Charger Dash

[Fishingtomatoseed]

I would like to rebuild my dash. In saying that I do not want to go with the dash Charger has. It looks like they cut big holes in the fiberglass and then put a plastic overlay with thin padding over it. So you can imagine after 18 years of use it is all busted up and the gauges are about to fall out. Also the dash that is in it is muliti angle and I would like to keep that part of the design. Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what to make it out of and how. I was thinking of aluminum pices and then welding them together and polishing or start glassing.

[Fishingtomatoseed]

So this is the dash:





I would like to fix the old flasher hole in the top:



The plastic dash that is under the vinly is all boken up. They also cut holes in the dash to get the gauges to fit.



I like the design that they have with the dash so i will stick with that. I like the way all the gauges "face you".



My next step is to take the dash apart and use some of the pices for a templet and then I think i am going to take some thin aluminum and weld and polish. I don't think I will keep all of it polished. May mask off just the gauge area and pint the rest a deep red to match the red in the boat. One problem I have is the starting key hole is in the bottom left corner. The hole that they drilled is half in and half out of the fiberglass. May just make a small pice to cover the hole and move the key up a little.

[lakefolk]

dude,
please keep updating this and take lots of pics.. especially after you get the vinyl off.
im gonna be doing one just like it in the future. mine aint in bad shape but i would like to "update" it.

[DIXIEDOG]

Personally if it was my boat I would use aluminum and build it with 3 separate faceplates and 3 backing plates to re-enforce your original console. It should be fairly easy if you just made a template out of heavy cardboard and then transfer it to 1/8 aluminum plate after, when your plates are finished, sending them out for anodize would get rid of the blinding shine and make them look great

[Fishingtomatoseed]

Thanks for the ideas I like the anodize instead of the mirror. I work a lot so this will be a slow redo but I will take pics and post.

[Rollo331]

that is tough,that is a shroud that is bought pre made with the gauges in it......
you might look for a company called marine electric in lebanon mo....they make shroud's for many boat companies

[tdh]

I have the same problem you have....but my gauges have fallen through. I'm thinking I am just going to pull the dash off for now and use a piece of sheetmetal behind for now, since I have a couple more tmts coming up and can't afford serious down time. Will be watching to see what you come with up.

[Fishingtomatoseed]

Sorry for no post yet. Working 7 days a week during the summer puts a damper on fishing and repairing. Maybe a couple more weeks of it. I am just glad that we are this busy.