so there's bound to be more fettling required. I'll try offering up the new dash.

All the best.

Sean.