Anyone ever Rebuilt there dash?

[Oilguy]

I have an 85 sunsport and I HATE the way the dash looks on these things... Maybe it is just me but it just look "Old"

So anyway I took the padding off and cut the fiberglass out so that there is just a big hole there and then used foam to build a 90's style dash that is a lot easier on the eyes and not so angular.

I am not finished with it yet but I was wondering if I was the only one that thought that about this dash consoles? I might be able to make a mold to produce a couple more if they turn out good.

OG

[saltare inverts]

I have been wanting to do the same. How did you go about unhooking all the wires to all the gauges? Did you mark them somehow? Pic would be great, I might be interested. Glad your doing it.

[wotan2525]

I have considered this sooooo many times.... and then I put my head under the dash and see that absolute mess of wires and go have another beer. It's like these boats were wired in preperation for space flight.

[bryan632]

HAHA, the space flight thing is true. First off, I am an Aircraft Electronics Technician on F-15's. I was looking at my 88 sunsport the other day and their wiring is overly complicated.... more so than a fighter jet's guage system. It would've been a lot easier to put in a fuse panel and skip all the circuit breaker style switches. If you guys wanted to simplify things, you could strip that wiring, go to AutoZone and get a 2-sided fuse panel, and hook it up in place. It's pretty simple. you keep your wiring from all your sending units in the rear. Then you wire all time power to one side and ignition power to the other side. run all your accessories off of that and mark your fuses so you know what's what. It's a bit of work but it will simplify things greatly. just an idea. Feel free to add to this.

[Oilguy]

Well I hated the gauges also so everything came out...

I am rebuilding this boat from the trailer up so everything is getting touched... The Hull has a brand new floor with new stringers under it... I am getting a new motor... new redesigned interior... new dash... new paint scheme and I am smoothing the boat out and getting rid of all the outer railing... filling in the cleat pockets and installing pullouts >> Everything is getting redone.

I understand about the wiring mess >> I couldn't make heads or tails of it so it all got ripped out >> My 10 year old daughter got that job! Wire cutters and a pair of pliers and it took her 10 minutes... I am planning to rewire it the way Bryan632 suggested >> In fact, I am installing the batteries under the drivers console so the wire runs will be even shorter.

I have pictures of the process but I haven't put them on the computer yet... I have some pretty good shots though. I have most of it glassed and now I am just building it up for strength and shape. I am going to wrap the upper with padded vinyl so I don't have to get the contour perfect and build a gauge insert so that I can install the gauges out of the boat and then slip it through the dash and use plug connectors to wire it all in >> That way It can be removed easily if I ever need to. I am thinking of doing the same with the switch panel... I don't like having to leave a bunch of slack in the wires to have room to work so I am going to install plugs there too so that I don't have to leave it hanging while I work on something. I have a custom built mobile oil change trailer and I built it that way and love it.... so don't change what works.

OG

[saltare inverts]

I would like alot of pics please. I am planning on doing similar setup.