Volvo RWD 140-160 Forum

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Dashboard modification ideas 140-160

Greetings everyone - hope your collective Volvos are making it through the winter...

I have been thinking for a while now about the dash in my 1970 145 - this spring I would like to change it over to a wooden dash. I know a guy that has made a stainless steel dash for his 142, and it looks pretty darn sharp.

Has anyone out there modified their dashboards - and if so, what did you delete or add?

It is unfortunate that the farmer I bought my car off of let his boys "install" a cheapo radio - I would love to re-install an original Volvo radio, but I am also toying with the idea of having no radio at all. If I eliminated the radio and the little speaker far over on the right side of the dash, that would clean it up quite a bit.

I was also thinking about putting in a clock where the ashtray is. Also, I would love to change the knobs over to some really funky toggle switches, just like in the new Mini. I would love to put in a tachometer, but I don't know where I would place it. I have thought about replacing the ribbon-strip speedometer, but I don't think I will - it is such a conversation piece (my Korean inlaws had never seen anything like it, and kids think it is pretty cool too. Hey, why would I ever want to change that?)

I would love to hear some other accounts of things that people have done to "modernise" their dashboards.

Ross
Lethbridge, Alberta








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    Dashboard modification ideas 140-160

    What i am doing with my 142's dash is simply... Taking out all the switches and adding flipys and bottons, replacing the black face with aluminum, and taking the old knobs like for the lights, wipers, hazards, and fan, and replacing those with custom machined aluminum knobs. That I had a friend make in metal shop. If u wanna see some pics of the current project. http://www.printroom.com/pictureSearch.asp?userid=MattM
    I only put in a stainless steal steering wheel and stripped the interior.
    --
    Matt








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      Dashboard modification ideas 140-160

      Hi Matt - thanks for the link to the pictures - now that is one hot Subaru! Wow - that must be truly surreal to drive...

      I like the steering wheel - let us know when you have all the buttons done and in place - I am curious to see how it looks!

      Ross








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    Dashboard modification ideas 140-160

    In my 72 145 I had that awful (or beautiful in some cases, usually not) fake wood paneling so I took the dashboard apart and cut a piece of aluminum (easy to work with and looks really cool when sanded with 220) to fit. WAAAYY cooler. Now I drive a 71 which has a simple black dash, no pathetic fake wood. Real wood would be nice, but the fake stuff is like vinyl siding on houses-- no soul. I did get a working clock from a later model 140 at a junk yard and it fit perfectly into the ashtray hole, but it's literally a round peg in a square hole and needs to have some trim piece put there. I think I'll cut another piece of aluminum for this one, too. Most auto parts stores have tasteful toggle switches which light up when activated--- In the aforementioned 72 I had a line of lite-up toggles which needed to be flipped on in a specific order before the car would start (simple wiring) and lent to a roguish airliner feel. flipflipflipCONTACT!

    I'll snap some photos later on and post them - - -

    Good luck!

    ben








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      Dashboard modification ideas 140-160

      I love it! That would be so neat to see - I'll have to think about it for a while - perhaps I can rig up something similar.

      I don't want to take too much away from the original "look" of the dash, but I do want to make it a bit "cleaner." It's hard to put into words, but I am sure you know what I mean.

      If you do have a picture, I would love to see it!

      Ross








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      Dashboard modification ideas 140-160

      you can (just barely) fit the l973-1980 instument panel in the same space as the old type. I have a photo, but no host. so I'll try it on here









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        Dashboard modification ideas 140-160

        It looks great! By the way - how did you post the picture? I tried to drag 'n drop a picture into my post, but I just got an entirely new page. Hmmmm.








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        Dashboard modification ideas 140-160

        Very nicely done Ian! I like the look of the 240 panel in there.
        When I had a 72 142S I made a plate which covered the ashtray, and an angle portion from the plate to accept a Sun tachometer. That way the tach did not show above the dashboard to avoid the "boy racer" look.








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          Dashboard modification ideas 140-160

          Nope, sorry Rhys, not my car or project. One of a couple hundred photos I've saved off Ebay, actually. I don't know how many wires do or don't line up, or if senders have to be changed.

          In my defense, my 142 (it's a 1973 so comes with the newer dash) has an instrument panel in it made up with some care. It starts with the housing of a 1980 245DL because it had a small amount of white print on the panel face vs. an excessive amount of green highlighting on the factory one, and a smoother & larger surround. I have the original speedometer, with a vintage metric conversion applique. For the tank/temp, I have 1981-84/5 gauges out of the later larger panel. They needed to be spaced and played with a bit and don't fully fill the panel, but I prefer the lack of color and overall cleaner look. The temp side doesn't rise enough, and I suspect that the sender is different from a b20 (fine because of the planned swap to OHC). The 81-84/5 gauges normally have a red-orange needle, but I put a business card under the needles while the thing was apart and put two coats of white house paint on them. It's the cleanest looking instrument panel I've seen in a Volvo. If I get time I'm going to eliminate the resistor circuit in the back of the board so the temp needle is more responsive.

          Umm so yeah, I do know a bit about playing with dashes, but that earlier 140 wasn't mine.

          Ross, as far as the pic, I uploaded it to the image library, then cut and pasted the exact assigned address, with html flags, into both the body of the message and the image URL blank below. One worked, one didn't. Note the red-x'd small box in the post.








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            Dashboard modification ideas 140-160

            Hey aah, u do know thats a 1/8th scale model WRX right! Lol... It looks pretty real but its on a table so not really. The body is airbrushed subaru blue with some pearl. So it changes color in the light! Glad u liked the pics. I will take pics of my other volvo 142 tomorrow. I just put in a new dash and some new halogen headlights! SOO BRIGHT :o)!!!
            --
            Matt







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