Projects 1939 Merc cluster in a '32 and not a '38 dash

was given the cluster minus the speedometer, had the glass dash hanging on a nail...
wondered how it would look as a hotrod dash...
STOGY came to the rescue, he photoshopped the 2 together....
i like it, what do you think... should i break out the sabre saw ?

 

Looks great to me and it's a glass dash so if you don't like the finished result The dash is easy to replace and I bet you would get a lot of guys wanting to buy it if you decide not to use it. HRP

 

@sloppy jalopies you have to get innovative mounting that behind the dash but I know being crafty is one of your specialties...

 

Do it!

 

Don't let common sense or fear stop ya.
It looks OUTSTANDING.

 

i am thinking about using the stock steel facade that covered the cluster...
then through bolt the key, light, heater etc. switches as mounting bolts... letting them anchor it to the dash...
may trim off the column cover section or mount a tach in it... top in pic.
it had a stainless trim ? may use part of it...

 

Well, someone has to be a contrarian and I guess that's me. I prefer round gauges in this dash. But, it's your car, do as you like.

 

I like it without the face plate with only the gauges showing....

More work to do it that way but well worth it I think.

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I agree with lostone

 

Just get used to the parallax.

 

I have to look that word up...

 

Ahhh...out of this world eh!...as claiming to be an Artist I should know that...a way one sees things...

 

I'm more the SW curved glass round gauges (my 36 3w) .. it is different .. in the end it's your car.. do what you like..

 

No, do not do this.

If you do, the cool factor will be reduced by 95%. The attractiveness by at least 120%

 

it’s different. I like it. either way.

 

I think you're saying to use this faceplate behind the 32 dash and use strategically placed switches or other dash details to anchor it all...depending on thickness it might look sunk in the dash...clever...

Or you could maybe mount the cluster without a the spacer plate with two or more large diameter brackets that anchor the cluster and switchs achieving same with more trim protruding...

 

my mistake, i have asked his photoshopiness STOGY to picture it in a modified '38 car dash in a pm, but didn't post that here...
i can weld the whole face plate to the '38...
or i bid on the stainless trim, means bolting ...
i was thinking of using the face plate as in insert like a '33 car, trimmed and mounted on the outside... i can't cut the merc gauge holes as perfect as henry did...
mounting on the outside keeps their gauge to face plate fit intact...
bottom pic shows a face plate/ cluster and just a cluster... SS trim runs along the outside edge of the face plate...

 

...I didn't add the trim around the Cluster Plate feeling it looked awkward and I also feel the Speaker grille Tombstone Trim might be better left off...

I treated these dash images as if you have welded the faceplate into the dash. I also filled the Narrow Tombstone ports beside the center trim...Maybe those are heater controls...

Thoughts?


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STOGY, thanks again...
mikie likes it... no heater controls on a '38..
but i have both the ashtray and choke tombstone inserts...
stogy must be a chebby guy as he only printed the 8 from the 289 badge...
the 8 does look right though...

 

I think it looks great

 

I think it looks good in the 38 dash, but not so much in the 32. The squared off lines along the lower part of the 38 work well with it, whereas the curved lower 32 doesn't. And when you get a steering wheel directly in front of it in the 38, that will tie in the curved top of the speedo. In the 32 it just kinda hangs there.

 

It's busy with the seven gauges on the left side-lots of blank space on the glove box door. It looks too asymetrical to me. JMTC

 

Just an idea, but what if you moved the cluster to the center of the dash? That way you could put another glove box to the left of it to hide a fuse panel.

 

Sloppy I was thinking V8 not Chevy...Ford has been flying V8 since the early 30s...There is a distinct V in that 289 Badge...

I will reinsert the side Tombstones as they serve distinct functions I was not aware of...

I always think about center based gauges as less safe than Forward looking ones which are the norm due to the fact you have to look to center taking the watchful forward eye off its mark even though that happens when you glance down to see the forward setup...

I think keeping your eyes looking forward might help the response in emergencies which are unpredictable...

 

Yes there's lots of real estate for whatever one might want to populate it with but my plugging up of the narrow Tombstone holes adds to that...

 

can't ask for more than that... thanks stogy.

 

bought a dash, an A'[32 style], bolts under the stock dash rail.
may weld the '39 merc facade into the new dash...
.

 

time has moved me over to the '32...
but with a '39 merc cluster in a '32 style steel dash with a stock '30 dashrail...
the '38 is back on the nail...

 

...The year was 1965....

...Hope this fits the bill...

...even if it's on a nail...


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Is the center face Height the same as your Fiberglass 32 dash?
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