Cool dashes?
 

I was down at the LOTO Shoot Out last weekend looking at tons of gorgeous boats but one thing kept bothering me over and over (The Dash) does anyone actually have cool dashes?

If you look in 90% of boats the dash is nothing more than a flat surface with gauges sitting there and the only thing making them look good is the gauge itself or some good looking paint or panel material.

Does this bother anyone else?

No. I like looking at titts, a$$, blowers, rooster tails, and 150mph boats go by.

If its that upsetting for you, and you cant sleep at night, park your 29 Mach 1 next to a few of those posers, and maybe they will get some ideas for some upgrades. Or just flat out tell the Jerk with the MTI or Outerlimits his dash is hideous, and stop taking his supermodel wife out on the town and get to it. :poopoo:

Looking for ideas and or pictures of what you guys have seen or done. I am thinking about trying to update my dash and gauges over winter. That is why I posted in this section.

This one turned out great! Bottom of the page if you follow the link.
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/c...wer-boats.html

Wow I can't believe a guy that owns a Fountain powerboat would get so touchy on this subject. I just can't imagine why?:poopoo:

Are you talking about doing something like this? If i EVER get my boat done i'll die a happy man! :D

This is the before and after pic of the stock dash on my 222 Stinger....i wanted monster gauges but there was no room...so out came the cutting wheel and fiberglass and the result is the blue dash.....i didnt have the speedo and Tach at the time but you get the idea :D

Wally, that looks great! How did you make the area around the gauges bump out like that?

Not sure what you're getting at with the Fountain thing........???

Heres a pic of my dash makeover this winter. Pretty uncool and basic with the panel setup, but works just fine for me.

Yes that does look nice also and better than my dash but give me a break it’s a flat panel with holes cut in it!

O” I am so sorry please let me kiss your feet and apologize I had no idea that I can’t have an opinion because I can’t afford one of the boats sitting there and I don’t date a supermodel.

Its all from my car audio days making fiberglass box's.....easiest way to do it (in my case) was to cut rings out that fit the gauges and to glue them in place using wood dowel rods...then cover it in fleece or some other stretchy material (I used a sports jerzy material) and then start the fiberglass process and build layers.... :D

From the pics below you can see how i made the frame work to hold the gauges...then i glued the blue fabric to the gauge supports...when it dried it was stretched out and glued to the main body and then trimmed...then multiple layers of glass were put on....then the sanding and filler...then primer and then paint. :D

looks great Wally. Nicely done!

walley-looking good...nice job!!

mild-im redoing my kv's black dash this offseason....what gauges do you have in your black dash? that looks good!!

Thanks Bud. They are Autometer marine. The come in carbon fiber, white, platinum, and platinum with chrome bezel. I really like the round race style bezel they have over the traditional gaffrig style ring.

I think they'd look great in your old KV scarab!! Hard to beat the price on them too.

cool....do you have the platium gauges? chrome rim? sorry but my eyes are getting bad lol...thanks

Mild Thunder, your gauges and dash do look good! Have you had any issues with the Auto-Meter brand? I never did say that your dash looked bad; it looks like a good upgrade to your ride.

I had just wanted to see something different for once. Two boats really stood out in that area the first was a Sunsation that had so much going on that I got lost looking at everything on it and the second was the corvette MTI but that is for obvious reasons considering that they pretty much used a vette dash and center consol and molded it in

I have the silver platinum gauges. Never had any problems with these, or my last set of autometers. Great gauges. Glad they got into the marine market.

My old and new! Also Autometer except for the Livorsi prop slip gauge!

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i4...b/4760a092.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i4...b/8702a69d.jpg

mild- thanks for the information....i do believe those will look good in the KV...im going to autometers page and check them out!!

502ss....your dash looks good....are those white with bezels?? again my eyes arent the best so please understand ha....thanks

Cheapest place to buy Autometer gauges is www.egauges.com and the shipping didn't take that long.:thankyouthankyou:

mild-did you paint your throttles? color? thanks

Thanks!

They are white face with white bezels and polished aluminum trim rings

here is a link to mine that i just had painted going in my 272 baja with Livorsi polished rim platinum face gauges

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/b...sh-panels.html

10-4.....looks good.....well since the storm messed up our labor day weekend boating i may go ahead and start taking apart my dash and interior to get a jump on offseason projects....has anyone every used/handled carbon fiber vinyl?? please give input!.....sorry for thread jacking but im curious to hear good or bad experiences....thanks

ebay ed-----the dash looks good....do you have pics of the final project with the gauges??

looks good....keep them coming....please tell the type, color and style/sizes ect of the gauges!!! thanks!!

sorry i dont my boat is in florida still in a bunch of pieces i will post more pictures as soon as i get some

What do you want to know about the carbon fiber vinyl? It goes on like any other vinyl, it's a bit thicker then some of the high performance vinyls out there today but still very usable!

If you have a removable dash piece you should also look into water transfer, It’s vary durable, cheep and more choices then you can shake a stick at!

I used it on mine... Lays down easy. Get a heat gun or a hair dryer on the scene and find your grove.

You come out O.K. On the hurricane Chad?

502---what brand to buy or not to buy?? who to purchase from and so on....thanks


1987pac-----water transfer?? never heard of this??



joe----we are all good man.....water is super high but we good...thanks for checking.....we may do the clear lake poker run next weekend since our water is messed up....see you then!!

what 1987 pachanga is talking about is called hydrographics they lay a film on top of water and dip the part they want colored on top of it very durable thats how they do the guns and bows that have camo patterns on them i was going to do that but i just didnt find a pattern that i really liked

ok thanks ebay ed......yeah im leaning toward the carbon fiber vinyl with autometer platium gauges....but i change my mind every hr lol

I was going to say. Your imagination is the limit. Call Mike Livorsi he can do anything you can think of to it plus something you havent thought of as well. Like the commercial says.

WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET??:whistle:

cool dash
 

Last winter my project was taking my 88 fountain dash and throwing it really hard into the trash and making a new custom dash. The gauges are livorsi race style with white face and rings "No Bezels" I custom cut the dash out of 3/16 billet aluminum, and had it hydro dipped carbon fiber. All the trim,drive,and toggle switches were replace and relocated and Garmin GPS installed. The drive and Tab switches were replaced with stainless illuminated buttons. the rest of acc switches moved to a custom side panel. I bought EMI Elite controls, and imco steering to finish it off. All the wiring was removed and redone with relays and power panels for lower amp usage. I think it turned out pretty awesome for a concrete worker and friend doing all the work. We also installed an insane stereo system...Attachment 488957

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looks great man! That hydrodipping is neat stuff.

Here's a before and after of my dash. I really wanted to put the GPS right in front of me but with my big old school engines I'm a real gauge freak. I only really need the GPS a few trips a year when we go to Florida so it just wasn't worth it to me.

Dash looks great!! I love the paint on your boat!

Thanks I'm wanting to add a little more on the deck but just not quite sure how much to do yet. I don't want to over do it.