I managed to get the dash put in today, the weather was kind and didn't rain until just after i'd finished, so that was lucky..... :shock:

I've got to fit the steering wheel when it arrives, its being flocked... :mrgreen:

i've also got to fit an AFR gauge in the speedo gauge cowl, the boost gauge is there now just waiting for an AFR gauge.

I like the look of it, a point and shoot camera just doesn't take good pics of flocked dashes for some reason, the pics look ok but it looks loads better in the flesh.

I had the A pillar trims done along with the centre console etc.

The Apexi Power FC hand controller I modified to split up the screen and the buttons ( detailed earlier in this project thread ), i think its come out quite good.

I've got a DVD touch screen to go in at a later date (single DIN ) and under that I am going to fit some Stack gauges.

Here's the pics, the whole interior needs a bloody good clean because its been used as a parts store for the last few months. I also need to re-cover the door cars as the material has started to come away whilst they have been stored....:wallbang: - So i'll revover them in black alcantara later... :happy:













I'm soooo pleased the dash is back in, its not a job for the faint hearted and its a long winded affair, but its out of the way now and i'm very pleased with it....

Another modification i did today was to change the front fog lamp switch so that it now operates the rear fogs ( I don't have front fogs, just RS covers ), I also utilised the standard rear fog lamp warning light that is in the instrument cluster - there isn't a bulb or wiring for it on the imports, but there is now on mine, i put in a bulb and used a pin from another loom ( thanks Kev ) to wire up the original cluster plug, i just pushed the pin into the spare slot in the loom plug and wired it up into the fog lamp circuit. So now when the rear fogs are turned on (using the old front fog switch ) there is a "factory" warning light that lights up on the dash....

A few days ago when I fitted the rear beam i decided to fit the AYC braided lines that HEL Performance made up for me and found that they didn't fit because the lines were fouling on the rear beam.....





So I sent them back to Ben @ Hel and he put a 90deg bend on the end and they now fit just fine - big thanks to Ben for doing this....









much better and no chance of any rubbing anywhere.....

I decided to make a start on finishing off the interior before I go full steam ahead on the front end.

Now the flocked dash and A pillars are in it makes the grey headlining look very dirty and a bit oddly matched, the B and C pillars looked odd too.







I decided i'd get the B and C pillars flocked to match the A pillars and also i'll change the colour of the headlining to black using fabric spray paint.

The grab handles will be flocked and the interior light plastics will be sprayed black to match.

So today i removed the B and C pillars and the headlining so i can get them flocked and sprayed...





I will put up some pics of it all back together once its all done in a week or so...

I also (whilst i had a spanners in my hand) took off the front wings to store them in readiness for the engine to come out and the front end refurb to start, notice the flitch bars under the wings which I will get powder coated once the front end is treated and painted.





So the rear end looks nice and the front end looks naff, BUT the front end will soon look as good as the rear.

I painted my headlining today, the fabric paint isn't very good and the tins are tiny, so i used normal Gloss black spray paint and it worked a treat...

BEFORE :



AFTER











I also rubbed down and painted the interior light frames, the little push in clips that hold the rear of the headlining in and also the blanks for the grab handle that isn't required for the drivers side...

(looks slightly grey in the pic because i used the flash)





Did the sunvisors too with vinyl paint I got from the motor factors, i've got a tin coming from ebay too.. - didn't realise they sold it at my local shop...!!!

(looks slightly grey in the pic because i used the flash)



Looks loads better now, once the B and C pillars are back in and flocked it will look perfect.

I did a bit with the wiring in the dash to check everything worked seeing as the dash was out for months....

Everything worked just fine which was a relief, I also wired in the rear fog light properly because whoever put the fog light in originally needs to keep well clear of anything electrical in the future !!!

I originally had a fog light switch bodged into the dash but thats been ditched when the dash was flocked.

Because I don't have front fogs ( RS covers instead ) I decided to use the front fog light switch to activate the rear fogs instead, but you need a warning light on the dash ( or a switch that illuminates ) for the rear fogs otherwise it will fail an MOT.

So I thought i'd make it "factory" look and do a proper job.

The speedo cluster has a rear fog warning light built into it ( on my Evo 5 anyhow ) but it isn't used because the car is an import - there wasn't a bulb or any wiring for it.

So my mate Kev gave me a bit of the loom from behind the speedo cluster from his 5 before he finished breaking it up, i needed a pin, with some cable attached, from one of the plugs that plug into the speedo cluster.

Then I got hold of another bulb and holder and then put this into the vacant hole where the rear fog warning light is. I also traced where the fog bulb connects to the loom plug - sure enough there wasn't any wiring to it, so the pin Kev gave me was inserted into the loom plug and the wire was then routed to the front fog light switch.

I used a meter to find the wire which gives 12v to the front fogs and connected the rear fog and the rear fog warning wire to it, so now the warning light on the dash lights up when the fog light switch is pressed..... and the rear fogs light up too which is nice...





lots better than a switch bodged into the dash.....

I fitted the rest of the interior trim today, I was going to get the B and C pillars flocked, but I decided to paint them instead using vinyl primer and paint, they have came out great.

I rubbed each item down with wire wool to give the paint a good key, cleaned with panel wipe and put on a coat of primer then a few light coats of vinyl black, then I put them in the oven (door open) for a while on 50c to bake the paint a little...

The vinyl paint is satin black and looks just fine, although my pictures a rubbish !!!

B pillar....




C pillar....



then now match the black headlining, it makes the car look a lot neater inside.

I also fitted the steering wheel that Lee@FCM flocked for me, the wheel is a "Nardi Personal" wheel so its not too bad.

The wheel was in a terrible state and I was going to bin it and get another, but I saw a thread in which Lee flocked a steering wheel and i thought "i'll have some of that" to match my dash.

Here's the wheel in its terrible state.....











I asked Lee if he'd take a look at it to see if it can be reapired and flocked, so i sent it to him and he worked some magic on it and returned it to me better than a new wheel, i can't believe how good it is, picture never get the best look of flock, but it is brilliant...

here it is fitted....



many thanks Lee, top job...

another couple of jobs off the list...