Starting Work on the Dash

Having received my Digidash in the post this week I set too and started to build a new dashboard panel for the racer, the old dash had the distinctive triangular hole for a Stack data logging system in it, which as they cost nearly 2K was not surprisingly being replaced by the much cheaper DigiDash unit. I briefly contemplated making the new dash from a carbon fibre sheet, this would certainly look vary nice and might even save some weight, but it would probably cost 30-40 quid for the carbon, and as I had a sheet of NS4 Ali lying around the garage from previous projects I had effectively got the raw aluminium for free. Carbon fibre pimpy goodness may come next year.

So using the old dash as a templ
ate I marked out and cut an ALi blank from the NS4 sheet using an electric jigsaw and a fine metal cutting blade. Using a panel beating hammer I beat a "reverse" onto the top edge of the dash to give it some rigidity. Now it was time to cut the mounting holes for the Digidash. In the manual that accompanies the unit is a nice 100% life size mounting template which identifies the unit's mounting holes and their position. So I sat in the car and after making some silly engine noises I stuck the template onto the new dash in the most appropriate mounting position. In this position I can see the complete instrument cluster through the spokes of my steering wheel. The two strips of tape to he left of the template mark the limit of the area visible inside the wheel rim, I intend place the Oil pressure and ECU warning lights in this region.


So after marking the position of the mounting holes and the central clearance area that needed cutting out to clear the connectors, I once again set too with Jigsaw, File and Drill. (isn't that a 70s glam rock band?).

Anyway after about 40 mins of making noise I could actually mount the Digidash unit onto the ali plate. Now it was time to lay out the rest of the lights and switch gear, so using the time honoured method of sticking down some masking tape I began to lay out the rest of the instrumentation.


I will be racing the EVO in the 750 Motorclub's RGB series. RGB stands for "Road Going Bike Engined" and the regs state that cars "must be able to pass an MOT" although they don't actually need a valid certificate. This adds all sorts of requirements to the car that are unnecessary on a race car (but does create a level playing field that allows people to bring along their road cars to race). Extra equipment includes such nastiness as a mechanical handbrake mechanism and a need for all the normal lights that you have on your road car.... plus things like a horn!

So I need switchgear for, indicators, hazards, main\dip beam, side & head lights, fog lights, headlamp flash and horn in order to meet the MOT requirements. In addition to this I also need switch gear to arm my electrical extinguisher, to turn on the electrical reverse mechanism and racing rain light, and lastly for the main ignition and fuel pumps. All of which are mandated by various club or national regulations. If your wondering where my FIA cut off switch is in the layout ...well the simple answer is that it's not on the dash board but located low down on my right and side in the cockpit.

So after much drilling, filing and cursing the dash looks like this.