I do have a plan now for the scuttle, firewall panel, dash hoop and dashboard. I'm going to have a dashboard (simple aluminum panel) that swings out on hinges from the bottom, It will be mounted as part of the dash hoop, but attached to the fiberglass scuttle shell at top by screws. The dash hoop will carry the adjuster for the tilt steering column.
The fundamental scuttle structure will be independent of the dash hoop, and the fiberglass scuttle shell. However, the fiberglass shell will attach to it using some mounting tabs and the windshield frame bolts. That structure will also carry the wiring, windshield wipers and similar components.
The firewall panel (thicker aluminum sheet) will attach to the scuttle structure at bottom and the fiberglass scuttle shell at sides and top.
The general idea is to have an easy swing-out for the gauges and most wiring, but also be able to remove the fiberglass shell if necessary, but leave the scuttle structure in place. Maintenance and repair should be pretty easy.
That's all pretty ambiguous with out sketches or photos, but those are only in my head right now. It's definitely enough to get started with building and that's what I did today. The first two pieces of the scuttle structure are finished. It was quite a giggle to get all those things to integrate. I used cardboard to make mock-up components. The fiberglass shell from Jack at kinetic has been here a while, however. I decide to elevate the scuttle shell 1". Here's the "so far" work.
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The two pieces of sheet metal you see are physical stand-ins for the firewall panel. I'm using those as stops, plus using them to decide where the scuttle structure needs to end like this:
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Due to the slope of the scuttle shell at rear, things are more complicated there. There's the mount for the dash panel hinge, plus the sloping dahboard panel itself comes down at an angle, and has to go over the hings mount to just above the chassis rail as in the following photo. The hinge pivot will go in that odd little 1" gap between the end of the piece just made and the point where the sloping dashboard panel would strike the upper chassis rail:
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These may look like cheesy little parts, but they took a lot of effort to make. They're 1" square RHS with their ends closed. But there are subtle angles in the upper chassis rails that have to be accounted for. Also, I had to cut them short, make 1" square end caps and the weld those into place and grind them smooth, but have them end up the right length. That's way you see the green lines about 1/16" from the black lines where the finished pieces end.
That very nice guy from "Welding Tips and Tricks" makes all this stuff look easy (although, he always shows you how to do it), but I haven't found it so in real life, at least for an amateur like me. It's really easy to blow through this thin tube. Plus there is all the cutting and grinding to get things just right and looking good. This stuff takes me quite a while to do:
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I still have another decision to make, although I'm pretty well disposed to one solution. It's about the hood and where it should run. I've elevated the scuttle 1" and need to do the same with the nose cone. So, what should I do in between the two? Should I run the hood right on top of the upper chassis rail? Or should I do something a little more creative, and also practical?
If I run the hood to the upper chassis rail, then I've got to take out more metal (and re-weld it to solid), which is show by the marked up area on the side pieces just made like so:
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In the past, I've envisioned putting in movable vents between the hood and the chassis rail. I think that's what I'm going to do. I'm giving myself overnight to think about it. I was thinking about vents somewhat like this, only perhaps 2" high, and movable. You could close them in winter and open them in summer.
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Vent Example.jpg
This is far from a finished concept, but this little quick sketch indicates what I'm thinking about:
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I'll decide by tomorrow morning what I'm going to do.
Cheers,