1. James Rasmussen

2.  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

3.  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.

4.  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

5.  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.

6.  7725 modified twill weave fiberglass was used  Conforms nicely around complex surfaces  Strength calculations determined only two layers were needed on each side of the core  Wet layup was used  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

7.  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

8.  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

9.  Composite dash was considerably lighter  Improved stiffness  Ergonomic controls  New mounting style eases installation Fiberglass dash Original dash

10.  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