Dash

I've had a good day today. A long walk on Cannock Chase with the dog first thing. Lovely clear sky, a herd of deer and two noisy hot air balloons. Then spent some time with my daughter at the hospital and afterwards an afternoon in the garage. 

Last weekend I formed and bonded the scuttle. This afternoon I mounted the dash on the dash panel and installed the instruments.

I started by removing the scuttle, masking up the dash and checking the fit. Not perfect, but the scuttle is bonded and the dash won't flex so I will have to live with it.  
As I am using the standard Smiths gauges and GBS loom, the instruments are constrained to particular positions. I considered other layouts, but I quite like this one and it saves having to de-construct the loom. 
The last time I was at GBS I asked Richard@GBS for a miss-cut gauge surround, which he gave me without charge. I had no intention of using on the vehicle. I wanted it to act as a template to position the gauges and cut the GRP.
Once I had the dash in the right place I used the gauge surround to mark-out the potential position of the gauges and to form an even profile to cut away the GRP around the steering column.
Now I had the dash in right position I double, and then triple, checked the gauge positions before getting the dremel out and starting the cutting. The router and barrel sander made easy work of the GRP, cutting precisely and cleanly much to my relief.
Before the dash finally went in, I covered the return edge with vinyl to hide the tabs, and put the gauges in place in the correct order: From the left Volts Gauge, Fuel Gauge, Water Gauge, Oil Gauge, Speedo Gauge, Rev Counter Gauge.

I am really happy with the final look.