Dashboard hacked out!

Post by **alainmoran** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 10:25 am

I have a seriously modified pickup (http://www.zen30458.zen.co.uk/), whose interior is an absolute mess!

After peeling back the vinyl & foam stuck over the dashboard I have discovered that the previous owner has hacked out the original dash (and I mean hacked, it looks like it was done with a blunt spoon!).

I would like to reinstate the orginal look of the dashboard, by the looks of it that's going to involve cutting? out the current dash and welding-in a new one.

Is there anything I should know before I start work ie:
Is the dashboard a structural part?
Is it bolted on, or welded?
Will a dash from other types of minor fit (ie do I need to use a traveller/pickup dash, or would a 2/4 door work too?)

Post by **rayofleamington** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:54 pm

Yes it is welded, and it is in some way structural.
I'm not sure how much strength it does give, but if yu see a convetible, there are stregthening brackets attached betwwen the A post and the underside of the dash.
Therfore it is meant to be sturdy...

As far as I've seen so far the dash is pretty much the same on all the 100's although some have different glove box lids. I think it's even possible to change between glove box lids but you may have to add some captive nuts to the existing holes.

If you find a scrap minor, you could probably cut the dash out leaving the seam intact, then carfully unpeel the remains of the car from the back of the dash - then do the reverse operation on your cab.

then you'll need it welded in place - spotwelding would reproduce the original design but you would need to be sure the edges were free of dirt and mated together really well otherwise the spotwelds will be poor.
Prt of the joint also makes the bottom lip that the windscreen rubber fits to so it will also have to be well protected to avoid it rusting away under the screen rubber.

Sorry to hear about your problems - I wondered if any horrors were hiddedn inside the cab. (especially as they didn't show the inside on the ebay page)

Post by **alainmoran** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 2:03 pm

Heh, there are more horrors besides, some worse than the dashboard!

Like the floorpan for instance, its made of plywood! OK, so there is around 70% of the original floor-pan in there underneath the wood, but the bit which goes over the bell-housing is straight ply exposed to the elements! Which makes a lovely wick to draw up moisture and keep it in intimate contact with the original floorpan, as well as all the bits which hold the bodyshell onto the chassis!

Methinks I'm going to need to learn how to use a welder!

Then there are the electrics ... I've been able to jury-rig them enough to get it started, plus headlights & instruments, but I'm still having issues with the indicators & brake lights though, and absolutely nothing is fused at all! (scary fire hazard?)

On the positive side though, the engine is sweet, runs like a dream, when you can hear it over the swiss-cheese exhaust system that is ... at least it'll keep me off the streets this winter ;)

Post by **Cam** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 2:59 pm

So what are your plans for the pickup then?

Are you going to leave it as it is (engine and body wise) and just do the dash and the floor, or have you some other plans as well?

Post by **alainmoran** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 3:53 pm

First on the list is to work out whether there is anything scary going on with the gearbox, I pulled the dipstick the other night only to find that the end-piece is missing ... I'm not entirely sure if its just MIA or whether it is currently waiting to become a rather major spanner in the works. (Or whether it already has!)

After that, a decision has to be made as to whether I should continue with the auto box (I will if its not already buggered), or whether to go for a manual one ... parts for the drive-train are pretty easy to come by, since Ford fitted that motor to everything from a Corsair to a Granada, and even the MK1 Transit!

After that I'll have a new floorpan fabricated from aly I-Metal, and bolt that and the new footpedals in (if I go manual).

From there its onto the complete rewire & replacement of the dash.

After that I'm thinking of fitting mock exhausts down the side (shame the regs dont allow you to have real ones), and then start chroming bits under the bonnet ... there are a plethora of 'rodding' spares out there for the Ford V4.

One day I hope to get it upto 'show' quality, although I have two other minors vying for my attention so it could be some time before that happens!

One thing is clear though ... I need more space ... if anyone in Lancashire has a lock-up theyre not using .. I *neeed* one ... its cold out there these days

Post by **Kevin** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 4:01 pm

'show' quality

To most of us that means if you can drive it to a show its show quality, did you not see what I think was called the RAT style minor pictures from the national with a chain steering wheel.
Personally I would prefer to enter the best banger catagory rather than concours (they would never let me in anyway)

Post by **Cam** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 5:29 pm

You mean this Rat look one:

I agree with Kevin, most 'show cars' or 'garage queens' are far too good to be enjoyed and tinkered with. I would say that most of us are quite happy to drive scruffy Minors and if we can get to the show then that's great and far better than trailering in a pristine example that we dare not go out in the rain in!

I have nothing against the concours people but it's just not for me!

Post by **Kevin** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 12:22 am

Yup thats the one

Post by **Chris Morley** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 1:45 am

Alain - sorry to hear about the mess left by the previous owner. I've read several times that modifiers are often terrible bodgers -

in this case I think the vehicle's strength would have been badly compromised, to the extent that a crash might have caused it to crumple.

I agree with Cam - I much prefer 'everyday' Minors. Maybe we should form a new club register - for scabby and manky Minors ?

Post by **Kevin** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 10:56 am

I think plenty of us already in that catagory Chris in fact we probably are the vast majority.

Post by **alainmoran** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 11:26 am

I'm pretty sure that the car's strength hasnt been compromised ... you should see the custom chassis that the pickup bodyshell has been mounted on ... its made of 2"x4" box section, very VERY solid!

I think that in the event of a collision with something heavy & solid, like a land rover, then the land-rover will probably come out worse! AFAIK the landy chassis is built from pretty flimsy I-section, well they rot easily enough so they cant be that solid!

Which is great until you conside that its only a 2L lump in there, and with all that extra weight I doubt I'll be getting much in the way of balls-to-the-wall speed out of the yellow morris.

I havent yet named my cars, so right now theyre called 'Yellow Morris' & 'Blue Morris' (try saying that after youve had a few), I'm not entirely sure what I'll call the traveller, possibly 'Black Morris'

Heh, if you start a scabby morris club, then I'd definitley become a member, with the amount of welding underneath the blue morris, It'll never be concours!

Still, I would like the yellow morris to be all shiny and clean, its had a hard life over the past few years, just being sat rotting away to itself, I really want to breathe some life back into it!

Post by **rayofleamington** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 7:31 pm

I'm pretty sure that the car's strength hasnt been compromised ... you should see the custom chassis

until the landy hits the cab broadside on the drivers door

The dash is one of the things that keeps the left hand side of the car away from the right hand side in the event of a heavy side impact.
If you think long and hard, it's another reason to be wary of fibreglass cab backs...

Post by **modify55** » Sun Oct 26, 2003 10:30 pm

The amount of damage sounds serious, perhaps it may be simpler (and cheaper) to find a better used LCV cab and swap them over?

Post by **alainmoran** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 12:56 pm

If you know of anyone with a cab in good condition, then yes replacing it whole would probably be the best bet! However I'm not entirely sure how that would affect its taxation class.

Post by **rayofleamington** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 2:35 pm

Well it depends on how much you follow the rules to the letter.
the chassis plates can be transferred to the new cab, and nobody would be any the wiser. It's not recommended practise as this can be abused by the unscrupulous people...
As for the tax class etc. there is apparently a points system.
You have points added for each non standard item (engine, gearbox, rear axle, suspension, etc....) Be a bit careful on that one, as you may already have too many points, especially with the Custom chassis.

Post by **bigginger** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 1:42 am

A local scrappy down here has a couple of travellers in, would that provide the necessary bits - can post the address if you're interested. One of them, BTW, looks restorable, but engineless - t'other is way past anything but bits and bobs salvaging...

Post by **alainmoran** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 2:52 pm

Probably not much use for this car (I'm probably going to go down the Q-plate route, although VOSA/DVLA dont seem that interested in re-testing the car), but I have another traveller in bits ... what is the wood like on the two in the scrappy?