Dashcap, custom wood, in-dash cupholder

[spidernut]

The new dash cap is installed, the solid walnut custom wood is installed and my custom in-dash cupholder is installed. It went pretty easily excluding the glovebox door which was 100 miles off and had to be trimmed on every side to fit. I still need to clean off the sawdust and dirt, so please ignore that part. The horn button paint had all peeled off. I disassembled it and repainted it from the back side. It looks like new again!

The cup holder is from a early 1990s era Nissan van. I got it in a wrecking yard in Japan when I was roaming around looking for parts. I've seen the same one installed in my mother's Nissan Altima. It was as simple as cutting a hole in the metal plate in the front of the dash, installing a support bracket in the back and putting the front back on. It is almost a perfect fit. I had to grind down a small part of the plastic to accomodate the dash light dimmer switch, but even that wasn't a drastic modification. I also had to put two screws in the bottom corners since I had to cut out all the rivets that hold the metal plate to the dash.

It works great too!!!

[azygoustoyou]

Nice, Looks like it belonged there.

[donerehart]

How tough was the dashcap installation? I have one, but haven't had the guts to give it a go yet... Did you remove the dash? What lessons did you learn that would be helpful for those of us willing to put a cap on. Thanks!
Don

[spidernut]

The dash cap was extremely easy to install. I had my dash out already to fix some serious warping, but it isn't necessary to remove it. Having it removed had its benefits when it comes to taping the edges while the silicone glue dries.

I recommend having some masking or duct tape handy...you simply run a bead of silicone about 1/2 inch from the edges and around the dash vents and tape it in place. 3 hours later, you're good to go. I did have to drill out where the headlight switch is located. That took about 1 minute with a Dremel.

The single tube of silicone glue isn't enough to do the dash correctly, you may have to buy another tube at Home Depot. It is worth buying the extra tube ahead of time in case you need it.

Lessons learned:

1. Dry fit the dash to test the fit
2. Cut away any large, raised, cracked areas of the old dash so the cap won't stick up in those spots. I filled in the voids with silicone caulking to prevent moisture build up in the huge cracks.
3. Run the bead of silicone 1/2 inch from the edges all the way around the perimeter and along the center openings in the dash (I found it beneficial to make sure that the silicone reaches the very inside edge around the gauges and glove box opening...you want a tight fit along that edge or you could have problems closing the glove box).
4. Tape it down along all the edges to hold it in place. I'm not sure how you would firmly hold the edges down along the windshield if you didn't remove the dash. Weight? Wedged? Sand bags? Ankle weights?

The downside of removing the dash is that you have to reinstall all the gauges, glove box, speedometer cable, etc.

[rocky]

Great job, John. Looks terrific. You're gonna cost me a bunch of money. I can't go on a drive with you with my interior looking so ratty. I will be installing a console cap soon. I'll call you when I get into trouble with the install. Thanks for sharing this.

Greg
'77 Spider

[spidernut]

Greg...thanks. Just let me know if you run into any roadblocks. I'll be glad to assist. I'm hoping to have the Spider ready for smog in June. A few members from Reno want to meet at Lake Tahoe for a drive once it decides to quit snowing and warms up a bit. Sounds fun, you game to make the drive too?