Another Build Thread - My '32

[J. Robinson]

Well, I finally made some real progress. I spent a few afternoons putting some order in the messy shop so I have room to work now. I started playing with some poster board and illustration sheets several months ago, but never finalized the design for my console. Now, needing someplace to mount my backup camera monitor, I decided I needed to finish the design so I could translate it into a permanent structure. At one point I was ready to throw the whole mess out and mount the monitor above the windshield. I looked at that possibility and held the monitor screen up there, but it just wasn't going to work well there. Finally, I looked on Fat Cat Rods website in the interior pictures to see where they mount their rear-view monitors. They mount them in a console under the dash, so...

Bound with new determination to make it work and with ideas from those pictures, I revamped my old illustration board mockup and finally got a design that should work. The console should give me space for the monitor screen, a radio, and a place to mount the toggles for the power windows, fan override switch, and auxiliary lights.

Using the old mockup, I added side panels that reach all the way to the firewall and adjusted the location of the hole for the shifter. I then discovered that the addition of the full side panels made it impossible to remove/replace the thing in one piece, even with the shifter lever removed. So, the bottom piece and the under-dash unit will need to be in separate pieces. OK, so be it. (First pic)

I cut the mockup apart and used the pieces as patterns to make the permanent structure. (Pics 2 & 3) The face and sides are made from Luan plywood, the flattop / cup holder piece is made from a piece of 1 x 10 lumber, and the curved back piece is made from .025 aluminum (scrap leftover from one of my Electrathon cars). The under-dash section goes right in place with the shifter lever removed and the bottom section fits snugly to it. I'll use some aluminum angle to make mounts for it and after it's upholstered the seam should be barely noticeable.