My impulse buy

[Samm]

Found the thread, not many photo's though. Still food for thought.

Thanks
Samm

[Samm]

Just thought i'd do a quick update.
Did a quick oil change and threw in a inline fuel filter this morning- nothing major there

But also wanted to throw up a photo of my gauges. Got the tacho in the mail this morning.
Once i can souvenir a for sale sign to cut up and use i shall be dummying up a dash and experimenting with gauge placement.



They are only in the chrome holder for the moment so they dont get damaged and lost.

Still chasing a headlight switch to use to please, so if anyone has one help a brother out!

Thanks
Samm

[THE STIG]

those gauges look tops!!, just out of interest what do a set like that cost?
Stig 

[Samm]

those gauges look tops!!, just out of interest what do a set like that cost?
Stig 

Hey Friend (as 'mate' has been deemed a dangerous title to address another member with atm),

I collected these over a the course of about a month off ebay. It all depends on the auctions at the time and whats available.
I know that brand new a Smiths Temperature gauge would have set me back about $220 but second hand on ebay i managed a few good deals. The gauges cost me roughly $50 each and the tacho about $120 but they are missing the odd wire here and there and required a bit of TLC to get up to scratch (they were full of dirt and dust due to age and use). I no doubt will have to get these checked and possibly recoed by my auto electrician so they'll end up costing a bit more but fingers crossed they work well.

I have a few of my spare gauges i collected on ebay atm, a couple are in good nic others not so good, just search for 'Smiths Gauges'. Theres always things on there, i was just lucky that i could put a set together that all matched from the one available when i was buying.

Thanks for the comment.
Samm

[moemoke]

Samm, I have also been collecting Smiths gauges to make up a new dash, I was going to use VDO but thought Smiths are more suitable.
I've got MGB speedo and tacho plus temp, oil pres, fuel and vacuum, have been thinking about where to put them and need to get started
soon so I can get it finished B4 Mokefest.
I'll try and get a pic of my collection over weekend, might have to have a look at your ebay stuff as there are quite a few different styles of Smiths gauges.

[Samm]

Samm, I have also been collecting Smiths gauges to make up a new dash, I was going to use VDO but thought Smiths are more suitable.
I've got MGB speedo and tacho plus temp, oil pres, fuel and vacuum, have been thinking about where to put them and need to get started
soon so I can get it finished B4 Mokefest.
I'll try and get a pic of my collection over weekend, might have to have a look at your ebay stuff as there are quite a few different styles of Smiths gauges.

I agree 100% the Smiths Gauges just go with it and match the original central speedo unit. Ive only got like 4 Smiths Gauges on ebay and they match the ones in my photo, with black face and chrome rim.

My plan is to get the dash done well before mokefest so i know its working well. As you can see in the photo i thought water temp was the most important and oil pressure never hurts, didnt think vacuum was a huge issue so went with a amp gauge and i got the fuel gauge in a set of about 6 gauges i bought off ebay and figured it kinda matched so i'd throw it in as im not a fan of the small one in the original dash. And i like knowing what the engine is ticking away at so the tacho was a must

If you didnt plan on making a full dash i wont be using the 4 gauge holder if your interested in it, its not perfect but with the gauges in it you can barely see the imperfections.

anyways
Ta
Samm

[Samm]

Thought i'd just post up todays tinkering. Turns out my brother had the for sale signs from his house still under his house so went and pinched them this avo. Which ment i obviously had to get stuck straight into making up a bit of a dummy of what i want to bend up later.



just excuse my hand drawn head unit atm, thinking of getting a fold out 7" screen/dvd headunit so the missus can enjoy the long drive to wagga wagga (thats my excuse for now anyways). Is basically just the layout atm, gotta chase down another headlight switch to match the wiper switch out, ive sussed out another steering column so i can do away with the ignition on the dash the steering will then be lockable too... Once we bend it up out of metal im going to spray the wiper motor the same colour to try and hide the protrusion. Its unfortunate that they have to protrude but i want as much angle on the dash facia as possible so the gauges arent angled at my belly button.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks guys
Samm

[bnicho]

I like concept! 

Regarding the protrusion of the wiper motor, I got around this problem by using the motor and "rack" from a Mini.  The Mini wiper motor is bolted to the dash side of the firewall on the passenger side.  It's not a modification the purists would like, but it works!

Cheers,

[moemoke]

Looks pretty good Samm although if you get rid of the truck wheel it might be hard to see
the smaller gauges when you are driving.

This is the dash in Meane which looks cool I think, a bit messy in this photo.
DVD player under dash top rail, speedo in chrome tube mounted on the floor,
and its all covered in a sort of furry carpet

[Terry]

Samm,

The design of dash you have in mind doesn't actually give you much, but takes away the shelves which you will want to put the phone and bag of loliies for the drive to Wagga. Also unless the angle of the face is the same as the factory dash you start to run into issues with the length and angle of the Speedo cable.

This is a pretty ordinary shot of the dash in my last restore, Desert Storm, and it may not be the most radical but it is very practical. The shelf is a single piece the width of the firewall and the console is two side pieces and the front piece.



It is wider than the standard dash and has room for a few extra gauges. The switches are below the shelf which allowed 'on the fly/drive' rewiring one of the switches for the fuel tanks failed on me. The Moke was completely rewired and has extra fuses and terminal all mounted in the console and has minimal wires under the bonnet. Longer Speedo cable to allow the face to be moved clear.

The CD/Radio and UHF/AM radio are mounted under the dash but are bolted on in such away it takes quite a bit of time to unbolt. And I still have plenty of shelf space, which is carpeted to keep things in place, for junk, loliies, CD's and handy tools.

It is not finished but it was designed with room to grow. One problem I found was the line of sight for the oil gauge on the left meant I was seeing about 10 PSI less than what it was reading and the temp gauge is hidden by the steering wheel a bit.

The switches are for  Parking, head and Driving lights, Interior light, wipers(custom two speed in a single pole switch!!), spare(now dead) front fuel tank, rear fuel tank and transfer between tanks.

Not much bling and pretty plain but is the best dash I have had/built in a Moke for touring.

Some notes.
The two speed wiper on a single switch is you turn on the switch and the wiper starts up and then if the rain is heavier you slip the terminal of the motor and stick it on the other terminal and it goes faster.

The ability to hide the fuses and all the wring in behind the console worked because I spent a lot of time, almost a week, making sure all wires were soldered and heat shrinked, no blue crimped terminals and plenty of grommets and protection and good clean terminal for the fuses. Also put a bit of thought into which fuses shared which loads so a blown fuse for a minor item doesn't take out a major item.
The extra time spent on wiring meant I never had to take the face of the console for the 15,000km to play with the wiring or a blown fuse.

Terry

[Ian]

I do like the simple dash. Simple car = simple dash and it works every time 

[Darth Moke]

cagiva dash....

[Samm]

Looks pretty good Samm although if you get rid of the truck wheel it might be hard to see
the smaller gauges when you are driving.

This is the dash in Meane which looks cool I think, a bit messy in this photo.
DVD player under dash top rail, speedo in chrome tube mounted on the floor,
and its all covered in a sort of furry carpet

I dont really plan on getting rid of the wheel as ive grown quite fond of it, due to the placement im not sure whether another wheel will cover the gauges all that much but its not hard to lean a bit either way to grab a quick squiz of whats going on below.

The design of dash you have in mind doesn't actually give you much, but takes away the shelves which you will want to put the phone and bag of loliies for the drive to Wagga. Also unless the angle of the face is the same as the factory dash you start to run into issues with the length and angle of the Speedo cable.

This is a pretty ordinary shot of the dash in my last restore, Desert Storm, and it may not be the most radical but it is very practical. The shelf is a single piece the width of the firewall and the console is two side pieces and the front piece.

By my 'angle comment' the dash is actually remaining at the same angle as the original centre dash so the speedo remains in the original position. What i ment by not having it at my belly button was that i was going to reinstall the top piece of dash with the vent holes and ash tray and screw the new dash flat against that and the bottom trays so it would sit rather vertically, by leaving it at the original angle its enough of an angle IMO.

I'm also not a huge fan of the shelves and dont plan on using them much anyway. I get a bit paranoid with things sitting on the shelf and i have a bum bag clipped under the seat through the rungs in which i throw my wallet and phone etc.


I was going for a simple look as something a bit 'busier' would look out of place IMO as the car is of simple design. I might make a few alterations to it and bend it up and see how things go. If it turns out i dont like it all ive lost is a bit of time and farting around as we have enough materials here to make it.

cagiva dash....

BTW what ^^ that mean Darth?

Thanks for the feedback.

[bnicho]

I like a closed glovebox that is (preferably) lockable somewhere rather than open shelf where everything is on display and may fall off under fierce acceleration.   

But each to their own.  My Moke is used mostly for cruising, not weeks of offroad adventures like Terry's Desert Storm!



Mopoke's dash in the current format uses Mini Clubman gauges.  The angle is not quite right and the steering wheel blocks the top of the tacho and speedo slightly.  It's a bit rough, as it was thrown together a week before Muster 2006. 

I consider Mopoke's dash far from finished.  I want to rip it out and rebuild using my MG Metro instrument cluster (with tacho, trip meter, clock etc) that matches my engine and box, and use new toggle switches rather than Leyland rocker switches.  I'm undecided yet whether the cluster will be mid-mounted or in from of the steering wheel.  A AM/SSB CB will be going in there somewhere too.



I agree with Terry on the rewiring.  Honestly, the best invesment you can make in making anything from BL/BMC reliable is to make sure all the wiring is in top shape.  I ripped out the crusty remains of the orginal Moke loom and started again with a Mini Clubman loom that was in perfect condition.  The reason for using this loom was to keep the colour codes consistent with Leyland standards to aid future fault-finding.  I also fitted a new fuse box with 10 fuses on the firewall.  The only bit of wiring I didn't replace was the run to the rear lights over the fuel tank on the passenger's side, and that 's the bit I'm now having trouble with.  I'm planning to rip that bit out too and run 7-core trailer wire down the top of the drivers side pannier to the rear lights instead. 

Cheers,

[Terry]

Bnicho,

I'm planning to rip that bit out too and run 7-core trailer wire down the top of the drivers side pannier to the rear lights instead.

Why not attach the 7 core to the wires already running across the tank and pull the 7 core through as you remove the old wires.

Also mine has been kept to the original coloring, just new stuff, and the extra things like the fuel switches have 'new' volours but still follow the trace no trace logic.

Terry