Build Won a '74 40 on a coin toss...

[ginmtb]

Oh dang I want this vintage license plate frame!

 

[ginmtb]

Doing a little test fitting. I don't think I'm going to go with the hinged design after all as after looking at the stock setup I can't flush mount a plate behind the dash without cutting and I don't want to do that. So instead I will paint a plate and surface mount. And then slot the plate so that an unmodified radio delete plate tangs will fit in the slots and fit over the gauges.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Doing a little test fitting. I don't think I'm going to go with the hinged design after all as after looking at the stock setup I can't flush mount a plate behind the dash without cutting and I don't want to do that. So instead I will paint a plate and surface mount. And then slot the plate so that an unmodified radio delete plate tangs will fit in the slots and fit over the gauges.

View attachment 1118212

Mike, if it helps...

I used a piece of 1" steel, 1/8" thick, long enough to span the radio hole, top to bottom. I rounded all four corners, to make it easier to turn.

I drilled a hole in the faceplate of the two-gauge mount, that I made (see photo below), and in matching spot in the 1" steel plate.

Then placed the bolt thru the faceplate, thru the 1" steel plate, added the lock washer and started the nut.

Then I placed the faceplate in the proper place and reached under the dash and spun the 1" steel plate, vertically and tightened the nut.

It stays in place, doesn't rattle, is easy to remove, as needed, and no holes drilled in the dash.

Not the best picture, but you can get an idea what I described.

For your gauges, you could add a 1/16" aluminum, large enough to cover the radio hole. Cut whatever is needed to allow you to mount your gauges to it.

Mount the gauges to this aluminum.

If you need this part:

• Cut and fashion more 1/16" aluminum into a sort of shallow 5-sided box, that is deep enough to cover the new gauges.
• Mount this box to the aluminum piece, using an acrylic piano hinge, at the bottom.

OR just mount a new faceplate to the aluminum piece, using an acrylic piano hinge, at the bottom.
​

Mount the whole thing to the dash, using the method I used for mine... The box or new faceplate would flip down to see the gauges.

Hope you can visualize this... I can no longer recall your intent... HTH

 

[ginmtb]

Thanks Danny! I think I'm actually going to just use some really good quality double sided tape to hold the plate with the gauges mounted to it in place. I think I can get enough surface area contact for it to be effective. The plate and gauges don't weigh much so it should be a non-issue. Trying to not have any bolts/screws visible. We'll see. I did also think of doing to small hex screws on the outside threaded into a plate much like you discussed above. But I'm fairly certain the tape will work.

 

[Honger]

Looking forward to seeing what you cook up... And I like Danny's example as well.

My whole is staring me in the face and I'm planning on either gauges (vacuum and tach) or some switches and usb slots.

Is your radio slot missing the tabs on the sides that the original radio mounted to? Mine has one on each side... Plus a little bracket that juts out from behind at the bottom to support the radio.

 

[ginmtb]

Is your radio slot missing the tabs on the sides that the original radio mounted to? Mine has one on each side... Plus a little bracket that juts out from behind at the bottom to support the radio.

I have all those tabs however the side ones have been bent sideways. The bottom tab pushed down. I never noticed the side ones until I looked closer during the test fit.

 

[Honger]

I'm thinking of taking a nice piece of 2mm aluminum and cutting it oversize a bit, chamfering the corners, and use an angle piece to somehow mount it in one (or all) of those tabs.

Low on my list right now though...

 

[ginmtb]

Getting to those side tabs seems like one of those contortionist moves like the speedo cable connection. So good double sided tape is my solution of choice...

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Not pushing my solution... Just food for thought...

The way I mounted would work with no bolts/screws showing.

Simply weld (PC-7 or JB-Weld) the head of the bolt to the back of the faceplate. No drill in the faceplate or the dash...

All the other instructions remain the same.

 

[ginmtb]

Fashioning the box is the biggest problem I see with your solution Danny. Those gauges are pretty deep too. Unless I'm visualizing this thing differently...

 

[Solace in Solitude]

I'm really not pushing...

I had never worked with metal... But, I bought some 1/16" aluminum. Cut out the size I needed, the laid it on my workbench where the line to bend was at the edge of the workbench. I laid a metal yardstick on top of it, aligned with the edge of the work bench and clamped it. Then I simply pressed down on the aluminum and was shocked at how easy it was to get a good uniform bend.

Once I had the 'box' shaped, I tac-soldered the sides together, ground any points off and painted it.

As long as you are using thin aluminum, it's very easy to do.

But, again... It's ok to do your own thing... That's the beauty of multiple solutions to single problems.

Regardless of how you solve your's - enjoy!!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Also, to clarify, post#829 was specific to the mounting method, not the box part.

 

[ginmtb]

Okay good to know - the aluminum I used for my amp mounting plate was super stiff. But it was like 5/32" or something like that.

 

[tlc762]

Here is my gauge mount....

Gauge mount

• tlc762
• Aug 10, 2015

HTH,
Will

 

[tlc762]

Here is driver's view of gauge cluster. In hindsight I should have offset the cluster so I could have put a couple switches in the plate also.
HTH
Will

 

[ginmtb]

I finally got around to the gauge project. Here is what I did - I ended up going with 22 gauge sheet metal as none of the big boxes had thicker aluminum plate. I measured and used a 1-5/8" (41mm) hole saw to cut the holes. Far from perfect but since they get covered by the gauge trim rings I'm good to go. Cut the plate slightly bigger than the opening. Here is my test fit:

And talk about luck! My delete plate actually fits onto the gauge plate trim rings! I still think I need to use something like a magnet glued to it to ensure it doesn't fall off.

There is a gap created by the gauge trim rings but I think it still looks good.

Now time for some primer and paint!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Looks great Mike!!

 

[ginmtb]

Paint isn't perfect but fortunately a small area. Good color match though. Now I just need to get it all hooked up.

 

[ginmtb]

Decided to mount the winch controller - garage is screaming hot so that's all I got done today. I saw this mounting location but whoever did it used only one of the steering column bolts so it was crooked. My OCD wouldn't let me do that. I will probably paint the bare steel black. Maybe tonight if it cools down I'll start looking into all the cable and hose routing that I'll need to connect everything up (gauges and winch).

 

[ginmtb]

Holy crap I am soon to be a two Landcruiser owner... This one is going to take some time. I have some thoughts on what I want to do. Restomod - keep the old school looks but add some modern day performance and amenities. Sadly though I will need to sell the 74 after I'm done with the '75. Can't justify both and the '74 is very close to stock which should help value. Anyone have any thoughts on what I could sell the '74 for? Geico was checking on the value for insurability and they said 17K-22K. Seems like based on a craigslist that range isn't out of the question.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/75-fj40-disassembled.874076/