Scottie's Tribute A352 build

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by Scottie22

Very impressive stuff Mr T!

We eagerly await the second chemistry lesson...........??

You mean, there's MORE?

There's always more. Try watching 'Breaking Bad' on Netflix.

[Scottie22]

I started to cut out the dash today, and spent most of the day making patterns, measuring, looking at photos, taking my windows off the car so I can get better access. I'll have to take the doors off too, as I do not have the access I really need.

Having got as far as I have, which is not that much to show really, I then
realised that this is only the drivers side, and I will have to do the other side later.

I thought I would do the dash in a day, but it is so complicated to get right,
I doubt I'll get it done in week.

the meagre pics:

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[y cymro]

That's good work mate, but to be honest the cheap gauges and switches leave it down a bit. Perhaps try colouring in the gauge faces, and you could use clothes pegs for switches. WCA might still have an old clock you could have? And the mole grips is not the best substitute for a proper steering wheel. Could you glue a bit of ply on it for a 'wood rim' effect?

[WorldClassAccident]

Dash looks fine to me. My G46 dash is at the bottom of this picture

[y cymro]

Oh, and the choke cable sticking through the windscreen may be difficult to do. I have a cobalt drill you're welcome to borrow to try drilling the glass

[Scottie22]

What can I say? I'm still giggling.

[garyh]

Love the dash, but 'Y' is right about getting a proper steering wheel... and i now have 'WCA's loom in a box, i'm just going to trim the edges of the hardboard, then its ready to go.

[Scottie22]

I have joined the two bits of the drivers dash together with epoxy glue, filled and sanded it all to a good finish and test painted it in black to see if it looks right.

And it does. the next job will be to start cutting holes in it and fitting all the
dials, switches and stuff that have taken me so long to modify to look right.

This is the time when the dash will really start to look the part, and turn the car into an XKSS visually.


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[jones]

Ummmm is that a gun and scope? Your garage certainly has an array of items some might say a true man cave

[Scottie22]

Mmmmmmm, You are very observant Jonesy!

It is indeed a gun and scope, I bought it for annoying neighbours.

If they complain about the noise I make late into the night doing my car build, I shoot them, it has a good knock-on effect as most of the houses round me are empty now, so I can make as much noise as I want and no-one complains any more!

You get 9 out of ten for observation, but dropped a point as you did not correctly identify the calibre, make, type of scope, and whether it had been fired recently. Promise me you will buck-up.

Worse still, that is not my garage, but my conservatory, and under those towels and all those tools and stuff, is a pristine solid oak table. (The towels protect it well)

When one lives in a man cave, one can do whatever one likes,

so there we have it!

[Scottie22]

I was snowed under with admin and "normal life" in the morning, but pulled my finger out after lunch and got stuck in.

I drilled out all the holes for the major switches and rivets.

I had to seriously modify the ignition switch in order for it not to look as though it had been fitted by a half-blind hamster, whist being attacked by a fox.

This took an enormous amount of time, but it works well and looks the part,
which after all is what we are all about.

As I said before, I have fitted my start button in the place that Jaguar had fitted the wiper switch originally. (Even Jaguar made mistakes)

Seems more logical to have it all in one place.

I finally finished the task I set myself at 11pm.

As usual, it does not look like a lot a lot has been done but it took a whole days labour to get where I am now.

BUT, it does look right, and I am happy with it.

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[Scottie22]

The work I am doing now on the dash is incredibly satisfying stuff, and the reason is, that when I first started this build a year ago, (before the body shell arrived) It was all planning and preparation.

I did a lot of photo-study to try to work out what the XKSS dash switches were, and what their function was.
More importantly, how I could source them and get my hands on 50 year old switches most of which are unavailable now.

(oddly enough, Lucas still make the dip switch and the horn button, 50 years on, which surely has to be a testimony to good design)

Luckily, being an incurable hoarder, and having owned several Jaguars over the years, (mainly old battered ones I had to renovate) I had some of the stuff I needed already.

The things I could not get hold of, I had to make, so I did all that, and now I am at the assembly stage, which is so rewarding, as slowly, slowly, in front of my eyes, an XKSS dash is miraculously appearing, exactly as it is in all the pictures I have on file.

I will try to get the dials in today, but I have to go so slowly so as not to ruin what I have done so far. One wrong cut, or hole too large, and its back to the drawing board! And hours and hours wasted

watch this space...........

[davecymru]

Really nice! I'm storing away a few ideas for when i rework my dash (at some point in the future) and make it a little posher-er

Out of interest, how are those rivets held in place?

[garyh]

Brilliant, top work.

[Scottie22]

I had bought those long rivets and threaded them Dave, and the idea was to bolt them in, but then I realised that the switches that have rivets secure themselves, so I cut them off short (half-inch long) and stuck them in with epoxy glue from the other side, but like you say, the effect is quite nice.

[Scottie22]

Here is a pic of the rear of the switches, which shows how the Heath Robinson idea works:

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[Paul L]

Scottie - Another stunning job on the dash.

Good luck with the rest of it, Paul.

[Scottie22]

A friend of mine asked me to cut down two trees in his garden yesterday, so I did it this morning, as the weather was good.

The deal is I get to keep all the logs for my wood burner, so I could not refuse really.

It meant I lost half a day on my dash, which I carried on with at lunch time.

Drilling holes filing, etc. Then it struck me that I did not have a panel light housing, which I needed, and it looks like this:

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I found some pipe the right size and made one and stuck it in the dash with fibre-paste, I will put a bulb in it later.

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[Mister Towed]

Dash is looking good Scottie. Nice work.

5000 rpm red line though???

[garyh]

An excellent copy.