I'm trying to get a lot done today so here goes...

First I cleaned the old glue off...



Then I put the dash panels face down onto the alcantara having checked many times that it was the correct way up (down) and cut around them, leaving room for stretching round corners and overlap... This was the scariest part as half a metre of this stuff cost £46!



I then spray glued the panels and started working my way round stretching the fabric over the glue... I won't go into too much detail on this as I have posted the same procedure before on previous dash panels.

















... And now I'm off the B&Q to get some plastic for the back of the plaque holder, my LEDs should arrive tomorrow and I can get this fitted this week

j6pkp said:

Wow as said before, great work there. Really love this build.


09 Grande Punto Abarth

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Thanks

I need the encouragement to knuckle down and get this done!

Light box finished just waiting for LEDs



Alcantara dash panels complete and ready to install

Couldn't help it, had to go to the car and fit the small bit

Liking the look of that.

Fish

Seagull said:

Couldn't help it, had to go to the car and fit the small bit

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Can you lend me 20p?

RUI said:

Can you lend me 20p?

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'Fraid not Rui... It's all I have left after buying the alcantara!

Liking this project plenty. The dash panel is going to look fantastic and totally unique.

Today I did a bit more work on the dash, I started by making a template that I am going to cut from brushed aluminium to finish off the front of the light box.



Then I tested out the amber LEDs in position with the paper template.




Then I soldered together four blue 3mm LEDs and insulated them.





I stuck them down using double sided foam.



A quick test..



And then insulated over the top..




And a test run....



Daytime mode....




Nightime mode...




...I'm not sure yet whether the metal surround will be brushed, polished, or painted matt black, and the lighting will be controlled by the 'lights on' output on the stereo harness so it is bright blue during the day and amber at night like the rest of the lighting.

Oh wow! Very jealous of how good this looks!

How did you bring yourself to start chopping stuff up like this? I'm not brave enough!

Noxide said:

Oh wow! Very jealous of how good this looks!

How did you bring yourself to start chopping stuff up like this? I'm not brave enough!

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I've been taking apart my cars since they came in a box marked 'corgi' lol

.....also, the trick is to only mess with replaceable parts, the dash you see here cost me less than £20 on eBay and can be changed back to the original in 10 minutes

I've just done a little work on the dash tonight, making a plastic trim to finish off the plaque recess. This will be a temporary fix while I find someone to mill me one out of aluminium or stainless steel, haven't decided which yet



I just need a little wiring done now and then I can fit the large dash panel tomorrow

Alcantara dashboard panel completed today.....

Just trying to sort out some more of the support wiring for the new stereo ?

Looking good.

Fish

Scary moments from today!














And some more 'after' pics.....

And relax......... That's enough for now I think!

That truly looks the dogs whatsits, outstanding work.
I like the stereo, looks a lot better than the pictures I've seen of the new 500's uconnect thing. Now why couldn't Fiat do something more along those lines.
Also just out of curiosity what's the pads under the rear seats ???

johnxtype said:

just out of curiosity what's the pads under the rear seats ???

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It's a bit more sound deadening. The abarth is a lot quieter than my old 500, but as I have been taking panels I have used pads and foam to quieten it further.

I see, although I did wonder if it was the start of adding seat heaters lmao.

Liking the finished look. The facia plate looks like it's a better fit than mine, maybe I need to do some modifying.

I'm just waiting for my dash sections to be finished then I'll put some pics up.

Fish