Landracing Forum
Bonneville Salt Flats Discussion => SCTA Rule Questions => Topic started by: hotrod on September 01, 2006, 08:44:05 AM
-
I searched but did not find any specific comments on the dash requirement in the production class so would like to ask a couple clarification questions.
In the main entry on Production class 2006 rules, pg 64-65 part 5.E it says:
" ... A stock or full width dash board is mandatory. A fabricated non-flammable equivalent is acceptable. "
On page 66 part 5.E.1 it says:
"The following items shall be retained in the stock location, and of the same year and manufacture as the body: frame, fenders, hood, grille, drip rails (must not be filled), windows, door handles,window trim, dash board, head lights (high and low beam), tail lights, parking lights, stoplights, radiator, both bumpers and horn.
I presume that the second entry is not intended to mandate that only a true OEM original manufacture dash may be used contrary to the previous entry which clearly states a non-flammable equivalent is acceptable". I think that an extremely literal reading of the second would in fact counter the first, and perhaps the wording should be modifided slightly if that is not the intent.
If that is correct, is there any need for the builder to accurately mimic the actual shape and form of the dash board as originally produced?
Many modern gauge clusters are very difficult to fit with adequate gauges for a high performance engine.
I suspect the intent simply is to see that the car has a solid fabricated dash panel rather than a jungle of wires and gauges hung all over the interior of the car off of random brackets which would present a safety hazard in a crash.
Second related item. In this era of plastic grill pieces, it is getting very hard to find an un-broken / complete grill insert for some of the late 1970's- and 1980's manufactured cars. many were made of light weight injection molded plastic and are quite brittle and often the first casualty of a minor fender bender.
Even if you could find a solid as new item,some of them might not be able to handle the stresses and buffeting of air speeds near the 2 century mark, let alone the sudden pressure changes and flow reversals you would see during a high speed spin. In many cases the damage found on junk yard items involves broken or missing mounting tabs or pins which are essential to firmly secure the grill insert.
Would it be acceptable to fabricate a more durable copy?
Such as a hand layup, machined, or cast clone of the OEM grill insert out of modern fiber reinforce plastic or metal or some other more durable material. Provided it was a faithful copy of the OEM part in all important (aero) respects and the builder had an OEM insert on hand for comparison during tech?
Larry
-
Anyone care to venture an observation on this question. So far no response from the tech guys.
Have any of you taken any heat for fabricating a dashboard in the production or modified classes.
Not knowing what is legal here is slowing down the planning process.
Larry
-
Others may correct me but I believe this lead from what you called a maze of wires and guages being attached "willy nilly" to a production pickup a few years ago. It did not appear to have a dash board at all. I was an 80's Chevrolet..Then the owner showed us that there was the "plastic chrome bezel" in amoungst the pile of roll ber tubing, wires, and instruments...We said that ain't no dash.
Even tho I know the book pretty well. I reread pager 63, 64, &65. No where does it say that ANY of the interior MUST/SHALL be removed. Only the stock seat shall not be used
In the prelim to production it says "A STOCK OR FULL WIDTH DASHBOARD IS MANDATORY.
Please call the head of the committee with your ideas. Perhaps they will be accepted....Good Luck
-
Thanks for the background info. It is usually easier to understand a rules application if you know why it came about.
I agree as I read the rule the operative part of the phrase is:
"... A stock or full width dash board is mandatory. A fabricated non-flammable equivalent is acceptable. "
In combination with the info you mentioned I would expect a fabricated full width dash board of non-flammable material would satisfy the letter of the rules, regardless if it was similar in form and design to the OEM dash.
I will attempt to confirm this with some of the tech folks if I can ever get in touch with any of them. I work night shift, so calling people on the phone is pretty useless. They don't want to talk to me at 2:00 am and I don't want to get up in the middle of my sleep cycle to call them.
Email and forums like this are invaluable for people like me, because they can answer my query when I am sleeping and I can read the response at my leisure.
I'm still waiting for a list of the tech people that live in my region so I can get more first person evaluation of things like roll cage construction and such.
Larry
-
hot rod,
what kind of dash is it? I can make a carbon or glass replica for ya.
kent
-
My question is really pretty generic, but like most dashes made in the last 20 years mostly plastic, lots of really flammable urethane foam and nearly impossible to easily attach accessory gauges.
I would like to fabricate a simple flat panel metal dash where switch and gauge mounting could be done by a 5 year old. So much simpler to work with than hanging tachs off the top of an OEM dash and figuring out how to put a real oil pressure gauge in the proper place to be seen easily by the driver.
Last month I noticed the Ecotech car had a carbon fiber dash that was similar in shape to the stock.
What is the going rate for a replica dash?
Larry
-
depends on size, backdrafts, negatives, one piece or flanged multiple piece molds. I get $60 sq ft for tooling, $30 linier foot for flanging, + sanding and finishing the tooling. 1st article is time and materials.
-
This week end at El Mirage I looked at the #363 orange and white Firebird of Cook and Cook. Don LaBine owned this car for many years and was the builder. It also holds many El Mirage Reacords lowest class being gas coupe.
The car has a flat aluminum panel for a dash. It leads from the windshield to the original rear line. It does not resemble the original design at all. But meets the specifications call out in the book. Edge to edge. It contains the guages. The interior panels were replacement flat aluminum also.
Hope this helps.
-
Thanks that is what I was planning on doing also!
Just a simple easy to work on flat panel design.
The old KISS concept.
Larry
-
"...list of the tech people that live in my region ..."
Where is your region? There is location listed in your screen name.
DW
-
Sorry, -- I live in Colorado near the Denver metro area.
Lee Kennedy replied to my email to the SCTA tech address, and I sent him some specific details I was wondering about.
I was just looking for near by contacts for those times a hands-on look beats 20 e-mails.
Larry