Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

I have been saying for ages that I want to make a dash console for my EGT gauge, and a boost, oil pressure and water temp gauge. After hunting the internet for a console for the GU ( pre facelift ) curvy dashboard, and finding nothing that looked like it came out of the factory, I decided to research on how to do this project.

The GU dash is a bit of a bugga..... there are curves in all directions, and if you have the GL model that doesn't have the passenger airbag, then you have an area that you cannot rest anything on as it simply slides off ( quite annoying ). So out with the expanding foam after taping up the dash. The idea was good ..... the execution, well it turned out ok, but lets just say that the foam doesn't hold its shape when left somewhere else other than on the dashboard .... so I scrapped that idea.

Next I ventured into the Plaster of Paris concept....... hmmm now this works well, but what a friggin mess, and you have t work fairly quick with it once you have the mix right. I looked like a mummy by th time I was finished making the dash....

The idea is to split the dash into 3 pods. The reasons for this is that, firstly I HATE LOATH and DETEST the glare of the dash in the windscreen, and that goes for almost all the vehicles I've owned. So I want to eliminate that. Secondly, The hot air coming through the vents I believe is also due to the dash heating up and the vents are just under the top of the dash. If there is a pod above the dash it should in theory assist in keeping the cold air ( without aircon on ) cooler than it is at the moment. Thirdly, I thought that maybe someone else will want a dash console like this but has the GRX ( with passenger airbag ), so this needs to be sort of universal " one size fits all ". So one can take 1, 2 or all 3 pods as needed....

I cannot tell you how many plaster casts I've made .... and broken..... .... but eventually I have successfully almost completed 2 of the 3 moulds. There is a little fine tuning still to be done on these 2, but you will basically see the idea behind what I'm doing. Once I have made the final pods in fibreglass, I'm going to have them covered in a dark grey Alcanara ( suede ) material with a thin foam to give it a "soft touch" feel. This will eliminate the glare on the windscreen. Then there is the 3rd piece, a thin pod that will fit over the dash instrument cluster, to keep the sleek curve line of the existing dash. Now this is the piece that is killing me. It needs to be quite thin, and so this is the plaster mould that I've broken the most ..... But I'll get there shortly. I still need to recess the center pod for the gauges to sit in, but this was just to see that the lines are all good and that it all fits together.

So here is what I have so far.....

Well done. I think it will look great once covered.

Yeah I hope so.... I really want it to look as if this was a factory optional extra....hahaha..... at a fraction of the price !

Looking forward to see the end-result.

Looking very neat Cedric!

Maybe the 3rd piece can just be the leather with a little stiffer (Canvas?) backing?

Hi Ricster

Try embedding n piece of cloth with the plaster. It will make it a bit stiffer. Almost like glass fiber and resin. Make a composite of the material and plaster.

Hmmm.... I'll give that one some thought, as I want to achieve this stitching look on all the sharp bends and angles

Marino4x4..........I tried that but when it came to sanding i hit the cloth and that made my smooooooooooooth finish look a little like mutton cloth.... hahaha...... my own fault though ( we learn through our mistakes )

But yeah you are spot on there. I will be using a cloth strengthener and then building on top of that with the plaster. Its just the curves of that piece don't give you any flat surface to work on, so sanding has to be done very gently. And I'm a little bit of a perfectionist as to the moulds needing to be perfect. Reason being is that if someone wants a plain fibreglass that can be spraypainted or wrapped in whatever colour or look, it can be done with minimal bodyfiller and sanding to achieve the perfect smooth mirror finish. Any blemish in the mould will show up on a spraypainted or wrapped finish.

Cedric. That looks flipping awesome man. You not only an ugly face. (Can't say pretty as I'm not that way inclined).

hahaha... Thanks mate !!