My Track Dash Reconstruction Options

[vintage914racer]

Long story short, a couple of years ago I had premature engine failure on my 914-6 track car. If you're bored you can check out part 1 and part 2 of my engine misadventure. Otherwise, I'll continue on the the regular scheduled dash programming...

We all know how the slippery slope works and before you knew it I had the car apart in hundreds of pieces tackling various "cheaper" projects while amassing engine parts and waiting for the engine builder. One of the projects I wanted to tackle for years was a dash rebuild. You see this car has been a track car since 1972 and judging by the great number of patches to the existing dash I wouldn't be surprised if it was original to the track car build.



At any rate the dash was riddled wtih holes, a complete rats nest of wires and a melange of various metallic and composite (fancy word for cheap plastic) finishes. My goal was to set about cleaning up the aesthetic, going a bit modern on the gauge front and clean up the wiring with a new fused junction box. And so it began...

The first step was making a trip to the local metal supplier. Now, if you're in Minneapolis you shoudl check out Discount Steel. As a complete metal shopping newb I was a little apprehensive, but upon arrival the folks were friendly, overwhelmingly helpful and generally a good lot. Armed with a couple strips of aluminum sheet I headed home.



I proceeded to trace my old dash panel with a Sharpie and cut out a new panel. After some trimming, fitting, trimming, fitting, trimming and re-fitting I settled on a fit that I was happy with. If you're wondering why all the trimming let's just say I'm a measure 12 times and still cut wrong kind of guy.



After a bit of drilling I had the panel mocked up and in place.



Satisfied with the fit I moved on to the next step...

[vintage914racer]

In my head there were two things working against me on the wiring front. First, I'd never done much automotive wiring. Second, my car lacked an engine and therefore I couldn't really test my work as I went along. Fortunately I labeled the original wiring well and took a slow, calculated approach to cutting, replacing, splicing and so forth. It was during this time that I lost a little interest in the project. Summer rolled around and I got caught up in the few months a year when the weather is nice here. The car started gathering dust....until I got a call from my engine builder that the engine was done.



Let me tell you, once I knew there was prospect of getting my car back on track after a two-year hiatus I worked on it every waking available moment. I set an unrealist goal of getting my car put back together in 14-days for the last track day of the year. Now 14 days doesn't sound so bad, but when you have two children under five, a wife who works hours opposed of your long work weeks and other life "things" in the way 14 days wasn't much. And I didn't even mention the other work that had to get done...

Beyond finishing the dash and wiring I had to build up the longblock, fab up a new oil filter housing and bracket, build eight -16 AN steel braided lines totaling 35+ feet, repair some fatigue cracks on the chassis, swap the axle shafts and headers that I cannibalized to get my street six running (story on that car here), plus a hole lot more. The good news is I somehow got it done.











And finally the engine was in place...