Making new Instrument Mask

[deverett 8]

I've started making a new instrument mask, my old one is completely shot from the Aussie sun.

 

The new one is made from 3 layers of black acrylic, laser cut. The top layer will be ABS with the correct texture, I have ordered it but I had to order a full sheet that could do probably 30 masks, I won't get this for a few days..

I have the gauges recessed correctly, and the indicator lights all now perfectly aligned.

[deverett 8]

The textured ABS sheet came yesterday, I ha to buy enough for 50 masks , it took all day to build a jig for cutting the panel, but the results have been good. This texture is more pronounced than the original, but that may be due to the fact the originals were vacuum formed which can reduce the texture as the plastic is heated and stretched.

 

The big advantage is that the part that screws to the binnacle is 3mm thick and the overall thickness of the mask is now 12mm, making it much stronger.

 

I am converting all lighting over to LED and will make a connector harness so I can get the thing in and out without spending half a day.

 

 

[Mesprit87 22]

Good job, looks nice and a lot less flimsy!

I'm sure you'll find some interested owners for the 49 left

[Freemason 76]

Good work! Definitely interested in acquiring one of the 49 left!

Looks like it's exactly the same part on the S2?

Someone else had these 3D printed, would be interesting to compare both approaches:

 

 

[darenwsmith 13]

Steve at SJ is or has now made some he told me the other month.

[Lou R 9]

Dave,

 

Nice job !  I bought one of the 3D Printed repros for my federal S2 and was not satisfied.  Very flimsy (like rice paper) with virtually no structure to it and no texture on the face so it is not suitable (at least not for me).  If you're going to be offering these to others please reserve one for me.

Thx,

Lou R 

[peteyg 256 1 Vehicles]

Be interesting to hear how easy your mask is to fit. The one benefit of the original is it's flexibility allowing it fit into an unevenly shapes orifice.

Pete

[Christian43 5 2 Vehicles]

and fitting the original is a PITA as far as I remember. I ended up making a cardboard mock up to try and work it out. Having the loom with a central connector should help a lot though.

C43

[deverett 8]

I'd be happy to make more up, as I now have the jig. It ends up being 4 layers of 3mm material so it is very stiff. I was concerned about the fit as each one was hand fitted originally. On mine this meant the holes do not match up perfectly, I simply redrilled holes in the wooden corners once I had it fitted in the right spot and it worked out great.

I was going to make all the LED lights myself, but there are good off the shelf led globe replacements for everything. Unfortunately I had already cut off some of the rear tube of the warning light indicators so I will have to put my own LEDs into them now. I did find you can get the T7 LED bulbs for anyone else wanting to upgrade.

The old bulbs create a lot of heat in the back of the binnacle which is best avoided.

My wiring stiff and this makes it hard to get the left and right switch panels in and causes them to pop out. I have siliconed the switch housings into the panels now so that should be better. I also pulled out the fibre optics and will fit superbright white 3mm leds into the optic housings.

Then replace any particularly crispy wires for new sexy flexible ones and fit a connector.

I'll make up some more masks and if people are happy with them I'll work out what they are costing me and make them available if wanted.

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

[C43 49 1 Vehicles]

BTW I glued bits of wood in the old mounting holes in the binnacle as the holes had got so big had lost any grip on the screws.

Agree regarding silicon on the switches to keep them in place. BTW you can easily strip the switches down and give them a clean to get rid of the corrosion. My fog switch was so corroded it had stopped working. If you do this do it over a tray first time as there are some small parts that are easy to loose.

cheers

C43

[Andyww 1,135]

This looks so much better than the original. One of the worst things Lotus ever did was buy a vacuum-forming machine which they used for all kinds of cheap looking parts.

Wont fit my 82 Turbo though as its a different layout, then there are the 2 side pieces also.

[gvy 303 1 Vehicles]

 A year ago, I made me a new instrument mask

The original plastic one was torn on one side. Some gauges were rattling a bit .

I decided to use 8mm thick trespa ( HPL) This is a very firm material that endures all weather and temperatures .It is used as a construction finishing material outdoors. It is heavy, but that doesn't matter because most of the panel are holes. It is quite hard to machine. I used a table saw and a router to make the dash.

The nice thing is that the surface of the trespa has the same structure as the original plastic.

I used the same material (6mm) some months ago to construct al new bootpanels to replace the old flimsy multiplex ones

After constructing, I finished the dash with black automotive 3 component (color/thinner/hardener) paint and my airbrushpistol.

It took me quite some time.

Starting with all wiring out (numbering and noting things down.

old and the start of the new:

 

 

finished and painted, ready to install and rewire.

It is much stronger,stiffer and more durable then the plastic original

 

 

 

And ready to roll again:

 

 

Geert

Edited July 28, 2016 by gvy

[Matt-watts 105 3 Vehicles]

I have Just had them remade in original material and grain but also 2mm thicker so they wont crack up easily. I have also had all the Vac formed plastic parts on an Esprit remade including new front bumpers.

Will put them up in the parts bit when I have some time

Matt

[darenwsmith 13]

Hi Matt have you a list of all your vac formed bits with prices please I need a a center and both sides for my dash also side vents for the engine bay.

cheers

daren

[Andyww 1,135]

Matt, I would be interested in triangles for the A pillars.

SJ Sportscars sell repros of these but they are not very good (which they admitted when I phoned them) as they are made of fibreglass and are too thick and dont fit properly.  They said they planned to make them as per originals but if you have already done this they might take some off you for sale I would think. I was about to contact them again as I wanted them to not drill the two mounting holes in them. The plastic round plugs which the factory used originally spoil the look so I would rather fit them with glue or double sided tape without the plugs.

[TAR 345]

On 7/28/2016 at 14:38, Matt-watts said:

I have Just had them remade in original material and grain but also 2mm thicker so they wont crack up easily. I have also had all the Vac formed plastic parts on an Esprit remade including new front bumpers.

Will put them up in the parts bit when I have some time

Matt

@Matt-watts

I know this was a while ago, but can you still get these vac parts?

 

[silverfrost 1,386]

I think the Tooling costs worked out to expensive in the end, but like yourself Tim intrested to see if Matt got this sorted in the end.

[TAR 345]

@silverfrost Dan, I found another thread where blackngolds3turbo has offered vacuum forming. I've just posted some pictures of my B post trims.

 

[silverfrost 1,386]

Just found it Tim     I so hope these can be made