Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

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Andrew 2.8i
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Big Mike wrote:I'm bitterly disappointed Andrew. Where's my update? *drums fingers*
Hi Mike,
Unfortunately, I'm so full of Christmas pudding (and other stuff) I have been unable to move out the chair for days! :lol:
Since the last update I have been busy but I don't have any photos to show for it. I can report that the expanding foam does an excellent job of adhering the metal frame to the back of the dash. However, it's not all been plain sailing. When I tried to assemble the eyeball vent and the rectangular demister vent on the passenger side, I found that the frame had been fixed in slightly the wrong position and the vents could not be fixed in their apertures. The only course of action was to carefully cut away all the foam and try again. That was finished yesterday and all looked to be fine and dandy......................until I removed the masking tape and newspaper to find that some foam had seeped into the eyeball vent :doh: It looked like somebody had rammed a potato into the vent! I had to spend an hour or so cleaning all of that out, which I've now done.
Another problem has arisen, which I touched upon in an earlier post. On the original Ford dash there is a small flap of flexible plastic material which the rectangular demister vent fits snugly into and helps to hold it in the correct position, which the repro dash does not have. I'm currently trying to find a tasteful and elegant solution to fill the gap that surrounds the vent when it's in postion. I'm going to try black sealant and also try some of the foam tape that Steve recommended in an earlier post to stop squeaking.
Sorry for the long-winded update, but I tend not to use one word when twenty will do! :lol:
If the truth be told, it's been a much longer and more fiddly job than I had anticipated. Even still, the dash should be nearing completion by tomorrow evening (hopefully).
All the best everyone, and thanks for reading!
Andrew.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Big Mike »

What can I say? I was being a bit 'tongue in cheek' and trying to turn the joke on me for logging in a week late and I end up getting a report like that from you!

I feel guilty now lol!

Sounds like you're doing fine with it as usual Andrew, sorry the 'joke' got you out of your chair and writing another epic, looking forward to the pics of it finished mate.

Mike.
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Andrew 2.8i
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Big Mike wrote:What can I say? I was being a bit 'tongue in cheek' and trying to turn the joke on me for logging in a week late and I end up getting a report like that from you!

I feel guilty now lol!
Mike,
Don't feel guilty, your kick up the backside was just what I needed!! :lol:
Andrew.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Hi Everyone,
Just a quick update to illustrate what I was saying in my earlier post about the poor fitting vents. This is how they look if you place the vents in their correct positions.
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Not a very good fit at all. Apply a bit of felt tape around the vent and it looks a little better.
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No problems at all with the fit of the driver's side eyeball vent, I just need to work on the driver's demister vent and the passenger side eyeball vent, which for some reason seems to be a particularly poor fit.
Andrew.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Taff50ish »

Hi Andrew,

I must say this is a GREAT thread your doing here, as many other members have done for other various jobs, but this I think is close to all our Hearts. Looking forward to the next Up-date, fingers crossed I won't need this for a good while yet, but I certainly know where to look when I need to. Keep up the great work, cheers,

John....
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Taff40ish wrote:I must say this is a GREAT thread your doing here,
John,
Thanks for your words of encouragement. It's been a difficult task with lots of fiddly work, but I know it will be worth it in the end.
Taff40ish wrote:fingers crossed I won't need this for a good while yet
Stick with the Timothy Taylor's Landlord beer towel on the dash, and hopefully it'll stay mint for another 30 years! As I said in a post above, if you've ever got to do any work that involves dismantling the dash (replacing bulbs behind the clocks for example) just be very careful. The plastic covering on the dashtop can be very fragile.
A top tip for everyone. If you've ever got to remove the fascia, for whatever reason, be sure to remove the indicator and wiper stalks around the steering column. That way the fascia can be removed by lifting the bottom away first. Don't be tempted to take a shortcut by leaving the stalks in position, you'll have to pull the top of the fascia away first. By doing that you'll be in danger of those vicious metal prongs damaging the underside of the dashtop.
Andrew.
Last edited by Andrew 2.8i on Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by andyd »

I'm afraid it's Beer Towels for me too, the old "Part of the Originality" :lol:
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

andyd wrote:I'm afraid it's Beer Towels for me too, the old "Part of the Originality" :lol:
Hi Andy,
I should use a beer towel on my dash to cover the cracks. If anyone asks I can tell them I'm protecting a mint dash from the sun! :)
Look forward to seeing you, your car and the beer towel at Simply Ford!
Andrew.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by andyd »

peers.dupp wrote:
andyd wrote:I'm afraid it's Beer Towels for me too, the old "Part of the Originality" :lol:
Hi Andy,
I should use a beer towel on my dash to cover the cracks. If anyone asks I can tell them I'm protecting a mint dash from the sun! :)
Look forward to seeing you, your car and the beer towel at Simply Ford!
Andrew.
Prevention is better than cure....
Mine wasn't too bad the last time I looked but I always cover it as it helps protect.

Wont be long now, I've unearthed the picnic box :lol:

Andy
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Caprifan Rob »

peers.dupp wrote: A top tip for everyone. If you've ever got to remove the fascia, for whatever reason, be sure to remove the indicator and wiper stalks around the steering column. That way the fascia can be removed by lifting the bottom away first. Don't be tempted to take a shortcut by leaving the stalks in position, you'll have to pull the top of the fascia away first. By doing that you'll be in danger of those vicious metal prongs damaging the underside of the dashtop.
Thanks for the tip Andrew, going to replace mine & would have done just that :oops:

How's the replacement dash coming along ? You've created a lot of interest and rightly so, there's not many brave enough to attempt this. Let us know when you're back in the garage with your favourite Springsteen CD & show us your progress :D

Good luck mate.
Rob
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Freelanderfan wrote:[Thanks for the tip Andrew, going to replace mine & would have done just that
Hi Rob,
I thought I'd warn the good folks of this forum about this, as my spare genuine dash is almost perfect but for two gouges caused by the metal clips. It was caused by the previous owner, and I didn't want anyone else to suffer the same fate.
The work on the CCI repro dash has temporarily been put on hold for a month or so. It was taking too long to fiddle about with, at the moment I'm getting on with servicing and some other jobs that need doing so the Capri is ready to roll and in fine fettle for the spring. I've given Bruce the month off and told him to be ready to rock by February!
All the best,
Andrew.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by martinc92 »

Andrew,

I am quite lucky as my dash is fine and not cracked, however i know its a major problem with all older fords, and mine is probably rare. I have just had my copy of CCI and i would suggest that you send your thread and comments to them for possible improvements to the new GRP product, and for others to benefit who aren't are here.

As many members have said a great job mate, you have attacked a major challenge that many wouldn't consider.

I am sure it will look mint when finished.

cheers

Mart :
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Hi Mart,
martinc92 wrote:As many members have said a great job mate, you have attacked a major challenge
Don't I know it! :) Thanks for your comments. As I've said in a previous post, be sure to be very careful with your dash if you need to work on it and I'm sure it will stay mint for many years to come.
I hadn't thought about sending in an article to the club magazine. If I had I would have made sure that the garage was clean and tidy before taking the photos!
All the best,
Andrew.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by brooky »

As Andrew has now got a good used replacement dashboard, his CCI repro project was in need of a new owner so I have taken ownership of the ongoing roject so I can get my badly cracked dash replaced. Thanks to Andrew a lot of the hard work has been done to get a donor frame stripped back and the new dash mounted onto the frame, if you look back in his original thread you will see that the drivers side eyeball vent was not aligning fully in the aperture of the dash and was being a bit of a problem so I decided to take all the expanding foam out in that area to try and reseat this side using the vent as a guide rather than securing the dash and then trying to get the vent to fit.

Dug as much of the foam out as possible on the drivers side and fitted the vent to the frame to use as a guide to align the dash up to the vent.

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Pulled the dash into position and clamped it, you can see it is sitting pretty nice around the vent with no gaps
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Now the vent is sitting closer to the dash I have re foamed that end , just hope it holds when I take the clamps off tomorrow :goodluck:

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None of the new foam has come through the front of the vent where it sits in the dash so it should look ok when I remove the clamps and clean it all up.
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Once dry I will trim it all back and then align the top vents and foam that area, I have another old dash I am using as a reference to try and get the new dash mounted to the correct dimensions as it does not just simply sit flat onto the frame, you have to make sure the gaps are where you want them to give the desired overall thickness from the back of the frame to the front of the dash.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Hi Mark,
Great work on the dash, it's good to see that you're cracking on with it and already making excellent progress.
The foam residue around the vent should easily clean off without staining, and the area around the passenger eyeball vent is looking much better, and it appears that the vent is perfectly aligned.
Looking at these photos, I definitely believe that, in the right hands, the CCI reproduction dashboard could be a viable alternative to a hard to find, and expensive, genuine item. You're making me want to have one of these dashboards for myself now! :D

Please keep us up to date as work progresses.

All the best,
Andrew.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by sheff »

Hi Mark,
Looks like you're making some good progress with the dash..... Looking forward to seeing the end result :)

All the best
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Stewb28i »

This seems like a lot of work!

Wonder what a trimmer would charge to redo the dash upper in vinyl or leather? That way you could repair the cracking & the evidence would be hidden by the covering.

Hats off for the work done so far though - more patience than me!

Stew.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard -finally fitted

Post by brooky »

Finally got round to fitting the CCI dash, the prep of fitting the dash to the frame (thanks to Andrew) can be found in the previous sections of this thread. As I was taking out all the parts to get to the dash fixings I decided to freshen up the lower dash panels, radio and the centre console as mine had a badly fitting gear stick gaiter, cracked gear knob and all looking a bit tatty

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Centre lower trim also had a hole where I think there had been a LED previously for an alarm

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Here is the pictures of my cracked dash, an all too commom sight

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Also dash edge was badly scratched, pedals as well (especially after Nick has painted his)

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So here goes with the removal, first the lower dash panels and centre switches, I removed the wires from the fader to get the panel out then realised you can take the knob off and undo a central nut to release the fader complete :swear:

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Next drop the column to be able to get the facia out, you can see the tags at the top that leave nasty marks if you don't drop the column to let the facia out at the bottom first

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With facia removed the radio, heater controls and clocks can be removed
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Now all the upper fixings for the dash can be removed, right hand side has 2

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Centre is accessed through radio aperture
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Left hand side once "A" post trim is removed
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Now you have to get to the last 2 fixings under the glove box, remove the 4 fixings at the front of the glovebox and the 2 nuts at the rear

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You can then get at the last 2 dash frame fixings at the lower front edge under the glove box (they are already removed in this picture)

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Now the dash and frame can be removed

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As Mr Haynes says, simply refit in reverse order but I did have a problem with the facia as the new dash would not let it sit in the right position so I had to remove some more material from the top underside. Marked it off with a masking tape line, protected the clocks and set to with the rotary cutter.

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Here is the new dash fitted with radio knobs tarted up (Nicks tip to use tipex pen) and that awful hole in the lower centre panel filled and lower dash panels and pedals repainted.

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refurbed the console with a lick of paint, touch up on handbrake moulding, replacement gear stick gaiter and correct 280 gear knob (thanks to Andrew for making me aware)
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Really pleased with the final results even though it took 3 days to get it all done :cheers:
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Last edited by brooky on Tue Mar 29, 2016 9:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by CapriLee »

Grand job between you both :D Looks nice and wont crack again :D
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Re: Project: CCI Repro Dashboard

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Hi Mark,
Ever since I started the project all those months ago, I've been dying to know how it looks once fitted. I'm not disappointed, you've done some superb work there. An excellent result and a brilliant write-up too! I'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between the repro dash and the genuine article. I wish I'd had the patience to see the project through to the end!
Sorry for making you spend your hard-earned cash on a replacement gear knob! Did you get it from turbo-mike?

Hope to catch up with at Queen Square to check out the progress since the last time I saw you.

All the best,
Andrew.
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