Got a bit more done today. i opened up the clearance hole for the shifter body. It now has a bit of a taper from top to bottom. You can see my layout lines here.
http://images112.fotki.com/v682/phot...MVC002F-vi.jpg
I made two strips of 20 ga. to tie the mounting plate down crosscar. Made a couple of cardboard templates and bend them up on the 3 in 1.
This the front strip. It will get riveted into the doghouse and spot welded to the shifter plate.
http://images34.fotki.com/v1076/phot...MVC004F-vi.jpg
Here is the rear strip. This one worked out, position wise, that I could bolt thru it with the two bottom shifter bolts. I have started riveting this one in.
http://images112.fotki.com/v495/phot...MVC009F-vi.jpg
All riveted in and welded up. This is plenty strong right now and once the glass work done it'll be even better. I was kind of worried about stability of the shifter during operation but that isn't a concern anymore.
http://images54.fotki.com/v104/photo...MVC019F-vi.jpg
I also did a little mocking up of the gauges. I made a cardboard facsimily of the lower gauge cluster and taped it in just to get a feel for their placement.
http://images24.fotki.com/v831/photo...MVC003F-vi.jpg
I'll do a little more looking at this. I will probably end up moving the whole panel down a bit to close the gap to the cover. I also have to develope the closeout for the cable and switch wiring.
http://images110.fotki.com/v571/phot...MVC005F-vi.jpg
I got my carbon fiber yesterday! It looks pretty darn kool! I'll get some pics of it but I didn't want to open up the packaging until I really need to.
Mark