looking for Dash insert ideas, BugEye Sprite

[Crosley.In.AZ]

this is a dash out of a Bugeye Sprite I was given years ago.

Looking for suggestions on insert for this  gas-axe  hacked unit.

Mayb weld tabs on, use aluminum insert with button head allen type bolts?

Wood insert?  Each guage would need a ground wire for a wood insert

[enjenjo]

I would use an aluminum insert myself, maybe engine turn it.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I like the engine turned aluminum idea...    

also with the new coating methods of faux wood finishes & others...  opens new doors.  

At Hughes , we had a powerglide case dipped in faux carbon fiber coating

[UGLY OLDS]

How about a wood insert of some kind for the big area & then use a smaller oval engine turned insert  That big opening with an engine turned panel may look a little "Over Kill" ?

 Just a thought ...

Bob ....  

[wayne petty]

hard to fathom scale in those images..










get what's left to fit tight...

then mock it up over something.. vacu form some ABS..

if you have to carve one or two layers of  2x12  to duplicate the shape... and  screw it to plywood.. this would give you a perfect pattern for vacuum forming.. then its just send it out..   it would also give you a bigger lip on the underside if you wanted..

if you had removable grooves in the pattern.. you could possibly.. remove them... have a rear panel vacuum formed.. so its like this.. /-------\_/--------\  to give you some rear bracing to glue the perfect flat panel over the front..

a 4" angle grinder with flap discs  could carve the 2x12 after a rough cut with some kind of saw...

just an idea..

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Wayne ... so that is what the dash looks like (back side)  

In high school we would drive to Tucson from Phoenix in a friends BugEye Sprite.  It was a loooong drive to Tucson to watch the Fuel Altereds run at the old Tucson dragstrip

[Digger]

I like the engine turned aluminum idea...    

also with the new coating methods of faux wood finishes & others...  opens new doors.  

At Hughes , we had a powerglide case dipped in faux carbon fiber coating

X3 on the turned alum or perhaps clear lexan and paint the backside of it slver, black or something.

[Mac]

Lots of really cool choices in guitar pickguard material.

Mother 'o Pearl with polished ss or chrome bezel gauges............mmmm tastey!

Would have to be laminated to a backing, though.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pickguard+material&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ADFA_enUS420&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=MO1ZUeHVAbLJ4AOrtoHwAw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAA&biw=1024&bih=571

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I've done some research on various coverings and coating processes.    There is a ton of stuff available and custom stuff via my own ideas is a simple process too.

Amazing times we live in now