James Rasmussen
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Original dash was made from sheet metal, foam, and vinyl
Was too heavy for its purpose
Didn’t offer standard gauge sizes
Didn’t offer any knee room
Wasn’t originally fitted with a stereo
The dash made the electronics on the car hard to work on
due to the original removal method of the dash piece
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Lighten and stiffen the component through the use of
composites
Add a single DIN slot
Shorten the dash for more knee room
Incorporate hard points into the core so clamping
forces can be applied to the mounts.
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The original dash was measured at critical
locations to ensure the top edge and steering
column fit correctly
Gauge holes were added in key locations so the
strength of the dash was not compromised.
The single DIN slot was placed ergonomically
with the front face away from the core to help
keep the weight on the core.
Foam models were CNC routered and checked
for fitment on the car
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Once the dash model was correct, a female mold was
created in Solidworks, tool paths were created in
Mastercam, and a mold was routered out of polyurethane
foam
The mold was then coated with resin and sprayed the a
polyester primer.
The primer was wet sanded, buffed, and coated with
release.
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7725 modified twill weave fiberglass was used
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Wet layup was used
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Conforms nicely around complex surfaces
Strength calculations determined only two layers
were needed on each side of the core
Thought the resin would set too fast for a RTM
Dry fibers wouldn’t stay in place if bagging was
attempted
Complex female mold used a stretch vacuum
bag to help reduce wrinkles and make bagging
easier
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Skins and core were CNC routered so layup and assembly time
would be reduced
Material was removed from the core to allow aluminum inserts
All four parts were bonded together with a glass bead and resin
mix
Edges of the outside skin were trimmed
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Dashes were subjected to a three point bending test
30 pounds was applied to the part of the fiberglass
dash with the least amount of cross-sectional area
Ten pounds was applied to the original dash
The fiberglass dash deflected only .1 inches
The original deflected .1 inches
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Composite dash was considerably lighter
Improved stiffness
Ergonomic controls
New mounting style eases installation
Fiberglass dash
Original dash
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A lighter fiberglass or carbon fiber would be
used
Aramid paper or aluminum honeycomb would
be used instead of blue foam
Molds would have even more draft
Molds would have been sanded to a finer grit
and a different release agent would be used
Plastic hard points would be used