had to move the s2000 start button

[lostforawhile]

I had it all mocked up on my new dash on my bench, I was going to mount the start button where the cigarette lighter used to go, but when checking clearance on the old dash,still in the car, I discovered it won't fit there with the center console, figures. after a lot of deciding and staring at the dash, I decided to mount it next to my gauges in the upper part of the dash, I had already made a really nice aluminum bezel the switch snaps into, so I wanted to use that over. I ended up making this piece, It started off as part of an old nose gear fork off of one of our planes, This would have been the part the axle went through, After a bunch of machine work, I got this.


let me crank of some 80's hair band rock and I'll get started


I had already used an end mill to make the counter bored areas for the screws,

you can see i built in some adjustment to align the center bezel

the next step is to center punch each counter bore on center, I like to use a carbide scribe for precision center punching, then center punch with a regular punch

next the holes are drilled for the screws

the entire bezel is screwed to the dash

and the center is drilled with a hole saw


and the switch,this is a real one not a knockoff

I'm painting the bezel black right now, to match the gauges, the aluminum trim ring around the button will stay polished

[Warren 88 Accord]

that looks awsome

[lostforawhile]

that looks awsome

thanks, the letters on the button are straight of course, i just popped it in there a little off center to take the picture

[89HatchbackLxi]

Love the 80s selection you had on.

[lostforawhile]

I need to probably repaint both this piece and the gauge panel, as it's been so many years, I couldn't remember what type of black I used. I also need to grind just a little more on the back of the piece to fit the bottom curve of the dash, not a big deal

[Dr_Snooz]

Looks pretty good Lost!

[lostforawhile]

Ok I stripped the paint AGAIN, somehow the paint reacted to the primer and flaked, I'm trying something new, it's called dual by krylon I'm happy with the results so far, the only drawback is it's 25 minutes before you can handle the part, and 2 hours before it's dry.








the warning lights are old school bulls eye lenses, I recessed them into the back of the gauge panel, i'll use high brightness LEDS in the backs of them, one lamp for the voltage and one for the oil pressure, I'm thinking of something in the bottom section for a shift light, but it's just an idea right now.

[carotman]

Looks nice!!

I wonder if you could match the button bezel curves to match the other gauges.

[lostforawhile]

Looks nice!!

I wonder if you could match the button bezel curves to match the other gauges.

/img]

I might round these two corners off slightly, but it would be too much of a pain in the ass to try to duplicate another from scratch. I think if I rounded the two corners it might flow better with the gauges.

[lostforawhile]

The LEDS for the warning lamps are in, instead of making housings, I used part of the original lamp housings, these are old Amphenol machine indicator lamps, they are a standard size lamp and very common. the part with the bulb and the contacts can be removed from the housing, all you have to do is press two tabs. the LEDS were a perfect fit, I used Radio Shack part number 276-0005, ultra high brightness 10mm white LEDS, I used 14 volts as the voltage, the LEDS have a forward current of 20 ma, and a forward supply voltage of 3.5 volts, this gives me a required resistor value of 560 ohms, using a half watt resistor. it calculates out to a common resistor value using 14 volts, a lot of people use 12, forgetting the operating voltage of the electrical system is closer to 14.




I used epoxy as a potting agent to hold the LEDS in the bulb housings.

this stuff is great, it sets in five minutes and comes with mixing tubes







I picked these lamps because they have an old school bulls eye lens




they don't even look like LEDS when on

I was very surprised at the quality of the light from these LEDS, they were just over 2 bucks each. I'll be using them in more places in the car

[lostforawhile]

I ended up replacing the standard bulbs with LEDs, I used the same ones as the indicators